A Southern Life

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, pepper-jack stuffed, grilled shrimp (I’ll have to get that recipe for you – yummy), crab dip, andouille in a blanket, and much more including the award winning gumbo by Edna Rhoades.

My friends Mark and Kim Sheaner got the baby in the King Cake. Lots of laughs and lots of fun.  The pics are posted on flickr, here is one of them:

Mardi Gras Fun!

Today’s Lagniappe: Boozefish Sangria (This is not Debra’s recipe, she used her own homemade wine.)

cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup juice
1 1/2 cups orange juice
3 1/2 cups red wine
1/2 cup brandy
1 cup sparkling water
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 orange, thinly sliced
1 apple, cored and thinly sliced

• In a small saucepan, add the water and sugar.
• Set temperature to medium-high and bring sugar-water to a boil.
• You want to keep boiling until you dissolve the sugar and the syrup is clear. This takes about 10 minutes.
• In a large container, pour in the lime juice and orange juice.
• Then, stir in the sugar syrup and mix thoroughly.
• Next, add the wine, brandy, sparkling water, lemon slices, orange slices, and apple slices.
• You want to let the Sangria sit for 10 minutes.
• Pour into a tall glass and garnish with a lime

When you need to entertain at the drop of a hat, what would you serve? For some crazy reason, I think about this a lot. I have a vision that 12 people could show up unexpectedly on my doorstep and I could entertain them beautifully without blinking an eye. In real life, I might could handle 2 people if they were visually impaired enough to not see dust on my furniture or dishes in my sink. I could feed them cheese and crackers and maybe a glass of wine (if not wine, I could probably come up with some lemonade).In my dream world, everything would be spotless and I would have everything on hand. I think having these items on hand would work:

• Sausage cheese balls and cheese and olive roulades and cheese straws served on a pretty silver tray (that doesn’t need polishing)  I would just happen to have these in the freezer, I would just pop them in the oven for a few minutes and serve piping hot.
• A variety of wines, soft drinks, etc. with sparkling clean glasses and garnishments at the ready.
• A variety of cheese and fruit or antipasto fixings that I would throw on a tray and they would land in an artful arrangement that would wow my guests.
• Fresh flowers arranged beautifully.

Of course, I would also serve these with my flawlessly manicured hands in my beautiful hostess attire without a hair out of place.

Luckily for me, I have never had 12 people show up at my door unexpectedly. I have had 2 show up occasionally and I managed just fine. Thanks to my mother for teaching how to be a good hostess, I know how to smile and put things on pretty plates or trays and wing it.

You know, I could probably put some of those things in my freezer, just in case . . .

Today’s Lagniappe: Sausage Cheese Balls

2 cups Bisquick
1 pound hot sausage
1-1/2 cup medium or sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Mix all ingredients in a bowl with your hands. Roll mixture into balls a little smaller than a golf ball. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 20 minutes.

Christi’s note: I like to add garlic powder, a couple of splashes of Worcestershire sauce, a dash of cayenne and sometimes a little dried parsley to this mixture.