Recent Obsession

I've been completely neglecting my blog lately for multiple reasons, life is busy...blah, blah, blah. Most importantly I have been completely obsessed with Instagram since it became available for Android.  If you don't have it, you should download it today. It is my most favorite app. My handle is mrsgrits, so follow me and I'll follow you back!  Here are some of my instagrams:

Corn Cookies

My best friend came to visit me in Augusta over Christmas break for my birthday and brought me some amazing cookies.  He's recently been trying out all kinds of recipes from the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook, and they are amazing.  The first batch he shared were compost cookies, fruity pebbles cookies and cornflake marshmallow crunch cookies.  They were all tasty but I think the compost were my favorite because they had crushed up potato chips and were very salty/sweet.  Everything is so good it kind of makes me want to go visit the mothership in NYC and try some more sweets.  They sell cookie mixes, but for $16 a pop, you'll definitely want to just get some recipes and try them yourself.  

The first batch I tried to make was Corn Cookies.  It probably sounds strange but they are really mellow with a little hint of salty and so, so good.  If you decide to make these you'll need to order some corn powder from Amazon or Whole Foods or you can just get some freeze dried corn and make your own, like I did.

Corn Cookies (Recipe from thekitchn.com)

Makes 13 to 15 cookies

225 g butter, at room temperature OR 16 tablespoons (2 sticks)
300 g sugar OR 1 1/2 cups
1 egg
225 g flour OR 1 1/3 cups
45 g corn flour OR 1/4 cup
65 g freeze-dried corn powder OR 2/3 cup
3 g baking powder OR 3/4 teaspoon
1.5 g baking soda OR 1/4 teaspoon
6 g kosher salt OR 1 1/2 teaspoons

Freeze Dried corn, before it's blended into corn powder.

Corn Powder (after blending)

 All the dry ingredients (corn powder, corn flour, and all purpose flour) are measured and ready to go.

1. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes. *(This step is VERY important, if you don’t complete the creaming process the cookies won’t turn out right.)

This is what the batter should look like after it's creamed and blended, very fluffy.

2. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, corn flour, corn powder,
baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together,
no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Using a 2 3/4-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3-cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at  least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature--they will not bake properly.

4. Heat the oven to 350°F.

5. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes.  The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center; give them an extra minute if not. *(The cookies will turn out pretty big, so you might only get 6 or so on a cookie sheet.)

6. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a
plate or to an airtight container for storage. At room temp, the cookies will
keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

The best thing about these cookies is that you can keep the dough in the freezer for a while and you can cook them one or two at a time. 

Project 365

Earlier this year I resolved to take a photo a day and try to complete 'Project 365'. Well, I've already missed a few days so far and the only resolution I haven't broken is to take off my makeup and wash my face everyday. (Curiously, I can already tell the difference in my skin. It looks and feel so much better.)  Here's a look at some of my days/photos so far.

Jan. 6 Homemade Lasagna

Jan. 11 Attempting to make lemon extract

Jan. 13 Chinese Food

Jan. 14 Enjoying ice cream with my Sis at Sweet Dreams

Jan. 23 New Christmas watch and nail polish

Jan. 24 My Cousin's wedding invitation arrived

Hopefully I can get back on track and at least try to take a photograph most every day. It would be pretty cool to have a record of every day of the year from 2012.

Blog Award from Mrs. Natalie!

I was so tickled to see that Natalie at Two Preps in a Pod gave me a bloggy award.  She is a sweetheart and I really enjoyed hanging out with her before I moved back to G-ville.  We still have to make a date to meet at the Powell's Dairy Freeze in Starke to enjoy a milkshake.  I'm also super excited to keep up with all her pregnancy updates. It's so exciting! 
Liebster means "dearest or favorite" in German.

The rules for this award are:

-Thank your award presenter on your blog.

-Link back to the blogger who presented you with the award.

-Copy and paste the award on your blog.

-Present the Liebster Award to 5 blogs that have fewer than 200 followers that you think deserve to be recognized.

-Let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

I am presenting this award to the following bloggy friends!


Jessica at Journey to the Center of the Uterus. She's about to have twins that she and her husband have been praying a long time for!
Elizabeth at Frozen Peach. Jessica's sister and a friend from my hometown who's living it up in the big city of Chicago
Stacey at The Bowman Family. One of my favorite tourism friends, this girl is a real sweetheart and I love reading about her daughter.
Brandi at Brandi Nell the Southern Belle.  She and her husband are a real DIY inspiration!
Katie at Tale of a G.R.I.T.S. Another tourism friend who is super fabulous at her job and fabulously 'Southern'. 

Long Lost Friend

A while ago my 'real' camera started acting up for no reason. (Not my sad, little point and shoot.)  Apparently the aperture control just up and quit working so it was out of commission. This was right before the move so one thing lead to another and things were busy and getting it fixed got put on the back burner.  I finally decided to get it fixed last month and I'm so glad I did.  I didn't realize how much I missed it until I got it back.  Last weekend, the Hubs and I  took off for St. Augustine.  On our way out of town,we took a walk over the bridge for a little photography expedition. The weather was perfect and I'm loving these photos.

In Case of Zombie Apocalypse...

I am so excited that a new season of The Walking Dead is right around the corner.  For those of you that aren't familiar, it's a show about a zombie outbreak in and around Atlanta and a group of folks trying to survive it all.  Pretty scary, huh?  It's on AMC so the story is really, really good and last season the Hubs and I were hooked.  The last episode ended with the group making their way from the woods outside of town into the city to the CDC, where they hoped they would find help. I also like trying to pick out landmarks and recognizable locations since they film in Atlanta and Senoia, GA.

And it got me thinking...what would I do if 'it' really hit the fan? Obviously I'd need to work out a ton of details like making sure we had a stockpile of food, wine and weapons.  My grandad has some land with a little lake on it outside LaGrange, Georgia.  He calls it 'The Outback'.  Now that I think about it, it's not too far from Columbus (and Fort Benning) and not too far from Atlanta (and the CDC).

Friendly Cows at The Outback

And since my grandad was an Eagle Scout and in the National Guard, he'd be super prepared with cots and fishing supplies and we'd be good to go.  Hopefully, it will never come to that, but if it does, I've got a plan!  We'll just hang out at the lake, fish and hunt for food, milk cows and have a bonfire every night.  Either that, or we'll just take over the world and make it our playground like they did in Zombieland!

Randoms

I've been taking a lot of photos for work lately and I'm loving the beautiful fall sunshine and cooler weather.

The Hubs and I finally got a chance to explore a little more of Jacksonville. We went out for a date night and enjoyed dinner at European Street (they certainly know how to make a good Sangria!) and the Jacksonville Symphony. I wore my polka dot dress for the first time and I'm loving these earrings from F21.

My Sis visited and we went to see the Grandparents down at The Villages in Lady Lake, FL. If you've never been there, it's quite a sight. Thousands and thousands of retirees scooting around on custom golf carts, playing golf and enjoying happy hour. I wonder if they let 30 year olds in...I could totally enjoy that speed of life...

And enjoy cupcakes too, obviously.

So we've been in Jacksonville a little while now and it has been crazy and busy. We finally got out on the town the other day, since the majority of the weekends we have still been back and forth to Gainesville. Last weekend I went to the opening of Sweet at the Town Center with my new friends Tricia, Natalie and Sonja to enjoy some tasty, tasty cupcakes!

Boston Cream Cupcake (my favorite!)