Mountain Apple Cobbler

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy night, whether they are out and about, or at home.

I will be at home eating passing out candy and watching Nashville on ABC.

I wanted to share a treat with y'all that is To. Die. For.

Seriously, its amazing, so much so, I almost didn't get a picture of it before it was eaten up!

 (I went with the freaky font because A) It's Halloween - duh! and B) Frankly this is the prettiest food picture I've ever taken. I thought twice about posting it, but I'm just keepin' it real)

Okay, something you must know about the recipe before you read any further.
It has a weird secret ingredient.
I was skeptical. And it sounded kinda gross.
But trust me, the end result is delish!
It's Mountain Dew.
Yes, this recipe calls for one can of Mountain Dew. 
Forgive me, please.
But in my defense...this not some sort of clean eating organic foodie website.
I just post stuff that taste good to me and my man. Amen.
Okay, enough of the disclaimers...here's the recipe.

Mountain Apple Cobbler - adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:
2 large granny smith apples pealed, cored, and cut into 8 wedges each
2 cans of crescent rolls
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, melted
1 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 can of lemon lime soda (such as Mountain Dew)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Unroll the crescent roll dough, and separate the sheets into individual triangles. Roll each apple wedge into a triangle of dough, and place them into the baking dish, seam sides down.
3. Mix the melted butter, sugars, and cinnamon in a bowl, and spoon evenly over the dough-wrapped apple slices. Pour the soda over the rolls.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is browned, the apples are cooked through, and the cobbler is bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes. 

Enjoy!

 

xoxo - Bethany

Pumpkin Biscotti

As soon as I read the November issue of Southern Living,

I knew I wanted to make this pumpkin biscotti.

I love any and all pumpkin desserts

...and I love biscotti!

I must say, although it turned out really good, 

it's kind of time consuming.

And it was harder than I expected to find the pumpkin seeds.

Other than that, it's a great recipe for a fall party or having company.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup shelled, raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose baking mix (I used Pioneer Baking Mix)
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Bake pumpkin seeds in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Cool 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, beat sugar and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Stir in canned pumpkin. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add baking mix and pumpkin pie spice, beating until blended.
3. Gently fold pumpkin seeds into sugar mixture. Cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm.
4. Divide dough in half. Shape each portion into a 12- x 3-inch slightly flattened log on a lightly greased baking sheet, using lightly floured hands.
5. Bake at 325° for 35 minutes or until firm. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely (about 1 hour). Cut each log diagonally into 3/4-inch-thick slices with a serrated knife, using a gentle sawing motion. Place on greased baking sheets.
6. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes; turn cookies over, and bake 20 more minutes. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely (about 30 minutes). Store in airtight containers up to 4 days.

Enjoy!

xoxo - Bethany

 

A Confession and a Question

I have a confession.

Until yesterday, I had never seen Steel Magnolias.

Yes, I know. It's a wonder that I can still claim to be a Southern woman; but it's true.

via

My only excuse is I was 5 when it came out initially.

I know you probably already know this...but it really is a great movie.

The comedy, the drama...it's a classic

Sally Field's acting is flawless.

She plays a quintessential southern mother to a tee.

Although, I must say Dolly Parton as Truvy is my favorite character.

Simply because, she exudes southern whit and charm without even trying.

via

So my question to you...who is your favorite Steel Magnolias character and why?

xoxo - Bethany

Our Mediterranean Souvenir

So, as promised yesterday, here is our souvenir we bought ourselves on the trip.

A Turkish carpet!

Here is, in the foyer...

My front door is to the right in this picture, 

so you see it as soon as you walk into the house.

I really like how the navy in the rug picks up the navy walls from the dining room.

It's wool on cotton, 100% handmade, with natural dyes.

I really love it, and I think it adds a lot to our foyer.

I hope y'all are enjoying a cool autumn weekend!

xoxo- Bethany

Turkey

Turkey might have been my favorite country we visited.

It's beautiful, rich in culture and history, 

and the people were so welcoming and friendly.

We first stopped in Kusadasi.

Kusadasi is a small resort town on the Aegean Coast
that is only a 20 minute drive to Ephesus.

Ephesus was amazing.

 

Its crazy to think these streets are 2000 years old.
Ephesus was one of the biggest cities in the Mediterranean in the 1st century BC with over 250,000 inhabitants.

 Today there are probably 250,000 cats.
They were everywhere.

This is the agora, or marketplace, where Paul preached for 2 years.
Its also thought that the gospel of John was written in Ephesus.

This is the Library of Celsus.
It once housed 12,000 scrolls.
Celcus was a Roman Senator,
 who paid for construction with his own personal wealth.

My favorite part of Ephesus, was getting to tour the "terrace houses",
where the wealthy Romans lived.

Just look at those fresco's and mosaic floors.
The pictures don't do it justice.
It was amazing.
They had indoor plumbing, and even heating,
where they had hot water running underneath the floors and behind the walls.
These houses were 4000 square feet each with 3 floors.

This is the theater...believed to be the largest in the ancient world with a seating capacity of 24,000.

The escavations are believed to be only 15% complete
because its so expensive and the Turkish government doesn't have the money to fully fund it.
No telling what's lying underneath.

Next stop, was Bodrum.
Bodrum is a beautiful fishing village on the Aegean coast.

If you look closely, you can see the Castle of St. Peter, built by the Crusaders in the 15th Century.

We took a wonderful excursion on a Gulet, a traditional Turkish wooden boat,
where we cruised some of the many coves along the coast line.
They made several stops for us to jump off and swim in the sea.
They also had a top deck with nice sunbeds for sunbathing.
It was so relaxing!

One stop we made, was at Camel Beach and I got to actually ride a camel!
I couldn't believe it! Camels are my favorite animal!

I'm wearing my swimsuit and coverup...not exactly camel riding gear,
but I had no idea when I got dressed that morning this opportunity would present itself.

I thought it would be kinda like riding a horse, but it wasn't at all.
Camels are a lot  taller than horses,
and he had to lay down for me to get on and off.
It was fun and I would totally do it again.
Although, my camel was really stinky and needed a bath.

Notice his muzzle so he won't spit or bite.
It was an experience.

After the gulet cruise we walked around Bodrum...here's another boat shot for the boys.
Turkey is definitely somewhere I'd like to go back to someday.

So that's the end of our trip!
I hope you've enjoyed the recap.
The whole trip was pretty surreal and we had so much fun.

I hope everyone comes back tomorrow to see our big souvenir we bought for the house!

xoxo - Bethany

 PS- Thank you, Jason, for being my patient, constant companion on our trip
even when I was difficult and tired. I love you.

Greece

Over the course of the trip, we made 3 stops in Greece:

Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini.

All three were rich in culture and history;

although, there was a heavy feeling compared to some of the other places we visited.

No doubt attributed to their current economic uncertainity.

It was like everyone was just kinda sitting around waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I didn't see any protests or demonstrations,

and never felt unsafe. 

It was just a feeling,  a collective consciousness.

Anyway, regardless of the economic situation, there is some fascinating history there.

In Athens, we went to The New Acropolis Museum and 

The Acropolis. The museum was amazing.

 It had some very cool artifacts from the Acropolis,

 everything from childrens toys, to combs, to wedding presents; 

not to mention the original Greek sculptures and facades.

It was built on ruins of ancient houses, so it had glass floors to see the excavations below.

The Acropolis was very cool to see to in person.

The climb up the hill was a doozy, 

I can't imagine lugging marble and limestone slabs up there to build the Parthenon 2500 years ago...

Mykonos is a desert island, rocky, hardly any vegetation at all.

Even though, it has its place in Greek mythology, and people have been there for thousands of years,

there's not a whole lot there that I saw other than resorts, restaurants, and nightclubs.

Don't get me wrong, it's a cool place to go to vacation,

it's just kinda sleepy during the day. 

I hear its got quite a party scene at night.

We went to Super Paradise Beach, the best private beach on the island. 

Clothing optional; although, the beautiful people had their clothes intact.

It was just old people that were hanging out naked. At 1pm anyway.

I think Jason was a tad dissappointed.

Just kidding :)

Santorini was unlike anywhere else. 

Its an actice volcanic island, and the towns are at the top of the crater.

Getting up there is not an easy task.

You could walk, ride a donkey, or take a cable car. 

We chose cable car, 

although I might pick donkey if I had to do it over.

It was like the most rickety carnival ride you've ever been on, with no seat belts.

It dangled you over rocks and water hundreds of feet up in the air.

It freaked me out. So much so, I shed a couple tears on the way back down.

But I made it, in one piece.

But once you're up there, the view was totally worth it!

Overall, Greece was a wonderful, facinating place!

 Next up, Turkey!

xoxo - Bethany

Croatia

Croatia is a beautiful country.

Its coastline, the Dalmation coast, is the "new French Riveria", so I hear.

You know, whats even more amazing about Croatia?

Its cheap! 

So get over there before it is inducted into the EU when prices will easily double

 (these days, with the world economy, it may never happen, although I believe its slated for 2015).

First stop, Dubrovnik. 

Dubrovnik's "old town" is a walled medieval city. 

We "walked the walls" - literally there is a path about 2 km on top of the city's walls.

 

 Next stop, Split, another beautiful city on the Dalmation Coast, overlooking the Adriatic Sea.

Here we toured, Diocletian's palace, the world's most complete remaining Roman palace.

People actually still live and run businesses out of the palace.

It was built in the 4th century AD as Diocletian's retirement home, the Roman Emporer at the time.

Here is the wine cellar, used in the medieval times as a sewer and trash dump, and in the 1970s as a disco until UNESCO shut that down.

Pretty impressive for 1700 years old.

Here is what is looks like above ground, where people still work and live...

Its a mishmash of architecture from Roman to Medieval times...

the Sphinx and column in the above picture were ones Diocletian stole from Egypt

(he was a Narcissist, if you can't tell).

He was a major persecutor of the Christians, and after he died, 

they turned his mausoleum into a church and threw his body into the ocean.

Karma...it'll get you every time.

Anyway, its a fascinating place worth visiting.

We would like to go back to Croatia and do a whole week there, someday.

Next up, Greece!

xoxo- Bethany

 

Venice in Pictures

View from the hotel room

Gondolas parked on the lagoon

Jason scoffed when I predicted a rainbow during a downpour. Double rainbow shortly afterwards :)

View from our balcony on the ship as we left Venice.

 

View of the Rialto Bridge from our gondola.

This one's for the boys. 13 foot Boston Whaler (like Jason's boat).

One of the many beautiful cathedrals we saw.

Gondola ride.

Yes, I realize I said I would do one post per country we visited and Venice is not a country;

but it was the only city in Italy we visited on the trip. 

It was the most beautiful stop we made, so I was grateful for the full 3 days we had there. 

Amazing city. Unlike any other place I've ever been.

There's a very dreamy quality about it...

I wrote in my journal that I felt like I was on a movie set, like it wasn't real.

But it was. 

My favorite part was the gondola ride, I thought it might be kind of cheesy, but it wasn't at all.

It was very romantic and a different perspective of the city I really enjoyed. :)

Next up, Croatia.

xoxo, Bethany

Home

We made it back late Saturday night.

We laughed, explored, relaxed, and ate a lot.

We saw ruins that were 2000 years old, beautiful architecture, water, and landscape.

And I rode a camel.

We had a wonderful time.

We're both exhaulsted and heading back to work this morning,

so give me a minute, then I plan on doing a post on each country we visited.

xoxo- Bethany