"Rock"ing around the Christmas Tree

I was recently given the opportunity to receive some complimentary treats for Holiday baking from an awesome company called Oh Nuts.  I picked something a little less conventional than chocolate chips or pecans.  I was surely going to use my choice for the holidays, but it wouldn't be for baking.  I saw the image below on Pinterest and knew that I would have to recreate it on my own.  Rock Candy is such a fun and rarely seen treat and I LOVE champagne.  This picture is from the original source, as my pictures weren't nearly as gorgeous so I decided to share my inspiration picture instead.  Even though I don't have photographic evidence, this was still so pretty and fun in person.  The rock candy makes the champagne fizzle when you first drop it in and then as it sits in the champagne it slightly sweetens the bubbly.  This is a must do for Christmas or for New Year's Eve!

** Image Credit: Hostess with the Mostess

And since I didn't include my own picture of the champagne/rock candy concoction, enjoy some pictures below of my Casual Christmas Table Setting.

This is how I set my table in our breakfast area for our upcoming Christmas get togethers that are less formal.

I love to decorate for Christmas and had so much fun with this laid back theme using Christmas plaid and natural elements like burlap, fake snow and berries.

 

I love being able to use my white everyday china and mix it up to match the specified holiday and decor.

I am obsessed with the recently ubiquitous antlers in decorating right now, so I instantly fell in love with these deer silhouette glasses.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!  Merry Christmas!

Oh, Baby...Shower

This past weekend my sister and I threw a baby shower for our brothers wife. I was in charge of all of the food and decor and I had such a blast pulling everything together. I centered the decor around the shower invitation and created what I thought was a perfect list of baby shower finger foods for the menu. These Spinach and Artichoke Puff Pastry rounds were one of the items I made in addition to several others. I made a bunch of things that I have blogged before and have included pictures below so you can see them in action! There were several other menu items, but I didn't get pictures of them all due to the hustle and bustle once the shower started.

Spinach and Artichoke in Puff Pastry
Adapted from Southern Living November 2000

Yield

Makes 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (17.3-ounce) package frozen puff pastry

Preparation

Drain spinach well, by placing in a clean dish towel and twisting each end of the towel.

Stir together spinach, artichoke hearts, and next 5 ingredients.

Thaw puff pastry at room temperature 30 minutes. Unfold pastry, and place on a lightly floured surface or heavy-duty plastic wrap. Spread one-half spinach mixture evenly over pastry sheet, leaving a 1/2-inch border.

Roll up pastry,

jellyroll fashion,

pressing to seal seam;

wrap in heavy-duty plastic wrap.

Repeat procedure with remaining pastry and spinach mixture. Freeze 30 minutes; cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. (Rolls may be frozen up to 3 months.)

Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Other Food and Decor:

Mini Cheesecakes and Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Baby Button Cookies in Cellophane bags with matching stickers for the favors

Ham and Cheese Skewers with Matching Flags

It's not easy being Green

Most of the time my planned meals are extremely organized, well thought out and perfectly orchestrated. Other times I plan to make Fried Green Tomatoes in the dead of winter in Washington DC. I will be the first to admit that this was not such a bright idea. I chose our Valentine's menu with no qualms and made the grocery list from the recipes without the slightest bit of hesitance. It wasn't until I was strolling my cart through the produce section that it dawned on me - I had never seen green tomatoes at any supermarket since I had moved to DC two years ago. Furthermore, if I did have a chance of finding them in my city it wouldn't be in the middle of February. Since I didn't experience this eye-opener until I was already mid-shopping trip, I needed to come up with a Plan B on the fly. I had to decide my "new" first course without the Internet, Magazines or Cookbooks. I was so excited about the original dish (Fried Green Tomatoes with Shrimp Remoulade) that I wanted to keep the same elements. I settled on frying the shrimp in the same batter that was designed for the tomatoes and then I could serve them over greens to make it an integrated meal. And that my friends, is how this dish was born...

Cornmeal Crusted Shrimp Remoulade Salad
Modified from Ken Smith Upperline

Yeild:
4 servings (with tons of leftover sauce for later!)

Ingredients:

5 0z bag of salad greens

Remoulade Sauce:

1/2 cup Creole Mustard
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp perpared horseradish
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped heart of celery
1 1/2 tsp finely chopped parsley
1 Tbsp grated white or yellow onion
1 Tbsp finely chopped green onion
Hot Sauce

Buttermilk Fried Shrimp:

1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of buttermilk (mixed with 1 tsp of Emeril's essence)
1 cup of cornmeal
12 large gulf shrimp

Directions: Remoulade Sauce:

1. Combine the first eleven ingredients and mix well. Add salt to taste.

2. Add olive oil in slow stream while whisking mixture.

3. Add the next four ingredients and mix well.

4. Add a few drops of hot sauce if a spicier flavor is desired. Sauce should be spicy and tangy.

5. Cover and chill before use. Covered and refrigerated it should keep about 3 weeks.

Buttermilk Fried Shrimp:

1. Salt and Pepper shrimp and coat them in flour shaking off excess before the next step.

2. Dip each shrimp in the buttermilk mixture.

3. Let excess buttermilk drip off and then coat the shrimp in the cornmeal.

4. Fry the shrimp in a skillet using 2 Tbsp of olive oil for about 3 minutes on each side or until browned.
Assemble by placing 1/4 of the bag of greens on a salad plate topped with 3 fried shrimp and then spoon about 1/4 cup of remoulade sauce over the shrimp and lettuce.


Below is a picture of my Valentine's Dinner table setting:


Close up of my handmade menus:

Turkey Day Troubles - Installment #6

There are many downfalls to living 1000 miles away from your family like I do. And not surprisingly, the biggest downfall is the Holidays without them. Forrest and I have been lucky enough to travel home during some holidays, but we always stay in DC for Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving is a hard holiday to be away from home. I miss decorating the table at my parents' house, I miss waking up early and watching the Macy's Parade with the other early risers, I miss my niece and nephew's expressions as they sit down to their pint sized table we have set especially for them, I miss the annual Kris Kringle name pull after dinner, and I miss my Daddy's annual declaration of "You really outdid yourself this year, Momma!" But the one thing I miss most every Thanksgiving away from home is- my Momma. She is an amazing creature in the kitchen and Thanksgiving is one of her times to shine. She cooks every single dish we eat including the turkey and does it all without a single recipe. She doesn't get stressed, she doesn't appear flustered, and she always has it ready right on time. The menu remains the same each year, but the dishes are deliciously consistent. Every year you know what you are about to experience as you settle down to the table with your overflowing plate. I admire her composure and her ability to perform what she so aptly defined once as "mommering". Mommering is the ability in any situation to do something that seems superhuman. It is that admirable quality to swoop in during what seems to be some of the most hectic situations and gain immediate control. The ability to put the metaphoric band-aid on any problem. But you can only posses these powers if you are in fact a momma - and that I am not!

So as I prepped for my first big Thanksgiving dinner I am cooking alone, I called my mom several times in order for her to execute a little mommering. She guided me through prepping the turkey - telling me to calm down or I would have a stroke (I am not nearly as calm or composed as my dear mother). She helped me determine cooking times and schedules for my dishes and she listened as I revealed every single miniscule detail from my recipes to my supermarket excursions.

As I sit here on this Thanksgiving-Eve I can't help but feel a little saddened. Saddened by the fact that I will not wake up tomorrow and stumble into the kitchen to find my mother in her red striped apron, chopping away, listening to country music, and trying to convince my Daddy to join her for a glass of wine.

It seems very fitting to finish my Turkey Day Trouble Installments off by talking about my mother. She is, after all, the person who inspired this recurring series. I wanted to share a couple pictures of this precious turkey shaped butter I picked up today at the grocery. What does this bird butter have to do with my mother? Well nothing really, except for the fact that as I placed it in my basket I couldn't help but think how ridiculous she would have told me I was being for buying butter shaped like poultry that cost twice as much as a pound of regular butter. She is very practical (I guess that is a good counterpart to "calm and in control") and she would have laughed at my extravagance. But it was too cute to pass up!

I also included some pics of my table setting from my last Thanksgiving in New Orleans:

And my table setting for my Thanksgiving Dinner Tomorrow (a much smaller table, much more cramped):

Break out the Beret!

I am not sure what possessed me to attempt a classic and somewhat complicated French dish for our dinner party last night. Despite spending 26 years of my life with a very French last name, I have never really felt French. I have always felt more connected to the other very strong Italian side of my ancestry. There is no doubt that I have always identified myself more easily with my Italian heritage because of my dark skin, big nose and my tendency to use my hands so fervently when I talk that I look like I am landing a 747. Maybe I was feeling guilty for not embracing my French lineage while I still had the last name to prove it (circa two weeks ago I now have a very Italian last name), but whatever persuaded me to attempt this French dish took a strong hold of me and I was off.

It is no secret that once I get an idea in my head, I go at it full force and never look back. So there I was, about to cook Classic Coq Au Vin in my new Le Creuset pot for six people I have never cooked for before. Let's just say - it was an adventure. Coq Au Vin, like most braising recipes takes a very long time. This recipe didn't only take a long time during the braising process in the oven, the preparation before the braising lasted for what seemed like an eternity. I like to chop and I like to mince and I like to stir and sautee - but doing these things for almost two hours took a toll on me. I stood over the counter for so long before the dish was even ready to go in the oven that I felt like my knees were locked shut. Ok, so I am a bit dramatic ( I told you I was Italian ), but it was very exhausting. I also probably made this recipe harder on myself than it needed to be in the following ways:

• I bought whole chickens so I needed to watch a You Tube tutorial video to figure out how to quarter them.

• I decided to serve the dish with homemade mashed potatoes instead of egg noodles like the recipe suggested. And at about 10am that morning my mother informed me that homemade mashed potatoes are definitely a dish that can be ruined by improper preparation (so nerves were applied to this ordeal).

• I stopped several times during the preparation to take pictures for my new blog!
  

• And I was afraid to turn the heat on the burner too high because the owner's manual to my new French pot indicated this was a bad idea.

So with all the extra pressures applied it was anything but easy. But I am elated to report that the results were astounding. The accomplishment I felt when I tasted the dish was immense. It is always great to know that your hard work was worth the time. My Coq Au Vin (although it isn't the most aesthetically pleasing picture above) was marvelous! The chicken was so tender and aromatic. The sauce coupled beautifully with the mashed potatoes (which I didn't ruin). And the crowd was definitely pleased!

Classic Coq Au Vin
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2003

10 slices bacon, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
2 chickens, about 3 1/2 to 4 pounds, quartered, rinsed and patted dry
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, finely chopped
20 small pearl onions, peeled
1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large shallots)
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1 pound button mushrooms, wiped clean and halved or quartered if large (should match size of onions)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
3 cups full-bodied dry red wine, such as Pinot Noir or Cotes-du-Rhone
1 1/2 cups rich chicken stock
6 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf

In a large, heavy Dutch oven over high heat fry the bacon until crisp and all of the fat is rendered. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the crisp bacon bits to paper towels to drain. Reserve.

Season the chicken pieces with the salt and pepper. Brown the chicken pieces in the hot bacon fat, working in batches, if necessary, and turning to ensure even cooking. Transfer the chicken pieces to a large plate or bowl and set aside.Remove some of the bacon fat, leaving about 4 tablespoons in the Dutch oven. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the chopped onion, pearl onions, shallots and garlic cloves to the Dutch oven and cook until soft, about 4 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes longer, or until they've released most of their liquid and have begun to brown.

Add the flour and tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Slowly add the wine and stock, stirring constantly. Add the thyme, bay leaf, reserved bacon and chicken. Bring liquid to a boil. (Below is a picture of what the dish looks like before it goes in the oven)

Cover the pot, place in the oven and cook for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the chicken is very tender. (Below is a picture before I took the chicken out to thicken the sauce and right when it came out of the oven. The chicken is so tender at this point that special care needs to be taken when moving the chicken around.)

Transfer the chicken pieces to a serving dish and cover loosely to keep warm. Return pot to medium-low heat. Skim any fat from the surface of the cooking liquid and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook until the sauce has thickened slightly and coats the back of a spoon, about 15 to 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Return the chicken to the Dutch oven and cook for a few minutes to heat through, then serve.

Serve with egg noodles and braised leeks. Garnish with the chopped parsley.

*This dish may be prepared 1 or 2 days in advance and then reheated slowly just before serving.

Below is a picture of my table setting. I folded the napkins into Fleur di Lis shapes - another nod to my French theme and also a way to pay homage to my home town (New Orleans)!

It was a very successful night despite the long day of preparation that proceeded it. It was all worth while, we had a great time with some friends we hadn't had over for dinner before and I was able to use a ton of new wedding gifts in the process. We put the two new Le Creuset pots, glass salad bowl, Lenox Balloon Red wine glasses, silverware, flatware chest, place mats, napkins, potato masher and water pitcher to use all in one night. Viva la France!