Monday, June 16, 2008

A Little Southern Comfort...

Yeah...if only. But you see, it hadn't. Oh no!

Once Steph and Ed deserted us around midnight, I was ready to leave with them. As much as I enjoyed Tyler’s company, I’d seen enough of Richard and the ultra rich society for one night.

“Carrie? Carrie Sinclair? Oh my God, look at you?” Tyler and I stepped out onto the dance floor for one final dance, when I recognized Alex Reynolds’s voice above the noise of the room. I turned to see Alex making his way across the crowded dance floor to my side.

In his usual fashion, Alex lifted me up off the floor and twirled me around in a gesture most people, certainly his wife would interrupt as intimate. “What are you doing here?” He asked when my feet finally touched the floor again.

Alex Reynolds was my first mistake (not taking in account the whole Seth Walton fiasco), as far as men were concerned. Alex had been quite a learning point for me. In spite of all my travels abroad, I was still green when I moved to Austin and started supporting myself by working as a temp.

Alex’s advertising firm was my first stop on the road to success. I’d almost gone out with him. He was devilishly handsome after all, but also very married. A point Alex failed to make clear in all the times he’d asked me out. He was a big flirt and I suspected unfaithful to his wife, but he did love Melissa.

I’d told him off, and somehow won Alex’s respect because if it. I think I was one of the few people who ever had the nerve to stand up to Alex. We’d eventually become good friends. In fact, until Tyler became apart of my life, we’d made it a point to have lunch at least once a month. Since Tyler, well, I’d been dodging Alex’s calls, hoping to keep him a secret. I wasn’t really, sure why. It wasn’t as if I’d done anything wrong, but it sure felt like it. Especially now.

Once I’d opened Carrie’s Creative Catering, Alex began throwing business my way while begging me to sell my little cooking store to him for his wife. Melissa, he told me was good at planning parties, and she needed something to occupy her time so she wasn’t constantly wondering what he was up to.

Alex was the only other man I knew who was rich enough to attend this type of affair.
“I thought you hated these pompous things, as you were always so fond of calling them.”
Tyler materialized at my side at that point and Alex became aware of why I was there. “Alex, this is Tyler Bennedict. Tyler this is my friend, Alex Reynolds.”

Tyler and Alex exchanged the kind of strained pleasantries, which made it clear they weren’t going to be friends. Thankfully, Alex left soon after. I could feel from the tension in Tyler’s movements as we danced that he was angry with me. “Don’t try making me jealous, Carrie. I’m not the type of man to become jealous.” This was all he said. It was enough. After the song ended, Tyler practically pulled me from the hotel, handed the valet our ticket and we stood in tense silence waiting for the Range Rover.

The drive back to my apartment was a silent one, with no break in the tension between us. I wondered how the rest of this night would play out. When we turned into my parking lot Tyler told me everything I needed to know.

“I’m not staying. I have an early appointment in the morning.”

Once he’d parked the Rover, I didn’t give him time to do the polite, gentlemanly thing Tyler was so good at doing.

Instead, I got out of the SUV, almost tripped over my just the proper length skirt, and ran up all four flights of stairs to my apartment. Tyler didn’t come after me.

By the time, I reached my apartment I was angry and hurt and would have slammed the door as hard as I could to relieve all of those things if I hadn’t remembered poor Hazel sleeping next door. I settled for throwing my bag half way across the room and tossing the clothes Tyler was so good at leaving lying on my bedroom floor at the front door.

After pacing the apartment trying to work off my temper without much success, I showered, removed the pounds of makeup Steph insisted I needed and finally got my hair shampooed out of the French twist it was escaping from most of the evening.

I was determined Tyler wasn’t going to keep me up worrying about if I’d ever see him again. With a whole lot of help from Aunt Mable’s cure all Southern Comfort, I accomplished my goal. By this time I didn’t care who Tyler was much less if, I’d ever see him again.

A Little Southern Comfort Magic


STRAWBERRIES PONCHATOULA
Serves 10
Strawberry Sauce:
30 Fresh Ponchatula strawberries (sliced thin)
¼ Pound Butter, unsalted
½ Cup Brown Sugar
1 Whole orange (juiced)
2 oz. Southern Comfort
¾ Quart Heavy whipping Cream
Method:1) In a saucepan melt the butter, add sugar, and stir until smooth.2) Add strawberries and gently stir until cooked.3) Add the orange juice and Southern Comfort, cook for 2 minutes.4) Add heavy cream, let reduce until a mixture is a creamy consistency.Vanilla Custard:Yield: 1 ¾ quarts1 qt. Heavy Cream2 tbls. Vanilla extract25 Egg yolks10 oz. Granulated sugar1 lb mascarpone cheeseMethod:1) In a heavy saucepan mix cream and vanilla extract, heat just until a boil.2) Wisk egg yolks and sugar together in large bowl.3) Temper the egg yolks with 1/3 of the cream.4) Pour egg mixture into saucepan, stirring constantly, until very thick.5) Fold in mascarpone cheese till smooth.6) Remove from heat and strain in to a clean bowl, cool over ice bath.

Enjoy!
Posted by Carrie Sinclair :: 12:16 PM :: 0 comments

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Now I Know Why They Call Him The Dick!

Okay, so you're probably wondering what happened to me, right? How did my night out with the Dick go?

Well, let me just say, I think I would have had more fun meeting the devil. But at least I know now why they call him the Dick.

Richard Bennedict certainly lives up to that title.

But first, let me set the stage. Tyler and I arrived at the party right on time. We ate. We danced. We mingled.

I was beginning to feel a little cocky after a couple of hours went by and no Dick. I thought, I could do this with my eyes closed. I could mingle with the ultra rich...right? Wrong!

Three hours into the party, Richard arrives to introduce himself.

You could have cut the tension between Tyler and his father with a knife. They were definately at odds and I knew it was all because Richard didn't approve of me.

Once Tyler introduced his father to Steph and Ed, Richard didn’t waste any time. He turned to me, took me by my arm, and told his son he was stealing me away for a little while. I just caught Tyler’s angry expression, before Richard pulled me out onto the dance floor. It took everything inside of me not to push him away.

“So young lady, we meet at last. I was beginning to think you were just a figment of my son’s imagination. But now I understand why he’s been keeping you a secret. You’re just as lovely as Tyler said. There’s no doubt my son has excellent taste in women.” Richard Bennedict said those words so very politely, but I couldn’t help but feel as if I’d just been insulted in the worst possible way. In the space of just a few minutes, he’d managed to put me in my place very thoroughly as nothing more than some little plaything for his son.

Out of sheer desperation, I glanced around the room for help only to see Richard was slowly dancing me further away from Tyler. I suspected this was deliberate. He wanted to get me away from my lifeline to have some fun with me.

Richard was accustomed to having women impressed by everything about him, including his money. I wasn’t. This intrigued him.

I was relieved when the music finally stopped, until I realized Richard did not intend on taking me back to Tyler right away.

“Why don’t you let me show you around a little, Carrie? You’re not in a hurry to go back to my son, are you?” I tried to smile but inside I was quaking. This man scared the daylights out of me. I nodded my answer unwilling to trust my voice not to make a bigger fool out of me.

Richard didn’t bother introducing me to any of his friends, even though there were certainly enough of them stopping us along the way to wherever he was planning to take me. Again, this was deliberate. He was sending me a message and I got it loud and clear. Don’t get too comfortable.

After we’d wandered around the crowded room for almost half and hour, (and yes I was counting the seconds on my watch), Richard finally remembered he was there with someone.
The girl he did introduce me to was in the same boat as me--on the outside looking in. But unlike me, she was thoroughly enjoying her jaunt into the ultra rich society world. I don’t remember her name--something along the lines of Muffy or Mindy. She was a bleached out blond, with a knock out body and definitely fake boobs. She was the flavor of the moment.
Richard excused himself by telling me, instead of Muffy or Mindy he would be back soon. He left me there with my social equal to become better acquainted.

After listening to her awestruck chatter for another ten minutes, I decided enough was enough. I was ready to call it quits. I’d just started contemplating working my way back to Tyler when Richard reappeared and took me to him.

So, I ask you, who would you rather meet?

~~ Carrie~~

Posted by Carrie Sinclair :: 1:54 PM :: 1 comments

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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Meeting the Dick!

For months now, I'd been all but dragging details out of Tyler about his father. The man my best buddy Steph and I had nicknamed The Dick. Tyler had been unusally silent about his father and had made no attempt at introducing us so of course, I feared the worst, all of which my buddy backed up and then some.

According to Steph, Richard Bennedict was not only a dick but a snob. I'd begun to think she was right and that Tyler was just too embarrassed by me and my low class upbrinings to invite me to meet his father.

Until yesterday. As I stood in the bathroom brushing, Tyler announced that out of the blue his father wanted to meet me.

I was just about ready to tell him I had something planned for that exact same day when Tyler told me he'd checked my schedule. I was clear.

So, it looks like I'm going to get to meet The Dick after all. Wish me luck.

More to follow if I survive.

~~~Carrie.

Posted by Carrie Sinclair :: 10:33 AM :: 1 comments

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Monday, April 14, 2008

When it rains it pours and I'm not talking about moisture!

This weekend the most unexpected thing happend. I went home to see my Aunt Mabel and guess who came with me. You got it, my super sophisticated boyfriend Tyler.

Well, you could have knocked me over with a straw.

Having Tyler see my oh so humble upbringings and meeting Aunt Mabel and Aunt Trudy had my nerves on edge all weekend long.

Turns out, Tyler passed the test. Aunt Mabel loved him! Aunt Trudy not so much, but then she hates all of my boyfriends.

And low and behold another miracle happened! Aunt Mabel gave me her secret recipe for fried chicken.

Don't tell her, but I'm posting it below. I hope you love it as much as I do!

~~~Carrie

Aunt Mabel's Buttermilk Southern Fried Chicken


Ingredients
2-3 lbs frying chicken, cut up
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon black pepper, Freshly ground (or to taste)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
vegetable oilvegetable oil-->vegetable oil--> (for frying)

Directions
Wash chicken pieces thoroughly and pat dry.
Place chicken in a long, shallow glass baking dish.
Pour the buttermilk over the chicken, cover and refrigerate for a least 4 hours, turning once or twice. In a clean plastic or brown paper bag, combine the flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and if desired the garlic and onion powders.
Drain the chicken and place two or three pieces of chicken in the bag and shake well to coat evenly.
Repeat until all chicken has been coated with seasoned flour mixture. In a large, heavy skillet, heat about one-half of oil over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking.
Add chicken (in batches if necessary) and brown on all sides, about three minutes per side. Place browned chicken on a warm platter until all pieces are cooked.
When all the chicken pieces are browned, crowd them into the skillet, turn heat to medium-low, cover and cook, turning occasionally, until tender, about 35-40 minutes.
Remove cover, turn heat to medium-high and cook six to eight minutes more or until skin is crispy.
Serve at once. Serves 4.

Posted by Carrie Sinclair :: 2:24 PM :: 0 comments

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Ever have one of those days....

Okay, so I believed I'd thought of everything. Considered every possible disaster scenario and worked out a plausable solution. Boy was I ever wrong. Because nothing could have prepared me for meeting Tyler Bennedict.

It happened the night I was catering my first major event for a woman who’d fired some of the biggest names in the business. This was my chance to prove myself. For me it seemed the world literally brimmed with possibility.

I’d certainly spent enough years preparing. I’d attended all the best culinary schools in Paris, New York and Texas, put in endless hours, worked multiple jobs in preparation for the time when my small pride and joy, my baby, Carrie’s Creative Catering would finally become a success.

For someone on the brink of thirty-five, single, and living in Austin, one of the most exciting cities in Texas, success was all around me. But so far, it remained just out of my reach until tonight.

And then it happened.

Disaster struck.

Martina Hilbert, the woman hosting this little get-together for a few hundred of her closest friends informed me I lacked any redeemable talent whatsoever as far as crab puffs were concerned. My skills in any other area were still questionable.

Once Martina finished my thorough dressing-down in front of most of her guests, not to mention all three of my staff members, she proceeded to simply walk away and politely smile, as if she were merely commenting on the weather, not my condemning my best hors d’oeuvres as garbage. I wanted to disappear right there into her spotless Italian marble floor.

This party was supposed to be my big moment. A client like Martina held parties like this all the time, according my best friend Stephanie Monroe-Jennings, whom I’m embarrassed to say got me this gig in the first place.

In Steph’s opinion, if I got in good with Martina and all of her well-to-do friends, it could really put Carrie’s Creative Catering on the map.

Now utterly humiliated, I know if I didn’t escape to some quiet place soon, then everyone here would be witness to my childish reaction to Martina’s less than flattering insult. That’s when I all but ran into Tyler Bennedict’s arms. And for me, well, it was lust at first sight.

Oh and Martina's crab puff snark? Well you be the judge.

Check out my crab puff recipe and let me know what you think.

CRAB PUFFS

Puffs (miniature cream puffs)
1 c. boiling water
1/2 c. butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. flour, sifted
3 or 4 eggs, unbeaten

Add butter and salt to boiling water and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Lower heat, add flour all at once and beat vigorously until mixture leaves side of pan. Add one egg at a time beating thoroughly after each addition. Shape on greased cookie sheet using one teaspoon pastry for 1 puff, depending upon size desired.
Bake in hot oven, 400 degrees, for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake about 30 minutes longer, or until well browned. Remove from oven and place on wine rack to cool. When cool, make slits on side. If there is any soft or spongy dough inside of puff, scoop out. This makes about 4 dozen small puffs. If you have extra puffs after filling with crab or shrimp filling, you can freeze them. Can use pastry bag to insert filling.


CRAB FILLING:

1 (7-8 oz.) can crab meat, drained & flaked
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
1/2 sm. onion, minced
1/4 - 1/2 c. mayonnaise (enough to make it creamy)
Salt & pepper to taste
Lemon juice to taste (1 tsp. - 1 tbsp.)
Dash of Worcestershire sauce or to taste

Mix all ingredients together and fill cream puffs with filling and refrigerate.

SHRIMP FILLING:

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. salad dressing
2 tbsp. shrimp juice
1 (4 oz.) can broken shrimp
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. onion, grated

Cream thoroughly. Stir, put in refrigerator until cooled then insert into cream puffs.

...Carrie

Posted by Carrie Sinclair :: 3:49 AM :: 0 comments

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Southern Green Beans with a kick...

Southern Green Beans

1 country ham hock

1 small onion, quartered

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 dried red pepper (whole)2 pounds green beans (cut 1" pieces, ends removed)

Wash beans and put in deep Dutch oven. Add rest of ingredients and cover with water. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Cook at simmer for 3-4 hours. Remove red pepper before serving.

Posted by Carrie Sinclair :: 7:10 AM :: 0 comments

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Starting Easter Morning Off Right...Here Are Some of My Favorite Easter Memories

As a child growing up on my Aunt Mabel's ranch outside of the small Texas town of Early, Easter was a special time of the year for us.

Me, Aunt Mabel and her best friend Trudy had our own Easter morning tradition. And we celebrated it faithfully.

We'd get up well before dawn, and made country hand and redeye gravy together. You see, I'd been cooking for just about as long as I'd lived with my aunt. But once I saw the old movie classic called Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn, where Audrey's character went away to culinary school abroad and created those lovely dishes with strange sounding names, well, I was hooked on cooking from that time forward.

Oh, I burnt my fair share of meals, but before I knew it, I was cooking most of our family dinners.

So on Easter Sunday, we'd have ham and redeye gravy and then we'd go out to the field behind my aunt's house and have our own sunrise service. It was the perfect setting for it.

Then, we'd go to God's house to pay our respects and make it official.

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do.

Country Ham with Redeye Gravy

Here's a great way to start the day. Couple this with eggs for a substantial way to start the day. Ham and eggs - what more can anyone ask for?

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large country ham slice, about 1/2" thick
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee




METHOD

Heat skillet until very hot. Pour in oil, then ham. (Oil is necessary for making gravy, as cured ham produces little fat.) Lower heat to medium and cook for 2 minutes per side. Remove from pan; keep warm. Raise heat and add coffee to hot drippings. Boil for about 2 minutes. Pour over ham. Serve with biscuits.

*Note: because it is cured, ham will overcook quickly and become too dry. Therefore, no more than two minutes per side is recommended for country ham. Truth is, you could eat it without cooking and probably not have any side effects because the curing process chemically cooks the ham. Cooking is recommended though to insure that heat will kill any trichinosis that may be present.

If redeye gravy is too scary for you, try this old southern favorite: old fashioned sawmill gravy, a milk gravy.

Serves: 2

Posted by Carrie Sinclair :: 7:41 AM :: 0 comments

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