Cinnamon

I love cinnamon, and pretty much in all its varieties.  Many people think of cinnamon as a holiday thing, but it pretty much stays en vogue all year ‘round in my house.  So in honor of my love of cinnamon and the time of year, I’ve highted some of my very favorite things.

Scents

Home Sweet Home by Yankee Candle
Pretty much the best cinnamon candle out there.

Cinnamon Brooms
Ahh that holiday classic you smell as soon as you enter your neighborhood Publix come October.  I love these things.  Of course I never buy one though.   I have a four-legged feline that would probably try and eat it.  Scratch that, would eat it.

Flavors

Crest Pro-Health Clean Cinnamon
Fewer and fewer establishments are carrying this flavor of Crest toothpaste, but I still manage to find it every once in awhile, and boy, do I stock up.  I don’t want minty fresh breath people, I want cinnamon-y fresh breath if you please!

Cinnamon Disks by Brach’s
Oh yes, from the Brach’s candy dispenser in your neighborhood Publix.  My grandparents always had a little candy jar on their bureau when I was growing up, and it was filled with cinnamon disks and butterscotch candies.  Needless to say, I always went for the cinnamon disks.

Trident Cinnamon Gum

This little gem went missing from shelves a few years back, and it was impossible to find, so you had to settle for the Trident Cinnamon Whitening gum instead.  To me, it’s just not the same.  I’m thinking there was a huge outcry of disappointment and despair over its disappearance, so they brought it back.  I’m not a huge gum person in general, but you can believe I have several packs stored just in case.

Stuffing

Such an appropriate time of year for this blog post.  I’m passionate about stuffing.  As in the food.  That you eat with your Thanksgiving turkey.  I love it.  A lot.

I hope my numerous periods throughout that first paragraph really helped you understand the gravity of the situation.  If the only thing served at Thanksgiving was the stuffing, that would be A-OK with me.  

Even though my love for stuffing is very dear, I probably only eat it at big family dinners on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I’m not a huge fan of the box stuff – even though Stovetop makes it so accessible anytime of year.  It’s just not the same.  I love the good stuff, the stuff your grandma makes from a long held family recipe (or one she made up on the fly).  My grandma’s recipe (that she got from my grandfather’s grandmother) uses cuban bread, and I think it makes all the difference.  So in honor of my grandma’s amazing stuffing, below is her recipe.  Try it out.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Grandma Ruth’s Stuffing

Ingredients:

1 pan cornbread (crumbled)

10 inches Cuban bread (broken into small pieces)

20 saltine crackers (crumbed – can use Ritz crackers)

1 cup cornflakes (crushed) – optional

4 cups of chicken broth

1/2 stick butter (melted)

1 1/2 cup onions (chopped)

1 cup celery (chopped)

2 tbsp parsley (chopped) – optional

2 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp thyme

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Sauté onions and celery in melted butter. Combine rest of the above and mix with chicken broth. Stuff bird or put into greased baking dishes and bake at 325 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

Simon & Garfunkel

Sometimes you just need a little Simon & Garfunkel in your life, right?  Right!  I mean, who doesn’t love the sweet sounds of the 60s to either brighten or soften your mood?

Although I’m a child of the 80’s and 90’s, the car rides with my mom growing up were always accompanied by great music from all eras.  Mainly the 60’s and 70’s, since that’s when she grew up.  She tried to instill a love of everything and not just what was popular.  I would say to this day I like pretty much everything.  I may listen to certain genres more than others, but if an oldie comes on the radio, I’m down to jam.

One of my faves from the past is Simon & Garfunkel.  I mean, what’s not to love?  They had awesome music, great classics to this day, and a unique sound all their own.  One of my fave songs is Cecilia because that’s my mom’s name – but she’s not a huge fan of the tune.  It may have something to do with the fact that the Cecilia in the song is kind of a slut.  I mean, she breaks a lot of hearts. 

My all-time favorite song though is A Hazy Shade of Winter.  I don’t know what it is about that song, but I just love it.  It’s so catchy, has a great beat, and when I need a dance break in the middle of the day at work – I do a little Simon & Garfunkel blasting.   I usually make sure a coworker or two is around to join in.  I like to call it my Simon & Garfunkel break, and I know DY and KK Reno have joined me a time or two.

So while this blog wasn’t very ground-breaking or all that insightful, I just wanted to share my passion of a well-known duo  like Simon & Garfunkel.  Maybe if I blast it now, I’ll get inspired to do some much-needed filing.  Or maybe not.  Oh well.

Cheese & Queso, Queso & Cheese

I know some of you are thinking, really, it’s taken her this long to write a blog about her most favorite food on the planet?  I know, I know.  I’ve really fallen down on the job, and for that I apologize.  So I’m here to rectify the situation.  Although, I should just go ahead and rename the blog right now, because this isn’t a “little“ passion.  It’s a huge one.  I love cheese.  A lot.  A really, really, really lot.

So cheese.  Delicious, delicious cheese.  I pretty much love all varieties.  There’s nothing better on a Friday night than settling into my big, comfy couch with a movie, a plate of cheese and a big (big) ‘ol glass of cold Chardonnay.  Ah yes.  Definitely the ideal Friday night of this single gal.  A Friday night of champions. 

Lately, my go-to cheeses have been the Dubliner Irish Cheddar and the Publix Deli Asiago wedge.  I slice myself off a few pieces (okay a lot of pieces), and then I drizzle with the greatest invention known to the modern-day man – Savannah Bee Company’s Cheese Honey.  Yes, you heard right.  Cheese honey.  It is sooo good. 

I really do think anything and everything is better with cheese.  Bleu on salad or plain, yum. Parmesan on pasta, delicioso.  Swiss, american and provolone on a sandwich, the more the merrier.  Gorgonzola and brie for special occasions, divine. 

So sums up my love of cheese in its pure form, but what about artificial cheddar flavoring you ask?  Please, I don’t discriminate.  Cheese-flavored whatever ranks high in my book as well.  Cheese puffs, cheddar pretzels, florescent orange nacho cheese, and if you recall, Cape Code White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn.  My love isn’t limited to the original form. 

But if I had to think long and hard about what form of cheese I like the best – it would have to be queso.  I pretty much could live off of chips and queso.  Three square meals a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner.  It wouldn’t matter to me.  Sometimes decisions on where to eat will revolve around whether or not the place has queso on the menu – it’s gotten that bad.  I keep a stash of it at home in the refrigerator.  Right now I’m into Gordo’s Cheese Dip Mild.  It does the job, so on those nights when I’m just not motivated to cook myself anything substantial, you can bet it will be a chips and queso kind of night.

And so we come full circle.  The moral of this compelling story...Every situation in life is better with a little cheese.

Cape Cod White Cheddar Popcorn

There are two kinds of people in this world, people who love popcorn, and people who don’t.  If you were to ask me in conversation, “Do you love popcorn?“  I’d probably say not really.  I don’t crave it – I don’t make it – I don’t even get it when I go to the movies, except on rare occasions.  And kettle corn?  No thanks.  Microwaveable?  I’ll pass.  It’s just not all that important to me. 

BUT, you put a bag of Cape Cod White Cheddar popcorn in front of me, and I devour it like there’s no tomorrow.  I can easily eat an entire bag in one sitting, but I usually try and minimize it to just half a bag.  I eat it for lunch, I eat it for dinner, hell, I’ll even eat it for breakfast.

Now I’ve tried other brands of white cheddar popcorn, and they just don’t stack up in my opinion.  They may be decent, and I guess if I had to eat them, I would, but nothing compares to Cape Cod.  It’s so delicious, and I’d definitely say I’m a bit obsessive about it.  Seriously, everyone should give it a try.

So in my quest to eat every bag ever produced, I’m always on the hunt for it.  The scarcity of the product probably drives my ever-increasing desire.  I wish more Publix‘ carried it, but only a few do.  And I know I can special order it through Customer Service, but a special shout out to my mom for keeping my supply of this delicious delicacy in stock in my pantry.  She goes above and beyond in bringing me a bag or two every time she sees me.  Without her, I’d probably be going through withdrawals.  So thanks mom for keeping my obsession alive…and stop trying to keep a bag for yourself now and then.  Your Publix carries it every day of the week.

The moral of this little diddy is this – if we’re just talking popcorn, eh, I can take it or leave it.  But if we’re talking Cape Cod White Cheddar popcorn, well then, that’s a much different story.  Why didn’t you say so?  Of course I’d like a handful or two or three, or the whole bag.  I mean, we wouldn’t want it to go to waste, would we?  In fact…there’s a bag in my pantry calling my name right now.  Cape Cod deliciousness here I come!

Happy to be here...

A lot of my friends have become self-reflective over the past week, and its understandable why.  So I wanted to take this opportunity to remind myself of what I'm most grateful for - beautiful locations I'm still able to visit, amazing friends and family, and my mom, dressed like the ultimate tourist.  Love to you all!

France - Oh la la

Since my last post was about travel planning, I figured it was only natural to talk about one of my favorite places to travel to – France!  For whatever reason, France has always fascinated me.  In school I began taking Spanish as every good Floridian should, but I quickly realized I wanted to do something different – so I signed up for French.  Three years in high school, a minor in it in college, and I’m still nowhere near fluent., but I can get around. (J’ai etudié il y a sept ans, mais je ne le practique pas tous les jours.)

I was lucky enough to go to France twice in high school with my French class.  It was my first time overseas, and it was of course magical.  All these sites and amazing monuments just had in me in awe, and that was all it took.  I was hooked on traveling around the world and especially hooked on France.  Overall, I’ve visited the country five times over the last 14 years, and I’ve traveled there in all sorts of ways – class trips, studying abroad and with family and friends. 

I‘ve visited Paris, the French Riviera and the beaches of Normandy, but I’ve hardly scratched the surface of everything there is to see in that beautiful country.  On my next trip to France (because there will be a next trip), I want to do a wine tour – visit the Champagne region, the Burgundy region and all the other regions where they do wine the best.  That would be a dream trip.  Now to make that happen!

But back to the City of Light – my favorite European city I’ve visited to date.  It just happens to be the home of my all-time favorite monument – the Eiffel Tower.  Seeing the Eiffel Tower in person is probably what started my love of France.  Anyone who’s been to my house can immediately see how passionate I am about it – since everything in my apartment decoration-wise probably has an Eiffel Tower on it.  It’s just beautiful.

When you get past the gypsies, the pickpockets and the graffiti, Paris is a beautiful city.  Strolling along in the Latin Quarter or near the Notre Dame Cathedral, you can see the romantic Paris that everyone pictures in their mind.  The trick is to find someplace off the beaten path where there aren’t a lot of tourists.  My old buddy Rick Steves helps out in this area quite a bit – bring his book with you!

By now, I consider myself a regular ol‘ tour guide for this city, so if anyone is planning a trip, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need advice.  I think I’ve pretty much done everything there – well almost everything.  And my number one tip or piece of advice for anyone traveling there – learn a little bit of French and don’t be afraid to use it.

My second piece of advice - go to Notre Dame and make sure you stand on the “heart of Paris“ – it’s a small medallion right in front of the church that is the exact center of the city.  They say if you stand on it, then one day you’ll return.  Every trip I’ve done it, and I’ve always gone back.

On that note – adieu, a bientôt!

Travel Planning

I love the idea of going on trips.  I love the countless hours spent researching places to go, things to do, and imagining the experience of being there.  I love travel planning.  I’m sure a lot of people hate that kind of thing and cannot be bothered to do it, but seriously is there anything better to a self-professed travel lover?

I get the itch to travel probably every few months.  Sometimes it’s a big trip, others it’s a small trip, but overall it doesn’t matter to me.  I’ll go anywhere.  I think just the idea of going someplace new excites the hell out of me, and I can’t wait to delve into all the little details. 

Right now I’m planning my 30th birthday trip.  All my best girlfriends decided for our 30th’s we would go on a fun trip.  My bestie Jen did a cruise to the Caribbean and Central America (super fun), my friend MaeLee did a trip to Vegas (also fun, but bad timing for me after a 3-day overnight shoot), so now it’s my turn.  I was playing around with two ideas – a fun-in-the-sun trip to St. Thomas, USVI, or a wine country trip in Napa or Sonoma.  I mean we all know that I love my wine, but I have family history in St. Thomas, so that draws me as well.  The decision ended up being an easy one – my mom refuses to go to wine country, so St. Thomas it is.

St. Thomas, USVI

The worst thing about travel planning in my opinion is booking a flight.  I hate never knowing if I’m getting the absolute best price.  If I think a price is too high, I never know if I should wait for it to go back down (will it?) or go ahead and book it before it goes up in price even more.  Ugh the decisions.  It’s what I’m struggling with now the most for my St. Thomas trip.  I feel the price is ridiculously high, but the predictor on BingTravel is telling me to wait because it’ll go back down.  I’m putting my faith and trust in you BingTravel – don’t let me down!  I’m sure every travel planner goes through this same nightmare.  Why can’t they standardize airline fares and make it easy for everyone?  It’s such a racket.

Once the flight is booked, I’m much more at ease.  Hotels, activities, itineraries – all of that is so much easier to figure out and get accomplished.  You can always find a hotel in whatever price range you need, and once you know what you want to do when there, itineraries are a cinch (omg yes I said cinch).

Magen's Bay

In St. Thomas there’s no shortage of things to do.  Explore the island, go to world-famous Magen’s Bay, hang out in what I hope is a luxury villa overlooking the sea with our own private pool (a girl can dream right?), and taking a side trip over to St. John for the day.  Endless ideas to flesh out and plan.  As you’ve probably noticed, I’m not a spontaneous fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda girl, but I’m also not particularly anal about schedules.  I will plan the things I want to do and they happen when they happen – as long as I’ve thought it out ahead of time about how to go about doing it, we’re set.

So wish me luck as I plan my latest and greatest trip.  After two other amazing 30th birthday trips, I’m hoping mine will be just as good. 

And after St. Thomas, where will I plan a trip to next?  Let’s consult my list of top places to visit (in no particular order):

-       Norway/Sweden

-       Japan (well let’s wait a few years on this one)

-       Argentina/Chile

-       Alaska

-       Austrailia/New Zealand

Norway Fjords

Japanese Cherry Blossoms

Patagonia - Argentina/Chile

Alaska

Sydney, Australia

New Zealand

Let the travel planning dreaming begin!  And happy travel planning to everyone else out there!

British Television

Mr. Darcy

So I love the Brits…and not just because of their dreamy accents.  And I like it all – not just period pieces with the likes of Mr. Darcy (although very dreamy). The main way I get my British television is from PBS‘ Masterpiece Theater.  Masterpiece Classic in the Winter and Spring, and Masterpiece Mystery in the Summer and Fall.

I grew up on PBS.  My parents never invested in cable or satellite television, so there was a limit to the number of channels we got, and invariably the TV was almost always turned to PBS.  “This Old House,“ “New Yankee Workshop,“ “Victory Garden,“ “Cooking with Julia,“ etc, etc, etc., and of course Masterpiece are all shows that I grew up watching.  I never really appreciated any of it until the last four or five years or so, and now that I do, I can’t get enough of it.

Masterpiece Classic is always some type of period piece, like remakes of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens classics.  They weave in some more contemporary time periods as well, like this year’s Downton Abbey, which was set during the early 20th century.  The stories are all so amazing, and the cast of actors and actresses are recognizable from all sorts of British shows.  It’s like a 6 Degrees of Separation of British Television – do you recognize so and so from such and such?

Inspector Lewis

Masterpice Mystery is my all-time favorite.  I can remember the theme “song“ from when I was very little, and it always fascinated me with the girl wailing on top of the roof of an old manor house.  The titles for mystery range from Ms. Marple and Poirot to Inspector Lewis, Wallander and the new Sherlock.  Inspector Lewis is an offshoot of the Inspector Morse series (which my mom and I are rewatching right now).  Inspector Lewis‘ Detective Sargeant Hathaway is very dreamy too.  Tall, blonde, genius, a little nerdy – kind of like Steve Jerve the weatherman (who I also have a slight crush on).   The Inspector series are typically murder mysteries set in Oxford, England, and with that kind of education, they all are pretty smart.

Sherlock

Wallander

Now all that’s on PBS of course, and there’s obviously the BBC America channel.  I’ve got quite a few titles in my Netflix queue – MI 5 and the BBC version of Being Human just to name a few. I’m just starting to get into all the shows there, so I’ll keep you posted on what I end up loving.

There’s just something about British television that makes it feel so smart.  The stories are gripping, and it’s easy to become slightly obssesed (like myself).  I’m always looking forward to the next episode or the next story to debut, so I can get swept away in all the classics and mysteries that the Brits are so good at executing.

Human Oddities

That title just sounds "odd," but I must admit that I’m a sucker for anything on TLC or Discovery Health with the title “My Shocking Story“ or “Half Ton Mom“ or “My Giant Legs.“  The lives of these people are so fascinating. Albinos being hunted by witch doctors in Africa…yes please. The Tree Man from Indonesia (but wait there are two of them?!), obviously!  My DVR is set to record, and I enjoy watching the oddities in life at my leisure.

My coworkers love to hear about the newest weird show I saw the other night (okay, maybe not love, maybe tolerate).  I regale them with stories about people who can conduct electricity with their bare hands, the world’s tallest children or the latest stories about the morbidly obese. 

And while I don’t necessarily consider this too much of an oddity, my love of the Duggars (the couple with 19, yes 19, children) comes up now and again as well.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to see the lives of Jim Bob, Michelle, Josh, Jana, John David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy Anna, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, Jordan and Josie?  And no, I didn’t cheat and look up their names.  And PS – Jackson and Johannah are my favorites.

And while I’m not a fan of “Little People, Big World,“ I do love “The Little Couple.“ The husband is 4‘ tall, the wife is 3‘2“.  She’s a doctor, he’s a businessman, and they’re building a new custom-made home in Houston, Texas. I feel a slight connection with the wife since she’s from St. Petersburg.  I mean, we’re practically neighbors.

The more I learn about the world outside my little piece of earth, the more I’m fascinated by the stories.  Of course, I’m sure my coworkers would like me to love shows about people just a little bit more normal, but really, who and what are normal?  I’m guessing that if I lived in the 1800s, I would be first in line to see the Elephant Man, the Bearded Lady and the Wolfman, but hey, aren’t we all just a little bit curious?

A Little Bit Country?

Now before you judge, I happen to love country music, horseback riding, Nascar, country line dancing and the like.  I know how that looks, so I’m ready for all the jokes.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to put on cowboy boots everyday with a big belt buckle and cowboy hat, or talk with a severe Southern drawl, but a girl can like the country things in life without totally being a complete redneck right?  I can hear you disagreeing from here.

So I’ve seen horse jumping competitions, the Professional Bull Riders tour, and I’ve done country line dancing a time or two or three or a hundred, but I’d never been to a Nascar race.  Well, cross it off the list folks because this year I went to the Daytona 500.  I had the most amazing time ever.  I can see why over 150,000 people attend this thing every year.  The rush of adrenaline still hasn’t faded (okay well maybe a little), but seriously, I’ve never seen anything like it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of stereotypical rednecks attending this race.  Almost everyone I saw looked a bit normal, like me and my group of friends.  Of course there was the occasional camo and this guy, but all in all, it seemed like a stand up crowd.  I was also blown away by the sheer amount of people.  The sea of humanity never ended, as far as the eye could see, and of course, they all parked and entered/exited in the exact same place.

Beyond all the people, the race itself was absolutely exhiliarating.  TV just does not do it justice – in terms of the speed, the noise and the strategy involved.  We were sitting in the front row along the front stretch, just behind the start/finish line, and the feeling of the huge mass of air that followed behind the cars was unreal.  We were sitting so close that specks of tire rubber landed on us every lap because the cars were going so fast.

I think everyone should put a Nascar race on their bucket list.  It’s completely worth it to see just once in your life, so you can really comprehend how fast these drivers go.  Make sure you go all out and rent a scanner too, so you can listen to the drivers talk to their spotters and crew chiefs.  It just adds another level of entertainmnent, and something to do for all those people out there that just think the cars go round and round in a circle.

I would say the worst part of the entire experience was getting there and leaving.  I’m sure its no easy task for law enforcement to manage the flow of cars, but there’s gotta be a better way.  I’ve decided that next year, because there will be a next year, maybe it would be a better idea to rent an RV and spend the weekend.  While this girl may be a little bit (okay a lot a bit) country, she is definitely not into spending the night in the great outdoors.  Give me a working bathroom and the creature comforts of home, and I’m in.

So in the words of all the grand marshalls for all the races and until next year….gentlemen….start….your….engines!

A Good Glass of Wine

Since I’m new to this blogging thing, I decided to start out with an easy one…wine.  What is better than a good glass of wine really?  Anything?  Coming home from a long day of work, putting on a good TV show and relaxing with a great glass of wine doesn’t get much better.

Truth be told, this gal’s on a budget, so my wine tastes are rather on the cheap side.  My experimentation comes through Publix BOGO’s and “2fers.“ Those are usually the first bottles I go for.  But a girl can have a great glass of wine on the cheap, and a few of these are right on the money in both taste and price.

Cupcake Vineyards

I think pretty much anyone who’s talked to me in person within the last few months knows that I’m pretty passionate about Cupcake wines.  I’ve tried almost all of the varietals – the Chardonnay being my favorite.  The label caught my eye, and then when I visited their website, the fact that they had cupcake recipes available to pair with their wines sent me over the edge.  Cupcakes and wine?!  Yes please.  Now, I tell myself that one of these days I’ll actually make one of their gourmet cupcakes to pair with the wine, but who am I kidding?  One look at the ingredient list sends this poor girl into a tizzy with the thought of trying to find them all at my neighborhood Publix.  Soooo….I settle for a glass and three Chocolate Kisses instead.  Works just as well!

Merdian Chardonnay

This wine was recommended to me by a client.  The best part, usually every couple of weeks it is two for $10 at Publix, which is a definite score.  It tastes great and does the job admirably, so I’m not gonna complain.  And it helps me keep my fridge stocked with a great Chardonnay for those days when you just need it.

So you’re probably thinking, these are all white wines – where are the reds?!  Well, I like reds too.  I don’t like to discriminate, but there’s just something about a nice, cold glass of white wine that’s so refreshing.  I’m slowly getting myself to drink more red wine, but it’s just not the go-to wine I think of when I’m in the mood for a glass.  When Cupcake wine was on sale a week or so ago, I did purchase the new Cupcake Red Velvet.  I had never seen that varietal, so I snatched it up.  It doesn’t hurt that some of my favorite cupcakes are Red Velvet ones either – and even as I type this I hear my grandmother yelling at me for eating them…all that Red Dye #40 or whatever.  I just can’t help it…so good.  Now if only they could make a Cupcake Wine that pairs well with Funfetti.  Delish!

To assist me in this endeavor of drinking more red wine, I purchased the Waring Pro Wine Chiller as a Christmas present to myself.  It has a great library of wines, and it’s supposed to chill your wine to the optimum serving temperature.  It takes a rather long time (longer than I’m wiling to wait), and it’s quite noisy.  The refrigerator would work just as well, if not better.  Final verdict - Don’t waste the money…it’s not something you’ll use as often as you might want.

All in all, my quest for a favorite red continues, so any recommendations are welcome!