July 4th Burger Cook-Off

For our nation's birthday, our friends and I celebrated an American invention with a little friendly competition: a Burger Cook-Off in our back yard! The hamburger was first created in 1900 at Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut, and was popularized at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. This past Saturday, we showed Louis how far we've come since then with our own creative combinations!

Pictured Above: sparkler sets that I made for everyone and jars for catching lightning bugs once the sun went down, both pretty good ways to light up the night.

We started the shindig with all-American snacks, drinks, and yard games. Below: boiled South Carolina peanuts (regular & cajun), locally-famous Hatcher Crackers, refrigerator pickles, and drunken watermelon, which hadn't yet arrived. Refreshments: Roasted Peach Lemonade with South Carolina Peaches from Bush-n-Vine Farm, spiked with a little gin and then Smoked Sweet Tea, sweetened with Kentucky sorghum and spiked with bourbon and a dash of homemade bitters. I let everyone spike their own drinks, so that I could also leave them the option of mixing the two for an Arnold Palmer, my favorite interpretation of these ingredients.

The Cook-Off: Everyone paired up in teams of two (with a few people choosing to compete solo) to create their own featured flavor. Everyone had total control over every element of their burger, including type of meat/protein, bun, and toppings/condiments. Each burger was cut into individual bites so that everyone could sample and vote on their top three. Each team paid $5 to enter, and the winner went home with the cash - $60 worth! Every burger was delicious and well planned, but the winner was our friend, Jessica, whose concoction featured both ground beef and pork, a fried green tomato, bacon pimento cheese, remoulade and a morel cream sauce all on a homemade rosemary brioche bun. Yum!

A little presidential-themed photo booth fun!

Paul and I were so happy to spend the day 

with our great group of friends!

- - - Our Burger: The Italian - - -

makes 4 burgers

1 lb. your favorite local, grass-fed ground beef

100 g. baby bella mushrooms, minced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. Worcestershire

1 T. olive oil

1/2 t. salt

lots of cracks fresh black pepper

Combine all the above and shape into 4 patties for the grill. 

Note: I like to throw my mushrooms and garlic in the chopper.

Toppings:

mix of equal parts dijon and mayo

baby spinach

your favorite cheese

sauteed apples

crisped prosciutto

caramelized onions

Caramelized Onions:

2 lrg. yellow onions, thinly sliced

1 T. fig balsamic vinegar

Saute onions in a little olive oil until transparent and slightly browned. Add balsamic and cook for a few minutes more. Reserve for topping your burger.

Building Your Burger:

Add cheese after taking your burger off the grill, and tent with aluminum foil or a plate to melt cheese and let meat rest.

Spray hamburger buns with olive oil and grill until toasty while meat rests. We used homemade English muffins for our buns.

Spread the dijon/mayo mixture on one side of bun, and layer on your other toppings (spinach, apples, prosciutto, and onions). Add your hamburger and enjoy!

- - - Other recipes - - -

Hatcher Crackers

Boiled Peanuts

Drunken Watermelon

Roasted Peach Lemonade

Northern California Inspiration

Next month I'll be headed out to California, and I've been spending my spare time reading guidebooks, mapping things out, and trying to determine just how much I can pack into this grand adventure. For four days, Paul and I will be hiking and camping together in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Then for five days, we'll split up where he'll continue on what I keep referring to as his "man hike." I'll take the rental car and head out on a solo road trip adventure along the northern CA cost, San Francisco, and back through Yosemite National Park before I pick him up and we head to Vegas for our friends' wedding.

The plans for my solo journey are coming together nicely, with time alloted for exploring tide pools and redwood forests, sampling local beer and roadside oyster stands, and making big-city discoveries in San Francisco and neighboring Berkeley and Oakland. I'll be camping seaside and in a sub-alpine meadow and visiting a new friend who is just moving to San Fran. All in all, I CANNOT WAIT for my grand adventure to begin!!!! Here's a little Northern CA inspired round-up to get me through to September.

Left to right, from top:

1. vintage photo: a tour through the Sequoias.

2. Visit Sequoia National Park? I will! Love this letterpress print by Quaillane Press.

3. I want this vintage CA bracelet right this very second!

4. Forest Friends tee by GnomEnterprises

5. You all know how much I love sending postcards. This stationary organizer by Downstairs Designs could hold all of them and stamps too.

6. A trusty camera is a must. And when is vintage not better?!

7. A vintage Samsonite travel case seems like the perfect companion to ride shotgun down Highway 1.

8. Vintage camping lantern for my night at Point Reyes National Seashore

9. Cream linen cloche with a red wooded buckle. Says beach AND national park. Yes please!

10. "Let's Go on an Adventure" print by Bubby and Bean.

11. 1940's vacation photo.

12. This adorable dress by The Velvet Bird is perfect for daydreaming by the shore and for exploring the streets of San Francisco. Did you see those elbow pads?!

13. One of my stops: Point Reyes National Seashore. And what a lovely letterpress map of that very place by Quaillane Press.

14. A warm fisherman's sweater for those cold Pacific breezes.

15. To pop open a bottle of Anchor beer after the brewery tour

16. Mod San Francisco print on wood by Petit Collage. Love.

I Heart Breakfast.

I love weekend breakfasts on the front porch with a cup of coffee, a morning breeze, and the happy tinkling of wind chimes!

 - - x - x - x - - RECIPES - - x - x - x - - 

Chocolate-Orange Doughuts

Squash Blossom Quiche

Raspberry-Blueberry Dutch Pancake

Follow my "Eat" board on Pinterest for more food inspiration!

Weekends with Verabelle

Warm weather always makes me want to hit the road. I try to plan at least one road trip a year (this spring, it was with three of my girlfriends to Lexington, Louisville, and Nashville), and when I have the time, I fill my weekends with excursions that are close to home. From antiquing to berry-picking to country fish fries to nights at the drive-in or the bingo parlor, there's always an adventure to be had!

This summer, I've been creating clothing and accessories that I think are just perfect for weekend day trips and summer vacations. Vivid colors, hand-dyed embellishments, and nostalgic trims add a little something special. Those peppy reds, merry marigolds, azalea pinks, and tart lemon yellows are as bright and warm as the summer sunshine glaring off your dash.

Verabelle on Etsy

If you want to hear from me while I'm on the road this summer, I'm looking for pen pals! You can get a handwritten postcard from me (or sent to a friend) and get the inside scoop on my weekend and week-long adventures. Next up: in July, I'll be camping out and volunteering on a sheep and cow farm in the mountains of Virginia. And later on, I have a hiking and road trip planned to Nevada and California. I love writing postcards about as much as I love the actual vacation!

Hope to hear from you soon!

xoxo,

Amanda Aileen

P.S. Get a snapshot of yourself in Verabelle while you're on a summer adventure. Upload it to the Verabelle Facebook page, and I'll send you a summery surprise!

Everything-but-the Refrigerator Salsa

This year, we started having weeknight cocktail parties at our place. Every time we feature just one drink and a little snack to go with it. I love these impromptu soirees for their ability to bring together unexpected sets of our friends each time. People from our different circles get to meet and mingle and find all the things they have in common, and we get to watch our all-embracing friend circle grow larger and larger. It's a wonderful thing!


This week, we had a tequila-themed cocktail party and went a little crazy with not one, but two, tequila-based concoctions. (We have such an extensive selection of tequila that it seemed like a smart idea!) We made a peach-tequila popsicle with peaches we picked over the weekend and an orange sorbet based drink. (Sorbet has got to be the absolute easiest thing to make in the ice cream maker - just juice and simple syrup!) But at the last minute, I was floundering trying to find a snack to go with our spiked  coolers. I looked to the bounties of our refrigerator, and it gave me a salsa as serendipitous as the cocktail party, itself! Here's as close to a recipe as I can get...

Everything-but-the Refrigerator Salsa

handful of chopped peaches

handful of chopped cucumbers

half a red bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1 lime, zested and juiced

a splash of apple cider vinegar

handful of fresh herbs, roughly chopped (I had parsley & mint.)

dusting of red pepper flakes

salt and pepper, to taste

I considered about adding onions but thought it might be a little much for the kind of drinks we were having. But I do think some mild scallions would be perfect for this. This concoction was very refreshing and light, and everyone went wild over it! 

A Day at the Pond

This weekend Paul and I spent some time at his parents' house out in the country, in Mt. Pleasant. I always love going back there. In only a 45-minute drive from the city, we're transported to a quieter, simpler existence, as we watch the landscape outside the car window go to green. 

We spent most of our time outside, since it was one of those last cool days of the dwindling Spring. There was time under the trees in breezy hammocks, bottles of homebrew, backyard ping pong games, and fishing at the pond. We also smoked up some chicken, salmon, and pond fish for lunch over a pile of hickory sticks, with an armful of lemons thrown in for a smoky lemonade with tea-infused whiskey.

- - - x x - - x x x - - x x - - - 

If you are a country girl at heart, like me, here's a little list of inspiration to create your own day at the pond...

1. a pair of shades

2. a good read

3. a cool hat

4. a breezy skirt

5. lots of cold beer

6. a tasty dinner with the day's catch

Slice 3: A Picture Show

The last detail of last weekend's party: the picture show. Who doesn't love a movie in the backyard? We tracked down a projector from a friend of a friend, hung a sheet, and... showtime! Everyone brought blankets and beer, and we made popcorn and poured samples of our latest home-brews, a curry IPA and coconut porter. Our fellow home-brewing friend, Dustin, even passed around tastes of his latest, a cherry vanilla stout. And our pre-show entertainment: sweet, haunting tunes by Veda Woolf. On the big screen: Hitchcock's North by Northwest. It's amazing how much of a good time $4.95 at VisArt can get you.

Slice 2: Pedals (a bike scavenger hunt)

Part two of our "Pies, Pedals, & Picture Show" party this weekend: a scavenger hunt! After sampling nearly 20 flavors of pie, getting a little exercise around the neighborhood seemed like a good idea. We split into five teams, with each team having one person on a bike; the rest went at it on foot. Equipped with cameras and smart phones, we all documented our findings for reporting and voting later. We had 45 minutes to explore the neighborhood to see what we could come up with. Here's the list of findings my friend, Sarah, put together along with the associated points, if you'd like to do your own Spring scavenging.

1. an intersection that is odd, confusing, or changes names (2)

2. most springlike yard (1)

3. highest street number (1)

4. coolest car (1)

5. person walking a dog / the most dogs / strangest combo (1/2/3)

6. someone on a bike (not in the hunt) (3)

7. highest / lowest priced home for sale (1/1)

8. street with the most porch ceiling fans (2)

9. squirrel on a wire (5)

10. happenin' hangout (1)

11. Charlotte skyline (3)

12. most colorful (3)

13. typical Plaza-Midwood moment (2)

14. 2 Volvos together (2, 3 bonus points for 3 Volvos)

#5 a couple walking a dog / #13 typical Plaza-Midwood moment

#12 My interpretation of most colorful: This yard was filled with garden gnomes and tiny houses for them to live in.

Pies, Pedals & a Picture Show... Slice 1: Pies

Pies have long been a tradition of my family, with fond memories of my grandmother Vera Aileen's graham cracker pie. I fell in love with her sugary graham cracker crust and rich cream filling when I was knee-high and never turned back. Her special graham cracker pie was nothing more than a vanilla cream, but in my opinion, it was the crust that took center stage and made the pie worth naming, not the filling. In fact, every time she'd whip up one of her pies, she'd leave me a bowlful of crushed graham crackers and sugar to devour with a spoon.

About five years ago, I got the biggest craving for pie - both to savor it, myself, and to share it with friends (what pie is best for). I baked up five in one day, and we had what became our first annual Pie Day. Every year, it's gotten a little bigger, and finally this year I took my head out of the oven and let everyone else do some baking. As of this weekend's event, we've now gone from five homemade pies in our first year to... brace your sweet tooth, friends... eighteen!! 

This year, we co-hosted the daylong party with another friend-couple, Sarah and Nat, who held the pie-eating portion in their own kitchen. I brought a Shaker Lemon Pie (pictured with the striped kitchen towel, below), a new recipe with thin slices of whole lemons and a flaky double crust. But the winner of the day (yes, we vote - pie chart coming): Laura's Spinach-Proscuitto Pie. Mmmmm, savory pies are delicious!

Here are both my and Laura's recipes, and later this week, I'll share more of the party activities that spanned two houses and the whole neighborhood in between: Pedals and a Picture Show!