Tag Archives: garlic

Jun22

Garlic Gift

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Garlic Gift

Hello! For mine and Johnny’s birthaversary gift, we decided that we wanted to celebrate with a big family lunch at Olive Garden. We went this past weekend and had the best time eating like kings and enjoying all of us (Sans my big bro and family who live out of state) being at the same place together. It really was the perfect gift! Not only did we have a simply wonderful outing, but my dad presented me with one final prezzie before we parted ways: A total blast from the past product from our family vacations to Asheville, North Carolina. Check it out:

My family vacationed in Asheville in 2016 and 2019, respectively. One of our favorite things to do on family vacations is visit farmers markets and local shopping centers and we would go to the same gigantic market every time we were in the area. There were countless booths peddling their wares but we were primarily interested in one lone vendor: Joy’s Gourmet. Joy’s Gourmet features all kinds of delicious canned goods like salsa, pasta sauce, and salad dressing. Their piece de resistance, however, is their garlic spread. All it took was one taste of the samples at the booth and we were hooked! My favorite is the Chipotle and Sundried Tomato spread and we would stock up on them to bring back to Ohio.

These garlic spreads are absolutely divine and I would put them on everything – sandwiches, pasta, as a dip with crackers, etc. My family would savor every bite once we returned home after vacation and the last time I had this spread was after our last trip in 2019. Until this past weekend, that is! A few weeks ago, my dad called me out of the blue to ask if I remembered Joy’s Gourmet and I said did I ever lol. He still gets emails from the shop and informed me that they were offering free shipping, he was going to place an order, and wanted to get me a few jars for my birthday. This was the last thing I was expecting him to say and I was blown away by how thoughtful it was. He remembered that these garlic spreads were my favorite thing on the planet, saw an opportunity, and went for it! ❤

After our lunch, my dad delivered the goods and it was the cherry on top to an already amazing day. This has been the best birthaversary ever!!

What is your favorite thing to do on vacations? Are you going anywhere exciting this summer? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun2

Roasted Garlic Butter Parmesan Potatoes

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Roasted Garlic Butter Parmesan Potatoes

Hello!! Memorial Day was the first week day that I have had off since the holiday season and it was wonderful! I caught up on paperwork, did very minimal other work, binge watched Top Shot with Johnny, and cooked up a storm. I cooked a few favorite recipes like mac n cheese and tried out something new by following Eatwell101’s recipe for Roasted Garlic Butter Parmesan Potatoes. While there were parts of this recipe I would change, Johnny freaking loved it so it was a GREAT SUCCESS in that regard! Check it out:

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This potato side dish recipe was insanely easy to make and took less than fifteen minutes of prep time to complete. All I had to do was chop the potatoes and garlic, melt some butter, and mix a few ingredients together for the sauce. Then, all that was left to do was pop it in the oven and wait. Even before I placed the dish in the oven, it smelled SO good and while it was cooking it smelled even better – our hungry selves were very eager to try it out!

As I said, Johnny was most pleased with the outcome of this recipe and asked me right away if I could make it again lol. That always makes me happy, regardless of if I liked it or not! I thought that the base of the recipe was great, but it wasn’t as flavorful as I had imagined it to be; especially considering the amount of garlic used and I even added some onion in for good measure. The next time I make this, I will be opting for fresh herbs (Which I didn’t have) as well as some lemon juice. I love lemon and Parmesan together and I think that it will help bring more of the flavors out that kind of got muddled.

As per Johnny’s request, I will be getting the ingredients for the Roasted Garlic Butter Parmesan Potatoes again for our next curbside order. I will also be getting my modification ingredients and am hoping it will be even better the next time around. This is a recipe worth trying and putting your own spin on too!

What is your favorite side dish? How did you spend Memorial Day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct27

Joy Of Garlic

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Joy Of Garlic

I am sure that you guys gathered by now that I love food. I feel like I am constantly talking about cooking, baking, eating, or Taco Bell to someone! But one thing that I really love is garlic. I remember the first time that I had a super garlic-y food. My mom made my brother a snack of spaghetti and pesto when he came home from work about ten years ago and after trying a taste of the garlic filled sauce, I was hooked.

After my revelation of how freaking amazing garlic is, I began seeking out foods and recipes that would be filled with the stuff. When I cook, I use no less than an entire bulb of garlic in my meals despite the recipes only calling for about three cloves! When it comes to garlic, I mean bid-ness so when I was at a farmers market in Asheville, North Carolina at the beginning of summer and discovered the Joy Of Garlic stand, I truly believe that I died and went to heaven.

The Joy Of Garlic boasts, sauces, dressings, salsas, and spreads that are all dedicated to giving you the biggest blast of garlic imaginable. Their salsa is superb but after taste testing their Chipotle and sun dried tomato spread, I had discovered what it means to be alive – they are that good. Take a look on their website and you’ll see what I mean!

Upon returning to Asheville in October, my family bought three of each of our favorite spread flavors which will probably last about a month at most considering we put it on everything! Sandwiches, pizza, French bread, crackers, pretzels, you name it. The reason why it dawned on me to even write this post to begin with is because I had some for lunch today over top a microwave pizza! This spread literally transforms everything that you put on it and it turned my somewhat crappy pizza into instant deliciousness.

I also did promise the lovely woman who sold my family our garlic spreads both times that I would write a post about it on my blog. So if you’re reading this: THANK YOU!!

You can shop online for all things garlic at the Joy Of Garlic’s website and you can also learn how to sell the products in your area! If there are any local farmers markets in your neck of the woods, I cannot recommend starting a stand enough because I one hundred and ten percent believe that it would be a hit!

Thank you so much to the Joy Of Garlic for introducing me to my new favorite topping for literally any food and for also helping me keep vampires away with my breath! What is your favorite topping to put on your meals? Is anyone else super obsessed with garlic like me? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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