Saturday, October 1, 2011

Stuffed Belly and all . . .

After a fun-filled day of boping around the island with mom and Ms. Liz (more to come Monday) my dear papa-bear definitely out-did himself!  We had the Carr's over (minus Ry and Bryce :(-- sorry guys!) for some football watching and licious, yummy belly filling scrumptious seafood!!  Let me just tell you about this spread he made!!

. . . Steamed crabs, shrimp, and SHE CRAB SOUP, need I say more?!?

 Lots of yummy crabies!!

 Shrimp for T-- where's the ketchup?

 Lots of pickin' happening!

 
My dad's infamous She Crab Soup-- holy moly it is just the best thing!!
**I would love to share this recipe however my dad informed me that if I did he would have to kill me!  I would rather stick around for a bit longer so y'all will just have to figure it out yourself!!

I'll leave y'all with this-- my mom found this cute little sign that is hanging in our kitchen and I just LOVE IT!!
The South-- the place where. . . Tea is sweet and accents are sweeter.  Summer starts in April, Macaroni & Cheese is a vegetable, Front porches are wide and words are longer, Pecan pie is a staple, Y'all is the only proper noun, Chicken is fried and biscuits come with gravy, Everything is Darling, Someone's heart is always being blessed.

Hope y'all are having a great Saturday!

Friday, September 30, 2011

4 things. .

Happy Friday everyone!! I don't know about y'all but my week has sure flown by and by golly I am soo thankful!!  BRING ON THE WEEKEND!!  I will be maxing and relaxing on the good ole coast of the Outer Banks!!  Minus the mosquito over-take I'm really excited!!  Now for the 4 things I am LOVING this week. . .

1. COWBOYS VICTORY OVER THE SKINS---woohoooo it feels good to be a cowboy this week!!  There have not been too many times that I can say that am not only loving Romo for his good looking self but rather for his skills on the field!! Lets bring on another victory this weekend boys!!!

2.  GOING HOME FOR THE WEEKEND-- ahhh its soo nice waking up to the sunlight shining in on my face and the greeting of wet puppy dog kisses!!  Here a few pics from this morning, don't worry LOTS MORE TO COME!

CRAZY LUCY

Little Roxanna

Roxy loves to fish with dad-- haha its so funny!


3.  BIG GLASSES-- they are all the rage these days! All the celebs are wearing them haha! So I thought I would try them out! My friends Annie and Shari ordered glasses from Warbyparker!! You pick out frames that you want to try, pay $5 and they are shipped to you in a matter of days.  You can do this as many times as you like.  Once you find the right pair you send in your prescription and you're in business.  Even though my 20/20 eyes do not require vision googles, it is sometimes fun to try them on!  Here are some pics of Annie and I-- I accidently deleted Shari's (sorry Bob) What do you think??


4. BLT's with FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!! Holy cow that little extra tid bit of the fried green tomato just adds the biggest BOOM POOW WOWW to your mouth!! It's down right incredible!!!  Ry and I had brunch at 3 in Clarendon-- AND THEY DONT SKIMP ON BACON EITHER!!! GOO AND GET IT!!

 


What are y'all loving this week?? Happy weekend to y'all!!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Skinny Chicken Carbonara

I love finding ways to make my favorite recipes better suitable for my waistline :) Especially since working out lately has been non-existent!! GRR!

Last night Ry and I had a nice little dinner for two! I made Chicken Carbonara using all of our favorite ingredients but adding a slight twist that not even your taste buds would notice!

To start things off, I fried up some bacon, TURKEY BACON, that is! I let the grease drain off on a paper -towel.  Using the same pan, I diced up some mushrooms and garlic and let them sweat out.

While all of this was going on, I brought out my handy dandy george foreman (one of the best inventions for the kitchen, if you ask me, besides my kitchen-aide mixer ;)!  I grilled two small chicken breasts that I salted with garlic salt and fresh pepper.  I also boiled a pot of salted water to cook my broccoli and noodles.  The broccoli does not require as much time as the noodles so keep an eye on them. Once they are ready-- I roughly chopped them so you weren't munching on a whole broccoli stalk!

When all ingredients are fully cooked to your liking, throw it all into the skillet pan and thoroughly mix together.  The final touch is adding one can of cream of broccoli, one of cream of mushroom and a dash of the salt water you used to cook your noodles and broccoli.  Let the flavors combine and then serve it up with a sprinkle of your favorite cheese!!

This whole process takes no longer than 20 minutes, Rachel Ray thought she had found something with 30 minute meals-- please!!!

** I forgot my camera today but will post a pic of the beauty later!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

TRIPLE SALTED CARAMEL CAKE

I would like to start off by saying GOOOO COWBOYS!!! We beat the Skins last night- sigh.. so nice!

Now, back to the topic at hand-- I made this cake for my bday and have yet to put the recipe up... so here you go, I introduce to you, the TRIPLE SALTED CARAMEL CAKE!!  My friend Sara made this and referred me to this recipe They make cupcakes, but I was more in the mood for cake!  It's a bit overwhelming seeing it in recipe form but once you get started it turns out to be fairly simple!

Cake Batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
Cream butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until pale fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated.  Add vanilla.  Mix and scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each.
Bake for about 25 minutes. When done, transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes.

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick salted butter
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar 
In a saucepan, stir together granulated sugar and water.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color.  Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla, stirring until very smooth.  Let caramel cool for about 20 minutes, until it is just barely warm and still pourable.

In a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the caramel.  Beat on medium high speed until light and airy, and completely mixed (about 2 minutes).  Mixture should be ready to use without refrigeration.  If your caramel was too hot when added, it will cause your icing to be runny.  If this happens refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

Candied Salted Caramel Rounds
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup water
2-4 tablespoons of large-crystal sugar

Lay out a large piece of parchment on your work surface and spray with cooking oil (such as canola). Fill a large tub (or your sink) partially full of ice water.

Put sugar, salt and cold water in a heavy pan; stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat and bring syrup to a boil.  Lower heat slightly and swirl the pan once or twice as the syrup caramelizes so it will color evenly; do not stir.  When the caramel is deep amber, plunge the base of the pan into ice water for about 2 seconds to stop further cooking.

Working quickly, dip a spoon in the caramel and let it fall onto the parchment paper in a drizzle.  Move the spoon in a circular motion as the syrup falls from the spoon. Repeat 15 times.  When caramel has hardened (it will still be sticky) sprinkle on the large-crystal sugar.  Remove from paper and top the cake!  I had a a wee bit of a hard time with these -- Ry is more steady/gentle handed so he had to offer assistance! :) THANKS!


If you love or even like caramel highly recommend baking away!!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Weekend update

Hey there!! So after a fun filled weekend I thought I would update y'all on all the happenings!!

Friday night Ry and I ventured out to Annandale for dinner (thanks to Bibble and Brandon's recommendation).  We went to HONEY PIG!  It was AWESOME!! The best way to describe this place, if you have not heard the word, is a Japanese Steak House and Melting Pot had a baby!! Each table has its own grill to cook your food and they load you up on veggies and rice! Here are some pics from the night . . .



 
Saturday we headed down to the F-burg to watch Bryce play ball.  We treated ourselves to good ole pumpkin spice lattes :) YUMMM for the drive down! What could be better!
 

Bryce scored the only touchdown of the game-- don't worry the NFL will be calling him soon :)

It was so nice out when we got back we decided to sit outside, enjoy a beverage or two, and watch some college football!!  We ended the night at V's house for a housewarming/bday party extravaganza!! It was so much fun and great to meet new people!








Friday, September 23, 2011

4 things . .

1. Fall Sitcoms--so many of my favorites are starting back up and a few new ones I might just dabble with!! Here are a couple of my favs . . . What about y'all do you watch these?  What are your favs?

2. Thai Food-- for some reason this week every meal I have ate has some sort of Thai theme and shockingly enough I am not tired of it yet!! YUMM!

3.  My FEATHER!! Even though I've had it a while I've got lots of compliments from it this week  :) I'm going back to the beach in a week and will definitely add to my collection!!  My mom has one too!
4. BRIDESMAIDS the movie is out this week on DVD-- that movie is a down right HOOT!!!  Laughed til I cried in that one!! 

How was y'alls week??  What are y'all lovin this week?  I'll tell you one thing I am NOT loving is all this GOSH DARN RAIN-- GOO AWAYYY ALREADY!!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

That's what friends are for

This past weekend we visited the good ole state of Connecticut more specifically Newtown!!  It's a small little gem that is tucked away on the southwest tip of CT!  We went to celebrate the life of Dave's mom, Nance!  She was such a wonderful lady that truly touched each and every person she came in contact with.  She always put others before herself and was the first one to offer a listening ear, words of encouragement or to throw down with a good ole partaaay!! She definitely set the precendent on how I hope to carry out my life!  Even in her last days she was the one that was signing praises for how grateful she was of all she had seen and done, dancing in her wheel chair, and more importantly she was still comforting and taking care of the people she loved the most.  I hope that if ever faced with a tough situation I can be half as strong and brave as she was.  Please learn more about Nance and how she lived her life here.  This is a site that Dave put together to keep others in the loop on Nance's condition and also as an outlet for Nance to express her emotions and feelings to the ones she loved and cared for.


For most this would have been a day of mourning, I will not lie and say there were not many a tear shed BUT I will tell you that we honored her life with celebrations and stories, all of which bring a big smile and laughter to everyone's face!  You will be forever in our hearts Nance!!!