Flashback: Island Inn Monhegan – Lunch in the Dining Room…

On May 3, 2016April 29, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Maine, Photograph4 Comments

Posting a few *Flashback* photos of lunch at the Island Inn dining room from 2015. I can tell you that each and every meal at the inn was a treat. The fish tacos were outstanding! And the iced tea, ahhhh… the iced tea is fabulous!

And… the Maine lobster roll was so extremely fresh, I believe it just crawled off the boat! Not full of mayo like many Lobster Rolls. Just delicious!

I’m not sure of this year’s menu, but whatever they come up with you know it will be good! In past years we have had lunch at the Barnacle, by the wharf. That’s always fun, you meet some interesting people that way! They used to have sandwiches in a refrigerated case, wonderful sandwiches, turkey, etc., then they served condiments on the side, which is nice if you prefer plain, etc. The refrigerated sandwiches are perfect if you’re not a fan of grilled sandwiches. Always something to look forward to (like breakfast and dinner, hee hee)!

Back to normal posting 5/16!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

A Cappucino Treat – at Black Tap Coffee!

On April 30, 2016April 29, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn Charleston, FOOD2 Comments

I took this photo while Fred and I were sitting at the coffee bar, looking out of the screened window at Black Tap Coffee in Charleston. It was a beautiful day, so it was such a treat to have the windows open.

I think it’s so cool how the design that they make on your cappuccino stays until the very last sip. This is coffee at it’s finest!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

In A Hurry? Newman’s Own Pizza with Arugula – Delicious!

On April 26, 2016April 13, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, THOUGHTS6 Comments

What a delight! Newman’s Own Four Cheese (frozen) Pizza (Multigrain crust with flaxseed) is a fabulous option when you’re in a hurry. Just pull it out of the freezer, put it into the oven to bake (10 minutes), then pull it out, top it with baby arugula, a light drizzle of olive oil and a dusting of parmesan.

The arugula adds the nicest flavor!

Newman’s Own pizza does not taste like frozen. I never bought frozen pizza until a friend (thank you Heather!) suggested this one. WOW! Was she ever right! Our local Harris Teeter carried the (uncured) pepperoni, which is tasty, but we just wanted plain cheese, so they have started to carry (thank you Harris Teeter!).

For a thin crust, this one is perfect, not too thin, but not thick and doughy… A fabulous treat!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

How to Make Avocado Toast!

On April 19, 2016April 19, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, Recipe7 Comments

One of my favorite things in the world… AVOCADO TOAST! (Pictured above with red pepper flakes – YUM!)

There are so many renditions of avocado toast, each as wonderful as the next, but a few of my favorites are the avocado toast from The Daily in Charleston, SC – Last summer it had a slice of an AH-mazing heirloom tomato on top of the avocado- WOW! Lately it’s been avocado on grilled crusty bread with za’atar spices (OH MY GOSH!) and a drizzle of olive oil.

I had some good crusty bread from the bakery and thought I would give it a whirl. I didn’t have the Za’atar spices (will buy for next time, they sell them at The Daily), so I toasted the bread (I didn’t grill), then spread avocado, a drizzle of olive oil and S&P. I took a bite, hmmm, good but missing something, so I sliced a small lemon wedge, gave a little drizzle. BINGO! That was all it needed to brighten the flavor and take it from good to GREAT in a second or two!

Soooo good with or without the red pepper flakes! What’s your favorite rendition? Do you like the avocados smushed (YES!) or simply sliced (I think they slide off the toast like this, but it’s pretty!)

Catch you back here tomorrow!

A healthier version of a cheese toast – so wonderful!

On April 12, 2016March 28, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

I could eat this Every. Single. Day. I always keep baby arugula in the fridge, I love it in omelets, on sandwiches, pizza and all by itself!

This looks very decadent, but these pieces of bread are small (wonderful bread from a local bakery. Very rustic, bread with substance).

I lightly toast the bread first, then add some grated sharp cheddar, put it on a baking pan and put it under the broiler for just a minute or two (HAVE TO WATCH IT – Don’t walk away!) Once the cheese starts to bubble, pull it out, cut it in half and put a heaping bunch of arugula dressed in olive oil & balsamic (you can even add to the dressing a tiny bit of honey, but not much). Then eat the rest of the arugula on the side.

This is a FABULOUS LUNCH!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Quick and Easy Wild Rice with Cranberries and Walnuts in a Citrus Dressing!

On April 5, 2016November 14, 2019 By Barbara StroudIn Daily Blog, FOOD, RecipeLeave a comment

Continue reading “Quick and Easy Wild Rice with Cranberries and Walnuts in a Citrus Dressing!” →

Chocolate Biscotti Recipe! A KEEPER!

On March 22, 2016December 4, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

Chocolate Biscotti… this is such a wonderful recipe. Truly your eyes will roll back into your head with delight! This is a great recipe to make and leave a few out and freeze the rest. Then when you need that chocolate treat pull out a few. You will be so glad you did! Wonderful depth of chocolate flavor from the cocoa powder, white chocolate baking bar, and semi sweet chocolate.

One BIG change. In the recipe below where it says Butter or MARGARINE… BUTTER! BUTTER! BUTTER! NO MARGARINE!

Another hot tip (thanks Mom!) is to use mini semisweet chocolate chips and mini white chocolate chips, doing so eliminates the chopping of the baking bar. Quick and easy!

This recipe came from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine years ago. Click HERE to print the recipe from their website – it’s one to file away to keep forever and ever! (Note: I do not add the optional glaze (omitted from the recipe as shown below) – it doesn’t need it, and freezes better without it!

Directions look long, but really it’s not that time consuming. Biscotti dough is thick, so if you have a heavy duty mixer, that will help immensely… When I first started making this recipe I didn’t have a Kitchen Aid mixer. So you have to use some major elbow grease to get things mixed up. The Kitchen Aid does it with no effort at all… love that mixer!

Can you imagine a more fitting treat for your day? Can you believe this recipe has been reviewed 21,000 times? Amazing. A definite favorite!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Roasted Cauliflower – Quick, Easy & SO WONDERFUL!

On March 8, 2016February 29, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

Roasted Cauliflower. I love it! It gets nice and sweet and the flavor profile changes completely when you roast it. It’s so quick and easy to do.

Did you realize there are different colors of cauliflower? Green, purple and plain white. I chose a purple cauliflower this time (they all taste the same) – it was fun! I break into fairly small florets, they take less time to roast. If you have the time you can leave them in larger pieces. We were having this with grilled chicken, so I didn’t have a lot of time, therefore the small pieces.

Break the cauliflower into florets and drizzle with a little olive oil in a large bowl. Swirl the cauliflower around with your hands to coat it thoroughly. Then lightly grease (I always use olive oil or organic canola oil) a cookie sheet (this one I use for roasting). Turn the oven on 400 degrees F. Once the oven has preheated, place the cauliflower on the cookie sheet and space the florets out a bit, a little sprinkle of S&P. This will roast for 25-45 minutes (depending upon thickness). Flip about halfway through, you will see that the cauliflower is browning, this is GOOD, this is TASTY STUFF! Once it passes the fork test (fork easily goes through a thicker piece of cauliflower), it’s ready to eat! You can eat just like it is, or a quick little sprinkle of parmesan.

Speaking of parmesan… not the brands that apparently have wood filler in them, sigh…

Portrait of my cauliflower – Hee.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe: Ham & Cheese Noodle Casserole – The ultimate in comfort food!

On February 23, 2016February 23, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe, THOUGHTS5 Comments

Ham & Cheese Casserole

A friend sent me this recipe. Oh. My. Word! I changed up only a few things, I used less butter, substituted low-fat sour cream, used a little more cheese, and a wonderful noodle I found, I also thinned with milk because Fred likes a thinner sauce – I included the original recipe, and then my version below. This casserole is comfort food at its very finest. There are no cream soups with unknown ingredients, good ingredients = a healthier meal for sure!

You can make this as healthy as you like. Less cheese, no problem, I think I’m going to try using Greek yogurt in place of sour cream. One day. So afraid to mess it up. But I have substituted Greek yogurt in recipes in the past with good results. I will update this post if I do!

Click to print (both) the recipes (minus all my words)!

The original recipe (from a friend, thank you Heather Locke!!):

HAM & CHEESE NOODLE CASSEROLE

4 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese

1 ½ cups finely chopped cooked ham

Salt

½ pound noodles, ¼ inch wide, cooked.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 2 quart casserole dish. Melt the butter in a skillet and cook onion over medium heat until soft.

In a small bowl: Mix the eggs and sour cream together, then add onion, cheese and ham. Add salt to taste. Put the noodles in the casserole dish, then add the sauce and toss gently. Bake for 45 minutes or until a straw inserted in the middle comes out clean.

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My variation (was more clear to re-write, even though there are only a few changes)

1-2 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup low fat sour cream

~1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1 ½ cups cooked finely chopped ham

8 oz (½#) egg noodles (I used Amish Country), cooked and drained

Milk to your taste – I thinned it a bit using probably ⅓ – ½ cup 2% milk.

Follow above directions, I also topped mine with a little cheese. I baked it covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Valentine’s Day…

On February 14, 2016February 12, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

Happy Valentine’s Day to each and every one of you!

What do you normally do on Valentine’s Day? Go to a nice restaurant? Stay in and make a nice dinner? Read a good book? Do nothing special?

There are a lot of nice restaurants to visit in Charleston, that’s for sure! This weekend is also SEWE (Southeastern Wildlife Expo) – so the city will be crazy busy.

I think we’ll find something nice to make ourselves… or maybe something from Goat Sheep Cow? Enjoy your day!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

How to make corn muffins that taste like JIFFY…

On January 12, 2016January 22, 2022 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe3 Comments

Trying to come up with different menu items for dinner can sometimes be a challenge. I wanted to make the Garden Chowder recipe, minus the chicken, and make a slightly larger batch. To go along with it I thought corn muffins sounded good. I grew up with Jiffy corn muffins. You can’t beat them! Until you read the list of ingredients. I’m trying really hard to limit ingredients, and to make everything from scratch. You wouldn’t believe how easy it can be. This is the perfect example. This recipe (from Food.com) is so fabulous. You’ve got to try it. I mistakenly bought WHITE cornmeal. It calls for YELLOW cornmeal. The only difference is the type of corn it comes from, and obviously, yellow cornmeal will result in better looking muffins, but they taste just as good!

Click HERE to print the recipe from Food.com!

This recipe has flour, yellow cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, canola oil, egg, and milk. That’s it. Nothing you cannot pronounce!

INGREDIENTS in the Jiffy mix: WHEAT FLOUR, DEGERMINATED YELLOW CORN MEAL, SUGAR, ANIMAL SHORTENING (CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: LARD, HYDROGENATED LARD, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED LARD), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SALT, WHEAT STARCH, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, BHT PRESERVATIVE, TOCOPHEROL PRESERVATIVE, CITRIC ACID PRESERVATIVE, BHA PRESERVATIVE, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID, SILICON DIOXIDE.

Jiffy-Like Corn Muffins from Food.com

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray muffin tin (makes 6 muffins) with cooking spray (I just used olive oil).

In medium bowl mix 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons canola oil.

Whisk together, then add:

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

Fill muffin tin 1/2 full. Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F.

I know, I know! What a treasure!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe: Scalloped Potatoes – Woohoo!

On January 5, 2016January 3, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

This recipe is adapted from the Scalloped Potato recipe in Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book 12th Edition – I’ve made a few changes, but the basic recipe is fabulous as well!

This is also a great dish to make if you have leftover ham… sprinkle diced ham pieces into the casserole and it’s a full meal – can’t beat that!

Hmmm, why is this photo only showing half of the scalloped potato dish? It came out of the oven… we dug in… OOPS! P H O T O ! ! I’m only human, ha ha.

Click HERE to print the recipe without the extra babble.

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Catch you back here tomorrow!

Farmer’s Chowder – what a recipe!

On December 29, 2015February 6, 2016 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe2 Comments

Two versions of chowder below. One with chicken, and one a bit different, with no meat. I served both with the Jiffy-Like Corn Muffins.

OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD.

Recipes from a friend, is there anything better? It’s so nice to hear of other things to make for dinner rather than being in a rut with the same old thing.

I was excited to try this, it sounded delicious to me. I found the perfect time when we had a bit of rotisserie chicken left over. That worked perfectly! These are guidelines, but use what you like! I happened to use 4 cups of chicken broth, so mine may have been more “brothy” than what is normal, but I had two very large potatoes, and I also supplemented with frozen sweet white corn.

What I forgot… the bacon crumbled on top! We had it the next day, when we heated up what was left (be sure to heat on low and DO NOT LET IT COME TO A BOIL or it will curdle). So DAY 2 had crumbled bacon, which I was so excited about I forgot to take a photo. Story of my life!

This recipe was heavenly! Give it a whirl!

Click HERE to print just the recipe!

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Version two, I like to call Garden Chowder, click HERE to print the recipe! One hint is to warm the thawed corn in the microwave just a bit, just so it’s not cold when adding to the soup…

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Catch you back here tomorrow!

Restaurant: Four Ninety Two (492) – Charleston, SC

On December 19, 2015December 5, 2015 By Barbara StroudIn Charleston, FOOD, Photograph1 Comment

*FEATURING PHOTOS THIS WEEK; WILL RESUME REGULAR POSTS NEXT WEEK!

492 is a beautiful restaurant located on King Street in Charleston, SC. What a classy looking building. Kudos to a restaurant that takes an building that sat vacant since Hurricane Hugo in the early 90’s!

Check out their website for the current menu offerings (eyes roll back in head). Cannot wait to try this place!

Read a little about the history of Four Ninety Two, from their website:

During the renovation of 492 King Street, historical significance and attention to detail played a large role in creating the new space. The building dates back to the late 1800s when clothiers such as Reuben’s, Leon’s and Bluestein’s were a large part of the economy in Charleston, especially in the Upper King Street district. The button wall art installation in the main dining room, an interpretation of Chef Whiting’s photograph of sous vide leeks, pays homage to that history. Additionally, the fabric ceiling in the downstairs dining area is a replica of a 1902 city map.

The gates that enclose the courtyard were inspired by 30” x 40” Sanborn street maps of different colors, patterns and scale found while researching the building’s origins. As executed, the red rectangles show the 492 King location in an abstracted version of the 1884 map, noted by the circle. All the other lines represent the surrounding streets.

The building sat abandoned since Hurricane Hugo until it being purchased by the Relish Restaurant Group. During renovations, spearheaded by local architect Reggie Gibson, as much of the original building was left intact as possible. The red color in the dining room, called “eating room red,” and the “piazza blue” on the upstairs hall ceiling are both historic paint colors. The base of the bar is paneled in old tin that served as the ground floor ceiling of the existing building, reflecting a dedication to preserving and restoring this unique piece of Charleston’s history.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Flashback: Best Christmas Cookies in the World!

On December 15, 2015December 3, 2015 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Lifestyle, Photograph, Recipe, THOUGHTS4 Comments

Decorate however you like, neat, messy, in whatever colors you create!

This is a Christmas Cookie recipe that our family has made since I was a little kid. It’s become a tradition. It’s fun because everyone can partake in the festivities. Especially if you bake the cookies ahead and then have a decorating party! We just put the frosting into zip-top baggies and cut a hole. Some years we have more colors than others. As you can see, this particular year, I was only loving my Christmas Tree cookie cutter, so that’s the only one I used. Recipe below as well as a link to print recipe only.

Enjoy!