Georgia Aquarium

 



I had such a wonderful time taking my mother-in-law to the Georgia Aquarium during her holiday visit. I always forget how truly spectacular that place is! I wrote a quick blog about it for Bourbon and Boots. Hope you enjoy!



Stripling's Country Store

Everyone knows that I love to eat, and a good meal starts with a great protein. Check out the awesome butcher/sausage shop I found here in North Georgia.

 



Ringin' in the New Year Right!

I'm sure every culture in the world has a way of celebrating the start of a new year, but here in the South, we like to ring it in with food, steeped in tradition and seasoned with a dash of superstition. As a child, I was told that midnight could not come and go without black-eyed peas, collard greens, and hog jowl. It sounds like a pretty weird combination, and it's one my mom desperately tried to avoid. That's why we, like many modern Southerns, usually ended up  with a combination more akin to cooked spinach, black-eyed peas, and ham. That's close enough and absolutely essential for starting the year right.

It’s interesting how these traditions started. Some stories say that Union soldiers looting their way across the South left only “animal fodder,” such as peas and greens, to sustain man and beast alike. Somewhere along the way, greens became symbolic of dollars and peas of coins, edible talismans for financial prosperity in the year to come.

Hog jowl is a fatty cut of pork from the cheek of a pig. Smoked or cured, it can be used to flavor both peas and greens or fried like bacon. The only honest to goodness hog jowl I've ever eaten was at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, Missouri (http://www.throwedrolls.com/), and it was pretty tasty. Eating rich pork products, like jowl, on New Year’s Eve is supposed to bring good luck for the future.

Another superstition is that cornbread should be eaten with the above meal to represent gold and further prosperity. I didn't hear this part of the New Year's tradition until I was grown, but as it happens, cornbread is the perfect complement to peas and greens. Lucky or not, it's welcome on my table any time.

New York can have their lighted ball and Pasadena their roses. Give me a bowl of hot greens and a kiss at midnight, and I’m set for another great year!

Happy New Year!

A Flippin' Good Time

I was standing over my stove this morning making pancakes and drinking my Ozark Float Trip coffee when I started thinking about the first time I ever made pancakes. I was in elementary school, and I was allowed to cook on the stove top for the first time. I remember standing on a stool and peering down on the griddle, counting the bubbles as they rose up through the batter. I can still feel myself staring so intently, trying to calculate exactly how many bubbles would mean a perfectly golden pancake and a mess-free flip. I also remember scraping the last few drops of batter from the bowl to make a scant mini-pancake for our family dachshund. (As a vet, I can't condone this now, but it seemed perfectly reasonable at the time.)

I'd like to believe that my cooking prowess has expanded somewhat since that first solo flight in the kitchen, but pancakes are still one my favorite comfort foods. Today's batch was particularly fun because it meant the debut my latest canning endeavor (homemade blueberry syrup) as well as my husband's venison breakfast sausage. The whole combination made for a perfect morning, but it also reminded me of the real beauty of pancakes. They are such a simple food, and yet, there are probably as many versions as there are families on planet earth. Even at my house, it's always changing....over-ripe bananas? Banana pancakes. Fresh blueberries in the freezer? Blueberry pancakes. Wanting something rich and decadent to start the day? Buttermilk pancakes. What? You don't keep buttermilk on hand? Meet my favorite baking cheat:

Evaporated buttermilk is a small miracle of modern cooking. One canister lasts for ages in your fridge, and you can pull it out any time a recipe calls for buttermilk. Just mix with water according to the ratio on the canister, and you're good to go. It isn't going to hit the spot if you're wanting to drink buttermilk, but baked into anything, it gives richness and flavor without pesky leftovers. (A shout-out to my mom for this tip!)

With the holidays upon us and pancakes on my mind, I thought I would share a great recipe for a potato pancakes. They are a fun, different item for breakfast, and the first time I made these for my husband said they were "what leftover mashed potatoes were meant to be." I'm guessing more than one person out there is going to end up with leftover mashed potatoes this Christmas, and this might come in handy.

Potato Pancakes
1 cup grated raw potato
1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1tsp dried rosemary, finely ground

Squeeze the raw potato in a clean tea towel to remove excess water. Mix all ingredients and spoon a scant 1/4 cup of the mixture into a hot, greased skillet, pressing out flat. Allow to cook until the bottom is golden brown and lifts easily from the pan. Turn the cake over. When both sides are browned, remove the cake from the skillet and place on a paper towel to drain. Serve potato cakes with honey for breakfast or with stew.

 Photos by Jenn Ballard

Thanksgiving 2013

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. If you've been following my blog, you probably know that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It happens in the fall (my favorite time of year) and centers on gratitude and food, two things I value tremendously.  This year I started my morning in the kitchen of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens, GA. This church prepares a huge meal for the community on Thanksgiving, and I went over to help with the cooking. What I received from the experience, however, was so much greater. Normally, I wouldn't write about this sort of thing because I believe what it says in Matthew 6:1-4 about letting your giving be done in secret. Today, however, I need to make an exception, because if I don't, I can't tell you what I learned. There was a gentleman working at the church (I won't use his name out of respect for his privacy) who has been helping to prepare this meal for over 25 years. He took the time to share the history of this event with me while he taught me to make his special turkey gravy. When the event started, they prepared the meal in a field with tubs of water, outdoor cookers, and bonfires to keep themselves warm. It eventually moved indoors (which he says is much easier), and it has had several other changes along the way. Nonetheless, the event has endured, and this gentleman has been there every step of the way. He told me how he learned to cook in his family's soul food restaurant, and how he raised his daughter on his own. He talked about the importance of family and even let me have the first taste of this year's gravy. Thinking back on my week of great memories, it was this experience for which I am most deeply grateful, and I dedicate this blog to my new friend.

After the gravy was finished, it was time to go home and make my own family meal. The weather was cold and crisp (pretty much a perfect day), and my menu was a combination of old and new recipes. Instead of a turkey for just four people, I decided to roast a chicken with herbs, butter, and white wine. This made for an absolutely delicious gravy afterwards (using my friend's tips of course!) My mom made her traditional stuffing to go with it, and I made the green bean and artichoke casserole I wrote about in last year's Thanksgiving blog. I also made the double cranberry-apple sauce from my 2012 Christmas blog, but I used half as many apples and the same number of cranberries. This made a tarter, slightly more traditional version that went really well with the meal. Now for the new....I made a roasted vegetable galette roughly following a recipe from raisingjane.org. My version of the recipe is below.

Roasted Vegetable Galette
1 sweet potato (peeled and cubed)
1 beet (peeled and cubed)
1 parsnip (peeled and cubed)
2 carrots (peeled and cubed)
1 onion (chopped)
12 Brussels sprouts (halved)
2 tsp kosher salt (or more to taste)
1 - 2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic (peeled and minced)
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme (minced)
1 1/2 - 2 cups fresh kale (finely chopped)
6-8 ounces softed cream cheese
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
2 sticks cold, unsalted butter (cubed)
cold water
1 egg (beaten)

To begin, make the pastry dough by combining the flour, sugar, and 1 tsp of the salt in a food processor. Add the cold butter and process it until the mixture is crumbly with small pieces of butter still visible. Add the cold water very slowly until the dough has the right consistency (sticky but not gooey - holds together when pressed). Dump the dough out on a sheet of plastic wrap, work it together ever so slightly with floured hands, wrap it tightly in the plastic, and put it in the refrigerator for no less than two hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Peel and chop the roasting vegetables (sweet potato, beet, parsnip, carrot, onion, Brussels sprouts). Toss them in the olive oil and remaining salt, and roast them, covered, until they are tender but not completely soft - usually 30-40 minutes. Set the vegetables aside.

Combine the garlic, thyme, kale, and cream cheese in a separate bowl until the mixture is relatively smooth and creamy.

Roll out the pastry dough out on a floured surface to make a large circle approximately 1/4 inch thick and 18 inches in diameter. Move the dough to a baking surface (I like my pizza stone, but use what you have). Spread the cream cheese/kale mixture out in the center of the dough leaving a 2-3 inch margin around the edge. Spoon the roasted vegetables over the top, covering the kale mixture. Fold the dough edge over the vegetables in sections, allowing it to overlap at the corners. Brush the dough with an egg wash and bake (still on 400 F) until the crust is golden brown (approximately 30 minutes).

A couple of notes: I doubled several of the vegetables to serve on the side for some carb-minded family members. If that's the route you plan to take, I would finish the extra vegetables in the oven uncovered so they will brown. The vegetables on the galette with finish and brown as the dough cooks. My recipe calls for considerably more cream cheese than the original recipe. The kale didn't cook down as much as I expected, and this should help to smooth everything out. If, however, you want to use less cream cheese, I would recommend chopping the kale very finely and maybe even wilting it briefly before adding it to the filling. The recipe is good as is but could probably use some tweaking. Please let me know if anyone out there has a suggestion.

The galette was delicious and beautiful, though admittedly a lot of work. We finished the meal with my grandmother's famous pumpkin pie and proceeded into the usual Thanksgiving stupor. In closing, let me just say that I am so deeply grateful for all of the tremendous blessings in my life, and I wish everyone out there a safe, happy, and blessed holiday season.

Photos by Jenn Ballard