From the category archives:

Southern Entertaining

Southern Derby Day and Some Pink!

by Christi on May 1, 2010

It is Derby Day! Time to run for the roses, but in my case it will be for the pinks!

Ready with a mint julep on a pale pink napkin in front of the pink flowers. Where did I get the flowers?

From the back fence! Aren’t they beautiful. Let’s take a closer look.

Now, I just have to get out my pink hat and I’ll be ready! I’ll try to remember to put a pic of the hat on once I get it out. But, for now . . . I’m going to enjoy a lovely Saturday. Hope you will too and have a great:

Pink Saturday with Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

Today’s Lagniappe: Kentucky Hot Brown
Something to eat while you sip that mint julep! This recipe is from Bobby Flay.

4 ounces butter
Flour to make a roux (about 6 tablespoons)
3 to 3 1/2 cups milk
1 beaten egg
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping
1 ounce whipped cream (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup Sauteed mushrooms
1 whole tomato, sliced
Slices roast turkey
8 to 12 slices of toast (may be trimmed)
8 to 12 strips fried bacon

Melt butter and add enough flour to make a reasonably thick roux (enough to absorb all of the butter). Add milk and 6 tablespoons Parmesan. Add egg to thicken sauce, but do not allow to boil.

Remove from heat. Fold in whipped cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For each Hot Brown, place 2 slices of toast on a metal (or flameproof) dish. Cover the toast with mushrooms and thinly sliced tomatoes, then cover with a liberal amount of turkey. Pour a generous amount of sauce over the turkey and toast. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan. Place entire dish under a broiler until the sauce is speckled brown and bubbly. Remove from broiler, cross 2 pieces of bacon on top and serve immediately.

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Southern Stroll

by Christi on March 24, 2010

What a lovely time of year it is to take a walk through the neighborhood! The homes are adorned with blooming trees, flowers and shrubs.

I like the bunny flag in front of this house

Here is another one set in a plot of daffodils

Beautiful Forsythia

I love the red colors of this tree in spring before it turns to green

Beautiful weeping cherry

Daffodils in a row

Daffodils around a tree (and a little forsythia back there too)

Daffoldils everywhere! Darlene, this is your house!

Leaves starting to open on the trees

It truly is a beautiful world!

A little outdoor pic for Outdoor Wednesday with A Southern Daydreamer and Rednesday! with It’s a Very Cherry.

Today’s Lagniappe: Grilled Asparagus with Sesame

* 1 lb asparagus, fresh, thinner spears
* 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
* 3 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* sesame seed (optional)

1. Soak 2-3 bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes or more
2. Wash asparagus and snap the ends off
3. Thread the asparagus spears onto the bamboo skewers
4. Spoon or brush the toasted sesame oil onto the asparagus
5. Spoon or brush the soy sauce onto the asparagus
6. Sprinkle with pepper
7. Place on grill and cook for 3-4 minutes until crisp tender
8. Add sesame seeds before cooking
9. Any extra soy sauce-oil mixture can either be used for dipping or basting during cooking

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More Southern Carnival

by Christi on January 17, 2010

Well really, the best metamorphosis to me right now is how each day the sun stays out longer. My friends from Down Under are experiencing the opposite! Right now, as each day grows longer, I am more and more anxious for Spring. Nothing says Spring to me more than Easter, and of course, celebrating Carnival and Mardi Gras seem to help speed along the process during the dark winter days. Actually, it was sunny and in the 50’s here today, which makes me understand why so many people choose to retire in the South. Bring on the SUNSHINE!!!!

Metamorphosis Monday with Between Naps on the Porch

Here is the top of the piano before:

Piano

I’ll have to say the fern does bring a nice outdoor touch.

Here it is now, decked out for the Carnival Season and Mardi Gras!

The lusters are now wearing Mardi Gras masks and the contented piggies in the middle are wearing Mardi Gras beads. We picked up the piggies on the New Orleans leg of our honeymoon. We had just had breakfast at Brennan’s and felt just like these little piggies look!

Hope you are enjoying some longer days with more sunshine and can find something fun to celebrate!

Today’s Lagniappe: Tobasco’s Bloody Mary’s
From the Tobasco site - Bloody Mary’s by the pitcher to help celebrate the season

1 (32-ounce) bottle TABASCO® brand Mildly Seasoned or Extra Spicy Bloody Mary Mix
1 1/2 cups vodka or gin
Lime slices or celery stalks

Combine TABASCO^® Bloody Mary Mix and vodka in a 2-quart pitcher; stir well and chill. Pour into ice-filled glasses and garnish with lime or celery.

History – Birth of a Cocktail. Learn more about it.

Makes 8 servings.

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Southern Entertaining Plans

by Christi on November 2, 2009

Do not forget to entertain strangers,
for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Hebrews 13:2

The holidays are upon us. Only a few more weeks until Thanksgiving and then Christmas and New Years are right behind. It seems like just yesterday we were enjoying the long summer days. Well, November is here now and daylights savings time is over and the days are getting shorter. Even as I am writing this, I can look out my window and see beautiful yellow gold and red trees against a brilliant autumn blue sky.

With the holidays comes entertaining! Here a few easy to make bites for just such occasions.

Hot Brie Kisses
This recipe uses puff pastry, but you could use pre-made phyllo cups to make it even easier.

Hot Brie Kiss

2/3 pound brie cheese
2 sheets puff pastry
hot pepper jelly

Thaw puff pastry at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Unfold pastry and roll lightly with a rolling pin to remove creases.

Cut each sheet into fourths, then cut each fourth in half. Cut each piece in half again to produce 16 even squares of dough per pastry sheet.

Lightly spray mini-muffin cups with vegetable oil.
Fit a square of dough into each cup. The pointed edges of the dough should extend straight up.

Cut brie into 1/2″ squares. Place a piece of cheese into each dough-lined cup. Top with 1/4 teaspoon pepper jelly.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until golden.

Famous Disappearing Spinach Dip
Serve this in a hollowed out round of bread or cabbage with crackers and crudites.

Spinach Dip

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed (do not use fresh)
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1 c.good mayonnaise
1 (4 oz.) pkg. Knorr vegetable soup mix
1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped

Squeeze spinach until dry. In medium bowl, stir together spinach, sour cream and soup mix. Add finely chopped water chestnuts and green onions. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Shrimp Cocktail Dip
When I was growing up, shrimp cocktail was served for really special occasions or at fancy restaurants. It went out of style for a while, but is back strong now. This dip is a twist on an old favorite. Serve it with crackers, or toasted baguette slices.

shrimp

1 cup chili sauce
1 medium celery rib with leaves, finely chopped
1 green onion (that is a scallion in Yankee talk) – white and green parts, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon bottled horseradish (more if you want it a little spicier)
Tabasco (to taste)
8 oz. cooked, peeled, deveined, and finely chopped shrimp
One 8 oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature

In a medium bowl, mix the chili sauce, celery, scallion, parsley, lemon juice, hoseradish, and hot pepper sauce to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours (this part can be prepared up to 2 days in advance).

Stir the shrimp into the cocktail sauce. Place the cream cheese on a serving platter, and pour the shrimp mixture over the top. Serve immediately with crackers or toasted baguette slices.

Be sure to have plenty of cocktail napkins and nice candles on hand for an instant party anytime you please.

Today’s Lagniappe: Bloody Mary’s
Make up a pitcher and serve the vodka on the side so your friends who are driving or prefer not to drink alcohol can still enjoy the great taste of this classic cocktail. To make them extra special, rim the glasses by wetting with lemon juice and then dipping in celery salt.

3 large stalks celery from the heart, including leaves, plus extra for serving
36 ounces tomato juice
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon grated yellow onion
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
12 dashes hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco), or to taste
1 1/2 cups vodka

Cut the celery in large dice, including the leaves, and puree in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until finely minced. In a large pitcher, combine the rest of the ingredients except the vodka. With the food processor running, pour 1/4 of the tomato juice mixture into the food processor through the feed tube. Then pour the contents of the food processor into the pitcher with the remaining tomato juice mixture. Add the vodka and chill or serve the vodka on the side. Serve in tall glasses over ice with a stick of celery.

It’s a three-for Tuesday! Join these great blogs for more recipes and great ideas.

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam’s Tasty Tuesday

Blessed with Grace’s Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

The Gypsy’s Corner’s Three or More Tuesday

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Southern Drinks on the Porch

by Christi on June 17, 2009

You may remember, Monday, I mentioned that last Saturday night a few friends came over for drinks on the porch. Well here are the pics for Tablescape Thursday with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

Click on the logo to see all of the tablescapes this week.

I am always looking for inspiration and I get so much from all of you. Here is the inspiration for this weeks table:

I saw this on the save on crafts website (you can go there by clicking on the pic). This look was created for a wedding. I loved the double shepherd’s hook on the table. I had a double shepherd’s hook but I didn’t want to use it in the middle of the table, nor, did I need anything that formal. I just took their idea and made a less formal, kind of rustic, shabby chic version. This is what I did:

I put up the hook, covered the bottom with moss, added a hanging plant on one side and a candle in a bird cage on the other.

Added some good food and drinks.

Some friends.

And we had a great time!

A robin had tried to build a nest in one of our trees and it had blown out. The nest is at the top of the hooks.

Here is the candle in the cage.

As it got dark we lit the candles.

We watched the fireflies, listened to the crickets and birds and visited and had a wonderful time.

Wish all of y’all could have been there. I’ll admit, mine is not nearly as polished as the magazine shoot. I just used what I had on hand and I was not planning anything so formal as a wedding. I actually didn’t have to purchase anything for the shepherd hook look and I kind of like the shabby chic approach to this.

I think there are a lot of possibilities here. Maybe in the fall, hang mums and wrap around a fall garland. For a patriotic look add red ribbon to the hooks and patriotic plant pokes to the hanging plant. I’ll try some different ideas and let you know how they turn out.

Oh, by the way, my friends Mark and Kim brought the beautiful hydrangeas in the jar with the pretty plaid ribbon. They looked very pretty on the table. Wasn’t that so sweet of them?

Today’s Lagniappe: Grilled Shrimp
We kind of went with a Mexican flavor for the party and all of the recipes are on this blog. Southwestern Cheesecake, Shrimp Dip, Guacamole and Lemon-Thyme Cookies. This grilled shrimp would have fit right in!

1 lb peeled, deveined shrimp (any size)
olive oil
paprika
garlic salt
Old Bay Seasoning
1 lime

Drizzle enough oil over the shrimp to coat. Sprinkle paprika, garlic salt and Old Bay, to taste (I use about 1/2 teaspoon of each for 1 lb of shrimp).Place on wooden skewers which have been soaked in water for 1 hour.

Put on grill, cooking until shrimp tails turn white. Flip and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes more (depending on size).

Squeeze lime over the cooked shrimp and serve as an appetizer, or add to corn tortillas for shrimp tacos.

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Southern Evening

by Christi on June 12, 2009

Margarita

This weekend is a good weekend to have a couple of friends over to sit on the porch and have margaritas and a few eats.

This Southwestern Cheesecake is a good choice to go with margaritas. It is a combination of a couple of recipes. You could use jalapenos instead of chilies or use a different kind of cheese or even add shredded chicken to this recipe.

1 cup finely crushed tortilla chips (about half of a 13 1/2-ounce bag)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1/4 cup chopped green chilies
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
5 large eggs
8 ounces grated Cheddar
sour cream
chopped greed onion
diced tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the chips and butter in a small bowl and mix to blend. Press the mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Add the cream cheese and eggs to a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until very smooth. Using a rubber spatula, fold the vegetables, chicken, grated cheese, and remaining tablespoon salt into the cream cheese mixture. Pour the mixture into the springform pan and bake until the center has set, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool on a wire rack. When cool, cover with sour cream. Top with green onions and tomatoes. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill thoroughly before serving.

The jalapeno pepper plants in my garden have not produced any pepper yet. I can’t wait until I can just go out in the garden and pick them and use them fresh.

I know it is still officially Spring, but, it feels like Summer to me!

Go on over to Gollum’s by clicking on the Foodie Friday logo here to see lots of great recipes.

Today’s Lagniappe: Easy Dip for Fruit
This dip is in just about every church cookbook I have. It is a favorite with fresh strawberries or other fresh fruit, and, it couldn’t be easier to make.

8 ounces marshmallow cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Blend together and you have a delicious dip for fruit!

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Southern Sunday Favorite

June 7, 2009

Another Sunday Favorite with Chari at Happy to Design. Click on pic above to see other favorites!

I remember Sunday lunches when I was growing up fondly. When we got home from church we would set the table with the good china and all gather round the table. Often, we would have company and spend 2 [...]

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Southern Tablescape

March 26, 2009

Okay, here it is. My first entry in Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. I set a table for Spring and you can find a lot of other inspirational pictures on Susan’s blog. Don’t miss her back porch transformation.
I have a little secret for setting my table. I can’t remember [...]

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Southern Wednesday

February 25, 2009

Well, all of the Mardi Gras decorations come down today. My husband is sad about this. He really enjoys the Mardi Gras season. He is ready to have another party! He suggested St. Patrick’s, I countered with Kentucky Derby. I think the first Saturday in May will be sufficient time for our friends to recover [...]

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Southern Party

February 23, 2009

Oh, the Mardi Gras party was fun. We had lots of great food and drinks. My friend Darlene made 2 kinds of hurricanes, the traditional and a blue hurricane. We had mint julep punch and the winner of the drink category was boozefish sangria made with homemade strawberry wine by Debra Alexander.
We had jambalaya, bacon-wrapped, [...]

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Southern Chaos

February 19, 2009

I see that I forgot to add my daily lagniappe yesterday and, in fact, didn’t really write a post yesterday. Ever had one of those chaotic days when you just couldn’t get it together? Yesterday was one of those days for me. Hopefully today will be better – I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
I am today [...]

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Southern Mardi Gras Party Preparation

February 16, 2009

My friend Darlene came over yesterday and we started decoration for the Mardi Gras party next Saturday. The picture above is my dining table with some of the decorations ready to be put into action. We put on the jazzy Mardi Gras music and went to work. We still have plenty to do.
We strung lights [...]

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Southern Monday

February 9, 2009

Ah Monday – again. Hope everybody had a restful weekend. As for me, I did cleaning and more party planning. I’ve been looking for recipes for the Mardi Gras party. I got a Mam Papaul’s king cake mix. It includes the praline filling, decorative sugars and even the baby. I’ve heard they are really good. [...]

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Southern Mardi Gras Plans

February 5, 2009

My neighbor and friend Darlene and I are planning a Mardi Gras party. We have formed our own Krewe. Since we are located in Arkansas we are the Royal Krewe of RazorBacchus. We are doing a toned-down version of the Cajun Courir where the revelers go from house to house begging for ingredients for the [...]

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