To the Mountains

Chris and I decided last minute to take a 3 day mini-vacation up to the mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina.  We stayed in Black Mountain, which is a cute little town, and our cabin was on the side of a mountain.  Our last minute trip was a success; the leaves were at their peak color, which was absolutely beautiful!

View from our cabin!

Our cabin-had 3 bedrooms & a game room-so nice on the inside!

This was also Sadie Mae's very first vacation with us, our first family vacation.  She had so much fun!  She got to go on a hike, play in a creek, track mountain animals, and roast marshmallows.

Sadie Mae after her hike

Checking out the creek

On our first day, we explored around our cabin and went to Asheville for dinner.  We walked through downtown and shopped.  If you ever visit Asheville, you must stop at Chocolate Fetish.  They have delicious chocolates and cakes!  And of course we made a stop at the grocery store for marshmallows and graham crackers.  Chris got the wood fire going in the house and we roasted marshmallows...perfect for such a cold night.

Our second day, we went to the Biltmore Estate.  Chris visited when he was a little boy and this was my first time.  I absolutely loved the Biltmore House; however, I was VERY Annoyed that I could not take photos inside.  There were little details in the trim work, stone, etc that I knew would not be in the book (close up shots that is).  The amount of detail was absolutely stunning.

In front of the Biltmore House-I love the Biltmore!!

The architecture and details inside and outside of this house are spectacular.  Every detail on the exterior was different, which is incredible!  I cannot believe that the house itself is 4 acres...that is an absurd amount of square footage, rooms, and bathrooms!  Gosh, I would hate to have to be one of the employees to have to clean the house!  But imagine growing up in this house...how awesome!

We went horse back riding on the estate too!  That was my favorite part!  I love horses and have been talking about going horse back riding, with Chris, for about 3 years now.  And we finally got to do it!  I got the horse that was the slowest of the bunch, and Chris' horse was the oldest horse, 20 years (apparently domesticated horses can live to be 20-35 years old).  We got to see areas where parts of Last of the Mohicans and Patch Adams were filmed.  I cannot wait to go back!

Me on Apache & Chris on Rusty

Here's a fun fact about the Biltmore:

-The Biltmore House is open every day of the year, and will not shut its doors to the public even for the President....no one is that special!

We met up with Chris' grandmother, Aileen, for dinner.  She drove us on the Blueridge Parkway, which is said to be one of the most beautiful drives in the nation.  And it was beautiful!  We had a wonderful dinner and it was great spending time with Chris' grandmother!

Dinner with Aileen-great view from the restaurant

Sunset over the Blue Ridge Mountains

It was a quick trip, but well worth it!  We had such a wonderful time, and it was so relaxing!  We've already started planning our next trip back next year!  And maybe next year Chris will actually get to see his black bear :)

Meet me in Columbia, Columbia, meet me at the Fair!

This is our first year in Columbia, South Carolina, and our first year at the South Carolina State Fair.  And even better my very first entry in a state fair ever!  I entered the cake decorating traditional amateur category.

For those who don't know, I have been taking cake decorating classes at Michael's provided by Wilton.  There are three total, and just finished them up.  The cake design I entered is fondant with fondant and gum paste flowers and royal icing dots on the borders.  It is an ivory cake with ivory and green flowers...it definitely looks like a tier of a wedding cake.  I am pretty proud of myself on this one...I made each flower by hand.

Front of cake

Back of cake

The best part about this cake and the state fair is that I won 2nd place in my category!!  I am so proud of myself...Chris is too!  He called his parents immediately when we saw the cake and sent them a image of the cake via text...so cute!

2nd Place Winner!

While we were at the fair, we had a funnel cake, which I don't think either on of us have had since we were in middle school...it was so good (worth the calories).

The fair had dogs doing frisbee and dog dock tricks...which was kind of neat.  I've seen dogs do these tricks on the Animal Planet but never in real life...as we watched these well trained pups, all Chris and I could think of was, Sadie Mae would loose interest after the third try and now she would run after that frisbee if it were food.  Gosh our dog is such a Princess!

We also watched the piglets race for wait for it....an Oreo cookie!  Yep, piggies like Oreos too!  It was very entertaining to watch the piglets race.  They also had a pig that jumps into the water (like the dog dock).  Before the pig jumped he pooped on the platform...ha!  It was pretty funny.

South Carolina's state fair had some pretty exciting animals to look at...tigers, lemurs, zebra, camel, elephant, mini ponies, llamas, and of course goats and as usual all of the stock animals to show.  I get to meet Wilbur's mom and siblings; Charlotte was MIA though.  There were some beautiful peacocks and ducks, and I wanted to take home a little chick.

Yes, I took this

All in all the state fair was a fun little adventure!

Falling for Apples

I believe it's officially Fall, and with that it is Apple Season!!

The cool weather has been a fabulous break to the 100% humidity plus 100 degree weather.  Can't wait to wear long sleeve shirts, scarves, and boots!

I associate hearty meals, cinnamon, nutmeg, apples, and pumpkins with all this cool weather.  So I started my fall baking/cooking endeavors.

First I made turkey chili with beer.  Never made it with beer before; the beer sweetens the chili, which Chris wasn't too fond of.  He liked the traditional chili flavor he's used to, which I kind of agree.

My second attempt was a home made apple pie from scratch (my very First pie by myself).  The pie was delicious.  The filling and dough were easy to make; however, the rolling the dough part was a pain in my toosh!  It kept cracking the entire time I was rolling it out.  So, unfortunately I had to resort to store bought dough.  However, I will prevail!  The filling was delicious; I mean apples with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg=Delic!!  I had to keep myself from eating the filling!

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of my very first home made pie...so, I will more than likely make it again.

Double Crust Recipe:
-2 Cups All Purpose Flour
-1 Tsp. Salt
-2/3 Cups plus 2 Tbsp. Shortening
-4-5 Tbsp. Ice Water

• Combine flour and salt; cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.  Sprinkle ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, evenly over surface; stir with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened.  Shape into a ball; chill until ready to use.  Roll and fit pastry into pie plate as pie recipe directs.

Source: The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook


Apple Pie Recipe: (I used Golden Delicious Apples for this pie)
Pastry for double crust 9-inch pie6 Cups peeled, sliced cooking apple (about 1-1/2 pounds)
-1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
-1/2 Cup Sugar
-1/2 Cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
-2 Tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
-1/2 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
-1/4 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg
-2 Tbsp. Butter or Margarine
-1 Egg Yolk, lightly beaten
-2 Tsp. Sugar (optional)
-1/8 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon (optional)

• Roll half of pastry to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.  Place in a 9-inch pie plate; set aside.
• Combine apple and lemon juice in a large bowl.  Combine 1/2 Cup sugar and next 4 ingredients, mixing well. Spoon over apple mixture, tossing gently.  Spoon filling evenly into pastry shell, and dot with butter.
• Roll remaining pastry to 1/8-inch thickness; transfer to top of pie.  Trim off excess pastry along edges.  Fold edges under and crimp.
• Cut slits in top crust for steam to escape.  Brush pastry lightly with beaten egg yolk.  If desired, combine 2 teaspoons sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon to sprinkle on pie.
• Cover edges of pastry with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.  
• Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 F and bake 50 more minutes.

Source: The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

I hope you enjoy this pie as much as I did as well as my co-workers.

I will continue my baking/cooking endeavors this fall season straight into the holidays...which excites me most!  Holiday baking is one of my favorite times of year!  I look forward to sharing with you my caking/baking creations!

Singing my Heart Out

So those who know me well, know that I love to sing!  And when it comes to music in the car, I am definitely going to belt it and more than likely bust a couple of moves.

I remember as a little girl singing belting out to music in the car with my dad and my mom and getting down with my bad self.  I used to get mad at my sister for singing the music with me in the car.  Chris' response to this story was, "I feel bad for your sister.  I bet you were so mean to her." I think not!  I wanted to be the only one who could sing because I thought I had such an amazing voice.  Much to my surprise, my voice is pretty blah.

This visual came to my head.  It's the little Chinese girl singing a Mariah Carey song while sitting in the backseat in Rush Hour.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liBI6Ifa1Lk

And whenever Chris and I watch this movie he says, "Awe, Grump, it's you when you were a little girl!".  Gosh, my husband is so funny.  But I do have to agree with him on this one...I bet this was what I looked like in the car as kid singing my heart out...my poor family.

I even took voice lessons, and thought I had a decent voice.  I think NOT!  Not until the past couple of years I realized how my voice is Plane Jane.  Sure, I can carry a tune, but I am no Lea Michele (I wish I had her voice).

As I drove to Charleston by myself the other night, belting out to Madonna and acting like I was performing the song on stage, a light bulb went of in my head..ding, ding, ding!  I am a HORRIBLE singer.  Why did no one tell me this!  I am so sorry for those who had to hear me sing all this time, except for you Chris...I know your favorite sound is to hear me sing!

Do you think I was that little girl growing up?  Do you think I am still that girl today?