Frogmore stew- kinda

The boy and I were introduced to this recipe a little while ago when our awesome friends in NC were kind enough to let us stay with them during our job search/city relocation. We had such a great time and honestly I was incredibly sad when we didn't get the opportunity to move to NC. But at least we've got this wonderful meal to remind us of the good times. The boy and I went home and finally convinced everyone to make this meal. We all had a great dinner and definitely will have to make it again.

We started by sauteing one onion, two sausages, one smoked, one kielbasa. We then added in two bottles of Heineken. We added 8 big/full spoons (soup) of old bay seasoning about about 5 bottles of water.
Get the whole mixture up and boil for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are almost tender. Add the corn and cook until ready 10-15 minutes.

The recipe ended up a bit spicy, and we realized that our old bay was expired, next time will probably use about 5 spoons instead.

Everyone loved it, we served with bread, lemon butter and liquid from the stew. I still don't quite enjoy lobster but I think we're always over cooking it, next time we'll definitely add in some crab legs to make it even better.

Morning Glory Muffin

After trying out many cookbooks and recipes from all sorts of different places I somehow stumbled upon America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated/Cook's Country cookbooks/tv show/website. My mom and I love cooking from the book so much that we started calling it the bible. It's now a thing in our family, we'll joke about whether or not things are in the bible. So far we have had a ridiculous amount of success with our recipes in comparison to the past. Our only fluke so far was when we mistakenly misread the recipe and baked things at the wrong level in the oven. I know that many people don't enjoy ATK or the show, specifically Chris, but I can't get enough. 

My mom and I decided to make some morning glory muffins, I switched the instructions a bit to make it slightly more convenient

The Ingredients:

• ¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted 
• ½ cup walnuts, toasted 
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup sugar 
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple 
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and shredded
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (if using salted- take out salt)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups shredded carrots (2 to 3 medium)
• 1 cup golden raisins 

1. Set oven to 350 degrees (middle position). Grease 12-cup muffin tin. 

2. Place pineapple and shredded apple in fine-mesh strainer set over liquid measuring cup. Press fruit dry (juice should measure about 1 cup). Place pineapple and shredded apple in fine-mesh strainer set over liquid measuring cup. Press fruit dry (juice should measure about 1 cup). Bring juice to boil in large skillet over medium-high heat and cook until reduced to ¼ cup, about 5 minutes. Let cool slightly. 

3. Toast coconut and walnuts, then process coconut and walnuts in food processor until finely ground. Add flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt and pulse until combined. Transfer mixture to large bowl.

4. To the pineapple/apple juice, whisk melted butter, cooled juice, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. 

5. Stir wet mixture into dry mixture until combined. Stir in pineapple-apple mixture, carrots, and raisins.

6. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean, 24 to 28 minutes. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack. Serve warm. (Muffins can be stored in airtight container for 3 days.)

No more summertime sadness

Finally finished my last article, officially free to move on and do all the fun things that come with moving and getting ready for DC. 

Things to finish before moving:
Finish gifted article (retouch before 08/26)
Call Electric company (Goal 08/26)
Purchase furniture to load on truck (Goal 09/04)
Sell couch (Goal 09/05)
Sell washer/dryer (Goal 09/05)
Look into newspaper for coupons (09/07)
Purchase hula hoop (after 09/15)
Return vacuum (09/05) Order from Amazon instead
Submit change of address (09/04)
Get rent.com card submitted (08/28)
Find boxes
Get a haircut


Crafts to accomplish:
Scarf hanger (after move-in)

Things to cook:
Bierock (Bierrock or Beerock?) - Beef and Cabbage turnovers
Bialy- seems to be a polish bagel
Chocolate Flan
Ladolemono sauce- Greek lemon sauce

Places and Food to try:
Spiedie http://badabingdc.com/
Lobster roll http://www.redhooklobsterdc.com/
The garden district http://www.gardendistrictdc.com/
Seven Deadly Sins (7 desserts sampler) http://www.theinnatlittlewashington.com/

Things to do:
Have money free weekends
American Visionary Arts Museum http://www.avam.org/
United States Botanic Garden http://www.usbg.gov/
Chesapeake Bay http://cruisesonthebay.com/
Visit Luray caverns http://luraycaverns.com/
Visit Skyline caverns- http://www.skylinecaverns.com/
The Natural Bridge-http://www.naturalbridgeva.com/
The Textile museum- http://www.textilemuseum.org/
Newseum- http://www.newseum.org/
International Spy Museum- http://www.spymuseum.org/

Places to Go:
Crate and Barrel outlet http://www.yelp.com/biz/crate-and-barrel-outlet-alexandria

I've been away for far too long

I've written so many posts since I last posted and never published any of them, once things settle my goal is to finish them, add pictures and post them. Lots of changes have been going on, we left Orlando and are moving to DC, and I've mostly been procrastinating with my last assignment for work. I know once that I'm done with it I'll have to continue the job search, and taking care of all the other moving things. I've decided that starting next week I'm going to make it a weekly goal to post at least once weekly, it may not be food related but it'll help me keep track of our new experiences, activities and of course culinary experiences.
I also want to cook like crazy but I know I need to finish this paper first.

After seeing Young House Love and their continuous to do lists, I decided to use their tool to help keep the boy and I accountable of the things we're up to before/after we move.

Things to finish before moving:
Finish gifted article (retouch before 08/26)
Call Electric company (Goal 08/26)
Purchase furniture to load on truck (Goal 09/04)
Sell couch (Goal 08/24)
Sell washer/dryer (Goal 09/05)
Look into newspaper for coupons (09/07)
Purchase hula hoop (after 09/15)
Purchase vacuum (09/05)

Things to cook:
Bierock (Bierrock or Beerock?) - Beef and Cabbage turnovers
Bialy- seems to be a polish bagel
Chocolate Flan

Things to do:
Have money free weekends
Visit Luray caverns http://luraycaverns.com/
Visit Skyline caverns- http://www.skylinecaverns.com/
The Natural Bridge-http://www.naturalbridgeva.com/
The Textile museum- http://www.textilemuseum.org/
Newseum- http://www.newseum.org/
International Spy Museum- http://www.spymuseum.org/