Calling All Hallows

I have grown up surrounded by women who know how to make a home beautiful and festive. My grandmother, mom, and now sister all have their own way of making their homes beautiful, seasonal, and inviting. To me it's a huge part of what defines being a grown up Southern woman.

So even though I'm not in the South and I'm not in a house, I wasn't going to let Halloween slip by. (It also helped that my mom sent me a care package of decorations.)

Halloween's not 'till Thursday!! It's not too late to throw something spooky up in your house!!!

Old No. 7

I'm letting Evan guest blog for this post.  Because we love everything Tennessee and alcohol, a trip to the Jack Daniels Distillery has been in the works for a while. I didn't pay attention half the time because I was too busy photoging, so I'll let him explain stuff. 

E: We had been talking about taking this trip for a couple months, and since it was such a nice day we took advantage of it.

Marble Jasper "Jack"

One of the characteristics of Jack that makes it a "Tennessee" whiskey as opposed to any other bourbon is a process called mellowing. The white lightning that comes off the stills is run through Sugar Maple charcoal to sweeten and "mellow" the raw liquor. Imagine that.

Jack Daniel's Distillery has been burning and using their own charcoal since the distillery opened in the late 19th century.

Jack's secret to good whiskey: Natural cave water filtered through limestone all the way from Canada.

"Jack on the Rocks"

Makin' friends as always

Not entirely sure how Jack gets away with producing such excellent alcohol in the only dry country in Tennessee. Props for completely taking advantage of the system.

A: I originally went along with this because I knew Evan was excited about it, but it was seriously one of the coolest things I've seen. Such a good day trip. 

Sensuous Steel

Evan and I started checking things off our Nashville summer to do list this week, starting with the Sensuous Steel Art Deco Automobiles exhibit at the Frist. 

If you're in Nashville, go check it out! If you buy stuff in the gift store you get free parking, and yes I understand how contradictory that is.

Happy Sunday!

Coconut Lime Cookies

I made what might be my new favorite cookie for my family this past week. They're very chewy coconut lime sugar cookies, so dense in texture because of the coconut, but light in flavor. Perfect for summer.

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of one lime, minced finely

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1.2 cup unsweetened toasted coconut

1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Toast your coconut if you haven't already done so.

2.Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy.

4. Beat in egg, vanilla, lime juice, and lime zest.

5. Gradually blend in dry ingredients and coconut.

6. Roll rounded spoonfuls of dough into balls and roll into sugar. Place cookies on lined cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inch apart. They will spread.

7. Bake 8-10 minutes

8. Let stand on cookie sheet for two to three minutes and then transfer to wire rack.

Next time I make these, I think I will add 1/2 tsp. of coconut extract at the same time as the vanilla. As is, this recipe turns out heavy on the lime flavor and not so much on the coconut, they taste like a mild key lime pie, which is delicious, but I want more of a hit of coconut.

Recipe is via The Girl Who Ate Everything

Let me know if you make these and how they turn out!

All That Glitters

Wore one of my favorite outfit combos to lunch with Evan a few days ago: a detailed mini with a breezy tee, topped off with a chunky necklace and and updo (y'all, I have enough hair to do an updo now).

{James Perse t-shirt, random TJ Max metallic skirt, Target necklace}

I know you guys missed my Photobooth selfies... Someone send me a tripod for my Nikon for my birthday!

Westward

Spent a day milling around the West Village last week. I don't go very often because it's not a short enough walk to just go on a whim, but there's no convenient train path from where I live... It was definitely worth the jaunt.

this one's for Justin

If that's not the most perfect thing you've ever seen, then I don't know what you're doing with your life.