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Confessions of a Misplaced Southern Belle

Not so misplaced anymore!

Archives for January 2017

Soul Food Love–A Review

 

I grew up in the south and anytime the word ‘southern’ or ‘soul food’ is mentioned in a cook book title, I am all over it, add to  it the bonus of a healthy twist on traditional recipes and I was so excited to get this book. Alice Randall has combined family history and tradition with a cadre of family recipes that she has adapted to suit a more healthy lifestyle. Soul Food Love has garnered rave review in the cookbook industry.  Blogging for Books sent me a review copy, so I set out to make a few recipes.    I really wanted to love this cookbook, but at the end of the day, I ended up not liking it as much as I thought I would.  What I liked. I loved the history and the stories woven through the book and the recipes.  I loved how the author drew us into the recipes by sharing the family history of each dish.  I did like the Fiery Green Beans and the brittle recipe.

What I was disappointed by. Surprisingly the lack of flavor in several of the recipes.  I always make the recipe as stated the first time around to get a feel for what the author is going for, then I will tweak and adjust to my taste. Unfortunately the recipe I was most looking forward to, Spicy, Pepper Chicken, was nearly inedible.  I’m willing to chalk it up to user error, but I double checked the recipe and it was just too spicy to eat, and I love spicy food. I also tried the chicken with grapes and this time I adjusted the seasoning.  I was completely shocked at how well grapes went with chicken. My husband was skeptical, but he agreed that it was good.   I think I will give some of the recipes a second chance, but at first pass, I was a little underwhelmed by the recipes, but LOVED the stories behind them.  I would give this book a solid 3.5 stars out of 5.

An Artsy Afternoon in St. Pete

Last week, my inlaws came into town from Atlanta and not wanting to sit around and stare at each other all day, we took a short, 25 minute trip over the Skyway into downtown St. Petersburg to the recently opened Chihuly Collection  on Central Avenue.

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I have loved the work of Chihuly for years and it is such a joy to be able to see some of his pieces up close.  The original Chihuly Collection was located a little farther south on Beach Drive, but October saw a new, dedicated building open.  The space is open and airy, and the rooms where the sculptures are located are kept dim with specialized lighting illuminating each piece.

 

This one is probably my two favorite shots of the day. (All of these photos were taken with my iPhone 7plus…I didn’t want to take my Canon 6d..fear of banging it into something…lol)

Joel said this one reminded him of a balloon animal!

After our trip through the Collection, we walked across the street to the Morean Arts Center Glass Studio and Hot Shop. Your ticket to the Chihuly Collection also includes the glass blowing demonstration at the Hot Shop. You MUST go. This is a wonderful 30 minutes demonstration where a piece of art glass is made from start to finish. The two gentlemen who gave the demonstration were so entertaining and spent time afterwards answering all of our questions. My husband enjoyed it so much that he wants to go and take one of the glassblowing classes. I took a ton of photos, so I put them in a couple of collages plus two of my favorites.

Paulie clearly loves what he does.

After the twirling, he ended up with this:

Tools of the trade.

And finally, after all that, we had lunch then headed back home, but first we had to stop at our favorite dessert bar, Swah-rey. Hands down, Swah-rey has the best cake, minis, tea, coffee and best of all…Pupcakes for the pooches.  We almost always make a stop on our way out of St. Pete, and as you can see, Swah-rey minis make Amanda a happy girl.

If you are in the St. Pete area, give these places a visit. Click the links for more info.

If you’d like to see more of my day to day photos, please follow me on Social Media. I’m fairly active on Instagram! You can click on the icons at the top of the page.

(Not a sponsored post, I just wanted to share things that I love.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year!

Last year, by word was Flourish, and I really took that to heart. This year, my word is FEARLESS. 

I want to think out of the box and do things that I wouldn’t normally think of doing.  Life it too short to sit home and be scared. 
Bring on 2017!