Designing Our Perfect Entertaining Space

This post brought to you by Char-Broil. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Accidental Carolina Country Girl.
The idea of custom designing our perfect entertaining space sounded like fun. It's daunting! Luckily we weren't completely starting from scratch, and we're at the point in the renovation now that I can visualize the end result.


Old farmhouses from the 1930's don't have big open floor plans like modern homes. The rooms are smaller, and there are more hallways. When our contractor suggested moving our kitchen into the master bedroom, I absolutely could not see his vision. Thankfully he knows what he's doing, and now the kitchen, while kind of isolated at the back of the home, is going to be the heart of the home.

Our kitchen design is centered around a set of french doors leading out onto the future deck. We're putting in a large island with a sink that faces out those doors. With the design of the kitchen coming together and the warm weather, I've started dreaming about our outdoor space. I can see it in my imagination, hosting parties in our big farmhouse kitchen, people gathered around the island, french doors open to the dining area on the deck, and a patio just off the deck with the grill, more seating, and a fresh herb garden. Can you visualize it too?








It doesn't look like much yet. We haven't even replaced the old sliding door with the french doors yet.

The original deck on the house was quite small. We're adding a bit more to it, so it'll go to the driveway, but that's only just over 12 feet off of the house. We'll put a table and chairs on the deck itself. The grill will go on a patio off the side of the house. Since we grill on charcoal, this is not just a good use of space, it's actually a safer design. Unfortunately, it looks like we won't be able to move our big old grill, so soon we'll need a new grill. We've been to Lowe's several times now to browse. The new Char-Broil Kettleman Grill looks like a good option for us, since we seem to be constantly running out of charcoal, and it uses less than a standard charcoal grill (learn more about the Kettleman grill). Plus, it looks easy to use, has grates designed to keep food from falling through (perfect for grilling veggies), and it fits within our super tight budget.

So, what do you think? Are there better designs for our outdoor entertaining space?

Renovation Realities

Buying a vacant 85 year old house is not simple. Getting a renovation loan is not simple. It took us two months longer than planned just to close on our new old farmhouse. Thankfully, that step is done. Now the real work begins!

The farmhouse sat vacant for over a year. Last winter it wasn't winterized as soon as it was vacant (it was a foreclosure), so there are burst pipes and water damage. With wall-to-wall old dirty blue carpet, mold, damaged ceilings, damaged walls, a small kitchen, etc, we have a ton of work to do. We're tackling the demolition work ourselves to save a bit of money.

Before: Gross carpets!

During: So much demolition!

There's a lot of work to be done, but we're making progress. I'll try to write posts on the projects we tackle. In the meantime, know that we're keeping busy.

The Lazy Girl's Method for Washing her Face

I have a confession to make: I hate washing my face at the sink. I always have. It's just so messy. Maybe it's because of my height, but I end up with water everywhere. Until my late 20's, I would often sleep in my makeup. Now, I take much better care of my skin, but I still dislike washing my face at night. So, I came up with a solution, and my skin is better than ever!

There's a lot of steps here, but don't worry, they're the easiest steps ever. You don't even have to tie your hair back. This method works best on sensitive, combination, or dry skin, but it does work on oily, acne-prone, or aging skin. Just use variations of the products to best suit your skin. I have sensitive combination skin.

First up, your products. You'll need:

Jojoba oil

Makeup remover wipes / pre-moistened face cleaning cloths 

(Optional) eye cream &/or spot treatment 

The method:

1. Apply a heavy layer of the jojoba oil to your whole dry face using your clean hands. (You can let it soak in a few minutes if you want.)

2. Use a face cloth to wipe off the oil and all of your makeup.

3. Rinse your face with water & dry gently (optional but recommended).

4. Apply eye cream or spot treatment (also optional).

5. Apply a final thin layer of jojoba oil.

Why this works:

Jojoba oil does not clog pores or cause breakouts. The initial oil dissolves dirt and grease on your skin. Your face wipe removes all of the loosened dirt and grime. A rinse with water helps too, although I skip this step most nights. I don't have much water pressure or any hot water to my bathroom sink (it's a rental house). Jojoba oil is also a great moisturizer, thus why I apply it a second time.

Let me know if you try it, and if it works for you.

King Cake

February is for Valentine's Day. No wait...it's Mardi Gras season. How about both in one dessert?

I love to bake, but before meeting my SO, I had never successfully worked with yeast. I had tried to make my own King Cake in the past & failed. Luckily my SO is a master at baking bread, and he taught me a few tricks. Now I'm confident to take on almost any baking challenge. Last year we made a traditional King Cake. That was my intention this year as well, but I ended up using blood orange in place of the lemon zest in my recipe. It turned out better than ever. I think this is the best thing I've ever baked. Plus the blood orange juice in the icing makes it pink, perfect for Valentine's Day, although it us definitely not going to last that long in this house!

Blood Orange King Cake

Recipe adapted from "Paula Deen Celebrates!"

Cake:

1 stick butter 

3/4 cup plus 1 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup half & half

2 envelopes or 4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

3 eggs, whisked

Zest of 1 small blood orange

5 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1 egg white, for glazing

Filling:

1/2 stick butter, melted

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Icing:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

4 Tbsp blood orange juice

1. Melt 1 stick of butter in a microwave safe bowl. Mix in 3/4 cup sugar and salt, stir until sugar dissolves, reheating if needed. Allow to cool, then mix in half & half.

2. In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, mix together yeast, 1/4 cup lukewarm water, and 1 tsp sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes. If yeast does not foam up or bubble, discard and start over with new yeast.

3. If you have a cast iron pan or 2, place them on the lower rack in your oven. Place the second rack in the middle of the oven. Turn on your oven & allow to preheat no more than 5 minutes. Turn off. Leave door closed if oven is approximately 100F, vent to cool if needed.

4. Whisk cooled butter mixture into yeast mixture. Add in eggs and orange zest, whisk well.

5. Add flour 1 cup at a time. After 3 cups, switch out your whisk for a dough hook attachment. Occasionally scrape the sides & bottom of the mixing bowl. Continue alternating scraping the bowl and kneading the dough with the mixer just until a cohesive and elastic dough forms.

6. Remove dough ball from bowl, throughly grease bowl, return dough, and cover with greased plastic wrap.

7. Place dough in warm oven to rise for approximately 1 hour or until slightly less than doubled in size.

8. Prepare filling: mix cinnamon and sugar in small bowl, and melt butter. 

9. Prepare a large work surface for working with the dough. Get out a large cookie sheet.

10. Divide risen dough in half. Press dough into a 10"x15" rectangle.

11. Brush with half of the melted butter, and sprinkle on half of the cinnamon sugar.

12. Roll tightly into a 15" long roll, seal edge, set aside, and repeat with remaining dough and filling.

13. Twist together the dough rolls, then transfer to your cookie sheet, and form into a circle or oval, pressing ends together.

14. Cover with greased plastic wrap or parchment paper. Return dough to warm oven to rise again, 1 hour or until slightly less than doubled in size.

15. Carefully remove dough from oven. Set oven to 350F and allow to preheat. Whisk egg white and 1 Tbsp water together. Remove covering and brush egg wash onto dough.

16. Bake cake for 35 minutes, until golden brown. Cake should sound hollow when tapped.

17. Prepare icing: whisk together confectioners' sugar and 2-4 Tbsp orange juice. Icing should be smooth. Add more sugar or juice if the mixture is too thick or thin to drizzle.

18. Drizzle icing onto slightly cooled cake. Top with colored decorating sugar if you desire.

Enjoy!

An Accidental Country Girl

I grew up in the suburbs.

I hate the suburbs.

To be fair, I spent my younger, or formative, years in upstate New York in the country. But we lived in an allotment neighborhood, the closest thing to suburbia the area had. I loved my neighborhood growing up. I loved the freedom we had as kids. We were free to ride bikes, cross-country ski, sled, run around, build forts, play street hockey, whatever we could dream up...as long as we stayed inside the neighborhood. It was a big enough neighborhood that we rarely felt confined. Plus there were a ton of kids around my age. It was a fairly idyllic childhood.

And then we moved. At the traumatic middle school age, my family moved away from cold, snowy New York to warm, sunny Georgia. But we moved into the real suburbs, a planned community outside of Atlanta, or as I like to call it - "Suburgatory" (please tell me someone else remembers that tv show?). I hated it, even if it was warm & sunny. I vowed I would get out of there. I'd escape. My escape of choice? The big city. I'd go to college in downtown Atlanta. And I did. I even moved to the bigger city of Los Angeles after college. Turns out though, there were a few parts of my childhood I missed, especially the food. 

Turns out, when you live in the middle of nowhere, food is different. When the closest grocery store is 30+ minutes away, you find other sources of food. You grow a big backyard garden. You get eggs from the school music teacher who has yard chickens. You pick apples at the orchard next to the school. You get preserves from friends. You get ice cream & cheese from a local dairy. You get to know a local farmer who sells produce. I didn't realize it, but I grew up eating a lot of farm-fresh food. Thankfully when I lived in Los Angeles, farm-fresh food was trendy & easy to find. I lived very close to an amazing weekend Farmers' Market. Finally, I had eggs that tasted like eggs again! Since moving away from California, I've tried my best to buy these types of foods at the grocery store, but I find myself longing for backyard chickens and a huge garden. I want to get to know local farmers.

Well, we're buying a farmhouse. It wasn't our intention to end up in the country, but we found a house that's an amazing investment & we're going for it. We're about to close on a 1930's farmhouse, zoned agricultural, and surrounded by farms, but in desperate need to a full-house major renovation. The renovation process will be long & difficult, but I'm going to be a country girl!

An Accidental Carolina Girl

What is an accidental Carolina girl? 

Well, I live almost on the border between North & South Carolina, but I wasn't born here. I was born in dreary, cold, grey Ohio. I grew up in beautiful but snowy upstate New York & boring suburban Georgia. I went to college in fun downtown Atlanta. I lived in exciting & expensive Los Angeles, CA, for my first job, and I even lived just outside New Orleans very briefly. Then a new job brought me to Charlotte, the greenest city I've ever seen.

Like many young single professionals, I lived where ever my career took me. Until now that is. Now I'm finally settled into a location. My SO grew up in this area, and he owns a business here. We may not be in our forever home yet, but this is our forever area. I even convinced my parents to move to Charlotte, so they're close by as well. 

This is my home. Whether it's North or South Carolina, one thing's for sure, I'm a Carolina girl now.