I am writing this watching football and drinking eggnog while it is still 65 degrees at 11 pm at night...and all the angels sang "Hallelujah" I love warm weather. On Christmas day it can be chilly and maybe even a few snow flakes, the rest of the year, I'll take this!
We had a full weekend that started on Friday night with a gingerbread house competition. My friend Caroline hosted it and she, as is always the case, had an amazing spread! This is how parties are when you're a food blogger and so are your friends;) My other real life bestie, Nicole, was there as was another favorite, Angela from Head to Toe Chic. It was a great night and when I say my husband and I did not win, I mean that sincerely. It was bad. I could never be a craft blogger. You are all so very welcome for that.
Saturday I got my hair done and then got a phone call from my husband about car trouble. After AAA was an hour late to pick him up and the tow truck dropped him off, we had to get dressed, I had to do all of my make up and wrap white elephant gifts in 15 minutes so we could then rush out the door and head to his company Christmas party. To say I was stressed would be an understatement. To say the fact they had a full bar helped to alleviate some of my stress would also be an understatement. Life is about adapting;)
Yesterday we shopped and walked around Raleigh with me wearing sandals and a sundress! It was rather amazing. We had a fantastic brunch at Coquette. My french onion soup was delicious, but these butter pecan profiteroles were absolutely scrumptious. I may be dreaming of them for a few weeks to come.
That was my weekend in a nutshell, we have a busy week ahead with basketball and my book club cookie exchange. I will have a few yuletide cocktails for you guys this week!
This post has been waiting right at about a year for me to write. Every year on our trip up to Boston, whether it be Thanksgiving or Christmas, we usually stop at a different city (or small and charming towns!) on the way up and on the way back. We try to turn our long drive into mini trips and see a new place each time. We were driving and debating between Philadelphia and Wilmington when we found a great last minute hotel deal in Philly and the decision was made. We were there for less than 24 hours, but these are my favorite sights of Philadelphia at Christmas, with a bunch of architecture, history and food thrown in!
We ended up staying at The Latham Hotel which was recently renovated and in a central location and points for a bar with amazing bourbon cocktails. They obviously cared about me. The rooms were a good size for an older hotel. Not large enough for a gathering, but certainly enough room for the two of us to move around freely. Mainly...the bed. I almost cried when it was time to wake up because I was so comfortable.
Anyways, once out of the hotel our first stop was historic Reading Terminal via a walk by the absolutely gorgeous City Hall. We ate a bunch and if you want to know how hungry I was...I didn't even get a picture of my food before I inhaled it. Just trust me, delicious. Every meal we ate was nothing short of fantastic.
We walked around a bunch more, checking out what sights we could because it was a Sunday and lots of places I was interested in seeing were closed. I did grab a shot of the home of the one and only Betsy Ross. I was maybe a little too excited over that. Then we stumbled onto the spot where the first photograph was taken and we pulled up what it looked like on google and took a photo of the frst photo at that sight. Cause we are nerds and everything.
Interestingly enough, my favorite stop of the whole weekend was at the Macy's. They have an amazing light show and organ concert in the original Wanamakers store. It is a tradition dating back to 1956 and their third floor has a Dickens Village set up. I cannot recommend stopping by there enough.
Hopefully we get to go back again soon when we are able to spend a little bit more time and really embrace ourselves in all the history.
One of life's little treasure, at least to me, is the joy of discovering covered bridges. They are usually found on a scenic road in a sweet little town or stumbled upon on a lonely stretch of road. There are a few left in Virginia, but by far, my favorite is Meems Bottom Covered Bridge found in the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley just shy of New Market. The road leading to it is framed by lovely trees that seem to frame the setting.
The bridge is named after the Meems family that owned the land and was built in 1894 and stayed in great shape until 1976 when it was partly burned. Thankfully they salvaged what they could and instead of scrapping it, rebuilt it with reinforcements. If you ever find yourself traveling on 81 in Virginia, it is found right of the exit and I promise it would be a short detour well worth your time.
Fall in Virginia is a sight to behold and here is just a little snippet of why I love it so.
One of the best memories of my childhood was when my mom would make my brother and I fried donut holes. It was so simple, but made such an impression on my brother and I. The whole house would smell of cinnamon sugar. My mom would make them and let my brother and I shake the donut holes in a brown paper bag containing the cinnamon sugar. Sometimes this would result in a throwdown between the two of us, but hey...only one could win;) These pumpkin butterscotch donut holes sprinkled with heath is my twist on my childhood memory. They are delicious and, in a few easy steps, you can wow at your next gathering.
There are few combos I love more than butterscotch and heath, if you read my blog enough that wouldn't exactly be shocking! The addition of pumpkin spice completes this delicious treat without competing with the other flavors. You can make this rather quickly and it is sure to be a hit. I used butterscotch ice cream sauce but you could always make your own, I like to do that sometimes, and I like to add bourbon. Of course.
Ingredients
1 tube biscuits
1/3 cup butterscotch sauce
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup heath bar bits
Cut each biscuit into four pieces and roll into a ball. Set aside on a plate. Dump the pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and sugar into a large ziplock bag. Place the biscuit pieces into the bag and seal. Shake vigorously until all pieces are coated. Set aside again.
(pumpkin spice already has some cinnamon in it, so this is optional, if you forgo the cinnamon, use an extra 1/2 tsp of pumpkin spice)
In 12-inch skillet, heat 2 inches oil over medium-high heat to about 350ºF. Carefully fry biscuits about 30 seconds on each side or until golden brown. Remove from the oil and place on paper towel lined plate to cool.
Heat the butterscotch sauce for about 20 to 30 seconds in a microwave safe bowl. Set up a station where you have plate of donuts, the butterscotch sauce, an empty tray, and finally, the heath bar bits. Using a toothpick, dip the donut holes in the butterscotch sauce and set down on the tray. Once they are covered, sprinkle the bits all over the top of the donut holes. I let the butterscotch sauce harden a bit before I serve, this usually takes about half an hour.
Serve and enjoy. Please do me a favor and steal one for yourself while waiting for the rest to harden. Don't let me be the only one. I mean, it's only fair.
This drink came about as I was playing around one afternoon trying to come up with a cocktail for a get together. Being in the south, Arnold Palmers are all the rage. I suppose I should admit I am not part of that bandwagon. I like my tea just as it is, I don't even want lemons in it. I, however, realize that I am usually in the minority with this, but it got me to thinking. I did have lemonade and sweet tea vodka on hand and as I was glancing through my fridge and spied apple cider, this simple fall version was born.
Suddenly I was in love.
Instead of the half and half split of tea and lemonade, I used lemonade and apple cider and decided to half the sweet tea vodka pull the two together. It was good, but still missing something. It didn't take long for me to decide that bourbon was what this cocktail was lacking. I mean, I think we all know my mantra is bourbon makes everything better. This time it was almost perfect, I have played around with it quite a few times and it is a drink that you can play to your taste. I have added bitters and I have added simple syrup. It's more of a preference.
The one piece of advice I would give...top it with a dry champagne. Bubbles are a close second to bourbon in the making everything better department.
Make it two pieces of advice...use real apple cider, it needs the apple bits in the bottom or you just will not get the same taste!!! Go for the jug!
Autumn Palmer.
2 oz lemonade
2 oz apple cider
1 oz sweet tea vodka
1/2 oz bourbon
dash apple bitter (optional)
champagne floater
lemons/apples for garnish
in a shaker filled with ice, add in the lemonade, apple cider, bourbon, vodka and bitters. Shake vigorously and pour in a glass filled with ice. Add in lemon/apple slices and enjoy.
This would also be good served straight up in a chilled martini glass. This is also great for a large group. Just use equal parts lemonade and cider and use the bourbon and vodka to taste. maybe 1/4 cup to every cup or so,
