Sunday Brunch - At Home

We thought about going out to brunch but the place we wanted to go doesn't open until 11:30 and by then half the day is over.  So, we decided, again, to have brunch at home.  Yum...Mimosas!!

I scrambled up some farm fresh eggs (that I get from a friend at work), hot Jimmy Dean Sausage, onion,  and bell pepper.  I topped that with pepper jack cheese.  I found some little potatoes that Kirby had bought and chopped them up and then fried them with onion (Like my moma used to do). Some toast and the mimosa and it was pure success! 

Oh, and we had Les Paul and Mary Ford join us.  I especially loved "Tennessee Waltz" and my all time favorite "Mockingbird Hill". We found ourselves reminiscing about being eight years old and how we both were in love with our 3rd grade teachers.  I wonder if that is common........

Tilt Shift

I used an online photo tool on this picture.  It is called Tilt Shift and it really is pretty fun.

Sewee Shell Mound

Jake (my dog) and I visited Sewee Shell Mound (or Ring) on Sunday.  It was a warm and dry day so we set off for the 15 minute drive to the Francis Marion National Forest.  Finding streets and roads in South Carolina can be a challenge if you were not born and raised here so of course I took the wrong road but somehow it got me there anyway.  I did notice that one of the roads they showed on the map was closed and even if it was open you wouldn't be able to drive it even with a 4-wheeler - it was totally grown up with trees in it!

The trail immediately leads to the dense brown winter woods.  I missed the green of summer but not the bugs of summer so winter really is a good time for the forests.  Jake enjoyed being off leash as there were no others on the trail.  He instinctively knew to stay on the trail which he said was littered with wonderful smells.

With all the brown, this palmetto gave a little relief, but doesn't it look kind of lonely all by itself?

Suddenly we were in a small area that was totally pine trees and it looked like an accumulation of pine needles from the centuries.  I loved it.  Enlarge the picture to enjoy it.

'Notice' that the sign refers to 'Prehistoric' objects.  That's right!  The ruins are believed to be over 4,000 years old!

 This is the Shell Ring or Shell Mound which is believed to have hosted ceremonies for the ancient Indians.

After the woods we came out to a huge marsh.  Why do I always seem to time it at low tide?

 Check it out sometime.  (If you live in the area of course)  We both enjoyed it very much.  But keep in mind when you do go that there is NO bathroom!!

Banana Cake with Pale Ale and Cream Cheese Frosting

As usual, we didn't eat the bananas.  So there I was with 4 ripe bananas and my daughter and her husband coming to dinner.  I needed to make a dessert so of course I went online in search of the perfect Banana Cake recipe.  I ended up at Tasty Kitchen and found a great recipe!  What makes it so good is the ALE!  Yes, ale in the cake.  It makes it so rich and moist and you don't taste the ale...just the yum!

Of course I changed it just a bit but I have to give credit where credit is due - I didn't make this up!  And the good part is that it is the best banana cake ever! Try it next time you buy too many bananas and don't eat them! 

2 sticks of butter
1 cup Pale Ale
4-5 very ripe bananas
2 cups of sugar, divided
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt


1 stick butter, softened
1 8-oz block of cream cheese, softened
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla

 

Preheat your oven to 350.  In a saucepan combine the 2 sticks of butter and 1 cup of ale over low heat and bring to a simmer.  

In the meantime thoroughly mash, with a fork, bananas with 1/3 cup of sugar.  When the butter/ale mixture has simmered 1 minute, remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.  Stir in banana mixture.  

In a bowl combine the remaining 1 2/3 cups of sugar with the two eggs and vanilla.  With the mixer on low slowly pour in the butter/ale/banana mixture to help temper everything together.  Continue mixing for another 2 minutes.

 

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; add to the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Pour batter into a 9x13 inch pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes (test with a toothpick for doneness).

For the frosting simply cream together the softened stick of butter and softened cream cheese, then add the vanilla.  Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.  Spread on the cake and decorate with chopped walnuts if desired.

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It's All About the Food!

Sunday morning.  Ah, food!  Heart Attack food at it's best!  We love brunch out but today it was just too cold to even think of leaving the house so we decided to do it up ourselves.  Kirby did his homemade biscuits, we had thick applewood smoked bacon and TUPELO Honey (clickfor more information) - the best honey in the world.  I grew up on honey butter and biscuits but my honeybutter is mostly honey.  I hate that stuff that is butter with a hint of honey.  The problem with my honeybutter is that it never matches up with the biscuit.  You eat another bicuit because you still have honeybutter left but then before the biscuit is gone, you run out of honeybutter so you mix up some more but now you run out of biscuit again and still have honeybutter left and so on and so on until you have eaten way too much!

Kirby also had farm fresh eggs with his breakfast but I wanted to make sure I had room for lots and lots of biscuits so I passed on the eggs.  (I have a friend at work who sells me her fresh eggs!  What a world of difference from our old store-bought eggs!)

A heart attack in the making....I know, but we don't do it very often so I think it is OK.  Ah, but that bacon was good!

How Do You Make the PERFECT Caesar Salad??

Years and years ago, Kirby and I determined to make the best Caesar Salad....period.  We experimented and experimented - it was fun - we got to eat our experiments.  Finally we came up with what we thought was the very best mix of traditional ingredients.  We have made it for years.  We have shared it with anyone who wanted it.  We try to eat it at least once every week or two.  We LOVE it!  It is full of garlic and we don't use croutons....too many carbs for the times we were on carb free diets!

You know how sometimes you just always make things the same way over and over and kind of wonder "if I left our such and such, would it still be OK?".  Well, tonight I went to make our famous salad and, "Oh, my goodness, there is not another Anchovy Paste in the pantry!!!"  What will I do??  I decided to make it anyway and we would see if we really and truly needed the anchovy paste.  I mean, we have been making it this way for years...maybe we don't really even need the anchovy paste which turns people off, anyway.

You NEED the anchovy paste!!  Trust me, it is a small but important part of the recipe!  Don't leave it out and then wonder why the recipe wasn't that good!  So, here it is!  Our famous Caesar Salad!  Enjoy!  (You won't notice the anchovy when it is there - you will notice it NOT BEING there!)

1 head of Romaine lettuce, washed and dried - a spinner works best
1/3 Cup Olive oil
1 T. Lemon juice
1 T. Minced garlic
1 tsp. Anchovy paste
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
 1/3 - 1/2 C. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Break the lettuce into small bite size pieces.
Mix the next 7 ingredients well in a bowl with a whip. I heaped everything so don't scrimp.
Pour the dressing over the lettuce and then toss the cheese in. 

Serve immediately!  And make sure everyone eats some - the garlic is great!

Sun Room

Update on the Sun Room.  Kirby has been working away on it each day.  There is so much to do for such a small room it is amazing to me.  But as you can see, the windows are trimed, the door is installed with hardware, the baseboards are in, the slider is out and the STOVE is in!  Yea!

We managed to install a wood burning stove to ward of the freezing cold of winter during the warmest winter in recent history!  Now who could have timed this better?  I also got Kirby a heated jacket for Christmas.  I guess I am responsible for the warm winter we are having.  It is 70 outside right now at 3:30 PM.

The stove isn't really fully installed yet as it still doesn't go through the roof.  It is a small one but for heaven's sake, we are in SOUTH Carolina, we shouldn't need much!  And this year we don't really need any!  It is just funny to me!

Click HERE to see the last picture of the sun room to compare.

Too Many Blogs

Wow, I just realized that I haven't posted on this blog is quite a while.  I have posted to my other BLOG - My View of Charleston and the Lowcountry.  You can click on that and check it out.  I have some nice wildlife pictures there.

Crock Pot Cheesy Potato and Broccoli Soup

It is a cold winter day in Charleston - it is 50 degrees at supper time so what could be better than a hot bowl of homemade soup?  My picture does not do this recipe justice!  This is a great soup that Kirby didn't even add Tabasco to - which he usually does!  I just found this today in my January issue of Southern Living - which is a great source of delicious recipes.  I added just a little bit of leftover ham and after serving I added freshly grated pepper.  It really is very easy and it uses the slow cooker which is wonderful!

• 2 T butter
• ½ C chopped onion
• 2 T flour
• 2 – 14.5 oz cans chicken broth
• 2 C peeled and diced red potatoes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 C broccoli, chopped floret and thinly sliced stems
• 1 – 12 oz can evaporated milk
• 12 oz sharp white cheddar, grated (about 3 cups)

1. In a large skillet over med high heat, melt butter. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until tender and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in flour and cook, stirring for 30 seconds longer.  Gradually whisk in 1 can broth and stir until simmering and thickened.
2. Transfer onion mixture to slow cooker.  Add remaining can broth and potatoes, stirring to combine.  Cover and cook on high setting for 2 hours or until starting to simmer.
3. Stir in broccoli and evaporated milk.  Cover and cook 30 minutes linger or until broccoli is tender.
4. Add cheese and stir until melted.

Christmas Morning - 2011

I am not sure I need to write anything here! As is evidenced - we had a great time!