TAKE OFF set at 1700 hours!!!

So a couple of great friends and I went to a place here in town that I had never been to and I completely fell in love with it! J. Clyde's!!!! I cannot believe I have never been there before because it is completely my type of atmosphere.

It should have been a total give away about me loving this place if you glanced at their menu. The beer menu is way...... way.... way bigger than the food menu! I mean if you know me at all, you KNOW I LOVE food just about more than anyone but beer is sometimes just as good if not better, especially if you have a great sandwich like I did, BLT with fried green tomatoes! It was like heaven on earth arrived! And it was perfect timing 5:00 pm (aka 1700 hrs) on Friday after a long week at work!!!

Of course studying this beer menu became almost overwhelming, so we noticed there was a option of a sort of beer tasting of any drought you pleased and it was called a Flight. The Flight consisted of 5 different 4 ounce beers. You could even get high gravity beers, which I kept calling high density(do not ask why), in your tasting. I never had the chance of trying out a high gravity beer before so I willingly tried it! :) I loved a few of my beers and some I did not care for but the experience was awesome and I cannot wait to go back another time with my friends!



My list of beers I chose (Jolly pumpkin was my fav!)

HOW SWEET IT IS INDEED!!

So I think the best thing happen to me this morning! I was at work, icing cakes and doing what I do, when my friend and co-worker comes up to me and tells me I have a letter. People then follow by joking on me about getting fan mail at work. I then read who the letter is from and do not recognize the name so I continue to open it. I start to read this wonderful letter and it is from a woman named Lou Jean writing to inform me that she believes we are related. I am very intrigued to say the least!!




Mrs. Lou Jean, who is in her 70s now, recently read an article in the Birmingham News that just happened to have yours truly in it. The article was just a type of interview that was asking me personal questions to see how I got to be where I am today. In my article I mentioned my hometown Huntsville, Alabama and she also saw that my last name was Landman. And can you believe it, Mrs. Lou Jean's maiden name was also Landman!!!! She then preceded to tell me she was born and raised in Birmingham, where I now live, but her grandfather, Samuel Lewis Landman, was from Hazel Green, Alabama, where a lot of my family was born. She even went on to name her great-grandparents and leave her phone number for me to call her if I had time to do so! She also enclosed an old informal note with her maiden name on it for me to see.




I am such a happy girl with this letter coming into my life! I LOVE things like this, especially when it happens to me. I cannot wait to call and speak to her and hopefully meet her face to face! I already looked up her address and can you believe it... she lives just 8 miles away from me!!!! YAY! Wish me luck!!


Stay Sweet

Samantha Jo

Yummy Peanut Butter Fudge!!

So I have decided to share my wonderful Peanut Butter Fudge recipe with you all!! I love to top my fudge with chopped nuts, I use peanuts or cashews, and drizzle melted chocolate on top. This recipe is made for peanut butter lovers! I honestly hate peanut butter, yes I know that's terrible, but I love this fudge. I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it as much as my family and friends have in the past!





Peanut Butter Fudge

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
Chopped nuts (cashews;peanuts;pecans;etc)
Semi-sweet chocolate


1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium low heat.
2. When completely melted, stir in brown sugar and milk together over medium heat. Bring to boil and continue to boil for 2 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth.
4. Pour mixture into electric mixing bowl, carefully, and add the sugar. Beat mixture until completely smooth.

5. Pour mixture into a 8x8 pan. (I use a silicone pan for easier removal)Spread mixture out evenly.
6. Place chocolate in a small microwave safe bowl and melt using 15 second intervals until smooth.
7. Sprinkle chopped nuts over fudge mixture and press down to secure they will stick to the fudge.
8. Drizzle melted chocolate over top with piping bag or a fork.

9. Chill fudge until firm.
10. Remove fudge brick from pan and slice into chunks with a clean sharp knife.



I hope you all enjoy!

Sweet eating and much love-

Samantha Jo

Cookbooks!!!

Okay so I think anyone who bakes or cooks for a living, just like I do, has a bit of an obsession with cookbooks! They would have to! It is where we get new inspiring ideas. We see something even if it is a picture, an ingredient used that is one of our favorites, or just the title in itself. So we try these new interesting things and then our brains start churning and we think... hey I can do that better or let me do it again and try this ingredient in it.

So I continue to try and find cookbooks both savory and sweet to keep my juices flowing. But as of now, here I have listed pictures of some of my favorites that I have used in the past. I believe anyone who loves cooking and/or baking, and you be a professional chef or a normal joe, will enjoy looking at these cookbooks. Who knows maybe you will get inspired to try something new today and be able to call it your own recipe!!





(This is close to my heart. It is after all where I got my start!)


(Okay so I haven't tried this one but I sure am dying too!)


(Got to love MARTHA)

Dentist

Just came from the dentist today. Root canal #1, that's right just the first one. I am due for another in a couple weeks.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to stick to a strict diet of this stuff to help me make it through....

Hiatus

I know my blog entries have been scarce to say the least, but I promise this five month hiatus is about to come to an end.

I am working on revamping the blog (with A LOT of help), so stay tuned, changes are-a-coming!!!!

Samantha

Top 5 Things I Can't Live Without in the Kitchen

Number one...

KitchenAid Stand Mixer
This is an absolute must in the kitchen. The one I have is actually a lovely Lavender color, but I could not find a picture of it online.




Number two...




Bamboo Spoons
These are the only spoons I use. No plastic or metal in my kitchen.





Number three...

Icing Spatulas
You can get these just about anywhere. The different sizes are important. Obviously for when you size something as big as a four layer cake to something as small as mini cupcakes.






Number four...



Cupcake Courier
This Cupcake Courier (www.cupcakecourier.com/) is a handy little thing. It has three removable and stackable trays that can hold 12 cupcakes/muffins each. So it can either hold 36 cupcakes or you can remove the three trays and it doubles as a cake courier!




Number five.. and perhaps the most important!

Gus!
My trusty assistant.






Happy Monday Everyone!