Chili today...

Last night I loosely combined two chili recipes. I took what I liked and left what I didn't and used what I had. I think it was better than either recipe. But I'm not biased.

3-4 slices of bacon, diced (I used pepper bacon)
1 small onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeño, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground chuck
1/4 c tequila
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
1 small can diced green chiles
1 T chili powder
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 T cocoa
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Remove with slotted spoon. Cook onion and peppers in bacon grease until onions are translucent and peppers are tender. Add garlic and cook for a minute more. Remove to plate with bacon. Brown the beef in the bacon grease. Drain the fat from the pan. Add everything back to the pot. Turn the heat up to high and add the tequila. Cook for a few minutes until the tequila is cooked down. Add the remaining ingredients including about half of one of the 14.5 oz cans with water. Bring to a boil.
Then simmer for an hour covered.

Serve with chips, crackers or cornbread. Garnish with sour cream, scallions, or cheddar cheese.

Serves 6.

The Js Man Cave

My mom dubbed it "the man cave" because it definitely has a more grown up feel. Jack and Jeb are loving their new room.

The Ws Room

A little over a month ago we did a massive whole house switcheroo. We moved the boys out of the biggest bedroom and Michael and I finally inherited a "master.". Will and Witt moved into what was our room, and Jack and Jeb moved to the basement bedroom. We are loving the new arrangement. Everyone is sleeping better and we feel like we have so much more space.

Will and Witt are enjoying their new room together. I think Will likes being the big brother in the room. They have become quite the pair recently. Hers what their new room looks like.

Mickey Mouse Pool Party

I asked Witt what kind of birthday party he wanted, and he said a Mickey Mouse Party.  Been there.  Done that.  Last year.  At 2.  So I tried to think of somehow to do what he requested without doing the same party.

So, we invited our friends to go swimming at the FunPlex with us and we gave it a Mickey spin.

I saw a cute invitation on Pinterest and made my own.  Here's what the invitation said:

Splish! Splash! It’s a Birthday Bash!
Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the Funplex Pool is so delightful!
Join us for
Witt’s 3rd Birthday Party

We went to the pool.  Then we came back to our house for lunch.  I wanted a summery/pool party theme.  So the kids had hot dogs and summer fruit.  The grown-ups had Artichoke Soup and Cobb Salad.

And here was the cake:

When the kids came to the house, we had Mickey Mouse coloring pages printed from the Internet for them to color.  We "picnicked" on the floor like we were at the beach. And the party favors were pool toys, sidewalk chalk, and sunglasses.

And of course, Witt dressed as Mickey Mouse.

Casual winter dinner party

We had a dinner party for 12 last week. I wanted it to be inexpensive and casual. So everyone served themselves and found a place to sit.

For an appetizer I served
Spinach artichoke dip with crudités

For dinner we had
This salad but with mixed greens instead of chopped lettuce
16 bean soup

And my friend Natalie brought homemade herbed bread

And for dessert we had a berry crumble

To drink we had
Red wine
And
Spiked Arnold Palmers

The dinner table looked like this.

16 Bean Soup

1 package of 16 beans (soak according to package instructions and discard seasoning packet)

1 whole chicken
Carrots
2-3 stalls of celery cut into thirds
1 onion, quartered
3 whole cloves of garlic
1 T salt
1/2 T pepper

1 pound bacon, diced
1 pound cooked, smoked sausage, sliced
2 onions, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c white wine
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
3 bay leaves
1 t dried thyme
1 t red pepper flakes

Cover chicken in a large stockpot with 3 quarts of water. Add next six ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer 3 hours. Remove chicken and shred meat. Strain liquid and discard the solids.

Cook bacon in a large dutch oven Remove bacon to plate and discard all but 2T of bacon grease. Cook onions and sausage over medium heat until onions are tender and sausage is lightly browned. Add garlic and cook for a minute more. Pour in wine and deglaze pan. Let wine reduce by one half.

Add soaked, drained and rinsed beans. Cover with the strained chicken stock. Add the tomatoes, herbs and seasonings. Return sausage, bacon and chicken to the pot. Add water if needed to allow one inch above beans. Bring to a boil and simmer for three hours.

Berry Crumble

3 pints? of raspberries (those small plastic containers they come in at the grocery store)
2 of those containers of blueberries
The zest of one orange
2T of orange juice
1T triple sec
1/4 c cornstarch
1/2 c sugar

1/2 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c oats
6 T cold butter, diced

Toss berries and next 5 ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a baking dish.

Combine flour and next 5 ingredients. Cut butter into flour mixture until it is crumbly. Spread butter/flour mixture on top of berries.

Bake at 350 for 35 min.

Pinterest inspiration

Last Friday night we hosted a dinner party for 12. We did it casual this time and I let everyone serve themselves. I saw a centerpiece on Pinterest and copied it for an easy table decoration. I used votives and baby food jars with tea lights. I'm still saving jars and plan on using this centerpiece again outdoors this summer.

Church nursery redo

Last fall we did a sprucing up of the upstairs at church. I took on decorating the toddler nursery. Using leftover fabric from Luke's nursery, clearance curtains from Target, and some inexpensive finds, I made curtains, bunting and some festive decorations.

Let the good times roll!

Our small group had a Mardi Gras party. So I decided to jazz it up a bit around here. We all made different dishes. I made Paula Deen's red beans and rice. We also had gumbo, hurricanes and king cake.

Impromptu Valentines decor

I finally did a bit of Valentines decorating today. Here we go. My mantel. My dining room table. And a close up of the plate on the table ( those are Valentinesy words).

Southern-style Winter Dinner Party

This week we finally had our staff Christmas dinner party.  This is a tradition that Shane and Jean started and since we were sick and others were traveling we were unable to do it before Christmas.  So we finally got together this week.  We missed having Shane and Jean, but since we got together on Jean's birthday, I made a dinner inspired by the Christmas dinners that Jean has made in the past.  Here's the menu:

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail with Lemon-Butter dipping sauce
Roquefort Salad
Boursin Potatoes
Roasted Green Beans
1 2 1/2 pound brisket (I bought a Sadler's brisket from Sam's...already cooked and delicious)

and

Grown-up S'mores for dessert.

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail with Lemon-Butter sauce

For a quick and easy appetizer I made Ina's Roasted Shrimp Cocktail.  But instead of making her cocktail sauce, I adaped the recipe for the sauce for the Shrimp Scampi in The Square Table cookbook.  Here's my dipping sauce:

1/2 c melted butter
1/4 c white wine
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t minced garlic
3 T lemon juice
salt and pepper

Roquefort Salad

This salad came from the Birmingham, Alabama, Junior League cookbook, Tables of Content.  I adapted it below.

1 head of lettuce or bag of mixed greens
1 tomato diced
1/2 cucumber peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 red onion sliced thinly
crumble blue cheese
1 T pine nuts
Blue cheese dressing, see below

Blue cheese dressing
4 ounces Blue cheese, crumbled
3 T milk
salt and pepper
1 shallot, minced
2 T white wine vinegar
1/2 c olive oil
1 T Dijon mustard
chopped fresh parsley

Boursin potatoes

This recipe comes from the Birmingham Junior League cookbook. 

2 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, sliced thinly
2 cups heavy cream
5 ounces Boursin cheese
3 T shallots, minced
salt and pepper

Heat the cream, cheese and shallots until cheese in melted.  Line a baking dish with half of the potatoes.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Pour half of the cheese mixture on top.  Layer the rest of the potatoes and pour the remaining sauce on top.  Bake at 400 for 50 minutes.

Roasted Green Beans with Shallots

This recipe comes from the Birmingham Junior League cookbook Tables of Content.  Here's my rough take on it:

1 pound of green beans
6 shallots, sliced thinly
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 T chopped fresh parsley
1/4 c chopped toasted hazelnuts
1 t lemon zest

Toss the beans with the shallots, oil and salt and pepper.  Roast at 450 for 18 minutes.  Serve with the parsley, hazelnuts and zest on top.

Grown-up S'mores

One day we landed on the Food Network and it was on that show The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  I'm not sure which episode it was, but it might have been this one.  They showed these S'mores made my some restaurant, and we were literally drooling.  I've been wanting to reconcoct the recipe as best as I could remember and did this week.  Here's how I did it:

I line ramekins with a graham cracker crust like you would find with a cheesecake.  I actually used the graham cracker crust for this recipe.  I baked them for about 6 minutes right before serving.

Then I scooped a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream in each ramekin.

Then I poured chocoate syrup on top of the ice cream.  I had a gourmet rum and coffee liqueur-flavored syrup.

Finally I topped each one with a homemade marshmallow and toasted it with a culinary torch.

A Southern White Christmas

On December 16th, we hosted Michael's 3rd Annual 35th Birthday Party.  The party is a fun new tradtion and it is basically a grown-ups-only Christmas Open House.  I changed up the menu a bit this year and decided on the theme of A Southern White Christmas.  My intention was for all the food and drinks to basically be white or golden...as you'll see, it didn't always work out quite that way, but the food was all delicious!

Before we had the opening between our kitchen and dining room expanded, we had a kids table in the kitchen.  It was nice because whenever I was hosting a dinner party, I could set my dining room table in advance and the kids would eat at their table in the kitchen.  Well, now we always eat at the dining room table, so that made things a challenge this time around.  So what I did instead was I set the table with all my serving pieces a couple of days in advance. Then I took this picture so I could remember where I was going to place everything for the party, and I could think through all the serving pieces needed.

Here's the table right before the party.

The Appetizers

Spiral-sliced ham and warm rolls, served with mayonnaise and mustard

Assorted cheeses

Kahlua Brie

Marinated Shrimp on Crackers

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Savory Palmiers

The Beverages

Champagne

White wine

Red wine

Mississippi-Bourbon Punch

Vanilla-Rosemary Lemonade

The Birthday Cakes

Layered Peppermint Cheesecake

Lone Star State Cheesecake

Kahlua Brie

I've posted this recipe before.  Here.

Michelle's Marinated Shrimp on crackers

This is the one dish that has made it on the menu for all three years of this party.  The first year I was going to do shrimp cocktail, but Michelle advised me to make this instead.  Her tip was that shrimp cocktail literally flies off the table, but this dish goes slower...but is actually better.  I don't know if I have the authority to share the secret recipe, but I'll give you this...you cook the shrimp then marinate it in mayonnaise, horseradish, Cajun seasoning, green onions and mustard.  You can make it a day or so in advance, then just serve it on crackers.  Super easy.

Spinach-artichoke dip

I L-O-V-E spinach-artichoke dip, but this has to be my favorite recipe, found, as many of the recipes for the night, in the December Southern Living.



Savory Palmiers

Unbelievably this was the only Ina-dish of the night: Savory Palmiers.

Mississippi Bourbon Punch

The image of the Mississippi Bourbon Punch in the December Southern Living showed a much more golden cocktail.  And mine turned out very red.  I think it was the grenadine that gave it it's bright red color, so I don't know how their's looked so different.  I also looked for white cranberry juice, but could only find white cranberry juice mixed with other fruits like peaches.  So I used the traditional red cranberry juice.  But even though the color wasn't quite what I expected, it was still a hit of the party.

Vanilla-Rosemary Lemonade

For a non-alcoholic option I made Vanilla-Rosemary Lemonade also from the December Southern Living. I had to add a lot more water because it was way too sweet. But it was a delicious twist to the traditional lemonade.

Layered Peppermint Cheesecake

I saw this cake in the December Southern Living and just had to try it. It was well worth the effort, but mine did not look nearly as pretty.  Here's what I learned.  The cheesecake layers are supposed to be frozen when you put the cake together.  I followed that step as directed, but I made the mistake of putting them in my garage freezer which is fickle in the wintertime and they didn't freeze solid.  When I was putting the cake together, it started falling apart almost immediately because the cheesecake layers weren't firm enough.  It still tasted great, but as you can see, mine was a little lopsided.

Lone Star State Cheesecake

I wanted to do a different vanilla cheesecake recipe, and this one was great.  It has a sour cream topping and that is what makes it look so beautiful.  Here's the recipe.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Here are my Christmas decorations this year: