Ole Miss Tailgate Party

After we set the table yesterday, the party started!!! My Roast Beef Jalapeno Cheese Biscuits were on the menu.

 Along with some cocktail wienies. What party is not complete without cocktail wienies.  But my Colonel Rebel dish is one of my favorites.

 No Ole Miss party is complete without him coming to it.

  

The obligatory vegetable platter. But the real star of the party was the Spinach Artichoke Dip.

 The Boursin cheese made this dish spectacular.

  
Saute shallots and garlic in butter over medium heat. Add the spinach and artichokes. I cut up the artichokes into much smaller pieces. Cook on low and after several minutes, add cream, Boursin cheese, salt and pepper. Stir gently and continue to cook until all the cheese is melted. Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.

Put into a well greased baking dish. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake at 300 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until the top browns slightly. Serve with tortilla chips, pita chips or crackers.

 Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup minced fresh shallots
• 2 – 10oz. packages chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 4 cloves minced fresh garlic
• 4TBL butter
• 16oz. quartered artichoke hearts, drained
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 4 oz. Boursin cheese
• 1tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. white pepper
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan or Italian blend cheese

Ole Miss Tablescape

My friend, Yvonne, has the most beautiful tablescapes. She has such a wonderful way with her home and I want to be her... Okay, not really but she does make the most wonderful tables and I tried to use inspiration to transform a normal tailgating party into an "Yvonne" type tailgating party.

So here it is....

 The kids couldn't attend the game so I wanted to bring a little bit of the Grove to our home. 

 Anyone who has been to Oxford for a game, knows how fancy the parties are there...

I love polka dots and thought how fun would it be to celebrate the Ole Miss vs. Georgia game at home with a beautiful Ole Miss tailgate.

 

Bakelite vintage flatware give the table a retro feel.  

Polka Dot dinner plates from Spode, the white with red polka dot plates are from Rosanna. Fiesta blue plates give a nice break between the polka dot plates.

 

 She always puts two napkins together and that is a wonderful touch to any table. The napkin rings are actually my Fourth of July napkin rings.

I used some pretty flowers for in my old Ole Miss bucket....

                                                                             

Red roses, white hydrangeas and blue delphinium tie the colors of the table together.

 

 I added blue ribbon to really bring the blue out of the delphinium and the table.

Add some candles to raise the level of the tailgate table to an elegant table.

               So pretty from above....

My football salt and pepper shakers.

 Thanks, Yvonne, for making my table beautiful and inspiring me to move out of my comfort zone. You help inspire women to transform their houses into homes. I am joining Susan at Between Naps and her fabulous tablescape party.

 

 

Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits with Roast Beef and Horseradish Mayo

Do you need a great biscuit sandwich to go with soup, tailgate party or a quick lunch? Well, this biscuit is a delicious and an easy treat that looks like you slaved in the kitchen for hours... and hours...

Start with flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in 12 T. of butter, diced.

In the mixer,  on slow, stir until the butter looks like small peas. Add buttermilk and one cold egg. Mix until the dry ingredients are just wet. 

Next grate extra sharp Cheddar cheese

 

Remove the seeds and membrane from on jalapeno pepper and chop into tiny pieces. 

 

Mix into the biscuit mixture being very careful not to over mix. Put the entire mixture on a floured board and knead until fully mixed. Cut with a biscuit cutter.... look at my cute cutter... say that three times. 

 

Line on a baking sheet and brush with an egg wash. 

 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Remove when golden brown. While still warm, cut the biscuit in half and place a slice of deli roast beef in the biscuit.

Serve with horseradish mayonnaise. (1 T. of Horseradish mixed with 1/2 c. of mayonnaise) 

Absolutely delicious and hearty.

I am participating in Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum. She has fantastic recipes and a beautiful website.

Buttermilk Cheddar Jalapeno Biscuits

Recipe adapted by Barefoot Contessa

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken

1 cold extra-large egg

1 cup grated extra-sharp Cheddar

1 jalapeño, deseeded with membrane removed, chopped

1 egg, beaten

Menu: Week Ending October 2nd

This week is one of the last weeks that I have nothing pressing. I mean nothing that has to be done this week. School is going strong and the roofers will be here on Thursday but the garden, house, garage, kids and dogs all seem in good shape. 

But as I have written earlier, this fall is crazy busy for us as it is for everyone. And I hate being crazy busy. So I am taking this opportunity to get a head on some fun projects for both the little girl’s birthday party and our fun Halloween party. I made sugar cookie dough and cake pops for Halloween and those are in the freezer. 

I have bought a number of Christmas presents but kind of need an inventory. My hubby is coming home next week along with the whole gang so this week I am cooking ahead for the crew. 

I think I will also take a big hot bubble bath and prepare myself for the hectic next coming weeks. What are you going to do to spoil yourself?

Here is this week’s menu, in addition, I am making a lasagna for next week, and a great big bowl of chili.

Monday

 Southwest Chicken Quesadillas

Mexican Salad

Tuesday

Cheese steak Calzone

Caprese Salad

Wednesday

Crab Cake Sandwich

Purple Cabbage Cole Slaw

Thursday

Out

Friday

Grilled Skirt Steak Gyros

Hash brown Casserole

Saturday

Chili Baked Potatoes with Cheese, Sour Cream and Chives

Garden Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Sunday

 

Cobb Salad

Weddings: The Role of the Guests

I know this topic is going to upset some people but we need to discuss the obligations of the guests once they receive a wedding invitations. Most brides, mothers of the rides, wedding planners, caterers or anyone involved in a wedding will tell you there has been a serious breakdown in the appropriate etiquette of the invitee's role in a wedding. So hang on, after extensive research, I am going to set the record straight.

1. When you receive a wedding invitation, you are obligated to follow the proper etiquette of a wedding guest, whether you attend the wedding or stay home. 

2. Within one week of receiving a wedding invitation, you are to RSVP. This means you!!!! Sit down and put pen to paper. Typically, the bride includes a response card in the invitation with a stamp. Walk the response card to the mailbox and stick it in. 

A clear 40 percent of wedding invitations go unanswered. Shameful, And we aren't talking about strictly young people. All generations are part of that percentage. 

We sent Save the Dates to most of the invitees... so the wedding invitation wasn't a surprise. 

The poor mother of the bride has to make the embarrassing email, phone call or worse Facebook message to find out if dear friends and even relatives are coming to her daughter's wedding. 

3. If you have RSVPed to a wedding and find you are unable to attend, you are responsible to let the bride's mother know as soon as possible by telephone or note card. You also need to explain your absence. 

4. It is unacceptable to skip the wedding ceremony and simply attend the reception. The ceremony is the reason you are invited. Don't be tacky. 

5. Once you are sent a wedding invitation, you are obligated to give a wedding gift. A wedding announcement does not require the obligatory wedding gift but the invitation does require a gift but you should send a card or note to congratulate the couple. 

6. If you are invited to a wedding, you may be invited to a bridal shower. Again, RSVP to the shower invitation. If you attend a bridal shower, you are obligated to bring a small gift, 25 to 50 dollars. If you do not attend the bridal shower, you are not obligated to bring a gift. We had people that attended bridal showers and never brought a gift. While the guests are fun to spend time with, the purpose of the bridal shower is to shower the bride with love and gifts. 

7. A bridal shower gift is not in place of the wedding gift. Clearly these are two seperate events. Do not confuse the two. 

8. There is a popular misconception that you have one year to give the newlyweds a wedding gift. Not true. You have two months to give the gift. Proper wedding ettiquette would have you send the gift to the bride or the bride's mother ahead of the ceremony.... I will get to this point next.

9. Do not bring your wedding gift to the ceremony. Send it or drop it off ahead of time. The poor mother of the bride has to gather all the presents at the end of the ceremony or the end of the reception. 

10. If you are an out of town guest, you are responsible for your own accommodations. Now the bride will help by blocking rooms at local hotels and negotiate a lower group rate, but you are responsible to find your own rooms. 

11. Arrive at the ceremony, fifteen minutes before the beginning of the ceremony. The bride wants to make a grand entrance and a late guest will make this more stressful. 

12. Do not take pictures during the wedding ceremony. The ceremony is a special time between the couple and typically, making a covenant to each other either before their Lord or whatever. The sound of cameras detracts from the solemnest of this special time. Trust me, the bride has paid enough for a wedding photographer. She does not need your cell phone pictures. 

13. Send the mother of the bride a note about the highlights of the ceremony. I have never done this step before but I will from now on. As a newly minted wedding veteran, any note after my daughter's wedding would have been greatly appreciated. Most weddings take a year to plan and the mother wants to know that the guests felt the effort the families, bride and groom took to plan this special event. 

Okay, if you happened to make it through all my research , the sources are Amy Vanderbilt and Emily Post. 

Most people think they know etiquette but few people actually look in the book to do the research. Well, if you are invited to a wedding... make sure you refer to this post... and you will be the perfect wedding guest.

Mikey and the Flower Girl

As we wait for wedding pictures. I thought I would share these two cute children that were in my daughter's wedding. 

Mikey, my daughter's godson, is a pistol.... like full on pistol. The photographer even wrote about what a pistol he is.... Mikey is the sweetest, naughtiest and kindest boy you will ever meet. If the dictionary had a picture of a boy... Mikey's picture would be next to it. 

Kayla, the flower girl, is my son-in-law's niece. She loved being a flower girl and should always wear long dresses with flouncy skirts. She loves to twirl and thinks she is a princess. I think she is one too. 

The moral of the story. Children in a wedding can be interruptive but then again, aren't children representative of the circle of life? 

We love these two children and they made a special day more special.

Potting Shed Clean-up

The fall chores are in full gear and one of my favorites is cleaning pots used around the patio this summer and stacking them for the winter. Organizing the shed is so much fun and I love to see all the vases.

The shelves lined with all my pots.

All my vases lined up,

I still need them throughout the fall but can clean them as I use them again. 

I also need to clean and oil my gardening tools.

 

At least I know the tools were taken care of... Pretty soon old man winter is going to force us inside and the shed will be shut down for the season.

Fall Countdown

Are you sitting down? Okay......

Did you know that Christmas is 13 weeks and 5 days away...

Halloween is 5 weeks and 6 days away

Thanksgiving is 9 weeks and 2 days away.....

With the busiest time of year just around the corner, are you ready? Do you know what your plan is? So how are we going to get ready for the next fourteen weeks of fun, friends and family?

I may not be good at some things but I am great at planning. And I want to get you and I ready at the same time.

First question: Is your home ready for parties, extra cooking, extra baking, company and family?

Let's look around and see what needs to be done.

1.    This bathroom will be remodeled before Thanksgiving, yikes.... but I have a plan. 

 2.    The guest bedrooms are ready. Do you need new bed linens or towels?

  
3.    The kitchen needs a good deep cleaning, a thorough inventory and some cabinet organization.
4.   With three parties this fall, a big family birthday and Thanksgiving, and Christmas, I have started a plan and will share later but do you have a plan?

5.    Have you thought about the children's costumes? I am working on the dog's costumes. You will love them.
6.   How about the family picture for the Christmas card? Any idea when and where you will take it?
7.    Do you have a plan for the bulbs and perennials? How about closing the garden? Any thoughts?

Don't panic. I have thought all those things through and through the next thirteen weeks will work to remember all the things you need to do....

First up... and maybe the easiest. 

Walk around the house.... what projects can you accomplish in the next four weeks. 

Write your list. Here's mine:

1.    Bathroom remodeled
2.    Shelves painted
3.    Clean and organize the kitchen
4.   Baseboards cleaned
5.    Vacuum all the furniture.
6.   Pack up all the accessories in my home. This gives me space for all the decorations.
7.    Call for carpet cleaning
8.   Paint kitchen hutch, stools and island.

This week, I am calling the carpet cleaners, cleaning and organizing the kitchen. By listing what I can realistically accomplish in four weeks, I can break down the projects into manageable tasks. Next week, I have company coming.... baseboards will be cleaned and all the furniture vacuumed.

I will keep you posted on my progress. What do you need to do?