October 2021

Culinary Challenge Week #26

Featured by Tally Ragsdale, posted in Baking

Welcome back to the culinary cooking challenge! And this week we tackled Sleepy Hallow. Let’s get to it!

I mean it’s creamy and fishy, so yeah it was amazing. Not the best clam chowder ever(that I got while visiting Door County, WI. read here) but still very good.

And it was even better with these ginormous rolls. They were absolutely fantastic!! Like so fluffy and perfect. I will be making these again and again and again.

I mean it was a good spinach salad…. But nothing spectacular or anything. Definitely a pretty salad.

Speaking of spectacular this is probably my new favorite cake. It is extremely sweet and moist. I think ate most of this by myself… *oops*

First off make sure you really, really grease your pans. These babies stick like crazy. They are also amazingly tasty and uniquely different from my normal breakfast go to fare. So yes I liked them. (Tay did too in case you were wondering)

So I botched this recipe(hence why there is no pretty crow on my bread) but it was still a delicious bread. I can’t wait to try this recipe again and do it correctly.

Someone say yay! I love baking scones. Probably next to bread in my favorite things to make. These Pumpkin Scone got better with age and the maple icing was by far the best part.

Autumn Chicken and Roasted Veggies 6 out of 10

So this chicken+veggie sheet meal was not nearly as good as other chicken dishes I have made. Just another run of your mill meal.

Last but not least were theses “okay” gingersnap cookies. I love gingersnap cookies! They’re probably my favorite after snickerdoodle and that’s why these were kinda disappointing. Super cute but in the end lacking.

And that is it! We are out of town this next week, so we will be back with another cooking challenge the week after that. But what did you guys think of our Sleepy Hallow recipes? Let me know in the comments down below.

Lots of love,

Tally

Culinary Challenge Week #25

Featured by Tally Ragsdale, posted in Baking

And welcome back! Or at least welcome back for the next two weeks. After that Tay and I are off on vacation(more on that later) But for this week’s culinary challenge are word was picnic. So basically anything that could get packed in a picnic basket. Here we go!

Not exactly the most healthy potato salad but I mean what potato salads are healthy. (Answer not many) High in calories and bacon, this was not bad. I can’t say I’ll be in a hurry to repeat it. But it wasn’t awful.

So these would have been amazing if I had put holes in all of them. The donut nuggets were not cooked all the way through(pretty much cooked just very slightly underdone) Which was distressing. But the proper donuts were fantastic!

These were buttery and delicious! They were really good two days after and reheated. I will be making these again and again and again.

The first night was definitely the best night for this soup as the noodles absorbed all the broth making it more like chicken and noodles. But of course that was tasty too.

I made my own authentic French puff pastry!!! It took 3 days to make it but oh was it worth it!! These completely homemade hand pies are the bomb. As a friend told me and I quote:

That pastry – the apple one DIVINE! Better than in any bakery I’ve been to or tasted! Truly. Sublime! 🙃☺️
-My Friend

So this salad wasn’t necessarily bad it’s just my Mom makes an absolutely amazing crab salad and this one wasn’t very good compared to it. That being said Tay enjoyed it.

So I did get my crackers thin and crispy enough that they made the cracker crunch. Unfortunately my spices were off just a bit so they weren’t very “tasty”. They didn’t taste bad they just didn’t taste much anything.

Yes we went on a picnic after our traditional long Monday Hike.

And that is it for Picnic Week! We will be back next week for a new week of cooking and baking. Our word is very appropriate for this time of year… Sleepy Hallow. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Lots of love,

Tally

Dream Cast for a Sabrina Remake

Featured by Tally Ragsdale, posted in Lifestyle

I know, I know- Remakes are awful. But hear me out on this one. So let me first say I love this movie to obsession. I mean I have-

An goldfish named George.
Sabrina 1954

Because of this I was super hesitant to come up with a dreamcast. But once I got started I found I couldn’t stop.

I think I should also take a moment to mention how much I dislike the 1995 remake. It’s trying to be too much like the original and in that failing awfully. That’s why with my reboot I would change the story ever so slightly. Again trust me! (By the way here is my dreamcast for Mansfield Park)

Sabrina

So this movie’s success and failure depends solely on it’s namesake Sabrina. A role made iconic, timeless and elegant by the one and only Audrey Hepburn. Recasting Audrey is a monumental task. One might even say an impossible one. Her looks and style, her nativity and sophistication are hard to find recapture. But I think I might have gotten there by casting Olivia Cooke the lead role. Have you guys seen her in Vanity Fair? She is awesome! I think her spunky, fun attitude would endear her to the audience and make her a different Sabrina from Audrey.

Linus Larrabee

Talk about another tough casting!! Humphrey Bogart is my all time favorite actor. And is this movie he is fantastic! Going up against William Holden’s ever-lovable David and stealing Audrey from underneath his very nose is a task a lesser actor would have fumbled. But even an older, a little more awkward Humphrey pulled it off. He made you believe in love in the end. In casting a new Linus I wanted an actor who could capture the screen and provide the wit and humor and intelligence needed for the role. That’s why I chose Ben Mendelson. He fits the age requirements and is a very fun actor to watch on screen. I think he would be fantastic!

David Larrabee

Oh David! If I ever have another dog his name shall be David. (I told you I was obsessed) Anyhoo William Holden was terribly charming and adorable as David Larrabee. Even though we pleaded for Sabrina to get over David we understood her fascination. In recasting the playboy we need someone who is handsome and charming and yet not cruel or totally brainless to get with the program at the end. To achieve this I assigned Richard Madden to the role.

Elizabeth Tyson

Daughter of a tycoon, Elizabeth Tyson is a multifaceted character, who despite his lack of interest in her genuinely seems to care about David. In the 1995 version she is credit with helping David at the end set up Linus and Sabrina. In a attempt to give her character more of a role. Instead of doing this however, as I like David’s character growth and how his final acts show how much he loves his older brother; I’d make Elizabeth a little bit older and an almost a mirror image of Linus. Where she is the tycoon(or works jointly with her father) and is all for the merger. And despite herself maybe she has been in love with David for a while. They grew up together kinda thing. I also like how since she’s more Linus age and sped Sabrina might see her a rival for both her first fascination with David and her later love for Linus. Anywho I have casted one of my favorite actresses ever Carrie Mulligan as Elizabeth.

Thomas Fairchild

Probably my favorite character in the original film, I struggled to find someone to play Sabrina’s father. I while I love the idea of Dustin Huffman playing Fairchild I feel like he may be a little too old. What do you guys think? I did think the fantastic actor would be able to intimidate Ben Mendelson’s Linus and go toe-to-toe with Mrs. Larrabee(see below)

Mrs. Maude Larrabee

Okay this is probably my favorite casting- so I think this remake should combine Mr. Larrabee and his wife Maude into one character. Imagine Mr. Larrabee died long ago when Linus was in college, which required Linus with the help of his financial savvy mom(Maude) to take over the empire. Her strong will and deep love for her sons is a running theme throughout the story. She wants to run Sabrina out of town when she comes back after David, but is convinced by Linus’ logical mind to hold off. Never dreaming her eldest son would be in danger from the pretty Sabrina. For this strong woman I have picked the ever intimidating Glenn Close.