Halley's Kitchen | Fromage Fort

 

My cousin Halley is in culinary school in Charleston we're always picking her brain on all things food when we see her.  She shared this recipe for Fromage Fort with us and we thought we'd share.  It's seriously the easiest thing ever, but it sounds and tastes very fancy and gourmet.  And I promise, you already have everything you need to make it in your fridge.

Formage Fort is basically a spread made up with tons of different leftover cheeses.  (Sounds delicious right?!)  Basically you just chop any soft cheeses and shred/grate hard cheeses you may have sitting in your fridge and pulse them in the food processor with a little white wine.  Give it a taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  We used the cheese combo below (because it's what we had on hand) but mix it up and use cheese whatever cheeses you love - you can follow this for proportions but it's really trial and error.

 

Fromage Fort:
 basic white cheddar
Appalachian (leftover from Dean and Deluca)
basic blue cheese
aged gouda (leftover from Dean and Deluca)
 a soft but pungent brie (leftover from Dean and Deluca)
cream cheese
1/2 cup white wine

toss all chopped/shredded cheese in the food processor, pulse with white wine until you reach a spreadable consistency



This spread is perfect with a baguette or crackers as a little appetizer or cocktail snack.  We enjoyed ours with a little store bought pesto and it was delish!

~Mary Keller

Brand love | Matine

You guys MK directed me to Matine last week and I cannot get this brand our of my head. How gorgeous is this stuff?!

Cocktail Testing | Jack Rudy Tonic

This past weekend we imposed on MK and JD (again!) on Saturday night.  We brought our standard wine and goodies but this time we also brought some Jack Rudy tonic for everyone to try too!  I know we're super late to the game on this but I was hesitant at first... I'm anti tonic in general, so it wasn't even appealing to me at first.  Once I read a little more about it and discovered it's crafted in small batches in Charleston, SC with a "delicate mix of botanicals and sweetened with real cane sugar" complimenting the otherwise perfect quinine concentrate, I thought it just may be worth a try.

Around Here

Heath & Andy's Friday night charcuterie | the charming Park Café in Charleston | awesome plant wall in Park Café | My happy lunch date | the lunch special - a caprese salad | leftover cheese about to be turned into something delicious | Virginia stealing a lick of Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream | cocktails, baguettes and cheese spreads

Happy Monday guys!  This weekend flew by, especially with us making the shortest trip ever down to Charleston.  Virginia was a doll and happily smiled as she was having her picture taken, even though it was so, so HOT.  After pictures, we went to nearby Park Café for an early lunch, and luckily we had the place to ourselves so I didn't have to worry about who Virginia may be annoying. :)  After lunch, we made a quick stop at Jeni's Splended Ice Creams for a few cones and then hit the road.  So good!  Heath & Andy were sweet and had dinner and drinks ready for us when we got home.  We did a little recipe and taste testing (more to come!) and had a nice night of grilled chicken and drinks on the porch.  (It's hard to beat a homey, delicious chicken, don't you think?)

Hope everyone has a great week! 
~Mary Keller

Happy Friday

 

Happy Friday friends!  We made it to the weekend!  Today will be a short day because J.D., Virginia and I are throwing a few things in a bag and hitting the road for the shortest ever trip to Charleston.  We won't even be there 24 hours, but that's okay.  We're having Virginia's picture taken by the insanely talented Olivia Rae James, and I couldn't be more excited.  Worth the trip, and that's saying a lot when a trip involves a baby.  We are literally driving to town and having her pictures made, then grabbing lunch and heading home.  I'm hoping I can talk J.D. into trying Leon's or The Park Café because they look delish!  (I'd really like to talk J.D. into letting us get ice cream at Jeni's too, but that may be pushing it.)  Have a good weekend friends and we'll see you Monday!

~Mary Keller

Image via Park Cafe

Entertaining Trick No 1 | Make Ahead

We're starting a new little series on entertaining tricks and tips and hopefully we'll have some ideas to share that make entertaining seem more doable.  The first one is so extremely obvious that it's not exactly post worthy, but I feel like it wouldn't be a proper series without including the most important trick in the book - Make Food Ahead of Time, seriously, make just about everything ahead of time and you'll thank yourself while entertaining.  My mom's done this for years and now it's now second nature....

Birthday Bag

So if you guys couldn't already tell from this and this post I'm obsessed with Clare Vivier. I think I've told Andy and MK multiple times that I think she can do no wrong. I would wear every single piece she creates!

Perfect Parties | Bastille Day

 

So Tara Guerard's Bastille Day Party that was just featured in Lonny definitely goes on the list of parties of my dreams.  Perfect Charleston garden location, adorable little baguettes at every place settings, celebratory sparklers at send off, and delicious looking cocktails.  Seriously, if you didn't see it, it was absolutely stunning.

Around Here

book club shrimp and lemon pasta dinner | fig, arugula and goat cheese Friday night pizza | Virginia loving fresh summer watermelon | perfect Saturday night cookout dinner | childhood friends reunited with our sweet babies | enjoying wine by the fire once those sweet babies finally went to bed | Virginia snacking on pancakes in her pjs | best ever coconut and raspberry walnut pancakes

Happy Monday guys, hope you enjoyed your weekend...

Happy Friday

Happy summer Friday everyone!  So excited the weekend is just about finally here!  We had book club at Heath's last night so I'm dragging a little bit today and I'm ready for the weekend to officially begin.  Tonight, per usual Friday night tradition, J.D.'s going to make homemade pizza (think we're going to try fig, goat cheese and arugula for toppings) and we're just going to sip wine and relax.  Heath may stop by for a little Virginia squeeze because it's been too long.

Tomorrow, we're going to visit my bff from growing up.  Our high school gang is all getting together for a pool party/burgers on the grill/slumber party and it should be so much fun.  5 of us friends are going to make it and we'll have 7 babies total plus another baby on the way!  Should be super fun, you know, in a totally exhausting kind of way. :)

Enjoy your weekend everyone!
~Mary Keller

p.s. Heath's pics from Boston have me really wanting to go.  I can't believe I've never been!

Slim Aarons photo via Bougeotte

Photo Diary | Boston

Last Thursday I flew to Boston to meet my girlfriends from college. Like MK mentioned here, we're a very close group and try to do a trip every year. The past few years have been a little different with weddings and bachelorette parties but this year we reverted back to our old ways and picked a city, a weekend and booked it. I'm so glad we landed on Boston too because it was so wonderful! I've included some pictures and a recap below if you're interested...warning it's a long one.

Backyard Garage Before & Afters

We have some fun before and "after" photos from the backyard garage/shed renovation to share today!  We're sharing them on 702 Park Project today so stop by and take a look!!  If you aren't familiar with 702 Park Project, Sarah's blog documents the renovation of their amazing (and huge!!) historic home.  I cannot imagine how wonderful this home will be when they're finished.

I say "after" regarding the photos of our garage/fireplace renovation, because is any project ever really done?  These are the after shots for now!  These are basic quick pics with no styling, and these also show that obviously there is no landscaping (or even grass) out back right now.  Also, you'll notice the new back gate hasn't been installed or the new fence.  We have some landscaping plans, but they won't happen until the temps cool down in the fall.  I'll be sure to take lots of pretty pics too because I think that's when things will really start to look good. 

Anyway, hope you head over and enjoy!  Last thing - I'd love to hear, do you vote to paint the brick fireplace or leave it as is?  Our original plan called for painting the fireplace, but now we're a little on the fence.  Good news is we cannot paint the brick until it settles for a few months so we have some time to think on it.  I'd love to hear your vote.  See you at 702 Park Project in a bit!

~Mary Keller

Lou & Grey

Are you guys familiar with this new-to-me brand, Lou & Grey, offered at Loft?  I'm just now discovering it and I think I'm really going to love it.  From Lou & Grey "The Loft lounge collection has evolved into an edited line of easy, texture-rich pieces for your everyday."  Everything in the line seems so practical and wearable, with just the right amount of elegance and design.  The price points seem realistic too, especially as it seems like every other brand it getting just crazy expensive.  Sweaters for $50, dresses for $50 and up, cute tees and shorts.  Since having Virginia I've gotten a lot more casual but still like to look "dressed"  and these are looking more my speed.  (Plus, I'm sure Heath loves that the line is primarily neutral.  She's a neutral with pretty jewelry and purse kinda girl.)  What do you think?

~Mary Keller

All images via Lou & Grey

Around Here

Happy Monday guys!  Did you all have a good weekend?  Heath went to Boston with her 3 best friends, and although I haven't talked to her, from the looks of the few pictures she sent, it looks like they had a really good time.  Seafood, drinks, shopping, and lots of walking with friends.  Looks perfect!

J.D., Virginia and I had a nice, lazy weekend.  Saturday Virginia helped me with lots of laundry - her laundry basket entertained her for approximately 2 minutes while I tried to fold as quickly as possible.  That evening we walked down the street to our neighbors for dinner.  They served (the best) fried chicken and watermelon, and we brought just simple sliced tomatoes and potato salad.  Really laid back, fun evening with friends.  Sunday, we did random things around the house - we hung a cute hot air balloon in the corner of Virginia's room, and it makes Virginia and me both smile every time we walk by.  Perfect little addition.

Hope you all have a good week!  I'm headed to Raleigh today for work, and I'm going to try to sneak in a visit to Furbish during lunch while I'm there.  Fingers crossed!

~Mary Keller

Happy Friday

Happy Friday friends!  So excited the weekend's here!  Is anyone up to anything fun?  Heath slipped away to Boston yesterday for a little long weekend getaway with her three best friends from college.  Sounds perfect right?  These 4 are truly besties like I've never seen before.  (Like don't even try to break into their group.  I did for Heath's bachelorette and they welcomed me, but they're not looking for new members to their gang.  4 people fit perfectly in one hotel room and they love each other so they're sticking to just each other.)  They're all spread across the country now, Charlotte, DC, Charleston and Austin so these every other year or so girls trips keep them close.

I can likely copy and paste my last Friday weekend plans for me, J.D., and Virginia. :)  We're staying in Charlotte and relaxing of course.  Tonight we're taking a homemade meal to neighbors and friends who just brought home their new baby boy.  Aren't home cooked meals that friends bring life savers those first few weeks?  Tomorrow we're not doing much.  Dare I say our projects around the house are just barely starting to slow down?  We're walking to an early dinner Saturday night at our neighbors' house which will be a lot of fun.  They have a son two months younger than Virginia and Virginia loves staring a squealing at him.

A few things that caught our attention this week, and then onto the weekend!

mmm...this Peanut Butter Bourbon Milkshake looks pretty much perfect.  I'm bookmarking this and may try to make a version (a simplified verison!) for us this weekend.  Sounds like it would be yummy for our bourbon loving friends for early Fall football games when it's still hot out too.

Enjoyed Goldmine Journal's thoughts on hospitality and more realistic entertaining for a new generation.  Parties don't need to be Pinterest worthy to be so much fun.

Congrats to Anna with The Yellow Table for making her cookbook dream a reality.  I've preordered a copy and can't wait to take a look.  Love her mission to bring friends around a table to share good food!!  There's really not much better to me.

And in supporting Anna's cookbook dream, I discovered Leanna Cooks, author of Good and Cheap.  You can help support this project here.  This is the coolest project guys.  She's offering a FREE cookbook that shares recipes for GOOD food on just $4 a day.  A $4 a day budget is what food stamp recipients receive and she's on a mission to bring quality, accessible food to everyone, even low income individuals.  I love this so much guys.  She offers a free downloadable PDF, but she's raising money to print the cookbook to distribute this to many organizations that serve low income families.  This is a non-profit deal.  She's not trying to get rich here.  Everyone can use this, even people like me who try to save money on meals more often than not.

I must be hungry because it looks like that's all that caught my eye this week.  Hope everyone has a good weekend!  If you're doing anything fun we'd love to hear.

~Mary Keller

Image of Boston

Pour Olive & Summer Salads

So this post is really kind of two parts.  One part how much we love our neighborhood shop Pour Olive, and the other part how we're trying to clean up our lunch around here and eat more greens. :)  I feel like there are so many specialty olive oil shops these days (all the sudden!) but we're VERY partial to Dilworth's Pour Olive and really do think they may be the best.  They treat everyone like family and every time we go they act so happy to see us and ask us how Virginia's doing.  (They remember her name!  that's crazy, we don't go that often!)  But also, their branding!  How genius is their name and logo, and I love that their name and branding isn't a rustic Italian name like so many olive oil places I see.

Patterned Pants

So not all of these are actually patterned pants but it sounds better so I'm going with it...

Recipe Box | Summer Caprese with Peaches

So this summer caprese with peaches salad is seriously so easy that it's kind of silly for me to even post a "recipe" for it.  It's more like you just take a few really simple ingredients and mix them together and then you have seriously the most perfect, delicious summer salad.  A few weeks ago J.D., and I were cleaning out the fridge and saw a wedge of fresh mozzarella that needed to be used so we sliced a few tomatoes for dinner and remembered how amazingly delicious caprese salads can be in the summer when tomatoes are fresh.  We've pretty much had caprese salads weekly since.

Around Here

Happy Monday everyone!  Hope you all had a nice long 4th of July weekend.  This weekend was really so nice.  We stayed put this year for the 4th and it really was one of my favorite 4ths that I can ever remember.  My parents and Heath and Andy came Friday night for a cookout and we celebrated the 4th of July and Heath and my mom's birthdays! 

We decided on a super traditional, all Americana dinner.  We stuck with the classics and spent the day cooking Andy's uncle's barbeque ribs, fresh corn on the cob, Ina Garten's maple baked beans (they cooked for 8 hours!) and our favorite blue cheese slaw.  For dessert, we were planning on a cobbler but Heath's sweet friends and Andy all sent Heath so many cupcakes for her birthday, we decided to just help her finish her delicious Sunflour bakery cupcakes. 

A really nice holiday.  Virginia had so much fun, and it was the best just having family over all day relaxing and waiting on yummy food.  And the best part was the festivities were all on Friday night so it was the best feeling knowing we still had two days left of the weekend to do nothing.  (Nothing being chores, laundry, taking Virginia on walks, few returns, getting some dinners cooked ahead of time, you know fun stuff. :)

Hope everyone had a great 4th with family and friends, too!

~Mary Keller

Burgers and Bubbly

Over the weekend a few of us threw a couples baby shower for a friend of ours.  Our friend Amanda is expecting her first baby (a girl!) in early August and we knew we needed one more celebration before the baby's arrival.  She's already had more traditional baby showers, so we wanted to do something more casual and relaxed, and we wanted to include the guys too.  We decided on Burgers and Bubbly, perfect for summer, casual enough but of course celebratory with the bubbly too. 

We kept things really simple.  Burgers on the grill with lots of favorite toppings - pimento cheese, blue cheese, white cheddar, bacon, jalapenos, avocado.  For sides, we made a brussels sprout slaw, summer corn salad and a watermelon salad.  All were perfect because they could be made in advance and served at room temperature.  (No cooking during the party except for the burgers!)  It was also kinda nice to have a change from the normal burger and bbq sides.  The brussel sprouts had a fresh, lemony vinaigrette with lots of grated pecorino cheese.  The summer corn salad was simple and fresh with arugula, a few peppers and tomatoes.  And the watermelon salad had yummy feta and mint.

For dessert, we served King of Pops popsicles in different flavors - sea salt chocolate, raspberry rosewater, banana pudding and fresh peach with agave.  Summery, easy and if you haven't had them, they're so good!  Along with the pops we had mini cans of Sofia champagne for us girls to toast.

If you're interested in putting together a similar menu for a party, links to the recipes we used are below:

Brussels Sprout Salad with Red Onion and Pecorino - we used about half the amount of pecorino

Summer Corn Salad - we omitted the feta cheese since we were also using it with the watermelon

Watermelon, Feta and Mint Salad - We used a cranberry pear white balsamic from Pour Olive, but any balsamic vinegar would be delicious.  Also, we used less feta cheese.

We had so much fun and loved spending the evening with friends.  I think I asked Amanda 50 times if she was "ready" and quizzed her about what everyone has told her are "absolute necessities" for newborns  I think it's so funny how much they change from one person to the next.  We're ready for this sweet baby to get here and can't wait to include the kiddos one day for summer burger and popsicle nights!

Mirrored Sunglasses

 

While we were in Chicago, I mentioned that I fell in love with a pair of sunglasses.  We were wandering around shopping in Wicker Park and stopped in Steven Alan.  They were having a sale and beer tasting to kick off their new eyewear collection.  To be honest, I didn't even take a look at their eyewear collection at first because I assumed everything would be just crazy expensive.  Heath and mom picked out a purse, and as they were checking out I started trying on sunglasses.  I seriously loved every single pair.  They were all just classic and unusual enough, but very flattering - which is tricky because I have a crooked nose!  Mom, Heath and all of the employees weighed in giving their opinion, but in the end this mirrored pair won.  Probably the least classic of all but they told me that they looked trendy but the color was chic.  sold! :) and now I'm seeing mirrored sunglasses everywhere and I kind of think it's a fun little trend.  Virginia really loves them!

If you're a fan, here are a million options from Ray-Ban and Nordstrom.  This pair from JCrew is super fun, and these seem really sophisticated.  If you're thinking this is a trend not worth investing in (you're probably right!) these or these would be fun picks under $10 to wear this summer. 

~Mary Keller

p.s.  Steven Alan is also were we spied these adorable earrings.) 

p.s.s. white sunglasses round up here.  I don't have any white sunglasses, but I love them and think they are always perfect for summer.