The Countdown to Carolina

Looking at the calendar, there's just under a month before spring break.  After this year's winter weather, it absolutely cannot. come. soon. enough.  Breaking our trend of visiting somewhere new each year, we've planned a return to Murrells Inlet, South Carolina with swimmer girl and one of her friends I refer to as my "other daughter." Last year's weather was a little cool, but we had an awesome time eating our weight in seafood, drinking in the sights of Charleston, shopping in Myrtle Beach and kicking around the beautiful beaches and marshes in the area.

Since my heart goes pitter-pat every time I think of the upcoming trip, I'm using the anticipation as a motivator to pick up the exercise pace and drop a few pounds so I can indulge in the regional food without guilt.  It seems my calf strain has finally fully healed, so I'm committed to hitting the treadmill three days a week, in addition to my Body Pump, yoga and pilates classes.  I figure logging several miles each week, along with cutting out a lot of empty calories (paring down the pantry is also whittling down our usual snack food reserves) should help me slough off the pounds that sneaked up on me during the holidays.  And I'm challenging myself to doing a 15-minute "hotspot pickup" every time the urge to munch hits.

So we'll see if my plan works.  If it does, the house and I should both be in much better shape by the time we leave.  And to all my local friends:  feel free to hold me accountable.  If you see me skulking around the post-Valentine chocolates or noshing on unhealthy foods, go ahead, give me a nudge.  I'll love ya for it.

Happy Monday!

Recipe of the Week: Potatoes Au Gratin

If you've perused my Wednesday recipes, you've probably noticed a steady theme (stream?) of carbohydrates running through my favorites.  What can I say?  I love my breads, sweets and starches.  But in the balance, I run almost daily, keep my weight in the healthy range and my last blood workup revealed perfect scores on my cholesterol and blood-sugar levels.  (Our diet is also rich in beans, which are known to be good guys for those battling diabetes.)

We visited Las Vegas a few years ago on Spring Break.  We ate in the rotating "Top of the World"  restaurant above the Stratosphere.  The view was spectacular, and the food was yummy.  Their signature Potatoes Au Gratin, with gorgonzola, parmesan, provolone and romano cheese, was particularly noteworthy.

I've never found "their" recipe, but I've found a similar recipe that we like a lot and modified it to incorporate a blend of cheeses.  If you've made potatoes au gratin, you've probably discovered it is difficult - if not impossible - to get the potatoes in the middle to cook without overcooking or curdling the sauce.  But this recipe will yield perfectly done potatoes every time, because it cheats:  you parboil the potatoes first, then heat through just enough to get everything bubbling hot.

Potatoes Au Gratin

Ingredients:
3 cups diced cooked potatoes (with or without skins); drained
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (not the stuff in the plastic shaker jar)
1/2 cup diced or grated soft cheese (soft mild fontina is my favorite, but provolone, Monterey Jack or mozzarella can be substituted)
1/4 cup crumbled feta, blue or gorgonzola cheese
1 cup soft bread crumbs

Directions:
Grease au gratin pan or 1-quart casserole dish.  Add still-warm potatoes to pan and set aside.   In a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, melt butter; pour half into a cup or bowl and set aside.  Add flour to the remaining 3 tablespoons and stir well; allow to bubble into a light roux.  Gradually add milk, whisking constantly.  Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened - make sure there are no lumps.  Add cheeses and stir until they begin to melt.  Pour sauce over potatoes in baking dish; mix gently to coat.  Combine butter with bread crumbs and sprinkle over potatoes.  Bake about 15 minutes to heat through; switch to broil and broil just until golden and bubbly on top.  Serves 4.

This recipe can be doubled for a crowd, and the lineup of cheeses can be changed to suit your preferences (and what you have on hand.) But don't shy away from the blue cheese if you're worried about it overpowering the dish...there's just enough there to add a hint of pungent flavor that even blue-cheese haters will enjoy, without the "bite" they don't.

Happy cooking!

South Carolina, you had me at the shrimp & grits

Since my first visit a long time ago, New Orleans - specifically the French Quarter and Garden District - has been my favorite place to go. Forget Bourbon Street - give me a beignet and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde, then let me amble around Jackson Square, buy some remoulade sauce at a Central Market, slip into some out-of-the-way courtyard eateries, browse through some antique stores and funky art galleries, and I am in a state of bliss. Before Katrina, a ride on the trolley all the way to the end of the Garden District and back was a wonderful (and cheap!) way to see the stately (and not-so-stately) homes, schools and other sites along the route. Our last visit required taking a city bus to get us back to the French Quarter, to gather our luggage just in time to catch our flight. The bus ride was not as magical as the trolley, and a painful reminder of the blight that Katrina left on this city.

No matter how seldom I actually visit NOLA, I have my favorite spots burned into my mind and heart, and I can find them with my eyes closed. Well, maybe not quite that intimately - but definitely without a map or a moment's hesitation. Every visit feels like I'm going home.

My first visit to NYC was a business trip, pre-Giuliani's cleanup efforts; I was pregnant and taking no chances with the subway or the streets. I saw little of the city, and had zero desire to ever return. But a second visit to NYC a few years ago mesmerized me much like NOLA, but for decidedly different reasons. Manhattan practically hums with energy, and you tingle when you step out on the street. Seeing Rockefeller Plaza lit up with Christmas splendor, standing outside the NYSE on Wall Street, meditating near the site of the WTC towers, enjoying the lush beauty of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, taking a stroll through Central Park, an afternoon of Monet and Manet at MONA, a Knicks game at Madison Square Gardens, and of course, a real Broadway play combine to spell magic. In a future trip, I'm sure I'll be ferreting out my favorite places, and finding new favorites in a New York minute, no pun intended.

And now South Carolina - especially Murrells Inlet and Charleston - has joined NOLA and NYC on my short list of absolute favorite places to visit.


Sleepy little Murrells Inlet is part salt marsh, part fishing village, and a gorgeous, pristine state park/beach (Huntington), where the dolphins came out to play a few yards from where we were standing, and the starfish threw themselves on the beach (we took pictures and threw them back.) Walt Disney cannot hold a candle to that sort of magic, try as they might. The seafood of this area is legendary, the people are friendly - as small town southerners are - and the pace is definitely laid back. And if that's not enough, it's ridiculously convenient: only a few minutes from Myrtle Beach's shopping, and a couple hours to Charleston, on the sweetgrass basket highway. (Yes, of course we stopped ;o)

Charleston - like NOLA - boasts dreamy architecture in town, magnificent plantations all around the city, great shopping, and utterly amazing food. I'm sure it sees its share of revelers and party-goers, but the atmosphere is decidedly more family-friendly than NOLA.

I've fallen hard for South Carolina's charms. I just hope my husband REALLY loves all the golf courses there, since I think I might be wheedling a repeat visit (or two or three) in the near future. For now, I'm content to put a sticker on my car window - a palmetto tree and crescent moon. Of course, mine is orange.

What a week!

Okay, so we went from on-top-of-the-world weekend to toilet-hugging Monday, all in the span of a few hours. Either I'm getting older or this thing was rougher than most, but it stayed longer than the typical 24-hour-bug. Now it's hopefully run its course through our whole family, except the child who lives away and was smart/lucky enough to STAY away this week. Clorox and Lysol, here I come. This was an exceptionally lousy time to get sick - spring break is approaching at breakneck speed. My menu for this week is virtually untouched; guess it'll do for a do-over in April.

Thankfully I was nearing a full recovery by Wednesday morning and able to keep my Dinner A'Fare appointment today, so the freezer is well-stocked for when we return home. Here were my choices from their March entrees:

shrimp 'n grits with a bourbon red-eye gravy
chicken balsamico
south-of-the-border tenderloin
flank steak with gorgonzola and walnut butter sauce
five-spices chicken with cilantro cream
horseradish-encrusted burgers

I tossed in a breakfast entree for good measure (heuvos rancheros - let's see how THEY fix 'em.) And next month's menu looks even more enticing. Hmmm.

Tonight the Vols play San Diego State University (the NCAA basketball playoffs begin today.) Go Big Orange!!! It's a late-starting game, and given our weakened constitutions (*snicker*) we might have to watch it from the bedroom TV. But then it won't be in high-def. Decisions, decisions. speaking of which, I guess I better go decide what to start for dinner. A few days out of my normal routine, and I've completely forgotten how to plan and cook dinner.