Tallahassee Trip #3

This weekend we desperately needed an escape, so we drove down to Tally for the weekend to visit Casa Buchanan. We headed down on Friday afternoon with some random clothes thrown into a bag and the barkers. Since Desi and Sean love and relaxing as much as we do, this was destined to be a great weekend.

Friday night we hit up Siam Sushi, a Thai and sushi place, a recommendation from Desi's parents. Their menu was huge and inspiring. I could have eaten muscles for an app, red curry, and a hand full of rolls on the menu safely. What I ended up doing was ordering two rolls and being (sadly) very full. I guess this means we'll have to go again to find out what the Thai side of the menu tastes like.

Saturday we all went out on the boat for a beer-drinking, beach-dancing, fast-tubing, scenery-seeing good time. We were thankful to not be baking in the 90 degree heat next to any alligators. The overcast, mild day seemed more like an Floridian October. The lack of blazing sun just meant we could hang out eating egg salad and chicken salad sandwiches and goofing off. One of our friends that we were boating with recently started eating GF, due to her rheumatoid arthritis. She's feeling quite a bit better. I introduced her to Redbridge beer, and she introduced me to her peanut butter balls.

When we came home on Saturday night, we were starving. Sean fired up the fryer full of canola oil for wings and sweet potato fries. After cooking up a massive pile of chicken wings, we covered them in a mix of hot sauce and Sweet Baby Ray's. The mandoline-sliced sweet potatoes, naked when they were fried, came out perfectly crispy and sweet. A little Kosher salt on the fries made me think we'd died and gone to heaven.

Each morning, Saturday and Sunday alike, we took our time to lay around in pj's and make breakfast food. We cooked up bacon and GF Bisquick pancakes for breakfast on Saturday, sweet potato home fries and GF pancakes on Sunday. Sean and Desi both really enjoyed the GF Bisquick, which makes me believe it tastes "normal." (At this point "good" and "not-GF-normal" are no longer synonymous.)

Sunday afternoon we headed to the flea market for perusing, book hunting, and produce buying. There were quite a few farmers selling their veggies at the open air market. Sunday night we grilled burgers with Angus beef fresh from the farm. Our sides were made with the fresh veggies from the flea market. I fixed up a batch of guacamole, and Desi grilled a squash medley and potatoes drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.


Christy's Peanut Butter Balls

You'll Need:
Peanut butter (PB) (best if slightly chilled)
Peanuts/nuts
Dried fruit, such as cranberries, cherries, etc.
Dried coconut

How To:
It's not very measurement-dependent. Prep your area by taking out a mixing bowl and a small plate. Lay out a few large pinches of coconut on the plate.

You take a large scoop of PB (about 1/2 cup), and slap it into a bowl. You add a large pinch of the nuts and dried fruit- these help hold the balls together. Mix.

Take the PB mixture and form it into 1" balls. Roll the balls over the coconut. Enjoy!

Smoked Chicken, Red 'n Rice

We had another whirl-wind weekend. Friday night we balloon-bombed some friend's bedroom before they came home from Paris. (They a couple's room that just got engaged.) Saturday we dropped the barks off with their "Aunt Sarah" and headed up to Athens for a co-worker/friend's wedding. The wedding was a lovely intimate event at the Foundry Park Inn. We woke up late

this morning and headed back into town to get ready for Nick's parents coming into town later this week.

After so much activity, I am glad to have a simple dinner. While I smoked a rosemary chicken, I cleaned the house. Now that I'm done cleaning, I am cooking the red beans and rice with staples from the pantry and fridge.

Smoked Rosemary Chicken

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1/2 small white onion
1 clove garlic, sliced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Paprika
salt

1. Clean and rinse the chicken. Remove the innards.

2. Stuff the chicken with rosemary, onion, and garlic.

3. Rub the outside of the chicken with EVOO. Next, rub the chicken with paprika and salt.

4. Put into your smoker. Cook at 264-300 degrees Farenheight for 1.5-3hrs. (My 4 pounder took 1.5hrs exactly.)


Red Beans and Rice
thank you, Foodnetwork.com for this recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 large cloves garlic, lightly crushed with the side of a knife blade and minced
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and small diced
• 2 (1-pound) cans red kidney beans
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup white rice
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Saute garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper until tender. Stir in kidney beans, onion powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Reduce heat to low and let mixture simmer slowly while you cook the rice.

Bring the chicken stock to a boil and stir in rice and butter. Return to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes without removing the lid. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Fold rice and beans gently together and transfer to a serving dish. Serve garnished with cilantro.

Researchers Pinpoint Cause of Gluten Allergies

An article a friend emailed to me a few weeks ago...

http://www.livescience.com/health/celiac-disease-gluten-peptides-100721.html

Mellow Mushroom Goes GF

When my GF Pizza staple by work folded, I was pretty sad.

Skills Day is an annual event at work for nursing staff. Nurses and techs do their annual skills check-off for the year. If you are an attendee, it takes 1-2 hours. If you are teaching it, is a 15 hour day followed by a 5 hour day. I helped out with the "round two" teaching, from 3-9pm on Saturday. It might not be an ideal way to spend a Saturday night, but I didn't find it too bad.

On Saturday, we all shuffled into the hospital. Since we were teaching from 3-9pm, we planned to order out. Conveniently, another nurse educator, Mickey, has Celiac Disease. We called up the Mellow Mushroom down the street from work and placed an order for *gasp* GF pizza. Our GF pepperoni with extra sauce was great! The crust was thin and pliable, not crispy or chewy. Mellow Mushroom will be my delicious replacement for nearby GF pizza now that Pizza Fusion has folded.

Cost of Living GF

I think we all know living GF is pricey. I make the generalization often when talking about grocery shopping that everything in my cart is five dollars. While I am able to get my groceries between the "normal" grocery store and Whole Foods, not everyone is so lucky. Buying GF items at the "normal" grocery store may mean higher prices, or less choice. Purchasing groceries online is not wildly convenient, either. For some GF-ers, that may be the only way to sample discover products that are either "special order" or found only in a health food store.

For anyone who has every wondered, here is a short run-down price comparison of commonly purchased food items. Just think: if you have multiple allergies/sensitivities in your household, there may be more items that I have not listed. For instance, I do not eat soy, so items like mayo, peanut butter, salad dressings, etc. are an additional cost for me. Though limited, many mainstream companies, like General Mills and Betty Crocker are now coming out with certifiably GF items at a more reasonable cost. Outside of food, I also look at my hair products, eye make up, and lotions to ensure I do not come in contact with any gluten or soy.


The Gluten Free Cost of Living

Item Gluten Gluten-free
Bread $1.39 $5.38
Hamburger buns $3.85 $5.99
Choc Chip Cookies $2.43/pack $4.40/9 cookies
Spaghetti $1.75 $3.69
Brownie Mix $2.95 $5.99
Flour $0.72 $7.95
Fzn Personal Pizza $5.65 $8.00
Crackers 4.4oz box $2.47 $4.50
Can of Soup $1.09 $2.99
Cart Total: $22.30 $48.89

The price of bread was taken off of the national price of living guide. The other gluten-containing prices came from NetGrocer.com. All of the gluten-free prices came from an average when searched for GF foods via Google Shopping.

Toasted Marshmallow Meringues

Meringues are largely underestimated. They are a light, fluffy, lower-cal cookie. They are relatively straightforward in composition: eggs, sugar, cream of tartar, flavor (optional). The only drawback is start-to-finish time. Once you spend about 20 minutes getting the meringues ready for the oven, it takes 1-2hrs to bake them. Still, if you are in a pinch for something sweet and easy, make some great cookies. Spend the baking time catching up on chores or washing your hair.

My first attempt at vanilla-flavored meringues turned out pretty darn well. They came out tasting like toasted marshmallows.

Toasted Marshmallow Meringues
4 egg whites at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Parchment paper or silicone baking sheet

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line a non-insulated baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheet. Set aside.

2. Transfer your egg whites in a mixing bowl. It may be easiest to tap the top side of the egg, pull out a hole's worth of shell, and let the white drip into a small dipping bowl. That way, no yolk gets into your bowl. (Even easier- use egg egg whites from a carton.) You can do one egg at a time this way, with no mistakes.

3. Beat eggs (with a whisk or electric mixer) until they are foamy.

4. Add cream of tartar. Beat the combination into soft peaks. (Peaks kinda look like soft waves.)

5. Add powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time while beating the mixture into stiff peaks.

6. Add vanilla and continue beating until it is all mixed in.

7. Transfer the mixture into an icing bag. Squeeze the batter into about 24 little teardrop shapes, about 1 inch apart.

8. Bake 1.5hrs-2hrs, depending on your oven. They are done when they are just golden brown. (Mine took 1.5hrs.) Turn baking sheet every 45 minutes to allow even baking. Bonus: Allow to cool in the oven with the door closed to make the cookies more crisp.

Sage Woodfire Grill

My personal music series started with Imogen Heap, moved into the hard-edged haze of 311, cleaned up for the last tour of Phantom of the Opera, mellowed out for Dave (Matthews Band), and came to a fabulous finale with Sugarland. I realize my music tastes are all over the map. I don't think anyone should limit themselves to one venue of expression.

Sugarland, back at home in Atlanta, played at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Alpharetta. Verizon is a little different than the other concert venues in the city. For one, it's not in the sketchy part of town like the amphitheater formally known as Lakewood. (That place changes names more often than Cher changes wigs.) It's got great food, clean bathrooms, and an absolutely crisp, clear sound system. Although we were sitting by the trees on the lawn, it sounded as if we were at the edge of the stage.

Since Verizon is outside the city, I had to do a little searching to find a restaurant. My boyfriend and my two friends that came voted on my top 3. We were all coming from work (Thursday concert), so were ready to sacrifice the opening band for a classy meal at Sage. It wasn't until I looked up directions that I realized the following night I was meeting

another group of girlfriends at the Sage in Perimeter (the sister store).

My back to back Sage experiences were great. While the Perimeter location is bigger, both boast a modern tavern feel with a woodfire grill. Both nights the service was great, but Andrew, our waiter at Perimeter was informative, helpful, and there at all the right moments to make sure we felt spoiled. Thursday night we warmed up our taste buds with the rosemary shrimp skewers. They were incredible. For dinner on Thursday I ate the huge portion of goat stuffed chicken (wonderful), and sampled the NY Strip on Friday (perfect). The portions are substantially sized. When you go with your friends (because you should), order a bottle of wine. Or two.