Sint Maarten 2016

I took a little break from food blogging last week to head down to the Caribbean for a while.  We went to St. Maarten (Sint Maarten) and did our best to relax.  

I think we did a pretty good job of it. 

The picture above was the view from our resort apartment.  Not bad huh? It was 82º every day we were there and if it rained at all, it only lasted for like 5 minutes. 

I have been wanting to go to the Caribbean for a very long time, so when this opportunity presented itself to us we had to jump on it. My daughter had never been out of the country before, so this was a great chance to show her new places. It also helped that every time I asked my daughter where she would want to visit she would always say "somewhere where the water is crystal clear and turquoise blue". Luckily we accomplished most of that.  The water wasn't always crystal clear but for the most part it was. 

Above is a small sampling of the drinks I tried while there.  I kept myself in check and only had one but man were these good.  Exactly my type of drink, fruity, sweet, and can't taste the alcohol. Just what the doctor ordered. I brought home a bottle of rum and a recipe book so I'll be recreating these soon.

The sunsets were amazing every night.  I probably took 100 pictures of sunsets.

Our resort had a sister resort that we decided to visit one day.  Their beach wasn't sandy like ours was but they had these amazing tide pools that my daughter loved exploring.

Eventually we went up to the North side of the island which is also the French side of the island.  We had decided to try a submarine boat ride, or glass bottomed boat which left out of Grand Case.  The water here is so extremely beautiful and all I wanted to do was just dive in.  All beaches are public, so I could have, but, I wasn't dressed for swimming.  I did get to walk around on the beach and that was nice as well.

We saw this turtle and a bunch of fish, cool coral, and some other sea creatures while on the boat.

Yeah, we got sidetracked at this French Bakery on one of our walks to explore the area.  This one is on the Dutch side near the resort we stayed at (The Royal Palm Beach Resort) at Simpson Bay.  We sampled some there at the bakery on a beautiful outdoor patio that overlooked a marina.  The rest I brought home and we snacked on for the next couple of days.

We did night walks on the beach almost every night.  This little hermit crab was so small and adorable.  We put him/her right back where we found it and went on our way but this moment was one of the highlights for my daughter.

This moment was another highlight for my daughter, and for me too.  This particular iguana scared me to death when he whipped around to face us after I took this picture.  I thought he was going to charge us and yes, I would have run screaming.  Luckily he just stayed where he was and stared at us before heading down into the rocks.

Excellent way to spend our spring break!  All other spring breaks will probably pale in comparison.

Top 10 of 2015

Thank you all for making 2015 a great year!  I hope you got to try some new recipes and ended up with some new favorites.  I'm so excited about 2016.

I've ordered the links below by most viewed at the top.  Enjoy!

Top 10 of 2015

1. Nutella Bread Star
2. World's Best Cookie (Ranger Cookie)
3. Four Ingredient Chicken
4. Starbucks (CopyCat) Lime Refresher
5. Sloppy Joe Cornbread Casserole
6. 2-Ingredient Pizza Dough
7. Proper English Scones
8. Pumpkin Tea Cake with Honey Cream
9. Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cake
10. Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

Our Montana Vacation 2015

My family and I made our yearly trip to Montana to see my family this past two weeks.  First we spent a couple of days in Colorado to look around and get a feel for the area.  A move there is in our future and we wanted to know what the area was like.  We loved it. 

Evergreen Colorado is just stunning.  Ton's of trees and mountains and water.  I could see myself bundled up next to a fire during a snowstorm here, or fishing, hiking or just driving around.  It's so pretty.  We'll definitely be making our way here again.

Next we headed over to Montana.  I try to visit once a year.  Montana isn't for everyone but it's my home and it always will be.

My daughter caught grasshoppers.

We headed to the rodeo in Livingston.  It's every year on July 2,3, and 4th and there are fireworks every night after the rodeo is over.  The 4th is the biggest night for the fireworks but all the nights are excellent.

My fathers friend from high school let us come up to his place and hang out by the most picturesque creeks you've ever seen.  He's got the most perfect little swimming hole just steps from his cabin.  If you can stand how cold the water is that is.  My daughter walked around in it a little bit but it was pretty chilly.  However, since a lot of the houses in this area don't have air conditioning, a swim in a cold creek is just the thing to cool you off.

I took way too many pictures to put on here but I wanted to show you the guests that stopped by for a morning visit the day before we left.  These little deer love to eat the leaves off the trees even though they have to stand up on their hind legs to reach them.  

We had a great vacation.  Waking up to the nice cool air in the morning was such a relief.  I can handle heat and humidity that we get here in the South but I definitely miss the mountain air.  Seeing family and friends was great.  I can't wait to get back there again soon. 

Refurbishing Furniture

I know I've mentioned before, how I'm not good at decorating.  I am, however, good at projects. Or at least I like to think I am. 

I have to give all the credit to my neighbor and good friend, Emily, for guiding me through this process. We went to Goodwill just on a whim before heading to an antique store.  Lucky we did because we found everything I was looking for there.  Well, technically, everything Emily knew I was looking for. She spotted this dresser and grabbed the claim ticket before anyone else did.  When I first saw it I was like, oh that's nice.  But she was in LOVE with it. Then she showed me some pictures of how we could refurbish it and I began to see what she had in mind. 

This wasn't exactly a quick project because, you know, life and all.  But I was able to sand it and get it painted in about a months time.  Obviously it could have been done sooner if I was more ambitious.
I sanded all the original finish off but you don't actually have to do that.  You just need to scratch it up  with some sand paper.  I used rough sand paper.  Then apply the paint in the color you choose.

After being painted, I just needed Emily to come help me distress it.  I've never done it before and she has so I didn't want to try it on my own.

To distress, just take a piece of rough sand paper (wear some gloves) and sand off the paint in areas that would normally show wear over time.  Like under or over the handles.  Corners, edges, that sort of thing.  You can do as much or as little as you like.  Start small and just keep stepping back to look it over.

The finished piece.  I am in love with it now.  I don't have the vision that Emily has so I wasn't able to see the finished product when I looked at the dresser at Goodwill.  She also picked out the lamps at Goodwill and the mirror was one she had that she let me have.

We left the top the original color and didn't need to finish it at all.  All we did was use this amazing solution that Emily had heard about and it worked wonders for the top.  It brought back the luster and shine, it conditioned it and it made all marks all but disappear. Ready for the amazing recipe? Here it goes.

1 part olive oil
1 part white vinegar

That's it.  Seriously.

Cost associated with the project.
$150 for the dresser at Goodwill
$15 paint
I already had sandpaper and paintbrushes.
I also used a mask for the sanding portion, I think it was $10 or less.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all of you women out there.  Mom's have the hardest but most rewarding job in the world and you should be appreciated every day!  I hope this day is a wonderful one that lets you do exactly what you love doing.  Enjoy the day!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas.  Thank you for your support in 2014, I can't wait to see what 2015 brings.

VooDoo Doughnut's - my Portland adventure

Some of you may know, and some of you may not, that I was on vacation this past week.  Well, first stop on my West coast adventure was Portland, Oregon.  Otherwise known as the place my mom and her family lives. We made the crazy decision to make our way into Portland one day for an adventure to find this well known doughnut shop.  VooDoo Doughnut has been featured in MANY ways, from blogs to television, it's a Portland must see spot. Their many varieties of doughnuts make this a favorite for everybody!

My mom, daughter and I caught a train into the city and then began our walk to the shop.  You see, it's not on the train route so get your tennis shoes ready because you WILL be walking.  Better yet, just drive there. After many city blocks and one wrong turn we finally made it.

The menu is extensive and so is the showcase.  There was a long line when we arrived but it moved quickly.  Lucky for us, there is a dozen doughnut option where they'll choose for you.  That's what we did.  There just wasn't enough time to sit and peruse the menu.

As you can see, we had plenty to choose from!

Now that I think about it, maybe walking was the best option.  At least we could burn off a few of those calories we consumed.  Don't worry, we brought the rest back for family to munch on.

Here's my breakdown.  Totally delicious and super unique and interesting options. I recommend you try something outside of your comfort zone and opt for something you will ONLY find at VooDoo Doughnut.  There are Vegan options as well. These toppings are truly unique and only found here so step outside of the standard "box" and try something new!

This is one of a couple of posts that I have from my vacation.  The others are recipes and then I can share some pictures.  It was such a fun trip!  Great to see all my family and friends, some of which I hadn't seen in 20 years!  Oh yea, that's because I went to Montana for my 20 year high school reunion! I just can't believe it!

Spring Break!

I thought I'd share with you a little of what our Spring Break looked like.  We didn't have any plans to go anywhere specifically so we just winged it.  We had so much fun, we should wing it all the time!

We started off with some Tiger action.  There is a little park in NC called "Tiger World" and they also just happened to be doing an Easter egg hunt so we brought our Easter basket to join in on the fun.  My daughter loved it!  She's a huge animal lover so this was right up her ally.

Tigers always make a good start to a vacation, in my opinion.

Next we learned how to roller skate.  OK, well my daughter learned and I tried to remember.  My husband picked it right back up but it took me a while.  By the end of the day my daughter and I were feeling much more confident about it.

There's no way I was going to post a picture of myself skating so this one will have to do. :)

Biltmore Estate, just magical.  This was the highlight of spring break for me.  I've wanted to come here for years and we finally made it. My daughter (who will be 6 in a month) did really well.  She even had her own audio tour gadget and followed along.  

Hard to believe that George Vanderbilt had so much land and such a big house for just one person to start out.  Even after he married and they had a daughter, this is a lot of house for three people. You've got to put this place on your to-do list one day.  Asheville is great town in a beautiful part of NC. 

This "little" ice cream sundae was called "Strawberry Fields".  Yea, it was about the size of my hand (with fingers spread out) and even though my husband didn't plan to have any….I needed help.  It was peach ice cream with whipped cream and strawberry drizzled over the top.  So.Good.

I couldn't help but take a picture of this shop.  I desperately wanted to buy something but the ice cream had done me in.  I will make it back here eventually. 

The gardens, just one of many actually.  There were several greenhouses too. Imagine coming back here at Christmas time when they have it all lit up!  I can't wait to see that!

One more of the side view of the house, walking the grounds.  I think we took this picture on our way to the Bass pond.  Yes, they have their own Bass pond. 

The rest of our vacation was just simple things like the park, farmers market and things like that.  We had a great break.  Now back to reality.  I hope you all enjoyed your time off (if you got time off).  I'm back in the kitchen so I'll post some yumminess soon!

How to separate egg whites from yolks

I just got emailed this link and decided I needed to share it.  I wish I thought of stuff like this.

It's a much easier way to separate egg yolks from the whites.  People are so smart.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/iAp8pEaWB1Y

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

I met The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond!

Sorry for my lack of posting yesterday, but I was getting ready for this. 

Meeting Ree Drummond has been on the top of my list….well for years really, but mostly for the last month or so.  As soon as I found out she would be coming to Charlotte to sign copies of her new book, I knew I'd be going. 

Let me set the scene for you: 

I arrived at the bookstore around 4 pm (for a 6pm signing), bought the book, got my number (number 200) and waited to be called into my line spot at 5pm.  All of us women stood around chatting until Ree strolled into the bookstore at 6pm sharp.  Can I just say that my shock wasn't as much seeing Ree as seeing that she was completely ALONE!  Ree, if you need a personal assistant I'm here for you!! I thought she'd at least have an agent, publisher, friend, someone with her!  

She walked up the LONG line of people and stopped in front of my little section of the line and said, "I guess I'll just follow the line until I find my seat."  She waved and was so kind, big smiles; it was magical. 

Next was the waiting game.  I've never been to a book signing before so I didn't know what to expect but apparently they are all different based on the person.  Ree just happens to love to chat and take pictures with people and take her time with everyone.  It took about 2 1/2 hours to make my way to her after she started signing.  Of course, by the time I got her to my voice was gone and I sounded like that little "Charley in the box" toy on that Santa show.  I was squeaky and it was awesome.  I just handed over my books, squatted down with my daughter for a quick picture, chatted briefly about how strangely my name is spelled, and then I was off.  

Ree is really the nicest person.  Even after signing books for more than two hours, by the time I reached her she was pleasant, didn't rush us, and smiled brightly.  We were her last stop before heading home to Oklahoma to see her family for the holiday's, and yet she was so pleasant and beautiful.  I'm so glad my first experience at a book signing was with The Pioneer Woman.  I've read things about her, staying for as long as it takes to sign all the books, and I know that to be true.  The book store had closed by the time I left and they were going to stay open for as long as it took to get everyone in line.  It was fabulous.  If you ever get a chance to meet her, it's WELL worth your time!

Oh, and one more thing, it was the strangest thing, when I met her I felt like we were old friends.  Seriously.  I wasn't nervous and I didn't trip and land on my face.  After watching her on TV, reading her blog every day, and having all her books, it was just second nature to see her in person.  Very calming experience.  :)

Special thanks to my husband for occupying our daughter during the long wait, driving us, and taking our picture.  One of her "helpers" took my camera and took a picture also but it's fuzzy. Thank you honey!

Montana Summer Vacation 2013

As promised, I wanted to share some of the pictures we took on vacation. This is the Gallatin River on the way toward Bozeman, Montana. It was very early in the morning, we were driving through the night to get to my dad's house, don't ask.

Morning walk was spectacular.

Yellowstone River, my family was down a little ways fishing.

My daughter and I were playing in the shallow parts.  I was trying to teach her the fine art of walking on slippery rocks while not falling on your tush. She's a quick learner.

There were all kinds of minnows and dragon flies.  It was fun and relaxing.  You can see a sweater being worn in this picture.  It would have been hot if the wind wasn't blowing, but it was, this is Montana after all.

We also got to see my sister's little colt.  Isn't he cute!  That's his pretty mama behind him.

Horseback riding is a must when we visit. Thankfully my sister has some to spare. :)

This was taken somewhere in Idaho on our way back to Salt Lake City.  We were going to catch a midnight flight from there - that didn't happen.  We stayed in Salt Lake City that night, stayed all the next day at the airport, finally flew to Denver and stayed the night there.  Flew out of Denver early the next morning.  Fun stuff.

I'm back to cooking up a storm this week.  I did want to show you one more thing that we heard about and tried while there.

We used a peanut butter cup instead of plain chocolate for our Smores. It was G.O.O.D.

Stranded

Hey everyone, I haven't forgotten about you. See, my family and I took a vacation to Montana to see my family. We sometimes have to travel by planes, trains, and automobiles to get where we're going and in doing so we sort of got stuck in Salt Lake City. Normally I would love being in a new place to explore but in this case we are in the airport just trying to get home. Hopefully that happens tonight sometime. I promise to be back at it as soon as we make it home, and I've slept more than five hours...

See you soon, I hope.

Love,
Stranded at the airport (Malissa)

Baby Bird Flew The Coop

Remember this cute little baby in our back yard?  I think he/she is a cardinal.  I think I saw his/her mama flying out of the nest and I also think I saw her daddy pay a visit.  Either way, baby is a cardinal....I think.

I also definitely only see one baby in that nest.

One last thing, he/she flew the coop.  Gone.  Didn't even say goodbye.  Her mommy was probably pretty irritated that we kept taking pictures.  I would say that it was bad planning on mom's behalf, she should have known if she built the nest to close to the ground that I'd peep in on the baby from time to time.

OK she had no way of knowing I'd be such a nosey neighbor.

Anyways, even thought he/she left without so much as a note, I wish him/her the best and I hope we get frequent visits. We will miss spying on you little bird.

Babies In My Garden

There's all sorts of things happening in my backyard.  Look at this little baby bird that just hatched.  I think it's a robin but I'm not 100% sure.  Just last week we discovered the nest and there were three eggs inside.  Since then we've had torrential downpours and the rose bush that the mommy bird made this nest in has sort of "parted", all the branches have gotten so water logged that they all sort of fell to the side which exposed the nest.  I've been worried about the little chicks but I'm happy to see this one. I'm not sure about the other two eggs, I can't tell if they are under this little guy or perhaps they fell out of the nest.

It's hard to tell, maybe he's laying on top of some other chicks? Or maybe the other two eggs haven't hatched yet?

The mommy bird was watching us closely so I just snapped some quick pictures and left as soon as I could.  I sure hope these little one's make it....it's raining out there again as I type this.

My first tomatoes are making an appearance too.  These are an Heirloom variety.  I can't wait to eat one!

Some little grape tomatoes are peaking out too.  My daughter eats these like candy.

There's always something new in the backyard, go grab your camera and take some pictures!