Beck’s Bakery Greenwood SC

***UPDATE*** This bakery has closed 😦

The great thing about a bakery is the smell. At least, it is to me. Once I walk in and inhale the flavors, my mouth waters in anticipation. I feel enveloped in comfort and remember my childhood when my mom used to bake bread. This is why I am so happy that Greenwood SC has an artesian bread bakery.

Becks bakery has been open for about a year now and if I ate there as much as I really wanted to, I would probably be big as a house. And yes the name of the bakery is Beck’s. Not Becky but B-E-C-K’s. The owner gets that a lot. And she said to me that it is her maiden name (I think that is how she explained it).

But back to the reason why I go to this bakery. It is all about the BREAD. You might know this about me by now: I am a carb fiend. A bread fanatic. All things starchy, I like it.

Beck’s has plenty of options to feed my need. In the picture, you can see some of her pastries. She also makes her cinnamon rolls out of some kind of pastry dough and so the bread for the cinnamon roll is very light but still full of cinnamon flavor topped with cream cheese frosting and pecans.

In addition to the sweet pastries, she also has many savory grades. In the picture I show her pretzels. They were very good I bought two and are two (I thought I was going to share one with a friend). Besides the pretzels, I have had jalapeno cheese bread, French bread, ham and cheese croissants, and spinach and feta cheese croissants.

Everything that I have bought from Becks has been delicious. I am happy to have this option in my hometown. I hope that people will continue to go by her bakery and keep her in business because I like her food.

Osteria – Philadephia, PA

Jan28

When I was in Philly visiting some friends, I went to Osteria for dinner one night. We went because we heard that it was good. I am always up for adventure when it comes to trying to find tasty nibbles.

Lamb is one of those things that is rare for me to have at home since the local grocery does not usually stock it. If lamb is on the menu, I ordered it. As you can see in the picture, it was served medium rare. Finger licking good. If you have never had lamb, you should try it. If you order it medium rare, it has less of a gamey taste to it.

The vegetable was fava beans. I never had those before. I almost did not eat them because they look like lima beans. I decided to give them a try and I am so glad I did! They were firm not mushy on the inside, so when I bite down there was a little bit of a crunch. Finally, another bean that I like!

While I was waiting for my food, the waiter brought some crusty bread to the table. Bread is my weakness, but I tried not to eat too much. The breadsticks were crunchy and super tasty.

All in all, Osteria gets 2 thumbs up from me. The dinner was delicious. I did not have room for dessert. Maybe next time. In which case, I will probably have to forgo the bread so that I can eat dessert. This is a Philly restaurant that is definitely worth checking out if you have never been there before.

OMG Krispy Kreme donuts

Jan25

The other day, I mentioned to hubby that I wondered how long it would be before I see some definition in my abs considering I have been exercising very regularly since the beginning of January. He said that I would not see much if I kept sucking down donuts and milkshakes (his exact words).

I had to laugh.

To anyone reading this, you probably think he was not speaking with enough tact. But in his defense, I enlisted his help when I decided to get on the healthy foods band wagon to cut my diet of the fried foods and unnecessary fats to lose those few unwanted pounds. Hubby did not see that I had a weight problem, but if I put him on the job, he takes it seriously.

So when I do a major U-turn across 4 lanes of traffic at 9 at night because I see the HOT sign at Krispy Kreme come on, he tries to be the voice of reason.

Hubby: "How many calories in that donut?"
Me: "Not too many. Plus I exercised yesterday."

Hubby: "Humph. I don’t know why I bother."
Me: "Chill. One donut won’t make a difference."
***cue his glare of disapproval with lips tightly pressed together as if he does not have permission to speak freely***

I don’t have to explain the allure of a HOT Krispy Kreme donut to anyone who lives in the South. The donut is soft like air. The glaze is sweet but not overly so. And in, what seems like two seconds or three bites, it is gone. All that is left is to savor the residual glaze on my fingertips, my memories, and an empty plastic bag.

Hot Krispy Kreme glazed donuts are the only food that I will admit that I think might have actually inhaled. One time I was on my 3rd donut when I realized how many I had already eaten. I put the half of donut down and had to go sit down to think about what just happened (So this is what addiction feels like). And it is only the FRESH glazed donut that has the effect on me. They have other flavors, but none are as enticing as the simple glazed donut. And they say you can put the donut in the microwave for 20 seconds and it tastes the same. I don’t think so. It’s hot off the assembly line through the glaze shower or nothing for me.

Now I only buy one Krispy Kreme donut at a time. It is my form of portion control. Since I am usually finished eating my donut before I have left the parking lot of the Krispy Kreme, I do have to force myself not to turn around and buy another one. But knowing that hubby is already glaring at me is usually deterrent enough.

BBQ chicken pizza

Jan22

There used to be a Schlotzsky’s in Greenwood about 15 years ago. At that time, I did not fully appreciate what they have to offer.
Fast forward to today, I have fallen in love with their BBQ chicken pizza. I always order with extra BBQ sauce and no onions. The crust is soft with a little crunchy exterior bottom. The jalapeno peppers balance the sweetness of the BBQ sauce. And there is enough cheese and chicken in every bite.

It is delicious.

I felt compelled to share this because I recently ordered a BBQ chicken flatbread pizza from Subway. I thought that if Schlotzsky’s could do it, Subway could too. BUZZZZ!!! Wrong.

The BBQ at Subway was sickly sweet. Yuck. The flatbread was not crispy as if it was undercooked. The chicken tasted like pressed meat. I do not think I can fully convey how much I hate pressed chicken. The texture of it turns my stomach. I was totally disappointed. That bad experience almost turned me off of Subway completely. It did make me come to terms their limitations. Stick to ordering Italian combo sandwich and I will not be dissatisfied.

Whenever I am out of town and I see a Schlotzsky’s, I have to stop and order BBQ chicken pizza. Even if I am not hungry. I will take it home and savor every bite (it reheats well in a toaster oven).

Festival of Discovery – Greenwood SC

Jan21

It does not take a math genius to know that the formula Good People + Good BBQ = GOOD TIME!

At the Festival of Discovery, the focus is all about tasting the best BBQ. Cooks from the surrounding areas have come together to participate in the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) sanctioned event. The goal of KCBS is to showcase BBQ and promote those who love to BBQ. Across the US, there are KCBS sanctioned events and participants can receive points for their placement in each competition. Some people only compete at the events in their local area. Others will travel hours to compete. If a team travels the KCBS circuit and enters different local competitions, they can accumulate enough points to have the opportunity to get invited to national premier events like the Jack Daniels Invitational competition.

The KCBS judges take their job seriously. They make sure that all the rules are followed to ensure a fair competition for the $20,000 in prize money. There is a 10 minute window to turn in food for each competition category. Even one second outside of the window, disqualifies the entrant team for that particular competition.

In the past, categories that were judged were hash, chicken, brisket, ribs, pulled pork, potato salad, and a category called “Anything But”. In the “Anything But” category, the submission could be anything but BBQ. For this, one team submitted New England Style clam chowder. Not what you would expect at the BBQ competition, but it goes to show that these cooks are versatile in their culinary abilities.

No gas grills allowed. These grills and smokers use wood and charcoal only. Many of the grilling teams prefer a blend of apple and hickory wood.

How does someone get to the point where they want to compete in one of these competitions? I talked to a few teams to learn more about this type of competition.

One team captain was Chip Youngblood of CD’s BBQ and More. His love of cooking dates back to the days when he was 8 years old watching his parents working at the family own business Somebody’s House in Hodges SC. I like that his team reflects his family oriented origins because his wife, children and grandchildren were all there on the team helping in any way they can. See picture below for some shots at his cooking station.

CD’s BBQ and More is one of the original 7 teams that started participated 12 years ago when the Festival of Discovery was formed. He has seen the competition grow from 7 teams to almost 80 teams in 2012. And after about 4 hours of setup, Youngblood is ready to start cooking.

This is not the only place where he competes either. He has awards from other competitions:

2009 Piedmont Blues & Hash Bash (Abbeville, SC) 1st place Hash 2010 Piedmont Blues & Hash Bash (Abbeville, SC) 2nd place Hash 2010 Piedmont Blues & Hash Bash (Abbeville, SC) 3rd place Overall team Michelob Ultra Invitational Rib Cookoff 2nd place

When it was time for food submissions and Taster’s Choice competitions, there were so many complimentary comments made by tasters. I overheard one person say, “That is the best piece of meat I ever had in my mouth.” Another person commented on the “smokiness” and “tenderness” of the meat. In my opinion, the meat had a mild flavor. The meat was tender and fell off of the bone (just the way I like it). It tasted like a balanced blended mix of seasoning and smoky flavor. But even with all the seasoning, the meat could not be considered to have spicy heat.

Overall, there were a lot of talented BBQ cooks at the Festival of Discovery and I enjoyed trying the different styles of BBQ. I will be in line the second weekend in the next July for more delicious BBQ. I will make sure to look for Chip Youngblood for a BBQ plate also. Super yummy.

http://www.festivalofdiscovery.com

http://www.kcbs.us/index.php