Ringing in 2013

Well Happy New Year, y'all! I'm a little late on this, aren't I? Like everyone else, I'm winding down the craziest time of year for me. Let's have a look at how it all went.

I rang in the New Year in Alabama with the Moon Pie Drop.

Christmas brunch had two kinds of Eggs Benedict-- the traditional and a crab version. And probably the best hollandaise I've ever had, courtesy of my cousin Casey.

I finished off my birthday night with a shot of peppermint schnapps in a little chocolate cup. It was rough...and delicious.

My cousin Erin totally surprised us all by decorating the table at my birthday lunch. It was so sweet and so wonderful. She's an event planner. You should totally hire her.

Erin had also set up a little bottle of champagne and chocolates. Oh and Bistro 217 also surprised me with tiramisu. Honestly, I'm not even a big tiramisu fan, but it was beyond lovely. Seriously, a great birthday lunch.

My sister and I made a tacky Christmas sweatshirt for an oyster roast. It turned out awesomely bad, including an actual bow pinned to it and jingle bells sewn on.

I've only recently moved back to Columbia full-time, but I tell you the cover bands at Tin Roof never disappoint. This here is the Twang Bangers from Johnson City, Tennessee.

Roast beast! No really, it was a massive prime rib that Roddy cooked beautifully. 

I was SO ready for our bowl game. I had my cup, scarf, sweatshirt, t-shirt, and bracelet. A win made it all worth it. 

Naked buns. These Gingery Cinnamon Rolls were a decadent birthday morning treat.

I still am craving orange & cinnamon together. Look for that combination to make an appearance soon.

A New Year means new goals. So far I've got:

• Run a 10k. I accomplished my goal of running a 5k last year, so this year I'm aiming for a 10k. I'm pretty sure I'm doing the Charleston Bridge Run in April, which will make sure I train and get it done.
• Make my own butter. Mostly because Emily got me a little DIY kit. C'mon, if anyone's going to make butter it's gonna be me.
• Make good bread to go with that butter. It was on my list last year but got lost in the shuffle.
• Visit a city I've never explored. Now that I work in the travel industry, I feel like this is important and quite likely.
• Find a place to live and make it my own. It'll be my first grown-up apartment, and I want to start collecting pieces that mean something to me. I've got a few things already, so I'm not starting from scratch. It's more about the atmosphere I create for myself moving forward. Maybe I'll even give y'all a tour.

Kahlùa Pudding Cake

My sister's birthday was this week. Since I'm such a good sister, I made her a cake. I also babysat G-man so that she and Rich could have a nice dinner. I've been wanting to make this pudding cake for weeks now, and I figured I should make it for my sister and Rich because it's pretty much guaranteed to get eaten. Rich would eat this for breakfast if he could get away with it.

My sister said that since it's her birthday cake she can eat it out of the pan with a fork if she wants. Rock on, man. It's a seriously rich dessert that is only enhanced by a dollop of very lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Back to Basics: Vanilla Poundcake Cupcakes

Sometimes you have to make something familiar and simple.  My mom's birthday was last weekend, so I took her request for the cake she wanted.  She wanted these vanilla poundcake cupcakes with vanilla buttercream.  My mom is the opposite of fussy, especially when it comes to food.  The simpler the better.  There's a beauty in the pure vanilla flavor these cupcakes possess.  Vanilla is not, I repeat, not boring.  I think you just have to appreciate that it's uncomplicated.  It's homey.  It's simply delicious.

Christmas in Carolina

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Lovely Kwanzaa/generally good weekend!  We survived our first Christmas and my first birthday without my grand-daddy and only had one sentimental spell.

This was also Grady's first Christmas.

He gave us lots of smiles this weekend.  He loved when Aunt Mandy talked to him.  He'd just start grinning and getting close to a little baby giggle.

At one point I had both Grady and Puddin hangin' out on me.  Forgive my hair.  It's also worth noting Puddin sat on my lap the entire time we opened presents.  He ended up with glitter all over him.

Our Christmas morning breakfast was the usual mountain of food.  Egg casserole, sausage balls, sticky buns, fruit salad, country ham and biscuits, and the best cheese ball I've ever had.  And let me tell you something, I would sell my soul for sausage balls.  It's just sausage, cheese, and Bisquick, but we'd rather eat sawdust than not have sausage balls Christmas morning.

After all the presents were opened, Daisy decided she'd finally sit down.

Rich liked reading to Grady.  I gave him his first Christmas book with his Christmas jammies.

James was really proud of his sausage and cheese tray.  I told him I'd blog about it.  The sausage was a venison summer sausage.  Sooo yummy.

Grady got a giraffe pillow that's supposed to be good for tummy time because it's really soft.  Puddin figured that since there was a pillow in the middle of the floor, it must be for him.  I think this is after he fell in the pool.  Poor guy, he just walked right in.  Usually he's good about walking around it, but he just walked right in.  He's still a good swimmer though.

We had a good Christmas.  It had the usual wackiness that comes along with any of our family gatherings, and of course the food was good.  Now it's time to get ready for the New Year!

A Birthday Cake

My grandmother turned 75 Tuesday!  Because everyone needs a birthday cake, I offered to make one.  And cake is something that always tastes better with a little extra love mixed in it.

I couldn't decide what to make until I was flipping through a cookbook and was hit with carrot cake.  I flipped a little more but couldn't shake the carrot cake.  Carrot cake?  For realz?  Yes.  I was compelled to make carrot cake, a dessert I've never ever made before and wasn't totally sure I liked.  For the record, I do like.  But don't feed me a raw carrot, I'm not a horse.  My carrots shall be cooked or baked.  I digress.  Wanna know what Sybil said when I told what kind of cake it was?  "Oh I love carrot cake!"  She loves it.  Winner.