Happy Friday

Top four reasons it is a happy Friday.

1. Eight mile run! (Even though I forgot to eat breakfast - huge mistake - the run was great! I love training.)

2. It is Easter as evidence by my Target run this morning.

3. I am learning how to style my hair when I want wear it wavy. I started using Ouidad products about 6 months ago, and now I am following some of the tips from their videos. I had no idea how much curl my hair actually has.

4. I made these socks at least 2 years ago, but I never finished them. (For non-knitters or non-crocheters, this is when you sew in the long pieces of yarn at the beginning, end or at color changes in a pattern.) This is the first time I've worn them. I think they are super cute!

5. Oh and #5 is a bonus. Tom gets to leave school early today, and he's picking me up a Skinny Vanilla Latte. What an addiction! Life is good.

We Were Wild Once

I saw this yesterday on facebook from college peers. It is hard not to love a quote like this!

I go back...

Lots of different senses can draw us back in time. Some colognes remind us of old boyfriends. Oil of Olay will always be my Cranmommie. Tuesday's Gone will forever be the last song at a high school dance. A cold Bud Light is a hot afternoon on Lake St. John.

Now, there is nothing at all special about Allegro Marinade, but I've had a good college friend on my mind. She was (and probably still is) a regular southern Martha Stewart. She was good in the kitchen and enjoyed being there. More than once she would put chicken or thin pork chops down in Allegro. Now there is nothing special about Allegro, but today it is satisfying my memories today. Having no other Allegro experience, the look of the bottle, the tangy smell and its salty taste are reserved strictly for my Daniel Avenue friend.

I've been thinking about her lots lately and have missed being in their apartment. She treated us to more than one meal and had many more crafts than this simple marinade. She is responsible for sharing her mother's margarita recipe - which is where I learned a splash of beer cuts the sweetness and makes the margarita perfect.

The pork chops are in an Allegro bath in the fridge, and my mind is back in college in a two bedroom apartment. I'm in a small kitchen with three fun girlfriends, all sorority sisters and all a piece of my past. I'm not in touch with them like I should be or wish I was, but they are part of the fabric of my SMU experience. While I am looking forward to supper in North Carolina tonight, my heart and mind are back on campus in Dallas.

~ This post was written over a year ago and for one reason or another never was posted. Here's to sharing it after all! ~

Boots with the fur

Well not quite... But oh my gosh! I got the pattern from Ravelry. The yarn is Simply Soft by Caron, and the buttons came from a highly successful trip to the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. Oh my gosh! I may have - let's just admit it - I did squeal with delight as the buttons were being sewn on!

I wish the pictures did them justice.

Aunt Cissy's Cakes

Forgive me. I started eating before I remembered to take a picture!

This year for the first time as an adult I made a Valentine treat from my past. I was worried that it wouldn't be the same, but I was happily wrong.

The tradition began when I was three years old. Aunt Cissy would have been over to make deep pink strawberry cakes for my class party.

However, the story actually begins a good while before February 1986. My Grandma and Aunt Cissy (twins - identical - also called "Tuffy" and "Cissy") hail from Jena, Louisiana. My dad remembers delicacies like squirrel gravy when he was a little boy and using an out house when he went to visit family. Let's just say their home was a bit secluded.

I don't have all the details, so I will need my Mama to fill in some blanks. Basically one of my great great aunts bought a heart-shaped baking pan for her husband whose birthday was near Valentine's day. It was a big purchase, a bit frivolous for them, and as you can see luxury wasn't exactly something they were accustomed to enjoying.

Anyway, Aunt Cissy and I made these cakes, in these very cake pans, from 1986 until I had my last class party in 6th grade. A few year ago I was given the cookbook and the pans. I'm not sure why I had not chosen to make them. Maybe I was avoiding the calorie intake. Maybe the memories of being a little girl helping from the countertop felt a bit too fresh. But this year was the year.

I loved reading through her notes. She adapted a recipe in the Natchez Homemaker's Extension Club Cookbook from 1976. The cake was incredibly easy to make, and it tasted just right. I will need to work on the icing. That wasn't spot on, but the cake was exactly as it lived in my memory.

I don't know if my class remembers this tradition, but in honor of sharing (and the recipe makes two hearts), I sent one cake to Tom's resident room in the Endo department. It was a hit, and I have to admit I was thrilled! Besides, the cake didn't last a full 48 hours at our home before the last morsel was demolished.

We are both looking forward to celebrating and sharing the cakes with friends every February in the future.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mardi Gras

It is hard to watch Facebook during Mardi Gras. All the good food, all the friends, all the booze, all the party. It makes a girl jealous.

I woke up on Fat Tuesday in pursuit of my own fun. We are too poor to order and ship King Cake's, but I hope that will change eventually. I had to bring Louisiana to us.

I pulled out my Holly Clegg cookbook and dug around for crawfish anything. My latest edition of Louisiana Cookin' was all about mudbugs. I haven't handled life well, since they rubbed the little critters in my face. (Did I mention I've been feeling jealous?)

Well with a little work and one tiny hiccup, we dined on Crawfish Creole on Tuesday night.

A little roux.

A little trinity.

A little Crawfish Creole.

My disappointment was a big one, but it didn't really impact the dish. I thought I was buying crawfish from south Louisiana. Alas, it was a Gulf Coast company, but crawfish meat was from China. CHINA?! I was upset, but we survived. I can't wait to get back towards the coast where the seafood is fresh and from someone with a terrific accent.

Recipe follow up

- I'll try the eggplant orzo one more time. I didn't read the recipe attentively as I should have and made the orzo in advance instead of letting it happen in the oven. He liked it, but we both agreed it was more work than it was tasty.

- Oh by the way, he survived the KKC. One hour and 8 minutes. 12 donuts. No vomiting.

- The Mushroom-Shallot Frittata. OH MY GOODNESS!! We both loved it. It was a lot of chopping but so worth it. In the future, I can easily make scones the day before and this for brunch. Add in a fruit salad, mimosas and Bloody Marys. This sounds like a great weekend gathering!

- I just ran 4 miles. Why do I ever fall out of rhythm? I finish, and I feel that I am on top of the world. I don't understand after a run like that why I ever let myself take time off. Now I'm looking forward to training for the 10miler (and Cooper River) even more than I already was.

Happy, happy Sunday!!