Blood, sweat, tears, and landscaping.

Since Carolyn hasn't posted in a while, I figured I'd jump in and bring her blog back to life with a little update on the most recent project: our backyard.

The catalyst for this project actually dates back to the storm that crushed our garage last June.

We had to get the oak tree cleaned up so that it wouldn't die or drop any more limbs on our new garage. So while the tree guy was here we decided to have him clean up the only side of our lot that doesn't have a fence. All the mangled trees and shrubs that had been growing there for years suddenly vanished and we re-discovered the rusty chain link fence separating is from our neighbors. So after a few fights with the ivy and thorn vines left behind by the tree guy, we had a clean strip ready to be adorned with a wooden fence to match the one on the other 3 sides of our yard.

I figured all this would be in vain without making the rest of the yard look good too, so we had some weeding and pine straw done.

Then today, I tackled the first steps on the new fence- beginning with an hour in Lowes, followed by a lot of sweat, a few bug bites, some dried concrete here and there, and the realization that I'm not quite as limber as I used to be (must be a side effect of balding). Photos of finished product will (hopefully) come soon, just got several posts dug and anchored today and about 8 ft of fence boards covered.

Where to Eat in 2012

Since we have been pretty busy around here with work lately, there haven't been as many homemade meals as usual. In case you are struggling to find the time to cook, I thought I would share a few suggesting for dining out. Have you seen this list of the 50 places to eat in the South in 2012?

I made a quick inventory, and here are the ones I have been to....

Alabama
- Cosmo's (Orange Beach) - It's been a few years, but the sushi was great from what I remember!
- Full Moon BBQ (Birmingham) - I was a little surprised this made the list because in my opinion its not even the top 3 BBQ spots in Birmingham!
- Shindigs Food Truck (Birmingham) - I've only been once, but can't wait to go back - delicious!

Georgia
- Empire State South (Atlanta) - We've been for brunch twice and LOVED it, but still need to go try for dinner sometime.
- Wisteria (Atlanta) - Again it's been a few years, but the pork tenderloin and mac and cheese were the stars from my memory.

Louisiana
- St. James Cheese Company (New Orleans) - This was a fun find a few years ago for us thanks to Chowhound. It is a cheese shop, but also serves cheese plates and sandwiches to eat in. A little off the beaten path in New Orleans, but certainly worth the trip!
- Stanley (New Orleans) - My mouth is watering just thinking about breakfast at Stanley. We just discovered it in January when we were in New Orleans for the National Championship game but cannot wait to go back! It is in Jackson Square and there is often a wait, but it is worth every minute (and they have a walk up coffee bar to give you a caffeine fix to hold you over). The eggs with fried soft shell crab and sweet potato fries are at the top of my list!

North Carolina
- Tupelo Honey Cafe (Asheville) - Since Asheville was a close drive from Greenville, we would make day trips there every so often. Andy and I ventured there for a Sunday brunch one weekend I think. While it was good, I don't know that it really matched all the hype in my mind.

South Carolina
- Poe's Tavern (Sullivan's Island) - This was one of our regular spots when Andy lived in Charleston. It is right by the beach and has almost any kind of burger you can dream up - or you can pick a chicken sandwich with any of the same toppings!

And I am ashamed to say that despite living in Nashville for 2 years I had not been to any of the Tennessee restaurants that made the cut!

Where else have you been on the list? What restaurants do you think they missed?

Birthday Week(end)

My birthday celebration officially started on Thursday with a day trip to Paris. I kid you not.

I know it may sound crazy, but the truth is I was in London (luckily we stayed in a new hotel this time so I wasn't fighting this hairdryer all week again) for work and we took the client to Paris for the day. It was still pretty special though and certainly not an every day occurrence!

I flew home Friday where Andy greeted me at the airport with a freshly cleaned car and flowers and a birthday cake at home! All very welcome and thoughtful surprises. After an early bedtime Friday and a massage Saturday morning, I was rested and ready to enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

I'm very lucky to share my birthday with my sister-in-law, Molly, and this year we got to celebrate together along with Andy's parents - such a treat! We enjoyed a little of this before dinner....

And after dinner (which was the always delicious Gianmarco's!), we had this....

Happy Birthday Molly - so glad we could celebrate together!

Oh and we bought this mirror today for the guest bedroom (happy birthday to me!) thanks to the Super Bowl Sale at Harmony Landing! Can you see Andy trying to give me bunny ears?

Birthday week celebration continues tomorrow with date night and next weekend with my parents...Thanks everyone for the birthday love!

Seafood Feast

This post is a few weeks overdue, but better late than never right?

As you may recall, Andy and I spent Thanksgiving at the beach which, lucky for us, meant that we could take advantage of the annual seafood sale at Goatfeathers. Every year (or at least for the last few) Goatfeathers sells all their seafood at wholesale price on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. My dad and Andy were troupers and went and stood in line in the rain while Mom and I enjoyed our coffee inside the warmth of the condo. 

For us, Andy brought back jumbo lump crab meat, which we turned into this:

West Indies Salad (recipe compliments of my mom)

1 lb fresh lump crab meat

1 medium onion, chopped fine

4 oz canola oil

3 oz cider vinegar

4 oz ice water

salt and freshly ground pepper

optional to add some chopped yellow or red bell pepper in with the onion

Divide chopped onion (and bell pepper if using) in half and spread half on bottom of a flat casserole dish. Pick any shell out of the crab, then place crab meat on top of onion/pepper mixture. Spread remaining onion/pepper mixture on top of crab meat. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour over all the canola oil, then the vinegar, and lastly the ice water. Cover and refrigerate for 2-12 hours. 

(The recipe says to make sure you add things in the right order, and I've never deviated so not sure how big of an impact it makes...)

And also some tuna, which we turned into this....

I simply pressed a mixture of white and black sesame seeds into the tuna (make sure you pat it dry first) then seared for maybe a minute on each side in a very hot pan. 

I had this brilliant idea of serving it with this pre-packaged edamame quinoa that I had found at World Market, but the quinoa was a total bust. Oh well, you live and learn!

Switching gears totally, did anyone else see Claire Danes' dress at the Golden Globes? I am not one  to usually watch award shows, but we had it on in the background while we were eating dinner and just so happened to see this.

(photo compliments of glamour.com)

I thought it was absolutely gorgeous! 

Happy Weekend!

New Orleans Recap

I think we have finally recovered from our big weekend in New Orleans (although the celebration of Bama's 14th national championship will continue for some time!), so here's a recap of our culinary adventures. 

We left Birmingham early Saturday morning to ensure we made it to New Orleans in time for lunch (you have to make the most of every meal in New Orleans, right?). We stayed at the Hilton on St. Charles, so Luke (a John Besh restaurant) was conveniently located right in our hotel which made it a perfect first stop. I guess we were too ravenous to actually take a picture, so you will just have to take our word that the hamburger topped with Benton's bacon and Chez Fon Fon worthy french fries were delicious (but perfect to share because the serving was hearty to say the least). 

Our food cravings satisfied (at least for the moment), we spent the afternoon exploring Magazine Street and of course making sure the team had arrived....

After a brief DJ Fluker and Sela Ward siting at the Carousel Bar, it was off to Lilette for dinner. Dinner was good, but I think I may prefer Lilette for lunch. All in all though, I don't know if it was really a fair weekend to truly judge the restaurants as they were packed with fans in town for both the BCS game and the Saints game. After dinner we grabbed a drink at Bouligny Tavern, which is right next door to Lilette. It was a fun atmosphere if you are looking for a place to really be able to sit down and visit rather than fighting a crowd in a loud, smokey bar. 

Before heading to bed, we had to head over to check out the crowds on Bourbon street. Traffic was already bumper to bumper on Canal...

Saturday night the red and white clearly outnumbered the purple and gold. We quickly learned that was simply because the LSU fans had all been wearing their Saints gear though because we saw too many of these to count come Sunday...

Sunday morning started with breakfast in Jackson Square at Stanley. Even though I am not usually the biggest breakfast fan, I think this may have been my favorite meal of the weekend. Andy and I shared the soft shell crab eggs benedict (along with sweet potato fries and onion rings so certainly the healthiest of meals, but so worth it). It can get crowded, but there is a coffee bar next door and you can watch the sights of Jackson Square while you wait outside.

After breakfast, we explored the ESPN Game Day set and fanfare stuff they had set up before heading to the WWII Museum. We were so impressed with the museum, and if you decide to go the movie is a must do! Wondering why the WWII museum is in New Orleans? The boats that were used in Normandy for an "amphibious assault" were made by Higgins Boats in New Orleans.

After the museum, we were all up for a little afternoon snack so Andy led us over to Corporation Bar & Grill, which was a dump to say the least. HOWEVER, they really did have the best po boy I've ever had in New Orleans. We all voted the fried oyster po boy the winner. Another highlight of the place was the homemade "leg lamp" by the door - remember this thing from a Christmas story? Well, they had used a prosthetic leg with a tennis shoe on it for their interpretation. 

After walking back to the hotel (trying to work up an appetite again), we changed and headed to dinner at Emeril's Delmonico. They were kind enough to cheer on the Tide with their dinner plates.

Dinner was good, but the restaurant was packed, making it kind of difficult to carry on a conversation. I think we were all feeling a little full already before we even sat down - that's what New Orleans will do to you I guess! I had the beef carpaccio to start (good but not great - hard to beat Frank Stitt's) and then BBQ shrimp appetizer (which was very tasty). The highlight may have been the cinnamon beignets for dessert though!

Sunday night we called it a relatively early night since we knew that we had a big day ahead. We were up early on Monday and set out to explore Jackson Square and "feel the crowd" (as my dad likes to put it).

Already decked out in our Bama gear of course!

After dropping in a few different parties, Andy and I headed to Herbsaint for lunch. It was packed, and the wait staff was a little overwhelmed to put it nicely, but the food was delicious. We shared an ahi tuna sandwich and shoestring onion rings (the only kind of onion ring really worth eating in my book). I will definitely give Herbsaint another shot for dinner on a less busy weekend. 

After lunch our nerves were starting to build, so we wandered around for a while to try to keep our minds at ease. We finally met back up with my parents around 5:30 to head over to the Superdome. 

(Yes we waited to time the picture until the lights were red and white!)

The lines to get into the Dome were a nightmare (can't imagine what it must have been like in Katrina), so we were glad to finally get to our seats!

Of course we all had a blast watching Alabama absolutely dominate LSU and bring home National Championship #14!

And we couldn't help but go celebrate on Bourbon Street for a little while...

And the best way to finish off the perfect night? With oysters of course!

Thanks Mom and Dad for a WONDERFUL weekend - one we will remember for a long, long time. 

Roll Tide!