The Hive Bar Review

There's a new bar and restaurant in town that I have been anticipating for months!

Ever since I heard that the snazzy and few-of-a-kind 21c Museum Hotel was coming to Bentonville, I was hoping that it would bring with it a great restaurant and bar...and it did!

And I got even more excited when I learned that the executive chef at The Hive previously worked at Ashley's, the fabulous restaurant at the Capitol Hotel in Little Rock. The bar at The Capitol happens to be one of my family's favorite places for a great lunch or snack of pimento cheese and homemade crackers.

Jason and I tried the bar at The Hive out recently and loved it! The Hive does a great job of mixing class with southern comfort, leaving you feeling like you're in a bigger city than you really are all the while leaving your palette delighted with warm tastes of home.

Latkes and Applesauce

Remember when I promised you some more vegetarian meal ideas back at the new year?

Well, here's a super easy and tasty idea for your next meatless meal.

Potato latkes (of course, paired with sour cream and applesauce).

They're crispy, they take like 15 minutes to make, and they're kind of like glorified hash browns.

Burma Part 3: Beverages

Burma is a tropical country.

Most of the country stays at around 90 degrees or hotter year round. There are palm trees all over and it's really humid...all the time (which is great for the wildlife and fruit growing).

In this kind of weather and atmosphere, you know that there have to be some beverages that are used to refresh and cool down during the hot days, which are most of them.

First of all, the Burmese drink a lot of tea. Did you know that Burma is greatly influenced by British traditions, tea being one of them?

Simple Saturday: Green Smoothie

Sometimes I'm a little late on trends.

I didn't start watching The Office until like Season 3, I didn't read the Harry Potter series until I was in college and I didn't try a green smoothie until this week.

I know that green smoothies have been going around for awhile, but I have been skeptical and had not come across a simple recipe that I was excited about.

Then, my friend told me what she puts in her green breakfast smoothie: almond milk, spinach, frozen banana and peanut butter.

Dessert Day...or Week

Happy Dessert Day/Week...what I would like to call the week of Valentine's Day.

This is a week when diets should be put to the side and chocolate and chocolate-covered fruits embraced.

Treat yo' self!

Stuff yo' face!

It's for love!

Donut Dates and Weekend Treats

It's the weekend, well amost!

And when I was a kid that meant something really special.

It meant that it was almost Saturday morning, the morning that (if it was my turn) was my donut date with my dad.

Many Saturdays of my sisters and my childhood were filled with rotating donut dates, one Saturday per month for each of us.

Burma Part 2: Hospitality

This post begins part two of photos and food stories from my recent trip to Burma. Click here to read Part 1.

One of the reasons that I really fell in love with the spirit of the Burmese people was their hospitality, humility and laughter.

We experienced so much grace and were so welcomed by the people.

They gladly had us in their homes and fed us their best food. There is widespread poverty in the nation, but you would not know it when you're feasting at someone's table as a guest.

Simple Saturday: Breakfast

It's time to talk about breakfast.

Now, this meal should not just be a weekend, Simple Saturday thing, although isn't a big, special breakfast on a weekend morning just the best?!

Anyway, breakfast is a meal that is often forgotten, left to the last minute and sometimes even ignored! How dare us?

This meal can help us start out our day right and can be a simple way to make the rest of the day go smoothly.

Here are some simple breakfast ideas to get the wheels of your breakfast brain turning:

Scones for Downton Abbey

What do you do when Downton Abbey is coming on, your apartment looks like a tornado has blown threw it (a tornado of moving boxes and tubs and messes) and you haven't baked in weeks?

Make scones.

You bake some classically delicious scones made with yes, heavy cream, and sprinkle in some chocolate chips and walnuts for that extra warmth and delectable flavor.

Burma Part 1: The Market

About a month ago, after about two days hopping from various airplanes, I returned to the U.S. from a 2-week trip to Burma with my mom.

If you don't know where Burma is, it's in Southeast Asia and borders Thailand.

Here's the back story on my trip.

For about the past year I have been the social media/website manager for my parent's mission organization Firefall International. All of my life, my parents have been invested in spreading the gospel across the world, taking many trip to many different nations since I was very young. I think one of the reasons that I became a writer was because I learned to love listening to the stories my parents would bring back from across the world and the tales the missionaries that would visit us would tell.

So, I have always had a passion for seeing people in other nations come to know the Lord. And it has been so neat to use my passion for social media and writing to help further that cause.

And a month and a half ago I got to experience firsthand the wonderful harvest that is happening in Burma and the wonderful people who are a part of it. (You can read more about my trip here.)

Simple Saturday: Sweet Potato Soup

I'm just going to cut to the chase.

Do you like soup?

Do you like healthy things that still feel indulgent?

Do you like meals that stay good for days and are great to take to work?

If you answered yes to all of these (or even if you didn't), then you need to make this sweet potato soup.

25th Birthday in Style

This past weekend, I turned 25!

Wahoo!

I decided that I wanted to have a family birthday as my main shindig, so I invited my sister and brother-in-law from Oklahoma City and my parents to join Jason and I for a party in Tulsa.

Both of my sisters went to college in Tulsa and there are so many fun things to do and places to eat there, so many of my memories of celebrations have been in this town. It's also fairly easy for all of us (except for my sister and brother-in-law in North Carolina) to get to.

Anyway, we have our usual brunch spots and coffee shops, but this past weekend we tried out a few new places that I can highly recommend.

First Fruitful Cocktail

For our New Year's gathering, my sister and I decided that we needed a signature cocktail or fun drink for the evening.

It is the new year, after all.

So, I began searching for a delicious drink that contained Champagne.

And I stumbled upon the French 75.

Food Resolutions 2013

Hello again, folks!

I hope everyone's new year is starting out fantastically.

I wanted to take this time at the beginning of the year to look at my food resolutions from 2012 and make some new ones for 2013.

Here were my resolutions from last year, only one of which was left unaccomplished. I hosted a few dinner parties this year, I made bread (Rosemary Cheese Buttermilk Biscuits), I have cooked a lot more real meals and Jason and I cook together most weeknights!

Simple Saturday: Garlic Croutons

This Simple Saturday recipe really couldn't get any easier.

You take some old crusty bread, like baguette or ciabatta, cut it into cubes, pour some olive oil over it, add some crushed garlic and salt and bake until crisp. (I baked mine at 375 for 5-10 minutes, until browned.)