Quick and Easy Soup!!

  This time of year we all need a recipe for something quick and easy that tastes good! Well last week I found just that! It is a corn chowder with bacon and it is deilsh. Perfect for those cold rainy (or snowy) winter days. Here is the recipe, hope you enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 can chicken noodle soup
2 cups milk
1 can cream style corn
1/2 cup cheese
3 slices of bacon
Combine the soup, corn, and milk and heat on the stove top. Cook the bacon in the microwave and crumble into the soup. Add cheese and stir until melted. Enjoy!!

A desk out of a door!

   For a few years now I have really wanted to make a desk with an old door. Some friends of ours in Athens had done this and I just loved it! Unfortunately, in our last apartment we had no room for such a thing with all of the furniture we already had. When we moved our new place has a dining room that we didn't have before. In our current stage of life we don't have a nice big dining room table and no real need for one so I agreed to let the room be Hace's office/study room.  The only problem was he didn't have a desk and mine was too small and, well, mine. So I finally got to make a desk out of an old door and I love it!! We found the door at an antique shop here in town and then the owner gave us the contact info for a glass company he had worked with in the past to cut us a piece of glass to go on top of the door.
    Figuring out the desk top was pretty easy the difficult part came in with the legs.  We knew that eventually we would need some drawer space but weren't sure we would find anything initially that would provide drawers, be a good balance of "cute" and "functional" (guess who wanted which:), AND be in our price range. I have been eying some filing cabinets from pottery barn for awhile that fit all qualifications except that last one.. They were out of our price range by a long shot. We didn't want to create this desk and end up spending way more than if we had just bought a desk. Hace's mom, who is a great decorator, suggested I look at homedecorator.com and we found the perfect thing! The filing cabinets there were cute, functional and on sale for $69! We did have to assemble them but we did it pretty easily and neither of us are good at stuff like that. Now we just have to find a desk chair that meets the said qualifications...

Assembly!

Drawers, obviously

Finished product!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

   My husband Hace is quite the snob when it comes to chocolate chip cookies. Seriously, in college my roommate would always laugh at the fact that if we had break and bakes he only liked Pillsbury because he claimed they were better than toll house or the store brand.  Being the good girlfriend and now wife that I am, I always made sure get the right kind. Well now I have him hooked on a chocolate chip cookie that is the REAL deal.. A recipe from an old neighbor that's tested and true. Not exactly healthy but I never promised to be health-conscious. Here it is, the best chocolate chip cookie recipe..
3/4 cup butter flavored Crisco shortening
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tbspn milk
1 tbspn vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tspn salt
3/4 tspn baking soda
1 cup chocolate chip cookies
    Heat oven to 375 - Combine butter flavor crisco, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well-blended. Beat egg into creamed mixture until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of dough 3 inches apart onto ungreased sheet. Bake 8-13 minutes, Enjoy!

Song of the South

Go Dawgs!

Mrs. Linda's tailgate

   This weekend Hace and I were able to travel to Memphis to see some of his family and our college friends and go down to Oxford, Mississippi for the Georgia - Ole Miss game. I must say, it was so good to be back in the South! For once I wasn't noticed for having a funny accent and being obsessed with College-football. Random people would talk to me and befriend me just for wearing red and black.  It was also so good to see great college friends and reunite with people we have such fond memories with. I wanted to high-light the weekend and give some funny re-cap of things that I noticed now about the South after living outside of it for a little while.
     First-off, if you have never experienced game-day in the grove at Ole Miss, it's a must! Talk about tailgating at its finest. My friend Brittany and I just spent some time walking around to find the most extravagant (and impressive) tailgates. Now for a little back-story, I have always been fascinated with tail-gating and game-day traditions of different college towns, I even wrote a research paper about it in college (strange, I know) so I have a great appreciation for things like this.  Some of my favorite and classic Ole Miss tailgate scenes were candelabras on the table, chandeliers hanging from the tent, food on silver platters, and last but not least, bloody Mary's from a drink dispenser. (It was an early game after all.) 
     With the early kick-off there wasn't much time to tailgate before the game but that didn't slow anyone down from getting the party started after the game. It made no difference that Ole Miss lost a game that wasn't really even close, they still threw a great after-party.  We primarily tail-gated with Hace's extended family but after the game we also looked for someone with a TV to catch some of the other SEC games on. That's when we stumbled across Mrs. Linda's tailgate.
     Now Mrs. Linda had quite the spread of food and decor (see picture below) and claimed Southern Living came by to photo her tailgate once. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing, she was also your classic Southern lady, so hospitable, bringing us food, making us take chairs in front of the TV, and slamming Bud Lites. Like I said, classic Southern Lady. But all-in-all it was an awesome weekend topped off by dinner at Proud Larry's on the quaint and beautiful square in Oxford and Sunday lunch at BB Kings in Memphis where they have awesome BBQ and live blues. Last but certainly not least, we went to "that hotel where they have cocktails and trained ducks" (Matt Wood) known to most as the Peabody.

Missoni For Target!!

         Many of you fashionistas are probably well-aware that today was the debut of Missoni for Target! This long anticipated line has had ample news coverage to prepare everyone for the arrival. I first read about it in an interview with the Italian designer Margherita Maccapani Missoni in Vogue.  It has been marked in my planner for over a month and today it finally arrived in stores and online! For those of you who have no idea who this is, Missoni is known for combining bright prints and designed knitwear in their clothing. Like I said before, it is an Italian Fashion house and you can find their clothing in store like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.  The line had a private launch last Wednesday in Times Square and it was a madhouse. This should have prepared Target for what would happen on the full-launch of the line today! The long-awaited line finally hit stores this morning. I thought about heading over to Target on my lunch break to check it out but decided to wait until after work so I wouldn't be pressed for time. Well right at 6 I headed to Target which is 5 minutes from work and I enter the store to see some of the obvious Missoni displays but filled with other things like halloween t-shirts, what the heck? I make my way back to shoes and find an endcap of what few shoes are left. As I search  through the sizes left with another shopper I ask if she knows where the clothes are. She informs me that they sold out at 9:00 a.m.... the store opens at 8! Then I comment that you can buy it online but she then tells me that their website isn't able to handle the volume of traffic and isn't working properly. Major. Bummer. I come home to see if I can access even a peek of the line online and sure enough their website is going haywire. Finally I get to see the clothes but all the really cute-things are sold out, naturally. So if you live somewhere near a Target you should CALL before going and see if they even have anything left and it they do let me know where it is;) Hopefully Target will be replenishing their shelves with more Missoni product soon! Until then I guess we can search the web...

Some of the likely sold out pieces, they are pretty nonetheless!

Fall Cooking

This week I have made some delicious fall treats and will highlight two, pumpkin bread and butternut squash soup.  Pumpkin bread is probably one of my all-time favorite fall foods AND when you bake it, the wonderful smell fills your whole house! I have tried a few different recipes for pumpkin bread but I think this one if the best. It is my mom's recipe that she got from a neighbor when we lived in Roswell. It's pretty easy and makes 2 loves.
Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups sugar
• 1tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs beaten
• 1 - 16 oz. canned pumpkin
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 cup vegetable oil 

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, salt, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg & sugar in large mixing bowl. Add eggs, water, oil, and pumpkin. Stir until blended. Mix well. Pour in 2 9x5'' loaf pans. Bake 1 hour. Cool slightly and take out of pans to let cool on a rack. If I'm not giving a loaf to someone I typically freeze a loaf and it does great! It might even be a little better that way.

       The next recipe is for butternut squash soup. I first had a similar soup in Athens at a potluck. This summer in South Africa we ate butternut squash in all forms possible but mainly mashed. After eating it on a weekly basis I really started to like it! This past Saturday I noticed they had it at the farmer's market so I bought it and looked up a recipe of how to use it. Granted I am not very strong, but cutting the thing took forever! It was like cutting up a pumpin, seriously, my arm is going to be sore tomorrow! The soup was great though! Hace raved over it as well so two thumbs up!
Ingredients:

• t tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
•  1 medium carrot, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 medium butternut squash, seeded, and cubed
• 1 (32 oz) container chicken stock and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.  Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth.  Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. (I also put in some cinnamon because that is what we had it with in South Africa.)

Butternut squash!

In the blender

Mmm.. finished product:)

Festival of the Nations

Humus = awesome

Yummy Greek:)

Where the heck is this?

What can I say, I love the U.K.

View of the park with all the food booths

Classic, probably most familiar with this one!

     One of the great perks of where we live in STL is Tower Grove Park! We live about 2 blocks east of the park and it is an awesome place to go run, play tennis, or just find a shady spot to sit and read or journal. (Ok, so I haven't actually done this last part yet because it's been too stinkin' hot but hopefully the fall will provide time for this!) Anyway, this weekend the park had a huge Festival of Nations where people from all over the city came and set up booths showcasing their country and heritage. Literally, there are people here from all over!! Some of the places where pretty obscure and I couldn't find them on a map if I had to but I'm just amazed I live in such a diverse city.  Being from a small Southern town this is a big deal y'all!! I wish Hace and I could have spent more time at the festival but unfortunately I had work and he had orientation this weekend. However we were able to go by Sunday after church for a little bit.  We mainly explored the food section and made lunch off of pad Thai, and Argentine and Peruvian empanadas. It was delicious!! I was super bummed we couldn't go to the arts and crafts section or watch any of the dancing/musical performances but maybe next year. Here are some photos that highlight the festival and some of the countries represented.

Soulard Farmers Market

Outside the Farmer's Market

A few of the yummy stands...

           Maybe it's because I love history and I am really a nerd at heart, or maybe I just love fresh produce and funky neighborhoods, but whatever the case may be, perhaps my favorite place so far in St. Louis is the Soulard Farmer's market. Now for a little history lesson, the Soulard Farmer's market is the oldest farmer's market west of the Mississippi. It began in 1779 (that's before the Louisiana purchase, when France still owned the land!) The owners of the plot of land were the Soulards and they set aside an area for farmers to come and sell their produce. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 things got a little hairy with the ownership of the land but eventually the Soulard's were able to set aside 2 blocks that were to be used exclusively as a farmer's market, which is what they still are used for today. This market is open year-round from Wednesday to Saturday and things are unbelievably cheap there. Today, for example, I bought lettuce, 2 tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, 4 huge peaches, jalapenos, onion, limes, and 2 avocados for a grand total of $14!!! When you are trying to conserve money you can't get much better than that! The neighborhood is also just really cool. Obviously it was originally a French neighborhood which is evident in the architecture and beautiful buildings and churches. There are also cool restaurant,  pubs, and even a cute gift-shop, reminiscent but far from my beloved plainjane's! We are excited that this neighborhood celebrates Mardi Gras each year with a parade. We will definitely be attending and hope it will be every bit as exhilarating as the Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, Alabama where we have celebrated the past two years. All-in-all Soulard is a great neighborhood with cool shops, restaurants, and history. I am so glad we found the nearby farmer's market in our first week here!

STL Zoo

HIPPO!

Caught the elephant eating, score!

Cheetah's, cooler seeing them in the African Safari but you'll do!

Tiger for my Auburn friends

   One of the awesome things about St. Louis is the awesome parks. We live close to Tower Grove Park which is awesome but small in comparison to Forest Park.  Forest Park is huge and reminds me of Central Park (minus all the skyscrapers!) In the park there is a Zoo, Art Museum, History Museum and a place where they have plays.  The great part is, the Zoo and Museums are FREE! With Hace starting back to school full-time we don't have much extra for extravagant outings these days so the park provides several options for fun, cheap dates.  When Missy, Hace's sister, came into town we did some touristy things and also visited the Zoo. This was my second trip to the Zoo but I'm sure it's far from the last.  The Zoo has a pretty impressive selection of animals. Ok, let's be honest, the only other Zoo I have been to is the Atlanta Zoo so what do I really know? But comparatively, it seems legit. My personal favorite are the hippos! They are so fascinating to me because they are huge but swim through the water like champs. Sometimes they do like to fight each other which is entertaining but sometimes I get nervous, haha. The Zoo also has a good number of cats but often they are not out. We did get to see the tiger and I took a pic for my Auburn sister and friends. He's almost as cool as LSU's Mike.  Hace's childhood dream was to be a Zoo-keeper so needless to say, he loves the Zoo.  I'm honestly not a huge animal-lover but he has gotten me more into it. Definitely would recommend the Zoo for a fun outing. Especially with kids!! Friends and family come visit and we promise to take you:)

GUACAMOLE!!

So, many of my friends make awesome guacamole and this recipe is more theirs than mine but I wanted to share it as a great summer-time dip (or football tailgate, dinner party, fiesta, etc!) Basically how I make it is add some basic ingredients, taste, see if it's lacking anything and add more of anything missing. Here are the rough proportions I use:

• 2 avocados
• 1/2 tomato
• 1 tbspn onion
• 1 small jalapeno
• 1 tbspn cilantro
• lime juice from 1 lime
• dash of salt

Basically cut everything up and mix it together in a bowl and taste it to see if anything is needed. You can refrigerate it and pull it back out for later too. I usually will add some more lime juice to make it taste fresher if I do this.  I serve with Tostitos, multigrain scoops are my current favorite! Enjoy!

Cilantro?

Finished product!

Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom"

      As many of you know, I am an avid reader and enjoy basically all types of literature.  This summer after spending 6 weeks in South Africa I became very intrigued by Nelson Mandela and the role he played in ending apartheid. I also fell in love with South African's, their culture, and how loving they are toward outsiders and one another. I was truly amazed by their lack of bitterness from apartheid wounds.  So because of all of these interests I bought Nelson Mandela's biography, Long Walk to Freedom in the airport for the 16 hour flight home.  At 751 pages, I had plenty to read on the long flight home and for the remainder of the summer for that matter! With our move and starting a new job this book definitely took me longer than planned but I finally finished and decided to use it for my first book review!
     On the whole, I really enjoyed the book and am even more intrigued by Mandela and how a boy from the country became a leader in bringing the country out of apartheid and initiating the beginnings of social justice.  Just the fact that he spent a third of his life in prison and yet emerged free of any bitterness or resentment is inspiring.  While in Cape Town we got to visit Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned for 18 or his 27 years.  It was crazy to see the confined spaces where the prisoners lived and where they worked in the limestone quarry.  One thing we learned on our tour of Robben Island is that the prisoners educated one another during their time.  They would teach one another whatever subject they knew best. What a wise way to spend time in prison?!
        One thing that is unfortunate is that because Mandela gave his life fighting for freedom for his fellow-countrymen his family definitely got the shaft. He totally owns this in the book and says it is his one regret.  After being in South Africa and seeing the AIDS issue first-hand, I think that this is another area where he could have had some great leadership in exposing the issue and requiring proper education on it. 
         I think ultimately I enjoyed this book because I went to South Africa and was able to understand, or at least had heard of, many of the things and places her referenced.  Unless you are a major history buff or have a love for South Africa too, I probably wouldn't say read it ASAP!! You can just watch Invictus and go to wikepedia for the cliftnotes! I will end with a quote from the book... "But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a glimpse of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my walk is not yet ended" (Mandela, 751).

Hace & I at Robben Island with Table Mountain in the background

Pretty sure this is the where Mandela gave his first speech after being released from prison

Mandela's cell at Robben Island

The main prison at Robben Island

Robben Island from the top of Table Mountain

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake, Yum!

         In Athens I typically would get my mom to buy a Cecilia cake for my birthday (red velvet, only the best).  This year, however, I am too far from Athens for a Cecilia cake so instead I made my own birthday cake. I love pound cake and chocolate so a combination of the two is basically my match made in heaven.  I found a recipe online that looked good and importantly was made from scratch (no boxed cake mixes for this one!) It turned out well and wasn't too difficult to make so I will share the recipe (linked above) and some photos below.  It was very exciting to use my KitchenAid which actually fits in our new kitchen:) The only difficult part of this cake was the icing. I made it and starting pouring it on, making a lovely little design as I went, but unfortunately it started coming out too fast and exploded all over the cake. Soo in the end I just iced the pound cake and Hace enjoyed licking the bowl!

Using the KtchenAid! It totally makes it taste better.

Before going into the oven...

Complete project, icing = struggle!

Hace enjoying the drizzle/icing