How Old Are Your Spices?

Posted on by
7

spices-2-002

Are you like me when it comes to spices? Digging through the jumble of your spice drawer is an archaeological dig of your culinary life: Oh, there’s that bottle of tumeric you needed when a Middle Eastern recipe called for 1/8 teaspoon — and you haven’t used it since. There’s the dip mix you bought at a friend’s home-selling party and the remains of your prolific sesame-seed bread-baking period. (Who knew you could get tired of sesame seeds?) There’s the souvenir pink Hawaiian sea salt you never opened. And what the heck is ground coriander seed anyway? Perhaps you need to do some spice cleaning. Or, you may have your spices neatly labled and constantly updated. If so, would you please come do that for me? I’ll even bake you some bread with sesame seeds on top! In the meantime, if you have McCormick spices of unknown age but you vaguely remember wearing shoulder pads when you bought them, go to the McCormick Web site — http://www.mccormick.com/Spices101/HowOldSpices.aspx — and type in the code on the bottom of the jars. Just be prepared. Apparently I still have a bottle of McCormick Chili Powder I bought when I had only the one child — and my second child is 22. Ouch. I do not want to find out what 23-year-old chili powder tastes like. I see spice-drawer cleaning in my very near future.

Be Scene

Posted on by
Reply

huntsville-halloween-and-scene-005Yikes! I was wrong that this weekend is fall’s last stand, because winter has taken over already. It’s cold and windy here in northwest Alabama and the perfect Sunday for staying inside, wondering why LSU had to stage a comeback to beat Troy (Troy!) and contemplating the news that our president-elect believes in college-football playoffs. Or, you could start stressing about the upcoming holidays and desperately try to remember the place where you put the Christmas CDs this past January so it’d be easy to find them this year.  (The box of outdoor decorations? Wrapped up in the Christmas stockings? And speaking of the stockings, I wonder where…. ) Or, you could bundle up and go to the huntsville-halloween-and-scene-0031Scene Lounge at Monaco Pictures at Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville. This bar/restaurant adjacent to the movie theater is the spot to go if you believe that nothing new ever happens around here — the warm and sophisticated space is unlike anywhere else. With its plush banquette seating and sleek pedestal tables, Scene evokes the feeling of old-school glamour back when going to the movies was an event. This is where James Bond would stop in for a drink before saving the world. Conversely, it’s also where my daughter and I can take a baby and a stroller in and enjoy some of the best sushi this side of the Pacific. Go figure. The fun part is that you can order anything to go and then take into the theater. Or, claim a table on the patio where you’ve got a front-row view of Bridge Street shoppers. Everything I’ve had here is good, and I especially like the hummus, which comes with roasted vegetables and pita chips. The Scene rightfully has become a Huntsville gathering spot and offers wine tastings and theme parties coordinated with movie premieres along with other special events. Check out the Web site at http://www.sceneatmonaco.com/home.asp

Fall in Florence, Alabama

Posted on by
Reply

downtown-florence-0014I was wandering around downtown Florence, Alabama, on a new-fall-florencerecent cool and misty fall morning and I realized that this weekend is probably autumn 2008’s last chance to dazzle and inspire before wind, rain and cold blasts us into winter. It’s been a surprisingly vivid fall this year around here, with vibrant reds and yellows glowing in the midst of subtle oranges and softly fading greens. Now, there’s beginning to be more leaves underfoot than overhead. But as I was rambling around Wilson Park, the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts and the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, I remembered once again that sometimes the most beautiful and wonderful things are — literally — in our own backyards.

Huntsville Coffee

Posted on by
Reply

kaffee5For fresh-roasted coffee beans and an incredible selection late-september-pics-2008-0361of loose teas from around the world, go to Kaffeeklatsch on the courthouse square in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. This is one of those places that just makes you happy as soon as you walk in: jars of coffee beans and tea leaves line the shelves and a helpful and friendly staff will answer any of your questions. The country-of-origin list reads like a coffee who’s-who — Brazil, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Yemen, Columbia, Panama and of course the U.S.’s contribution of Hawaii. And tea made from loose leaves tastes so much fresher and more natural than even the best pre-packaged tea bags. Check out the Web site at http://www.kaffeeklatsch.com/. You can order online if you can’t make it to the store.

Red Rain

Posted on by
Reply

red-rain-001One of my family’s favorite stores in Birmingham, Alabama, actually is red-rain-004in Homewood. Red Rain is a sort of environmentally-aware general store with an emphasis on local and Alabama products. You can buy handmade soaps and candles in recycled containers, local honey, fresh produce, gently used books and glass ware, lotions and creams, handmade jewelry, stationery, Alabama Dirt shirts, yoga items and Alabama Chanin appliqued dish towels made from recycled T-shirts. Red Rain is a vibrant gathering place, too. Shopkeeper Sarah Gurganus believes in being an active member of the community and in environmental education and supporting local red-rain-003craftspeople and artisans as well as environmental causes. Red Rain is a go-to place for gifts in my family. Just walkingred-rain-0022 in makes me smile — and it smells so good! Plus, it’s so inspiring to see what creative folks can do. Red Rain also has Burt’s Bees and Dr. Bronners products and some  wonderfully whimsical pottery pieces. Check out the Web site at www.redrainstore.com.

Pouting But Still Cute

Posted on by
8

pouting-baby-005My 7 1/2-month-old grandson, Nolan Thomas Behel, was not having a pouting-baby-002good day. His mommy had just tried to suction out his stuffy nose, then she put a hat and scarf on him and then put him in his stroller to go shopping with his Aunt Carolyn and his grandma (me). This was the first time we’d ever seen him cop a bit of an attitude, and it was hilarious. He was so mad at us — wouldn’t even look at us or smile! We just laughed at him. Poor baby! Actually, I’ve seen this exact same expression on my husband when I make him go shopping, although I don’t make him wear a hat and scarf. And even though Nolan and his step-grandpa are not related by blood, it’s further proof that all men, no matter what their ages, share the same DNA.

American Girls

Posted on by
4

samanthaMy 22-year-old daughter and I were looking through the latest American kirsten1Girl doll catalog this weekend and started getting nostalgic. Back in the early 1990s — about 15 years ago — when we lived in Athens, Tennessee, she and her now 24-year-old sister loved these dolls. Me, too. Every birthday and Christmas we added to our collection with clothes, accessories, books and furniture. I even made some of the doll clothes and — I’m embarrassed to admit this, but it’s true — on a few occasions we were a complete mother-daughters-dolls matching set. Ouch. But we had fun. Among the three of us, we had the original three dolls: Kristen, the pioneer girl; Samantha, the Victorian girl; and Molly, the World War II girl. We then added Felicity, the Colonial girl; and Addy, who escaped slavery with molly1her mother. Almost all of our friends in Athens had them, too, and we’d have lovely tea parties with girls and dolls. Wonderful, wonderful memories. But the girls got older and gradually put away “childish” things. When we moved to north Alabama in 1995, the dolls stayed packed up and I’ve only sort of peripherally kept up with new American Girl dolls and the shifting emphasis from historical characters to contemporary Just-Like-You dolls. But when I noticed this past Christmas that the newest doll is Depression-era Kit Kittredge whose date is 1934, I knew she’d be perfect for my mom, who was born that year. The doll even looks like my mom, and Kit’s clothes and accessories seem straight from my mom’s Illinois childhood. My daughters and I are having fun getting back into American Girl collecting. I can’t wait until I have granddaughters to buy for, too. We’re sad beyond belief, however, to hear that Mattel — which owns the company now — is retiring Samantha. That’s a shame. Seems as if learning from the past is more important than ever. So long, Samantha. Thanks for being such a vital part of my daughters’ childhood. We’ll miss you. Click here to read more Samantha farewells: http://americangirlstories.typepad.com/american_girl_stories/2008/09/test.html

Random Thoughts

Posted on by
2

honeycrisp-apples-001Random thoughts and things-to-do on this gorgeous fall Saturday morning:

1) Go to Jack-O-Lantern Farms market on the TVA reservation in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and buy some more fresh and delicious Honeycrisp Apples (the two less shiny-red apples in the photo). Honeycrisp apples are exactly as described — like taking a crisp and juicy bite of honey. They’re only available right now, so eat up. Check out the market at http://www.jackolanternfarm.com/. It’s open today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

2) Watch the Alabama/LSU game on TV today. It makes me remember the night my husband and I accidentally stayed in the same hotel with the Tiger Pimp Nation. It was scary — literally. The Tiger Pimp Nation is made up of … well, intensely enthusiastic LSU fans who adopt these sort of characters, complete with clothes, jewelry, cars and women. The setup is so elaborate that they only travel to one away game a season. John and I encountered them in Memphis this past year after the Ole Miss/LSU game in Oxford. So, imagine rabid LSU fans combined with Beale Street. It was quite an experience. Not easily forgotten, although we have tried. Desperately. Check out the Pimp Nation at www.tigerpimpnation.com. And believe me, what you see there is real.

Ketchup

Posted on by
4

huntsville-102908-010huntsville-102908-007One of my new favorite restaurants is Ketchup, in Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville, Alabama. Ketchup’s cheerful red-and-white decor is an updated take on the classic American diner, and so is the menu, which features a fun selection of casual starters and burgers. The star, of course, is the French fry appetizer: Three flavors of fries andhuntsville-102908-011 five of catsup, with nice mixtures of sweet and savory. Genius! I’ll take two, please. Ketchup is part of the Dolce Group of restaurants based in Los Angeles that boasts celebrities such as huntsville-102908-012Ashton Kutcher as investors. And it’s certainly different than any other north Alabama restaurant — in a good way. It’s chic and stylish enough for a date night or business lunch and casual and low key enough for family or friends to gather. Grandson Nolan Thomas Behel, 7 months old, loves it! Ketchup is a huge space, and while the staff does recommend making reservations, I’ve never seen the restaurant full. My daughter has taken a large group there and says service is just as attentive as when it’s just two or three at a table.

Check out Bridge Street at http://www.bridgestreethuntsville.com and Ketchup at http://www.dolcegroup.com/

Fall Decorating

Posted on by
2

betty-sims-fall-decor-002Fall is my favorite season for decorating — I love bringing the outdoors betty-sims-fall-decor-0082in with cheerful pumpkins and vibrantly colored leaves. And when I say “I love bringing …,” what I actually mean is I love seeing what other people do since my fall decorating consists of occasionally throwing away empty Halloween-candy wrappers. I’m not lazy — well, not much, anyway — just creatively challenged. That makes me appreciate others’ decorating talents all the more, such as what I saw in this Decatur, Alabama, home. Betty Sims is a former restaurant owner and wonderful cook who teaches cooking classes in her home in Decatur. Friends and I went recently for a brunch class, and I loved all the fall vignettes Sims created with betty-sims-fall-decor-004simple elements from nature and her own collections. Of betty-sims-fall-decor-0051course, if I went out to my backyard and cut off a bunch of leaves and stuck them in a pumpkin, it would look pretty much as if I went out in the backyard and cut off a bunch of leaves and stuck them in a pumpkin. I’m just glad that there are other people around who know how to do it right — and invite the rest of us over for brunch. Here’s the Web site for Sims’ cooking school, Southern Scrumptious:  http://scrumptiousinc.com/