Maggie’s Krooked Cafe

/0 Comments/in , , /by

When I moved back to Charleston after two years in the Catskills, I was hanging out with a group of people one night, and a friend of a friend asked from where had I just moved back.  Assuming that most people in South Carolina are not familiar with the tiny towns in the Catskill mountains, I said that I had been about two hours north of Manhattan up in the mountains.  She is a photographer and said that she had shot a wedding up in the Catskills the past summer.  She then went onto say that while she was up there, she had eaten breakfast at this little place and had the best pancakes.  It was obvious, she had been at Maggie’s Krooked Cafe.  I was right.  It was a very small world coincidence- the wedding she shot had been an acquaintance who grew up summering in a neighboring park to Twilight called Onteora.  These two parks are only about 10 miles away from each other on either side of a town called Tannersville, and all of this is one town over from Hunter Ski Mountain.  I remember the first time I went to Maggie’s and thinking how quirky the whole place was.  There is a reason the place is called Krooked Cafe- there is not a right angle in the whole restaurant.  Then the food came out.  We had ordered corned beef hash with a fried egg on top for the table, two people got the Ploughman’s breakfast, one person an omelet, and I got the blueberry pancakes.   First of all, corned beef hash is not something that I would think I would enjoy, and fried eggs are not my favorite (I have a thing against yolk- I don’t like it).  This stuff was amazing.  It had a lot of curry spice to it, and it was unbelievably flavorful.  Then I got to my pancakes.  When I tell you that these pancakes were unlike any pancake I have every eaten- its true, and you will only believe me if you actually taste them for yourself.  It might be the pound of butter of the entire sack of sugar that goes into each one, but there is something in those pancakes that is very special.  Since that day, whenever we have friends up on the mountain with us, going to Maggie’s for breakfast is a requirement.  So, if you happen to find yourself in Tannersville, NY- Maggie’s Krooked Cafe should be on your list of must do’s.  You can check out her website and all the accolades she has received here www.krookedcafe.com.

 

Maple Bacon and a 4th of July Parade

/0 Comments/in , , /by

We had some friends up to visit us in the Catskills last weekend with their three boys.  It was so great to see them, and I think they enjoyed escaping the heat that was attacking the rest of the country.  Our friends had never spent much time in the Catskills, and I think we made converts out of them.  We spent time between swimming at the pool, hiking and eating of course.  We introduced them to the best ice cream in the entire world- Perry’s Piece of Cake.  It, unfortunately for me, is a regional upstate New York ice cream company, and they have not expanded to South Carolina yet.  Hopefully, after I start a letter campaign, they will.

Anyway, this ice cream literally tastes like yellow cake batter and chocolate icing- which if you are like me, the batter and icing is the best part of a cake.  If you can find some- try it- it is something special.  The funniest part of the weekend was Sunday morning.  Corby was making his awesome cracked pepper and cheddar biscuits (https://thesouthwillrise.com/cracked-pepper-and-cheddar-cheese-biscuits/), and I was making scrambled eggs and maple bacon.  Maple bacon is again something I can not find readily in South Carolina, and it is so good.  It smells so good.  Denny, our friend’s 7-year-old son, ran down the stairs excitedly, wondering where the pancakes were.  The maple bacon filled the house with the smell of maple syrup, and Denny could not figure out why, when the smell of syrup was coming from the kitchen, we were not having pancakes.  It was so funny.  Fortunately, he loves scrambled eggs just as much as pancakes, so he was not too disappointed.  It was a great weekend!

We followed up the weekend with a super fun 4th of July.  The Twilight camp put on a great parade- the campers had spent the first part of the week making costumes.  We had eagles, bunnies, bears, and skunks- the costumes were awesome.  Walker was an eagle, and he made his mask with a fish coming out of his eagle’s mouth.  Then there was a park-wide BBQ down at the pool with a dive and jump competition (one picture is AJ winning the belly flop competition, and the other is Walker in the big jump competition), and the day was finished off with a carnival up at the playground with games and face painting.  The counselors and CITs outdid themselves, and the kids had so much fun- here are some pictures!  I hope everyone had a great and safe 4th- send in your favorite grilling recipe from the holiday if you have a chance!  We are looking for new ideas while we are up in the mountains- thanks!!

 

 

More from the Mountains: Bear Claws

/1 Comment/in , , , /by

This is my 11-year-old Springer Spaniel, Nemo (named before the fish).  As you can see, he is a ferocious beast.   Despite the fact that he still looks like a puppy, he is getting old.  His hips are going, and he sleeps most of the time.  However, this morning, he recaptured some of his youth when, at 5:45 am, he demanded to be let out.  I dragged myself down the stairs and opened the door- my eyes still basically closed, thinking he would just quickly do his business and come right back in.  Well, instead, Nemo, the ferocious beast, found and scared a bear cub off our front porch.  The barking and scrambling that ensued, I thought that there was a raccoon or something, except that when I ran onto the porch, I saw this. I did not get a picture of the cub because, well, this is a huge bear, and I did not want to hang out for too long.  But I woke everybody up in the house, and we all watched them safely through the upstairs window as they went up the hill.  I have to say,  when I am out on the boat in Charleston, I still get super excited to see dolphins- it never gets old.  Bears on the front porch, this could lose its appeal pretty quickly!  In honor of Nemo continuing to keep us safe and our hopefully never-to-return visitor, the bear and her cub, here is a fun recipe I got from www.tasteofhome.com for bear claws!!

Bear Claws:

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1-1/4 cups half-and-half cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 egg white
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup almond paste, cubed
1 tablespoon water
Coarse or granulated sugar
Sliced almonds

Directions

In a bowl, toss butter with 3 cups flour until well coated; refrigerate. In a large bowl, combine yeast and remaining flour.

In a saucepan, heat cream, sugar and salt to 120°-130°. Add to yeast mixture with 1 egg. Beat until smooth. Stir in butter mixture just until moistened.

Place dough onto a well floured surface; roll into a 21-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Starting at a short side, fold dough in thirds, forming a 12-in. x 7-in. rectangle. Give dough a quarter turn; roll into a 21-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Fold into thirds, starting with a short side. Repeat, flouring surface as needed. (Do not chill dough between each rolling and folding.) Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours or until firm.

For filling, in a small bowl, beat egg white until foamy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and almond paste; beat until smooth. Cut dough in half widthwise. Roll each portion into a 12-in. square; cut each square into three 12-in. x 4-in. strips. Spread about 2 tablespoons filling down center of each strip. Fold long edges together; seal edges and ends. Cut into three pieces.

Place on greased baking sheets with folded edge facing away from you. With scissors, cut strips four times to within 1/2 in. of folded edge; separate slightly. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Lightly beat water and remaining egg; brush over dough. Sprinkle with sugar and almonds. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Naked Berry Pies

/1 Comment/in , , /by

When we were in Nashville this past fall, we went to the Loveless Cafe for breakfast one morning.  It was awesome, and I have been dying to go back since then.  Since I am up in the Catskills and nowhere near Nashville, making one of their Naked Berry Pies will have to do.  As you will see, “naked” refers to the fact that you do not use a pie pan to make these amazing delicious pies.  We have friends coming up this weekend with their three boys, and I can’t wait to try out this recipe http://www.lovelesscafe.com/recipes.  I am thinking of using blueberries- if anyone else tries them with a different fruit, please let me know how it turns out, and I will try to put up a picture of my attempt this weekend!!

Recipes from the Mountains

/0 Comments/in , /by

We arrived in the Catskill Mountains on Saturday to the most beautiful blue skies and 75 degree temperature.  The weekend was spectacular, and I woke up this morning to rain and 55 degrees, and that does not upset me at all.  I got a fire going and turned on Wimbledon, and I think this might be the greatest vacation ever.  We are up here for four weeks which is pretty awesome for so many reasons.  We get to be with friends that we only see in the summer, we get to avoid Charleston heat in July, and we get a change of scenery from the beach to the mountains.  We are in Twilight Park which is a tiny little summer community in Haines Falls, NY.  This place is a special little piece of heaven that I love so much.  Here is the view that we look at every day over the Hudson River Valley.  My day consists generally of getting Walker ready and off to camp for the day and then deciding which hike I am going to do, followed by swimming at the pool, maybe a nap, lots of reading, and fixing dinner which is usually cooked on the grill.  It is kind of like I am at summer camp too.  I love making burgers up here, and I change up my burger concoction pretty frequently, but here is one of my favorites.

Pepper Jack Burgers:

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Combine everthing in a mixing bowl and mix everything together (I use my hands) and then form patties.  Pretty straigh foreward, but I think adding the pepper jack cheese into the meat mixture adds great flavor and I love have cheese in the burger as well as on top.  Grill to your liking and enjoy!

 

Father’s Day Daisy Cake Give Away

/23 Comments/in , , /by

Our Mother’s Day Daisy Cake Give Away was so successful and fun that we are doing another one for Father’s Day!  All you have to do to enter is comment on this post- so easy!  The cake this month is a Hummingbird Cake, which sounds amazing, and I know with Kim Nelson, the owner of I Love Daisy Cakes, behind it, this cake will be something special.  For a little recap of Kim and all her greatness, she appeared on the show Shark Tank and received a $50,000 investment from Barbara Corcoran to help take I Love Daisy Cakes to the next level.  And it did!  Kim has gone from making around 2000 cakes a year to over 25,000.  She has most recently appeared on the Nate Berkus Show and will be cooking on the Today Show at the end of this month.  This lady makes the best cakes around.  So, just comment on this post with a smiley face, a thought about cake, or even a thought about Father’s Day, and you will be entered to win.  We will announce the winner next Friday, June 15th.  Keep your thoughts on cake and good luck!

My Grandmother’s Chicken Salad

/0 Comments/in /by

My grandmother used to make the best chicken salad in the world.  Whether we were visiting her in Columbia or up in the mountains, during the summer, there was always a big green tupperware container of chicken salad in the refrigerator.  She refused to give my mother the recipe for years which was pretty maddening since we only got the chicken salad when we would visit.  Of course, we loved to visit my grandmother anyway, and it was not just for the chicken salad, but it certainly was a bonus.  Even after my grandmother relented and gave us the recipe, we never made it.  It had become a thing that was special to have when we were with her.  Corby and I were up in the mountains this past weekend, and I missed having her chicken salad so much.  It was what we would pack for lunch on our hikes, and it was always what we would snack on when we came home from playing tennis.  So, I pulled out her recipe and tried it out.  The first attempt was ok but definitely needed improvement.  The second attempt after adjusting some measurements turned out much better.  I don’t think I will every be able to replicate how delicious my grandmother’s was, but it sure is fun trying, and even getting close is better than not having this chicken salad at all!!

Here is her original recipe, and on the sides are what I changed after my first attempt.  I like it much dryer so I cut back on the mayonnaise and sour cream.  Hope you like it as much as I do!!

Chicken Salad

8  – 10 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into pieces (I cooked them slowly for a while over medium heat in a lot of chicken broth and then used a fork to pull the pieces apart.  The second time, I put the pieces in a food processor, but I thought that cut it up a little too much, but Corby liked it better that way.)

3-4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped (I only used one egg, again that I put in a food processor, and I thought that was perfect.)

2 cups chopped celery (chop very finely)

½ cup mayonnaise (I ended up using 3 tbsps)

½ cup sour cream (and 3 tbsbs of this as well)

Durkees dressing (I put two big heaping tbsbs of the Durkees.  This is a strong taste, but it will mellow.)

4 Tbsp. lemon juice (I only used 2 tbst of the lemon juice, but it cuts the Durkees taste so add more if you want.)

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix in everything together in a big bowl and refridgerate

 

Mother’s Day Daisy Cake Give-Away

/41 Comments/in , /by

This past Friday, I finally tracked down Kim Nelson of Daisy Cakes- she was in Nashville, TN looking at a new distribution company for her cakes and very generously took the time to talk to me.  A little background if you haven’t yet heard of Kim Nelson and Daisy Cakes because the way she is taking the cake world by storm, you will soon (www.ilovedaisycakes.com).  Kim is from Spartanburg, SC and has been baking with her mother and grandmother since she can remember.  After catering and giving cooking lessons, Kim decided to start selling her old family recipe cakes on line and nation wide.  After a year and a lot of time, money and effort, a friend suggested that Kim try out for the show Shark Tank on ABC where a group of investors are presented ideas and decide to invest in the business or not.  Out of the 22,000 people that uploaded their information to be on season 2 of Shark Tank, 80 people were chosen to pitch their ideas initially and then 32 people made it on air.  Kim was one of the lucky.  Not only did she make it on the air, but she got a $50,000 investment from Barbara Corcoran which has turned her small cake company around.  Here is the link to the episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVM-RuLh2KI.  The episode aired just over a year ago, and since then, Kim has been on the Nate Berkus show and QVC, and she was invited to be a guest at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival where her cakes were a huge hit.  She will also be appearing on the Today Show at the end of June, and her “cakes of the month club” will be featured as a prize on the Wheel on Wheel of Fortune as well as being “the next item up for bid” on the Price is Right.  She is in the process of moving the Daisy Cake distribution center from New York to Nashville, TN so that she can be closer and keep an eye on things.  She started out making about 2,000 cakes a year, and from April of last year to December, she sold over 25,000 cakes.  Quite a jump in just a year!  What I was most impressed with was the reaction people had when tasting her cake for the first time.  Watching the Shark Tank episode, she serves up her cakes to some pretty heavy hitters who are no strangers to the best chefs and restaurants in the county.  All of the reactions were surprise- because its cake, and how much different can one chocolate cake or lemon zest cake taste from the rest.  All of these people were surprised at how delicious these cakes were.  It was unbelievable!  Now, I have yet to taste one of these cakes, but I am dying to, and I bet you are too!  Not only is Kim an incredible baker, but she is also extremely generous because she has donated three of her cakes for us to give away to lucky readers!!!  The first cake that we will be giving away is the May Cake of the Month- Pink Velvet Cake- four layers of pink velvet cake with cream cheese icing- how good does that sound!!!  All you have to do to enter is comment on this post- write a smiley face or just say hi, and we will randomly pick a reader to win the cake and announce it on Friday, May 11th.  The cake will be shipped to the winner who will then hopefully invite us all over for cake!!  So pass this along to all of your friends and neighbors and start commenting so you can win, and if you don’t win this time, we still have to more cakes to give away!

Lowcountry Local First Farm Tour

/0 Comments/in , /by

I was asked to write an article for Eat This! Charleston about the Lowcountry Local First Farm Tour.  It was so much fun!!  Corby, Walker, Nemo (our 11-year-old Springer Spaniel) and I piled into the car and drove out to John’s Island, where we met up with Ian, the photographer (his photograph is to the left and there are a lot more in the article) from Eat This!. Ian is a sophomore in high school and got into photography through the school newspaper, and he is extremely talented- I can’t wait to see where this kid is in ten years.  There were seven farms on the tour, and because of timing and the fact that we had Nemo with us, we only ended up going to five farms.  It was so interesting to see what an amazing impact of the whole “buy local, eat local” movement is having on these farms that might otherwise be out of business.  The best part of the whole thing was that each farm was serving some sort of food, and clearly, since I was writing an article, I needed to try everything that they had.  It was really tough for me when we got to the winery, and all they had was four fantastic desserts that we just had to buy and eat.  It was awesome.  Here is the article from the magazine- hope you like it! http://www.eatthischarleston.com/index.php/features/item/the-low-down-on-our-local-farms#

And here is the picture of the pet Walker adopted at one of the farms.  He, of course, wanted to keep him and his justification for taking him home was that we wouldn’t need to mow the grass anymore!

A Day on the Dock with just a few Ticks

/0 Comments/in /by

With the weather so nice and summer just around the corner, we decided it was time to get back on the water, so we spent the afternoon with friends on their dock at Bailey’s Island which is out at Edisto.  It was so relaxing and wonderful to hang out by the water, get a little sun, and watch Walker swim and swim.  Our friends just got a new puppy, Sierra, an English Setter who is so beautiful and awesome- I mean look at this face!! So a lot of the day was watching her and her enormous paws play in the mud and chase the fiddler crabs.  Finally, around sunset, we packed it in and went to the gas station where they also have a BBQ restaurant which is delicious for dinner.  Sweaty, salty and totally relaxed, I went to wash my hands, and that is when it started- the invasion of the ticks.  I guess it is more accurate to call it the realization of the invasion of the ticks.  I found one on my jeans and another one crawling my stomach. Gross!  Back at the table, it turns out that everybody had found one or two as well.  Needless to say, the car ride home was rather itchy as I was imagining them all over me.  And they actually were.  When I got in the shower, I found three more that had actually attached.  Walker had two and Corby had one.  And we kept finding them for two more days.  I think that we are all in the clear at this point, but it was really pretty traumatizing.  I couldn’t think of anything to memorialize this event, so I googled Edisto Island recipes and found one on the Edisto Island Guide that was submitted by Cindy Hartpence.  I don’t know why, but this Red Rice recipe seems to encapsulate our tick adventure.

Red Rice

5 slices bacon or side meat

2 cups cooked rice

¾ cup chopped onion

2 cups canned tomatoes

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon hot sauce

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, cook bacon and reserve grease. Crumble bacon and set aside.

Saute the onions in the reserved bacon drippings until tender. Add tomatoes, rice, salt, pepper and bacon. Cook on low heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring and adding water as needed. Add hot sauce and serve.