Donuts and History

 Our third day in Charleston, we had planned to go to Fort Sumter. Since we knew it was going to be super hot and we needed to get there early, we opted for a quick light breakfast. A short walk from our hotel was a cute little donut shop called Glazed Gourmet.

A small local business thriving in downtown Charleston offering yeasty deliciousness with unique flavors!

We chose three of them to share...Blackberry, Cinnamon Sugar Twist, and Maple Bacon.

The cinnamon twist was light and airy and sugary!  

The Maple Bacon was unique. The maple was subtle, which is good because neither one of us are maple fans and sometimes it can be overly sweet and takes over all the other flavors. The bacon also was a bit subtle. Just enough bacon to get the bacon flavor without it overwhelming the donut and making it sickeningly rich.  There was even bacon in the donut as well as on top.

Our favorite though was the Blackberry.  Neither one of us are big on fruit desserts or fruit-filled donuts. But this was tasty!! Real blackberry, seeds and all, in the beautiful purple glaze!! Fresh and fruity! Yumma!!

After our donuts, we hiked a taxi to Fort Sumter. Well, technically we hiked a taxi to the ferry that was going to take us to Fort Sumter. The fort is actually out in the middle of the water where the Cooper River and the Atlantic Ocean meet.

Fort Sumter ferry

Approaching the fort

It was pretty hot that day but we were prepared with lots of water and light clothing.  The ferry ride was fun and had a refreshing breeze as we sailed across the water.

lots of cannons

Once we got there, we learned a lot of cool history.  Fort Sumter was where the first shot of the Civil War took place.  Friday, April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries opened fire on Fort Sumter and continued firing for 34 straight hours until the fort was evacuated.

On the way back to the harbor, we even saw a few dolphins, one of which was guiding the ferry back to the dock. Now off to lunch!!

 Glazed Gourmet Donuts are definitely Pablo approved with 4 ants!

Christmas Cookies Galore

So this past Saturday I went to a cookie party.  My friend hosts one every year.  About 25 women show up with a different plate of cookies in hand, presenting their best baking and cookie decorating skills, vying for a prize.  There is usually a prize for Prettiest cookie and one for Most Unusual cookie.  This year we had a new category for Best Tasting. And then there's the all-coveted Best of Show where not only do you win a prize, you get your name written on the sacred gingerbread man which you get to keep on display in your house for the next year until the next cookie party where a new winner is crowned.

 

 I had that honor one year...it was awesome. I have also won for Prettiest cookie a bunch of times and I think Most Unusal once.  This year I didn't win anything for my cookies.  I kept it kinda simple but was hoping for something unusual.  I made Apricot Sage sandwich cookies with little Christmas trees on top. They were good and pretty but the sage was more subtle than I wanted.  That was supposed to be my unusual aspect.  But the party was still lots of fun. And I did win a prize for one of the games we did.  It had to do with matching a food to a Christmas carol.  I actually tied with a another young lady who is actually my music student! Go figure!

There were so many cookies! And all of them had something special to offer.  Chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, colored sugar, powdered sugar, jelly/jam/preserves, rice krispies, coconut, candies...you name it, it was there.  After having a bite of every cookie (there were about 20 different ones), the sugar coma hits and you think that you never want to see another cookie ever again! But that only lasts for a couple hours usually.

For Best Tasting, the winner was raspberry linzer ornaments...ornament shaped cookies with raspberry jam and powdered sugar.  Very yummy! The winner for Most Unusal was the date jingle balls...little ball-shaped cookies filled with dates and nuts.  Surprisingly yummy and light.  The Prettiest cookie were the almond cream cups...cookie dough shaped like a mini tart filled with creamy almond whipped cream and topped with sliced almonds.  Very delicate.

  

The winner this year for Best of Show though was Connie with these amazing gingerbread cookies that looked like fireplaces! Complete with the icing stockings and the hard candy fire and the pretzel logs and everything! They totally deserved the top prize they received. Congrats to Connie!!

Connie and her winning gingerbread man

All in all it was a cookie-filled day of sugar and fun! And at the end of it, we get to take home as many samples of other peoples cookies as we want to enjoy for the rest of the weekend!

my friend, Crishana, and my mom

some cookie friends

And now to start planning for next year's cookie...