Weekend Recap- Wedding In Columbia

This weekend T and I headed to Columbia for the wedding of our friends Mary Margaret and Nils.  Mary Margaret and I have been friends since we were freshman in college and our dorm rooms were side by side.  She's actually the reason that T and I ever met, because the two of them were friends from their hometown.  The reception was held at the Hall at Senate's End right downtown.  Since my parents live close to downtown were were able to stay with them both Friday and Saturday nights.  I loved being able to combine this trip with some family time, too.

So after a Saturday afternoon of shopping for me and mom, and a day of watching football and smoking cigars for T and dad, the two of us got all gussied up and headed to the church. 

The ceremony and reception were absolutely beautiful.  Mary Margaret didn't miss a single detail.  She had the most amazing flowers- they were romantic with dusty miller and peonies and they used cotton for a bit of a southern twist.  And for the cake, or lack thereof, they served mini pies, don't you just love that?  Here's a picture I snapped from the bride and groom's first dance.

I loved getting to celebrate Mary Margaret and Nils, and it was so nice to see my college friends once again.  We've had several weddings this year, and I just love how it brings us all together.  

Hope y'all had a great weekend as well!

Oh and a quick iPhone update, my screen has been fixed!  It did set me back about $125 though.  Don't think I'll be doing much shopping for the rest of the month.  Thanks to everyone for all of their sweet comments about it yesterday!

iPhone Woes

Happy Monday everyone! Typically around this time I'm sorting through all of my phone pictures from the weekend reliving all of our fun moments, but that's not the case today.  This is what I did to my phone on Friday afternoon right as we were about to head out of town.

Every time I swipe my finger to unlock my phone I'm terrified I'm going to have one of those Bill Hader moments where I slice my thumb right open.  Needless to say I didn't do much Instagramming this weekend, and wasn't able to check other people's posts either.  I'm hoping to make my way down to the Apple store today to get this fixed- I can only live with out Insta for so long. 

I also had to go back to the old tried and true digital camera to capture photos from the weekend.  So bear with me as I'm still sorting through all of those. I hope to have a weekend recap post up by tomorrow.  Have a great week!

Coconut Chicken With Sweet Chili Sauce

Last night I tried out a new recipe, and it was such a hit! I had a few requests to share the recipe when posted a picture of it last night on Instagram, so here it is.  This dish piqued my interest because I already had all of the ingredients on hand and the prep time was very short- two major pluses in my book.

 Coconut Chicken With Sweet Chili Sauce 

(recipe adapted from budgetbytes.com)

photo by budgetbytes.com

Ingredients:

• 12 chicken tenderloins
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup coconut milk (you can substitute regular milk)
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil, divided
• 1 cup sweet chili sauce (found at most grocery stores in the Asian section)

Directions:

1. Prepare your breading station by gathering three bowls. In the first bowl combine the flour and salt. In the second bowl, combine the eggs and coconut milk. Whisk together until well combined. In the third bowl, stir together the panko bread crumbs and shredded coconut.
2. Place ¼ cup of vegetable oil in a large heavy duty skillet and heat over medium/high heat until it is just below smoking. You can test the heat by throwing in a little bit of flour. When it is hot enough, the flour will sizzle and create a lot of bubbles.
3. While the oil is heating, dredge the chicken strips. First, coat each strip in the flour and salt mixture. Then dip each into the eggs/coconut milk and finally coat each in panko and shredded coconut. I find it easiest to coat all of them in the flour then go back and then do the egg wash and panko/coconut for each before moving onto the next.
4. After breading the strips, the oil should be hot enough. Place about 4 strips in the pan at once. There should only be one layer in the pan and there should be about an inch between each strip. If you over crowd the pan it will get too cold and the strips will soak up a lot of oil instead of frying. Fry the strips for 2-3 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and crispy. Place them on a wire rack (like this one) to drain and move on to the next batch. After a couple of batches you may need more oil so you can add the second ¼ cup to the pan. Allow the oil to come up to temperature before frying the next batch (2-3 minutes). Because the strips are thin, they should be cooked through by the time both sides are browned. You can tell by the texture of the chicken; it should be stiff when pressed. 
5. When all of the strips are done frying, serve immediately with sweet chili sauce for dipping.

(Serves 4)

I loved how the panko and coconut helped the chicken tenders stay crispy.  I can't stand when the breading on something ends up falling off or turns out soggy.  This was great served as part of our entree, but I could also see this served as an appetizer.  I'm also eager to try the same preparation with shrimp, I think that would be so good!

Other Recipes From The Reedy Review

 

Weekend Recap

This weekend T and I went to Edisto Island with a few of our friends.  With the weather in the upper 80's we were luckily able to get some good beach time.  I somehow managed to go the entire weekend without a single picture of myself, so here are some great pictures of everyone else on the trip.

Saturday morning we woke up early and got out on the beach.  We wanted to maximize our beach time since this was the last time we'd be able to get out on it until next spring. The water was a little too chilly for my comfort level, but the boys dove right in.

We stayed at my friend Melanie's grandparents' house which is just a short golf card ride from the beach. Yes, this is my husband photobombing the picture in the background. Nice T, real nice.

We soaked up the sun until about 3:00 and came back up to the house to watch the Clemson vs. Syracuse game. The house has a great back porch area with a TV so we were able to still be outside while we cheered on our Tigers.

We spent the rest of the night out on that porch watching more football, sipping on drinks, and munching on appetizers.  What a great weekend!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday!  Today I'm linking up with April, Natasha, Christina, and Darci for their Five on Friday Linkup.  Here's a list of the five things I've been loving this week.

{one.}
I've been enjoying drinking green tea at work recently.  I'm not a coffee drinker and I've tried to cut out soft drinks, so tea is now my option when I need a mid-afternoon pick me up.  I've gotten into Yogi tea this week, I just love the inspirational messages that come on every tea bag. It's the little things.

{two.}
There are not too many things that I love about cool weather, I'm more of a spring/summer kind of girl.  But one thing that I can appreciate is fall food.  I love the heartier foods that fall brings, like soups, stews, and chicken pot pie.  I made this chicken pot pie recently and it was so tasty.  I used the simplest recipe I could find, straight off of the Pillsbury website.

{three. }
Even though I'm not a fan of cooler weather, I still like to look and feel good in the warm clothes that I have to wear.  I desperately needed a medium-weight jacket, and loved this one that I found on C. Wonder's website.  It's navy quilted fabric and has the cutest orange corduroy detail on the cuffs of the sleeves. 

{four.}
For months my sister April has been raving about Urban Decay's Eyeshadow primer.  Last Sunday I finally bit the bullet and purchased a tube at Sephora.  April has the original version, which sells for $20.00, but they now offer an anti-aging version for just $4.00 more.  I'm absolutely loving it.  I used an Ulta primer before this, which was good, but this one is great.  My eyeshadow looks the same at 5 pm as it did when I applied it that morning. 

{five.}
This weekend T and I are headed to Edisto with friends.  I'm so pumped!  The weather is projected to be in the high 80's, so it looks like we'll actually get some beach time.  I'm so excited to squeeze in one more visit to the ocean, and get a little bit of tan before this skin doesn't see the sun for several months.

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Oktoberfest at NOMA Square + Addy's Dutch Cafe and Restaurant

Last night T and I went to NOMA Square's Oktoberfest celebration.  The festival started yesterday, and will go through Sunday, October 6th.  Admission is free, and they have different events every night.  Last night, in accordance with German Oktoberfest tradition our mayor, Knox White, tapped the first keg.

 

T and I had a great time listening to the Oompah Band perform and sipping on our Spatens. The prices are very reasonable for food and beer, but they only take cash.  T and I were one measly dollar short for two brats, so we opted to just drink there and eat elsewhere.

To keep the German theme going for the night, we opted for Addy's Dutch Cafe just a few blocks away, and each had a glass of Weihenstephaner Dunkel.  Try saying that three times fast.

The menu at Addy's is quite interesting.  They have a mixture of traditional Dutch foods and offer some Indonesian dishes as well.  Our waiter explained that his had to do with the Dutch colonization of Indonesia dating back to the 1800's.  T and I have never had Indonesian food before, so we had to try something.  At our waiters suggestion, T had the Chicken Gulai which was chicken seasoned with Indonesian spices and curry, served over stir fried rice.  I went for the Hungarian Goulash, one of my cold weather favorites. I tried Goulash for the first time in Austria, and every time I've had it in the States it just doesn't compare.  But Addy's Goulash was very good.  The beef was tender and seasoned very well.  It was served with buttery mashed potatoes and red cabbage.  

T and I will go back to Addy's again soon.  We'll probably both get Indonesian fare when we return.  I'm still thinking about the wonderful flavors of T's entree. Plus, the prices are awesome.  Their Indonesian dishes range from $7.95-$9.50 for dinner portions. 

If you'll be in Greenville this week you've got to make it to Oktoberfest.  It's being held at NOMA Square, the area outside of the Hyatt and Roost on Main Street.  They'll be out there all week!  You can't miss it, just look for the men and women in their lederhosen and the Bavarian flags everywhere. You can find more information about Oktoberfest here.

Weekend Recap

Can you believe that it's already October?  With temperatures in the high 70's to low 80's I'm having a hard time realizing it's fall.  No PSL's for me yet, I've got to feel a chill in the air first.

T and I had a great weekend with friends in Greenville and Clemson. Friday night we met some friends out at Quest Brewery for drinks and parking lot cornhole.  I had my favorite beer there, the Belgian Pale Ale.

Saturday morning we headed to Clemson to tailgate for the Clemson vs. Wake Forest game.  The morning sure felt like fall, but by the time the 3:30 game came around we were breaking a bit of a sweat.  I've found that the key for dressing for fall football games is layers, layers, layers. After 8 years of college and post-college tailgating, I think I've finally got this down.  I started the morning with a maxi dress, scarf, and cardigan, and ended the day with just the maxi dress. 

We also celebrated an early birthday for our friend Melanie, with a cookie cake from the Chocolate Shoppe.  The Chocolate Shoppe in Greenville makes the best cookie cake I've ever had, hands down. They are somehow softer than most cookie cakes I've had, not crumbly one bit.  And the best part about going there is the minute you enter the door, they give you a free chocolate chip cookie.  Now that's customer service.

Sunday was spent catching up on household chores, going to three, yes three, grocery stores, and cleaning out the DVR. We had a great couple of days off, they just went by way too quickly- like they always seem to do. I hope y'all had a great weekend!