Lessons in Frying: Corn Dogs, Onion Rings, and Fries

We fried again on Friday. We made corn dogs, onion rings, and fries. I also attempted to make a chocolate shake...and burned the motor in our blender in the process. The corn dogs were yummy. We didn't get as much batter on as I would have expected...but they were still yummy. We tried onion rings again...I learned that I like onion rings with little batter and cooked until super crispy. Seth also mastered the fry. He soaked them in water before then coated them in a flour mixture and fried them twice. A very successful fry I would say...well besides burning out the blender. I had that blender for over 9 years...I would say it had a very good life but I am still sad to see it go. Now I get to find a stainless steel one that will match our other appliances...Seth is starting to think that burning the motor was part of my master plan...shhhhh.

Our Little Corner of the World

This is a view from our front porch as I left for work one morning this week. I am dreading daylight savings. I don't want it to be any darker when I leave for work in the morning. Can you believe that school starts at 7:30. I have to be to work by 7:10. Most of the kids are still asleep when they arrive. Many of them are picked up by buses as early as 6:30.

Pendleton is a quaint little town just a few miles from our home in Central. It reminds me of Stars Hollow from the TV show Gilmore Girls. I am disappointed that I can't capture the charm of this little square in my pictures.


I went to a baby shower at The Village Baker on Pendleton square on Saturday. When we pulled up there was a concert going on. Maybe the town troubadour was playing. I also noticed an advertisment for the farmers market on Thursday evenings.

We made bows at the baby shower for the little baby girl that will be arriving shortly. I am surrounded by some very crafty women. Check out the cupcakes from the shower. It is a little nest with three baby birds in it. They found the inspiration in a Martha Stewart magazine. The cupcakes tasted even better than it looks.

Herb Garden

Seth and I decided to plant our own herb garden. When we were driving through Easley a couple of weeks ago, we stopped at Home Depot for some supplies. We bought a few planters, brackets to hold the planters over the railing at our apartment, potting soil, basil, rosemary, thyme, and two pepper plants. We also bought a smaller indoor herb garden. The heat has been a little bit of a challenge...yes it is still the the 90s here. But with a little extra water both our indoor and outdoor herb gardens are growing.

We also found that one of the pepper plants came with a mystery plant. We have no idea what it is but it is growing well. If there are any garden people out there that can identify it, we would love to know. It is the plant to the right of the planter box in the picture below.

Attack of the Chigger

Remember my fear of exploring the woods? I knew my fears were well founded before...now Seth knows that they were well founded as well. Seth was working on a site analysis in Greenville a couple of weeks ago. I rode up with him and ran to get all of our errands done in the big city (change oil, Costco, Target). When I came back to pick Seth up I found covered with scratches all over his arms and legs. He had walked into a little section of woods to get a better idea of the area. He said the moment he walked in he knew it was mistake. He became entrapped by a little "a rose bush like vine." Just the scratches were enough to deter him from venturing off into the woods on his own again. Well the scratches looked very minor a few days later when his bum area became very itchy.

Last Sunday we were talking to a friend and the topic of the woods happened to come up. Our friend proceeded to warn us about all the little creatures that can be found in the woods. First we talked about ticks and then chiggers. He said that chiggers burrow into your skin and then that area becomes very itchy. Seth and I looked at each other and our eyes widened. As soon as we got home we did a little more research on chiggers. I was afraid that they were contagious, Seth was afraid that they burrow. We found out that both of our fears were false. We did find out that chiggers inject their saliva which breaks down the skin...makes it itchy. They are usually brushed off of their host within a couple hours. In short the chigger was long gone...the itching was not. It took a couple of days and some anti-itching creme but the itching is now gone too.

I would like to say we have learned our lesson and are not going to be venturing off into the woods anytime soon...but Fall is here and we are going to be heading into the woods on a little backpacking trip to see the Fall colors...hopefully we find Fall leaves and not Fall chiggers.

GPS

The girls from my book club bought me a GPS as a bridal shower gift. This little gadget has quickly become one of my favorites. It came in quite handy on our cross country honeymoon trip. We never had to stop for directions or look at a map. It was so nice to just plug in an address and know that we were going to get there. We didn't just know that we were going to get there...we had an estimate for how long it would take us...and how many miles we had to drive. I don't think we would have been nearly as adventurous in our choice of restaurants without it. It only told us to turn onto a one way street once. At least we didn't end up in a lake like Michael...right?

We have continued to use the GPS in South Carolina...as I said before it is hard to gain your bearings because of the abundance of trees. I can confidently report that I can now find my way to the gym, work, church, gas station, and store without the GPS. Now that is what I call progress.

Reason #2

MY OWN LITTLE GIANT

I love being married to Seth because he makes me feel short...like a midget in fact. I am 5'10 and rarely feel short. A couple of years ago I wrote about feeling like Snow White. Thank you Seth for being my own little giant. I love that I can wear any shoes that I want around you. In the picture below I am wearing 2-3' heels and my eyes just come up to his shoulder.

P.S. Today is our two month anniversary. Everything that could possibly change in the last two months has..new job, new state, new apartment, new school, new name. But the one thing that has been my constant is Seth. Best two months of my life so far.

More wedding photos can be found at Three Winks Studio Blog.

Pie season

Pie season is officially here...

I made my first pie crust. It turned out beautifully if I do say so myself. I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of the pie before we started to eat it...but here is a picture when it was nearly gone.

The recipe came from the American Test Kitchen Cookbook that we purchased just before we got married. Seth picked out the cookbook...I think he did an amazing job. Just flipping though the book makes me hungry. My favorite section to flip through is the frozen desserts. I can't wait to try a few of those out.

There is also a baking book and a cooking for two book that look like fun.