Mother's Day 2013

Well, they can't all be good ones.  It wouldn't be real life if every Mother's Day just magically transformed into the best day ever.  Wes joked and said next year he was going to get me what I really wanted, a day without the kids.  Even that wouldn't classify as a great day because I'd spend the day wishing they were there with me.  
Some days I just don't fly at full speed.  My flag only flies at half mast and I'm irritable.  Yes, I said it, I can be irritable.  And if you meet a parent who says she never has a day like that, run the other way because lightning might be about to strike.
Bring a mom is a tough job.  It's also a very fulfilling, joyous, gratifying, and rewarding job.  However, as a mom of 2 young kids, the tough days tend to outweigh the super days.  As much as I try to focus on the positive the truth is, we're in a serious learning and transition time.  I'm learning to be the best mom I can be, all while realizing I'm not perfect and 50 other not-so-fantastic traits about myself.  Meanwhile, my children are learning what buttons to push, how to cope with their emotions, how to share, and all the other life skills that we somehow take for granted and think came preprogrammed into their little minds.  

Being a mom doesn't always mean being in control.  That's a hard one for me.  Just because you know they need a nap and desperately want them to take a nap (or go to bed at 5pm), doesn't mean it's going to happen.  No amount of force - I've tried - is going to physically make their little eyelids close.  No amount of bribery, coercing, or reasoning is going to make a strong-willed, opinionated, 5-year old take a nap when he doesn't want to.  Part of me wants to praise him for standing his ground because that will serve him well later in life when peer pressure rears its ugly head, but the other part of me, the part that is in the here and now wants to throttle him.  Nap = Sanity.  That equation doesn't balance when one of the components is negative.  Sometimes though, you have to wave the white flag and move on to Plan B.  Start praying for the sun to go down early so you can sneak in an early bedtime without them noticing.  
No matter what kind of day it's been, the fact that I came to play is all that matters.  Sure I may have days when I yell too much, don't feed them enough vegetables (gasp!), let them watch too much tv, but at least I tried.  Some days I may try less than others, but I was there.  It's unrealistic to think that you can give 100% of yourself every day to every person in your life.  I lived in that make believe world for a long time.  It's painful at the end of the day to realize you fell short...again...and again.  At some point you have to be content with giving it your best and realizing you can learn from your mistakes and short comings and hopefully give it another try tomorrow.  That's one thing we have, hope for tomorrow.  By the time we get this whole parenting thing all figured out, they'll be grown and on their own.  Then we can either write a book or guide our children with their children.  Now I feel old.  
I take my hat off to all the mother's.  By coming to play each day, you are putting your best foot forward.  They won't all be noteworthy days that the little lady at the coffee shop was talking about when she said to, "Enjoy every minute.  They're only young once."  No, you won't enjoy every minute.  Yes, you will wish away certain phases of their life.  But, yes you will be a great mom who is remembered and revered by her children for her love, not her mistakes.  Happy Mother's Day!

Christmas, Part 2

Our Christmas in pictures.

Terrible picture of me but I wanted to remember that I was actually there too!

Wiped out after a full day.

Blueberry Patch

As I mentioned in a previous post, the Blueberry Festival has become an annual event in our house.  This year, we decided to get there as early as possible to try to beat the heat.  No such luck in that regard but we were able to snag some pretty good berries because we were some of the first to pick!  If you've never experienced fresh blueberries from the vine/bush, you are missing out.  As Wes said, "Now this is how blueberries should taste!"  I couldn't agree more!   Here we are about to set off on our exploration.  Please note, it is not easy to push or pull 65+ pounds in a wagon, uphill.  

Let me show you how to do it, Bubby.

Colin learned from last year and now understands that we only want the blue ones, not the green ones.  So he studied each one before it made it to the bucket.

Others are still learning.

But he still had fun.

We're already looking forward to next season!

I hosted a little brunch for my mom and sister this year for Mother's Day.  Like me, breakfast is my mom's favorite meal, so I knew this would be the way to her heart!  It was nice to have everyone together, minus my dad and LC, and I think good times were had by all - certainly by the cousins!

It's hard to see the menu items from this picture but here's what was on the menu:

Blueberry Muffins (thanks Nicole!)
Pumpkin Scones
Roasted Asparagus with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Fresh Fruit with Granola topping
Frittata with Bacon and White Cheddar
Frittata with Red Peppers, Mushrooms, and Goat Cheese
Hash Brown Casserole (not worth repeating)
Mimosas
Fresh OJ
Southern Pecan Coffee

My sister and her beautiful girls!

And her handsome ham!

Our attempt at getting the whole family together.  I forgot to switch the setting to automatic for Wes, so it's a bit blurry, but a great photo nonetheless!

I hope you had a terrific Mother's Day as well!

Celebrating Mom's Birthday with a Peach Cake with Peach Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy Birthday, Mom!  I love birthdays because it means I get to make a cake.  And I love my mom's birthday because it means I get to make a cake that I'll love as much as she does.  We have very similar tastebuds, so it makes the selecting (and tasting) very easy.

I love to surprise her but I also take requests.  This year I had found "the" cake a month prior to her birthday and didn't even give her a chance to make a suggestion.  One fruit that is synonymous with summer is the peach.  My mom loves peaches and rarely do you see a recipe for a peach cake.  So when I saw these Peach Cupcakes with Peach Cream Cheese Frosting, I didn't look any farther.

I knew I wanted to make a cake instead of cupcakes and I remember reading somewhere that 24 cupcakes would be about the equivalent to 2 8-inch cake layers.  Perfect!  I just adjusted the cook time slightly and it turned out perfect.  I did decrease the butter to 1 stick and as you can see in the photo above, I had to skimp a bit to cover the sides.  That really didn't matter because the cake was the star.  The peach flavor wasn't overbearing (in fact next time I'd add more pureed peaches) but it was subtle enough that it gave it a little richness.  The butter really shone through and it was light with the perfect crumb texture for me.  I like a happy medium between dense and light as air.  I like it to melt in your mouth and this cake did just that.

If you've got a peach lover, or even a peach liker, I'd highly suggest this cake.  The birthday girl agrees!

Peach Cake with Peach Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Week of Menus

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

3/4 of a 1.75 oz bag of freeze dried peaches* (Target's Archer Farms brand), pulverized in a food processor
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/3 cup pureed fresh peach (I'd up this to the full 1/2 cup next time)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

*The original recipe notes that the pulverized dried peaches start absorbing the air soon after grinding, so be sure to grind right before you're ready to use them.

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 8-inch round cake pans by lining them with parchment paper and lightly greasing.

Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large measuring cup or bowl, mix together buttermilk, peach puree and vanilla extract. Set aside until needed.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl until pale, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in pulverized peaches.
Mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two batches of buttermilk mixture. Mix until just combined, scraping down bowl as needed.  Divide batter evenly between prepared can pans and smooth tops with a spatula.

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 23 to 26 minutes. Allow cakes to cool in tins for 10 minutes, and then remove cakes and place them on a cooling rack.

Peach Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
1/2 cup of butter, softened
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
Remainder of freeze dried peaches
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups of confectioners sugar

Method
In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and cream cheese and beat together until creamy. Add vanilla extract and pulverized peaches and mix. Add a cup of sugar at a time, until you reach your desired level of sweetness.  Frost cake.

I'm adding this to the Recipe Link Party at Remodelaholic, Jam Hands, and This Chick Cooks.  I just stumbled upon these linky parties and thought this would be a great recipe to get started with!  There are tons of good ideas and inspirations at all of these sites!

Day 6: Happy Birthday to me / McCrady's review

What a better way to spend your birthday than on vacation?  Well maybe with great food!  Let me back up a bit.

I had most of the morning to myself to walk the streets of Charleston and just soak up the sun, the charm, and the history.  Wes took the boys to the Children's Museum (which is fabulous if you're interested) and my mom went for a morning of pampering at Stella Nova.

I hopped around town with my 2 dimes trying to avoid getting a parking ticket.  The meter readers take their jobs seriously in Charleston and I didn't want to ruin my birthday with a ticket.  Somehow I only had 2 dimes to my name, so that meant a grand total of 14 minutes.  I escaped the ticket and eventually found a cheap garage to park in for a little while.  In the meantime, here's some of what I saw.

After a relaxing morning, we came back and I lounged by the pool for a bit.  My mom had snuck and gotten me a few gifts while we were there - 2 of which were from the boys.  And a super special present was a card my Grandmother had already had for me with money.  That was an emotional moment for sure.

Wes and I had been looking forward to our date night all week.  It just so happened it was also my birthday dinner.  I'm usually in favor of surprises but I opted to select our destination this time.  I had read a lot about McCrady's, Husk's sister restaurant, and settled in on that.  Thankfully, I chose well.

See, I was really on this vacation!

Having a good waitress or waiter can make all the difference in a meal.  We were lucky enough to get a girl who clearly loved her job and was passionate about both food and wine.  She not only told us her favorite items but described why they were her favorites and specifically how they were prepared.

McCrady's had just rolled out a new menu concept that week.  From what I understand, previously they had been solely a pre-fixe menu but as of the week they were there, they had a la carte items but were in pre-fixe portions.  This was to allow one to order as much as they wanted without committing to a preset number of courses.  It also allows you to try multiple dishes, since the portions are smaller.

Wes and I opted for 4 courses each, including dinner.  We both started with a super fresh Heirloom Tomato Salad.   This was a summer garden on a plate.  If you were to close your eyes, this dish would put you right in the middle of a big country garden, wind blowing in your hair, and the smell of fresh cut grass wafting in your nose.  I'm not sure how they triggered all of those senses but they took me there.  Fresh tomatoes, smoked corn, cucumber, jalapeno, and liquid nitrogen olive oil!  Yes, please.

We also both ordered the Butter Poached Lobster & Scallop.  Our waitress mentioned this was one of her favorites and we could easily see why.  I had to hold Wes' hands down to keep him from licking the bowl.  The 2 large pieces of lobster and 4 smaller pieces of scallop were atop a buttered popcorn puree and topped with a fried ball of parsnip puree.  I had to know how both were made.  The popcorn puree was made by seeping buttered popcorn in heavy cream and then pureed into a liquid - kernels and all!  The parsnips had been pureed (with more cream, I'm sure) and then rolled in panko crumbs and fried.  I could have eaten a plate of that.

We differed on our next course.  I had the housemade egg pasta with clams.  I'm a sucker for homemade pasta even though it only consists of 2 ingredients.  The pasta was good but the previous 2 courses made this one pale in comparison.

Wes ordered the Pan Fried Sweetbreads with rutabaga and mushrooms.  I'm not a fan of sweetbreads, so I passed on his offer to try them.  I did, however, sample the rutabaga and mushrooms - both were excellent.  I think that's the first time I've ever had rutabaga prepared in a savory way.  The mushrooms just melted in my mouth.

We couldn't pass up dessert and thank goodness we didn't!  Wes order the Candy Bar and I ordered the Oatmeal Cake.  Both came with housemade pretzel ice cream and both were sinfully delicious.  I appreciate that neither portion was tiny, as fancy desserts tend to be.  If I'm paying $8-$10 for dessert, I expect it to be more than 2 bites.  My waistline might not agree but my wallet speaks louder (:

Success!  I had a great birthday.  I enjoyed time with my family, had some alone time, got some gifts, and had a fantastic meal.  Let's do it again next year!!

Day 4: The Beach (finally) & The Glass Onion

You may be wondering about now why we even bother to go to the beach when it took 4 days to even step foot on it.  That's a good question.  Really, we're perfectly content with a pool, the sun, and good restaurants!  Apparently our boys feel the same way because neither of them have been enamored with the sand or ocean.

Colin almost refuses to get in the water now because he's been smacked in the face one too many times by a wave crashing in and Sawyer didn't even want to be held while someone else's feet touched the water.  I guess one time a year isn't enough to get them acclimated. 

Colin did like the sand this time and was excited to build a sandcastle.  That involved a lot of direction from Mommy.  I tried to find him a little friend, and I did, but the kid was more interested in the water than building.  Colin tried, bless his heart, but in the end it was just he and I slaving away.

Meanwhile, this is what Sawyer thought of the beach.

And then Wes decided to get a little more comfortable.  Be sure you notice the shoe in the picture above!

*****

Tonight's dinner was at The Glass Onion.  I loved all the places we ate down there but this was one of my favorites for sure.  It's off the beaten path and I venture to guess that most tourists don't know it exists.  My Charleston friend was surprised I had heard about it.  Ha!  Me?  Research much?

They bill themselves as a fresh, as local as possible, Southern-style cooking restaurant.  The way your grandmother might have cooked (if you were lucky) with very modest price tags.  Like I said, the tourists don't know about it so it doesn't have the tourist price tags.

We ate here on Tuesday so that Wes could take advantage of their fried chicken dinner special.  This has gotten so popular that you can now reserve your chicken!  Apparently once it's gone, it's gone, so this guarantees you some delicious chicken.  Plus, it's brined in buttermilk for 24 hours, so it's not like they can just get some more.

They were kind enough to advise us to get an appetizer to tide us over while we waited for the chicken.  Wes ordered the pickle sampler and my mom got a "fresh from the garden" salad.  The pickle sampler consisted of pickles (obviously), pickled okra, dilly beans, and 1 carrot.  They were slightly spicy but very tasty.  I love the beans, Wes loved the okra.  It would convert any non-okra lover, I'm pretty sure.

Mom's salad tasted like they had just plucked the bibb lettuce after she placed her order.  They didn't though because Colin and I walked around back to see if they had a garden and they did not.  It had some of the same pickled vegetables on it and was lightly tossed in a vinaigrette.

Colin's food arrived early as well and he had his fried shrimp eaten before Wes could finish his pickles!  Colin learned that he loves shrimp!

Did I mention the portions were large?  Our entrees arrived and we all realized we would never be able to eat all of that food.  Wes' fried chicken was a huge breast and maybe a wing or thigh, mashed potatoes, and collard greens.  One thing is for sure, Wes is a fried chicken expert.  If he says it's good, it's good.  Period.  And he said this was really good!  The sides were great too.

I ordered the Crispy Fried Eggplant with Blue Crab Creole.  Sometimes an entree description makes the dish sound better than it really is.  This dish was the exact opposite.  The description sounds good enough but the actual dish was far superior.  It was 4 or 5 large eggplant rounds, breaded and fried, topped (generously) with a corn relish, studded with blue crab claw meat.  The eggplant was crisp and flavorful, which is saying something considering eggplant tends to be somewhat tasteless in my opinion, but the corn salad concoction was fantastic.  As my stomach began to fill up, I knew I was going to have to make a decision as to what I wanted my last couple of bites to be.  I scraped all the corn mixture off and gobbled it up.

This place is a diamond in the rough.  I am SO glad I searched this place out and followed through with it.  There was a moment when I was nervous about it, fearing I had made the wrong choice.  Not so.  This will go on our permanent list of restaurants for Charleston.  I can only hope it remains low on the radar and thus, a hidden bargain!