Psst.... Wanna hear a secret?

Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. 
You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it's done right.
 Even a pancake.

- Julia Child

Southerners love pancakes. It's a known truth. Any tourist area you go to in the South is going to be riddled with pancake houses. What I have never quite figured out, though, is how those pancakes houses make their pancakes so good! Well, I'm going to let you in a little secret: I've finally figured it out!

Use these simple tried and true tips and surprise your family with a vacation worthy pancake house breakfast at home:

• I use a standard box mix (gasp!)  I know, boxed mix?!? Really, it works. A standard buttermilk mix that you add water to. That's it. It's what we do next that counts...
• Heat your electric griddle to 375 degrees.
• WHISK up your batter according to directions making sure not over mix (just until the large lumps disappear). I stress using a whisk because whisking imparts air bubbles into the mix which will make for a fluffy pancake as long as you do not over mix. 
• Let pancake batter stand for 2 minutes to thicken up.
• Lightly grease your griddle with shortening. That's right. Shortening. Good ol' southern crisco! 
• Pour about 1/4 cup pancake batter onto greased griddle and let the magic begin. The crisco will lightly fry the pancakes to a crisp golden brown on the outside while keeping the insides light and fluffy.  
• When the pancakes start bubbling and the edges are set, use a flat spatula to flip.
• Only flip your pancake once to keep the insides fluffy! If you turn more than once, the pressure from the cooked exterior will flatten your pancake and ruin the pancake house quality.
• Pancake is cooked when both sides are golden brown and set 

  Feel free to add any yummy mix-ins your family may enjoy such as seasonal fruit or chocolate chips when initially mixing the pancake mix . One word of advice: If using fresh blueberries, gently fold into batter AFTER the initial mixing as fresh blueberries will burst easily and leave your batter purple and soggy. (Does it sound like I may know this from experience?)

That's it! Pancake House quality pancakes at home. 

Who needs Gatlinburg, anyway?

Fresh + Local = Yum!

“The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.” 

-Julia Child

    As says the above quote, good food isn't always the healthiest for us. I feel there are certain times to splurge on unhealthier fare and one of them is to eat your favorite dish in the case that your favorite dish isn't a salad (which doesn't always equal health anyways.) 

    The dish I made tonight is Chad's favorite. I make it every so often, usually on occasions with some particular meaning to him, such as his birthday or his first day back to work for the school year, (the reason I made it tonight.) Every time I mention making it I get people asking me for the recipe. I always forget to follow through on that so I thought the easiest way to share it at once would be here. Maybe some others of you may find yourself a new favorite dish, too!

    The dish I will be showing you how to prepare is Blackened Shrimp Alfredo. I got this recipe from one of those in store cooking demos they do at Publix, brought it home, and made a few changes to suit our liking. Let me warn you ahead of time that blackened means Cajun seasoning which means spicy. You can control the spice, however, by limiting the amount of Blackening Seasoning you add. I like it a little on the spicier side so that is how I prepare it. 

    As I have stated in previous posts, a major benefit of going to the St. Andrews Waterfront Farmers Market on Saturday mornings is the fresh produce available. In this recipe I get to show another great product from the market. As a bonus to the produce, I get to use fresh Gulf shrimp purchased straight off the shrimp boat docked in St. Andrews Bay at the market! Is there anything fresher than seafood off the boat and produce straight from the farm? Excited yet? You should be. It's that good!

    Blackened Shrimp Alfredo

   So here's the plan:

  Go to your local Farmers Market this weekend and pick up these ingredients:

• 1 lb. Fresh Jumbo Shrimp (If you're lucky enough to have fresh shrimp near you. If not, 1 lb. of frozen shrimp, thawed, will do.)
• 2 Tablespoons Fresh Basil
• 2 Bell Peppers, sliced, whichever color you prefer
• 1 Onion, sliced, whichever kind you prefer
• Handful of Mushrooms, sliced (If you like them. Chad isn't a fan so I leave them out.)

 And from your pantry:

• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 2 teaspoons Blackening Seasoning (less if you don't like spice)
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 8 oz. Fettucine Pasta
• 1/3 Cup Cream Sherry
• 1 Cup Alfredo Sauce

 

 Instructions:

1. Put water on to boil for pasta.

2. Prepare shrimp. Peel, devein and pull off heads and tails as necessary.

3. Preheat large saute pan on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. 

4. Place shrimp in ziptop bag or sealable container and add Italian seasoning and Blackening seasoning; Shake to coat.

5.Place Olive Oil in pan, then arrange shrimp in a single layer; cook 2 minutes without turning.

 

6. Cook fettucine according to package instructions.

 (I use Garden Delight fettucine to sneak in extra veggies on Lily. It's made with tomato, carrot and spinach but tastes the same. She loves the colors!)

7. Add vegetables to shrimp. Rotate shrimp to top and cover; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

 8. While the shrimp and veggies are steaming, chop your basil. The easiest way I have found to do this is to stack the leaves, roll them into a cylinder and slice them. Then rough chop the slices.

9. Add all remaining ingredients to shrimp and veggies. Reduce heat to medium-low, cook and stir for an additional 1-2 minutes or until sauce is heated through. Add drained pasta to sauce and stir to combine.

And Voila, (or wa-la as my husband says...),  you're ready to eat!

    If you're like me and cooking for little ones as well, I suggest pulling some of the drained fettucine aside and adding some plain alfredo sauce. This way they get to eat like mommy and daddy but avoid the spice! 

Adult's and Child's finished products:

    Besides the alfredo sauce, this recipe isn't too far over on the unhealthy scale so you shouldn't feel bad serving this on special occasions like we do. There's rarely any leftovers of this meal at our house and, despite the spice, Lily always turns into a "shrimp-napper." I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do as it's easy to prepare and delicious to eat; and I also hope this motivates you to buy fresh and buy local! We'll meet you at the market this weekend!

Visit www.waterfrontmarkets.org for more info on the Panama City Area Waterfront Markets.

Tricky Toddler Snack

“I always wondered why babies spend so much time sucking their thumbs. Then I tasted “baby food.” - Robert Orben

    Anybody that has been around a toddler for any period of time knows how difficult it can be to get them to eat anything that doesn't come in a box or bag with a cartoon character on the front. Lily used to be the exception... enter the terrible twos... If it isn't cheetos, oreos, or anything else trademarked and ending in "os" she isn't having it. That's the reason I was so excited to find this fantastic and healthy snack idea in the September issue of "Family Fun" magazine. 

 How cute are these?!?

    This was Lily and I's finished product. 

Here's the how-to:

Ingredients:

-Mini Rice Cakes

-Plain Cream Cheese (I used whipped for the light texture)

-Blue Food Color

-Goldfish Snack Crackers

-Assorted Veggies for decoration (I used bell pepper because it was what I had at home but any combination of small veggies would work such as broccoli, celery, carrot sticks...)

1. Tint a small amount of cream cheese with blue food color to desired color.

2. Spread small amount of tinted cream cheese on mini rice cake making "waves-like" patterns.

3. Cut veggies into aquatic shapes. (I cut the green bell peppers to resemble sea grass.)

4. Let your kids have fun and decorate the snack themselves by adding goldfish and veggies.

 ENJOY!

    I have found that when I let Lily help in the preparation of a food that she is more likely to eat what we make. She feels accomplished because she made it herself and she feels more comfortable eating because she knows what is in it.  As I navigate these toddler years I hope to share more fun ideas that I find, and please, share any that you find with me!

Where'd our summer go?

"No man needs a vacation so much as a man who has just had one."

ELBERT HUBBARD

    Summer vacation is about to end for 2012. Chad will be starting back to work and I will be starting classes at Gulf Coast. It's been a great summer, though, full of many Gainey family adventures and road trips. One tip I'll give to any teacher friends that may read this is to take full advantage of teacher discounts. Being a teacher in Florida, Chad receives a variety of discounts to hotels and attractions. For a full list of discounts, check the Florida DOE website. 

    Some of the many discounts we decided to use was the free admission to both the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa and the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. With the girls being both 2 and under they were free, so we only had to pay admission for me, which averaged $20. You can't beat $20 for a family of 4! 

    We woke up extra early on Wednesday morning and drove the girls the 5 hours down to Tampa. We drove straight to the Aquarium as it closes at 5:30 and we were already losing an hour due to time change and we wanted as much time there as possible. Chad was able to pull up his Florida educator verification on his phone and show the ticket attendant, then pay the $20 for me and we were on our way! Once inside you know this isn't any ordinary museum-like aquarium. There are 3 stories of exhibits all setup for children viewing. There are several interactive stations where kids can touch marine life and even little Emma got in on the fun. One of the highlights for me was in the Everglades section where they had "Peanut" the owl perched in a tree. He couldn't have been over 8 inches tall and was hard to see if not for the friendly worker who pointed him out to us. The "reef" viewing room was fantastic with floor to ceiling glass which makes you feel like part of the exhibit. If you go, be sure to bring the little ones a swimsuit as there is a pirate ship themed splash pad outside.We forgot the swimsuit and just let Lily have at it in her regular clothes since it was the end of the day anyway. If your little one is old enough to play on their own with you watching from the sidelines, there is a tiki bar serving adult drinks and shaded tables next to the kids area. We REALLY enjoyed the aquarium and are now excited to check out other aquariums in our area.


   Thursday we took the girls to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. Voted one of the best zoos in the country for kids by Parents Magazine, our expectations were high. Once again, Chad was free and the only admission was mine (again around $20). The zoo branches off in several directions from the main courtyard manatee sculpture so be sure to grab a map so you don't miss anything. The front part of the zoo to me seemed rather cramped and the animals had small habitats with fencing rather than natural enclosures like at newer zoos. You can tell where the zoo has expanded because the newer sections are well spaced out and the animals have much better habitats. The manatee viewing area is nice but the windows need cleaning for a better view. There is a manatee hospital onsite which was neat to see but the best part of this zoo for children is definitely the kids area in the center. There is a splash pad area surrounded by several kids activities such as the petting zoo, wallaby walkabout, small roller coaster, train rides, and carousel. All motorized rides in the park are free; Even the log flume, which I refused to do (scared of heights!) but Chad and his mother enjoyed. The African section of the park is laid out nicely and they have a good assortment of animals including elephants, giraffes, zebras and rhinos. As members of the Nashville Zoo we knew it was going to be hard for a zoo to impress us and we were right. Overall, we like the Nashville Zoo better for layout and animal habitats but Tampa has the kids area and free rides going for them.


   Next, we jaunted up I-65 to Nashville to visit my family. While there, Chad set up at the Monteagle Mountain Market in Monteagle, TN. This was his 2nd year doing the show and as always, it was a pleasure. The market consists of mainly folk art with other arts mixed in as well. Chad was one of several demonstrators which also included iron workers, jewelry makers and basket weavers. He had a great weekend and enjoyed his time meeting fellow artists. 


   The day after the Montaegle Mountain Market, Chad and I drove over to Ocoee, TN (just past Chattanooga) and joined some of our close friends and family to go whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River. The Ocoee was the river used for the rafting events in the 2006 summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The scenery was beautiful and I haven't had that much fun in a long time. Chad rode on the front of the raft twice and fell off once (even after the guide told him that he would absolutely fall off at that point of the river...) If you decide to raft, I would highly recommend Adventures Unlimited as the outfitter. Their facilities included an outfitter store, cafe, restrooms with hot showers and camping sites if you would like to camp afterwards. The prices were reasonable and everyone I encountered was friendly and helpful.

    After rafting Chad and I headed north to Gatlinburg,TN to meet my family whom had driven the girls over from Nashville. We checked into our cabin and headed out to find dinner. We ended up at J.T. Hannah's Kitchen on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge. It reminded me of a Logan's Roadhouse; Good menu, reasonable prices and good food. Lily ate almost the entire order of cheese dip before our food even arrived. Drinks are served in mason jars which I always love. I'd definitely eat there again if I wanted somewhere with a good variety of menu choices.


    The next morning we awoke and went to the Pancake Pantry in downtown Gatlinburg. One thing we forgot about- no strollers! We brought in our stroller and you would have thought we brought in  a dead body by the looks we received. After folding up the stroller and putting it out of the way we had a much better experience (minus Lily's meltdown after she thought she had sausage stuck in her throat.) Try telling a 2.5 year old that if she's able to scream at you that sausage is stuck in her throat then it is highly likely that there is no sausage in her throat. That didn't go over well. I can say the bacon waffle was a hit. Waffle batter with crumbled bacon mixed in and served with warm maple syrup... okay, now I want another...
      
   The highlight of the trip was definitely going to Dollywood. Even after living in Middle TN for 24 years, I had never been to Dollywood. I had always heard mixed reviews and several people compared it to Opryland (which I miss.) I'd say that comparison is pretty spot on. If you remember Opryland then you would probably agree that Dollywood is very similar. The setup has a small town village feel with country music playing in the background. Instead of getting too detailed about Dollywood here and making this post longer than necessary, I plan on doing an entire post soon dedicated to Dollywood and all that is has offer for the younger crowd. 


   Well, my 20 minutes to post has ended as Emma has woken up from her nap. Lily is with her daddy today at the Farmers Market so I have a relatively easy day. Nevermind, I just remembered that at some point I must finish laundry, unpack our suitcases, wash bottles..... can I go back on vacation now, please??