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Young & HungryIf you can't take the heat, get outta the kitchen! |
| 1 April |
I don’t know when exactly I fell in love with the concept of Bed & Breakfasts, but I can recall at least a couple fond memories of beds and breakfasts past. The first was on my tour de colleges all around the southeast. My recollection of that stay, being more than 10 years ago, is limited to a delicious Mocha Muffin Recipe. My next experience found me actually in college and staying with my parents and Grandmother in a nearby residence in Winston Salem for Easter. We had both the western style basement suite and a Victorian room upstairs. B&Bs tend to gravitate towards themed rooms; a trait I find quite endearing. Since then I lived next to a very pretty B&B on Piedmont Road in Atlanta. It actually went up for sale, but after several attempts that at least I thought were quite compelling to convince my parents to purchase the beautiful house for Mom to redecorate and me to manage, I was denied.
This trip found me on a tour de Florida and in the lovely town of St. Petersburg where we stayed at the Larelle House on a lazy cobblestone street lined with droopy moss, yet bright with history. The house dated to way back before I was around and was constructed by a hardware salesman for his bride to be! I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect place. Walking up the gated entrance you immediately feel relaxed surrounded by the lush green yard soon to spot the big front porch swing that you just can’t wait to plop down on! But wait, your host Larry is about to welcome you in and give you a tour of his home, beautifully decorated with a myriad of antiques by his wife. When you think it can’t get better, you catch a glimpse of the backyard where they have bicycles for the guests aka yours truly to enjoy and the most elegant underground hot tub surrounded by a flowery gazebo in case you need to relax after a hard day’s vacation. Grabbing a homemade cookie on the way upstairs, the four rooms, themed of course, are just as delightful. I stayed in the Longley room named after the original owner, which sported very luxurious fabrics, a giant fantasy sized bed, and the courtesy bottle of sherry that comes with all the rooms. Since there were only two couples staying at the time I was able to peek into the Hemingway room, which was more studious, but with a dash of fun courtesy of the leopard accents. The Victorian room was also quite nice and just as rosy pink as you would imagine it to be.
| 19 February |
This soup has A LOT OF VEGETABLES! Please don’t feel obligated to buy the entire market like I did…and if you’re not up to dumping your entire produce drawer into a pot I understand. If you did neglect your “5 a day” this weekend, however, this will more than make up for it. It works that way right? I’m pretty sure my veggies consisted of fried green tomatoes and Bloody Mary’s, so I’m taking every…umm…real vegetable I can get!
I originally found this recipe on the Cooking Light website and modified to the point of minimal recognition. Feel free to substitute parsnips for the more common Mirepoix or sweet potato for Mr. Idaho. Those two ingredients were the largest flavor enhancers, but who am I to make you experiment. I’m pretty sure the original recipe also neglects the cruciferous joys of Brussels Sprouts and cauliflower, but I suppose they do tend to be the outcasts of the veggie kingdom.
| 2 February |
Hey guess what – January’s over! Time to focus on chocolate, fondue, and something delicious to make for that special someone so they’ll still be yours after Valentine’s Day. What’s more romantic than a dinner in? Let me rephrase, what’s more romantic than a dinner in when you’re used to dining out? I might, for once, prefer not to slave the day away, but I’ve no doubt put in more than my fair share of kitchen duty. So what to make for that special someone who will, for this one day at least, be your culinary inspiration? Well, if you’re a lady cooking for your mister, you cannot go wrong with this pork roast. It’s juicy and tender and doesn’t require constant attention so you can focus your first course elsewhere. If you’re a mister cooking for your miss, perhaps this is a selfish choice of meat, but she’ll never question your machismo.
Since I did first whip this up back in 2009 when I was stuffed from an indulgent December, I left the meal at meat and veggies. You surely have recuperated by now and are ready for some starch. Try a mashed parsnip or simple risotto. The gym lines are finally clearing, so you should have more than enough time to give this roast the extra hours of TLC it deserves. I promise you’ll be paid back one hundred kisses over.
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