Sweet Potato Casserole

This particular recipe is one passed on to my mother by her dear friend Sara Fauscette. Most of the time I double this recipe for family gatherings. This is one dish I’m usually assigned to bring to a family dinner.

3 cups cooked sweet potatos, mashed (if using canned potatos you need a large size can)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, slightly beaten with ½ cup evaporated milk

1 stick butter, melted

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all above ingredients and pour into a 2 quart (larger….if doubled) casserole.

Mix together topping:

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup plain flour

1 cup chopped pecans

½ stick butter, melted

Combine above ingredients and pour or spoon over potato mixture.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Dinner Party for Eight

Dinner party for eight....complete with a men's table and the ladies' table. The menu included salad, steak, grilled asparagus with hollandaise, charcoal potatos, french baguettes, tea, assorted pastries and raspberry swirl poundcake.

This is the men's table.

The place setting.....

My mother's crystal....I can't remember the pattern name, but it's at least 50 years old.

The ladies' table....

The place setting....my mother's china complete with gold flatware and gold chargers.

Mmmmm....desert!

The place where I spend an extraordinarily large amount of time.

Can you guess what time it was when I was taking pictures?

My desk in the great room I never sit at....

Hubby gettng the grill ready...

Hmmm....wonder who THAT is????

Hmmmm....still need to get those cabinet doors up with the glass inserts.

Grilled asparagus.....well in this picture it hadn't reached the grill yet. :)

Salad.....

Salad fixins....red onion, cherry tomatos, cheese, bacon bits, crutons, and lots of salad dressing choices.

French baguettes and behind the bread the hollandaise sauce is hiding out

Charcoal Potatos......

Wayne and David at the guy's table...

Ronnie's plate.....

Melanie and Alice at the ladies' table.

Feta Shrimp Kabobs

I found this wonderful recipe in a magazine while I was waiting at the doctor’s office.

It's a real keeper.

The meal is Greek-inspired….serve with couscous with bell peppers, tomatoes, and chopped parsley. It would also be great with a little hummus, Greek salad, and pita bread.

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon chopped rosemary

2 Tablespoons dried oregano

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon red –pepper flakes

1 lemon, cut into wedges

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

Place shrimp in a resealable plastic bag. Add lemon juice, oil, rosemary, oregano, garlic, salt, and red pepper; seal bag and turn to coat.

Marinate in the fridge 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Discard marinade, then thread shrimp onto skewers. Heat grill to medium and cook kabobs and lemon wedges, turning once, until shrimp is opaque and lemon wedges are lightly browned, about 8 minutes.

Sprinkle shrimp with feta cheese.

Serves 6

Fall, 2009

September and October were full of wet leaf days.....and November has continued on in the same tradition.

I'm a little tired of rain and wet leaves.

Happy Wednesday!

You can connect with others who participate in Wordless Wednesday here!

Hot Chicken Dip

1 package(8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

2 cans (9.75 oz) chunk chicken breast, drained

½ cup hot sauce

½ cup blue cheese salad dressing

½ cup crumbled blue cheese

Assorted fresh vegetables or crackers

Stir cream cheese into deep baking dish until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, until hot and bubbling. Stir. Serve with fresh vegetables or crackers.

Feeding the Flooded....

Folks still need help in my neck of the woods from the fooding.

Check our more wordless images here

A Toast to You!

I’m from that generation of folks where many of us made the weekly trek down to our local independent movie house to watch Rocky Horror Picture Show. I wasn’t one of the gung ho folks dressing as the characters or walking in armed with water guns or pieces of toast, but I did know all of the lines in the movie and the accompanying audience lines yelled back at the screen.

One of my favorite parts was the section where a toast is made and suddenly audience members would scream out, “A toast…..a toast!” Some folks would reach inside bags they had brought in with them and fling real pieces of toast at the screen.

I love a good wine…..I love a good toast among friends even more, so I got to thinking that I might want to look up some well worded toasts and have on hand to use during dinner parties, etc.

Snopes.com has a great article explaining away a myth involving how toasting evolved from folks clinking glasses in order to slosh a little of their drink into someone else’s afraid that someone in the group might be poisoned. It sounds good in theory, but…..it’s not the real reason.
Like most customs the real reasons evaporated years ago and might not ever be known, but one theory holds that the modern toast began as a way to honor the female sex, and it was often done with innuendo.

I love a play on words, so maybe that’s why I like the custom so much.

Here are some well worded toasts that don’t necessarily have anything to do with innuendo, but I like them:

1. May opinion never float on the waves of ignorance.

2. May we live to learn and learn to live well.

3. May we live in pleasure and die out of debt.

4. May we look forward with pleasure and backwards without remorse.

5. Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.

Helpful anniversary toasts can be found here with links in the sidebar to other toasting occasions.

Some toasting etiquette is given here.

Carabbas Bread Spices

1 T. minced basil

1 T. chopped parsley

1 T. minced garlic

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon chopped rosemary

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

½ teaspoon olive oil

½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine everything but the lemon juice and olive oil

Put into small food processor and chop briefly.

Stir in olive oil and lemon juice.

To serve: combine 1 ½ teaspoons spice blend to 3-4 teaspoons olive oil in small dish. Use pieces of bread to dip up the spices.

Chicken Bryan....Carabbas Style

1 T. minced garlic

1 T. minced yellow onion

2 T. butter

½ cup dry white wine

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2/3 cup cold butter……sliced

1 ½ cup sun dried tomatos

¼ cup chopped basil

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon white pepper

6 boned, skinned chicken breast

Extra olive oil

Salt – Pepper

8 oz. caprino or other Goat Cheese

Saute garlic and onion in 2 T. butter over medium heat till tender. Stir in wine and lemon juice into skillet.

Increase heat to medium high and simmer to reduce by half. Reduce heat to low and stir in cold butter, one slice at a time.

Stir in tomatos, basil, salt, white pepper. Remove from heat, set aside.

Brush chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Grill.

Place equal amounts of cheese on chicken…..Spoon sauce over each breast to serve.

Shrimp and Grits

At the end of July Dear Husband and I visited Savannah for the day as we were traveling home from St. Augustine. We had planned to eat at The Lady and Sons, however, we didn't get there early enough to get on the list. We opted for Uncle Bubba's Oyster House instead.....afterall, it is Paula's brother's place.

I ordered the Shrimp and Grits. It was great....to die for! Ever since I've been looking for a recipe that came close to Uncle Bubba's.

Here are a few pictures from my Creative Saturday....where I fixed the dish and the recipe follows:

The plate of veggies and shrimp I set aside while I made the cream gravy.

The cream gravy, shrimp and loaf of bread I baked.

Our table setting....

Shrimp and Grits

4 servings cooked grits
2 T. olive oil
½ cup diced tasso ham
2 T. diced leeks
2 T. diced onions
2 T. diced green peppers
20 medium to large shrimp, peeled and de-veined with tails on
1-2 T. dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper
Green onion tops, chopped

*****note: tasso ham is Cajun ham an often hard to find outside of Louisana….substitute salt pork, pancetta, or prosciutto. I used 4 slices of thick-sliced bacon….chopped. Then cooked the veggies in the bacon drippings.

Cook grits according to package directions; set aside and keep warm.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tasso and sauté until crisp. Add diced vegetables and sauté until onions are transluscent. Add shrimp and sauté for 30-45 seconds, or until pink. Remove from the pan and set aside. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Slowly add the cream and let reduce until thickened. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Divide grits among four plates. Line plate edges with shrimp. Pour sauce over grits. Garnish with green onion tops.

For a great wedding idea, use martini glasses to serve shrimp and grits, with the grits on the bottom and the shrimp on top.