Favorite Single Meal

There are times like my last post, The Tale of the Mailbox Lizards, that I hate being single. It would be easier to be able to leave the reptile trapping up to someone else. But there are other times that I get to enjoy my "secret single behavior." In one episode of Sex and the City, the girl's "secret single behavior" is exposed. Miranda liked to watch infomercials while lathering her hands in Vaseline, Charlotte stares at her pores in a magnifying mirror, and Carrie eats stacks of saltines with grape jelly while standing in her kitchen reading the latest issue of Vogue.




I recently had a conversation with a married friend that she sometimes misses her "single dinners." She would eat veggie chicken nuggets, frozen veggies, and mac and cheese. My own favorite single meal is really simple: plain noodles with olive oil, salt/pepper, and basil. Sometimes I add other spices, cheese, spinach, or tomatoes if I'm in the mood. But other times, it's just the olive oil and salt and pepper. It's so easy and hits the spot every time.

I know I'm not alone in my secret single behavior...I found a few articles on the same subject!

And here are some other single eating ideas on Stone Soup.

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

I needed to do a lot of things after work today. But what did I do? Sat on the couch and watched Paula Deen! She made me hungry with her potato salad and other buttery goodness.


I’m on a mission of cleaning out my already bare pantry this week. I'm trying to use up what I have. Tonight, I used some sandwich thins, pizza sauce, cheese, and roasted red peppers to make these little pizzas. I was skeptical about the sandwich thins...they make a less than stellar grilled cheese. But worked out fine for my "clean out the pantry pizza!"

I think Paula would have been proud!

Favorite Sides for Thanksgiving

I made two of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes for our Practice Thanksgiving dinner last weekend. So I thought I would share the love and post the recipe for anyone that may be interested. These aren't secret family recipes, I'm sure they probably came out of Southern Living over the years.

For as long as I can remember, this Sweet Potato Casserole has been a staple on my family's Thanksgiving menu. I saw the exact recipe on Southern Gent's blog so it's definitely no secret! It's creamy, it's crunchy, and it's sweet. It's DELICIOUS. It's by far my favorite Thanksgiving dish.

Sweet Potato Casserole:

3 cups sweet potatoes (mashed)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/3 stick butter or margarine

1/2 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together and put in a casserole dish.

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/3 stick butter or margarine

1 cup chopped nuts (pecans)

Mix these ingredients together and put on top. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes.

This Cranberry Relish side is relatively new to my family's menu. My mom started making it a few years ago, and now she can't make enough. It's great on Thanksgiving Day, but even better spread on a sandwich made with mayo and leftover turkey.

Fresh Cranberry Relish:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 12 oz. package fresh cranberries, finely chopped
2 cups fresh raspberries or 1 package of frozen, drained (I use the frozen ones)
2 medium tart apples, diced (not too fine - I use granny smith apples)


Combine sugar, marmalade and lemon juice. Add cranberries and apples. Fold in raspberries very gently and chill overnight.







YUM!!! Can't wait for my second helping of these two on Thursday!

Southern Eating Frenzy

Whenever I take a weekend trip, it takes a few days to get back to blogging! I had a great weekend in SC and as usual, the highlights are all about the food....

First, if you ever find yourself in Columbia around a mealtime, get yourself to Pawley's Front Porch IMMEDIATELY. I have to say that I'm kind of glad that this place wasn't open when I was in college, cause I would have eaten here way too much and gained 100 pounds or so. I started with some fried pickles. mmmmmmmm. This was a tough decision as the fried green tomato appetizer looked divine. I choose the Isle of Palm Burger which had a pimento cheese spread on it. double mmmmmmm. I got the sweet potato fries as the side (trying to be healthier, but probably doesn't really matter at this point.) Everything was delicious! We scored a table outside and had great service. Man, I miss the south. Pawley's definitely earns a 5 on my Sweet Tea Scale.

At our office holiday party last year, I won a lobster dinner for 2 from Legal Sea Foods. Initially, I thought it was a regular ole restaurant gift certificate. But it was a mail order type thing. I got 2 live lobsters, clam chowder, crab cakes and boston cream pie. I don't think I've ever eaten lobster like this and definitely have never tried to cook live ones. Needless to say I was a little intimidated by this whole thing. Luckily, I had a partner in crime that was up for the challenge. I didn't have to touch them. I just watched and took some pics. Again- this was delicious! The portion sizes were perfect and it tasted great. If you ever need a good gift idea, I highly recommend it.

Next up: Brunch! I met a college friend at Di Prato's for a lovely brunch. I got the special of the day- banana pancakes with pecans and my friend got the eggs benedict and we shared. It was so good! Another 5 on the Sweet Tea Scale. I'm giving those out left and right these days, maybe I'm just getting really good at picking places! Just kidding, I had nothing to do with either of these Columbia gems, but am glad the people I know have excellent taste!

It was nice to get away and catch up with people I don't get to see regularly. An all around great start to the summer ahead! That is, besides the whole dropping my cell phone in the toilet thing. Yep, it fell right out of my pocket and in to the John. May it rest in peace. So if you've tried to get in touch with me in the last few days, this is my excuse!

Ray's the Steaks

It's been quite a while since I've reviewed anything on the ole Sweet Tea Scale! Last fall, (and before President Obama made it even more famous) I told you about my Ray's Hell Burger experience. So good.

The same owner opened Ray's the Steaks before the burger joint and I've been wanting to try it forever. I've heard really good things.

The time finally came and let's just say that Ray's the Steaks deserves a big fat 5 on the Sweet Tea Scale! The food was tasty, reasonably priced, and we had good service. I had the special which was a generous portion of their well-seasoned hanger steak, and included an appetizer (I opted for the delicious crab bisque), sides (all of the steaks come with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach) and dessert (my choice was a chocolate mousse) for only $25.

One caveat: this place fills up fast and just started taking a limited number of reservations. The wait is known to be long if you don't have a reservation. So we took a 5:30 reservation!!!

Next up: Ray's the Catch!

Front Porch Friday

A while back I blogged about wanting to explore my domestic goddess side. Well- I kinda did! In February, I took a the Wilton Cake Decorating Class at Michael's. I surprised myself with the outcome of my cake in the final class this past week! It's not the best picture b/c it's from my phone. And I know it's a little cluttered- as my mom so tactfully pointed out. But I was practicing all the different things we had learned- writing, shell border on the bottom, drop flowers on the sides, roses (which are HARD), sweet peas, stems and leaves.

(Not the best picture- it's from my phone.)

I'm planning to go ahead and start the second course in March. I lucked out because Michael's offered half off of the class price in February and March! Next stop: Ace of Cakes!!!

A Path Less Travelled – At Least by this Floridian

Guest Blog by Shira Gitomer

For those of you who don’t know, Becky is from Anderson, South Carolina home to a yearly chili cook off and the jockey lot (a well known local mecca of sorts). While some of you may know of it, my guess is most don’t, which would be of no surprise since the population of Anderson is only 25,500 – smaller than most cities I have ever been to yet still larger than the country of Monaco. While I consider myself a cultured individual, travelling around the world since I was five, spending months abroad in China, Australia, and Kenya and even a small Navajo village in Arizona nothing would have truly prepared me for Anderson, South Carolina.

After a mere six hours of highway hell, Becky and I finally arrived in South Carolina. I immediately perked up trying to take in everything I could. Within 5 minutes I was inundated with “Jesus Saves” signs, cigarette smoke, and huge billboards advertising foods I had never heard of. Becky laughed as she explained what boiled peanuts were, sweet potato pie, and the 1,001 things one can do with a peach. Next, we drove by what looked like a enormous butt, fortunately I was mistaken it was a water tower made to look like a huge peach – yeah I know it was a bit odd and reminded me of the world’s largest frying pan in Long Beach, Washington. Apparently I am not the only one that has thought this thing looked like a butt check this website out http://www.pickyourown.org/SCgiantpeach.htm.

After about two hours of observing and commenting on everything we passed, we finally turned off the highway. I was not really sure what to expect at this point, thus far South Carolina had lived up to every stereotype and expectation I had. As we drove down what ended up being one of the main roads in Anderson I saw strip mall after strip mall – which I can’t really comment on considering my home city of Tampa is littered with them. Finally, we pulled off the main road onto the side streets leading to Becky’s mom and step dad’s house. The side streets were a bit rugged at least pavement wise but the houses were cute, all with their own character and what seemed small but as I soon learned were deceptively large.

We finally pulled into Becky’s parents’ driveway and I was ready for a nap. When I woke from my nap we sat down for what I was told was a typical southern meal. I mean, I love food but this was out of control – there was more food on the table then some countries consume in a month. In an effort to grasp the full experience, I held nothing back and dove right in. I started with a pasta chicken dish, cheese biscuits (made from scratch), salad, and ham. Feeling as if my top button was about to burst I took one for the team and re-filled my plate. If I was going to drive all the way to South Carolina I was determined to experience the stereotypical southern cuisine.

The next morning I woke up to a Valentine’s Day gift courtesy of Becky’s mom and a cup of oatmeal at my seat – I was starting to get use to this southern hospitality. The oatmeal had been stewing all night and was topped with sugar, apples, and walnuts. I ate it all and then finished off what Becky had left – this became a pretty common theme throughout the weekend. After breakfast I figured it was time for me to get outside and try and burn off the excessive amount of calories that had entered my body.

As soon as I returned we headed out on the town. Of course our first stop was food – I think South Carolina should rewrite their motto from “while I breathe, I hope” to “while I breathe, I hope to eat as much as I possibly can.” We had lunch at a hometown favorite, Skin’s Hotdogs. After lunch, we visited a number of different local shops each of which Becky’s mom knew and talked to at least one person – oh the joys of insanely small towns. In each of the stores we were greeted the same way “hey y’all, how’re you doin’, let me know if I can help you” – kind of weird to have such friendly people surrounding you with such funny accents. After our outing we returned home to relax a bit before our next eating frenzy.

But just when I thought I would have time to make room for the next meal Becky’s step dad brought home the infamous boiled peanuts. As they were plopped on the table - I observed how others around me were eating them – finally it was my turn. I sucked out the juice before cracking it open and shoveled out the peanuts with my fingers (that was actual my little idea) – Becky made fun of me. They basically taste like wet red beans with salt – I know, I know sounds nasty but actually not that bad.

After a 30 minute rest from the wet beans we sat down for another amazing meal consisting of pork tenderloin, sweet potatoes, mac n cheese (basically just cheese), cabbage, and cheesy/bacon cornbread. The meal was topped off with a delicious homemade upside-down apple pie baked by Becky's mom's friend. Umm do I need to say more?!!

Later that night we ventured into “downtown,” I say this timidly only because it consisted of two blocks of soon to be revitalized buildings and really when I say buildings I mean townhouse looking things – others may describe this as cute or quaint.

We meet up with some of Becky’s friends and ended up at a jazz club in “downtown”. Now this was a pleasant surprise, although I was shocked by the $10 cover – I thought things were cheap in South Carolina but I guess since the club seemed like a transplant they didn’t know better either. We had a good night and were even serenaded by a ridiculous drunk guy that I am pretty sure was missing a tooth or two.

The next morning I rolled out of bed (pretty literally now since I had consumed more food than a person should really eat in a month) and started to get ready for church. That is right – this Jew took the Anderson Methodist church by storm and best yet I pulled of the Christian look pretty well – no one called me out – even though it was obvious I had no idea what was going on. While the service was in English (as opposed to Hebrew like I was used to) I had no idea how to read the hymns and the pastor keep making us stand up and down – rather annoying. The only saving grace was the amazing choir and Becky’s mom sang a duet. Sadly enough this newly inducted southerner couldn’t stop thinking about lunch.

Luckily for me Becky’s mom had lunch ready when we returned home. Just a light meal this time – roast beef, carrots & green beans with bacon, potatoes, brown rice, squash casserole, and rolls. Gosh was I going to miss eating like a queen. I wondered exactly how it was going to be to go back to my life of lean cuisines and McDonald's. Just as I started to get worried Becky’s mom start divvying up the food for us to take home. Yay! Left over for a week – at least.

Just when I thought our adventure was coming to a close, Becky and I got in the car and drove about 30mins to her dad’s. I thought I was already in a remote rural country area but apparently I was mistaken. Only now was I experiencing the rural countryside of Anderson. We drove by tiny houses on huge plots of land, some well kept and others left to be desired. We even passed a house with at least 15 broken down cars in the front yard. Oh and a grocery store called the Piggly-Wiggly – now seriously how could you ever shop there. I could only picture that one day this rural countryside would be “hip” welcoming bars, restaurants, and cafes – but for now this vast rural landscape was only speckled with trash, bad roads, nice people, and what seemed like a simple life whose residents were a bit suspicious of strangers.

You would not even guess what was waiting when we returned home – nothing else but dinner! In an effort to wane me off the exorbitant amount of food I was so accustomed to consuming, Becky’s mom prepared a smaller but just as fulfilling meal of chicken salad sandwiches and potato soup. After dinner we packed up and got ready for our early morning departure.

Anderson, South Carolina was great, Becky’s family and friends showed me what real southern hospitality was and hopefully my Yankee ways didn’t cause any issues. If they did they were too polite to let me know – I guess we will see if I am ever invited back! Most importantly I want to thank everyone (especially Becky) who drove me around, answered all my stupid questions, laughed at the ridiculous nature of my comments, and joined me in having a great time.

About Me

I'm caving. There's a "tag" thing going around Facebook to list 25 random things about yourself. So here it is....all you ever wanted to know about me, plus a few things you probably don't care about!


1. I LOVED Mr. Rogers as a child and believe I'm a better neighbor for it!
2. I Google everything.
3. I could be okay with wearing pearls everyday.
4. My favorite food is definitely fresh tomatoes.
5. The smell of dry erase markers makes me think of Kindergarten.
6. I attended an all-women's college for 4 years and survived.
7. I have never traveled outside the US, and really hope to someday.
8. I think I've seen every episode of the Cosby Show.
9. I had no pain after having all 4 wisdom teeth removed and functioned normally the next day.
10. I worked at a peach orchard for 3 summers and used to know the names of about 30 types of peaches.
11. Because I worked at a peach orchard, I refuse to eat store bought peaches. They're just gross.
12. I don't really like those mass holiday text messages.
13. I dream of having my own personal masseuse.
14. I really, really, really want a puppy.
15. I miss the south in a bad way.
16. I'm actually having fun being single.
17. I am a registered lobbyist.
18. I HATE hearing people chew or eat. It drives me nuts for some reason. I used to get up earlier than my sister so I didn't have to listen to her crunch on her cereal in the mornings.
19. I am still friends with my freshman year college roommate and have learned that this is very rare!
20. I won my fantasy football league this past year!
21. The Braves are my favorite team ever.
22. I have one sister, 2 stepsisters, and 3 stepbrothers.
23. You can find me on facebook, twitter, gchat, aim, goodreads, linkedin, and blogger!!!
24. I heart my TiVo.
25. I've (unfortunately) had to wear glasses since 1st grade.

Comfort Food

Last week was a big week. My parents were visiting for the Inauguration and we stayed busy! The feature of the week around my house was my mom's cooking. She's a true southern cook and no matter how many roommates and friends were around to eat with us, we never ran out of food. And as the week went on and the word got out, the fuller our dinning room became!



Here's a sampling of why our tummies were so happy all last week!


Monday
Breakfast- Eggs, Bacon, Grits, Toast
Lunch- Homemade Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Dinner- Spinach and Feta stuffed Chicken, Rice, Salad, cornbread

Tuesday
Breakfast- Oatmeal (This is a new favorite recipe of my mom's. You cook the oatmeal overnight in a crockpot with apple juice and add walnuts, apples, and cinnamon in the morning.)
Dinner- Homemade Potato Soup, side of sauteed candied sweet potatoes

Wednesday
Dinner- Homemade Chicken and Dumplins

Thursday
Dinner- Roast Beef, Carrots, Potatoes, Rice-a-roni, salad, homemade cheese biscuits

Friday
Dinner- Shrimp and Grits, Asparagus, Salad, bread, Cantelope, Chinese doughnuts


I'm amazed that something so natural to me growing up, like eating this type of homemade food, is not so natural for other people! The question kept coming up- "Becky, how are you not fat if you ate like this all of your life?"

It's an interesting question because ironically enough, I didn't start gaining weight until I moved to DC and started eating sushi, veggie burgers, and hummus, and drinking diet coke. How does this make any sense???



My guess is for one, we never had soda growing up. I only drank sweet tea. I think diet drinks make you fat. Plus, tea is just flavored water, right? The next reason may be that the rich southern food actually satisfies me, so I never snacked in between meals.



So as I plan to have a re-do of my New Year, I'm thinking of scratching all the healthy eating crap, and going back to my roots.

Happy 2009!

I love those year in review segments about what's happened in the past year. It's so interesting to me to look back at all of the captions and stories that captivated us.

I'm not going to lie, I've been on the fence about 2008. There were some good times- a new job, celebrating my sister's wedding, and the election going my way to name a few. And there were some not so good times. The not so good times opened my eyes and helped me grow as a person. Hopefully resulting in me be happier, healthier and more fulfilled.

If I learned anything last year it's to BE TRUE TO YOURSELF. This is a mantra my mom has repeatedly preached to me over the years. I thought I did a pretty good job at this. But it took a heart breaking experience to teach me the lesson the hard way. I'm looking forward to a fresh start and renewed spirit in 2009.

Like most of the rest of the world, I'd love to get in shape, loose some weight, and be more organized in the new year. But I'm well aware of the slim chances that all of that will actually happen.

So here are some a few things I'm looking forward to this coming month:

TV- Big Love- Season 3 begins January 18th. This show was an unfortunate victim of last year's writer strike. It's finally baaaaack!!!

Inauguration Day- January 20th
It's going to be an epic and historical day and the beginning of a new political era for our country. It's going to be a crazy, insane, hectic, crowded city. But I wouldn't be anywhere else but DC celebrating and experiencing this occasion. I have tickets to the South Carolina State Society Inaugural Ball and am soooo looking forward to it!






One more thing....It came to my attention that a few of my non-southern friends (bless their hearts) haven't heard of eating collards and black-eyed peas on New Year's for good luck. A friend saw collards in my fridge yesterday and said, "what are these plants doing in your fridge?" So it's my job to inform anyone else that may not know of this southern tradition. There's a southern saying "Eat poor on New Year's, eat fat the rest of the year." So you're supposed to eat black-eyed peas and collard greens for good luck and wealth.

I'll have plenty of leftovers if anyone wants to partake!

Sweet Tea Withdrawal

What a week! It's hard to believe that everything started a week ago when I drove down to SC and started to help with last minute wedding details. I won't go on and on about it (all we've been doing is talking and reflecting about the wedding since the moment it ended!) But basically everything was BEAUTIFUL and was so much fun. My mom truly outdid herself doing the flowers herself, making the flower girl dresses, etc. My sister was a gorgeous bride and seemed to have the time of her life. I cannot wait to see the pictures!

I'm already missing home though! I enjoyed seeing lots of family and old friends and enjoying everything else that I miss about home... cheaper gas, good food, and southern hospitality! I got to stop at the peach orchard I worked at during college and am enjoying some delicious SC peaches! My grandfather sent me home with an abundance of his home grown tomatoes. My mom packed up some other fresh veggies and all the fixins for some vegetable soup. I piled everything in a big 'ole pot and made more soup than I can possibly eat! But it hit the spot and was perfect comfort food.

I'm not really sure what to do with myself now that the wedding projects are finished and the boyfriend has left town! It definitely feels like the summer is winding down. I have lots of reading I want to catch up on and hope to enjoy the rest of the Olympics. I'm amazed at watching Michael Phelps!