I’m halfway to the Delta and can’t wait to see some flat land. I’m going to get to see some of my favorite people, have a fantastic day with my first borns (i.e. my best friend’s kids), and possibly find my way out to McCarty’s in the process.
However, let me share a little recipe with you for the weekend to give a try. We had some extra apples lying around (a.k.a. my Costco fetish paid off), so mom concocted this fabulous pie for us.
Quick Apple Pie
10 – 12 small apples, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 stick butter
Pre-made pie crusts
Line a pie plate with a pie crust, add the apple pieces. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and top with pads of the butter. Top with another pie crust and cut vents in the top. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes at 350 degrees (or until the crust in golden brown). Serve warm with ice cream.
So I’m podcasting away on my weekly drives and have gone through MANY true crime series in the past few weeks. However, I’ve been on the lookout for some more conspiracy-theory based or paranormal based series that would not be too creepy to keep me up at night. Luckily, one of my lovely co workers shared a couple of options with me, one of which I started this morning.
Limetown
This fiction-based podcast is one that seems to be taking a turn towards The Giver. I’m 3 episodes in and rather hooked. Give it a listen, I’m sure I will have follow ups as I get further in and make up my own mind if this actually is fiction or not. You just never these days what people in the backwoods of the south are up to.
S Town
This one. I burned through it quickly. I’ve also done some research to see what these people from backwoods Alabama looked like. Wow. Not what I had in mind while listening. I don’t want to give anything away, but what you start listening to and hearing turns quickly and becomes much more intense. You really have to listen to this one. It’s perfect for the dark and twisty.
Y’all. My mom can make a birthday cake. While the actual cake may be a box version of whatever yellow cake she likes, that icing is what makes it sing. It’s creamy, sweet, and perfectly chocolate.
This week, we celebrated my sweet cousin Kari’s entrance into her thirties. But, with two days in Baton Rouge this week, baking wasn’t in the cards for me. Thankfully, Mom came to the rescue and whipped up her signature cake.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
2/3 cup Crisco (butter or regular)
1-pound box powdered sugar
2 – 3 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup water (for mixing)
For a lighter chocolate, use 2 tablespoons of cocoa. For a darker chocolate, use 3 or 4. Beat all ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth. More water can be added if needed.
I’ve been on the war path with Netflix and Hulu lately. I’m running out of series and finding myself diving deeper and deeper into the black whole of crime documentaries. I’ll be able to apply for a job as a profiler if I don’t take a break and find something light and funny to watch for a while.
However, here are a few good ones that I think you should add to your queue if you’re looking.
Evil Genius (Netflix)
This one is dark. It’s about a crime back in the early 2000s involving a neck-brace bomb and a pizza guy. Trust me and watch it as soon as possible and then follow up with an episode or two of something like Sex and the City or replay the Royal Wedding from this past weekend. It will help lighten the mood.
Marcia Clark Investigates The First 48 (A&E App)
What I liked about this show is that it went hand-in-hand with my previous binge experience of all things O.J. Simpson a couple of years ago. When the first season of American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson came out, I found myself devouring that miniseries and them eating up each and every documentary about The Juice that I could find. So, when I saw that the Marcia Clark was gearing up for her own series, I knew I would be hooked … and I was. Between the Casey Anthony story and the Billionaire Boys Club, I learned a good bit about crimes I heard referenced in news and other shows over the years. Give it a watch and see if you can solve these (mostly) unsolved mysteries.
The Handmaid’s Tale(Hulu)
This show is unbelievable. I was counting down the days for season 2 after binging through season 1 in about a week. Wow. All I can say is wow. I have been nauseous, horrified, pissed off, and peeking between my fingers through the majority of season 2 and we are 5 episodes in. I appreciate the slower release so I can’t go through them all in a day’s time; however, by the time each episode ends, I’m mentally drained but I could take the beating of another few episodes just to find out what the hell is going to happen to June/Offred.
Ok. Let’s be honest. I’m currently preparing for the BIG royal wedding watching event of the year tomorrow morning. I’ll be rising and shining well before sunrise and flipping between E! and HBO to watch the big event. I will be curled up with the Beagles and a cup of tea.
However, if you want to jazz up your viewing party, try these delectable cucumber sandwiches that we had last weekend for the Mother’s Day Tea. They are pretty tasty and fit for a queen or princess or your own royal highness still in pajamas.
Cucumber Sandwiches
2 cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons sour cream
1 2-ounce package dry ranch dressing mix
1 loaf white bread
1/2 stick butter, softened
Lightly salt cucumber slices and put on a paper towel to drain. With a mixer, beat cream cheese, sour cream, and ranch dressing mix until combined. With rolling pin, lightly roll bread slices. Cut bread into rounds with 2-inch round cookie cutter. Spread each round with a thin layer of butter (to keep bread from becoming soggy), then with cream cheese mixture. Place a cucumber slice on each bread round and garnish with fresh dill.
Yes. The bathroom project is finished, and I finally have use of my carport again. However, there was one little project we completed during that renovation that I don’t think I’ve covered yet.
Outside of that bathroom (and the other bathroom and every other room in my house) sits a square hallway of sorts that houses my fantastic closet I claimed for myself, a floor furnace, and a utility closet that holds my vacuum cleaners (Yes, I have 2.). When I bought the house, there was very little overhead lighting throughout. Only one ceiling fan was present, and (let’s be honest) there was no way I was sleeping in that house without fans. There was little to no insulation in the attic; and since we have started renovating rooms, we’ve learned there is no insulation in the walls. So basically, this house was an easy bake oven before I moved in. Since, I’ve added a fan or two to each room (Yes, my living room has 2 ceiling fans.) and had insulation blown into the attic.
I mention all of this because this hallway also has a large, full-length mirror on one wall which I use to get ready each morning. I have a little stool in front that I perch on while fixing my hair and makeup and catching up on whatever episode of Fixer Upper I haven’t seen in at least a week. However, the only source of light in this room was a single wall sconce with a 60-watt bulb coming through a muted glass shade. It was brass, too, and not in a good-brass way. So, after adding all of this fabulous overhead can lighting to the bathrooms, I knew that one needed to replace this sconce so I wouldn’t leave my house looking like a MAC counter makeup artist on steroids.
You may have noticed the fixture in this before picture I posted last week:
Before (Sconce in Hall)
See. It’s small.
I also went through to find a photo to show just how much (or how little) light it produced:
There weren’t that many options; but if you look in the top right corner, that will give you an idea of the lighting I had before.
But now with the addition of the can light and covering up the hole from the sconce, I’ve got a pretty nice hallway if I do say so:
Bottom print by Ketchings Company of Natchez (I found this in my grandmother’s house. She worked for Ketchings in the 60s and 70s, so this particular print is out of print.)
I’m going to Foodie Friday it a little differently this week. Instead of sharing a recipe with you, I’m going to invite you to come do some taste testing this weekend.
In case you didn’t know, it’s Mother’s Day this Sunday; and we are gearing up for our second annual Mother’s Day Tea (click that link to buy those tickets) at Magnolia Hall in downtown Natchez. Bring your mom, bring your sister, your brother, your best friend. We don’t care. We are celebrating mothers of all kinds.
From 2 pm until, we will be serving up a classic Southern spread of a high tea-worthy sandwiches, homemade bite-size cookies, cheese wafers from Over the Garden Wall, and MORE! With hot tea and cool lemonade, you and mom (or whoever) will have a grand ole time.
Exactly 2 years and 1 day after finishing the master bathroom, we finished up the guest bathroom. I do need to brag on my contractors, tile gods, and design assistants (the parentals) for a second. They worked hard and long hours to put this room together. I am one lucky little girl to have them both and put up with my picky ways. Thanks for understanding my need for two matching bathroom and helping me keep the original character with the tubs and wall-mount sinks. Both bathrooms are exactly what I wanted, and I’m glad there is only one room left – the kitchen (insert slight panic attack). However, it’s nice to be a two-toilet house again.
Here’s a little play-by-play of before and afters:
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Paint color: “New York City Winter” by Valspar
Shower tile: “Taupe” subway tile from J & J Carpet & Natural Stone
Floor tile: “Greenwich Village” brick tile from J & J Carpet & Natural Stone
Toilet and Shower Baskets: Southern Pipe & Supply
Shower Door Package and Shower Faucet Package: Delta Faucet
This recipe for One Hundred Cookies was shared with us just this past Christmas, and I can safely say we have baked these enough to call them a part of the Guido family repertoire of recipes. Originally, we got the recipe from Annette Burns when she made them for a Christmas Open House. They are crunchy, yummy, and easily taken out in one bite. Watch them closely in the oven; they bake quickly.
One Hundred Cookies
2 sticks margarine
1 cup cooking oil
2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 cup rice krispies
1 cup oats
1 cup coconut
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix together the first 5 ingredients; then add the rest. Roll into small balls. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees
Well, I did it. I joined Costco. I mean, why the hell not? I’m in Baton Rouge at least every Monday, and who doesn’t love buying toilet paper and plastic wrap in bulk?
I made my first official visit as a member on Monday saying I was only going in to “check it out.” Thirty minutes later I was pushing a cart filled with cereal for 20, Vitamin Water for 40, and enough Ziploc bags to completely organize a small village’s produce for the freezer this summer. I think it was a fantastic investment of my time and even found a few favorites to pass along.
Apples Wrapped in Plastic
Duh! Why hasn’t Wal-Mart and the locals been offering this for fresh produce? I can’t wait to fill the area around my trash can under my sink with these contraptions to be used at some point in the future for God knows what. I can promise there will come a project when I get to say, “I have the exact storage container for that. Let me grab the 20 plastic apple crates I have in my cabinets.”
Corn Popped by the Thousands
This bag the size of a large L.L. Bean backpack is home to the best organic and lightly salted popcorn there is. It’s better than Skinny Pop; Orville can step aside; and I have no need to throw a bag in the microwave again. I am one of those people that considers a bag of popcorn a meal; so finding Popcornopolis’ Organic Nearly Naked being passed around as a sample was like hitting the actual $195 million lottery. Plus, it was only $3.47 for a 14-ounce bag. Your average microwaveable option is a little over 2 and a half ounces with most of that being left in the bottom of the bag as hard kernels. So far, this bag of goodness has provided one meal on the road; and you can barely tell I’ve made a dent.
Writer's Block 