New Food Craze

Are Doughnuts the new Cupcake? Oh I hope so! If there were a plate full of doughnuts and a plate full of cupcakes - I would always go for the doughnuts. (Especially Krispy Kreme.) So if you've followed this blog for more than a couple months then you already know this little tid bit about me. I've said it before but this love for doughnuts started back at the age of around 4. Beginning with going on dates with my dad to Krispy Kreme (age 4), driving to Montgomery at 10PM (which is 35 minutes away from Auburn) in college just to get Krispy Kremes, then having Krispy Kremes passed out at the end of our wedding, Hubs surprising me with Krispy Kremes after going through Penn Station. The list goes on and on. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that doughnuts are becoming the new cupcake. For the past month I have read article after article regarding where the best doughnuts are around the city and I intend to hit all the places! Here are some of the good reads on my beloved food item...

I obviously wrote this blog post out of the goodness of my heart in trying to inform you of the new craze that you should all jump on! (wink wink) By the way, where have you had your favorite doughnut? I might need to take a roadtrip...

http://nymag.com/bestofny/food/2011/doughnut/

http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2011/03/best-doughnuts-in-nyc-donuts-in-new-york-city-manhattan-brooklyn-queens.html

These were a surprise a while ago from Hubs, returning through Penn Station!

Food Inc

Let me just say it again - WAR EAGLE! Okay, so I'm beyond pumped about the game on Monday night and I'm still kicking myself for not going but its been a fun week/weekend here in the city. My friends are still in town because the snow storm cancelled all flights. (Deja Vu of two weeks ago?) So we've been running around the city and having fun as girls do best. Some of the highlights have been the food trips. For the most part, I'm going to let their websites speak for themselves. But I will say that the pictures at Alices Tea Cup do not do this place justice (at least on the Upper East side location) It looks very very childish, etc in the photos but the actual place is cute with a kind of psychedelic twist. Did I mention that the food is great for a lunch/snack place? But if you ever come to the city and are looking for either a fun or a good place for a quick bite here are a few suggestions... 4Food and Alice's Tea Cup.

On another note, its beautiful outside - its a snow covered city!

Majestic Weekend

How is it already Monday morning?! This weekend flew by! My parents came and stayed with us this past weekend on their way to the Wake Forest football game to cheer for Riley Skinner, a good family friend. It was such a fun weekend although waaayy too short! We had some amazing meals...Just to start, Friday night we went to Bin 54 steakhouse (If you're ever in the Triangle area then I suggest you visit)and dessert and wine at Glass Half Full, (yummy tapas and wine bar.) Saturday morning before they left for the game we went to Foster's market for breakfast, (a must in this area) and then for dinner we grilled steak, veggies and made homemade sweet potato fries. Let's not forget dessert! which was a new recipe from a friend for an Apple Crisp! So yummy (and I will be posting the recipe below.) Sunday after church we headed over to show mom and dad the grand and majestic Duke Chapel! It's absolutely beautiful and not something you expect to see in Durham, North Carolina. Again, if you're ever in the area then definitely visit the Chapel as well as the gardens. You won't be disappointed! Here are some pics that do not even come close to doing it justice... However, before I sign off I can't forget to tell you that after the chapel we hit up Carolina Coffee Shop for brunch. Such a wonderful weekend!!!

Front of the Chapel

From the back side

It was so bright outside!

Apple Brown Betty Recipe:

6 cups of peeled and cored cooking apples (cut into 1/8)

1 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup walnuts

1/8 tsp salt

1 stick melted butter

Coat crock pot with spray. Place apples in bottom. Combine ingredients and spread over apples. Cook on LOW for 3-4 hours or HIGH for 2 hours. Serve warm with ice cream. So easy!!!!

Versions

Suzy homemaker here... OK, not even close but I tried yesterday to get as close as I could which apparently is not very close. You can ask my family about all my lofty dreams of growing up and becoming an awesome wife by cooking and everything else that goes with that. And then I grew up and realized it's way harder than I thought! I cook maybe (I really mean maybe) twice a week, and I like it when I cook but I also like eating whatever is around without having to cook. So I really can't figure out which version is more me?! Well, the same is true with all of the recipes that I made yesterday. I looked through my cookbooks and in each I found a slightly different recipe than the first. So I had to pick even though I know I've made them all before. For instance, the Pumpkin Spice Bread, last night's Oven Fried Chicken and Brussel Sprouts. I'm sure you all have a recipe of your own but here is what I used yesterday. Feel free to share yours or others!!

3/4 cup of sugar & 3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

1 can of packed pumpkin

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375. Grease loaf pan with butter. In bowl whisk together all dry ingredients except sugars. In seperate bowl whisk together sugars, pumpkin, eggs and oil. Beat all ingredients together. Pour into pan and bake 45 minutes. Top off with cinnamon whipped cream...

1 cu heavy whip cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Oven Fried Chicken and brussel sprouts (yes, mom and dad, I made brussel sprouts and ate them!! I must be growing up!)

3 cups corn flakes (crushed to about 1 cup)

1/3 grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 package chicken

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

Combine 1st five ingredients in zip-lock bag, seal and shake. Dip chicken in butter and then submerge and cover in mixture. Place coated chicken on lightly greased jellyroll pan and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or done. Brussel Sprouts from Barefoot Contessa

Yummy Shrooms

Last night, I was in Charlotte to help give a surprise bridal shower for one of my good friends. I was in charge of appetizers and decided to share one that is super easy but looks a bit more gourmet. It's a cheese stuffed mushroom..

White/button mushrooms

Garlic and herb Boursin cheese

Italian bread crumbs

All you do is wash off the shrooms, take out the stems, put the cheese spread where stems used to be and dip or sprinkle in the bread crumbs. Place shrooms on baking sheet with cheese side facing up (obviously) and bake for around 30 minutes at 375 degrees. That's all!

All the Pretty Lights

If you have never been to a state fair before then you must go!! They are indescribable but I'll do my best. I have actually been to my fair share of fairs throughout my life and can't lie, I do love them! We had a girl's night with all the fair fun, bright lights and let's not forget about the wide range of healthy food. It's all organic and heart attack free. SIKE! But it is quite tasty. From turkey legs to fried oreos and everything in between you just can't go wrong with your choice. Even though I'm not 6 anymore, the rides are still so much fun (except the ferris wheel.) Although this go round my parents weren't there to bribe me with cotton candy to ride the ferris wheel with my sister. Yes, for some strange reason I am super scared of the monstrous ferris wheel. (However, I have jumped out of a plane before and would totally do it again.) Makes sense, right? For those of you who are planning to go to Raleigh's state fair then bring 4 cans of food on Thursday, Oct 22nd and get in free for Food Lion's Hunger Relief Day. It also ends this weekend on the 25th so hurry and don't miss out on all the many sights to see. But here are few from me to you...

As soon as we walked in the corn dogs called our names and we gave in

Later my friend...later!

After the funnel cakes and fried oreos

Really? Next time I will see her.

After the free fall...this was also the 1st time this guy smiled

Begin with yummy corn dogs

Wash it down with some fried oreos, (and you thought I was joking that we got them.)

And then go again

So many fun prizes!

Girl's Night Out

Last night, while most of the hubbies were studying for their exams, some of us the girls indulged in a fabulous girls night out at a girlie wine and tapas restaurant named, Glass Half Full! It's always so much fun to get together with just the girls and gab about fashion, shopping (or the lack thereof) jobs, and now babies. Our good friend brought along her adorable and incredibly well-behaved 2 month old baby to dinner(see cute pics below!) It was such a wonderful time that I decided to share it with you. :) Hope everyone's weekend is going well!!

Hopefully my FL Gators can make me smile more than My AU Tigers..

The girls minus 1 - see "Faith" adorning my neck

Racks and shelves of wine

More shelves..

Katharine with "Grace" around her neck

Baby boy Bentley

Yummy shrimp plate

Calamari, yum

Leaving, we saw this lovely hair scrunchie around a water pipe...Keep Carrboro weird! :)

.

Easy Dinner

Well, I had to share with you what we had for dinner last night. I was in a cooking mood but didn't have time to make something elaborate. So I checked my friend's recipe blog and found this yummy looking Chicken, Mushrooms, and Parmesan with Orzo recipe! It was so easy and tasted wonderful! (Not to mention that it made our whole place smell awesome the rest of the night!) So I know it's risky taking pics of food since it can either make you want to eat it or the complete opposite but here it is... To see the pretty version look at Arden's blog...