See, Eat, Do Charleston

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As you probably know, last weekend I was in Charleston with mom, dad and middle sis. The town was a little different then I expected. That's the first thing, it's a town not a city, it's tiny. Although, it is the most charming little place with cobblestone roads, colorful houses and the streets filled with horse drawn carriages. The town seemed to be full of older couples vacationing there or college kids roaming the streets in oversized t's and nikes or Lily Pulitzer dresses. It was funny to see the mix, but it made it unique. 

Per usual Tucker vay cay, it was all about the food. We made it to Charleston with only dinner reservations and didn't have plans for anything else. It was nice being able to just make up our plans as we went. We shopped on the infamous King Street, took a carriage tour, walked the palm tree lined streets, and ate a lot. Mom and sis and I wondered through the College of Charleston campus on our last afternoon. It was so preppy and we all agreed we felt like we were in an episode of Gilmore Girls. Below is more of what we saw, ate and did in charming Charleston.

See:
-The houses in Charleston run perpendicular to the street with two or three story porches called piazzas. These porches allow for the winds to run through them and cool down the houses in the heat of the summer. 
-The houses look like they are out of a coloring book. They are all pink or yellow or blue etc. with wrought iron fences and painted shutters. Even the buildings on the campus look this way.

Eat:
-Excuse the overload of pictures. I felt the need to show you almost every meal I had. 
-My favorite dinner was at Peninsula Grill. I had the grouper with the shaved brussels sprout salad and almond brown butter sauce. We finished the meal with their famous 12-layer coconut cake. Apparently it is Bobby Flay's favorite dessert.
-Other dishes included the duck confit salad at Cru, ricotta gnocchi at FIG, chicken and waffles, biscuits with whipped honey butter and the southern traditional dish of she crab soup at Poogan's Porch and brioche french toast at Hall's gospel Sunday brunch. 

Do:
-While dad caught up on some March Madness, I may have led mom and Kathleen on a hike through Charleston to find Sugar Bakeshop. I had read so much about it and wasn't leaving till we found it. The tiny bakery crammed people in, but I patiently waited for my pistachio cupcake.
-We also stumbled apon the cutest specialty market right off King Street. I had read about Caviar and Bananas but it was even better in person. I have a week spot for specialty food stores. 
-Mom is apparently an Instagram queen but we introduced her to Snapchat on the trip...don't kill me for posting this Kathleen.
-We were also able to walk every where which made eating carb heavy dishes at every meal seem somewhat okay. 

It was the best little long weekend trip and I highly recommend the city! It was fun playing southern belle for a few days!

Annie

Bites of My Life

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I'm home and spring break is officially over. People say, "it's always good to leave and it's always good to come home." I'm usually one who's excited for getting back into a routine of things, but this time I'm not ready. My carb loaded vacation diet can end, but does the relaxation have to?
As usual, when I'm home that means lot's of cooking and eating. Before we left, I was in the kitchen as much as possible. Besides pictures of cutie Charleston, all the pictures I had from the past week were of food. Look forward to some recipe posts coming up!
{Spring Break Food Bites}
 -A yummy green smoothie to start St. Patricks day right. I posted the recipe here.
-Homemade niçoise salad later that day for lunch. I'll be posting the recipe later this week and explain what exactly this salad is if you are unfamiliar. 
-First baked good to come from my new KitchenAid! My "Pot of Golden Raisin Irish Soda Bread." The recipe for this bread got posted last week.
-Final meal on St. Patrick's day was steak and shrimp kabobs done by dad and israeli couscous and Ina's Pesto Pea Salad made by mom and I. We had to serve this salad, not only because it's our favorite, but because of all the greens. I think I've mentioned before how I like celebrating holiday's with the appropriate food.
-Leftover soda bread was the base for my avocado toast. Avocado toast is all the rage if you didn't know and it is for a reason, it's dang good. Smashed avocado mixed with a little salt then sprinkled with red pepper flakes.
-Tuesday night Kathleen highlighted my hair (don't worry we do it all the time) and made me this delish sweet potato meal. Check out the recipe on A Peony For Your Thoughts.
-I bought dad an at-home brew kit for Christmas. It was a little more than we bargained for and spring break was the first available time we could devote enough attention to do it. This picture shows pouring the sparge through the mash to create the wort. Does that sound like gibberish? Ya it did to us to, hence why our beer may be borderline poisonous after its 4 weeks of fermenting, but we are going to let it do its thing and hope for the best.
-Last week I got some really exciting news about my summer plans, so the only appropriate way to celebrate was with a burger. Urban Johnnie is a must if you live in the OKC area. Order the Johnnie the Greek Burger and the buffalo dum dums to start, you won't be disappointed. 
Thursday morning the fam and I hopped on a plane to (LAX) Charleston, SC. Charleston is much smaller than I realized, but still has the good perks of a big city! We ate tons of southern food, took a carriage ride, walked the city and still did lots of relaxing. Here are a few pics to tide you over until my full post tomorrow. 

{Charleston Bites}
-After dinner coffee at our hotel bar while our good buddy Calvin entertained us with some southern jazz.
-Chicken and waffles with spicy blackberry syrup from Poogan's Porch.
-Charleston looks like a coloring book with its pink, yellow and blue houses!
-When in Charleston, eat food named after the city.
Back to the grind!
xo annie

Explore Guthrie

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Guthrie, Oklahoma is a small town about 30 minutes outside of the big city. Guthrie got put on the map after they hosted Mumford and Son's Gentleman of the Road tour last fall. Since then, in my eyes, Guthrie has been sprucing themselves up a bit. 
Last friday night my parents and I went on an adventure to Guthrie. I had been dying to try Union Tacos which is a new restaurant in Guthrie's historic district. 

Union Tacos was delicious to say the least. They are still new and working out a few kinks, but the fresh chips and roasted salsa kept me happy. They use all local Oklahoma products and change their menu around daily. They have a few starters, sides and five rotating entrees. 
We ordered the chimichanga filled with beef barbacoa and pinto beans then slathered in queso (pictured above), the lamb and potato galette and the orange and cumin scented pork tamale. Guacamole and more of their amazing chips rounded out our meal. 
I recently gave up chips and queso for lent, but I graciously chowed down on chips and guac. I highly recommend their guacamole. My parents harassed me for indulging in the chimichanga and galette, both of which were covered in queso, but I assured them that I wasn't eating "chips and queso" the queso was more of a garnish. They saw it more as a failed attempt to get around the idea of lent.

After dinner we did some exploring around the historic town that was originally they first capitol of Oklahoma. We then stopped at Hoboken Coffee Roasters. This is another spot I had been waiting to try! Mom got a chai and I got a french press, Dad had to opt out of anything involving caffeine. 
The coffee shop is located in an old garage space right next to the Guthrie high school baseball and football fields. Not only do they serve amazing coffee, they also roast all their own beans. 
"here take a picture of me for the blog!"
If you are on a "staycation" in Oklahoma this spring break, make a trip to Guthrie. The hipster/historic town has some fun spots to explore!
xo annie

Pot of Gold Irish Soda Bread

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There are only 3 hours left of St. Patrick's Day, but I had to post this recipe before the holiday ended!

Irish soda bread is a "quick bread" made from only a few ingredients and studded with dried fruit. Currants are the traditional fruit used in this bread, but anything will work. I went with golden raisins to play up the St. Patrick's Day theme. I call it my Pot of GOLDen Raisin Soda Bread!

If we aren't friends on insta or you missed my bites post, I am now the proud owner of a KitchenAid mixer. After my wonderful grandmother passed back in December, she left a little bit of money for each of her grandkids. My dad was insistant on us not saving it, but spending it on something that would make G-ma proud. My grandmother was an amazing cook and baker, so I knew this is what I would put my money toward. Thanks G-ma!

I never pictured Irish soda bread being the first thing I would make in my mixer, but St. Patrick's Day came at just the right time. I'm all about celebrating holidays with the appropriate food.

Irish Soda Bread
yields 1 large loaf

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup golden raisins
2 cups buttermilk* (or almond milk with juice from half of a lemon squeezed in and left to rest for 5 minutes)

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients and the raisins in an electric mixer with the dough hook  attachment. Slowly add milk then let the mixer knead the dough for 2-3 minutes. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides halfway through. 

Grease a cookie sheet. Turn the dough out onto the cookie sheet and form into a round loaf. Use a knife to score the top with an "X." Bake for 50 minutes. Serve with butter or jam! Warmed in the microwave or toasted is also best!

*If you don't have buttermilk on hand, there is an easy substitute. Buttermilk can be made from any kind of milk you simply add half the juice of a lemon to the milk then let it sit. After 5 minutes the lemon has added acidity to the milk and curdled it to make a buttermilk sub. Joy the Baker gives more substitutions here.

Hurry quick! If you want to celebrate the right way you only have a few more hours to make this bread. I mean I guess you could make soda bread on any average day, it's just more fun on St. Patty's Day!

Annie