A Southern Mother's Day Brunch

Joe's first question when we found it his aunt and grandmother were going to be passing through Nashville on Mother's Day was, "Where do you want to go for brunch?" Seeing as going out for brunch on Mother's Day is equivalent to going out for dinner on Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve (overpriced and crowded), I offered to host brunch at our house since I had the whole week to plan and prepare. Then they would get to relax a little and see our place. Joe's aunt lives in the Chicago-area and his grandmother in the Milwaukee-area, so I wanted to show them a little Southern hospitality with the menu. Everything turned out wonderfully, and it was so much better than going out. We were able to eat at our own pace and just relax and enjoy each other's company.

Menu

Mimosas
Toasted Cinnamon Coffee

Cream biscuits with preserves
Country ham
Fruit salad
Paula Deen's Hashbrown Casserole
Quiche with Asparagus, Mushrooms, and Bacon

Hummingbird Cake

Super Bowl Party

The Super Bowl was a great excuse to have people over to eat, drink, and watch the game. While neither Joe nor I are big football people, he went to college in New Orleans and has strong emotional ties to the city. We had taken several trips to New Orleans during Mardi Gras and were excited that the Saints were going to play in the Super Bowl. Our guests contributed with delicious appetizers and desserts, but I'll show you all what I made.

Buffalo Chicken Dip
source: Frank's Red Hot

Ingredients
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
1/2 cup any flavor FRANK'S® REDHOT® Sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cans (12.5 oz. each) chunk chicken breast in water, drained

Preparation
Combine cream cheese, salad dressing, buffalo sauce, and cheese. Mix in chicken. Either bake in an oven-safe dish at 350-degrees for 20 minutes or place in small crockpot for several hours on low. Serve with celery sticks or crackers.

Bourbon Slush
source: Evan Williams Cooking with Bourbon

Ingredients
12 oz frozen lemonade juice concentrate
6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
2 1/2 cups brewed tea, cooled
1 cup sugar
2 cups bourbon
6 cups water

Preparation
Mix ingredients together until well-blended. Place in freezer until slushy. This will go quickly, so you might want to double the recipe!

Joe actually made these all by himself while I was prepping everything for the chili!

Jalapeno Poppers
source: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
Jalapenos
Cream cheese
Bacon

Preparation
Halve jalapenos and remove seeds and membranes. Fill with cream cheese and wrap with bacon. Bake on a pan with a rack at 375-degrees for 20-25 minutes.


I don't normally make beef chilis, so I didn't have a go-to recipe, though I had bookmarked this one a long time ago. It was delicious and had a lot of spice. I offered cheese, avocados, cilantro, green onions, sour cream, and green onions to top everyone's chili with. I doubled the recipe, which fit perfectly into my Dutch oven and fed everyone.

Paula Deen's Spicy Chili
adapted from Reservations not Required

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground chuck
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno, minced
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 (15-ounce) cans ranch-style beans
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles

Preparation

In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown ground chuck, until beef is crumbly. Stir in onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

Stir in beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and green chiles. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Joe's Birthday Dinner

Because I had class on Tuesday until 7 pm, Joe's birthday dinner needed to be something nice that could be on the table relatively quickly. Since we rarely eat steak, it definitely felt like a special occasion. I pan-fried the steaks in my cast iron frying pan after rubbing in some steak seasoning.

The roasted brussel sprouts are our new favorite thing. I tossed halved brussel sprouts in some olive oil, used salt and ground pepper generously, and roasted them in a 400-degree oven for about 30 minutes, tossing occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the pan.

The baked potatoes were actually microwaved and turned out perfectly in a quarter of the time it would've taken to bake them. All in all, a very successful weeknight dinner that was also special!

Merry Christmas!

Before I finished cleaning up the kitchen and myself and headed off to church to sing, I wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas from Joe, Thelonious, Duke, and me. I will be back after Christmas with a lot of delicious updates.

Christmas Menu

Baked Brie with almonds and apricot preserves

Roast Chicken with rosemary and thyme
Cranberry Salad
Oven-roasted Potatoes
Whiskey-Glazed Carrots
Yeast Rolls
Gravy

Christmas Rum Cake

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for this year that I hardly know where to begin. First of all, being married to the most wonderful, intelligent, funny man I've ever met is a huge blessing. This year could've been a lot harder for both of us but getting to share the burden makes it easier.

And our wonderful ragdolls, Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, are always a blessing and a reminder that life is so fun.
We are so blessed to live in a city that we love, especially since a year ago, we didn't know where we would end up. We've discovered that we like to be outdoors and do things like hike!
I can't believe that I am finally in school to do what I've felt called to do since I was 16, and I love it even more than I thought I would.
It's also been great to live within a half hour of my parents for the first time since I left for boarding school my junior year of high school.
There's so much that we're thankful for: Joe's job, a roof over our heads, a church that truly shows the all-encompassing love of Christ, flexible bishops in Texas and Tennessee, our health and that of our parents.

So after running the Habitrot 5K tomorrow morning, we're having dinner at my parents' house with four guests. Below is our menu!

Thanksgiving Menu

Appetizers:
Baked Brie with Carr's Water Crackers
Sausage and Cheese with Triscuits

Meat:
Turkey breast
Ham

Sides:
Cranberry salad
Vermont Cheddar Mashed Yukon Golds
Turkey Gravy
Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
Sizzled Green Beans with Crispy Prosciutto and Pine Nuts
Rolls

Dessert:
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Rushed for Time

Wednesday nights are hectic. I finish work at 5 pm, get home, and need to be out the door again by 6:40 to head to choir practice, so dinners need to be of the quick variety.

Tonight's dinner is proof that you can be rushed for time and still put good-looking, healthy food on the table.

No recipes per se: baked tilapia rubbed with Penzey's Northwood Fire seasoning, leftover mashed potatoes, Easy Cheesy Beer Bread, and steamed broccoli topped with shredded gouda.

Dinner Party

I don't entertain often, okay, ever, but the past two Fridays, I've had people over. This last Friday was a couple where the guy is a fellow anesthesia intern with Joe, and we've been meaning to have them over for dinner. It ended up being a blast. We stayed up really late, even though we had a flight to San Diego in the morning! I was also glad to get to use some of the things we received for our wedding, like our white napkins and napkin rings.

Menu:

Appetizers -
Bacon-wrapped Jalapeno Poppers (see below)
Pita chips with roasted garlic and red pepper dip (a WC gift exchange gift)

Dinner -
Spicy Turkey Peanut Noodles

Dessert -
Zebra Cake (even though mine didn't turn out very zebra-y)

Drinks-
Red wine
Oliphant gin (a great gin to sip, even if you think you don't like gin)



Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Peppers
source: Pioneer Woman

There's not much to this recipe. Basically, chop fresh jalapenos in half and scoop out the seeds and membrances. Fill with cream cheese, and wrap with bacon. Secure with a toothpick. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes on a rack over a pan.


These are crazy good, and a great appetizer because you can make as many or as few as your little heart desires. For four people, I made 18, and they disappeared pretty quickly.