While everyone else is either gearing up for tailgating or rushing straight to Halloween, the rest of us are welcoming PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) Season! Now is when the weather cools off (a little!) and we shift gears into fall and this delicious blend of spices, sugar and coffee really sets the mood.
DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte
This easy recipe can be served hot or over ice. You can also make this a skinny latte by substituting almond milk. What I love the most about this recipe is that I can have one whenever I want!!!
PS: I know the bracelet doesn’t match my outfit! It’s part of @Hollyfurtick bracelet challenge where you switch the bracelet to your other wrist every time you are about to complain #mrsbetterhalf
Pumpkin Spice Syrup
Ingredients (makes 1 ½ cups Pumpkin Spice Syrup- enough for 6 lattes) Will keep in fridge for 1 week
1 cup Torani Vanilla Syrup
4 tbl pumpkin (canned)
1 tsp clove
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbl cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
In a microwave safe bowl- mix all ingredients and microwave for 1 minute.
Latte Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
½ cup strong coffee- hot
4 tbl Pumpkin Spice Syrup
Whipped cream
Optional: 1 pinch nutmeg or cinnamon
In a microwave safe bowl – microwave milk for 1 minute. To froth the milk- you can use an electric frother, mix it in a blender, or shake it in a mason jar with tight fitting lide until it doubles in volume.
In a large coffee cup, mix the coffee and syrup. Pour in the frothed milk, top with whip cream. Lightly dust the top with nutmeg or cinnamon. Serve & enjoy!
I grew up with Barbies and never questioned why they were all blond haired and blue eyed- I just knew they were pretty. But I still remember my first Spanish Barbie- she had black hair, tanned skin and brown eyes- just like me. I was too little at the time to know anything about race (besides all the colors of the children Jesus loved), but I knew I felt seen.
While everyone else was probably playing house with their dolls, mine were dressed to the nines and wielding the murder weapons from Clue. I grew up in the era of Charlies Angels, Wonder Woman, Scooby Doo and the Bionic Woman. My dolls played out scenarios where they fought crime and solved mysteries. They were smart and could fight- sometimes they’d get in fights with my brother’s GI Joe. I had a Ken doll too; but he was never part of the production until I watched the soaps one summer with my Grandma. After that, Ken got busted with a hussy (one of the Barbie knock off dolls) and the other real Barbies would gang up on him and run him out of town or drag him behind the pink Jeep (I can thank Bonanza for that).
Fast forward 40+ years and I’m still looking for women who look like me (my hair and skin color) because if they look good in their outfit- chances are that color and style will probably look good on me too! I also make a point to genuinely complement women- especially when I know they put a lot of time & effort into their hair, makeup & outfit. A complement from a woman, especially one you admire, is a precious gift.
A couple of years ago, my husband and I were in a little Irish pub in downtown Savanah where the college kids hung out. We were sitting at the bar and had a tall pretty bartender with magenta pink hair and a funky punk/ plaid/ straps and buckles outfit. She knew she looked good and every now and again would shimmy to the music-she knew how to work a crowd. After one too many shimmies right in front of us- I yelled “Hey!” and motioned for her to lean toward me.
She took a breath and steeled her face with a smirk and lifted eyebrows as she braced herself for whatever I was going to say. I did my best to whisper- but since it was a crowded bar- I kinda had to yell for her to hear me. She snapped her head back like she’d been slapped, tilted her head…then her face lit up like a Christmas tree!
I had whisper/yelled that I loved her pink hair and that it looked amazing on her. Tommie & I stayed for another hour before we called it a night. But for that hour, that young lady beamed when she came to check on us…and graciously kept her shimmies on the other end of the bar. Funny how women can connect so quickly- especially when we feel seen. That’s the true beauty of Girl Power.
Barbie #Girldinner by Melanie Knight
#girldinner has taken over social media with ladies posting pics of the random assortment of food items they eat instead of a traditional meal. While this has shocked many people, its par for the course for the rest of us. Sometimes you just want a little bit of everything- even if chocolate chips, guacamole, grapes and Goldfish don’t really go together- they do make a tasty lil’ dinner 😊. In honor of the new Barnie movie, the vibrant pink color really makes this motley crew of #girldinner snacks POP! I was surprised how pretty bowtie pasta is when its PINK. PRO TIP: make enough pink pasta to have it later with some alfredo for another Barbie Inspired dinner.
Ingredients
2 tsp pink gel food color (use each tsp separate)
2 cups Greek yogurt-plain (or sour cream)
1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
1 cup cauliflower- cut into bite size pieces
1 cup broccoli- cut into bite sized pieces
8 cocktail sticks
8 cooked bowtie pasta (dyed pink)
16 mozzarella pearls
8 fresh basil leaves
6 mozzarella and salami roll ups
8 slices of French baguette bread
2 oz cream cheese
4 slices of honey ham- cut into 8 hearts
8 Cocktails Sticks:
For the pink pasta- bring water to boil and add 1 tsp pink gel, then cook pasta as directed on package.
Assemble each stick with a mozzarella pearl- bowtie pasta-basil leaf-mozzarella pearl
8 Heart Bread Slices:
Top each bread slice with a layer of cream cheese and a ham heart
For the pink dip- mix the yogurt, 1 tsp of gel and the ranch seasoning.
Place the pink dip in a bowl in the center of you round board. Alternate the broccoli & cauliflower on one side of the board. Place the heart bread and mozzarella roll ups on the other side. Add a couple of pink flowers for color. Enjoy!
Memorial Day kicks off the summer season. It begins the roller coaster ride of searing hot days and late nights. As an adult, it makes me wonder why I don’t have a backyard pool or a pontoon boat. But as an adult, I am old enough to know those things cost a lot of money, but they are also an incredible amount of work!
As a kid, our summers were simple: running through the sprinklers, eating juicy watermelon and catching fireflies by the bonfire. Now, summer get complicated fast: long car rides, expensive hotels, dinner shows, mini golf, laser tag…the list goes on. Do we actually have more fun- or are we just spending more money?
While I know no one wants to give up their summer trip (me included). I say we make summer last longer by enjoying every last drop of it. I do this by slowing down. I measure a great weekend by whether or not I got to lay in my hammock and read my book (and so far- I’ve had a LOT of great weekends!) I also try to slow down and pay attention to little things- like the Frog Show.
Never heard of the Frog Show? Well, maybe it’s just at my house on the back steps. Every evening right before sunset, frogs appear on the left side of the stairs and hop to the right side. It’s really fascinating. I have no idea where they come from or where they go, but they do this every night, all summer long.
If it doesn’t sound that exciting, it’s because you’ve got to be there to get the whole experience. First- you wonder if it’s even going to happen because there are no frogs, so you sit on the second to the last step and wait. Then one comes out and I have to call for Tommie to come on before he misses the show. Before you know it, there are 10 to 15 frogs jumping from left to right across the stairs on their nightly escapade. Big frogs, little fogs, baby frogs. This goes on for about 15 minutes. Some frogs go rogue and start jumping up the stairs and land on you (I think they do this to me on purpose). The other night- I listened to a podcast during the Frog Show and a frog sat next to me and listened too. Then just like that- it’s over.
It’s such a big deal at our house that it’s like a summer sunset- you hate when you get busy and miss it. And It’s become part of our daily summer dialogue “Will you be here for the Frog Show. Yeah- I can make back by then.” Or “No- I’ll miss the Frog Show tonight.” So, slow down this summer and enjoy the little things. You never know, there may be a Frog Show happening every evening at your house, you’ve just got to slow down and find out for yourself.
Watermelon Salsa by Melanie Knight
My friend Roy Cross introduced me to watermelon salsa in the early 2000’s. While I have since lost his recipe- this is as close as I can get to it. This sweet twist on a classic summer salsa is a refreshing addition to any backyard barbeque. It would also be great on fish tacos! (Apologies in advance if you have to take out a personal loan to buy a watermelon this year- inflation!!!)
Ingredients
3 cups diced watermelon- seeds removed
1/2 tomato- diced
1/4 cup red onion diced
1 tsp cilantro paste (or several springs of fresh cilantro- chopped)
1 tlb lime juice (juice from 1 lime)
¼ tsp Himalayan sea salt
Add pepper to taste
Optional: add ½ jalapeno- seeds removed & diced for some heat
Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Serve with tortilla chips
It was just another typical day at work as I ended a call with an irate lady. My coworker swung around the corner of my cube “Geez! Your buyer is awful!”. “Huh” I huffed “she’s one of ours; that’s my account manager”. His jaw dropped. True to form, my account manager had dramatically thrown me under the bus on a call with our buyer AFTER I did exactly what she told me to. I stood up and grabbed my phone and pocketbook “I’m going to see the nurse, that witch gave me a headache” (I think I used a lil’ more French than that lol). No, I’m not such a wimp that I ran to the corporate onsite nurse for a headache, but I was 8 months pregnant and considered high risk. I waddled across the street to the other office.
I was stunned when the nurse took my blood pressure and said “You’re not going back to work. Your blood pressure is really high. You need to go straight to your doctor’s office. NOW.” Great. Just great. Not only was I going to a doctor appointment every time I turned around for last 8 months, but now I had to stop in the middle of the day and drive from Ft. Mill to Rock Hill for a headache. I did not have time for this. I also did not look forward to the 25 drive on this sultry February day either. You see, my car was in the shop getting a new transmission, so I was driving an old red corvette.
Let me paint the picture for you. It was 2006 and I had a 1987 cherry red corvette (look up the car in the movie Teen Wolf 2). From the door window up, I appeared to be young lady in a vintage sports car. You could not see me flop into the seat with my huge pregnant belly, or the couch pillow I had to prop behind my back so I could see over the steering wheel. You also could not see that the AC did not work…and today was unusually hot for a February.
I like driving, it helps me clear my head. But on this drive, I just went through all the bad things. Once I got past all the work I was behind on, my mind easily went to the “what ifs” with this baby. What if something is wrong? What if they put me on bed rest? What if they put me on medicine? I was really getting myself worked up. By now, I was at the last stop light before my doctor’s office and deep in my own thoughts when I heard-
“Hey! You there- Hey!” I looked around and saw an old blue truck with 2 scruffy old men next to me at the stop light waving at me. “Hi” I said dryly and went back to looking in the direction of my doctor’s office.
“Hey lady!” I looked at them. “That’s a nice car!” I was used to this- men loved this car. “Thank you” I said and went back to my worried thoughts.
“Hey!” Ugh- why can’t they just leave me alone. “Yes?”
“You should wash it some time.” OH- the nerve. “It JUST rained yesterday” was my curt response.
“Yeah- but it don’t rain dirty water!” and at the same time, the light changed, they roared with laughter and sped off leaving me speechless. It was too much. The absurdity of being roasted by strangers at a stop light while I drive my pregnant self to my doctor’s office. But I had to admit- they were funny- so I laughed.
Well long story short, I did not go back to work. Instead, I had a baby that night and the rest is history.
They say you know you’ve met an angel because they made you laugh…well here I am 17 years later…and the memory of these two scruffy guys still makes me laugh. Happy Mother’s Day!
Easy Hot Buffalo Chicken
I started eating hot buffalo chicken 17 years ago when I was pregnant with my youngest child. I used to get a buffalo chicken salad every day for lunch with a side of hot sauce from a burger place near my old job in Fort Mill, SC. Even now, if I get a fried chicken salad, I ask them to toss it in hot sauce. It’s soo good.
Ingredients
1 lb chicken breasts or tenderloins
2 eggs
¼ cup water
1 ½ cups flour
Oil for frying (I use olive oil)
½ cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
3 tlb unsalted butter
Optional: celery & ranch
Directions: You’ll need to 2 shallow dishes. In 1-beat the eggs & water with a fork until mixed. Place the flour in the other dish. Dredge the chicken in the flouer, then the egg mix, then back in the flour. Shake off the excess and set aside. Repeat for the rest of the chicken.
Heat oil over medium high heat. Once oil is hot, place chicken in the frying pan and be careful not to splash oil. Fry 4 mins on each side. Remove from oil and drain on a plate with paper towels.
Melt the butter I a small sauce pan. Mix with the hot sauce until blended. Dip and coat the chicken in the hot sauce. Serve with ranch and celery. Its also delicious on a salad or in a wrap.
Captain Crunch French Toast by Melanie Knight- inspired by Guy Fieri’s Diners. Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network. This episode featured the Blue Moon Café in Baltimore, MD and their decadent take on French Toast!. I took notes on the episode and estimated the quantities- while this one is delicious- I’d love a chance to try the real deal at the Blue Moon Café!!!
Ingredients
4 cups Cap’n Crunch Cereal (no Crunch Berries)
4 Slices thick sliced white bread
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl unsalted butter
Whipped cream for topping
1 pint strawberries-sliced (or other berries)
Place the cereal in a gallon zip lock back and roll with a rolling pin until it is crushed into crumbs.
In a shallow container- whisk eggs, cream, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
I use an electric skillet so I can make four at a at a time. Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat.
Dip each slice of toast into the egg mix, then coat each side with the cereal crumbs. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side. Right before serving- top with berries & whip cream.
Around here, The Cup kicks off the Spring Season. If you’ve never been, it’s basically a preppy tailgate party and if you’re lucky- you just might see a horse!
I’ve been as a college student, but it’s a different game as an adult.
Here are my tips to help you plan your infield tailgate party:
Attire: Go Bold or Go Home- the clothes here are all bright and preppy!
Think Rainbow Row in Charleston & you’ll get the idea.
For inspiration, check out their Instagram Account @carolinacup
For ladies, you can’t go wrong with a springy dress (think Lilly Pulitzer) and you’ll need a wide brim hat! Shoes, pick something cute, but comfortable because you will be walking. IF you choose heels, go with a wedge or block heel since you’ll be on grass. In the event of bad weather, bring a change of clothes & shoes- but PLEASE get your pictures BEFORE everyone changes!
For gentlemen– this is the best time to breakout your bowties & seer sucker suits!
Set up: Simple Elegance
You’ll need the basics:
fold out tent
fold out table for food
fold out table for your bar
several fold out chairs (ask your guests to bring their own foldout chair too)
cooler(s) for drinks & ice
plates/napkins/plasticware/wipes/trash bags
For Food– you’ll want finger foods that don’t require heat or refrigeration. The best option is to order a sandwich tray from a local deli and serve it with simple side platters like a vegetable tray, fruit tray & a dessert tray. You can divide these up amongst your guests- or 1 person organize it all and everyone chip in
For Drinks– have an assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to choose from. We’ve had a Bloody Mary Station, Mimosa Station and Martini Station along with selection of beer, soda, tea and water.
For Décor- again, simple is best. We use floral tablecloths, a couple of faux floral arrangements and some pretty serving platters.
Other miscellaneous items: sunblock, hand fans, wireless speaker
FAQ
What is “The Cup”?
The Carolina Cup is an annual horse race held in Camden, SC and draws over 30k fans.
When is it?
This year’s cup race is Saturday 4-1-23
Where do I get tickets?
You can purchase tickets to attend or “a spot” in the infield to park your car online at http://www.carolinacup.org
This is an easy meal that is a lifesaver for those busy weeks when you just need to survive!!!
Easy Italian Sausage Spaghetti by Melanie Knight- serves 4 Tip: keep these ingredients on hand and you can quickly make a scrumptious spaghetti dinner for a busy weeknight. The Italian sausage is what makes this meal absolutely delicious. When we’ve served this simple meal to guests… they always ask “ooh, can I get this recipe?”
Ingredients 1lb Johnsonville Italian Sausage 1 24oz. jar Prego Traditional Spaghetti Sauce Optional: ¼ cup wat to rinse jar ½ box Barilla whole grain spaghetti Water for boiling pasta Optional: parmesan or cheddar cheese for topping
Directions Over medium high heat, brown the Italian sausage until cooked through. Reduce heat to medium and add the sauce. Optional: Add the ¼ cup water to the empty jar- replace the lid and shake. Pour this into the sauce & sausage and stir. In a separate pot, fill to 2/3 full with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions (usually 9-10 minutes) To serve: Using a ladle, spoon a helping of sauce over your noodles. Top your spaghetti with parmesan, or my favorite: cheddar cheese!
This recipe works with chicken, beef or pork and is a staple in our house.
It is a quick and easy meal for any weeknight!
Ingredients
2 lbs cubed chicken
2 tbsp olive oil
4-5 cups frozen broccoli florets
1 sweet onion- cut into thin rings
4 stalks celery- cut at an angle
1/2 cup Kikoman soy sauce
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp corn starch
OPTIONAL 2 cups cooked jasmine rice
Heat olive oil in skillet over med high heat. Sautee the chicken until done. Set aside. Sautee onions until they begin to brown. Add in celery and broccoli. Cook until done.
In a bowl – mix together soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger & corn starch. Add chicken back to veggies. Pour sauce over veggies & chicken and stir to coat. Let cook 5 minutes over med to low heat until sauce thickens up.
Serve over rice and enjoy! If you make this- send me a pic!
For me, I remember clearly the moment I decided to be “HER”. It was a virtual work webinar and our leadership brought in a guest speaker to talk to us about career planning.
When she popped up on the screen- I immediately started to critique her.
Hmm, does she realize this is a corporate event?
That’s a bold choice to wear such feminine, ruffled, springy florals. Most people would have went for a black blazer.
Also, lovely lashes, but maybe more of a weekend look.
Then I saw her NAILS. They were spectacular. Long, white nails done is an abstract streaks of black and bright yellow. Clearly she did not realize who the audience was.
In less than 5 seconds, I had already judged her based on her appearance before she ever even opened her mouth. Did I mention she was beautiful? Well she was.
BUT THEN- my inner dialogue kept going.
Hmm, clearly they knew who she before they hired her
IF they (being corporate leadership) are OK with her style and femininity…did that mean I TOO WAS FREE TO DRESS LIKE THIS AT WORK??????
I was smitten after that revelation & it was one of the best webinars I have ever attended. I hung on her every word and immediately followed her on all social platforms and bought her book. By being her true self, she gave me permission to BE MYSELF too.
And that ladies & gentlemen was the beginning of allowing myself the freedom to be “HER”. (Not the speaker lol- but free to be myself- not this faded out corporate drone- but the FULL COLOR surround sound version of ME)
When we go out into the world, we do what we gotta do to survive.
I was an Army brat, so my new kid survival skills were based on “blend in, act like you’ve always been here and don’t make waves”. This worked in middle school, high school and college. Heck, it even worked in my sorority.
By the time I entered corporate America- this was just how I operated.
But now, well now the world was wide open.
I bought clothes I liked, not just clothes I thought were “corporate”
I started wearing red lipstick (again)
I watched TikToks on how do my makeup & even booked a makeup lesson at Ulta
I started doing my hair in hot rollers for big bouncy curls
I bought a ring light so I would look amazing on zoom calls
And I started writing, cooking and teaching again. It was and is magical.
So here is my February challenge for you. Be THAT girl.
The one who’s outfit is put together
The one who has her hair & makeup done
The one who laughs out loud
The one who welcomes the new kid
Maybe you have a different list of whats important to you. That’s fine- just give yourself permission to do those things.
Esther 4: 14 “Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.”
Movies: Don Juan Demarco, The Great Gatsby, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (all about people who re-created their identity!!!)
