Tag Archive | south carolina

Salkehatchie Secret #SCmystery #beachread

If you are looking for a beach read this summer, check out this book by C Hope Clark.

This is the second crossover book featuring Slade and Callie . I am here for it!!! I love getting both of their points of view while they try to stay alive and figure out who is responsible for the crime.

If you like mysteries, I recommend it. You will not be disappointed. It is full of action from beginning to end. There are so many twists and turns that you will be on the edge of your seat.

If you are a fan of books set in South Carolina , you definitely want to check this (and her whole series) out. I love how she pays attention to the little details that paint the full picture that you almost wonder if it really happened. I mean, can I go to Edisto and drink ginger ale with Callie?

My love affair with Old Main Catering food

Dec15

It seems that I have a foodie love affair with Old Main Catering. I have at least one blog post each year extolling the great food experiences. I have not had a mediocre experience yet. There is always different gourmet food being offered when OMC caters an event.

Over the summer, I attended several events that Old Main catered and I had to share pictures of my favorites from these events.

In the collage, here are the standouts.

Top left – Teriyaki wings. The flavor was tangy and a little sweet. These were probably the best teriyaki wings I have tasted. Most the time teriyaki can be too sweet and overly salty. With OMC, the balance of savory and sweet left my taste buds wanting more. It was messy to eat, but no one was complaining because it was so delicious.

Bottom left – Fruit water. I liked the presentation and the bright colors of the fruit. Who needs soda when you can have something that is so much more refreshing! Plus, I felt healthy drinking it.

Middle – Banana cream tarts. I have to dissect the dessert for you to fully understand how awesomely good this was. The pie shell was thick, buttery, sweet, flakey, and crumbled in your mouth. It was the perfect pie crust. The banana cream was thick, not too sweet, and had bits of banana in it. The whipped cream on top tasted like REAL whipped heavy cream with a hint of vanilla. And the caramel drizzle was super sweet but there was just enough to compliment all the other flavors without overpowering them. This is what dreams are made of. Sigh….

Top right – Smoked salmon tart. The same pie shell crust for this is as what was used in the banana cream tarts. In this instance, the sweetness of the crust seemed to be intensified in comparison to the savory smoked salmon quiche filling. I was not sure if I would like this because I never had smoked salmon in this way before. Although hesitant, I still tried it because I believe you cannot say you don’t like something if you have not tried it. In this case, I loved it! I ended my dinner by eating two of these tarts. The herbs and smoked salmon came together well.

Bottom right – Tiny apple pie. It was cute and delicious. Wonderful combination! I like bite size confections with hints of spice and fruit and flaky crust.

Bottom right – Key lime pie in chocolate shell. I have mentioned the key lime in chocolate shell before.

The chefs consistently produce creative bite-sized dishes that excite and delight my taste buds. At every event, I was sad that I could not eat more. I know that makes me sound like a little piggy, but OMC food is so good that it is worth a little gluttony.

Excuse me while I look for OMC’s next catered event…

Let’s go to SNOBs

Apr16

When I was in Charleston, my friend said “We are going to SNOBs for lunch”. I was like, “Where?”

SNOB – Slightly North of Broad (as in Broad Street). Lovely acronym.

She made reservations for 12:30 in the afternoon. I thought she was being overly cautious to ensure we had a table. How crowded could a restaurant be in the middle of week in February? When we arrived, I realized that was so necessary. The place was packed on a Wednesday afternoon in such a way that most restaurants would dream for a Friday night.

Since we had a reservation, we were seated in about 10 minutes of our arrival. Once at our table, I began to review the menu. I did not know what I wanted to eat. The lunch menu had so many different choices, that I was hard pressed to choose just one. I decided I wanted something light but more heartier than a salad. In the end, I ordered the ahi tuna. It was accompanied with rice and cabbage and drizzled with some Asian style-flavored soy sauce reduction. I thought the portion size was small, but I was surprised that after eating all of it, I was so full afterwards. I think my eyes are bigger than my stomach, especially when I see so much good food.

For dessert, I had the special of the day: key lime pie with a shortbread crust topped with a passion fruit sauce. I really liked the pie because it was tart enough in the way that I like it, but still sweet. The shortbread crust was buttery and went well with the creaminess of the pie. If I ordered this again, I would opt to leave off the passion fruit sauce. It was too sweet and I could not fully enjoy the tartness of the pie for the sweet sauce. It seems harder and harder to find restaurants that make key lime pie. So if I come to SNOBs again, I hope they have the key lime pie that day so that I can order it.

SNOBs has won awards for their food and their efforts to buy local ingredients. This restaurant is worth all the hype that has been created around it. Everything was delicious. I could tell that the ingredients were high quality. The food was fresh tasting and the flavors were bold. Price wise, this restaurant is not too hard on a budget for lunch. You could probably spend $10-15 per entree. I think that is about the same as some chain restaurants, but the food at the chain restaurants does not have the same complexity of flavors. And dessert prices were comparable to chain restaurants but 1000 times better.

Next time you are in Charleston, go to SNOBs…but make sure you make a reservation if you do not want an extremely long wait. When you ask for directions, ask “How do I get to SNOBs?” I doubt many people know the restaurant by its full name.

Let’s go to Cookout – a fast food restaurant

Apr5

There is a new fast food restaurant in town called Cookout. They were so busy for the first few months that I did not care to brave the crowds. But when I finally went, I realized what all the hype was about. It is really cheap. Plus, you can get 2 sides. Albeit small portions, but two sides nonetheless.

I ordered the spicy chicken grilled sandwich with sides (1) onion rings and (2) coleslaw. The combo comes with a large tea for less than $5.

As you can see from the picture, the chicken sandwich was bun+meat+tomato+lettuce leaf. Nothing fancy. Nothing special. The bun was cold so I just ate the meat, tomato, and lettuce. I like toasted buns.
I was a little annoyed that I only received 4 onion rings, but I guess that is about right for a small portion. The coleslaw was okay too.

The whole meal was okay. Nothing spectacular BUT it was cheap. And there is always something to be said about a low cost meal.

Cookout is supposedly known for their delicious milkshakes. I can vouch for those (even though I did not get a picture of it). I had a strawberry milkshake that was really yummy. It was almost as good as Chick-fil-a! And that is saying a lot.

I recommend this place when you want something fast and cheap. Or if you have teenagers who eat a lot of food.

City Scape Winery – Greenville county, SC

Mar30

City Scape Winery – Greenville county in South Carolina

A friend of mine told me about a winery in Greenville County, near Simpsonville, that was producing some very delicious wines. Of course, I had to check it out. That led me to City Scape Winery. Their tasting room is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM.

I did a wine tasting of all of the wines that they offer in the following categories: white, blush, red, and specialty.

My favorite white wine was Pineapple Riesling. It was sweet, light, but not dried. My least favorite was the Uptown White which was at Pinot Grigio. It was also light but the flavor was dry. I think that is a characteristic of Pinot Grigio, but I’m not sure.

Out of all the different categories the blush wines were my favorite. They offer two wines in this category: Upstate Blush and Raspberry White Zin. Upstate Blush is a Chardonnay mix to with cranberry juice. To me, it smells like a pretty, dainty wine. The Raspberry White Zin smells like cotton candy and taste like berries. A great combination to me!

My least favorite category of wines was the Reds. All of them were different variations of dry, strong flavors. The Downtown Red was probably the most tart of all in this category. The Blackberry Merlot smelled sweet and I am told it is better chilled. And the strongest of all of the Reds was the Urban Red because the flavors seem to ~~overpower~~ numb my taste buds. But since I want to enjoy the flavor and not trying to drink myself senseless, I decided Urban Red was not for me.

The specialty wines should have also been titled the most decadent wines. The Dark Chocolate Red had a very good flavor and would be good to eat alongside a piece of chocolate. The Orange Chocolate Delight also had really good flavor and if paired with the right food I think that would be helpful. Raspberry Chocolate Delight had a good smooth, deep rich flavor that I would like to enjoy the warm while sitting next to a fireplace. It had that comfort-taste to it.

After the tasting, I bought the Pineapple Riesling and the Raspberry White Zin. Those were my two favorites out of all the wines.

I highly recommend doing a wine tasting at City Scape winery. This is a perfect outing for anyone that is looking for something different to do. I like wines from Chile, France, Spain, Napa, and other global regions, but I think it is great that there are wineries in the area where I live that are making wines with local fruit.