Although the food was good, I admit I would be hard pressed to find a reason to recommend this place if you were not already in the area.

Service:  The service was rumored to be lackluster, but I personally found them to be attentive, for college students on a Saturday afternoon.  Once it was realized that we seemed to be a thirsty table, water came more frequently to our table.  I fail to understand, however, why everyone was not offered a straw initially (but this is a minor complaint).

Atmosphere: C-.  Seriously.  The interior was like a bad, run down shack.  The lighting was good, but the seats were tired (I felt the people behind me move, and they weren’t even the super rowdy/fidgety type).  Some restaurants can pull of the slightly run down feel, to a degree that it actually enhances the experience.   Magnolia is NOT one of such establishments.

The food: The mud appetizer dip was the best part of the actual meal, although it honestly would be difficult to mess up nacho sauce, pico de gallo and black beans all served in one bowl.  I found the salsa to be slightly salty.  The pineapple and sandwich/burger garnish were fresh, but unless you are madly in love with the lettuce and tomato on your hamburger, this is not a make or break deal.  The eggs were cooked to specification, although a bit greasy.  The burger was juicy and huge.  The home fries were decent, although a bit greasy.

Overall: Although the review sounds negative, I did not loathe my experience.  I just wouldn’t say that it was a MUST VISIT place.

Part 3 – The ladies are having a chat while getting their hair done for Shelby’s wedding. Shelby has a diabetic shock Annelle meets M’Lynn, Shelby, and Ouiser Boudreaux … Steel Magnolias Part Three Sally Field Dolly Parton Shirley MacLaine Daryl Hannah Olympia Dukakis Julia Roberts M’Lynn Eatenton Truvy Jones Ouiser Boudreaux Weezer Annelle Dupuy Desoto Clairee Belcher Shelby Latcherie Friendship Beauty School Glamour Glamor Guns Birds Shoot Armadillo Dog Saint Bernard Argue Old Marriage …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnz94wSOw40&hl=en

From Oasis Theater Ensemble’s January 2009 production of Steel Magnolias. Funny scene when Ouiser first is in the shop. Cast: Truvy Jones — Beth Drews Annelle Dupuy DeSoto — Jen Puerner M’lynn Eatenton — Sharilyn Sailing Shelby Eatenton — Lori Nappe Clairee Belcher — Paula Hawkins Ouiser Boudreaux — Carol Lamansky

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwSKpCI5z50&hl=en

Ron Says….

I’m sitting here about a month after dining at this place, trying to write about it.  You know – catching up on the duties that require my journalistic cuisine credibility.

Magnolia’s - in Charleston South Carolina – the so called low country.   This is a place we have talked about going to for some time while visiting Charleston.   Never made it though.  Hell I even bought Susan a cookbook about the place and we have yet to make a dish out of it.

  Magnolia’s Authentic Southern Cuisine -  Click the link and buy it at Amazon.  

So on this trip we had pretty much decided that we were going to eat here at some point.  ( remember that thing I said about Susan’s OCD issue ? ) The only question was would we eat here to for lunch or for dinner?

Somehow we decided lunch, was it for the chance to save a little dough, because we happened to be downtown this particular day, or just a combination of both?  Well for me it was a combination of both.

Upon entering, the first thing you’ll notice is the very well kept interior.  White tablecloths, folded napkins, shiny silverware, bright sunlight shining through the windows.   It is a far cry from the dissarray at the Fork You mansion where we have grease stained placemats, spotted utensils, and the shades drawn tight.   

We were promptly seated at a space by one of those said windows.  I liked it, my table didn’t wobble.  And we began to peruse the menu.

The lunch menu didn’t have the item I was looking for on it.  You see there was something in the aformentioned cookbook that they talked about a lot (for the record I still forget what that item is and I’m too lazy to get up and go look for it)

 So I decided on “BooYaBays”  – as Susan will soon correct is spelled “Bouillabaisse“.  Or more easily pronounced and better understood – FISH STEW.

The fish stew had shrimp, mussels, fish, shallots, okra ( I like okra – just thinking about it I may make this over the weekend ), and other vegetables.

It was a very pretty looking dish, served to me in a bowl on a plate with a little frilly thing.  But when the lady plopped down one of the kids dishes of a Hamburger and Chips, well I start to think to myself.  “Did I really want Fish Stew for lunch on a hot day? ” Especially when I could have substituted those chips with french fries?

Therein lies the problem with my meal.

If I was to describe myself in a food way, I would have to say that I’m pretty much a “Meat and Potatoes” type of person.  I like all kinds of different food - don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat pretty much anything, and I love Cajun food.  But something about red meat and a potato will put a smile on my face.  

Now when I’m ordering lunch, I think my default food type is more prevalent in my decision making, thus causing most of my lunch meals to be satisfactory.  However like the day we are eating here at Magnolia’s, my default meat and potato food type sometimes takes a back seat and the “let’s be different” pops out. 

Well, my BooYaBays, was very good.  The problem was that it wasn’t very satisfying.   The flavors all blended together in an excellent manner.  The seafood taste was great, but not overpowering.  Very good fish stew.

But I left hungry and unsatisfied.  If I recall the soup was about $15 for a standard sized bowl.   Is this a good price?  Probably for the ingredients in the soup I ordered today, but yet for $15 I feel I should leave stuffed and it is soup, remember BooYaBays was created because the fisherman wanted to eat all the cheap fish, and sell the good fish (read the wiki).  Plus, I’m not a food critic or connoisseur, I just like to eat.  I like to eat things that taste good, but I also don’t want to eat something that is not going to fill me up.  I want something that tastes good, that I will keep eating just for the enjoyment of eating, all the while thinking to myself - man, this is great food for a great price – I can’t get enough of it. 

I didn’t have that reaction at Magnolias, it was more like:  yeah that’s pretty good, but damn that burger looks a lot better.

Three Forks

 Susan says…

Magnolia’s was on my must-eat list for this trip to the low country.  After reading through the cookbook Ron gave me and learning Chef Donald Barickman is a West Virginia native, I was excited to sample their fare.

I already knew what I was ordering: shellfish over grits.  Quintessential low country food, the combination of shrimp and lobster sitting atop creamy grits, called to me like a siren song.  It was available on both the lunch and dinner menus, so in an effort to be economical, we chose lunchtime for our visit.

Magnolia’s sits on East Bay Street in the historic section of Charleston.  It’s great fun to walk those streets and admire the architecture of the commercial buildings and the stately homes.  The interior of the restaurant is less pretentious than I thought it would be.  It was comfortable but dressed up in white linens.  Each window had a large magnolia branch in a glass vase.  That was a great touch.  

After ordering, we were served bread and butter to whet our appetites.  Of course we all had some bread and then the funniest thing happened:  My younger daughter, Hope, who was only eight years old, announced that she believed the butter had cream cheese in it.  I poo-pood her, telling her that it was just butter with maybe some citrus added.  But she insisted that the butter was unusually creamy.   Insisted to the point that we made a wager.  I lost a dollar on that one.  I was so proud of her!  Not only was she absolutely correct about the cream cheese, but she tasted the food with an inquisitive palate and cared about the food she was served.  She is truly my Mini Me.

Why Ron ordered bouillabaisse in the heat of summer remains a mystery to this day.  Even he can’t offer a reasonable explanation for that one.  I knew he wouldn’t be satisfied with it when he ordered it and when I saw it placed before him, I was even more sure he’d leave hungry.

The kids really enjoyed their burgers and housemade potato chips.  They ate a lot of burgers that week.  At least they have moved past the “chicken nugget” phase of their childhoods.

At first glance, I thought the serving was small enough that I’d have no trouble finishing it.  Not true- there was more in the bowl then met the eye.  At first smell, I was in love.  The creamy lobster sauce smelled divine and tasted rich.   The grits were creamy but some of the texture remained for the perfect mouthfeel.   A glass of sparkling wine was a refreshing contrast to the rich, warm dish.  At $15, I felt the entree was a little pricey.  I expected more of a wow-factor with the presentation, and the amount of seafood was small for the cost. 

Service was polite and prompt.  It kind of bugs me when you aren’t offered a refill of bread, especially if your entrée would be complimented by it.  Say, for sopping up the wonderful lobster sauce? 

I recommend Magnolia’s and would like to go back there myself in the future.  FOUR FORKS.

Atlanta: A Retrospective

November 4, 2009

The trip to Atlanta was memorable.  Perhaps even balanced, in a way.  There were gigantic farmers’ markets brimming with fresh produce, but there was also bad, take-you-nowhere-helpful, dirty public transportation.  (Bad.)  There were beautiful old homes and tenderly loved yards in neighborhoods of every socioeconomic bracket, but there was also near consensus at our dinner table one evening that President Barack Obama was probably not an American citizen.  In a word, it was the south.

Cabbagetown home - complete with an old tire swing.

Oh, but wait.  I have a deep love for these southern cities like New Orleans and Charlottesville and all the others, really.  It’s born out of my childhood.  Out of the adoration I had for my late southern grandmother’s beautiful pearls, her simple elegance, and her true grace.  Out of my insatiable appetite for my mother’s homemade dressing (what you Yankees call “stuffing”), my respect for her indestructible and infectious optimistic strength (“Oh Katy, this too shall pass,” in her decidedly Texan twang), and in my quiet sense of arrival as a southern woman this summer when she handed me her delicate antique linens.  That were, of course, handed down to her by her mother.

My childhood memories of the south are of the seemingly magical garden my grandmother grew

Old Louisiana Magnolia Tree; Photo: Chateau Nouveau Developers & Builders

around her big old Mandeville home – magnolias spilling down from the trees at just the time of our arrival each Christmas season.  They’re also of my BIG extended family get-togethers, and of the endless warm Christmas afternoons I can recall walking with my dad along the banks of the Pontchartrain.

Needless to say, returning as an adult was different.  As a tourist, I returned to the south without any of the above context in place.  It was a bit jarring.

Sweet Melissa's - brunch WITH live blue grass (Photo: http://sweetmelissas.home.comcast.net)

I will say, though, that the charm and DELICIOUSNESS of Sweet Melissa’s, an Atlantan brunch joint we hit up that had a kick ass bluegrass band (called Donner Party of Four) almost washed the bad taste out of my mouth from the pro-business/anti-environment stories I heard and overheard at the equally Atlantan Halloween party the night before.  And the beauty and bustle of the (now) undisputed World’s Largest Indoor Farmer’s Market – Your DeKalb Market, just about made up for the fact that my “Death Panelist” Halloween costume didn’t get a ton of positive attention.*

Actually, the DeKalb Market even had a community composting site on their lot so that you could drop off your table scraps on your way to the market and pick up some black gold in return.  (I wish they had something like that in our neighborhood!!  My garden would LOVE it.  Yes, yes – we’ll be composting next spring.  Instructional forthcoming.  :-))

In any case, my vacation was well-deserved and much-appreciated.  I was able to enjoy the experience for what it was, savor the yummies I found (like an entire 1/2 QUART of coriander seeds for 66 cents!), and rock out to the sounds of Atlanta.  I met liberals (it IS a big city, guys), I met conservatives, and I met some really, really good people – political persuasion totally irrelevant to my affections.  As always, life is a grab bag:  You never know what ya gonna git.  Especially when you’re in the south.

With love,

Kate

© Copyright 1994 - Paramount Pictures

*Well, I suppose humor is subjective no matter what your values.  There are plenty of progressives that don’t think I’m funny, either.  And thought the costume was just plain nerrrrrrdy.  :-)

We took an another uh-maz-ing road trip further down south this weekend. Charleston was on our “list” since we moved to Charlotte (along with Savannah) and we thought it would be the perfect trip to take for our one year anniversary. It’s not technically the correct date but that guy couldn’t take off work due to Runway for the Ballet.  So, Halloween weekend it was!

We didn’t take many photos because we pretty much ate the entire weekend.

And drank.  Our poor livers.

Friday night we headed over to Magnolia’s and treated ourselves to a TON of seafood… Pan Seared Scallops, Shellfish over Grits (in lobster sauce!) and Parmesan Crusted Flounder. After chatting with the couple sitting next to us for a bit, we stopped at Pavilion Bar to check out the view of the city and then went to a wine bar called O’Hara & Flynn.

Needless to say, the next morning was a struggle. But what cures a hangover better than a Bloody Mary after a carriage ride around the city?  The Old South Carriage Co. was amazing and so was High Cotton. We enjoyed Buttermilk Fried Oysters, Charleston Crab Soup and BBQ Duck Hash. We needed a nap after that but I wasn’t going to let the sleepiness stop us.

breakfast in a glass

After lunch, we headed down to the Waterfront Park and then to Calhoun Mansion where they filmed part of “The Notebook” because I love that movie! Yep, super girly but I could give a hoot.

"He is trash! Trash! Trash! Not for you!"

We finally wandered back to our hotel via Kings Street and took a quick nap. We were dying.

I think if you eat anything in Charleston, it’s FIG. The name doesn’t lie – FOOD IS GOOD! We had Sweet Potato Ravioli as an appetizer, I had the Crispy Caw Caw Creek Pig’s Trotters and he had Sautéed Triggerfish. Yep, I had never really heard of any of that either but it was fantastic. We sat at the bar, chatted with the bartender and all the folks around us while drinking their signature cocktails and eating dessert. The atmosphere was chic and romantic so we hope to have the chance to go again!

Man vs. Food told us that we HAD to visit Hominy Grill and eat The Big Nasty. That guy had been talking about this breakfast sandwich for months, so he finally got his wish! I ate the cinnamon french toast w/ apple maple syrup & pecan butter.

the big nasty

After breakfast we headed over to Sullivan’s Island searching for the perfect pineapple. More on that later…

During our quest, we bought some boiled peanuts (a southern favorite) and took a walk on the beach.  Since I’m from the Midwest, I try to take advantage of beach time whenever I can.

boiled peanut on Sullivan’s island

On the way home, we checked out RoadsideAmerica.com to see if there were any crazy things that we needed to visit. It was our lucky day because we got to see…

The World’s Smallest Police Station. I can die a happy woman.

don’t be jealous, you can visit it too.

Check out more photos on our Flickr site HERE.

Next time we want to stay at the most romantic B&B in Charleston, Two Meeting Street Inn. This time we had to Priceline a hotel room because we wanted to spend our money on, um, food!

Aren’t these trees glorious?  I got the photographs by stepping out my back door and going for a little walk in the woods around the house.  Leo Chapo and Bootemius followed me there, and I got some especially good shots of Leo posing on the woodpile and Booty stalking something in the viridian undergrowth, his pale green eyes glowing.

A walk in the woods was just the thing I needed.  And it was also, coincidentally, on my new list.

In Week Ten of The Artist’s Way, Julia (yes, we’re now on a first-name basis in my mind) asks us to make a list of “touchstones”, the little things in life that bring us joy, the little pleasures we can indulge in easily and often.  The idea, of course, is to continue treating ourselves like precious objects.  The items on the list might be small objects or activities we love, but that we might not ordinarily make the time or spend the money to do.  Part of creative recovery is learning not to squash and suppress and starve our inner artist, as many of us have been doing (guilty) but to indulge her whims sometimes, just do the things that give her pleasure, or put the things that lift her spirits in our everyday environment.

After you’ve made your list, you’re to post it beside your desk or wherever you’re likely to look fairly often.  And I must say, it is having an effect.  I made a preliminary list of about 60 things, kept adding to it over the next few days, and I’ve already acted on a few of the suggestions I’ve thus given my subconscious.

I’d like to encourage everyone reading this post to start a touchstones list.  If you’d like, you can post yours online, too, and put a link to it in the comments so I can come see it.  But definitely do hang it in a place where it’s likely to have an effect.

And now, without further ado, here’s my list:

1. Leo Chapo (yep, that is him — isn’t he gorgeous?)
2. Booty
3. good stationery
4. snail mail — especially long letters, sent or received
5. fresh flowers
6. garden catalogs
7. an unread book
8. a well-read book
9. seeds
10. lavender
11. Clairefontaine notebooks
12. small stitches
13. turquoise and tangerine
14. my super-sharp sewing scissors
15. snails — when they’re not in the lettuce
16. clean sheets
17. white towels
18. small boxes, even if they are empty
19. cicada songs
20. daydreams
21. seashells
22. nutmeg
23. baby laughs
24. F.’s accent
25. harp music
26. star-filled night skies
27. my stuffed penguin, Zout
28. jonquils (a.k.a. daffodils in Northwest Georgia dialect)
29. sky blue with a touch of red
30. walking in the woods
31. sketching in my sketchbook
32. getting my hands in the earth
33. baking anything
34. kneading bread
35. cutting vegetables
36. a pen running dry (another 2.5 kilometers of words written)
37. watching (and hearing) someone play the piano
38. a fire in the fireplace (as long as I don’t have to build it)
39. Fraggle Rock
40. Chapi & Chapo
41. belly dance
42. a really jingly hip scarf
43. old-fashioned quilts
44. a new paintbrush
45. F.’s digital camera
46. techno music
47. belly dance music
48. cleaning the kitchen while dancing (yesterday it was to this)
49. lightning bugs
50. Yellow Pear tomatoes
51. Cherokee Purple tomatoes
52. mason jars
53. dried lentils (I know, I am very strange)
54. my garden
55. pretty paper
56. fabric stores
57. Fuchsia (the plant, not the color)
58. Sam Flax (Atlanta)
59. Dick Blick’s big dreamy catalog
60. girls’ nights out (Girls’ Weekend Out coming up in two weeks!)
61. my CSA
62. squirrels
63. freckles
64. red hair
65. green eyes (especially this one pair)
66. apple mint
67. linen closets
68. fancy French soap
69. hummingbirds
70. my bone folder
71. Art Nouveau anything
72. Celtic knotwork
73. taking a hot bath with bath salts and a good book (yes, I’m a carnal book-lover)
74. bees
75. overflowing bookcases
76. oyster mushrooms
77. peacock feathers
78. overripe pears served with blue cheese
79. creeks
80. kudzu
81. dogtooth violets
82. thrift stores
83. letter openers
84. owls hooting
85. ivy climbing brick
86. really cheesy Regency romance novels
87. Araucana roosters
88. houses with white columns
89. railroad tracks
90. heat lightning
91. the mournful sound of the train whistle at night
92. a huge thunderstorm
93. magnolia trees
94. dogwoods
95. old books
96. dictionaries
97. a long, flowing skirt
98. cappuccino with nutmeg sprinkled on top
99. my pearls
100. accidental naptime
101. going barefoot

Depuis Ugly Betty mais aussi Victoria Silvsted, il est très difficile de choisir une assistante qui ne soit ni trop moche ni trop bimbo. Pour m’épargner les railleries, j’ai décidé d’aller à la simplicité. J’ai demandé à ma secrétaire de se cacher le visage derrière un masque.

Ses yeux sont la promesse d’une beauté à en perdre le bistouri. Mais le masque me rappelle chaque jour qu’elle a peut-être les dents tâchées par le tabac. (cf Denivit)

Christine?

_ Oui?

_ Ne me regardez pas avec ces yeux de chatte! Rappelez vous que je suis marié. Vous avez eu ma femme au téléphone?

_ Non Docteur.

_ Bon quand vous l’aurez, vous lui dites que je pense à elle quand on me parle de magnolias.

_ C’est noté Docteur

Je me rappelle un client qui est venu me voir le mois dernier…

SOUVENIR SOUVENIR…

Alors mon grand? Qu’est-ce qui t’amène?

_ Bonjour Docteur, je m’appelle Bastien Remy. Vous devez sûrement être au courant de mon petit problème d’homonyme.

_ Et bien non.

_ Il existe dans ce monde cruel un homme qui porte le même nom que moi et qui est sosie de Claude François.

_ Fils! La vie est cruelle par définition.

_ Autant dire que ca passe rarement inaperçu et que ca me vexe vraiment de tomber sur une reprise d’Alexandrie quand je cherche mon nom dans Google. Moi qui suis souvent grognon et désagréable, on me confond avec Cloclo… je perds toute crédibilité en tant que grand penseur des temps modernes! Pour couronner le tout, insulte suprême à mon génie en matière de création de sites web (l’essence de ma consécration professionnelle), il massacre mes années de boulot acharné en vantant son absurde talent via un site tout pourri. (dont on ne fera pas ici la publicité) J’ai besoin de vous Docteur, aidez-moi à me débarrasser de ce doppleganger, je ne sais plus comment faiiii-aiiiireuh!

Je sentais la détresse. Je comprenais son désarroi. Moi même je vivotais péniblement dans l’ombre d’un chanteur anglais à succès.

Jeune homme! Je suis là pour t’aider.

Je le pensais. Ce jeune gaillard avait un je ne sais quoi de sympathique. C’est surprenant parce que d’habitude je peux pas saquer les pseudo poètes qui jouent au volley l’été.

(ci-dessous sur la plage de Metz)

Laisse moi te parler de Florian Spiero a.k.a. Florian Gazan.

_ Flo? Le mec de NRJ?

_ Celui-là même. Un adolescent qui a pourtant passé la quarantaine… Avant d’être “Flo“, Florian Spiero sur France3 était avant tout Florian Gazan, un mec avec les cheveux décolorés.

Et laisse moi te dire qu’en 1999, les geeks dans son genre n’étaient pas encore cool comme ils le sont aujourd’hui.

_ Quel est votre point Docteur???

_ Mon point? Il n’y en a pas. Je voulais juste à travers cet exemple lancer un message d’espoir à tout ceux qui ne se trouvent pas cool et leur dire qu’un jour, tout peu changer.

_ Qu’est-ce que je fais moi?

_ Écoute, on n’est pas dans Podium ici. Tu ne peux pas être la victime d’un sosie. Deviens le manouche de votre propre vie : Démerde-toi pour devenir le sosie d’un autre!

_ Mes amis disent que je ressemble à Vin Diesel.

C’était peut-être un peu ambitieux.

Hmmm non. Par contre il y a un quelque chose en vous de Ryan Gosling.

_ Je t’invite à essayer les lunettes de soleil. Les filles te boufferont les oreilles tu verras. Et un peu de Doliprane. Bien sûr.

_ Merci Docteur. Merci!!

_ De rien mon petit. Et tiens moi au courant.

FIN DU SOUVENIR

Docteur?

_ Oui mon poussin?

_ Vous avez eu un courrier de Bastien Remy.

_ Le sosie de Claude François?

_ Non votre client.

_ (déçu) Ah.

_ Et oui.

_ Et il me raconte?

_ Rien. Il n’y a qu’une photo…

Voilà le genre de connerie qui me fait chaud au cœur.

crédit photo : Getty Images, Bastien Remy

Vous aussi vous voulez consulter? Ecrivez moi sans plus attendre. drmorisset@gmail.com

sweet-smelling…

Mallory and Ryan braved the cold so we could take a few photos outside at Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet. I am so glad they did – here is a little preview of their beautiful wedding!

Yesterday evening was the first time I saw EK since I left for Russia at the beginning of July.  I was gone for six weeks, coming back in mid-August, and she was leaving LJB in the middle of July.  That traitor left us for Albania, then law school  She’s been beyond busy lately–apparently law school requires work…who knew?–and hasn’t had a whole lot of time for a social life lately.  Not to mention that she now goes to school in Jersey, of all places.  But AC and I were determined to drag her into the City one night for a fabulous treat of Magnolia’s cupcakes.

We finally got EK to agree to go last night.  She was going to be in the City anyway, so why not?  The original plan was to just get cupcakes, sit, and chat.  But, as happens all too often, the night didn’t quite go according to plan….

Meeting up and getting the cupcakes went well enough, but it was drizzling outside and there was nowhere to sit inside, so we decided to find the nearest Starbucks and crash there.  The nearest Starbucks happened to be a few blocks away, and by the time we got there, we were ready to devour the sugary sweetness housed in the boxes we carried.  There was only one problem….this Starbucks had nowhere to sit!  There were only two small benches, already occupied.  EK and I were in shock.  A Starbucks without tables and chairs??? What blasphemy was this?!!  Grumbling, we head back outside and are about to go to the next Starbucks and try again, when AC suggests that we go to Sbarros so she can buy a soda.

EK and I should have seen this coming.  After all, it happened that last time the three of us were together.  So, we go inside, and AC decides she’s going to get something to eat.  Which means that EK decides she’ll have to get a slice too.  Which means that I’ll also have to get a slice.  It’s all part of AC’s ingenious plan to fatten us up.

We get our food, sit down, and have a very healthy dinner of pizza and cupcakes.  It was delicious.  We sit there and catch up on all the latest gossip and guy drama (which just makes me and AC miss EK even more), and before we know it, it’s 8:38, and EK has to get to Port Authority to catch her bus by 8:50, or else she’ll have to wait an hour for the next one.  Port Authority is 42nd and 8th…..we were on 47th and 5th……

Never ones to forgo a challenge, AC and I declared that we would accompany EK to Port Authority.  5 short blocks and 3 long in 12 minutes?  Piece of cake  We alternated between power walking and straight out running–not the safest thing to do on crowded Manhattan sidewalks which were slippery with rain water, but hey, we had a place we needed to be.  I hadn’t run in I don’t know how long, but it was so much fun.  We made it to Port Authority right at 8:51, and EK ran ahead, hoping her bus was late, while AC and I headed for the subway.  EK didn’t make her bus, but she caught one that went nearby, and everything worked out.  All in all, not a bad way to spend a night

Oferenda

O que preferes, meu amor? Magnólias
ou alvos, puros lírios virginais
vergados pelo som de harpas eólias
soltas nas longas tardes outonais?

Jasmins, hortências, rosas amarelas?
Cravos de sangue, meigas açucenas?
Girassóis da família das estrelas?
Agapantos beijados por falenas?

Crisântemos serão de teu agrado?
Que preferes, amor? Por que não falas?
Que outras flores há que não possuas?

Miosótis e gerânios, lado a lado?
Leves glicínias para as tuas salas?
Num ramo imenso, amor, são todas tuas…

Magnolia’s in bloom at Yatton Park. Pretty arn’t they?

Cupcakes. Who doesn’t love them?

The perfectly moist cake with sugary but not too sugary buttercream frosting all in a perfectly compact package made just for you. The cupcake is the perfect dessert/snack/lunch depending when you eat it, or how many…

I read about the new cupcake truck in NYC months ago and couldn’t wait to try it myself. Cupcake Stop publishes its location on Twitter so fellow cupcake lovers can track it before setting out for their cupcakes. Not a bad idea for Boston icecream trucks which never seem to be around when I’m craving a soft-serve cone. NYMag has all the latest and greatest food information. Cupcake Stop’s website lists the flavors for the day and their location, plus other information about the greatest truck ever.

It wasn’t hard to convince Erica and Lindsey to embark on a mini cupcake crawl. First stop: the truck of course. After I got over my major disappointment that the tie-dyed cupcake was sold out, I got a a black&white cupcake. Mine is the big one below. Erica and Lindsey both opted for the mini cupcakes – wusses! The vanilla cake was so great – you could really taste the freshness. Black&white is actually a great idea because you can try both the chocolate and vanilla frosting in one cupcake. The chocolate was just right – the perfect amount of chocolate. The vanilla was also delicious. The cupcake had that great fresh baked homemade comfort. I give it a 9. And while I can’t imagine a time when I would prefer the mini cupcake, it’s nice to offer it and they really are adorable. Excellent work on the tiny carrot design.
Next stop: Buttercup Bakery

Magnolia’s are really my favorite cupcakes ever. After learning that Buttercup Bake Shop was started by one of the Magnolia’s creators (with the same recipe) I decided to give it the taste test. At first glance, the cupcakes look exactly the same. I couldn’t decide which to order, the classic vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, or to try something different with the Devil’s Food cupcake. To make such a tough decision easier, I ordered both. the Devil’s Food cake was pretty good but a little dry. The frosting surprised me – it was more Fluff than real frosting. I love a good marshmallow treat but this was unexpected. The vanilla cake tasted very similar to Magnolia’s, but less fresh. The cake was also a little dry and the frosting was a little hard. Magnolia’s definitely wins the freshness award. It was nice to not wait in line for 20 minutes but keeping the cupcakes in their case rather than bringing out fresh batch after batch really makes a huge difference in taste. Cupcakes get a 6. Next time I’ll stick with Magnolia’s. But the Buttercup Experience gets an 8 because of what happened next.

Buttercup Baker: How was everything?
Us: It was really good!
BB: Oh are you girls full?
Us: Yeah we’re full the cupcakes were good!
BB: Oh, because I was going to give you some free samples. Banana pudding, chocolate trifle, strawberry trifle…
Us: OH (momentary panic we missed out on free food) You should have opened with that!

30 seconds later this plate appeared before us: These tastes were tastier than the cupcakes! The banana pudding is similar to Magnolia’s and tasted great – very creamy and banana-y. Lucky for Lindsey and me, Erica doesn’t like bananas so we got that to ourselves All 3 trifles get a 9.
Then the Buttercup Baker appeared again with 3 little cups of amaretto. “Now your day is perfect,” he said.

And a perfect day it was! Even though I don’t like amaretto…

The night began perfectly also with a mexican feast at Caliente Cab. A-Tooch asked how many cupcakes I actually ate that day and I gave her the count. Then Erica reminded me I began the day with a Hostess cupcake and I had to add one more. Honestly, it wasn’t worth eating. I had a few bites and threw the rest away so it’s not completely surprising I forgot about this sad cupcake. The original cream filling has inspired many bakeries to create their own version, so we must never forget this one.Sorry Hostess cupcake, you get a 3.

Overall it was a great food weekend in NYC and great to see Erica, Lindsey, and A-Tooch!!

What will we stuff our faces with next!

After attending a single morning silk workshop the ‘inspiration floodgates’ opened * The world of silk art continued to expand as I experimented in isolation for months, in order  to ‘perfect’ my personal serti silk painting techniques.

The basic serti technique requires the design outlines to be drawn with a resist, so that the separately defined areas can then be painted with blends of colourfields, ranging from delicate ethereal hues to brilliant vibrancy.

My aim was to specialize in refining the serti line as well as the application of colour * Applying all my acquired fine art ‘skills’ of drawing and watercolor to this craft.

The serti technique is essentially the same regardless of the fabric weight, weave and thickness * But each fabric places different demands on the skills of the artist.

These first pieces were generously sized scarves/shawls/wraps: hand-painted on the finest Habutai silk with a glossy, almost satiny sheen and then on very fine georgette silk that has more of a matt sheen. Both drape softly although georgette tends to even more so.

Scarves * Serti Silk Paining * Alison Lee Cousland

After painting many such scarves I naturally ‘progressed’ onto other forms of wearable art. Then onto screens, wall panels, framed paintings and one unique hanging. Of course all silk paintings are unique (as distinct from silk screening) which makes this particular hanging, uniquely unique.

Unfortunately photographs can’t capture the glowing vibrancy of the silk itself or the ‘glitter’ of the gold serti. So please allow for the sheen of the silk when viewing the above samples of my first silk paintings.

Details of scarves: From the top left going clockwise:

1  Oriental Orchids on Silk Georgette

2. Magnolias on Habutai Silk

3. Waratah on Habutai Silk

4. Native Orchids Habutai Silk

Ally * Alison Lee Cousland

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Come check out uHAPS’ coverage of Magnolia’s & Tasty World from this past Tuesday in Athens, GA!:

http://athens.uhaps.com/Event.aspx?id=5018

7/24/09

Kristin came to meet me at work.

She had some soft shell tacos at Chipotle.

We went to Magnolia where I shot this very quick and blurry shot of the cupcakes with my blackberry.

She had the banana pudding.

Come check out uHAPS’ coverage of Bud Light Night at Magnolia’s from earlier this Tuesday (7-14-09) here in Athens, GA!:

http://athens.uhaps.com/Event.aspx?id=4959

Full bloom

Part of me aches for all the perfection that these flowers achieve in their life cycles.