Grilled Cheese

/
Grilled Cheese.jpg

Ooooo Lord it has been a hot minute since my last book review and I apologize. Please don't judge. I have been reading like a fiend since my last contribution over at Yes and Yes but as you know I have been wrapped up with some Southern Learnings. 

But I am back at it! 

This week I finished Buffering by Hannah Hart. You may recall eons ago back in my blog baby infancy I introduced you to Hannah Hart and her genius YouTube show called My Drunk Kitchen. Walk down memory lane here.  

Well like a YouTube wet dream come true, with a little hard work Hannah grew her show into something pretty amazing. With over 217 million views, Hannah has covered such topics as how to make boozy mac and cheese pasta (click here) or letting us in on something as intimate as her first lesbian kiss (click here).

In her latest book Buffering Hannah walks us through everything that lead up to her current tube-tastic life. Fighting to survive some pretty tough moments (starting with a mother with mental illness) she worked hard to create a brand reaching millions and whose ultimate goal is to spread good (check out Have A Hart Day for volunteer opportunities near you...click here).

In honor of Buffering I chose to make a grilled cheese. In her very first video Hannah attempts to make a grilled cheese while enjoying a bottle of red and oddly not cheese. Instead of my usual recipe I will provide you with her video in hopes you can learn from her.  

French Quarter Beignets

/

Beignets

New Orleans seems to be very en vogue this season. Within one month's time roughly 8 people I know will be traveling there to partake in a variety of festivities. From bachelorette parties to drunken hairdresser conventions, The Big Easy will be getting a solid taste of North Carolinians this month.  

I blame Sara. 

Sara moved to Winston Salem just over a year ago. We met the usual way. Through our mutual leasing agent. 

When asked, "where did you move from?", her response is always a resounding "I'm from New Orleans baby!"

Split between the Metairie neighborhood and NOLA you will never meet a more die hard fan of a city. At any given point I would bet money that Sara has beads and/or a Mardi Gras mask in her handbag. Just in case.

She is a walking encyclopedia of information about her home town. She is the dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Able to linguistically trace all words back to New Orleans. 

She can give you a heartfelt and eye opening first hand account of living with hurricanes that leave nothing behind. She will passionately speak of hometown food as if it were a first born child (that is when I knew we could be friends). And if you are ever so lucky to be next to her at a bar, there is the inevitable moment when just enough wine takes her accent to 11 and you have ask her to repeat herself. 

And with that, for Sara's birthday this year I attempted to make the New Orleans classic, beignets. After a few hours of scouring the dark net for a bootleg copy of the Cafe Du Monde recipe I had to settle on what I felt was the next best thing. Paula Deen. I know, I know. I really didn't want to. But it really was a good recipe.

So with my deep fryer revved up and rolling pin greased I got to making my first ever beignets. Super easy. Super tasty. And though I know many cultures have their own version of this wonderful sweet fried dough. I will only credit New Orleans for giving this to the human race.   

French Quarter Beignets

RECIPE FROM PAULA DEEN/FOOD NETWORK

Homemade Brownie Brittle

/

Homemade Brownie Brittle

Things I Learned This Week Living In The South: 

1. There is no shame in standing by your friends as they take a pregnancy test in the bathroom of a funeral home. If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen. 

2. If you have ever thought to yourself, "I wonder if there is a way I can procure a bag of weed AND a puppy at the same time?" there is.  And no, I do not have a puppy now.

3. Sometime when you eat way too many sprinkles they don't completely dissolve when you digest them. And the next morning after your coffee and constitutional you turn around and think, "OMG I am so gay my shit is rainbow colored!" 

This weekend I made homemade brownie brittle. With sprinkles. See #3 above. 

HOMEMADE BROWNIE BRITTLE

RECIPE INSPIRED BY STORE BOUGHT BROWNIE BRITTLE

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread

/

Girl Scout Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread

This weekend I stepped out of my box and took a road trip with two friends, two strangers, and a cross dressing Scotsman. Which of course meant I had to make Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread. A road trip necessity.  

With swimsuits in hand and sunscreen freshly applied we drove 5 hours even deeper into the south to watch a friend perform in drag for the sake of theatre. But before that poor sun burned Scotsman got on stage to open the eyes of Hilton Head's elite to the world of farce we made Hilton Head Island our bitch.   

Things I've Learned This Week Living In The South (Beach Edition):

1. A last minute road trip with your hairdresser can lead to some of the best seafood you've ever had in your short sea food eating life. The Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival proved to be the best $29 spent in a long ass time. Why was everyone keeping the beauty of the Oyster Shooter from me all these years?

2. The South is home to some very friendly people. As seen by the community of women at the food festival who rallied together to share what few unused napkins they had to make sure all women in line had toilet paper as there was none left in the shitter.  

3. When told that the person getting in the car with you once crapped himself wearing an adult dinosaur onsie, don't judge. He may be the only other "Ben" you'll meet that is worthy of the name. And as he played soccer on the beach in a newly purchased shark onsie, his girlfriend looked on with what I feel was a mix of lust and love. We all need a partner who can can admire us in our onsies.  

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD

RECIPE ADAPTED FROM THE GOURMET COOKBOOK (2004 ed)

In Defense of Funeral Food

/

Sadly this week a close friend of mine had a death in the family. And as with most passings a string of social events unfolded throughout the week. And as with most social events there came a string of meals. 

I've always stated that I love a good funeral. If the person is truly missed the room is always filled with a palpable sadness mixed with laughter. Community is formed as strangers form a line to pay condolences and are forced to ask the question, “how did you know…?”. Followed by what can usually be described as “okay” food. Usually provided by the army of church ladies always on and ready to serve when duty calls. 

This week of mourning started with an immediate gathering at the home of the deceased. Where he once dined nightly with his family now lay home to a spread of fried chicken, country ham, green beans, potato salad, deviled eggs, coconut cake, pecan pie, and sweet tea. 

The surrounding attendants ranged from former Southern Belles holding grudges, to current Southern Debs still blurry eyed at the loss of a loved one. One person was missing their now departed coach. Another his golf partner. 

After a quick prayer and pass around the buffet stories began to unleash the bittersweet laughter that mixes so well with sadness to yet again create a memory of the person now gone. 

A second gathering happened. Same table. Same Belles. This time in varying shades of purple from eyeliner to hose. When black just won't do, purple reigns supreme. 

Another set of prayers. Another round at the buffet. 

This time cold cuts on silver dollar buns, a new potato salad, a relish tray only of bread and butter pickles, brownies, punch cake, more sweet tea, and homemade pillow mints that dissolved so fast you were elbowing loved ones to get more before they were gone. Aunt June only makes them on very special occasions. And this was one of them. 

This meal was the prelude to the actual funeral. Where even more gathered. I don't believe there was a dry eye in the house. And more than once the room was filled with laughter. The phrase, “let me tell you one more story…”, was quickly forgiven as everyone was hungry to keep the memory alive. 

Afterwards another round of food. This time a time honored Southern buffet of BBQ. I was unable to attend this portion but I imagine it was as heartwarming as the previous few days proved to be. 

One man brought together scores of people to feast again at his home in his absence. His children and grandchildren representing all that was great in him and his wife, whom I imagine he is with now. A great loss, I will confess over the course of three days I was moved by a man I had only met once. 

I will admit in my life I have spent a lot of money to enjoy great meals. But I will put cold cuts on silver dollar buns eaten off of a styrofoam plate while discussing the merits of a good pair of pantyhose with Aunt Ruby high on my list of great meals.