french toast casserole

French Toast Casserole

At Edisto a few weeks ago, I made this for our crew.  We celebrated Mandy and Matt's anniversary and Jay and Beth's engagement with a fun breakfast!  

It was really good and I served with the suggested glaze of milk and powdered sugar.  I will say it got a little mushy so next time I may use less milk mixture, stir it more often, cook it longer or let it sit a shorter period of time.  Even mushy, it was delish!!

*I actually saw Pioneer Woman make this yesterday on her show.  She didn't say to let it sit at all so I need to research this further.*

folly and kiawah

Last weekend, we went to Folly with Megan and Adi and their high school friends.  We had a blast!!!  We already had tickets to the PGA at Kiawah on Saturday so it worked out perfectly.  

Adi met this guy on a bachelor party a few years back at the Sand Dollar Social Club and we stalk him every time we are in town.  They nicknamed him the Golden Lion and we have met him twice now (Adi three times).  Too funny!

Adi, me, Brad and Megan on the dock at Bowen's Island on Friday.  We couldn't miss this place!

Megan and Adi at Taco Boy on Saturday.

Adi trying to surf on Friday.  Folly has some pretty decent waves to be in SC.

The group at Bowen's Island on Friday.  Lauren, John, Emily, Chris, Megan, Casey, Nick, me, Brad, Adi (and his corn cob) and Hunt.

Brad with the GL

Hunt's sister, Elle, lives in Charleston so she came out on Saturday to Taco Boy.

Elle with her boyfriend, Benton 

Emily, Megan and me with Hunt at Bowen's Island.

Hunt was the single guy on the prowl. :)

Crew on the beach on Friday

Sunset at Bowen's Island

Foosball at Surf Bar on Thursday night

The leaderboard at the PGA on Saturday.  We sat in the stands on 16 with our old friend Court and his girlfriend Laura all day.  I even got to see some old coworkers.  Love that place!

Levi came out and joined us for dinner on Saturday too!

Our PGA tix

I helped Chris beat Megan and Nick at pool.  Ha, not really.  It was all him.

John teaching Adi the finer points of surfing.

Our street name on the wall at Bowen's.

The crew at dinner at Taco Boy on Thursday.  (We had to go twice because it is so good!)

Jonathan and Ingrid came over from Kiawah to hang out on Saturday too!

megan and adi in atl

Two weekends ago, we went to Atlanta to welcome Adi and Megan back to Georgia!!!  (I am tired of blogging so these are all out of order.)

Adi with Corey and Brad at JCT Bar for pre-dinner drinks. Tony and Brittany joined us later.

The Astros hit a homerun ball right at Adi and he was on TV throwing it back.  

Before Saturday dinner.  

Dental exam at dinner.  Happens a lot with Dr Megan!

Our yummy drinks at JCT Bar.  I had the best mojito ever.  It wasn't sweet at all and was almost margarita-y.  Yum!

Megan and Adi's house in Sandy Springs.  Great area!

Sunday brunch at Haven.

Megan and me before dinner on Friday.

Trout at JCT Kitchen.  Adi had the fried chicken.  Both were divine!

Our dinner place Friday night.  Yum.

(Reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite - La Fawnduh.)

With Liz at JCT Bar.

Liz, me and Megan

Panoramic of Turner Field.  Love going to these games!!

black bean and cheese enchiladas with ranchero sauce

(finally getting back to using my SLR camera.  can ya tell?)

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

I am not going to lie, these were kinda labor-intensive.  The sauce was pretty involved (boiling dried chiles, sauteing onions, adding herbage and blending) but it was definitely worth it.  As with a lot of my re-posted recipes, I think you could use less cheese.  I actually didn't get ancho chiles because I was worried about the heat.  Fresh Market had some chiles that were a 3 on the heat index, instead of the 4 of anchos.  However, there wasn't much heat at all so I think the anchos would have been fine.  Either way, these were delicious and will be made again soon, despite the extra work.  They make 6 servings so it lasts a while for me and Brad.  Be careful not to burn the garlic!  You could easily add shredded chicken too.

curried chicken salad

This is a favorite for beach trips!  I abhor mayonnaise but the curry in this totally covers up that taste.

4-5 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped or shredded

10 oz almond slices or slivers, toasted and lightly salted

1/2 lb green seedless grapes, halved

1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained

2 c mayo

1 T curry powder

2 T lemon juice

2 T soy sauce

Combine the first four ingredients.  Thoroughly mix the last three seasonings into the mayo and pour into the chicken mixture.  Serve in pita pockets or on the Big Wheat Thins.  

buffalo chicken bread

Buffalo Chicken Bread

This is basically a buffalo chicken pizza rolled up and baked.  I used fat free (or light) blue cheese dressing but added a few crumbles of blue cheese too.  I used a lot less cheese than it calls for too.  

I have never really cooked with a lot of chicken but since discovering you can shred it with your Kitchen-Aid, I use it all the time!  Just bake the chicken in foil with a little butter and S&P at 350 until done.  While still hot, throw it in your mixer and turn up a few notches.  It will perfectly shred the chicken - amazing!  I usually cook up a large batch and then freeze it in ziplocs in .5, 1 or 2 cup portions (labeled).  That way I can just pull it out of the freezer, thaw it quickly in the microwave and add to a recipe with ease.  

crab cakes

I was looking for a recipe for baked crab cakes and decided to try out this one.  

Mini Baked Crab Cakes

These are delish!  Of course, you could make them in a regular sized muffin tin as well.  The panko makes them nice and crusty and the citrus zest is a wonderful addition.  With fat-free cream cheese, these aren't that bad for you.  Would be great to serve at a shower too!

gnocchi mac & cheese and summer slaw

For our latest Meatless Monday, I made two dishes.  One uber-decadent and the other full of veggies to make up for it.  Ha.  

Gnocchi Mac & Cheese

This was REALLY cheesy.  I will probably double the gnocchi or half the cheese next time.  But, it was wonderful and easy.  Parm-Reg, Gruyere and Fontina.  Yum.  I may even add ham next time to make it a one-dish dinner.  

Squash Summer Slaw

This was surprisingly good and very easy.  I only used yellow squash, corn and carrots.  I did add pine nuts and do the olive oil/lemon dressing.  I will probably wring out the veggies in a cloth next time to cut down on the water.  

summer activities

Time to catch up on our summer outside of long weekends!  So, I thought I'd do a list.  :)

1. More trips to Edisto

The last time we went, our friend Alex was in town fishing in the last tournament for the SC Governor's Cup.  We went and hung out at the docks on Friday night and then watched them come in on Saturday.  These boys all have the fishing bug!

2. Visited the new pups 

Banjo on the ramp Dad built for Kallie.  She took some persuading to come up it.  

Kate and Pepper!  They are adorable and have gained half a pound every day Dad has had them.  So, now they have 5 dogs.  Kallie, the Dutch Sheperd, Sadie, the German wire-haired pointer, and Kate and Pepper join Rascal as the other German short-hairs.  I know Dad, Levi and Brad are looking forward to getting them out in the field come bird season.  

3. OLYMPICS 

I was obsessed!  I taped the coverage all day long and would fast forward through it at night.  And stay up until midnight to watch all the prime time events.  

I even got a celebration injury!  I was fist-pumping after watching Galen Rupp come back to win silver in the 10,000 meter race and hit my elbow on Brad's watch.  This is a few days later and doesn't look like much but it bled like crazy.  GO USA!

4. Visits 

Although Levi is actually further away now, we see him more often on his trips between Athens and Charleston.  Banjo loves having Loki visit!

 5. Football season excitement

We have had a wonderful summer but are super-pumped about fall, football and cooler weather.  Go Dawgs!!