Feeling Crafty

Mr. T and I just had our one year anniversary in our apartment.  Lately I've been looking around and wishing to spruce our little space up a bit.  I dove into two projects this past week, and they were both a complete success.  Project #1: something for our very plain front door.

Coffee Filter Wreath

To make the wreath, I started with a grapevine wreath.  We have a giant front door, so I selected the 18" wreath.  If you have a normal sized door you'll probably want to use one that is 12".  The only other supplies I needed were a package of 200 small natural colored coffee filters, a low-temperature glue gun, and ribbon.  Start by applying a dime-sized amount of hot glue in the center of a coffee filter and press it into the wreath.  Repeat this step with all 200 filters. Make sure to place each filter close to each other so you won't get any holes.

 

And that's it!  I found some snazzy leopard print ribbon I had left over from Christmas time do adorn the top.  Here's the final product.

Stay tuned for my next around the house project.  Here's a preview of what it looked like during the creation stage.  Any ideas of what it could be? You'll be shocked at what the end product looks like.

Super Bowl Sunday Recipes

This year for the Super Bowl, Mr. T and I went to a friends house to watch the game.  They had a taco bar which is such a great idea for a football party.  I brought one of my favorite salsas, a Black Bean and Mango Salsa. 

Black Bean and Mango Salsa:
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 medium mango, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper


Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Since there are no tomatoes, this recipe is a great alternative to other traditional salsas.  It's sweet and spicy and SO good with chips.  I love serving it with freshly baked tortilla chips, a tasty healthier alternative to the fried ones.  I came up with this recipe after not knowing what to do with the value-sized 4 pound package of corn tortillas my mom gave me.

 Baked Tortilla Chips 
(serves 2)
4 corn tortilla rounds
1 tsp EVOO
Salt

Preheat oven to 425.  Cut tortillas into wedges. Brush each wedge with a very small amount of extra virgin olive oil, just enough to make the tops shiny.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

Bake 5 minutes, and then turn each tortilla wedge.  Coat the other side with EVOO and sprinkle with salt.  Bake for another 3-4 minutes until edges turn slightly brown. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Mr. T and I had a great weekend.   We woke on Saturday morning and it was absolutely beautiful outside.  We decided to walk down the Swamp Rabbit Trail and eat lunch downtown.  We had a great lunch at Groucho's Deli and then went into the Mast General Store to look around.  Unbeknownst to us, they were having a huge sale on outerwear.

I've had the same rainjacket for about eight years, so I've been in dire need of a new one.  I found this jewel on the racks and got it for a steal!

 After lunch and some shopping, we headed back home.  Earlier this week, I bought a Restaurant.com gift certificate for Sushi Koji, a Japanese restaurant downtown.  We'd never been there before, but I figured this would be a great way to try something new.  And boy were we glad we gave it a shot.  It was amazing!

 I started with a Japanese Margarita, made with Shochu instead of Tequila.  Shochu is a Japanese liquor most commonly made with rice, barley, and sweet potatoes.  The drink was very interesting, much more sweet than the margaritas I'm used to.  We also ordered some sake, which was amazing.  For an appetizer, we selected the Beef Tataki.  The beef was great, not too chewey which can sometimes be the case.  It was served with a Ponzu dipping sauce which really added to the flavor of the beef. 

For our entree, we selected three sushi rolls.  We ordered the Crazy Roll (shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, avocado and cukes wrapped in soy paper), Rainbow Roll, and the Spicy Yellowtail and Scallion Roll.

For dessert, we ordered one of my favorites Mochi Ice Cream.  We had the Mocha Mochi Ice Cream which is one flavor I have never seen before.  It was absolutely amazing!

Mochi Ice Cream is a ball of ice cream with a doughy outer layer.  The outside is made from a glutinous rice flour called Mochiko, sugar, and water.  The combination makes a gooey sweet dough that is so good in combination with ice cream.  Overall Mr. T and I were very impressed with the restaurant, and we will definitely be back!  Check out Sushi Koji on Restaurant.com for deals, too! I was able to get a $25 gift card for only $3.00 which helped out tremendously on our bill. 

Sushi Koji

247 North Main Street
Greenville, SC 29601

(864) 631-1145

South Carolina Restaurant Week

January 12-22, 2012 marks the third annual South Carolina Restaurant Week.  Mr. T and I decided to take advantage of the deal last night by going to one of our favorites,  Nose Dive.  Most restaurants offer a $30 deal that includes your choice of an appetizer, entree, and dessert, but Nose Dive's menu is quite different from that.  They offer a list of food items and a list of beverages that are paired with those food items.  Each pairing is $10, and you just get as many as you like.  Mr. T and I were all over this deal, especially because their food selections were some of our favorite regular menu items.

We started with the Poutine, Nose Dive's take on the Canadian version of french fries. The dish consisted of thick-cut braised potatoes cooked in duck fat topped with a duck gravy and cheese curds.  Once our server described the dish in detail, Mr. T claimed "I would eat my foot if it were battered and fried in duck fat", so naturally with that conviction we ordered it.  The pairings we chose for this were the Al Verdi Pinot Grigio and Westbrook IPA.

For our main course I had the Vietnamese Banh Mi (not on the Restaurant Week Menu). This light, sweet, and crisp sandwich is served on a French roll with chari siu pork, pickled vegetables, cilantro, and thinly sliced jalapenos that add just the right amount of heat.

Mr. T had the Fish and Chips. The dish was served with Cole Slaw and topped with a Malt Vinegar Aioli.  The fish was flaky, buttery, and SO good.  It's even offered in a gluten free version for anyone with a gluten allergy.

 

After our entrees we were full, but of course I didn't stop there.  I wanted to get another glass of wine so getting a dessert to pair it with for only $4 more was a no brainer.  We ordered the Dark Chocolate Candied Bacon Brownie, and it was amazing. 

The warm brownie was topped with a house-made American Honey Bourbon Ice Cream that was equally phenomenal.   So we got all of this with wine and beer pairings for about $40, pretty good right? I hope y'all have taken advantage of SC Restaurant Week deals, too!  It's a great way to support local restaurants in their slowest season, and a fabulous deal too!

What I'm Loving: My One Line A Day Book

One of my favorite Christmas presents from this year was this One Line A Day book given to me by one of my sisters. The One Line A Day book is a five year journal.  Each page has space to write a little blurb about each day for five years.  I love the fact that you can look back at what you've written on that day in years past.  It's been so much fun thinking about what to write for each day's entry. I love carefully selecting the most interesting details of each day to record.

I've never been a great record keeper, but I think this journal will help me write more and record more moments in the next five years.  So far I've been the only one writing in it but I can see that Mr. T is curious too.  I think we may start writing in it together which could be quite fun!

Our Engagement Photos!

Mr.  T and and I just got our engagement pictures back! I'm so excited, so I want to share them with y'all.  Our pictures were done by Courtney Dox of Courtney Dox Photography in Columbia.  She's AWESOME!  We decided to do our engagement session in Clemson, SC where we met. Here are some of our favorites:

Rubbing Howard's Rock

On The Football Field

With Walter Thompson Cox, Jr.

In the Horseshoe

In Front of My Freshman Dorm, Where We Had Our First Kiss

Red Barn on Campus

Red Barn on Campus

Fall Leaves

Our Favorite College Bar

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On the Walker Golf Course

Sunset on the Walker Golf Course

So Far So Good!

Well, so far so good on my resolutions. Mr. T and I walked down to the Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Grocery this weekend and picked up some fresh local produce. Here's what I got:

Head of Butter Lettuce

$2.99

 

Bunch of Beets 

$2.50

Mr. T was a little bit scared of the beets, he wasn't sure what exactly what we could do with them.  I combined a few recipes that I found online and it was a success!

Roasted Beets
1 bunch fresh beets  (reserve the greens because you can use them in other recipes and salads)
EVOO
Salt and Pepper
3T. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 t. Sugar

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Scrub the beets to remove any excess dirt.  Place on the baking sheet and toss with EVOO and vinegar.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sugar.  Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of the beets.  When beets are tender, remove from oven and let cool slightly.  Peel the skins off when they are cool enough to handle.  If they are fully cooked the skins should just peel right off.  Bon Appetit!

Here's what they looked like, aren't they beautiful?