Recently in Travel Category

We entertained everyone at the airport with our fancy-pants sign and toothless smiles!

And climbing the Mayan Ruins.

And enjoying our all inclusive resort!

Sure makes me want to go the beach again!

It's no secret that I probably wouldn't have found my way to New York from Mississippi without the GPS. That magical, yet slightly obnoxious, voice led me through 1,450 miles filled with tolls, road closures and detours. Me & my GPS made it just fine on our own!

When she's right, it's a lifesaver...but when she's wrong, boy is she wrong! Just the other day Brett and I had to make a quick trip to Boston to pick up a few last minute things for the baby (only three more weeks to go!). Our primary stop was Ikea and the GPS found the location no problem...but when Brett needed to feed his "Mexican tooth," as I like to call it, we punched in a search for the closest Q'doba restaurant.

This is where she told us to go...

Our guess is that there might have been a Q'doba inside the Patriot's playing field? Nothing like a little side trip adventure caused by technology!

If you ever are lucky enough to take a trip to the South, you have to make a pit stop at Paula Deen's. Her Lady & Sons restaurant is located in Savannah, Georgia but the sassy entrepreneur smartly opened a second location at the Harrah's Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. Fortunatly, Tunica is not far from my old stomping grounds!

You can't go to Paula's without trying the hoe cakes! Hoe cakes are fried gruel made from yellow or white cornmeal that is mixed with salt and hot water or milk, and sometimes sweetened...I think up here y'all call them Johnnycakes. Hoe cakes in the South come by their name honestly. Field hands often cooked them on a shovel or hoe held to an open flame. Hoes designed for cotton fields were large and flat with a hole for the long handle to slide through; the blade would be removed and placed over a fire much like a griddle.

Before we left Mississippi to move to New York, my girlfriend made us 'hoe cake' kits. She put together all the ingredients in a Mason Jar and attached instructions on how to assemble the goodness. When I'm feeling really homesick, I whip up a batch and I'm good to go.

Here's Paula's recipe if you'd like to try it:

Ingredients
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup self-rising cornmeal, or from a mix (recommended: Aunt Jemima's)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup vegetable oil or bacon grease
Oil, butter, or clarified margarine, for frying

Directions
Mix well all ingredients, except for the frying oil. Heat the frying oil or butter in a medium or large skillet over medium heat. Drop the batter, by full tablespoons, into the hot skillet. Use about 2 tablespoons of batter per hoecake. Fry each hoecake until brown and crisp; turn each hoecake with a spatula, and then brown the other side. With a slotted spoon, remove each hoecake to drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Leftover batter will keep in refrigerator for up to 2 days.

My mom has never been much of a cook, but she does crank up her skills twice a year, for Christmas and Thanksgiving. We always have the traditional turkey and all the fixings that go along with it. Guests who come to our house for the holidays always like to bring something and we never say no. So, when Grandma Flanigan showed up with her 'crockpot dressing' we were just tickled pink!

We're spending Thanksgiving with Brett's family in Charlotte, North Carolina, where his mother rules the kitchen! I've learned when you're pregnant, people tend to just give you what you want (what a perk!) and Grandma Flanigan's crockpot dressing is on the menu this year...here's the recipe if you're interested:

Grandma Flanigan's Crockpot Dressing
8" pan of cornbread
8 slices of toasted bread
Onion - 1 cup
Celery - 1 cup
2 tablespoons sage
4 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cans chicken broth
2 cups cooked chicken
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon

Stir ingredients together and put in buttered crock pot. Cook 3 hours on high or 170 degrees. You can also fill muffin pans with dressing and place in a 350 degree oven to brown up the edges.

Enjoy y'all!