Thoughts on Thursday

*I am currently in search of the perfect work pants. I used to love the Ann Taylor Loft Marisa Pants. However they changed the cut of them and now I feel like they look weird. Any hot leads?

*This week is trying to kill me! I feel like I am stretched very thin right now.

*My sour attitude must be clear to everyone, as my friend Emily sent me this list of 5 Feel Good Books to read.

*I finished Reese Witherspoon's book Whiskey in A Teacup this past week. I feel like people are going to disown me for saying this, but I disliked some of the photos in the book. I enjoyed her writing and the stories, but I felt like the staged shots we less than desirable. Some just looked downright awkward.

*SS has been playing this game her cousins gave her a lot this week. It is called Cat Crimes, and is for one player. She has really enjoyed it. I have had to assist, but I have been impressed with how logical thinking can solve the "crimes".

*What are you cooking for Super Bowl? This buffalo chicken dip stuffed french bread looks fantastic! I love Buffalo Sauce. Another crowd favorite is this Pimento Cheese and Sausage dip.

Hope you have a fantastic day!

Thoughts on Thursday

*My sister and niece met us at the beach to celebrate SS' birthday. We had a great time. Next time we are not bringing children, so that we can have at least one full length conversation.

*The little trio before lunch on Sunday. It was a beautiful weekend and then the cold front moved in! Brr. It got chilly in Charleston for a second.

*I just finished Elin Hilderbrand's book Winter in Paradise, and I am already looking forward to the next one! I blew through this story and enjoyed it. Apparently Elin Hilderbrand writes a book in the USVI's each year. I think I could get behind that writing schedule.

*This darling child is refusing to go to sleep when I put him to bed. Any tips? Besides make Matt put him to bed every night? This falls under the category of him acting out with me in general too.

*Our bedroom TV died last week. It was a sad day. So Matt did a smidge or research and bought this Toshiba Fire TV. It connects to our Alexa. It is so nice to be going to sleep and be able to just say Alexa TV Off, as opposed to ransacking our bed for the multiple remotes.

*I keep falling down the rabbit hole of shows from my youth on Hulu. I recently watched One Tree Hill and then now have started Felicity....I also saw My So Called Life is on Hulu!

*My kids have both been on antibiotics lately for one thing or another, and we have had great luck with this multi vitamin and probiotic.  The kids think they taste great and remind me that they need to take them. They have had coupons on ibotta which helps because they are not cheap, but are often on sale at CVS, Target or Amazon.

*We took Fletch to the N. Charleston Fire Museum to celebrate his 3rd birthday and it was so neat! He loved looking at the antique engines and exhibits. He even enjoyed the fire truck simulator, which I thought would scare him.

*This one is random! If you do not have a sweater shaver, I suggest you get one! My aunt got me this one from Amazon and it is AWESOME. My J.crew stadium coat pills and it makes it look brand new again!

*This recipe for Cauliflower Gnocchi Chicken Parm from Julie at Table for Two looks fantastic! I hope I have a reason to make it soon.

Happy Thursday!

Five on Friday: Organizing for 2019

1. I updated my wallpaper on my phone to this cute print from HelloDobson! It makes me smile each time I check it.

2. I purged my wallet of all of the unnecessary things. I got a new Kate Spade Wallet from my parents for Christmas, and it is very spacious! However I think I reduced the weight of my purse by about 3lbs. because I trashed all the rando bits I had stashed in my wallet. It was alarming/amazing. I also unearthed a Starbucks Gift Card, so that was a bonus.

3. Travel Bags: I made up Dopp Kits for my children that stay packed. I think this is going to be super helpful. Before I was always scurrying around last minute trying to find hair ties, tooth brushes or Fletcher's special skin cream etc. Now I just keep them packed to grab and go.

4. I organized my baking dishes and specialty pans. The before and after is alarming. It had gotten really disorganized with all of the random holiday cooking. I had literally just been tossing things under there! Yikes. It was a nightmare, but now makes me happy.

5. Also in kitchen news, I cleaned out our fridge and tossed all of the weird dregs and expired condiments that had accumulated. It really opened up some valuable refrigerator real estate.


This is as close to "Kondoing" my house as I will probably get. I have yet to watch her Netflix show, or read her book. I did however feel much better after accomplishing these little tasks. 

Panna Cotta: Kids in the kitchen

Our friend Donner gave SSP this cookbook, and SS has really enjoyed it. She made dessert for the family last week and it was delicious! This book is full of tips, tricks and ideas for monthly activities.

 *She was intent on doing it all herself and she did a great job. I did assist with the stove work, but I think she could have handled it. I know you will be surprised that I tend to be a little controlling in the kitchen. I also find it  hard for me to believe she is going to be 7 this weekend.

 *Panna Cotta: The finished product was a smooth chocolate mousse type dessert. I was so proud of her and hopeful that she will enjoy cooking like me!

*Here's the recipe if you or yours want to make it. It says it serves 4 but she actually made 5, because I think our dishes were a bit smaller. Enjoy!

Thoughts on Thursday

*Just finished Busy Phillips book, This Will Only Hurt a Little. I really enjoyed it! She has had quite the interesting career/life. She was brutally honest in her opinions and that made the book all the more enjoyable. Now I am reading Dave Holmes Book Party of One, a Memoir in 21 Songs, and I am loving it. Will report back once I finish it.

*This Epsom Salt and Foaming bath is awesome (Picture is just of the salt soak). It smells divine and really helps with those sore muscles. I bought it at Target, but you can get it on Amazon too.

*Both of my children have been sick the past few weeks and I am ready for everyone to be well.

*I made this Broccoli Salad from The Poole's Diner Cookbook and it was awesome. The only change I made was instead of making a bacon cheddar vinaigrette we made a bacon vinaigrette and then tossed in crumbled blue cheese and the juice of half a meyer lemon. I served it with grilled chicken.

*Did you score anything at the Lilly sale? I got this dress for work and I am hoping it fits. I thought the sale went very smoothly and there was no wait, which was different.

*Matt planted my lemon tree in the ground this year and I was worried I wouldn't have a good harvest. But my Meyer Lemon tree is happy and healthy! Hooray. Now what to do with them?

*Fletcher turns 3 this weekend! We are having a low key celebration. But there will be cake.

*My friend Zatty recommended the History Chicks Podcast and I have been listening to it when I can. I really enjoyed the episode about the history of Barbie.

Have a great day!

Braised Cabbage

1 head of Green Cabbage
4 slices of bacon (or more if your dish is wider-4 covered the bottom of my pot)
1 Onion sliced in strips
1/2 stick of butter, cubed
1 Honeycrisp apple, cut into four slices (each side is a slice)
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 300. In a small dutch oven, or braiser, (I used my favorite Le Creuset Dish) layer the bacon strips along the bottom of the dish. Scatter half of the butter cubes on top of bacon. Alternate layers of cabbage with onions. Add the rest of the butter. I nestled it into the crevices. Place each apple slice in a corner of the dish. Sprinkle with the Apple Cider Vinegar, Salt and Pepper. Cover and bake for 2.5 hours. When finished cooking, discard apple and bacon slices. Serve cabbage and enjoy!

This was a great Sunday side dish, because I prepped it during Fletcher's nap and then popped it in the oven and forgot about it! I was surprised at how delicious this was! You essentially are braising cabbage in a bacon butter pan sauce and it was packed full of flavor. This recipe came from The Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines.

Thoughts on Thursday

*We have been doing a lot of fort building out of my couch cushions lately. Fletch has a very active imagination.

*I scored Ina's new cookbook, Cook Like a Pro for Christmas (thanks Mom) and we made the Pork Souvlaki and it was fantastic. I highly recommend!

*This day last year, Charleston was under a blanket of snow! It is 72 out today.

*Donner and I took SS to see Mary Poppins Returns and we all 3 really enjoyed it! I was a big Mary Poppins fan, so I was fearful it would stink. It was beautifully done and I loved the sneaky cameos of actors and actresses from the first movie.

*Matt and I are enjoying the Salt Fat Acid Heat documentary on Netflix. It is so interesting! Although be warned, Netflix starts with the Fat episode and it is going to make you want all the foccacia bread. There are only 4 episodes in the series.

*While I was not ready to come back to work, I was ready to get back on some sort of schedule. The Perks have been living in chaos. We did manage to get all of Christmas put away so that is a win!

*These big soft pretzels are the jam. They come in a bag frozen at Trader Joes. All of the Perks endorse these. Ha. Matt's sister told me about them and they are delicious.

*I am considering building some sort of bench seat in my kitchen dining area with some built in storage like the above picture. Matt and I are in negotiations right now. I am not sure he is sold, but I think it would work for our family. 

*Right before Christmas, the Mom Squad dined at Al Di La and it was delicious! We had a great time laughing and catching up. We once again closed the place down. 

*The first weekend of the New Year is upon us. I am planning on doing nothing.

Grits and Greens

Happy 2019! Today I thought I would share a new to me recipe that my Mother In Law sent me. We feasted on this dish over Thanksgiving and I loved it. We made it for New Years Day, and I sent used it as Hostess Gifts for the two parties we attended. It is a perfect casserole for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

2 cups whipping cream or half and half
8 cups chicken broth, divided
1 cup of water
2 cups Old Fashioned Grits
1 large bunch of Collards stem removed, and torn into pieces (Or you can use 1 bag of frozen collards)
1/2 stick of butter
2 cups parmesan cheese
1/4 tspn black pepper
1/4 tspn salt
1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon

Grease 9x13 casserole dish or 2 8x8s. Combine cream and 6 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in grits and cook over medium heat until they return to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and stir frequently to keep from burning (roughly 20 minutes) Add a splash of milk if you need to thin your grits out.

While grits are simmering, bring a 1 cup of water, and the remaining 2 cups of chicken broth to boil and boil your collards until they are tender and bright green. Then drain in a colander. After draining in a colander, ring out in a dish towel or a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Stir butter, Parmesan, salt and pepper into grits. Stir collards into grits. Now spoon the grits into the prepared casserole dish. Top with the bacon. Dish can be served immediately or can be browned on top at 350 in the oven.

Happy New Year from The Perks!