Change

Good evening, everyone!  It seems that every time that I think that I am going to commit to blogging regularly, I fizzle out.  Life catches up with me, and before I know it, I haven't blogged in 3 months. 

Then I find myself in a reflective mood as I begin blogging again.  I am thinking about the things that were going on in my life 3 months ago and how much things have changed since then.  The key word here is CHANGE.  Change can be a wonderful thing.  For me though, while it is somewhat thrilling, it is a scary, terrifying experience in other ways. 

For whatever reason, I have just never handled change very well.  Even though it may be exciting, it seems to frighten me on some level and in a way that I can just never explain. 

So for instance, I am super excited about the changes happening at The Tipsy Bee.  I have made sacrifice upon sacrifice to make The Tipsy Bee work.  When Isay sacrifice, I mean both the time kind and the monetary kind.  I have turned down offers to do fun things and not spent money on things that I really wanted, even felt I needed, to help The Tipsy Bee make it as a business.

And now on the eve of planting my grapes and pouring concrete for my new building, I am filled with pride, excitement, but still some dread.  With every major transition of my life, I go through these exact emotions.  You can imagine how trying my childhood was for my parents...lol... yes I wanted to go to kindergarten, but then I was terrified of leaving preschool.  The story replayed itself with every transition... elementary school to middle school... high school to college.  And though I survived each transition and found that the new experiences that came with the transition were awesome, change is still that thing that thrills me and scares me all at once. 

And with that, I leave you to ponder how change makes you feel... and promise to be less reflective in my future blogging :-0)

xoxo The Tipsy Bee

Simple Dinners are the Best!

I have really been working on avoiding processed foods.  Made-from-scratch cakes taste better, and so do made-from-scratch dinners.  However, sometimes you just don't feel like cooking and having to clean up lots of dishes.  So what do you do?  Do you cave in and say, "oh this one time of grabbing a pizza won't matter?"  Or do you throw something together? 

My meal tonight proved that you can throw a quick and nutritious and made-from-scratch meal together and not spend all night in the kitchen.  So what was this oh-so-fabulous meal you ask?  It was a BLT salad.  It was comfort food meets healthy.  The thing that made it even better was that part of it was produced at The Tipsy Bee.  The cucumbers came from the garden.  The eggs came from the hens (notice those golden yolks!!).  And the lettuce and tomatoes came from one of my favorite places in the entire world, Whole Foods, and were organically grown. 

This meal was quick and fresh and pretty inexpensive.  So, the next time you are physically and mentally drained, and you just don't feel like spending time in the kitchen, throw together a BLT salad.  Say yes to fresh and no to fast food! 

Sometimes I cave to feeling lazy, but I am always sooooo much happier when I put in the effort and make a nutritious meal.  That leads into a future post... I happen to think that bacon, cheese, and eggs are actually good for you.  Until next time...

XOXO The Tipsy Bee

BLT Salad

Mamas

In the South, we don't have moms, we usually have "Mamas."  Occasionally we have "mothers."  A "mama" is not just the person who gives birth to you and provides food and shelter, she is the adult who also "raises you," another wonderful Southern expression.  In other words, she nourishes you not just physically but mentally.  She ensures that you have a strong moral fiber to guide you.  Even though it is closer to Father's Day than Mother's Day, this post is about the mamas out there.

Why you may ask am I on the subject of these women who hold that very special title.  I guess it is because while wearing my nurse practitioner hat this last week, I got a little discouraged hearing about the women who carry the title but shouldn't.  It was one of those weeks that I wondered what is the world coming to... it was one story after another about some horrible thing that one woman had done to her child.  I even read a story on the news where a first grader became high after eating her lunch because her sandwich, packed by her mother, accidentily contained PCP or angel dust.  Now I can see how she might have forgotten to put mustard or mayo on the sandwich, but how do you send a child to school with angel dust on their sandwich?

However, my faith in mankind was renewed today by the mamas in my community.  I was sitting on the back pew at church... yes, I am a backrow-kinda-Christian... when one of my dad's cousins came into church.  She was a little late to the service, but after all some religion is better than no religion, right?  My dad's cousin is named Ms. Roma Lee.  She is older than my dad and has Parkinson's disease.  She is a really sweet lady and always has a smile on her face.  It was sad to see how her health is failing her.  She uses a rolling walker and also carries a cane.  Her speech is thick and difficult to understand.  Her feet often become tangled up and you worry that she will fall.  Yet, she is in church every Sunday.  So, she parked her walker behind and used her cane to walk around the pew.  One of her sons helped her maneuver to a seated position.  She patted his leg and leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

I sat there for a minute and thought about just how sweet that was.  Even with her poor health, she was still acting like a 'mama.'  As I looked at the pews ahead of me, throughout the congregation, I noticed women of many ages with their arms patting the knee or hugging the shoulders of a younger female beside them.  These 'mamas' from young to older were letting their children know just how special they are to them.  I doubt these women even thought about what they were doing because it is second nature to them.  They have always and will always provides subtle encouragement and signs of love to their offspring. 

These are the things that my own mama does for me daily.  My grandmother, or Mama Bell (see there goes the 'mama' title again) did those same things for me.  She was always there to mould me and shape me and encourage me.  She taught my mama to be the best mama in the world.  I am so very grateful to have and to have had these women in my life. 

The Bell Family Reunion

The first Sunday in June has forever and always been when the annual Bell Family Reunion is held.  My mom was a Bell, and her nearest and dearest kin have always gathered on this Sunday to eat, laugh, and enjoy each other's company.  As all Southerners can attest to, we look for any excuse to get together and eat.

And as I always do, I ate way too much good food.  Everything was scrumptious...chicken 'n pastry, ham biscuits, squash casserole, deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole... and a myriad of desserts.  It was a food lover's heaven.

It was also a little sad to look around and notice all of the people who are no longer around.  When you are growing up, you take it for granted that things will stay the same.  As we get older, we realize that this is not true.  Older generations die out and new generations are born, making family reunions both a little sad and happy.

My great aunt Ruth was there and is now probably the oldest member of the family.  She is every bit of four feet and ten inches tall and can still touch her toes without bending her knees she pointed out as she demonstrated for everyone.  Mr. Charles, a cousin, is still wearing his fishing hat which he uses to collect money after the meal so that there will be funds to pay for the rental facility fee for another year.  And according to everyone at the reunion, I am obviously a Bell, because I "have that Bell look."

A typical Southern family reunion, full of family, food, and the passing on of tradition.

XOXO The Tipsy Bee

The food table

Family talking

Mr. Milford and Aunt Ruth, the oldest two members of the family

More food

Family deep in conversation

One of the many hugs at the reunion

The long line at the food table

A beautiful plate!

The Sweet Surprises of My Week

So I am not a girl who likes outrageous surprises like surprise birthday parties.  I have been told that I am "too practical," therefore big surprises make me nervous.  However, I love sweet little surprises.  When someone sends me flowers or drops me a note in the mail, my day is made a thousand times better.

As you know from my recent blog post, I celebrated a birthday last week.  My shop is open on Saturdays, and I had bunches of cake orders.  Last Saturday was super busy.  One of my favorite customers came in to buy cupcakes and surprised me with a handmade card with a bee on it.  My heart completely melted.  I also received a birthday card from my great aunt who is in her 90s and a card from a friend who lives in another state.  The fact that these people took time to remember me on my special day meant so much.

My week continued on a happy note when my dad surprised me with caps and visors for The Tipsy Bee.  I recently had t-shirts made with The Tipsy Bee logo.  He thought that the head gear would be a nice addition to the t-shirts to advertise my business.  My dad was just looking for a way to help promote my business.

Sometimes it is not the big gestures in life but the small ones that mean the most... XOXO The Tipsy Bee

Birthdays!

So, May 26, was my birthday.  The year that I was born, May 26, fell on Memorial Day.  My mom always tells me that I interrupted the golf game of the doctor who delivered me. 

Birthdays have always been a HUGE deal to me.  I love birthdays... and not just my birthday.  I think that birthdays should be celebrated with fantastic cake and ice cream and potato chips.  Birthdays are days that the birthday guy or girl should feel special.

I guess that is how I ended up with a bakery.  I love cake which is the ultimate symbol associated with birthdays.  Some people dream in color... I dream in cake.

The day after my birthday, I start thinking about what kind of cake I want for my birthday the next year.  I debate all year long.  I consider cheesecake or a great brownie with ice cream, but ultimately I settle on cake.  As you might have noticed, I love and adore cake.

For years, my birthday cake of choice has been my mom's and now my white velvet.  It is the best cake in the entire world to me.  It is light and fluffy and all things that cake should be. 

Last year however, I decided to experiment with something new, and The Tipsy Bee's lemon blueberry cake was born.  It was a decadent cake full of tartness and sweetness all rolled into one.  No wonder it is now a favorite at The Tipsy Bee.

This year, I thought that I would go traditional.  I am a huge fan of yellow cake with chocolate icing.  In fact, I eat a piece of chocolate every day.  So yellow cake with chocolate icing was going to be my cake.  It was a done deal... until it wasn't.  I briefly toyed with the idea of a buttermilk chocolate chunk cake that looked oh so dreamy.

Until I came upon a blog that had a wonderful neopolitan cake.  Strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate cake provided the ultimate birthday cake.  Chocolate poundcake topped with vanilla bean poundcake and fresh strawberry cake let me indulge every aspect of my sweet tooth.  The ultimate birthday cake was born.  By the time I added ice cream and potato chips, I was in birthday heaven.  So here is to birthdays and to glorious cake!  XOXO The Tipsy Bee

Three layers

...with a crumb coat

The finished product

...with candles

The cut cake

... with ice cream and chips!



Chicken Pot Pie and the Food Rules that I Live By!

The food rules that I live by... life is short, so enjoy good food daily.  Food is always one million times better when it is made from scratch.   Butter is meant to be added to food in healthy doses.  Soul or comfort food soothes the soul and should not be reserved for rainy days. 

One of my favorite soul food dishes is chicken pot pie.  And since one of my food premises is that soul food should be enjoyed and eaten in both good and not-so-good times, I decided to kick off my birthday weekend (a good time) with a made-from-scratch, melt-in-your-mouth, butter-laden chicken pot pie. 

It is amazing how cream, butter, milk, flour, vegetables, a few spices, and of course chicken come together to make this scrumptious creation.  It really is pretty simple... cook your chicken, reserve the broth, saute your vegetables, add sea salt and black pepper, make the sauce, mix vegetable and chicken and sauce together, add the crust, and voila, a Southern concoction, perfect for everything from Sunday dinner to much-needed comfort food for the day you find out that your ex-boyfriend (aka the jerk) just got engaged to your former best friend (that hussy), is born.

In review...

1.  Mix dough for crust... any pie crust will do.

2.  Cook Boneless Chicken Breasts

3.  Saute vegetables in 2 tablespoons of butter and salt to taste

4.  Make sauce by combining 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of flour, 1 cup milk, 2 cups of cream, 1 cup of chicken broth, and salt and pepper to taste.  Sage and nutmeg may be added to suit taste.  Then add vegetable mixture and chicken to the sauce.

5.  Add crust to top of dish and bake at 325 degrees F for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

6.  Serve and enjoy!

XOXO The Tipsy Bee

Little Chester

Dogs truly are man's best friend.  When my day is fantastic, my fur babies are there for me.  If my day is horrible, they are still there for me.  I have three fur babies... Chester, J.E.B., and Holly Berry.  In this post, I thought that I would introduce Chester, my oldest.

Growing up, I always had lots of animals around... dogs, cats, cows, goats, and pigs.  However, until I adopted Chester, I didn't realize how much a part of my life a dog could be and how I would adjust my life around a dog.  It is kinda funny how life works out.

I decided to adopt a dog while living alone in college.  I researched and researched, trying to find the perfect dog.  I considered a purebred dog.  Since I lived in an apartment, I was leaning toward something like a dachshund.  Though I figured that I would talk to a dog breeder, my cousin suggested that I look into rescue organizations.  I contacted the Dachshund Rescue of North America and completed an application for a cute dog on their website.  The dog had already been adopted, so they suggested a couple of other dogs, one of which was Chester.

I did not like his name, but I thought that he was a cute little guy.  So I went through the interview process and the home visit... yes a home visit much as people go through when they adopt children.  Luckily, I passed with flying colors.  Chester was going to be my new companion.  And, as I told my mom, I would change his name, and no, he would not sleep on my bed or sit on my furniture.  Famous last words.

The day came for me to meet Chester's foster mom in Greensboro.  We agreed to meet at a McDonald's.  When I saw Chester, he was so pitiful.  He looked like he had never ever known what it meant to be loved.  I promised him then and there that I would do everything that I could to make his life the best that it could be from that day forward.  He had been rescued from a kill shelter in Chester, SC and had heartworms before he was a year old.  I also decided then and there that Chester was a Chester.  The name just fit.

When we arrived back in Raleigh, where I lived at the time, I immediately gave Chester a bath.  In the days ahead, he followed me everywhere I went.  He became my shadow.  I found out that he loved to ride in the car.  And he slept on my bed the very first night and has continued to sleep there ever since. 

I have spent less than two weeks away from Chester in the eight years since I adopted him.  When I lived in Kentucky, I made arrangements for Chester to spend his days hanging out at a vet clinic while I worked.  He has had birthday parties, regularly attended doggie day camp, travels regularly, and loves to run on the beach.  Chester was so popular when we lived in Raleigh that I was known simply as Chester's mom. 

 Chester is the first thing I see every morning and the last thing that I see at night.  He is my "little Chester baby" who weighs 32 pounds but thinks that he weighs 132 pounds.  He is the sweetest, most laid back dog.  Some people may think that it is a bit much all of the things that I do for him.  I mean after all, he is just a dog, as I am sometimes told.  But he makes my life better... richer.  He loves me unconditionally and without reservation, and I can't imagine my life without him. XOXO The Tipsy Bee

Soft-shelled Crabs and My love for them

There are so many things that I love about the South, and especially eastern NC.  People are friendly, the pace of the world is slow, everyone knows everyone, and the food is awesome.  I usually talk about sweets because if you know me or look at my website or facebook or Twitter, you may have noticed that I am slightly obsessed with sugar.  However, this time of year, I am thinking of something a bit different... drum roll please...soft-shelled crabs.  Soft-shelled crabs have merely molted.  But they are found primarily in April to early June off of the NC coast.

My mom, an awesome woman, and a fantastic cook, recently made this dinner of soft-shelled crabs.  I take it for granted sometimes that because I live so near the coast, fresh seafood is really easy to come by... a mere hop, skip, and a jump away.

I absolutely love seafood.  If God had put me on this earth any further inland, I would have suffered greatly.  If I go out to dinner, it goes without saying that I will order seafood.  In fact, I like seafood so much that I even eat it cold... for breakfast.  I know, my family thinks that I am a little bit odd, too!

The South gets this bad rap of wanting everything heavily battered and deep fried. I mean, after all, this is the place where we even fry candy bars. The best seafood to me though is lightly dipped in corn meal and fried just until the seafood is golden brown. So if you just happen to be in NC this time of year and have the chance to sample a seafood delicacy... eat, enjoy, and think of me! XOXO, The Tipsy Bee

An Adventure

So on this rainy, soon-to-be-bad-weather day, I am obviously blogging, but also working on some new recipes... raisin bread and blueberry muffins with a lemon glaze to be precise.  I love baking cupcakes and cakes, but sometimes, bakers need more than cupcakes to be fulfilled in the kitchen.  I guess, life is kinda like that... you just need more.

Lately, I have found myself not really sticking to my food principles.  Don't get me wrong, I have not taken complete leave of my senses and brough a cake mix or brownie mix into The Tipsy Bee.  But life has been busy and crazy, and I have used that to justify my sweet tea addiction and grabbing a quick bite.  It kinda disappoints me in myself.  Sometimes, I find that I have to recenter myself, not to sound new-agey (not a word, I know, but still catchy!), or get back to basics.  I find that at times, I need to be inspired.  So, as I announced on my facebook page, I have decided to give up processed foods for Lent.  I can occasionally be impulsive, but this is something that I have put a great deal of thought into.  It is something that I need to do for myself for my spiritual health and my physical health. 

In general, I have never cared about fast foods.  As a little girl, I wanted a steak, bake potato, and broccoli, not a Happy Meal from McDonald's.  I think that is probably what disappoints me most in myself... I have fallen prey to the pressure that life has to be lived at warp speed and consequently turned to foods that I would normally never find even remotely appealing.  I have become caught up in a rat race and lost touch with myself.

In preparation for my new adventure, I first drafted someone to be my buddy in the world of unprocessed foods (thanks, Matt!), I began to scour my cookbooks for recipes that are both wholesome and good (so long white rice), and have begun to make a list of foods to purchase.  My start date is Saturday.  Ash Wednesday typically begins Lent, but I needed a day or two to get organized (see how I am not being impulsive... lol).  I am excited about the adventure.  I guess though that is the neat thing to me... it seems more like an adventure as opposed to a challenge or obstacle.

Does this mean that I think that the sweets which I love to bake are suddenly bad for me... not in the least.  It is the deep fried (in only the good Lord above knows what) chicken strips with the side of french fries that I think may kill me... and the rest of the world.  I think that when our ancestors were preparing their meals, they made everything from scratch, could pronounce all of the ingredients, and were far healthier than people are today....  That is the world that I am yearning to go back to... the world of fresh and local and butter and lard.  As I begin this adventure, I plan to blog about it... discuss the challenges and the rewards, and I hope that you will follow along.  Thanks for reading!  Christian
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Christmas meal - Made from Scratch

Getting Started... Again!

It is amazing how time flies! I recently realized that I had not blogged in over a year... I can hardly believe that it has been a whole year since I blogged. So much has happened in that time... The Tipsy Bee got a storefront, I took The Tipsy Bee to a variety of festivals and fairs, I worked on starting a winery (with a lot of help from my friends and family... thanks, everyone!), and The Tipsy Bee acquired chickens! So needless to say, it has been a busy year.

New Chicks

Even though I have been super busy, one reason that I did not blog was simply because I did not really know what to blog about. I wanted to blog about things going on at The Tipsy Bee. In many respects though, The Tipsy Bee encompasses so much more than the little yellow house where it is located. Many parts of my life and The Tipsy Bee overlap. So with that being said, I am going to try to do a better job blogging. However, I am not going to just blog about The Tipsy Bee. I am going to blog about things happening in my life and in the lives of those around me. Sometimes, my blogs may be funny or sad or boring or short or long. But, I hope that you will read along and enjoy the ride... Christian