Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Holiday Spirit

Our halls are officially decked! And there are even some presents under the tree.  This year, I am on it. I even went shopping on Black Friday!



Isn't this ornament great?! Anyone who is expecting a Christmas gift from me can expect it to be monogrammed. I may have gone a little overboard on the personalization.

I had this gem awaiting me when I got home from work today! An early birthday gift from Cooper. What a thoughtful pup!


Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Weekend Wrap Up

Last weekend was the first in nearly two months where I was not: a) working b) traveling, or c) hosting visitors. It was great! We were able relax, get some things done around the house, and catch up with all of our local friends. I don't have any pictures of our get togethers because I was too busy enjoying myself and just hanging out.

Our whole group went to Taco Mamacita on Sullivan's Island on Saturday evening. I'm sure the poor waitress was overwhelmed but we were all pretty unimpressed with the over all experience. I've been there once before and it was better that time. Perhaps this was a fluke? Either way, in my opinion it doesn't even come close to Taco Boy. 



 On Sunday after church, we decided to try Wild Flour Pastry which we'd heard many good things about from our friends. It did not disappoint. The cinnamon rolls were amazing!




The bakery is located on Spring St. and was just as quaint and charming as I imagined. The staff was friendly and helpful. We came home with all of this:




Just to give some perspective those cinnamon rolls were as big as my head. No joke. And yes, we got 3 (at my insistence) and devoured every last morsel. Don't judge.

If you live in Charleston this is a must visit!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Domestic Me 3.0

Okay, so I haven't actually made this recipe yet. But it is high on my to-do list. Remember these?


Bread Pudding Pancakes from Southport Grocery & Cafe  in Chicago.

From their website:

Serves 6
Bread Pudding Pancakes
14 slices of firm white bread, crusts removed and cut into 1 inch squares
2 ½ cups milk
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 ¼  cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
Place bread in a large bowl.  Add milk.  Let bread soak for about 10 minutes until softened.  While bread is soaking, mix together in a small bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add flour mixture to the bread and gently fold until just about half incorporated.  Add eggs and vegetable oil.  Mix gently.
Melt butter in skillet.  Drop batter in 1/3 cup fulls.  Cook 3-4 minutes on each side.  Pancakes will have a moist bread pudding-like inside.
Serve pancakes topped with cinnamon sugar butter with a ramekin of vanilla custard sauce on the side.
 
Cinnamon Sugar Butter
½ pound unsalted butter, cold
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Melt ¼ pound of butter in a small saucepan; add salt, cinnamon and sugar.  Cook until the sugar is dissolved.   Add remaining ¼ pound of cold butter.  Whisk with hand mixer until creamy and fluffy.

Vanilla Custard Sauce
1 pint heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise and seeds scraped out
4 egg yolks, whisked
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Put heavy cream in a sauce pan.  Add the vanilla bean pod and seeds.  Bring to a simmer.  Add sugar to egg yolks and whisk until all there is no clumps.  Add ¼ cup of warm heavy cream mixture to egg yolk mixture and whisk immediately; this is called ‘tempering’.  Add the egg yolk mixture to the warm heavy cream.  Simmer while mixing with wooden spoon until thickened and coats the back of the spoon.
Chill over an ice bath.   


These are AMAZING! You need to make them. OR simply buy the mix here! Nothing beats the real thing (and when someone else is making it for you :)- so go to Southport Grocery next time you're in the Windy City!


Monday, November 14, 2011

Twi-hard

Yes, it's true, I LOVE all things Twilight and am extremely excited for this week's premiere of Breaking Dawn, my favorite book of the series.

 

In this installment we finally get to see Bella and Edward tie the knot. And subsequently, Bella give birth to a vampire baby! So much drama I can hardly stand it.


Will you be seeing Breaking Dawn this weekend?

Monday, November 7, 2011

Chicago Recap!

What a fabulous weekend we had in the Windy City! It was a whirlwind and we packed a lot of living into just a few days. We did some fun tourist activities, shopped, hung out, and ate some amazing food!


Our hosts, Ash & Brandon

The BEST breakfast I've had in a looooong time: Bread Pudding Pancakes. Seriously, I can't stop thinking about these!



Our other host, posing coyly in the background, Myles

Mark & Ash at the top of the Sears Tower

You'd be correct in assuming I would not walk out on to the ledge. I could literally feel the building swaying and it was crazy.


Board of trade




Italian dinner Friday night

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Anniversary (Almost)

It's hard to believe that it's almost been a year since our wedding. The time has truly flown by! To celebrate the occasion, we'll be visiting here:





And I absolutely cannot wait to see this lady!

Last visit to Chi-town

Ash's Charleston Visit

Enthusiastic tourists in Rome

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Moving On...



I am officially over the Kardashians. Kim's getting divorced, blah, blah, blah- is this truly surprising to anyone? To add insult to injury E! is playing the wedding special over and over!

On a fun note, we had LOTS of trick-or-treaters last night! They were very cute and enthusiastic- I loved it. Our candy is nearly all gone, which is for the best ;)

Now I'm looking forward to the next holiday, Thanksgiving. Even though I won't be able to make it home, we'll have our own celebration here in Charleston.


My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal?