Two friends, miles apart, who love to bake!
When Kelly and I went to Portland last year for her birthday, we went to the most amazing Mediterranean restaurant. We order every appetizer on the menu and stuffed ourselves full of hummus and olives and fresh, hot, homemade pita bread. The bread was unlimited, …
Guys, I hiked Half Dome this past weekend with my cousin… It was way harder than I thought it would be! This hike has been planned since back in February and this past weekend the date finally arrived. (We hiked on Friday, 9/11 which …
I’ve never been to Tennessee in my life, and now I’ve been there twice in three months! My sister Cassie and I decided on Nashville for our second annual Sister Vacation (Chicago was the first) and it did not disappoint. I didn’t go with too many expectations or have much on my to do list, but I loved every minute of it. Here’s my Nashville To-Do List:
To Eat & Drink
Breakfast
Pancake Pantry
The Pancake Pantry has been a Nashville tradition since 1961. It’s one of those breakfast places that doesn’t take reservations and has a line around the block. Aka the best kind of breakfast place. Their specialty is pancakes (obviously) and they have a wide variety to choose from. Georgia Peach and Lemon Apricot were our picks and my oh my they were good. Even Matt’s plain Buttermilk Pancakes were some of the best I’ve ever had! If I lived in Nashville I would be a regular here, plain and simple. Oh…and did I mention they have a theme song?
Biscuit Love
Located in the super fun neighborhood of The Gulch, Biscuit Love is a go-to brunch spot. It originally started out as a food truck, then did so well that it became a full-fledged restaurant! So you know it has to be good. There are all sorts of biscuit menu items, ranging from savory to very, very sweet (like a biscuit smothered in chocolate, peanut butter, carmelized bananas and pretzels). And if that isn’t sweet enough? They have bonuts…fried biscuit dough. It’s as delicious as it sounds.
Lunch/Dinner
Edley’s
If you’re anywhere even remotely close to the South you have to get BBQ. It’s a known fact. Edley’s has two locations so you’ll have no excuse to not get at least one meal here. Pulled pork, chicken, brisket, catfish…whatever kind of BBQ you want, you’ll find it here. Plus with sides like baked beans, potato salad, corn bread and mac and cheese? You really can’t go wrong. I’m getting hungry just thinking about the pork tacos I had! We went to the 12South location (another adorable neighborhood) and it was a perfect night to eat outside on the patio.
Burger Republic
Let me preface this by saying I’m not a big burger person (I know, I know. I’m un-American. I’ve heard it all before). But you can’t go to a restaurant that has won multiple awards for their burgers…and not get a burger. Everyone else got the Tennessee Burger (with Jack Daniel’s glaze and local bacon) but I wanted to branch out and got the Hawaiian (with teriyaki, pineapple and avocado). By the end of the meal we were all in agreement…that was the best burger we’ve ever eaten. Again, in the amazingly cute Gulch neighborhood, with a perfect outdoor patio, and you can even bring your dog! Rumor has it their truffle tots are to die for, so I guess I’ll just have to go back again someday and try them.
Drinks
Broadway
Broadway in Nashville is like The Strip in Las Vegas, Bourbon Street in New Orleans or Beale Street in Memphis. With bar after bar for blocks around you, there’s bound to be one with the style and atmosphere you’re looking for. We had fun just walking up and down the streets stopping in whatever looked fun. The most entertaining thing was watching a bachelorette dance it out at a Dueling Piano bar. That poor girl…her friends have blackmail for life.
My favorite bar though doesn’t have a name (that I know of). You go into the George Jones Museum, walk to the back, then take an elevator up to the roof. It has live music, both covered and open outdoor seating, and a view of the river. Our drink of choice for the night also doesn’t have a name, but just ask for Apple Pie Moonshine and ginger ale. You won’t regret it.
To Do
Vanderbilt University
I don’t know about you, but I always like walking around college campuses. Makes me (almost) wish I was going back to school. And unless you went to an Ivy League, Vanderbilt is going to make your college campus seem like a high school. Definitely worth grabbing a cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and taking an afternoon walk.
Belle Meade Plantation
For your history lesson, you’ll want to take a tour of the Belle Meade Plantation. The land was purchased in 1806 and the plantation was in operation for 100 years. It is most well-known for it’s horses. Belle Meade was a large thoroughbred farm and is still considered to be one of the best lineages of horses. Secretariat, Sea Biscuit and American Pharaoh ALL have blood lines back to Belle Meade. You can take a guided tour of the plantation, walk around the grounds and then finish your trip with a wine tasting at their winery.
Within a few hours of being in Nashville I’d already decided I could live there. If you get the chance, you have to go. With so many unique neighborhoods, local restaurants and live music…I’m convinced you could never get bored there.
~Stephanie
Granola is healthy, right? Even with the addition of chocolate? Ok, great, that’s what I thought! So here ya go, healthy peanut butter chocolate chip granola… I’m hiking Half Dome one week from tomorrow and I’m feeling surprisingly very calm and cool about it. The …
I usually only make zucchini bread about once a year. And every year, I wonder why. It’s easy, delicious and I consider it a health food because it has vegetables. Growing up we always grew zucchini and I remember having so much that we’d be …
Berries. Coconut. Oatmeal. What can be better?!
Seriously, oatmeal is one of my favorite meals. I usually eat it every morning for breakfast. If I don’t eat it for breakfast, there have been times when I’ve made it for dinner. A hot bowl of oatmeal is hard to beat. That is until baked oatmeal entered my life.
I’ve been doing more cooking lately, like actual cooking of meals. Gone are my days of baking desserts-I’m so over chocolate and Nutella and everything sweet…
Just kidding! But in an effort to eat healthier (most of the time) and be more conservative in my spending habits, which includes eating out less, I have been doing more cooking and meal prep at home. It’s been great; I love it! Baked oatmeal is the perfect low cost, easy to make, grab-and-go breakfast!
I make this in a 9×13 pan but since it is so filling, I don’t cut huge squares so I end up having a lot left over at the end of the week and end up tossing some out. I definitely need to work on scaling the recipe back but until then, I will be enjoying this piece right now! Enjoy!
-Kelly
recipe adapted from Apple of My Eye
Ingredients:
Directions:
Ok, I’ve officially given in. I’ve been ready for fall for weeks and I’m just going to pretend it’s here. I mean August is over halfway over, I feel like I held out long enough. I’ll try to ease on into fall and not jump …
It’s been a while since we’ve done a book review here on LDB but with summer vacation time nearing an end, we thought we’d share what was on our summer reading lists! Kelly The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion My mom and sister read …
I don’t know about you, but I could eat pizza every single day and never get tired of it. I like it cold for breakfast, I’ll take leftovers for lunch, it’s never a bad idea for dinner and I am always on board with it for a late night snack.
As much as I love eating pizza, I also love making it. In Idaho and Washington our grocery store (Winco) carried a homemade pizza dough in the refrigerated section. It was great because all you had to do was roll it out and pile on the toppings! I’ve yet to find a homemade dough at the stores here, so I decided it was time to make my own.
I know it sounds time-consuming and daunting, but I promise you: homemade pizza dough is quick, easy and so rewarding! The majority of the prep time is simply waiting for the dough to rise.
You’re going to mix your dough, let it sit for an hour, separate into halves, let sit for another 15 mins or so, then roll it out and start your pizza masterpiece. That’s it! Sure it only takes Domino’s 30 minutes to deliver. But in under 2 hours (and only a few minutes of actual work) you get fresh homemade pizza. That wins in my book!
Even better this recipe makes enough for two crusts. You can either make both pizzas at one time and save the leftovers, or you can refrigerate or freeze the dough to use at another time when the pizza craving hits.
I think the most fun about homemade pizza is the variety of toppings you can make. There’s the traditional pepperoni and black olive, BBQ chicken, or a recent fav was Mediterranean with chicken, red onions, kalamata olives and feta. The possibilities are endless!
This is a great way to involve kids in cooking by letting them create their own pizzas and it would be a fun date night activity too! Or you know, you could just make one for yourself and eat it all in one sitting too. I wouldn’t judge you for that.
-Stephanie
Homemade Pizza Dough (recipe adapted from Martha Stewart and Bobby Flay)
*Notes*
“Beans, beans the magical fruit. The more you eat, the more you….” Ok, you get it, no need for me to finish the song that was inevitably sung every time beans were served with dinner. But as annoying as this little bean chant was, the …