Chasing Waterfalls - Twin Falls

I found this website the other day with 27 waterfalls in upstate SC - SC Waterfall Trails. I came across this site after hunting a waterfall that wasn't really a waterfall at all... it was this:



That's a dam. I mean, I guess technically there's water falling over it, but really not what I was expecting. So, after work yesterday, I picked a waterfall off the list and decided to find it. Now, some of them on that list take hours to hike to, one is only recommended to be reached by boat, and some are just short walks. I picked one that was only about a quarter mile from the parking area - the Twin Falls in Pickens County.

Now, all I had were Google Map directions to the general area, and the instructions off the Trails site. I'm used to my GPS that tells me when to turn and where, so of course I got lost twice, even ending up in North Carolina once. It should have taken me 45 minutes to get there, but I ended up driving around these steep, curvy mountain roads for an hour, and it took me almost two hours total to find the falls. It was so worth it, though:



Once you got to the parking area, there's a quarter mile-long trail along a creek to walk up to get to the falls. Along the way, there was a ton of mountain laurel in bloom, and little paths shooting off to the side toward the creek. I wish it had been a longer trail.



I passed a couple and a family leaving as I was going up the trail, and once I got to the little viewing booth across from the falls, there was a family playing in the water.



After a awhile, they started climbing up around the falls and disappeared into the woods. I took a page from their book and climbed down off the viewing area to poke around.



After awhile, those people who wandered into the woods reappeared on top of the falls. I may have to go back some day when I'm not in my work clothes, and it's not late so I can poke around some more and make my way up to the top.

All-in-all, it was pretty amazing, and well worth the half a tank of gas, and accidental excursion to North Carolina. It felt like some epic quest. I'm pretty sure I destroyed the One Ring, killed Voldemort, and/or defeated the Dark Side while finding these falls. This weekend I might try seeing one with a longer hike involved. If anyone wants to go with me, I'd love a hiking buddy!

I now leave you with this amazingly awkward picture of me. It was next to impossible to get a shot of me and the falls, and I'm even more awkward in the only one in which I got all of the falls behind me.




Hint: click on pics to make them bigger.

Deliciousness!

Before I get to the deliciousness that was my supper tonight, I have some exciting news. Well, exciting for me. I broke 1,000 page views on my blog today! Someone out there is reading it! You just need to comment more so I know. :-P

Moving on to the main story... I made delicious things happen in my kitchen tonight. I had my sloppy joes, which I knew would be awesome, but I also tried two new recipes. The first was Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes. They may be the best thing I've ever eaten. I'll put the recipe at the end of this post since I feel like I need to share it with the world.



My other new recipe was Mint-Chocolate Chip Muffins. Also very delicious. I was planning on saving them to take to work on Monday, but I don't think there will be enough left.



They were supposed to have melted chocolate drizzled on them, but I went the powdered sugar route instead. In lieu of the muffins for work, I think I'm going to make some whoopie pies. I got a cookbook this weekend at TJ Maxx with recipes for 30 different kinds of whoopie pies and I think I need to try some out.

Speaking of things I bought this weekend, how do you like the plates my muffins are on? I had a coupon for JC Penney, so I got those two seashell plates and a square bowl-thing for $1.09. Not a bad deal... $0.36 a piece. One of my new favorite blogs is Joy the Baker, and she talks a lot about buying random pretty plates for serving, displaying, and photography purposes. I think I'll take a leaf out of her book and start my own random-pretty-plate collection.

Oh, and one other thing I got this weekend... the Desperate Housewives Cookbook. Oh, that's right. You know you're jealous.



Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes
2 oz. cream cheese - softened
2 Tbsp. sour cream
1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Method:
Scrub and pierce potatoes; place on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on high, uncovered for 12-14 minutes, or until tender all the way through, turning once.

When cool enough to handle, but not cold, cut a thin slice of skin off the top of each potato and discard (or eat... whatever). Scoop out pulp into a bowl, leaving a thin shell. Mash the pulp with the cream cheese, sour cream, salt, and butter; until the cream cheese and butter are melted and everything is well-incorporated. Spoon the mixture back into the potato shells.

Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle each with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake, uncovered, at 425 degrees for about 13 minutes, or until they're heated through and the topping has started to melt.

Oh my God, Orange Blossom

So in keeping with my desire to try new cocktails, as well as trying to improve my bartending skills (I'm a notoriously bad drink-maker), I made an Orange Blossom. It's absolutely delicious.

1 1/2oz. gin, 1oz. orange juice, 1/2oz. lime juice, and 1/2oz. simple syrup. Put all in a shaker with ice, shake, and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lime or orange slice.





I used store-bought orange and lime juice, but I can imagine it would be even more awesome with fresh-squeezed. The funny thing is I used to hate gin, but it's quickly making its way up my list of favorite liquors. I especially like it with citrus juices (Orange Blossom, Tom Collins, etc.).

I got the recipe for this out of a Southern Cocktails book. Many of the recipes in there call for Simple Syrup, so I made some to keep on hand. It's just 1C. water and 1C. sugar, brought to a boil and stirred until the sugar is dissolved. As long as you store it in an airtight container in the fridge, it will keep pretty indefinitely.

I realized that this post quickly turned into a tutorial on drink-making, but maybe that's the direction my blog is going!