(I just love James Taylor.)

Do you have a friend that has moved away and needs cheering up?  Maybe she is in NJ and just needs a taste of home?  My mother in law was telling me recently that she discovered the best website for sending a little Southern cheer.  Carolines Cakes is based in Annapolis, Maryland.  Caroline ships southern delicacies to anyone!

You may be wondering what this has to do with Florence, but Caroline is a Florence County native.  She is originally from Lake City, SC.  She has taken that Pee Dee charm up to Annapolis and is spreading it all over.  Who would not want to check the mail and find a seven layer chocolate cake, some bar-b-q, and a case of cheerwine?  There is also a pimento cheese spread that looks divine.

Caroline also has a blog, Cake Talk with Caroline.  For all of my DC Area readers (I see you on statcounter thinking about good ol’ Flo-town!)  she also does catering and you can pick up.  It won’t be EXACTLY like being home or heading to Schoolhouse Barb-q, but it will be pretty close.

Order from Caroline today and please tell her that you read about her on the Flossip!

Flossip Featuring reviews, to-do's, and the not quite news in Florence, SC.

In the comments yesterday, a reader asked about Ham’s Seafood. He had never ventured in and wondered what it is all about.
(Google Maps)

Ham’s is a great find! It is both a restaurant and a fish market. In my opinion, it smells like a fish market, so I have never stayed for the restaurant part. I have a sensitive sniffer. My friends that go love it though.

One of my favorite recipes (A shrimp and orzo dish) requires a good many peeled and deveined shrimp. As much as I love shrimp, I do not love peeling or deveining raw shrimp. Ham’s Seafood will peel and devein them FOR YOU. This is one of the greatest services offered in Florence. I do generally call ahead and give them my order, but if you just want shrimp still in the shell you can drop in anytime. (Currently medium shrimp are $9.16 a pound tax included and large are $12.22 a pound tax included.) That is only a little more than we pay in Charleston to get them straight off the boat.

This business has been around as long as I can remember. I remember my mom dragging me there when she had to run errands. She did always buy me a coca-cola for going with her… and the can always smelled a little fishy!

Get your pots and pans out, check out my favorite recipe and swing by Ham’s for the shrimp!

2215 W Palmetto St
Florence, SC 29501-4045
(843) 662-0111

View Larger Map

Flossip Featuring reviews, to-do's, and the not quite news in Florence, SC.

I do not pretend to be a great chef or a gourmand.  I enjoy cooking when I have time to prep and prepare… and that is not often.  I have a few standard recipes that people seem to like, and so I make those when we have company over.  I always tell myself that I will be better at having people over and quit worrying about what I cook or how my house looks.

I dream of hosting small dinner parties with lots of laughter and wine, happiness rolling off of people as they tell delightful stories and debate the issues of the day.  Instead, I have sticky table mats and lucky charms rolling around under the table.  I am however, convinced, that none of this matters.  We should get back to the time of pot luck dinners and having friends over and letting the kids run around barefoot outside while the parents enjoy adult conversation.   However, the days march by and the invitations to come over get stuck between signing report cards and baseball practice.

One of the reasons that I was so excited when the New York Butcher Shoppe came to town is that it offered an alternative to having to actually cook a good meal for friends. They offer pre-made gourmet meals that require very little effort on my part.  I have been selectively trying different options as I have had time and I have two clear favorites.  The first is their prepared tenderloin.  It was a little pricey and would have served four people.  It truly tasted like fine restaurant fare.  It was after that delight that I discovered something I have never cooked before– tuna.

They have sushi grade tuna at a very reasonable price (about $5.00) a steak.  I had no idea how easy tuna is to prepare or how good.  I had honestly never tried it before a few weeks ago and thought that it all tasted like canned tuna smells.

I bought the steaks and looked through a ton of recipes, and finally just essentially took a few recipes (mainly this one from Food Network) and switched and substituted a few things. You may want to try the Food Network one to get started though, mine is just a hodgepodge recipe.

# 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
# 1 garlic clove, grated
# 2 limes, juiced (I used lime juice because I am lazy and I had it available)
# 2 tablespoons soy sauce (I always use more soy sauce than it calls for)
# Pinch sugar (I used 4 or 5 pinches of brown sugar)
# Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
# 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
# 1 (6-ounce) block sushi-quality tuna (available at New York Butcher Shoppe)

I stirred all of the ingredients together.

Place a skillet over medium-high heat and coat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season the tuna generously with salt and pepper. Lay the tuna in the hot oil and sear for 1 minute on each side to form a slight crust. Pour 1/2 of the mixture into the pan to coat the fish. Serve the seared tuna with the sliced and the remaining sauce drizzled over the whole plate.

The result is very good, and it is quite easy to prepare. Now, all I have to do is actually invite people over…

Flossip Featuring reviews, to-do's, and the not quite news in Florence, SC.