What I’m Loving Wednesday 10.17.12

1. Dabo Swinney was outside the cafeteria at Blackbaud. I grabbed his bicep.

Just kidding, that’s a cardboard cutout. But I did grab his bicep.

2. Boding knows me too well. In the past 24 hours I have burned myself  3 times on a hot pan/the oven, ran smack dab into a bush, and shut my foot in the car door. I need to slow down.

3. This drink I had at The Macintosh last weekend. The Mex-ital Fizz: Campari, orange juice, elderflower, habanero, prosecco, Espolon rinse. Those bartenders are fantastic but should know by now that I am too clumsy for a martini glass.

4. While looking for decorations in Homegoods, I came across a display of Jewish goodies. Seriously, why was all this on sale?

I regret not buying um, all of it. My favorite part was their version of Candy Land – Kosherland. HA!

5. My breakfast for the past few days has been: 2 Van’s waffles topped with pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and maple syrup. Try this!

6. Amanda is my most Emoji-savvy friend. Look at her skills!

7. Some things never change.

I can’t stop laughing at that. 25 years later and I’m still posing. Will I be doing this with my cane at 80? You bet.

XO

I Think You And My Friends Should Hang Out On The Weekends

Bonus points for anyone who recognizes that title from a song…

Friday: Amanda and I got manicures at Studio Nail & Spa in Mt. Pleasant. I like this place a lot because it’s really clean and the employees are really nice. I left my nails painted in OPI’s “Your Web or Mine?”

That evening we visited Daryl, our favorite server at Hall’s. This man takes good care of us.

He gave us a random cookie & strawberry plate. He’s the sweetest!

Saturday morning Boding and I got breakfast paninis at Great Harvest. I always get the ham, egg, and Swiss.

Because I now carry around the Sriracha in my purse (not a joke), Boding added some to his sandwich and exclaimed, “Now I get why you put this on everything.”

Later at Target, I found Candy Corn M&Ms. These are SO good. They taste more like cake than candy corn though, which is fine by me. They might be my new favorite, or at least tied with pretzel M&Ms. Get some immediately.

Saturday night a few of us went to a friend’s house before going out. We found what appeared to be a torture chair…

…then were told it was actually an old dentist chair. So yeah, still a torture chair. However, we did have fun posing with it.

We finished up the night with an “Xtina” at The Macintosh. Jackson made this drink up for me a while back. It’s habanero-infused St. Germain, lime juice, agave, and soda water. Sometimes he replaces the St. Germain with ghost pepper-infused tequila, which is just as good.

On Sunday, Boding and I went to Second Sunday on King and ran into our best friend Nikki and her baby. We held him so she could shop, ha!

Boding wore a diaper bag!!

How cute is Liam?

Happy Monday!

The Weekend.

Since Thursday, Amanda and I were housesitting at her parents’ house. We cooked a ton of good food (lots of recipes coming!), ate a bunch of desserts, went out with friends, and enjoyed the glorious 80-degree weather.

Friday - Dinner at Next Door in Mt. Pleasant, then drinks downtown at The Macintosh and Hall’s.

Saturday - Healthy cookie baking…which ended up being our dinner. Twice.

More upper King bar hopping with friends.

Tree hugging. Kaye and I doing our usual tree pose in which she’s always in disco ball attire and I’m embracing the pastels. NYC fashion vs. CHS fashion. It’s quite different!

Sunday - Breakfast sandwiches: English  muffins, fried egg, pepper jack cheese, avocado, sriracha. Our mouths were on fire!

Tutti Frutti froyo! Cookies & Cream, White Chocolate, and Peanut Butter with M&Ms, Heath bar, and cookie dough bits.

Sunshine and sunset on the water.

Coming up this week:

• a Spicy White Bean & Chicken Chili recipe
• a  healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe (using chickpeas!)
• review of Next Door
• Clif MOJO bar giveaway!  

What I’m Loving Wednesday

1. Last Thursday, the Book Club girls met at my house to discuss Fifty Shades of Grey. Aside from discussion questions, I learned more about them than I anticipated. (We sort of played Never Have I Ever.) Pretty funny. Today we decided on our second book:

Another love story? Apparently! I wonder if it will pale in comparison to the raciness that is Fifty Shades…

2. My cousin is the cutest little nugget. When his quesadilla arrived at lunch, it was accompanied by a garnish of lettuce. He took one look at it and promptly asked me, “Teetee, do you want my salad?”

3. Rachel and I like to blame Blackbaud for a slight weight gain in the past year that we’ve worked together. In reality, it’s our own damn fault. We use any excuse to eat chocolate. Today, for instance, Rachel brought in pretzels. Hannah brought in chocolate. I declared that we would melt the chocolate to have something to dip our pretzels in. Hello.

In response to this behavior:

4. This conversation while Sarah and I drove over the bridge.

Me: Sarah, look at that sign.

Sarah: It’s a sign.

Me: Ugh, I know. We need help.

Sarah: No, it’s actually a sign. Literally.

5. My new favorite breakfast: toasted everything bagel thin, fried egg, Trader Joe’s spicy salsa, sliced avocado. Carbs, protein, healthy fats, flavor. Nothing is missing.

Make that! Thank me later!

Brunch at Carter’s Kitchen in I’On, Mt. Pleasant

This past Sunday, the lovely Sarah Jones of All Over It invited me join forces with her and review Carter’s Kitchen. Nestled in the I’On neighborhood, this charming little restaurant is a great spot for dining. My first impressions of the restaurant were how pretty it was inside and how welcoming the staff was. It was a beautiful day so we decided to sit on the porch and enjoy the sunshine.

Before we were seated, we ordered drinks from the bar. While waiting, I glanced over the menu and noticed one of my biggest pet peeves: the unnecessary apostrophe. Urrrgghhhh.

I let my pickiness for grammar go as soon as the bartender handed us the Bloody Marys.

The darker one to the left was made with a local product: the Charleston Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary mix. It’s thick and has a really nice kick to it. It made the second Bloody Mary taste watered down.

Then the ordering of multiple dishes began. We started with two recommendations from our server. Bruleed grapefruit with vanilla sugar:

This was as delicious as it was beautiful! The ratio of tart to sweet was perfect and I’m now inspired to make this at home.

Biscuit Sliders with country ham, bacon, sausage:

I had high hopes for these but the biscuits were very dry and the ham was extremely salty. The concept is cute though!

By this time, we were ready for round two: mimosas. We had a grapefruit and St. Germaine mimosa and a cranberry and Amaretto mimosa.They were both excellent. I now want only cranberry and Amaretto mimosas for brunch. See ya, OJ!

Out of all the entrees, my heart was set on the Seafood omelet with shrimp, crab, scallops, and lobster sauce with a side of grits and toast.

Both the texture and taste of the eggs made me question if they used eggs from a carton. Boo. The seafood stuff inside, however, was incredible. There was so much crab meat and the lobster sauce was divine. I’d eat this every weekend. The grits were fantastic – some of the best I’ve had in Charleston because of their perfect consistency.

We also tried the Orange-Vanilla French toast.

YUM! It had a slight hint of citrus and was perfectly crispy with a soft middle.

As odd as this sounds, one of my favorite parts of brunch was the home fries. They used red, white, purple, and sweet potatoes. So colorful and so tasty.

Carter’s Kitchen has really great brunch items at fair prices with an even charming atmosphere. I insist you sit on the porch! The food was prepared and plated well, aside from the dry biscuits and disappointing quality of eggs. My only gripe about our experience overall was that our server was inattentive and not very friendly. Maybe I should have given her one of my mimosas…

What’s your favorite brunch item? Do you prefer salty or sweet in terms of breakfast items?

Charleston friends: Where is your favorite spot for brunch?

NYC Day 3

On Sunday, Lucy and I went to brunch with Courtney, my friend from Charleston who moved up to the city a couple years ago. As of couple months ago, Courtney and her husband are Vegan, as is Lucy. Courtney found us a cute little Vegan brunch spot called Blossom. For being strictly Vegan, they had a menu full of delicious sounding meals. I opted for the French Toast with fresh fruit and tempeh bacon.

The French toast was crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. I was nervous to try the tempeh bacon, but I ended up liking it.

Both Lucy and Courtney had the Tofu Scramble  with sautéed onion, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and soy sausage.

I wish we had more Vegan restaurants in Charleston. There were a lot of menu items I’d like to try and ultimately experiment with in my kitchen. Maybe I’ll use the menu as inspiration. Thanks, Courtney, for picking out a great spot and meeting us! :)

We also took Courtney’s recommendation to walk through Chelsea Market and pick up a cherry cream scone at Amy’s Bread.

I had just eaten breakfast, but couldn’t resist digging into this soft, buttery scone. It was incredible. Scones aren’t my typical go-to baked good, but I’m so glad I listened to Courtney. The girl is smart. I want to make these at home, too!

Sunday evening, Ben and I had a really fun dinner at Mario Batali’s restaurant, Casa Mono. First, while waiting for a table, we had a glass of wine at Bar Jamon, which is adjacent to Casa Mono. We both had the Nita, a blend of Cariñena, Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. I liked it a lot.

Dinner was so exciting. We sat at the bar that overlooked the kitchen. Watching the chefs prepare everyone’s food was quite a show. They were quick, yet so particular about plating, and it showed in each dish.

Casa Mono is a Spanish tapas restaurant so we ordered several different plates.

Round 1:

Bacalao Croquetas with Orange Alioli

Razor Clams a la Plancha

Sepia with Salsa Verde

Of these three, I liked the croquetas best. They were glorified fish sticks – so light and the orange zest really added to it. The razor clams were garlicky and in a delicious olive oil. The sepia, a cuttlefish, had a chewy texture but were great.

Round 2:

Mussels with Cava and Chorizo - $15

Lobster with Spicy Sweet Potato and Agua de Coco

Seared scallops with a cherry parsnip puree

Each of these plates were amazing. I avoided the chorizo in the mussels and, even without it, the broth had so much flavor. The cherry parsnip puree with the scallops was one of the best flavors I’ve had in a while. I really enjoyed the fruit + seafood pairing. This was definitely a memorable dinner, both for the incredible food and the entertainment. I so badly wanted to jump over the counter into the kitchen with the chefs. Casa Mono is a must for your (and my!) next visit to NYC.

Dinner would not be complete without dessert. Both of us were in the mood for cookies, so we headed over to Momofuku Milk Bar. They have some crazy desserts, including cookies, pies, ice cream, truffles, milkshakes and more. We stuck with cookies and brought home 3 types:

• the famous Compost Cookie (pretzels, potato chips, coffee, oats, butterscotch, chocolate chips)
• Peanut Butter
• Blueberry & Cream (dried blueberries, milk crumbs, white chocolate)

The PB cookie was pretty standard, and while the Compost Cookie was good, it wasn’t as earth-shaking as the reviews I’d previously read. There weren’t any pretzels in it and it mostly tasted like coffee! I really liked, no loved, the Blueberry & Cream cookie.

What’s your favorite type of baked good?

Do you like tapas style restaurants?