What I've Been Up To....

I'm following suit of my dear college friend Kimberly over at Faith, Hope & Alotta Love...

Last night I had the dear pleasure of lodging a night at my old house with the best roommate in South Carolina (woot woot K)! As single women in their later 20's, who both feel a strong calling to the married life, we talked about using this time to not only seize the present moment that God has given us, but also to develop skills, master recipes and seize other things that the freedom of our states of life allow us at this current moment.

So this is what I've been up to:

Mastering the Art of Pimento Cheese
This will one day be a post on itself, but pimento cheese is a staple of the South. Nothing north of the Mason Dixon line has ever tasted as good as Pimento cheese in the south tastes. Seriously. I'd like to think I've become a connoisseur of Pimento cheese (since I basically order it everywhere I go), and I'm quite pleased with how it all turned out.

Greek Layer Dip

When I lived in G-Vegas a group of us young adults got together and met for a weekly small-group. We read through Gaudium Et Spes (a great document from Vatican II--it's an easy read) and Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. Each week we'd bring snacks or dinner and feed the body & the soul. One of the gals in our group made this and by the end of the night, there was literally nothing left. I recently made it for a Young Adult get-together and it was a hit.

(RECIPE HERE)

Julia
She's bold, fearless and accepts nothing less than confident excellence. Since I've moved to SC, I've mastered her Boeuf Bourguignon, Beurre Blanc, and Coq Au Vin.

(Isn't that espresso set the cutest! My Momma gave it to me for Christmas a few years ago & I LOVE it!)

Traveling the Great State of SC

So my whole territory is the great state of South Carolina. Here's a billboard from a Catholic parish in the Upstate.

(It's hard to see, but it's Pope Francis and the Catholic Church.)

Ribbon Wreaths:

These are so much fun to make! I purchased the ribbon at an after Christmas Sale for  90% off. Isn't it FUN?!?!

And there you have it!

Cooking, Creating, Julia Child and Traveling.

As Julia always ends...

Bon Appétit!

If you give a girl a magazine...

If you give a girl a magazine..

Chances are she's going to find a recipe she wants to make...

And if she sets to making that recipe, chances are she's going to realize she doesn't have all the ingredients and equipment needed, so she'll get gifted by a friend, a FREE Kitchen Aid Processor (yeah-my friends are great)...

And then she'll go to Mass, and the lovely family who has a brood of chickens will bring in dozens of free farm-fresh eggs, so she'll take a dozen...

And chances are, if she takes a dozen of farm-fresh eggs, they are going to be dirty, so she'll have to wash them (her grandparents had eggs, so she knows how to do this)...

And once they are clean, she's going to start baking by following the directions in the recipe...

(above photo: my Mom's vintage sifter I 'borrowed')

And chances are if she follows the directions, like she has before with Martha Stewart recipes, the recipe is going to turn out great...

And because they're great, she's going to take a picture of them to share on her Facebook page for all to see...

And that's going to make her happy, and she's going to sit and enjoy her recipe and that's going to remind her to finishing reading her magazine.

The End.