Author: martko1964

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Good Eating – Hot Pepper Jelly

This is the easiest appetizer in the world to make.  For as easy and low-key as it was to make, it was the hit of the night.  It is some hot pepper jelly spooned over cream cheese.  When everyone took a cracker and dipped it into the jelly and cream cheese, there was not a person at our house that didn’t declare that this was delicious.  Why is this always the case?  The food you spend hours preparing is o.k., but the simplest fare, like our hot pepper jelly, is the rage of the evening.

To add insult to injury, I didn’t even make the jelly.  No, it was in a jar and comes from a company named Mrs. Sassard’s in South Carolina, a family run business that has been selling its home-made Southern specialties since 1917.  Now operated out of the family home, the company hopes to expand into larger space and add new equipment, products and a Web site over the next few years.  In addition to the jelly, Mrs. Sassard’s also makes and sells a number of other relishes and preserves, like artichoke relish and pumpkin chip preserves.

For the purists out there, I also have a recipe if you would prefer some homemade hot pepper jelly.

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh hot green pepper, such as jalapeno
  • 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
  • 6 cups sugar
  • 4 ounces pectin
  • 4 drops green food coloring
  • 6 (1/2-pint) canning jars with lids

Directions:

Process bell pepper and hot pepper in a food processor until finely minced.  Combine pepper mixture, vinegar and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil.  Remove from heat and add pectin and food coloring.  Pour into sterilized jars and seal according to USDA guidelines for sterilizing jars/lids and canning.

I know this doesn’t look like it would taste so good, but as they say, looks can really deceive.  Whether you track down a bottle of this jelly like I did or make your own, give this hot pepper jelly a chance at your next get together.  The peppery taste with a hint of heat mixed with the creamy texture of the cream cheese on a cracker can’t be beat.  Again, it is also so easy!  Have you ever eaten hot pepper jelly?

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Hats Off To Magar Hatworks

This is a Fascinator made for the Kentucky Derby.  What is a Fascinator, you may be asking?  It is a hat that has gained in popularity since Kate Middleton began wearing these precariously perched feathered creations on her head.  The Fascinator is a particularly ornate accessory that can feature feathers, beads, flowers and other fancy trimmings.  Fascination over the Fascinator is growing in the United States, with Google searches up 50% for this style of hat since January.  Hats–that’s what brought us to Magar Hatworks in Charleston–and we weren’t disappointed.

Leah Magar has been described as a 21ist-century hat maker.  She uses old-fashioned hat making techniques with a fashion-forward vision in creating her quirky, Sunday-best hats.  She uses the technique of blocking to make and stitch hats by hand.  In fact, she has a collection of museum quality hat blocks lined all around her showroom.  Here are a few examples of the many hat blocks she owns.

But my friend and I were at Magar Hatworks to buy some hats.  You see, I am obsessed with hats and when my friend talked about the hat shop, we knew we had to go.  Honestly, even though I love men and women in hats, I only own two hats and they are recent purchases.  The reason?  I believe that I have the biggest head in recorded history.  There were signs of this before I fully realized it myself.  I have an aunt who says that as a new-born baby I was “all head”.  I could never, ever wear a baseball cap without it squeezing off my head.  Sporting ventures like football required the school to special-order head gear.  However, it was call outs from folks in college and then in the work place about the hugeness of my head that made me finally get the measuring tape out and take a reading.  I am proud to communicate that my head is approximately 26 inches in circumference.  It was confirmed by a measurement at Magar Hatworks.  For the most part, that is a very small person’s waist.  After my initial measurement, Leah Magar said in astonishment that she didn’t have a hat form big enough to block out a hat for me.  After she saw my sad eyes and face, she relented.  She knew how bad I wanted a hat.  You know how it is when you want something so bad and you are told that you can’t have it.  She is now making three for me!

Here is a view of some of the hats that Leah makes.  The straw hats are there for the end of the Spring/Summer season and the others are for Fall/Winter.  For the colder season, there were hats of felt, wool and cashmere that were all dyed in great colors and adorned with various notions.  I ordered one straw hat and two heavier wool hats for the Winter.  My friend bought two straws and is throwing serious hints to her husband about this wonderful Winter hat she needs as a Christmas present.

I have to believe that old-time hat making like what Leah Magar of Magar Hatworks is doing is a dying occupation.  When my friends and family see me walking around with my hats on, I want them to know it is not so much for the fashion statement but more about the fact that an art like this can’t cease to exist.  What a skill!  Oh, and by the way, if anyone laughs when my big head puts a hat on, I may just have to strap on that big Kentucky Derby Fascinator instead.  That will give them something to laugh about!  When was the last time you wore a hat?

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Trying To Determine What Red Tastes Like

This is a slice of a wonderful red velvet cake.  Red velvet cake is a mellow chocolate cake with an intense red color.  A white cream cheese icing is traditional and, as you can see, my frosting ability is not too great.  Even so, the cake and the frosting did not disappoint.  Most chefs say that it’s hard to get a good red velvet cake recipe.  Many times they are bland without the proper amount of cocoa to give it the right chocolate taste.  Many times they taste too citrusy due to way too much orange rind or flavoring being added.  This recipe from the ‘Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook‘ is one of the best.  I think it blends the cocoa and citrus to great effect.  As you may recall, I am not a citrus or rind lover when I bake so I cut the recommended rind amount down to half of what was given.

Why the red color?  Obviously coloring the cake red does not give it any enhanced flavor.  If the cake was just white or yellow, would people like it any less?  I have to be honest and say that the answers to my questions were not easy to find on the internet or any of my cookbooks.  The best I could find was the red was probably added as a means to dress up a cake with no other flavor than some cocoa.  I guess I’ll buy that, but I was looking for somewhat of a more elegant answer than this.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

  • 2-3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sifted cake flour or 2-1/2 cups sifted bleached all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the pans
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup natural cocoa powder
  • 1 ounce red food coloring
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons water
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing the pans
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tablespoon orange zest (from 1–2 oranges)
  • 1 cup whole or low-fat buttermilk

For the icing:

  • 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1 pound cream cheese (2 packages), softened
  • 1 pound (4 cups) sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons whole milk, if needed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two 9-by-2-inch cake pans or line their bottoms with greased, floured waxed paper.  Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together twice.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk the cocoa, red food coloring and water to a smooth paste, about 1 minute, and reserve.

In a large mixing bowl, beat 1 cup butter with an electric mixer until creamy, about 30 seconds.  Add the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating about 15 seconds after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary, until the mixture has lightened in color and become fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, the vanilla, and orange zest, beating for 15 seconds after each addition. Add the red cocoa paste and mix until evenly incorporated.

Add the flour mixture to the butter and egg mixture in thirds, alternating with 2 additions of half the buttermilk.  Once all ingredients are incorporated, beat the batter 10 to 12 strokes with your spoon or spatula if using cake flour, 2 to 3 strokes if using bleached all-purpose flour.  Divide the batter between the cake pans and spread the tops evenly with the wooden spoon or spatula.

Bake until a cake tester or toothpick emerges clean, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool in their pans on a rack for 10 minutes, then slide a thin paring knife around the edge of
the pans and invert the cakes.  Lift away the waxed paper, if using.  Cool the cakes completely on a rack, with their tops facing up.

In a large bowl, beat 3/4 cup butter with the mixer until creamy, about 30 seconds.  Add the cream cheese and beat until the mixture is fluffy, white, and very smooth, about 1 minute.  Add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition, until the mixture is creamy, fluffy, and smooth.  If the frosting is too stiff, beat the milk into it to loosen it.

Gently ice the cake layers generously.  Spoon 1 cup of icing in the center of the first cake layer.  Working an icing or rubber spatula in gentle swirling motions, spread the icing from the center toward the edges of the cake until it forms an even layer 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick (if you need to add more icing, add it to the center and work it out toward the sides).  Carefully set the second cake layer on top of the first and ice the second layer in the same manner, beginning with a dollop in the center and working it out to the sides.  Then ice the sides of the cake.  For my cake, I cut each cake in half in order to have four layers.

Store the cake at room temperature, beneath a cake cover.  If you don’t plan to eat it for 24 hours, put it on a plate, tent it with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.  Remember to remove the cake from the refrigerator 1 hour or more before serving to take the chill off.

So I’ve determined that red tastes…delicious.  Again, the recipe above has cut the citrus recommended in half.  I could still taste a pretty good hint of citrus, so I might even go with less the next time around.  As for my frosting abilities, I think I need to take a class or just use chocolate frosting (which hides all sins) for the rest of my life.  Chocolate frosting forever…thinking about it, what could be bad with that?  What is your favorite kind of cake/frosting?

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Our Hotel In Charleston – The Planters Inn

This is our hotel in Charleston.  Since we are still thick in our Charleston, South Carolina vacation review, it is only right that we discuss where we stayed while in the great city.  The Planters Inn, located in Charleston’s historic district, is a gracious Charleston hotel known for elegance and Southern hospitality.  Built in 1844, this beautifully restored inn is situated on Charleston’s open-air City Market, the King Street Antiques District is only a block away and Fort Sumter tours are within a half-mile.

The inn has beautiful four poster beds in each room.  Unlike other hotels, there is no real lobby area in the hotel.  Instead, there is a small desk that is off of a parlor area that is decorated with period pieces that make you feel like you are back in older times.  Here are some pictures of the hotel that illustrate the charm of the Planters Inn.

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Besides its beauty, it was nice staying at the Planters Inn because it was close to everything that we did while in Charleston.  Its proximity to tourist attractions, great restaurants and shopping can’t be beat.  After walking outside in the heat, it wa great to come back to the parlor or your room and just relax.  Even though the inn is in the heart of the city, it was always very quiet and accomodating.  We were glad we stayed at the Planters Inn.  What great things, like the Planters Inn, have you discovered over the Summer?

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Charleston’s Hominy Grill Restaurant – Yum!

This is one of the first things you see when you arrive at the Hominy Grill in Charleston, South Carolina.  Painted on the side of the building, this waitress seems to assure you that inside you will soon be eating some great home-cooked food just like your Grandma used to make.  Nationally acclaimed and locally beloved, the Hominy Grill is a Charleston institution serving classic Southern specialties.  No cans are opened at the Hominy Grill.  All of the food is prepared from scratch with fresh, locally raised ingredients.  Chef/proprietor Robert Stehling first learned to cook at Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, NC.  He then worked for several years in New York before moving to Charleston where he opened the Hominy Grill.  He received the prestigious James Beard Best Chef Southeast award in 2008.

When we first arrived, we knew we would have a little wait given the number of people who were outside on the patio already waiting for a table.  Given the gorgeous weather that Charleston is known for, waiting outside for our table was nice.  Although there wasn’t a bar to stand at, the Hominy Grill does have a window where you can go up to and order whatever it is you would like to drink during your wait.

After about thirty minutes, it was our turn to eat.  The six of us sat down at a table inside a nice bright room with what appears to be an old-fashioned stamped tin ceiling.

Next up, it was time to read the regular menu and review the daily board of specials.  Almost of the dishes offered were Southern classics made with fresh ingredients.  Right off, we knew that we would hit all three courses in our eating adventure–appetizers, main course and dessert.

We started off with fried green tomatoes with ranch dressing for the entire table.  Is there anything more Southern than that?  Did you know that there is not a special variety of green tomato that you grow to use when you make your fried green tomatoes?  You just need to gather unripened, green tomatoes off the vine and batter and fry them.

After polishing off the fried green tomatoes in record time, it was time to move on to the main course.  Take a look at this delicious dish of shrimp and grits, another Southern classic.  The shrimp was sautéed with mushrooms, scallions and bacon and then served over cheese grits.  In this dish, the bacon actually gave the dish a nice smoky and salty flavor when up against the smoothness of the grits and the tender shrimp.

What would the South be without something fried and then served with gravy and a biscuit?  The Hominy Grill did not disappoint and several of us ate the Big Nasty Biscuit with a fried chicken breast smothered in cheddar and sausage gravy.  When we saw this, all we could do is trick ourselves into thinking it only had 200 calories in it and then dig in.  Talk about some good eating!

BBQ was also on order at the Hominy Grill.  Southern barbeque is more vinegar based than other barbeques that you may have eaten.  I like the bite that this type of barbeque offers.  Here is the BBQ chicken sandwich with slaw.  Vinegar BBQ heaven!

Are you ready for dessert?  We were.  We kept it simple and delicious as you can see.  Nothing light about butterscotch pie and a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, huh?  The butterscotch pie was creamy and delicious.  It has been quite a while since I had eaten butterscotch pie and this was a light and flavorful treat.

Now onto the chocolate brownie with homemade vanilla ice cream.  Here’s the question–have you ever met a brownie a la mode that you didn’t like?  I haven’t and the Hominy Grill’s selection was as good as it looks in this picture.

What a great brunch!  At this point in a meal and after all of this food, all you can do is either go back to home base and take a long nap or walk it off.  We thought it best to do some walking which is probably the right choice after you just finished devouring something called the Big Nasty Biscuit.

When we go on vacation, we do some sight-seeing, but for the most part our favorite part of a vacation trip is getting to know the locals through eating.  The Hominy Grill in Charleston really got us acquainted with the food of South Carolina’s low country.  Given that they try to utilize fresh and local ingredients, the food was really delicious.  We hope you enjoyed our little eating frenzy at the Hominy Grill….we sure did.  Do you enjoy dining out a lot when you are on vacation?

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South Carolina’s Unbelievable Angel Oak

This is Angel Oak on John’s Island in South Carolina.  When we were ready to make the trek from Charleston to Kiawah, our friends drove their car and we hired a car service.  Our driver begged us to take a few minutes to stop and see this tree.  He said it was one of South Carolina’s best kept secrets and we needed to stop and take a look.

The Angel Oak is a Live Oak (Quercus viginiana) that is a native species found through the South Carolina coastal low country.  Many people think that the name Angel Oak has something to do with angels from heaven, but it just refers to the last name of its previous owners.

Towering over 65 feet high, the Angel Oak has shaded John’s Island, South Carolina, for over 1,400 years.  This means that the oak would have sprouted 1,000 years before Columbus’ arrival in the New World.  Recorded history traces the ownership of the live oak and surrounding land, back to the year 1717, when Abraham Waight received it as part of a small land grant.  The tree stayed in the Waight family for four generations and was then part of a marriage settlement to Justus Angel and Martha Waight Tucker Angel.  In modern times, the Angel Oak has become the focal point of a public park.  Today the live oak has a diameter of spread reaching 160 feet, a circumference of nearly 25 feet and covers 17,100 square feet of ground.  Angel Oak’s largest limb has a circumference of 11.25 feet and a length of 89 feet.  Talk about a large and long arm!

Angel Oak has in the past few years been threatened by proposed development in the area and the destruction of the surrounding woods.  While Angel Oak will not be cut down, many residents of the area believe the surrounding woods help to protect the prized oak from storms and helps allow proper moisture and drainage.  Residents also believe the surrounding woods help filter out harmful pollutants before they reach the Angel Oak tree.

We were very happy to take a little turn off the beaten path and get a chance to see Angel Oak.  Know that the pictures don’t do justice to how large and majestic the oak tree actually is when you see it in person.  It is said to be the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi River.  It sure is a sight worth seeing.  Have you ever seen Angel Oak or heard of it?

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Friday Dance Party – Who’s That Girl With Guy Sebastian And Eve

This is another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen.  It’s the time where we give thanks for another week of living.  We give thanks for making it through and for being able to celebrate this fact.  How do we celebrate another week of living?  We dance.  So take a moment and be proud of the fact that you’re here and you’ve made it to another Friday.  Not only you, but your family and friends as well.  So, to that end, are you alive this Friday?  Have you given thanks for this?

Good, now let’s dance.

This has certainly been the week to be glad to be alive and to have made it through another week of living!  On Saturday evening and through a long portion of Sunday, all of us here on Glen Road were part of Hurricane Irene’s passing through Connecticut.  It was a very frightening experience to say the least.  We first heard of Irene on the beaches of Kiawah Island down in South Carolina.  We were happy to fly back and be in our home during the storm in case anything happened to our house, but we were a little unprepared for the hard journey back to a normal life post the hurricane and not sure we are fully back to normal even as of today.  First off, in preparation for the storm, there were extremely long lines at the gas stations in town with cars getting filled up and containers being filled for generator use.  This resulted in the town being sold out of most gas by Saturday afternoon.  Supermarkets were jam-packed and were sold out of many essential items you would want before a major storm struck your town.  Primarily that was canned goods, bread, milk, batteries and bottled water.  We were lucky to eventually get each of the items before Irene hit.  Before the storm hit, we were in pretty good shape in terms of preparedness.  What we were not ready for was the storm itself, which was very scary in terms of high winds, many downed trees and then the eventual loss of electricity.  No electricity means no lights, no water, no air conditioning, no internet, no computer, no TV and no flushing…pretty much nothing.  Even today, a large majority of our town still remains without power.  Crews are working to remove the large number of fallen trees that snapped power lines.  Once the trees are gone, crews can then begin to repair the downed lines and restore power.  We have heard that some people are being told that they will not get power restored until September 8!  Many people you talk to are asking about who do they call…..who do they call for updates on restoration, who do they call for help, who do they call to express their unhappiness.  People are getting cranky and fed up and for good reason.  All of these “who” questions reminded me of this week’s song, “Who’s That Girl” by Guy Sebastian, featuring Eve.  Guy Sebastian was Australia’s first Australian Idol winner when the show premiered down under in 2003.  He has since gone on to release six or so albums and this song is one of his first U.S. hits.  Just like in our town in Connecticut, Guy is asking a question starting with “who”.  To all of the survivors of Hurricane Irene, I hope our dance party finds you safe and sound.  We’ve been through a lot this week, but we are still alive and kicking.  Hang in there and celebrate your life this week by dancing.  You are here and deserve to cut loose.  How have you been doing since Hurricane Irene hit your community?

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Charleston Introduces Us To The Firefly Half and Half

This is our new drink of the Summer discovered on vacation in Charleston, South Carolina.  It is a Firefly Half and Half and it is the second installment of our Charleston, South Carolina vacation review.  It’s discovery must have been fate.  It all started when my other adult vacationing friends ordered up some late-morning Bloody Marys.  Being someone who does not like hard alcohol or tomato juice, the idea of drinking a Bloody Mary was just not going to happen.  So I asked the bartender at the restaurant where we were eating to suggest something for me to sip on and she came up with the Firefly Half and Half.  It contains some Southern classics–Sweet Tea (infused with vodka), lemonade, a lemon slice and some ice.  As you can see by this picture, my Firefly Half and Half was much better than the Bloody Mary as mine is half gone and the other drink only just sipped.

Our discovery starts with some Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka.  It was first created in a small still on Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina, before becoming the world’s first hand-crafted sweet tea flavored vodka.  Keeping true to its Southern roots, Firefly is distilled four times, infused with tea grown on a plantation five miles from the distillery and blended with real Louisiana sugar cane.  It tastes just like real sweet tea, but with an even sweeter kick.  It is available nationally, but finding something made close to Charleston just seemed a little more special than say finding it in Iowa or Connecticut.

For those of you who want to cut down on the sugar cane, Firefly also makes it in a skinny version using the natural sweetner stevia.  It’s the same great taste, but less sugar.  The choice is up to you.

You really can’t mess up this recipe for the perfect Half and Half.  Here it is:

Firefly Half and Half

  • 3 oz. Firefly Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka
  • 3 oz. Lemonade
  • One Lemon Twist
  • Mix over ice in a highball glass

You will also hear this drink called an Arnold Palmer or a John Daly.

An Arnold Palmer is a beverage consisting of half iced tea and half lemonade named for pro-golfer Arnold Palmer.   It is often called a Half and Half.  A John Daly is an alcoholic mixed drink, named after pro-golfer John Daly.  It is simply an Arnold Palmer with vodka.  A John Daly could also be made by combining vodka with lemonade and sweet tea.  Anyway you order it, as a Half and Half, as an Arnold Palmer or as a John Daly, just add Firefly to the beginning and a bartender seems to know what you are talking about….at least in South Carolina anyway.  However, no one that I talk to seems to know why this alcoholic beverage and its non-alcoholic cousin are named after golfers.  I can imagine the correlation, but I will wait to write about it until I can find facts and not just my evil conjecture.

By the end of our vacation, the adults had made a batch to take to the beach on a daily basis.  Name something better than vodka iced sweet tea to drink on a hot beach!  I also must give credit for the lead-in photo of my Firefly Half and Half to my 16-year-old traveling companion.  Since I was on my second (o.k., maybe third, but I was on vacation) drink, I was a little shaky with the camera and so my friend stepped up to the plate with a great shot.  Give the Firefly Sweet Tea vodka a try.  It is actually the perfect drink for your Labor Day festivities and a farewell to Summer…but I’m sure it will be great in Winter too.  Is there such a thing as an out-of-season cocktail?  Have you ever sipped on any of the Firefly vodka products?

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Our Charleston, South Carolina Vacation Review Begins!

This is a big welcome to Acorns On Glen’s “Charleston, South Carolina Vacation Review” festivities!  Yes, we are back from our vacation to Charleston and the beach on Kiawa Island and we are ready to show you some of the highlights of our trip.  First off, we were in South Carolina when news of Hurricane Irene started.  We did fly back to Connecticut before the hurricane hit land and we were impacted on Glen Road when it hit Connecticut on Saturday evening.  Most of our town is still without electricity as of today, but everyone we know is safe and sound (just a little cranky at this point).  To all of you that were impacted by this storm, we hope that you and your families are doing well.

I will start off with a confession.  I wasn’t expecting much of this vacation.  I had done some research on Charleston and learned that during August, Charleston is:

  1. Hot
  2. Really hot
  3. Super humid
  4. All of the above

Not sure that this is really a good match with a person who:

  1. Is experiencing male menopause, including hot flashes
  2. Doesn’t really enjoy the beach
  3. Has not had a tan since the ’80s
  4. Has thick, coarse hair that does not do well in humidity
  5. All of the above

Let me tell you this.  I have learned in my life that when expectations are low, you usually have one of the best times of your life.  An example, when Les Miserables was a hot play on Broadway, I bought tickets.  I was so excited to see this show.  All of my friends that knew I was going called me and told me that I was in for a treat.  It would be the best show I ever saw in my life.  My expectations were super high.  I went to the show and, guess what, I left at intermission.  I mean, come on, how long can that revolution go on?  Shoot your guns and die.  Get it over already!

It’s the same with our trip to Charleston.  One of my best friends (love her) and her husband (who I’m crazy about as well) take their kids (love them too; an all around super-duper family) down to Charleston and then a drive over to Kiawah Island (about 30 miles east of Charleston) for some beach time.  She knew that we had not had any vacation this year and knew that we didn’t have any plans and so she graciously offered for us to travel down to SC and be a part of their vacation.  She also knew that our saying “yes” was dicey because of the points listed above.  After a lot of persuasion from my dear friend, we said yes.  I set expectations low in my mind….thinking it was better to get away to a place that you probably wouldn’t like versus not going away at all.  In my experience, low expectations usually produce the best times of your life and this was the case here.  What a week of great fun!  To anyone that is ever on the fence about going to Charleston, I have to tell you to just pack your bags and get down there.  From history, architecture, GREAT food, nice people and a great opportunity to relax, Charleston has it all.

For me, Charleston will always be remembered for great food.  Because the landscape is marshy and swampy, they refer to their cooking as low country.  The food that they produce is down home, comfort food and I believe that it is similar to the food I grew up with in Iowa, where the cooks in Charleston work very hard to take the ingredients that they have and work to develop the best taste that they can with the simple ingredients that are present.  So to give you an example of this, I thought I would start our vacation review festivities with a recipe for Pimento Cheese.  To make this Southern classic, I turned to Matt Lee and Ted Lee, two brothers that have brought Southern cooking to life with their cookbooks.  I turned to their first cookbook, ‘The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook’, to help me make my Pimento Cheese.  This cookbook by the Lee Brothers is fantastic for a would-be Southerner like me.  It won the James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year Award for Food of the Americas in 2007 and is as fun to read the stories as it is to read the great Southern recipes.  It is my newest addition to my vast cookbook collection.  Halfway through my visit to Charleston, I saw it in a shop window and looked it up on Amazon.com that night and knew that my new-found lust for Charleston made this a must for my collection.  So let’s have the Lee Brothers take it over and let’s make this Southern classic, Pimento Cheese.

The Lee Brothers say that there was a time when you could eat pimento cheese sandwiches at lunch counters throughout the South.  Today, you are more likely to find this orange spread of sharp cheddar and mild pepper served as a dip, on crackers, in someone’s home during cocktail hour.  That’s how we enjoyed our dish of Pimento Cheese over the weekend.

Traditional recipes for Pimento Cheese call for canned pimentos, but this recipe broils a fresh red bell pepper, removes the blackened skin and then cuts the pepper into small dice before mixing it with the cheeses.  The Lee Brothers do admit that some of their Charleston friends roll their eyes that the recipe uses red pepper versus pimentos, but they believe it is a simple route to a more vibrant and sophisticated (and less chemical tasting) pepper flavor.  If you are a die-hard pimento lover, you can feel free to replace the pepper with 3 1/2 ounces of pimentos, but make sure that you dice them finely so that they get distributed throughout the spread.

Ingredients:

For the spreadable Pimento Cheese:

  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 8 ounces finely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
  • 2 ounces softened cream cheese, cut into pieces
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (I made the Lee Brothers homemade Lemony Mayonnaise and used it in the recipe….see the recipe below)
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

Turn on the broiler.  Place the pepper on its side on a dry cookie sheet and slide it under the broiler until the skin blackens on the side facing up.  With tongs, turn the pepper so that an unblackened side faces up and repeat until the skin is blackened on all sides.  Place the pepper in a small bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and let it steam for 5 minutes as it cools down.  Uncover the bowl.  When the pepper is cool enough to handle, transfer it to a cutting board, reserving any liquid in the bowl.  Remove the blackened skin with your fingers and discard.  Using a paring knife, cut the pepper in half, remove and discard the stem and the seeds and chop the pepper into 1/4-inch dice.  You should have about a 1/2 cup.

After chopping, you have to admit that these peppers do a pretty good job impersonating pimentos.  The choice is yours, but I have to think the Lee Brothers know how to make some good Pimento Cheese.  You be the judge and do what you need to do.

Place the grated cheddar in a medium bowl and add the cream cheese pieces, the mayonnaise (homemade version coming up), the diced red pepper and its liquid and the red pepper flakes, distributing them evenly over the cheese.  With a rubber spatula, blend the ingredients together until the spread is thoroughly mixed, about 3 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Note that Pimento Cheese keeps in the refrigerator for 1 week.

Are you adventurous?  Here is the homemade Lemony Mayonnaise that I used in my Pimento Cheese recipe.  This takes less than 5 minutes to make.  Give it a try.

For the Lemony Mayonnaise:

Ingredients:

  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar (white, white wine, champagne, red wine or sherry…I used red wine)
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the lemon juice.  Add the oils in a thin stream, whisking constantly to emulsify.  When the mayonnaise is thick and consistent, add the vinegar, salt and pepper and whisk vigorously to incorporate.  Store in the refrigerator up to 2 days.

This is my new favorite dinner party appetizer dip.  If you are really trying to get back to your Southern roots, spread this Pimento Cheese on some white sandwich bread and enjoy a sandwich for lunch.  Thanks so much to the Lee Brothers for this delicious recipe and please buy their great cookbook.  This is just the start of our Charleston, SC vacation review.  Come back to enjoy more of this jewel of a city.  We have more stories….from hats to our hotel to restaurant fun.  Come back and visit us, y’all.  Have you ever visited Charleston, SC and what did you think?

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Friday Dance Party – Getting Faster With Matt Nathanson

This is another edition of Friday Dance Party on Acorns On Glen. It’s the time where we give thanks for making it through another week and for being alive and present here on Earth. How do we celebrate another week of living? We dance. So, are you alive this Friday? Are you and your family safe and sound? Take a few seconds now to be in the moment and realize what a great life you truly have. Did you give thanks for that?

Good, now let’s dance.

So you all know that we are on vacation. Taking a little time off to recharge physically and mentally. Of course we didn’t forget to give thanks for another week, so while posts are slim during our vacation time, our Friday ritual with all of you remains. For the next few days, we will be enjoying the city of Charleston and then off to the ocean and the beach on the South Carolina shore. Sitting on the beach or by the pool allows you to spend some quality time with a great book (and we have a few that we are dying to read) and to listen to all the great music out there that is new. This is how we ran across this week’s song, ‘Faster’ by Matt Nathanson. It was a pleasant little surprise after a friend recommended that we would like this new song. Who doesn’t like a nice little upbeat love song? So this week, while we are giving thanks for living through another week, maybe we should also give that someone special in our life a little hug of appreciation for making our hearts beat a little faster. A partner, a child, a sister or brother, a dog….there are so many choices. Go ahead and give that special loved one a little squeeze….and remember, you’ve survived another week. It’s time to celebrate! Turn up those speakers and dance. Who are you going to give that little hug to this week…don’t be shy?