Fiddler's Hearth

Recently, my family and I traveled to South Bend.  We snagged tickets to see the amazing Blue Man Group! They were so good, I gained several new laugh lines. I highly recommend going to see them as soon as you get the chance.

We got to South Bend a little early so we decided to get a bite to eat.  My sister heard of the place called the Fiddler's Hearth.  We tried to call in a reservation, but they don't take any.  Strange....  So we found it on the map and once we found the parking garage, we spotted it right across the street!  You can almost see the parking garage in the picture above.  We had a very nice lady take our family photo outside the restaurant.

It happened by chance that we actually got a table for the five of us.  The seating is "seat yourself"and it was full when we squeezed in the door.  The group at the six-seat table was just finishing up, so we ran over to save our table.  Our server walked past and asked us if we were new, and that's how they run things.  I think it's a genius idea because then they don't have to deal with people missing reservations or stuff like that.  The atmosphere is incredible.  It's like eating a 5 star meal at your Scottish neighbor's house.  Kinda.  They have a stage for live bands and 7 tables crammed in the small dining area.  They also have a bar wherever wall space is available.  They had the White Sox game on two TVs and a soccer game on the other.

We started off our meal with Scottish Eggs.  My mom saw these in a recent issue of Food and Wine Magazine and we were feeling adventurous.

I have to tell you that I ate two out of the four that came in a serving.  For those of you who don't know, the Scottish like to prepare these hard boiled eggs by surrounding them in sausage and lamb mixture and then deep-frying the whole thing.  Wait, it gets better.  It's served with stone-ground mustard.  This was so good, I can't even put it into words.  The lamb made it so tender and the crust from the fryer was perfect.  I just might have to dust off the old deep fryer and see if I can make these.  don't you love how they plate it on top of mixed greens?  Like if you eat those too, it will counter-act the deep-fried-hard-boiled eggs?  Yeah right.

We also got an order of Pub Pretzels because after-all, we are a family of five and one appetizer just will not do.  These were the perfect combination of moist and crunchy.  They were served with a homemade rarebit cheese sauce that also paired well with the Scottish Eggs.  I love menus that can be mixed and matched.

The kitchen got a tad bit backed up with the sudden rush of diners, but soon our entrees arrived.

My Dad got the fish and Chips, which had a surprising hint of ginger.

My Mom got the Chicken Wellington which was so tender and moist and a side of kale.

Kenny got a burger, of course, but it was gone within 2 minutes so I bet it was good!

Ally got the Smoked Salmon which was delicious!

And I got the Peppercorn Crusted New York Strip Steak, with roasted green beans.  My heart was singing! This steak is how steak should be cooked.  It was a little pink in the middle but so ridiculously tender that my mouth watered the whole time.

And it was only $18.

Topped with fried onions, so good.

And then it was gone.

And I cried.

Almost.

But we did have a really good time at the show!

Enjoy!

Check out their full menu at http://www.fiddlershearth.com/menu.html.

New Features

I'm super excited about this new feature I have just added to my blog.  It links this blog and my Spoonful of Sugar blog all on the same page!  Just look toward the top, under the Sweet Lakes Header, and you will see the Home page and the All New Spoonful of Sugar tab.  Just click on that, go ahead try it, and you will be sent to my other blog about food, yum! Enjoy!

No Reservations

So, I have taken it upon myself to make this blog into a collection of resteraunt reviews found in southwestern Michigan and the surrounding areas.  That way, anyone visiting the area can pop on over here and instantly see the great shiny jewels of our town.  I'm not sure where to start, but stay posted.

New Beginnings

Thank you to all that have or will be visiting this site.  However, I am moving my culinary adventures to a new site at this address.  Please come visit me and check out my new adventures and recipes.  Happy New Year!

The Best Kind of Christmas Present

Whew!

I know that it has been a while since I last posted, but I have been so busy with Cupcakes for Cancer!  We are finally done and  I am proud to report that we raised $133!  My parents were kind enough to match whatever I made (I doubt that they thought we would raise so much from high-schoolers).  When I brought the money to our Key Club adviser here at the high school, she saw the $266 and decided to donate the remaining $34 to make it an even $300!!

I am so happy that it was such a success and I immediately e-mailed Lakeland hospital about donating the money and they set up a time and a place at the new Cancer Care Center in our area.  This morning, I got to visit the new center and take a mini tour of the facilities.  It was so beautiful!!  And they printed up a giant check for me to hand to the president of the facility and we even got to take a couple pictures! It was such a great experience and I am so thankful for everything I have and that I had the unique opportunity to give such a huge and appreciated gift back to my community.

Cupcakes for Cancer

In high school, you are required to take a writing course your senior year to prepare you for the level of writing in college.  It's just as horrible as it sounds.  But I do like the genre we are just finishing up right now, poetry.  The downside, is the portfolio of seven to ten poems along with several drafts of each poem due tomorrow.

In a fit of procrastination, I decided to bake.  Recently, I have been up to my ears in pink cupcakes for the charity I started a couple weeks ago called Cupcakes for Cancer.  So naturally, I made pink cupcakes in honor of it still being October, and Breast Cancer awareness month.  I'm going to sell them at lunch at my school and donate the money to a recently built Cancer Care Center in our area.  And I needed two more batches.  I really like this recipe because the batter is so fluffy and the end result is phenomenal!

To go with my pink theme, I only used pink cupcake liners.

And I dyed the batter pink.

I got the recipe from a page torn out a magazine that my mom had, and while I would really like to credit the source, I have no idea where its from!  But heres the recipe anyways.

Pink Cupcakes for Cancer

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

1 cup of granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

Directions:

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake tins with liners.

(2) In a stand mixer, cream butter until soft, add sugar and cream.

(3) Add vanilla extract.

(4) In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

(5) Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the butter mixture.

(6) Beat until just combined.

(7) Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

When my dad found out these cupcakes were for charity and not for his dessert, he got cranky.  So, to keep him from sneaking into the freezer, I whipped up a batch of these delicious two-ingredient muffins before he came home from work.  

And, when the cupcakes came out of the oven, I was inspired my one of my portfolio pieces (about chocolate cake) to make something chocolate!  I have been dying to try one of my mom's recipes for brownies that she hasn't made lately.

Brownies made from scratch are one of my favorites because the chocolate flavor is a lot more intense than from a box mix.  So I dug up her old recipe cards and tweaked it just a tiny bit and this is the recipe I came up with!  Hopefully by the time they come out of the oven, I'll be finished with my portfolio.

Double Dark Brownies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

8 T dark unsweetened cocoa ( I used Hershey's)

1 t salt

1 1/2 cups flour

4 eggs

2 t vanilla

1/2 T cinnamon

1 cup chocolate chips or nuts (optional)

Directions:

(1) In a large bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar.

(2) Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition.

(3) Add the cocoa one tablespoon at a time.

(4) Then add salt and flour while mixing on low.

(5) Finally, add the vanilla and cinnamon and nuts or chocolate chips.

(6) Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

First Post :)

With the warm scent of pink vanilla cupcakes wafting through the kitchen, I embarked on the journey of finally creating my own blog.  I had done previous research to find that all I needed was a Google account, a catchy name, and a tech-savvy dad.  After several e-mails to Heather Baird, the author of the tasteful blog called Sprinkle Bakes, I started my trip.  I originally had a name that I thought was very clever, A Spoonful of Sugar.  Cute, right?  Taken.  Along with Cinnamon Sugar, Cute Cakes, Sweet Sugar, Cinnamon Sticks, and Good Grief.  I'd almost had enough, when I was inspired by yet another blogger whom I admire,  the author of Scrumptious South Africa.  I decided to use a little word play, and tie in the Great Lakes, which I live close by.  Thus, Sweet Lakes was born.

I live in Michigan, and on on your handy Michigan map, located on your right hand, my hometown is in the furthest south and farthest west you can go.  (The bottom left, right above your wrist.)  Located in little Berrien County, St. Joseph sits on Lake Michigan.  It's a beautiful little town, and while the water isn't very sweet, the people are incredibly nice.  I don't know of any other avid food bloggers located in the area so the name, Sweet Lakes, must be somewhat unique.  And, the name is kind of growing on me.