Archive for 2010

Out and About: Sublime Doughnuts

Today is National Doughnut Day! This little holiday was started in 1938 as a fundraiser for the Chicago Salvation Army. Their goal was to help the needy during the Great Depression and to honor the Salvation Army “Lassies” of World War I, who served doughnuts to soldiers.

In honor of National Doughnut Day, I thought I would share with you a fun little find in Midtown Atlanta. Hidden in an obscure shopping center near Georgia Tech’s campus, you will find Sublime Doughnuts. I have passed this store many times and thought nothing of it. The building and the signage is nothing to write home about, but oh lordy the goodies inside!

“We are trying to go for someone’s last meal on death row.” – Sublime Doughnuts

When my sister was up visiting, she made a stop by Sublime Doughnuts and picked us out some treats. (You know it is not a foodie post if I don’t give you a little something to drool about.) Here are some of the flavors she picked out:

The A-town Cream

This is pretty much their signature doughnut. Filled with silky custard and topped with Belgian Callebault dark chocolate, and of course shaped like the letter “A”. Love it!

Red Velvet Cake

This doughnut is made with their red velvet cake doughnut batter and features dutched cocoa and subtle vanilla undertones. It is topped with tasty cream cheese icing and toasted pecans.

Yin Yang Twist

The crazy twisted doughnut in the middle is the Yin Yang Twist, features original recipe dough twisted with chocolate infused dough and covered in ooey gooey vanilla honey glaze. Scrumptious!

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup

Ok, now for the mother load! This doughnut features an original recipe doughnut with Belgian Callebault milk chocolate with a dollop of light, fluffy peanut butter cream in the center. A final sprinkling of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups will just send you over the edge. Make sure you try this one sitting down, you may hit the floor fast!

Of course Mr. Blue Eyed Yonder was dying to try the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. He is a huge doughnut fan and a sucker for anything with peanut butter. Was this doughnut made just for him?

If you take a peek at the picture of the box of doughnuts above you can see some of the other doughnuts we tried:

Fresh Strawberry N Cream

Orange Dream Star (I think this one was my favorite, tastes like a creamsicle pop.)

Frosted Croissant

Dark Chocolate Fudge

Oreo

I cannot mention Sublime Doughnuts without giving a little credit the fabulous chef behind the magic. Kamal, you’re my hero!

“Born and raised in Georgia, Chef Kamal Grant discovered baking would be his calling after a school visit from a food service executive. Since then, Grant’s culinary path took him to distant lands and to explore foreign palates as a cook in the US Navy. He then studied at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York and later honed his pastry skills at the American Institute of Baking in Kansas. Ultimately, Grant took his passion for pastries back to Atlanta, and by a “sublime” encounter, he came across a vacant doughnut shop on 10th Street. A month later, that shop would be the home of Sublime Doughnuts.” – Sublime Doughnuts

While reading some customer reviews of Sublime Doughnuts, I stumbled upon a hilarious entry. If you weren’t already running to Sublime, this will definitely get you there. It pretty much sums it all up. Enjoy!

“…Oh, and as an aside, I now understand why some of the ladies seem to have wee little crushes on Kamal. I was trying not to take up too much of his time. I said, “Sorry if I’m taking too long to decide, I’m just overwhelmed by the selection.”

He said, “Take your time… it’s just you, me, and the doughnuts.” And there was R&B; playing in the background (I am not making this up). And does his voice ALWAYS sound like Barry White’s or was I just imagining it? I am old and fat and married, and I think I almost swooned.” – Happy Customer

Posted 6/4/10, Topic: Blog

Inside My Kitchen

I was recently reading one my favorite blogs, SweetFancy, where she occasionally features some of her favorite items around her house. I think it is such a cute idea, giving reader’s a little glimpse inside her adorably unique home. She has been collecting odds and ends since she was a little girl and has built up quite the collection. Her little treasures always make me smile.

On her most recent ‘Inside My Kitchen’ post, she asked readers to share some of their favorite kitchen items. I immediately thought of my adorable Fiesta cream and sugar dishes. I do have to give credit to Mr. Blue Eyed Yonder for finding these little neaties. We were browsing an antique store in Athens, GA (where we also found this) and Mr. BEY spotted these hidden in an antique china cabinet. (Did I mention I love that man!)

I have to admit, I am a beige on beige kind of girl most of the time. I love natural earth tones with unique textures (burlap, parchment, jute, stone), something that looks as if it were plucked from the earth (or maybe a quaint English Cottage), but that dear sweet Fiesta has put my gears in a different motion. It causes me to be a little braver, a little bolder in my color choices. I have to admit I am quite happy with the results. I never knew such a tiny pop of color could bring such a bright ray of happiness.

Mr. BEY and I registered for several pieces of the new line of Fiesta-ware last year for our wedding. We wanted to add something cheery to our cupboards that we could use on an everyday basis. See how happy our dishwasher looks with the bright, bold Fiesta dishes inside. You just have to smile…even when you are doing dishes!

Photos by: KHJ

Posted 6/3/10, Topic: Blog

Hoot Hoot Hooray! Party

I am so excited to share with you the beautiful photos from Savannah Jane’s graduation party. Just a fair warning, if you are easily overwhelmed by an abundance of little lovelies or if you dislike sweets, vintage goodies, luscious blooms or handsome owls, read no further.

This was Blue Eyed Yonder’s first graduation party and may just be my favorite. Building from my ‘Anthropologie Inspired Owl Graduation‘ inspiration board, I created a party that evokes the fun whimsy of a teenage girl with the scholarly sophistication of an intellectual young woman. I chose bright and uplifting colors: pops of yellow, warm hues of pink, balanced with the deep tones of the vintage books and travel cases.

The very talented graduate made all of the delightful desserts: blondies and brownies and cakes oh my! She baked the goodies and I gave them quirky new names with custom designed signs for a fun twist on your everyday dessert. The dessert table featured vintage books, suitcases and glassware. To top it off, the table was complete with its very own yellow chandelier, custom painted just for the occasion!

The guest tables were adorned with vintage yellow printed fabric, a variety of vintage Reader’s Digests, milk glass vases with beautiful lilac and fun whimsical billy buttons. Above the tables hung handmade book mobiles. I got this idea from an Anthropologie window display and crafted these cuties from books bought at the Salvation Army store.

To balance out the sheer sweetness of this party, we served tangy lemonade with handmade ‘Hooray!’ drink stir flags. But above all of this, I have to say the true hit of the party were the handmade mustaches. From young to old, everyone enjoyed trying out the different styles and getting in some good belly laughs!

I found this adorable little owl on Etsy. Besides making a great addition to the table scape, this owl doubles as a vintage Avon bottle.

The tables were accompanied by a variety of different chairs, giving it that true ‘backyard’, vintage vibe.

The small yellow travel case was hand painted and lined with yellow patterned paper matching that used in the invitation. I just love the vintage forks ‘popping’ out of the case, each topped with a mini raspberry cupcake.

Ah yes, the beautiful book mobiles. These were definitely one of my favorite parts of the party. Stay tuned to BEY for the ‘how-to’ post sometime soon!

Can you ever go wrong with peonies?

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flown. How did it get so late so soon?” ~ Dr. Seuss

Congratulations again Savannah Jane! I hope this party was every thing you hoped for – hoot hoot hooray!

Photography: Katie Hollingsworth

Event Styling: Blue Eyed Yonder

Floral Design: Blue Eyed Yonder

Desserts: lovingly handmade by Savannah Jane Morgan, the graduate

No party is complete without a list of BIG thank yous! To Mom and Kameryn, you guys are my all-star helpers. Bringing us breakfast gave us the fuel to pull this off, thanks so much! To my Mister, I thought this was going to be my first solo party. Thanks so much for pulling some strings and showing up to make this all happen. How would I have done all the ‘man stuff’? To Mema and Papa, your house is a never ending trove of treasures! Thank you so much for letting me plunder and share all these beautiful vintage items. To Katie, thanks for taking all of these adorable pictures. It took a lot of sweat (literally) to capture all the goodies of this party. To Gina and Guy, thank you for letting me be a part of the cutest party ever! You guys followed through on everything you said you would do, made sure the tables were there, chairs set out, etc. You have no idea how helpful that was.

Posted 6/1/10, Topic: Blog

Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever!

After many pounding fists and growling bellies hungry for chocolate, I have decided to post my new favorite sheet cake recipe. Now, now, now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves…this is not actually my recipe at all, but a delightful concoction from the internet sensation Pioneer Woman.

I know many of you have followed this funny, creative and down right super woman for a long time now. I have heard her name murmured on blogs, mentioned in casual conversation, but for some reason I resisted the urge to become one of her many followers. I am not quite sure why. But guess what folks…I finally gave in and decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Oh lawsee, saddle me up and call me a pioneer puppy! I can easily see why so many of you rave about this woman. She is not the tight-cinched apron wearing domestic diva that I thought her to be. She is one of us. Down to earth and unabashedly true to herself through and through, and above all else – hilarious! Funny how you can read little tid bits of someone’s life and feel like you have known them for years. After pouring over the pages of her site, I just know we’re related!

If you haven’t check her out, please do. You won’t regret it. Now, back to the chocolate…

This was my second time making this cake and I was fortunate enough to have some very talented helpers in the kitchen. Kameryn and Graceanna took turns melting butter, stirring batter, whisking icing, you name it! We had lots of fun with all the cooks in the kitchen.

We managed to get some action shots, but it was hard with so many little cooks buzzing around. Check out Pioneer Woman’s website for beautiful step-by-step photos of the cake. She makes baking it a breeze!

Recipe sweetly hand-written by Kameryn.

Pouring the delicious buttery chocolate mixture over the flour mixture.

Spread it over the flour mixture; allowing it to cool down a little.

Stir, stir, stir, just enough to blend.

Whisking together buttermilk and eggs.

Adding the buttermilk mixture to the blended chocolate/flour mixture.

Stir, stir, stir again until the mixture becomes uniform.

Carefully pour the mixture into an ungreased baking sheet and pop it in the oven.

Now for the icing! Melt the butter and add the cocoa. Once again, stir, stir, stir!

Gradually add the powdered sugar. (Little help from Mr. Blue Eyed Yonder, isn’t he a sweetie!)

Now for the final touch, pour the icing over the warm cake, inhale and swear to yourself that you will at least share some of it.

Mmmm, looks like a little Blue Eyed Yonder fan approves! Cakes are always sweeter after little fingers have had their poke at it.

You know it must be good when Nonnie has to give you a bath afterwards!

If this ooey, gooey picture doesn’t make you jump off the couch and make this delightful concoction right now, I don’t know what will! Just remember, as this cake sits it will get even better. I know, I know, that is hard to imagine, but trust me on this one. The icing will seep further into the cake and you will have to restrain yourself from unconsciously moaning as you sink your teeth into each bite.

And to kick off this holiday weekend I am doing a little Blue Eyed Yonder giveaway! If you make this cake, taste this cake or even dream about this cake over the weekend, leave me a comment or hit up Blue Eyed Yonder’s wall on Facebook. Tell me any sheet cake tips you have, things you may have done differently, or just how hard you hit the floor upon tasting it! I will pick a name at random to receive an adorable kitchen-themed surprise!

Happy, happy weekend!

Posted 5/28/10, Topic: Blog

Hoot Hoot Hooray!

Anyone that knows me, knows I am a nut about paper! Call me old fashioned, but there is just something so beautiful about the textures and the colors of paper. The feel of the it in your hand, the sweet simple process of dropping little lovlies in the mail, the precious smile when you realize there is something other than junk mail in your box.

I am huge fan of kraft paper and corrugated cardboard, it has somewhat become my signature. The invitations I made for Savannah’s Anthropologie-inspired Owl Graduation party are no exception. Simple touches of texture, lovely vintage color palette and whimsical owls, how can a girl go wrong?