Audubon Park & Cafe Du Monde

The two highlights of my last day in New Orleans were going to the beautiful Audubon Park  and eating oh.so.delicious. beignets at the bustling Cafe Du Monde. In the morning, my mom and I took the St. Charles street car all the way down to the park. St. Charles Avenue has the most lovely old houses I have ever seen. The prettiest place in New Orleans if you ask me. We walked around the big loop in the park and all the while I literally could not stop taking pictures of the trees. I hope you can see why...

Now, tell me those trees aren't a magnificent creation?

The houses.

The street car.

Beignets are of another kind of magnificent creation. The sweet, doughy, messy kind of creation. Here is the family getting messy with these things... and for $2.42 for 3, why not order a batch for each of us?

And a smattering of shots to wrap up our time in New Orleans. 

Tomorrow is New Years Eve, and my plans are still up in the air! But it is still the holiday season so I am gonna say... 

Merry Merry, Katie-Barry

walking in NOLA

In New Orleans, you walk. Once you feel like you have walked enough, you walk some more.  I kind of like it that way. Yesterday my mom and I did some serious walking. We took a brisk walk along the river in the morning to get our hearts pumping. After that we walked to Rouses (the neighborhood grocery) to get fixin's for lunch. In the afternoon we walked to the French Market. I tried on Fadoras and I now want to go back to buy one. The whole family walked to one of Josh Besh's restaurants, Domenica, for dinner. It was pretty delicious. It might not seem like a lot of walking, but it really was. I enjoyed every second of it. Things that caught by eye while walking...

 

Tomorrow we drive home. It has been a short but sweet trip. I'll catch y'all up on what I have been doing today, tomorrow. 

Adieu, Katie-Barry

New Orleans

My family got up the morning after Christmas day and drove all the way down to the good old city of New Orleans. We have a place right smack dab in the French Quarter. So we are taking a little Christmas vacation down here and no really doing much at all, which is what vacations are for, right!? Just a few shots from yesterday...

Thats my dog, Booger, she does not like my camera.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and are enjoying some time off.

Blessings,

Katie-Barry

Athens at Christmas Time.

I got the pleasure of taking a little trip to the wonderful town of Athens, Ga yesterday with one of my favorite people in this world, Elly. I helped her move out of her apartment since she will be journeying to a far away place next semester. We fixed the door that her dog ate, deeming ourselves construction women. We ate... a lot, it was all delicious. Clocked for lunch, The Grit for dinner, and Jittery Joes for an afternoon pick me up. I can't wait to eat in Athens for the next four years! We roamed around downtown, picking up things here and there. Including a t-shirt, a pullover, and a sticker for my car all bearing the lovely Georgia G on them (assuring my mom they all were early Christmas gifts). We popped into the record store, went to some cute boutiques, and Elly got some last minute Christmas gifts. Neither of us are much of shoppers so we called it a day and headed to Jittery Joes to dream about our futures and eat an apple pie bar- so yummy! Dinner came later, finishing packing came after that, a piece of vegan "chocolate death" cake was consumed, Christmas lights were gazed at, and then we crashed at Elly's friends place. I slept on the most comfy couch ever, it twas nice. 

Clocked! for lunch, the falafel sandwich rocks.

Farm 255 is all about local, organic food :)

The Georgia Theatre, so great.

Cool record store that I didn't catch the name of

Spotted... Beatles records!

The Grit: healthy, delicious, vegetarian food

We got veggie plates. We shared 6 different things, all tasty.

Downtown all Christmas-y, made me smile.

And now it is CHRISTMAS EVE! which is so crazy to me. Time to wrap presents, sing happy birthday to Jesus, make cinnamon rolls from scratch, love on my family, count our blessings and be merry! Whoopee! Have a Very Merry Christmas.

Katie-Barry

One of my favorite things... nuts.

Oh, how I love nuts- If you are giggling, then get your mind out of the gutter, this is a serious subject :)  I eat them every single day and usually more than once if it is a good day. It is hard to pick a favorite out of the category because they are all so different and delicious in their own way. Cashews and pecans tie for first place in my heart. Almonds take a close third. My favorite ways to eat nuts is toasted on top of salads, in the form of nut butters, and just plain roasted & salted! Some days I think I am eating too many nuts... but then I always tell myself nuts are full of good healthy fats, and you can always use more of those. (Which is probably not true, but hey! I could be eating way to many cheez-its or potato chips- so at least nuts are healthy in the first place) I always feel terribly sorry for people who are allergic to nuts, literally my heart hurts for them. And I always am terribly confused when people say they don't like nuts- that baffles me! So if you are one of those "nut-haters", I have a recipe for you today that might just turn you into a "nut-lover". And if that happens, let me know, so we can be nut-loving friends! Oh, and these are perfect for gift giving, if you can not eat them all before you gift them (trust me, its hard).

Rosemary & Brown Sugar Spiced Nuts
adapted from 101cookbooks

1 cup brown sugar
2 t. sea salt
1 or 2 t. rosemary, chopped
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 cup black and white sesame seeds, mixed
2 cups walnuts
2 cups almonds
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup dried figs chopped

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. mix sugar and spices in a bowl
3. combine nuts, seeds, and figs in another bowl
4. whisk egg whites and add to sugar mixture, then add that to dry ingredients
5. spread out of parchment lined baking sheets, try to separate them as much as possible so they don't stick together
6. bake in oven for 25 minutes and don't stir.
7. let cool for 5 minutes then break apart and store in airtight container.

Enjoy,
Katie-barry

Baby, It's Not Cold Outside

It is has been warm and rainy. Like 60 degrees warm, and its December. I know I live in the South, but really?... this is not normal and I am starting to kind of loathe it. I don't get to wear my sweaters, warm socks, or big coats. It is hard to feel like it is Christmas time with this weather... but I sure am trying hard. This music is helping and today I start wrapping presents, which is quite lovely. In lieu of embracing my rain boots that I had on yesterday, I took these...

Wherever you are, I hope it is a little colder outside!

Merry, Merry

Katie-Barry

"The Roots"

Instead of "The Works", I am calling this pizza "The Roots" because it is full of winter root veggies. I went all out with the winter theme and made a pumpkin ricotta sauce, which was nothing short of delectable. I think I am falling in love with cheese. My mom is in love with cheese. So the saying holds true... "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree". I going to give you a guide to making this pizza, not a recipe cause when it comes to pizza you can put however much of whatever you want on it- pizza is a beautiful thing.
Oh, and I caramelized onions to make it all the more fabulous.

Guide to "The Roots" Pizza
Roast beets, winter squash, broccoli, turnips, etc. winter roots
Caramelize 2 large sweet onions (that covered one pizza for me)
Pumpkin sauce
        - 1/2 can pumpkin puree
        - about 1 cup of ricotta cheese
        - spices: sage, nutmeg, Italian herbs, garlic powder, pepper, salt
Crust: make your own whole-wheat dough recipe here
roll it out as thin as you like
Assemble: Preheat oven to 450 degrees, toast crust 4 min on each side. Spread out pumpkin sauce, then onions, then veggies. Turn oven down to 400 degrees, put pizza in for 10-15 min until bottom gets crusty and brown.

I could only eat 2 and a half pieces of this.Which means it is super filling and that you have more leftovers, yay! Enjoy.
Cheers to lovely pizza,
Katie-Barry

Merry, Merry!

Decorated our Christmas tree last night. Finals are over with. Being kind of lazy today. Going to Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors Christmas show tonight. Baking tomorrow.
Oh, how very merry this season really is!
Now, if only it would get cold outside...

Here is a little Christmas tune by the lovely Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

merry, merry
Katie Barry

First Impression

What better way to greet you than with a batch of cookies? I figured it would make a pretty good first impression. Please correct me, if I am wrong.

Something that you will learn quickly is that I have a sweet tooth. Cookies usually fit the bill. Some days, I throw all cares to the wind and have a piece of pie or a bowl of ice cream. Other days, I want something that satisfies my sweet tooth but is a little on the lighter side. And that is what these cookies are for.

Apparently, I don't like my cookies to be all the same size

Chocolate Chip Almond Cookies: makes about 16 cookies

Gluten free and easily vegan if you swap the chips for carob. Soft and delicate with a crispy bottom. Perfectly sweet, with a hint of honey and coconut flavor. The chocolate chips are like little treasures hidden in the cookie pillow!

What you need:

1 cup almond flour

1 cup oat flour (ground from rolled oats)

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

scant 1/2 cup of virgin coconut oil (not melted)

2 T. honey

1/3 cup sucanat (can use brown sugar)

1 egg

chocolate chips (however many your heart desires)

To make:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Whisk em' up.

Put sucanat and coconut oil into stand mixer, mix until sucanat is well combined (think creaming butter and sugar)

Add honey and egg. Mix until well combined.

Gradually add flour mix, now stirring to combine with spatula.

Mix in chocolate chips

Scoop out with spoon or mini ice cream scoop onto baking sheet (lined with parchment paper-optional)

Cook for 10-12 min. -edges should be brown and middles should be set

My parents gave me two thumbs up on these little guys! I hope you will too.
Here's to eating something lovely.
Cheers, Katie Barry