HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I for one, could not be more excited for the new year. My 2015 was a pile of garbage, with a few diamonds mixed in, so I’m hoping that 2016 will be the opposite. Cheers to a diamond year!

I have lots of goals for myself for 2016, but here are a few of the resolutions I’m making:

• Learn Spanish
• Cook at home more
• Be better about posting restaurant reviews (not sure how that’s going to work with my previous resolution, but we’ll see).
• Try something new that terrifies me.

Anywho, I’m off to drink a ridiculous amount of champagne.

Happy new year!

I hope you’re all having a happy and festive Christmas!

This will be me all day after I finish opening presents:

It’s holiday time once again at Dunkin’ Donuts, and DD has gone all out this year with their new holiday coffees, donuts, and holiday stocking stuffers! Since I’m now hopelessly addicted to coffee, I thought I’d share the buzz-buzz love with you, my dear readers, and give you a taste (pun intended) of what’s new and fun at Dunkin’ this holiday season:

New Donuts

Can you hear my tummy grumbling from where you’re sitting?

Snickerdoodle Croissant Donut

A glazed croissant donut, filled with cookie dough-flavored buttercreme, finished with white icing drizzle and sprinkled with cinnamon streusel topping. *dies inside*

Caramel Cheesecake Square

A square donut with smooth and creamy cheesecake filling, frosted with caramel icing and topped with chocolate caramel candy cups.

Holiday Coffee

Cookie Coffees

The sugar cookie coffees offers the traditional taste of frosted holiday sugar cookies, while the Snickerdoodle Cookie Coffees bring together the sweet taste of sugar and spice of cinnamon.

Peppermint Mocha Coffee

Combines the cool taste of peppermint with rich chocolate flavors.

Stocking Stuffers

Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee

Dunkin’ Donuts packaged coffee and K-Cup® pods are available this season in several varieties, including Original Blend, Dunkin’ Decaf®, French Vanilla, Hazelnut and the brand’s Rainforest Alliance Certified™ Dark Roast Coffee, and Hot Cocoa K-Cup® pods are available at Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants only.

K-Cup® Pods

This year, you can purchase two 12-count K-Cup boxes in a special new Gingerbread House package, which make a great gift for coffee lovers in your life (*coughmecough*). Or, mix it up with the K-Cup® Variety donut box, which leverages Dunkin’s iconic dozen donut box, and is filled with 25 assorted K-Cup® pods.

Ornaments

Limited-edition branded holiday ornaments in are available in five fun choices, including (my personal favorite) an Ugly Christmas Sweater, a snowman, a holiday ball, a Dunkie Snow Globe and a box of DD’s famous donuts.

Drinkware

Look how shiny it is!

Dunkin’ Donuts also offers branded mugs, tumblers, gift baskets, and more! All are available exclusively at participating Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants nationwide, or online at www.DunkinDonuts.com.

Gift Cards

Dunkin’ Donuts Cards are available in a variety of holiday and winter themed designs, including three new options: the Merry Mischief Card, the Mistletoe Card and the Igloo Card, and always have no fees and no expiration date (although let’s be serious, you’re going to use the gift card right away).

As my Christmas gift to you, I’m giving away an assortment of Dunkin’ Donuts’ holiday goodies for you to try! Here’s what’s in the box:

• Red Christmas tumbler
• Dunkie Snow Globe ornament
• Ugly Christmas Sweater Ornament
• DD Car Air Freshener in French Vanilla
• $5 Dunkin’ Donuts Gift Card (to try out those sweet new donuts & coffees)

Enter to win below. Winner announced 12/18.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Merry Christmas! 

*Note: Southern Season is now Closed*

I’ve been to quite a few cooking classes in my relatively short life, but I have to say that my favorite classes have been at Southern Season in Mount Pleasant. Although the general formatting and price points of the classes don’t differ too much from Charleston Cooks!, the space couldn’t be more different. The seating area is much bigger, meaning you have more room to spread out. Walking in, you’re struck by how breathtaking the space is. Everything is clean and shiny, and the counters and drawers filled with every cooking tool, utensil, and accessory that you can think of. Basically, it’s a culinarian’s dream.

*heavy breathing*

My favorite thing about Southern Season is that they offer a huge variety of classes that vary between demonstration and hands on, which isn’t available at, say, Coastal Cupboard. I tend to prefer the hands-on classes since I always learn better by doing. Despite the fact that I went to (one semester of) culinary school, I find that I always learn a new technique or way of doing things that makes cooking and prep work a lot easier.

They are berry good at that.

The most recent class that I took was called “Sweet and Savory Strawberry Sensations” with personal chef Lisa Moore. The class started promptly, and we were quickly put to work, divided up between the different cooking stations. I opted to work on coring and slicing strawberries for the salad since this seemed like I would be less likely to make any “oopsies” there.

The only “oopsie” involved in making a salad is that you then have to eat the salad.

In total, we were preparing four dishes, although the salad had three separate components—strawberry and arugula salad with balsamic, avocado cream drizzle, served in a parmesan cheese cup—so I really think it should count as seven dishes. The parmesan cheese cups were really cool, and I’m tempted to make them for myself for snacktime, which is probably not a good idea since I’m trying to fit into a bridesmaid dress in a few months.

Can all of my dishes be made of cheese, please??

The salad was delicious; it tasted like summertime. I’ll most likely be making this recipe at home a few times this summer, although I will also probably just sprinkle some shaved parmesan on the salad instead of making a cheese cup.

Transforming cheese into a bowl is a lot of work, as it turns out.

The side dish was a cilantro rice pilau. It was super flavorful (although if you’re not a fan of cilantro, you probably wouldn’t have enjoyed 70 percent of the dishes we made) and had a great consistency—creamier than fried rice, but not nearly as creamy as a risotto. The main course was a grilled fish—wahoo in this case, but any mild white fish would do—topped with a spicy strawberry salsa. The salsa was a great complement to the mild fish, as it gave it a nice burst of freshness and a little kick.

om nom nom

The fish grilled on a stove top cook top, which I was really tempted to purchase until I was reminded that I have an actual grill. Since I rarely cook fish (it scares me, don’t judge), I was very interested in all the tips that chef Lisa Moore gave. When I finally get the courage up to make fish, I’ll definitely put these tips into practice.

And with a lemon, cuz we fancy.

For dessert, there was a strawberry sorbet made with a sweet red wine, topped with candied ginger. I had to physically remove myself from the ice-cream-maker aisle because that is too dangerous of a machine to have in my possession.

BRB, buying an ice cream maker.

Looking over the calendar for the next couple months, I see a number of classes that I’d be really interested in taking. Southern Season has made that a lot easier for me by offering a “frequent cooks card,” which gives you $45 towards a cooking class for every 10 you take. Perfect for people who love to cook!

Learn to cut things in so many different shapes!

As we get into the last week of Lowcountry Local First’s “Eat Local Challenge,” I really wanted to spotlight a cool local product that I think deserves more recognition. Lazy Bean Coffee is bottled, cold brew coffee that’s brewed in small batches right here in Charleston by 2 College of Charleston grads, Andrew London and my friend Max Boettcher.

Cue obligatory Cooper-River-Bridge-photo-shoot

Right now, Lazy Bean comes in 2 flavors, Original (a classic blend with cream & sugar) and Black. They’re both really mild and are a quick convenient way to get an extra shot of caffeine without sacrificing your soul to a certain coffee conglomerate I won’t name here.

*coughstarbuckscough*

I love the Original cream + sugar version because it tastes like what I want coffee to taste like. It’s not too sweet or too creamy, but is a really good balance of both flavors. It also lacks the “fakeness” that can often be found in other versions of pre-bottled coffees.

Although it do sometimes mistake the bottle for BBQ sauce.

I’m not usually a fan of black coffee, but Lazy Bean’s version is super mild, without any of the bitterness that’s usually associated with straight up black coffee. If you’re a more avid coffee connoisseur who likes their coffee to punch them in the face in the morning, you might want a stronger brew, but for the casual coffee imbiber like me, it’s great.

I like my coffee like I like my men…

Right now, you can buy both versions of the Lazy Bean blends at Mixson Market and the Veggie Bin in North Charleston. The guys also sell it in the night market on occasion. Keep up with their Facebook & Twitter accounts to see when they’ll be out around town.

#CoffeeAddictsUnite

As you probably know, I’ve been participating in the Lowcountry Local First “Eat Local Challenge” for the month of April. Since participating in this challenge, I’ve had my eyes opened to all the incredible opportunities afforded to me in the Lowcountry. I used to think that if I wanted to shop for local produce, my only option was to stop at the Veggie Bin, try to make it to the Farmers Market downtown on Saturdays, or start growing veggies in my backyard. But there are actually tons of shops, markets, and farms, and farmers markets around Charleston if you know where to look for them and don’t mind driving a bit out of your way to get there.

Lettuce. Turnip. The Beet.

Recently, I discovered a really awesome Kickstarter campaign called Lowcountry Street Grocery,  that wants to take an old school bus and convert it into a farmers market on wheels. Transforming the traditional farmers market model into a mobile venture would allow them to serve areas in and around Charleston that wouldn’t normally have access to fresh, healthy, and (most importantly) affordable food.

Yummy green leafy goodness.

I think at its core, the idea of putting a farmers market onto a bus sounds like a really cool idea. But that’s just the beginning. I spoke to associate director Kate Dewitt who said that they have big plans for LSG. They want to make the process of ordering fresh produce as convenient and seamless as possible, so they’re going to incorporate online ordering, and easy pick-up so that eating healthy can be just as easy as going through a drive-thru.

Fresh food, fast!

They’re also putting a huge amount of focus on serving those who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford the premium that’s often associated with healthier food, like people on the SNAP program. They also want to incorporate an educational element that instructs people on different elements, such as nutrition, tutorials, garden starter kits, mobile gardens, meal kits, cooking demos, information on food storage and preparation… the possibilities are seemingly endless.

“We already operate a school garden at Memminger for grades 3-6 which was designed to incorporate agriculture into their science and math curriculums. They learn about growing food that’s good for you, your bodies, the environment, and the community, as well. Really creating a healthier community means more than just having a point of sale. You have to know how to incorporate it into your life in a meaningful way.”
-Kate Dewitt

LSG has already leased a farm in Ravenel, SC where they’re growing crops such as microgreens that might soon find their way onto the bus. They’re also planning on partnering with local, up and coming farms like Spade & Clover in order to create mutually beneficial relationships to support local farmers. The idea of uplifting the community truly comes full circle for Lowcountry Street Grocery.

Giving back and paying it forward. What a great concept!

LSG’s Kickstarter officially launched April 3, and they have until May 5th to raise the $40,000 they need to purchase and retrofit an old school bus into 2-aisle grocery store on wheels. At the time of writing, they had raised about 38% of their goal with 19 days left. Their Kickstarter is full of awesome rewards for contributing to their campaign, including a Benefit Dinner at Edmund’s Oast; a “backyard garden blitz,” where members of the LSG team will come and build a raised-bed garden in your home; and a 1-year online pre-order + $150 opening credit that also gives a 1-year pre-order to 2 SNAP recipients so that everyone can benefit from this great service. However, Kickstarter is an all or nothing deal. If they don’t raise at least $40,000 by May 5th, they won’t get a single dollar that was pledged through Kickstarter. Don’t delay; join me in supporting this awesome cause today!

Now that’s a party bus.

Support Lowcountry Street Grocery on Kickstarter!
Follow LSG on Facebook!
Visit the LSG website to learn more!

Since signing up to be part of the Eat Local Challenge with Lowcountry Local First, I’ve been on the lookout for cool, local Charleston goodies. I happened to stumble upon Batch Charleston, a subscription box that curates Charleston food products according to a common theme.

Only the finest curtains in the background.

This month’s theme was “Just Brunch” and included goods that one would eat during brunch time.

aka my favorite time

When you first open up the box, there’s a sheet that highlights the products and the purveyors, so you can get to know a little bit more about the products included that month.

Om nom nom

Everything comes packed nicely and attractively, and I was so pumped up about the Geechie boy grits. Those are going to come in handy when I have company over this weekend!

What to use first?!

The first thing I broke into was the Benne Wafers. They were delicious.

So yummy. Very selfie. Wow.

The coffee was yummy and rich and was just what I needed to wake me up in the morning.

And it was especially delicious in my coffee mug from the Charleston Tea Plantation! #LocalCeption

I haven’t gotten into the jam yet, but I can’t wait to grab some bread from Browns Court Bakery and slather it up!

I love me some strawberry preserves.

I’m having friends in from out of town this weekend, and I’m going to cook up these grits with red onions from Ambrose Farms, butter and garlic from Blackbird Market, and maybe some cheese from the Johns Island Farmers Market!

Sweet onions, garlic, butter, om nom nom

All in all, I was pretty happy with my Batch subscription. April’s theme is “On The Verandah” and May’s is “Picnic Basket,” which both sound super fun. I’m especially excited for August’s “Chef’s Choice” box. The boxes ship for $34.99 a month and includes free shipping, so it’s a great way to open yourself up to new local experiences!