Tacos!

I had a craving for tacos on Monday, so Jonathan and I went out to Taco Boy in Charleston.

Oh my GOODNESS! It was so delicious! Most of their tacos were a riff on traditional Mexican flavors, and everything we had was delicious!

We started out with cocktails- I got a skinny pinapple-infused margarita and he got a frozen screwdriver.

Then, we got queso. YUM! (a little over-priced, but still delicious)

And for our tacos!!! I got the grilled fish taco and the al pastor (pork) taco.

And Jonathan got two tempura shrimp tacos and a chorizo and potato taco. All of his were fabulous!

We had a great night out. Now I'm off to do more DIY projects before I leave home on Sunday to go to my summer apartment! Have a wonderful day!

Weekend Trip to Asheville and Grandfather Mountain

I love/miss the mountains already!

We drove in the morning on Thursday to Asheville and made it into town just in time for lunch.  We stopped by Tupelo Honey Cafe, after hearing raves about it from friends. And rightfully so! It was delicious! The wait wasn't too bad, and we waited for our food for less time than the wait for the seats.

I ordered their Rosemary Peach Lemonade- it was spicy and unique. Not what I expected, but good. Jonathan just got sweet tea. Then, our waiter brought us some of their biscuits and black raspberry biscuits. To die for.

Then the main event: 

I got the Cheesy Grill and side salad. The cool thing is that you can choose your own cheeses for the grilled cheese. I chose Brie and Swiss. So creamy and wonderful.

Jonathan's Charleston Chicken Sandwich. Not just any chicken sandwich, possibly the best chicken sandwich I have ever tasted. So delicious. Oh, that's cranberry mayo on the side, which he didn't want on his sandwich. It was just as good without it.

After being thoroughly stuffed, we walked around and ended up at Spice and Tea Exchange.

I was mesmerized by the assortment of spices, tea blends and spice blends. But I was good and only bought 2 tea blends and 1 spice blend.

After the spice shop, we stumbled upon an antique shop with a huge table full of depression glass (perfect because I collect pink and yellow depression glass) and I found the yellow teacup and saucer and the platter for a steal- about $25 for all of it!

The next day, we drove back into Asheville from the hotel and hit up a quaint little hot dog shop called Cats and Dogs for lunch. Not great, but not bad either. My favorite part was their "suggested toppings" that had names like Carolina Blend (BBQ and coleslaw, among other toppings).

I got my first-ever veggie dog because I wasn't really in the mood for a big hot dog.

We did some more shopping and found some awesome stuff at import stores and a cute little bead store. I picked up some henna hand beads, but I found these adorable little beads. I didn't buy them because I didn't know what I would do with them, but aren't they cute?!

Then, Jonathan was hungry again (we didn't get sides at Cats and Dogs to leave room for a snack later) and we stopped by Cafe Ello. 

I just got an iced Chai latte, but Jonathan got the turkey club sandwich.

We kept walking around and looking for cool places to stop in, and we walked into this indoor shopping complex and found the Fresh Quarter, an amazing fresh produce stand.

Isn't it adorable?

I didn't buy much, but just a couple of the Golden Echo plums to taste them because we were driving to Grandfather Mountain right after this stop. 

Then, we just got on the road and drove up to the mountains and through some pretty heavy rain to the hotel to meet my parents and my brother.

Before the hotel and in between the heavy rains, we stopped in at a gem store and an antique store. Both were so quaint and had great prices. It was fun stopping at places along the mountain road. I picked up the berry colored depression glass punch cups for my mom because she has been looking for them for a while.

Saturday,  we went to the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games because my brother plays the bagpipes and competed. He actually walked away with 1st place in the march competition! It was a very hot day, but so much fun to be around the atmosphere and the constant music. You should definitely find a Highland Games near you and visit! 

It was a great day at the games, but Jonathan and I left in the early afternoon to get to the antique store one more time before going home (we stopped in 15 minutes before they closed and got the berry cups, but I wanted to check it out more thoroughly) and I got the pink depression glass teacup and saucer (seen in a picture above!) before hitting the road to go home. 

It was a great trip! I hope you had a great weekend too!

Foodie Fun

Yesterday, I was missing Ecuador a ton, so I made some kiwi juice because the fresh juice in Ecuador was probably one of my favorite "food" memories. It was amazing to have fresh juice almost every day- so much better than "juice drinks" in the US! So look forward to more fresh juice from me! And the one of the best parts about the juice is that women made it in their homes with just blenders!

But I focused on the juice that I didn't actually get to try in Ecuador, but the family that one of my friends stayed with made fresh kiwi juice a couple of times a week for her and I was dying to try it.

I just juiced 3 kiwis (without the skin), about 3/4 cup of water, and a little sugar to taste. You strain out most of the seeds and then enjoy! It was just delicious.

For dinner, Jonathan and I met up with Sarah and Trent at the Mustard Seed in Mt. Pleasant. Oh my goodness, it was so delicious!

This was my dinner: sea scallop salad. This picture does not even do it justice- it was to die for! I love fresh scallops.

This was Jonathan's plate- sesame crusted chicken. I tasted some, and it was also fantastic.

After dinner, we stopped by Harris Teeter for some s'mores supplies and headed to the new waterfront park in Mt. Pleasant. 

We watched some dolphins and another group on the pier saw a huge turtle come up for air. It was just a gorgeous night!

Then, we used Sarah's creme brulee torch to melt the marshmallows and chocolate.... it worked surprisingly well and they tasted just like regular s'mores.

Yummmm! 

I can't believe how wonderful last night was! I really am in the mood for s'mores again tonight! I think its time to try some of my saved up s'mores inspired recipes. More later today!

More Charleston

I met up with my friend, Sarah, from More than Manna, for breakfast at Macaroon Boutique yesterday because I haven't seen her since before I left for Ecuador!

I ordered a regular croissant and Sarah got a chocolate croissant and we walked over to Kudu Coffee a couple of blocks over on King and Vanderhorst. It was sooo delicious- I just got a cup of brewed coffee and was so impressed- the coffee shop had such a great atmosphere and a gorgeous patio on the back, which is where we ate our breakfast. * I highly recommend it here if you make it to Charleston! * The prices were much better than at City Lights Coffee and there was so much more room to sit down!

Then, we walked our way down King St. to check out a fabric/antique store by Spring St. I thought the store was absolutely adorable- but it was more of an antique store than a fabric store. But I can't wait to go back with cash and pick up an Indian block printing stamp.

After walking back and stopping in a couple of other stores, we drove over to the public library downtown. I walked out with quite a few cookbooks for new inspiration- so look out for new recipes!

More Restaurant Raves

A (late) Thursday tip... Go to a fancy restaurant for LUNCH! Jonathan and I went to Blossom for lunch. It was delicious, as always, but  Jonathan tried a turkey sandwich off of their "Dine for 9" menu. Everything was $9! And the entrees included either a salad or a cup of soup! What a steal! I tried the white pizza and it was only $10 and delicious. And I have leftovers for dinner. Overall, another great experience at Blossom. Plus, another perk was that you probably won't need to put in reservations too far in advance or even at all, and we ate and left within an hour. Perfect for a lunch hour. Try it in your hometown!

After a delicious lunch, we stopped by the Macaroon Boutique (long been on my list of to-do's!) Its on John Street in Charleston. Sooo delicious!

Thats a picture of their croissants. I got a bag of Parisian macarons, but I ate them too fast to take a picture! I got raspberry, pistachio and chocolate in my assortment bag. Divine! I highly recommend this bakery :)

Bakery Tour

Yesterday, my friend, Sarah, and I, met up downtown in Charleston to go on a mini-bakery tour. We wanted to go to the Macaroon Boutique, but it is closed on Monday, so we stopped by Saffron and Baked. Delicious!

Saffron

Banana Torte

This torte was delicious because it wasn't too banana-y or too sweet. But the atmosphere at Saffron was lacking a little bit. They had tons to choose from, though. 

Baked

Sarah got the Sweet and Salty cake and I got the Sweet and Salty brownie. They were both AMAZING. I totally recommend getting either- the brownie was moist (not usually my favorite, but great) and the icing on the cake was light and perfect.

*I got inspired and stopped by the public library for the Baked cookbook. It has the recipe for the cake and I may just have to try to make it at home! And I picked up Magnolia's Cookbook at the same time. Its going to be fun trying the recipes after my trip to Ecuador