Our First Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

It seems that once you have a baby you start to do things that you never thought you would do. For us, we moved to a neighborhood last year that we probably would have never moved to if I wasn't pregnant. I've decorated my house with Halloween decorations - not only did I decorate but I had to buy the decorations!?! So last weekend, we were blessed with some great weather and we decided it was time to take the little man to North Georgia for his (and our) first trip to mecca of all things fall - Burt's Pumpkin Patch. Apparently, we weren't the only ones with this idea since the pumpkin patch was packed!


W had a great time people watching and playing around in the pumpkins. It also turned out to be a perfect photo opportunity too. I just love this Halloween-themed outfit from Beehave. But it must have looked girly because for the first time in 11 months, someone actually called my son a girl. I know it was an innocent mistake but still it hurt my feelings a little bit.

Kitchen Adventures: Bourbon Brown Sugar Steak

A few weeks ago, I committed to trying a new recipe a week. So far, some of the recipes have been a success and some have not. To start out my "Kitchen Adventures" series on a successful note. This recipe was a collaborative effort since my husband is the grillmaster around our house. 

We don't eat red meat that often so when we do its a real treat. We've been experimenting over the last year with flank steak and so far we've found a few great ways to make it but this might just be my favorite. You can find the recipe for the steak at food52. I just marinated the steak for about 2.5 hours before grilling it. We also through some asparagus on the grill with the steak and baked a few potatoes in the oven to finish off the meal. The steak had a slight bourbon flavor and smell so if you like bourbon this is a dish for you. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. 

Happy Cooking!

The Queen of Butter is as Sweet as Sugar

Today, we got a chance to meet the quintessential Southern cook, the queen of butter herself - Ms. Paula Deen. The Savannah restauranteur is best known for her cooking shows on FoodTV network, "Paula's Best Dishes" and "Paula's Home Cooking." We've been lucky enough to eat at her restaurant, The Lady & Sons, a few times over the last couple of years and every recipe I have ever cooked of hers has been a big hit. Generally, I go to her site when I'm planning a special meal or entertaining. I always know that the dish will be great. Some of my favorite Paula Deen recipes are: Pumpkin Gooey Bars, Tomato, Corn and Avocado salad, Black Pepper Shrimp, and Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup.  Last week, Ms. Deen's new cookbook, Southern Cooking Bible, was released and she is currently on a book tour.

W and I got to her book signing today just as they were wrapping up so fortunately we didn't have to wait in line to meet Ms. Deen and her husband Michael Grover. They were gracious enough to pose for pictures with W. I wasn't really sure what to expect but Ms. Deen was just as nice and friendly in person as she appears on TV. Both her and Mr. Grover talked with me for a few minutes and asked me about my son. Having met her, it is obvious she is family-oriented and a boy mom (and boy grandma too). 

A European Dining Experience

The Swiss have are probably best known for bringing the world fondue. But these cheese loving people have also given the world another cook as you eat dining experience, Raclette. Earlier this year, my sister's friend introduced us raclette. I think the best way to describe it is a dining experience.


The raclette machine has eight trays to which you add your dinner ingredients and top with raclette cheese. Once you add the cheese, then you put your tray under the grill. There is a grill tray on top that you can use to toast your bread. When the cheese is melted, you can add your raclette ingredients to the bread and you start the process again. 


Since we have done raclette for both meat eaters and vegetarians, so we have used an assortment of deli meat, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, olives, and vegetables. The great thing about raclette is you can do it with lots of different fruit, vegetable, and meat combinations so each version you fix can be different from the one before.  Since you are "cooking" your dinner as you go, raclette is perfect for a small dinner party.

Have you had raclette or a similar dining experience?

Apple, I'm in Love

Its no secret we are an Apple loving, Mac family. We've been drawn to Macs partly because we are creative types and partly because one of our hobbies over the last few years has been filming, editing and producing a documentary. Apple has made film editing accessible to anyone who has the interest. 


Several years ago, we made the very difficult decision to leave Verizon and we sold our souls (and decent phone service) to AT&T so we could purchase the iPhone. We've been using the iPhone 3G for several years now and it has been a great phone - I wish I could say great things about AT&T's service but I can't so I won't. 


We've been eligible to upgrade our phones for a couple months now but we decided to see if Apple was going to release a new version. The day we have been waiting for happened yesterday. The new iPhone 4GS will be available next week. I can't wait! In case you missed it, here is the video introducing the new features. 

I'm not sure which upgrade I'm most excited about the new 8 megapixel camera or the voice command virtual assistant. What are you looking forward to in the new iPhone?