This is a brilliant concept to me.  Imagine the possibilities – Icecream, Tacos, Healthy Stuff… Yes, I know this is nothing new but our city’s market is not very saturated so just sayin’…  Maybe I could do it out of my camper-slash- home!

People – especially office people – really do just EAT THIS STUFF UP!

Caprese, Fried Bologna, Brie and Walnuts… so many different cheezzzzzzes!  And for dessert- a s’more sandwich!

They even offer a curry ketchup.  Which makes me want to puke up my kidneys ’cause ketchup is the grossest thing to ever exist but you may be into it.

As much as I rave though- that is not what i had for lunch.  This is:

Oh i know i know.  I had to threaten my jealous office-mates with asparagus spears.

But speaking of healthy deliciousness– and spears actually — the other day i had some farmers market veggies lying around with some italian chicken sausage.  Beings as it’s summer and all, I put a sharp-ended skewer through those SOBs and made daddy fire up the grill.

They marinated overnight in olive oil, fresh rosemary and some salt and were quite delicious if not exactly the most filling.

What are your favorite things to grill?  I also love asparagus, butter and parmesan! mmmmm

Back to Alton for the weekend for more camping and boating and…..

FIREWORKS!!

Have a great Fourth everybody!

Addicted to coffee?  Well you may or may not care about this project.

Addicted to everything that has to do with (good) coffee-i.e. the experience, the history, the varied cultures surrounding it- or have a great knack for torturing yourself by looking at the beautiful places you’re not at right now? You may wanna check this out

I have been reminded in about 2 minutes that Italians are so much cooler than us ( “We don’t have those”- mimicking “venti” cup size) and that if you’re cute, stylish and from West Virginia you somehow get to travel all over the world and drink and eat awesome things and write about them.  Am I missing something? Am I Bitter?  Perhaps slightly. Pun could not be more intended.

Did I mention I can’t even drink very much coffee right now due to health reasons?  Bah!!

And now is when i plug our fave local coffee spots where they know their stuff.  you may call them snobs but i call them friends.

Want more? check out my dear Jess’s photo collection of that most special and happily welcomed cup o’ ebony

I mean – if you’re gonna be the stereotypical hipster, might as well just paint it on the walls loud and proud

Happy Oaks Day! (a brief history and intro. to the Oaks for those unfamiliar)

This morning we had our annual pancake breakfast at work and couldn’t go without some Woodford… in our syrup, in our whipped cream, in a plastic solo cup   It’s been a full week of Derby preparing here in its home city but it’s not over yet so we’re giving you a few links to inspire your last-minute party preparations and keep you in the holiday spirit.

A photo guide of  this year’s lineup

Some advice for the Gentlemen

Martha’s recipe for a mint julep

Not a drinker? Put it in a cupcake

The lesser-known “official drink of the Oaks” – Lily

A Derby-themed ladies brunch

Celebrities at the Derby

And who’s attending the biggest party in town tonight?

Photos: who was there in years past

The cake this year: “The $2,500 concoction is flavored with a $200 bottle of Kentucky’s finest bourbon and wrapped in real 23-karat edible gold.”

Just look at those hats

An adorable Derby-themed birthday party

Paula Deen’s version of Derby pie

Love the julep cup. Perfect to use for flowers or pens and pencils or just more mint julep after!

Last-minute decorating for your party tomorrow? Love this sweet vignette

Entertaining dreams of visiting this horse town for next year’s race, or any other non-Derby day? Check out Design Sponge’s profile highlighting just a few of the gems.

Downs photos via my iphone after a Wednesday spent in Millionares Row

How was your weekend?  Saturday was my birthday and so I had a pretty full and fantastic few days.  That evening we went to dinner at this amazing new dive- Hammerheads- and I had a P(ork)B(ack)LT with duck fat fries. mmmmm… Then my awesome roommate Amanda made me this cake. Both Final Four games turned out exactly how I wanted and Sunday I got to hang with two of my fave lil’ gals -in photo above with Peanut the horse (check out Ella’s awesome pink cowboy boots).

So what mischief or not did you get into this weekend?

As the gyms fill up with resolved minds and wills (for now), I still stand a sugar-craving weakling with fists full of week-old Christmas cookies.  (I mean seriously- i have the appetite of three pregnant women.  I ate half-a-box of raisin bran on the drive home from work yesterday).  So you can imagine that discovering ChocolateBakery.com today gave my salivary glands quite the morning workout.

If you’re not exactly a pro with your Deluxe 4395 Icing Set or you conveniently completely forgot about your cousin’s long-awaited,hard-won graduation from law school, all you have to do is log on and order your treat Monday through Friday before 6pm, and it will be on your –or the lucky recipient’s– doorstep the next day.  Easy as cake!

Even better, for the next 3 days, log in HERE and pay only $40 for $80 worth of goodies!

Today I am going to share with you one of the best cupcake recipes EVER! Why do I say this is so?

’cause it’s frickin Chai for goodness sake!!

Autumns vigorous symphony of spicy n’ sweet nostalgia together in one warm cup(cake).

And if you don’t like Chai well that’s just plain… well, it’s plain unIndian!!

I can’t take credit for the recipe, but this Pastry girl can.  I will, however, take credit for making them awesomely.  ’cause i sorta did.

Here’s how i did it…

Boyfriend Kitchenaid makes its first appearance in the new crib.  I’m happy to report it works just as well in this kitchen as it did in the other.

Bittersweet.

Take the Bracelets off and turn your Ella Fitzgerald-Iron&Wine-Band of Horses-Beatles mix on ’cause this one requires some fuller employment.

And yes there is that one other necessary item…

SO glad that guys back.  Anyways…

First, you get your tai-”chai” on by mixing Fall’s mascot spices

Chai Spice Mixture

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamon

Combine the spices together in a small bowl

The other ingredients you’ll need:

1 ½ cups cake flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons chai spice mixture

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg plus 2 egg whites

½ cup whole milk

I have trouble finding Cake Flour at supermarket chains that’s not in retro (and i mean the crappy kind of retro) packaging with the word BLEACHED! prominently displayed.  I mean- i’m all good with “ignorantly” eating pounds of chemicals as long as they’re not splashed up on the front of the box reminding me i’m disgusting. sheesh. So I get all bourgie and find the good stuff at Whole Foods.

Directions. Cupcakes

(via Dessert First)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl. Stir in the chai spice mixture.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed until soft and creamy.

Add in egg and egg whites, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition to combine before adding the next.

Add in the flour mixture and milk mixture in three alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Beat just to combine each addition before adding the next.

Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, fill each cupcake liner about ¾ full with batter. Bake in oven for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the cupcakes comes out clean. Mini cupcakes will take about 15 minutes, so check sooner.

Let cupcakes cool in tin on a wire rack until cool before decorating

“Oh that’s SO easy” you say.  Not so fast my lass!! You may want to grab that Duncan Heinz pre-made icing off the grocery shelf, but  stop and consider first… what does a most upstanding respectable deliciously sophisticated cupcake deserve?  Would you wear a dirty ol’ baseball cap with your little black Versace dress? not relatable enough? ok then – Would you wear a dirty ol’ baseball cap with your new Target dress you just found on sale from $29.99 to $14.99? Of course not!!

So my chai cupcakes get their due with a match made in cake heaven: Swiss Meringue Honey Buttercream icing.

And this is where the relationship gets really involved…(ingredients and directions follow along with my visuals and commentary which is in red italics)

Swiss Meringue Honey Buttercream

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons honey
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1-in pieces
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Combine the sugar, honey, and egg whites in a medium metal bowl and place over a pan of simmering water.

Whisk the sugar mixture constantly over heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture looks smooth and shiny. Continue whisking until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F.

I did not have a thermometer so i just guesstimated.  Also i placed it over a pot of simmering water which the bowl may or may not have fallen into a couple of times, and i do think this affected the sugar dissolving properly.  This also takes a lot of watching and whisking so it’s not the time to take a break and learn how to Dougie .

Remove mixture from heat and pour into a stand mixer bowl. Whisk on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture has cooled.
Switch to the paddle attachment and with the speed on low, add the butter a few pieces at a time, beating until smooth. Do not add the butter too quickly or beat too quickly or the buttercream may break.

mmmm…. Butter….(my  nephew used to eat butter by itself.  all the time.  true story. i think he’s ok)

When all the butter has been added, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed for about 6-10 minutes until it is very thick and smooth. It may appear to separate briefly but continue beating and it should come back together.

Now this is when you can step back for a moment… start cleaning up your mess or stare at the pretty flowers your totally cool roommate brought home…

or pick up the latest Harper’s Bazaar and sigh at how lovely Louis, Tommy, and Marc are these days

or eat an apple……. seductively…….. on the floor… .(???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????)

….I don’t know

It should be about done now, looking something like this:

Finale: Add in the vanilla extract and beat to combine.

The buttercream is ready to be used. Place a piece of plastic wrap against the surface until you are ready to use it to prevent it from drying out.

OR….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

………………..Put it on the frickin’ cupcakes already and stuff it down your face!!!

wanna make the cookies pictured above? go here.  and then here to thank her for passing it on.

I’ve been moving the past couple of weeks into a beautiful house with three beautiful girls.  This is a gift.  However, not knowing which box your culinary utilities might be buried in and not even knowing where that box might be buried… that and a diet of cereal, bagels, and brownies is less than such. But it won’t be long until those granite countertops and stainless steel appliances are in full busy function, and how perfect as Fall brings with it such hearty, comforting foods.

I was reminded of this when my dearest friend Meg asked for some ideas on what to cook for her, her husband, and that growing little baby in her belly.  As I looked for some transferrable inspiration, I got plenty of my own.  Here are some of the things I’m looking forward to creating –and devouring– in the next few months.  What sounds good to you readers?  Any Fall favorites you’ve been waiting so many months to have again?

Chicken, Okra, and Sweet Potato Soup

Gingery Pork Meatballs

Leek and Ham Muffins

Beef and Chorizo Empanadas

Individual Mac & Cheese

Salted Dulce de Leche cookies

As if there weren’t enough charming neighborhoods and worthy enticements for the palate, our little-big town keeps surprising me.  As long as I’ve lived here, i still find myself saying  – “I wish I would have known about this before!” as I stumble upon yet another unintentionally hidden treasure.

This time it was in the last place i ever look – right in front of me!

Less than ten minutes from where I work, the commercial roads turn and roam past storybook stone fences surrounding grassy lawns as green as my envy, ending at the unassuming yet hoppin’ Anchorage Cafe.

Anchorage Cafe is a “destination locale” in structure as well as in theme. Oh so many years ago it actually functioned as a train station serving the city’s early development.

I met Bea there for some lunch yesterday and thought i had been transported to the plush resort neighborhoods of Hilton Head Island.  The sun was shining and middle-aged women in tennis skirts were happily chatting and chomping about in the modern outdoor cafeteria.  The cafe shares a courtyard with another new restaurant Village Anchor Pub and Roost which i’m going to assume has to be pretty darn good as well going on name alone.

Walking in pace with the breeze through the open doors, we found the interior just as pleasing.  Rich wood, exposed beams, clean and warm like a newly remodeled family ski lodge.  If mahogany leather couches were there, my day  would be made.  And then perhaps I would try and convince my friend Emily to let me spend the night there too.

Everyone say Hi to Emily!

After we ordered, Mama Bea showed me pictures of Baby Bea.  No, you didn’t miss out.  She’s still in the womb.  But as we all know – technologies and cameras have grown rapidly in their tolerance for things that are creepy and extraordinary and frankly kinda gross.

Thank God.

Everyone say Hi to Baby Bea

Bea had a seductive Cubano. I ordered the chicken salad. It had bacon and avocado on it.  How did they know??  The toasted bread was crisp yet perfectly chewable.  The chicken salad was light and appropriately respectful to its previously mentioned more rightly adulated elements.

The sandwiches were served with appropriately colored veggie chips that looked like foliage and tasted like awesome.   Yum.  I look forward to trying the rest of the menu very soon.  I also am excited to try their coffee/espresso as it comes from Counter Culture which is much talked about amongst my coffee snob friends.

My endorsement has now been given with two thumbs high up.

And now I’m off to the North Carolina Mountains.  Too-da-loo !! (does anyone in the world know how to correctly spell that?)

Can’t get enough of our self-qualified, really really good opinions through  “unofficial” who-cares-anyway local food reviews?  Good.  You can find another here

Header Cafe picture and scenic pictures of the ‘hood taken by this one and this one

Hullo Friends!  I just returned from a glorious Tennessee cabin retreat in celebration of my roomie’s upcoming nuptials.  It was wonderful.  We swam and made delicious cocktails and ate bacon for every meal, and most importantly- laughed until our guts were achy.  You will soon be required to sit through my show-telling photo display and superflous play-by-play so save up some energy.

In the meantime I was quite proud of myself the other day.  The cupboards were bare and i was in no mood to venture out of my cozy homestead.  No worries.  I’m one of those regular ol’ gals who always comes up with some extravagant meal out of the leftovers and crumbs found around the kitchen (no big deal).  Ok so it wasn’t that extravagant and ok so i’m not really one of those girls and this was an exception, but still – i’m pleased as punch.

So here amigos – is how you make your own delicious tortillas.  It’s easy as heck and requires very minimal ingredients.

I used (roughly) the recipe found here

I did all my mixing and dough-forming and kneading by hand and took care of various other chores while the dough sat and had a rest.  I don’t have a rolling pin so i was forced to use a beer glass.  It did make for some odd shapes at first but it did the trick.

Once one or two dough balls are rolled out, you begin placing them in a dry frying pan while you start rolling out the remaining.  Watch carefully though ’cause it doesn’t take much time at all for it to brown.  Flip over to fry the other side.

Once they’re browned to your liking, you can place them straight on your serving platter or stick them in a barely heated oven (about 200 deg. ) so they keep warm for a while.

Now I confess – mine did resemble a much flatter sort of Naan a little more than tortillas.  I’ve talked to others that also have this problem — can’t seem to find a way to keep them as thin as your typical burrito shell.  But honestly, I don’t mind them being a little thicker…delicious served simply with butter.  And when you fry them up as a quesadilla — as we did recently at a work birthday celebration –they’re perfectly sturdy and provide a rightly crisped encasement for the near-bursting goodness inside.

Of course, they always taste better when there’s a sweet face like this to share them with

(Amelia – daughter of previously mentioned birthday celebratee)

In our fair city, the savagely-titled neighborhood of Butchertown boasts Thomas Edison’s house, the building that formerly housed the oldest operating stockyard, and streets named after historical greats such as John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay.  But unfortunately it has also been well known for its occupation with–and the stinch of–  well…. animals passing on to a better place (we’ll just say that).

But hating to see the waste of an equally permeating history and the charming collective of shotgun and colonial homes, I am so glad that the boys at the Blind Pig have taken full advantage of the unpalatable reputation towards the high goals of generous conversation and happy bellies.

I love Bacon.  What else can I say?  And of bacon there is a-plenty here.  Having said that….this is not a bona fide “restaurant (or food) review”.  It is simply my own documentation and opinions made mostly of pictures.

As for the rest of the experience….get your own.  Head to B-town and drink your bacon from a glass!

I met with my dearest KVG, and still full of the dinner I ate before-hand, I ordered my first cocktail — Ohio River Water Fizz — made with Root Beer, Tanqueray, egg white, house made coffee bitters, and a mint garnish.  KVG had hers with Bourbon.  I should tell you now that most of this account will center around the drinks.  That’s because The Blind Pig has quite the wine/beer/cocktail menu.  Curiosity alone easily induces one too many so be careful!

Next, I tried the Anejo Highball while Katherine ordered some food: The Ivory Bacon with house-made Boudin Blanc Sausage, Bacon (of course), Munster cheese, and aioli.  I tasted and it was good.

And then we had to….  We just had to…. You understand.  The Bacon Manhattan.  Why hello.

No I must warn you… this drink tastes a lot like (can you guess?) BACON!! So don’t be shocked when you take your first sip.  KVG and I determined we like our bacon best as a solid.  But we’re glad we tried.

So to conclude my ameteur not-actually-a-review review, I will just say that I highly recommend the patronizing of Louisville’s own neighborhoods –even the smelly ones– so that we can keep these tasty homegrown gems around as long as possible.  Go.