We All Know The Good Spots

We hear about them, see them featured in articles and every so often we get to experience them.

I'm talking about the best spots to eat in town. 

 I finally had my own experience at one of the best. I had the pleasure of meeting some family at The Drip in Five Points this morning.

 I walked in, Daisy in tow and was greated by friendly faces and some cool jazz. The place was comfortable and perfect for a relaxed get-to-gether.

Upon a quick review of the menu, I spotted a prosciutto, brie and egg biscuit with a fig jam. Hello! That's four of my favorite things. The only hang up was...uhm, I don't like biscuits.

 Yup, you read that right, I-don't-like-biscuits. 

I asked if I could sub-it-out and was sort of let down that I couldn't, even though I understood why. I ordered it anyway. 

When it came, I quickly inhaled it. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed the life long dreaded pastry.  And I might even say that they have turned this girl into a biscuit eater. Ok, maybe I won't be eating them everywhere, but I'll enjoy a few more there along with another giant coffee.

The Wheels Are Turning

  It's not quite January but I am already plotting how I'm going to tackle this springs garden. This will be my first early garden so It should be eventful.

  I am hoping to apply what I learned from the summer garden, but apparently this past summer was out-of-the-normal for gardens. This is just the thing that would come my way. I always seen to try a first when everything is all out-of-whack. Technically I think it might actually be a good thing. I mean the more hurdles that are tossed my way just forces me to learn even more.

Cross Pollinated Cucumber

  A few things I learned last year are not to plant some plants by others or they will cross pollinate. For
example; don't plant cucumbers by zucchini.You will get these funny gourd looking cucumbers.
Another tips is to make sure to net your berries or they will be swallowed by the birds.
I also opted not to make raised beds and that will not be happening again.

Beautiful Raised beds a River Banks Zoo

 Being that we have fresh ground to work with, we have a few big projects ahead of us. One being the beds. I must work on that shortly or I might miss my window for planting. I'm such a procrastinator about the things that I think won't take that long.

I feel like I already have a jump on the planning though. I have my seed source ordered, my garden mapped (mostly) and a watering system plotted.



I actually think I might pull out a calender and write out my plan. Go me! That is definitely a first. Here's to getting organized.

A few fun things to look forward to;

11 January Seed Swap at  701 Whaley 10:30-1:00

Smokin at the Farmers Market
“Commissioners Cup”
BBQ Cook Off and Festivalsanctioned by the Southern BBQ Network (SBN)
March 21 & 22 

State Farmers Market

Gluten Me Please

I have heard so many people use the term gluten. I see it on labels, in adds and pretty much anywhere I grab a quick bite.

 Many people have explained what it is to me. They go into great detail about the wheat and process that expands it's reach. So I know what it is, technically. But I never really understood WHAT it was. That was until I happened across a show that said it so plainly that it finally clicked.

It is literally in almost every processed product we, as American's create. Y'all I was shocked to learn that it's even in the glue on envelopes! Envelopes, really?

Here's a quick snippet of the show and all the crazy places you can find it.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday My sister- in-law asked me to make a gluten free stuffing. I have been fortunate enough to not have any food allergies, so shopping with such tight restrictions was something new to me.

I headed to Whole Foods Crosshills knowing they would take me by the hand, and walk me through the madness of products.

 With all the base products in hand, I made my way through checkout confident I could actually pull this off.

I have bee told gluten free breads can be dry and quite bland. To assure this didn't happen with the stuffing, I made two.

Yup, and Im glad I did because the recipe I used really needed some tweaking to get a nice flavor and texture.

Here is what I did ~

wholefoods sandwich bread to make the croutons. Just cut them in squares and baked until brown. Then sautéed onions, shallot, celery and mushrooms. Added salt, sage and thyme and 1/2 cup white wine. Simmered down then added the mixture to the croutons with chicken stock (g free of course) until moist then baked about 20 mins on 325.

Upon my taste test, I decided it needed more moisture so I added two medium eggs to the mixture before baking.

We Are In!!

These last few weeks have been really fun, but a lot of physical labor. We managed to close on the HUD home we purchased, gut it, repair it and finally refinish everything.

 This was such an amazing adventure that I think everyone should take part in at least once. Even if it's just heading over to Habitat For Humanity and volunteering for a home build. Do it. There comes an amazing joy from building something out of nothing and doing it with people that have the same heartfelt intentions.
We started with uncertainties that slowly evolved into a great plan. Finding a house is no small task.  Finding a house you can make a home when you only have forty-five days is crazy. Especially when you need to tear out the floors, fix a joist (is that what it's even called?), seal windows and brick cracks and the other five hundred items.

I am not a contractor. I don't even know what the real difference is between a "driver" and a "drill", but together with our family we made a home.

  Please don't think we did this elaborate remodel with high end anything because that is not the case. We kept it simple. We shopped around for all our materials, opted to "refinish" cabinetry and tried to reuse as much as we could. I really tried to shop local during this process, but sadly we were met with some poor customer service and prices outside of our budget.

So, Yes, Home Depot was our friend and I have a new found respect for men shoppers.
You know how people always say men and women are so different? I never really thought that until the guys sent me to the big box store for some additional supplies. Clearly whoever setup Home Depot was a man because each time my common sense would kick in on where something would be located, it was met with that big "whaawaa whaa" sound.  Now I understand how my hubs feels in the grocery store. I think I'll let him off the hook for now on.

Speaking of shopping, our food intake during this time has been horrid! I mean, I have eaten more fast food in the past two weeks than I have all year!
This has left me feeling so gross. I'm ashamed to admit it but, I was in no way prepared for this move food wise.
Some things I wish I would have done to prep;
1) Have easy freezer ready meals on hand. ( That I  had made ahead of time )
2) Not have packed my crock-pot
3) Moved the fridge and pantry first, not last

All in all the move has gone pretty well. We are in, still unpacking and trying to rid our non-essential "stuff". There are random item strung from the front yard, through the house and into the backyard. It will take time to manage the madness but we will get there.
 Thank you to all that made this happen for us. We couldn't have done it without you.

Here are a few pics of before and after.


Before

When we ripped u the carpet, this is what we found.

Random wall shelving unit removed!

Water Damage

A few Termites! Thank god for bonding.

Deck needed steps

And Then there was After

Tiny kitchen, But I love it!~

I Will Eat You, Just Not This Time

I was informed that the Whaley Street Market now has a rabbit vendor. I was very excited to learn this since I had been looking for an alternative to the everyday chicken. I thought, This would be perfect, so I headed on down to snatched one up. I wasn't really sure as to how it would appear. Would it be a whole rabbit? Would I have to skin it? I just hadn't had any experience with the raskly thing. I am not put off by butchering meats so I just kind of brushed it off.


I got there and met the farmer from Hanna Hands Farm. Super nice guy and really helpful I must say. He had already barbecued some of the handy meat. He offered me a taste and I was sold. The mild flavor did shine through the traditional southern favorite treat.  He showed me his stock and suggested I start with a smaller one. I did just that. It was a whole-un-butchered rabbit that kind of looked like a chicken in the wrapping.
I got this! Oh and to play with a new ingredient is a bonus.

 As you know, I have a plateful going on in my life. It took me a few weeks to slot out some playtime but I finally did.

 I opened the thawed meat and I was faced with a new situation. I was having a difficult time visually . Not because I was thinking of the furry little bunny hopping through the forest. But because the back bone was soooo long. Long like a squirrel or other four legged varmints.

I mustered past the hurdle and tossed it in the pan (whole). Not giving it two seconds to even think about butchering it into smaller, more manageable pieces.

It smelled amazing! The cumin that was suggested by my cousin had the perfect blend for the appealing aroma. The food actually cooking was very appetizing, but then when I'd look at it I would tense up. The turmoil was unsettling. I couldn't do. I wanted to but I couldn't actually eat the whole rabbit with it's alien looking back.

After going around and around with my self- let- down, I decided I was not giving up on this little critter.
I am going to buy another rabbit and see if someone else will butcher the thing for me.
I feel like sometimes you just need some actions taken care of for you. This just happens to be my Better-To-Have-It-Done-For-You situation.

So look out little rabbit, I have you in my sights and I will eat you.

Be Still

The past few weeks have been..well, busy and stressful. We have been house hunting, had family visiting, and had a few members (Everyone but me) in the house get sick.
Needless to say, I have been over loaded. But really who am I kidding? Isn't life always this way anymore? Isn't this, just the way it is during this stretch of life?
I think for most people with small children, or anyone taking care of anyone for that matter, it is. What's different here is the way we are dealing with it all.

Let start with the house. Yes, it is so fun to dream big and imaging the beautiful kitchen I have created for my own personal pleasure. Walking into a perfect new setting where the kids can play in the street with no fear of cars or kidnappings would be blissful.

But let's be real here. This is not the reality we have chosen. Yes, I said chosen. We have chosen a more moderate approach. Deciding to buy what we can with what money we actually have on hand. It's not much to some, but it's giving us a future that will be more than we could ask for. No, I do not think my kids will be kidnapped where we are buying, but it's definitely not the road that Beaver Cleaver grew up on either. It's just a road we are comfortable living on in a community we love.

We should be closing in the next week, so after days of dreaming of bettering the place, we headed back in to get our materials list and measurements. I mean after all there is some work that has to be done.
 It's kind of funny how the mind works. I thought I'd have more space to work with in the kitchen, and the backyard is much bigger than I remember. Some of the repairs are going to be a simple fix and some are a bit more complicated. With all of this in front of us, it's easy to forget the process that led up to this point.
.
 The search for a suitable home was crazy y'all! And to boot, I was a Realtor for 5 years prior to moving to the area. So I'm kind of familiar with the up's and down's of the whole process. What I wasn't prepared for was the emotional toll and  worry for our family.

Staying in Cayce was rather important to me. I'm not really sure why, but I just felt as if we were in the right place. Now, we looked at all our options; financing some, renting, buying as much as we could, buying as little as we needed and so on. We looked online, in the paper, through word of mouth, and even called the property management company listed on the windows of some foreclosed homes
.
Then we found a place! I just knew it was the one that would work. The day we went in and looked at the interior, a bid for the property was accepted by HUD. Not our Bid, but someone elses. Ugh!
I was disgusted and angry at so many things.

   I did what I always do in tough times, talk with God. I vented quite heavy and took a deep breaths. "What I am I to Do?" I asked. I just don't understand.

For the next few weeks, I was delayed by trains, held up by slow cars, spoken directly to at a comedy event and even had my husband come home from work with a text message ( not directly from god, but a friend). Then I slowing started hearing him. Wait. Be still. Listen. The more I spoke to people about what was happening, the louder I heard the message. Wait. Be still. Listen. If you know me, you know that being still is not something I am really good at. I'm a fixer. I like to solve the problem and move on. One day on the way to pick up the kids from school, I out loud, asked for help in listening. Help me listen. How do I decipher it's you and not just me making stuff up in my head? In my heart, I knew I would just know. I needed to stop questioning. Stop trying to fix "it", and I would know.

 Another home became available, and we bid on it. I just didn't feel certain about it, like I did about the other. But at this point I had started to question my gut, so we made the offer. Turns out three other people like that house a whole lot.The seller was asking for highest and best offer.
 Financially it was going to max out our plan and would have taken longer to get to the next stepping stone. By now, my poor husband is dealing with an emotional me saying "Screw this, let just rent".
Now my brother is here visiting from Germany and I'm sure he is feeling the craziness going on. The Stress level is through the roof and our house is a disaster from the pre-moving.

The hubs and I had to set a meeting. We both needed to approach this in a "Business Type" thought process as we were starting to separate our alliance. The best way for us to realign our communication, is to act like we are business partners discussing a transaction.
At this meeting we discovered a few things we both hadn't disclosed but thought we had. The biggest item: the original house was now back on the market! Oops, sorry, my bad. Well at least now he could understand why I was so squirrely.

After our meeting, we pulled our bid off of the popular home and resubmitted on the original place. We got it! And we got it for less money than we originally offered. Now, again I am told to be still. Which by now you'd think I should be pretty good at since I've been smacked upside the head with everyday for the past two months.

Ha! After the visit to the house yesterday, the plotting started. Put the stove here, the fridge there blah blah blah...
We got home, fed the kids and off to be we all went. Seriously, it was nine o'clock when my head hit the pillow and I was out. Snoring, completely out apparently.
I woke this morning to two toddlers ruling the house. Totally missed school, and I was just puzzled at how I slept .I was laying there thinking on the house when I grab my phone to do my daily checks. I first messaged the hubs that we could just add on to the house in the spring, got his reply and continued on with my morning routine. Email, Facebook.... and Bam! There it was again. First thing on the feed!

"Be still, & know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:10

I think I might actually be getting the message. Being still, and in the moment is one of the most difficult things for me to obtain, but I will try. I'm not really sure why I'm putting this all out there, but I think there might be others who need to be still too.

Instagram Made Me Do It

   Ahh, what a beautiful day at the market, and all because of one eye catching photo. I'm an instagrammer. I follow, googly-eye product, like, and post. I recently started following a local catering company, Spotted Salamander.  They have posted some amazing looking dishes that call my name way too often.  They just posted a cronut, which is pastry I haven't had the pleasure of meeting. I'm pretty good at just drooling over said pictures and moving on..

  This picture was different. I couldn't shake the sweet looking scrumptiousness from my brain and had to have it. So the family and I headed downtown in search of the cronut. Midway down the market I spotted their space and my mouth started watering.
Score! Cronut in hand. Y'all, This was everything I thought it would be and so much more. So delicious that I went back for two more. And I'm not really a big desert girl.

 Normally, when I daydream over something like this, my expectations become so out of whack that when I do fulfil the desire, I am way let down. Thankfully this was not the case today nor last friday when we finally ate at The Motor Supply Company.


 The chef at The Motor Supply Company was kind enough to swap out meats for my dish. I had already had pork that day and really wanted the filet paired with the bourbon molasses glaze. Normally I would never ask for such special arrangements, but after all that I have heard i was confident the chef wouldn't be offended by the switch.  Bingo, it was outstanding. The entire dish was cooked perfectly.

  What I wouldn't do to spend an afternoon learning from these Chefs. I am so grateful we have such amazing talent in our wonderful city.