Life is good around the table.

about couple of months ago I wrote THIS POST.
it was all about my desire for community.

it is amazing how when we speak something out loud, opportunities come to put it into action.
for the last month, my house has been a busy little greeter of people. friends. community.
and i am beyond grateful.

my heart has been so full.

i managed to finish reading bread and wine.

i know i keep talking about it, but it has quickly soared to the top of my list for favorite books EVER read. it just spoke to my soul in so many ways and i just felt full after reading it.

and i really, really, really want to be best friends forever with shauna niequist.
i think we'd be awesome together.

and i want to start a cooking club. the kind like she has with rich food and rich relationships.
i have ventured out in my cooking and that's just fabulous.
for instance, i made grilled pizza with roasted tomatoes, goat cheese, grilled chicken, fresh rosemary and balsamic vinegar. who am i?

i have purchased all of the ingredients to bake my own bread.

it's like a revival in my kitchen. and my heart. i can't get enough.

if you love jesus and food and the kitchen....please read this. for your soul. for your sanity. trust me, you need it.

and so, i leave you with this:

a little bit of honesty

can i be honest?
do you ever feel like something is lacking?
i feel a little of the lacking lately.

see, i have this deep desire and passion for relationships, friendships, community.
like you know, your people.
most people have their people.
and i know who my people are. but i still feel a lacking.
i'm sure that the millions of times that i've moved has A LOT to do with it.
i mean for goodness sake, moving from city to city, state to state, doesn't really allow much time for really cultivating those relationships.

there's another side to this too. food.
i love food. whether its healthy or bad, i love it.
there is something magical that happens around the table when you're with the people that matter most.
i'm convinced that lives change around the table.

when babies are born, we take food.
when people pass away, we take food.
when it's a rough day, we have comfort food.
there is something truly soothing to the soul when gathered with the ones you love.
i think that jesus reveals himself around the table. whether a home cooked meal or take out, the community that happens around the table.....he's there.

i'm going somewhere with this, i promise.
first of all, this love i speak of has been in my heart my whole life.
some of  my favorite memories in the world occurred in the kitchen of either my mother, my aunt or my grandmother. it's where my family congregates. deep, deep conversations around the kitchen table. there's just something so good about that.

well, a few years ago, i read a book called cherries in winter. it was a collection of recipes and the family stories behind them, and it was oh so good. i think this is when i realized how important the "table" was in my own life.


cherries in winter by suzan colon

but then, in december on the way home from paris, i read a book called "a little salty to cut the sweet."
now this, this spoke straight to my heart. literally laughing out loud with one sentence and crying the next.
it was so, so, so, good. i read it in about 2 hours....couldn't stop. and i loved it so much that i bought it for my aunt, grandmother and mother in-law for christmas. it's one of those books that i think everyone in the world should read.....or at least everyone in the south ;) this book is southern family stories that just so happen to have a bit of food. but these stories are so familiar to me. so close to the funny and sad and loving stories of my own family. stories that i want more of in my life. i think sitting with my family and listening to old family stories is one of the greatest things in all of life. i love them. and then i get a little scared as my immediate family gets older, and i have no one to pass those stories on to. what if i forget them?


a little salty to cut the sweet by sophie hudson

then, last week, i started reading "bread & wine", a book that has been on the top of my list since it came out.
and oh my word, it's attacking my heart. shauna niequist is literally taking the thoughts right out of my heart and putting them in a book. i don't understand how these books keep getting better. and it has recipes! all 3 books have recipes!
this book is all about life around the table and how jesus meets us there and heals us there and comforts us there. it's about the importance of having "your people".


bread & wine by shauna niequist

i desire deeper relationships with my family.
i desire deeper relationships with my friends, both old and new.
i DESIRE my people coming over and really living life together.

I long for that handful of people who, when you're having a bad day, come over whether you want them to or not to give you a hug....and maybe some chocolate. ;)
and i long to be that person to my people as well. the one who doesn't give up on them. the one who will just sit and listen. the one who will hug it out.

and i can't help but be convinced that jesus is trying to show me something here.
i can't just wish for more life around the table....i have to act on it.
i feel like god is stirring something big in my heart on this topic.
it's time to cultivate. it's time to harvest.

i want to have more life around the table, and i want to make sure that i am breathing in every moment of it.
even if there's a strand or two of dog hair in the meal. ;)

it's not just about recipes or cooking.
it's about the transformations, big and small, that happen around the table.

do yourself a favor and read these books. i'm telling you....they are good stuff!

i'm intrigued.....and i'd love your feedback

(source)

it's no secret that i'm a firm believer in clean eating.
i just have a problem adhering to it regularly.

anyway, i've recently (well last few years) become rather intrigued by those who live holistically.
you know, clay or stainless steel cookware only, no plastic, essential oils, all natural remedies, etc, etc, etc.

(side note: every time i say etc, etc, etc, it always makes me thing of The King and I. ah, memories).

like seriously, i am for real intrigued by this way of life. i think there's something to be said for it.
now i'm not saying i'm giving up modern medicine or anything, but i really am interested in the natural living.
and i'm really, really mesmerized about essential oils for healing, breathing, and so on.

i haven't even jumped into any of these things, but i think i'd like to. my life is in need of some real changes in this department.
i just don't exactly know where to start, or what the "right" things are.
just as touristy towns have tourists traps, i feel like the "all natural" products do too.

so i'm genuinely asking for your feedback.
do you do anything holistic? essential oils? all natural bakeware/cookware?
what extremes have you gone to? do you grind your own spices/flour, etc?
have you seen a real difference? has this changed any medical issues you have?
how have you adjusted your budget to include this way of life?

i'd love to hear from you and any advice you may have on the matter!

mama's kitchen - apple bread

several weeks ago i mentioned that i was going to start a weekly blog series called "mama's kitchen". 

this is a fun experiment for me in cooking all of the recipes my mom had clipped and saved in her recipe books. i am so very excited to start!

the very first recipe i attempted was apple bread.

now...i am not a fan of cooked veggies. i'd rather them be fresh and cold. 

chris on the other hand loves some fruit bread, pies, etc.

i just so happened to have all the ingredients for this one on hand as well.

here's what you'll need:

2 C sugar

1 C oil

3 eggs

3 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 C chopped, peeled baking apples

1 C chopped pecans

Makes 2 loaf pans of bread.

alright. so go ahead and preheat that oven to 325 and spray your loaf pans.

i only had one loaf pan, so i put the rest into a muffin tin. however, the cooking times didn't match so i over cooked the muffins.

shame, shame.

next you're going to use your mixer and mix up the sugar, eggs and oil.

in a separate bowl, go ahead and mix all your dry ingredients. then you're going to mix it into the wet ingredients just until blended.

now somewhere in the mix you've got to peel, core and chop up the apples. i did this after i mixed the batter because i didn't want the apples to turn brown. being as i don't cook with fruit, i'm not entirely sure that was the best option. 

also...i'm pretty positive these were not the type of apples recommended for baking.

double fail.

ok so once those apples are chopped, add them and the walnuts to the batter and stir it up!

stir it up, roll it up and throw it in the pan.

and try not to peak too many times.

this beauty needs to cook for 1 hour or until a fork or knife comes out clean.

i have to say, it was quite tasty.

you can throw some butter and sugar on it and toss in the microwave for a buttery apple breakfast.

top it with some ice cream for dessert.

endless possibilities!

ok, well maybe not endless, but you've got options here people.

Something about veggies...

i love to cook.
being in the kitchen is one of my most favorite places ever.
and i am plum stocked on fresh veggies this week.
as a result, i have nothing but recipes and idea flying through my head.
So far this week I have made two new dishes that were simply scrumptious and it would be a disservice if i did not share.

let's start with some awesomely homemade pasta sauce.
i always make my sauce from scratch, but this time i had some fresh tomatoes that were about to go bad.
so i added them to the mix and it made all the difference in the world.
i shall always use fresh tomatoes from now on.

in an iron skillet i sautéed a shallot and 3 cloves of garlic. the key is to do it low and slow so they really sweeten up.
next i added 3 peeled/diced fresh tomatoes and let them break down. about 5-7 minutes.
i then added a plop of tomato paste, some salt, pepper and a little dash of sugar. once that all became a little thick, i added 2/3 cup of canned crushed tomatoes (natural and organic). simmer on low for about 30 minutes. i also added a jar of artichoke hearts that i chopped up and some fresh parsley to cook in for the last 10 minutes or so. it was simply amazing. i wanted to just have a bowl of sauce for dinner, but i figured i should probably add a few noodles.
hubby approved of this meatless dinner, however i'm sure that some sausage or ground beef would be delightful!
and apparently i was too caught up in the moment to bother with pictures of that one.

moving on to potato chicken casserole.

 i had a bag of baby red potatoes that i chopped up.

then i sliced 1/4 of a yellow onion.

feel free to add more onion...i'm just not a huge onion fan. i like the flavor, but i don't like to bite into one, so my slices were extremely thin.
in a bowl, toss the potatoes, onions, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and a little ranch dressing mix.



in a greased baking dish, throw in the potato mixture and bake at about 500 degrees for roughly 30 minutes (depending on size of your potatoes).

the goal is fork tender. While the potatoes are baking, cut up some chicken and toss it in a little olive oil, salt, pepper and ranch dressing mix.



When potatoes are fork tender, place the raw chicken mixture over the potatoes.

Cover with cheese and cooked bacon and put back in the oven. Knock the temp down to 400 and cook for 15 minutes. Then it's time to eat!

I mixed some chives and sour cream together for mine, and chris ate his just as it was. yuuuumy!

it's the debil!

did you ever see waterboy? and they call the devil the debil? love.
 i have a list today of things that are straight from the debil.

first one topping the list: Zaxby's i may have a slight addiction. i think i could eat it every day of my life. and with just one meal topping out over 1,000 calories, it pretty much ruins a whole day of eating. it's like some magical force comes over and forces me to eat it....or forces me to think about it until i eat it. very, very bad....but oh so very good. you see my struggle?

second up....krispy kreme. this would be chris's "debil". there's one RIGHT by our place and he seriously cannot resist the hot and ready sign. it's like that magical force comes over and pulls the car right through the drive thru.

                                                 

and my last devilish item of the day is yoga pants.
oh be still my heart.
i love me some yoga pants. it is my work outfit of choice being as i work from home.
but here's the problem: they're stretchy. so if you gain a few pounds here and there, they stretch with you.
and it's not until you try to put on real pants that you realize "uh-oh".
not that i'm speaking from experience or anything.
i just may have to start wearing jeans every day to work in just to keep my tummy in check.
we can't have that getting too far outta control, no sir!

                                                   

what's the debil hanging over your head this week?

Mama's Kitchen....A New Blog Series

happy monday!
this weekend proved to be quite full of creative brain storming...and i love it!

so, i wanted to let you in on an upcoming series that's going to take place here on the blog.

it's called Mama's Kitchen.
a huge portion of memories of my mom are all in the kitchen. and my granny too.
mom and my granny taught me to cook.
and it's something i absolutely love to do.

it's also so easy to get stuck with the same old recipes that you cook week in and week out.
when my mom passed away, i took all of her cook books, specifically her little handwritten recipe book full with newspaper/magazine clippings of recipes she wanted to try.

so i am on a mission to cook, photograph and blog all of those recipes!
i am so excited.
the recipes range from appetizers, salads, side dishes, entrees and desserts.

be on the lookout....mama's kitchen is coming soon! i'm hungry just writing about it!

thanksgiving in july?

last week i had an awesome opportunity.

i got to style a thanksgiving photo shoot for a holiday catering guide.

what?

this was so incredibly fun.

like seriously, could you imagine doing this for your day job?

there was replating, adjusting, enhancing and of course....tasting! ;)

and boy was it tasty!

all i have to say is....

if you have an earth fare store near you, you should definitely let them help you with your thanksgiving dinner this year!

because all of this goodness will be available in their catering department.

and it was all simply delicious!

and of course, so much fun!

something's fishy here

well hello monday!

so lovely to see you again. 

i hope you all enjoyed the holiday short week! i know i did.

i'm still reaping the rewards of hubby's new job. this week he had to film some plated salmon.

and afterwards, we made dinner with it!

i bought a huge thing of fresh dill. 

time to get creative with that! any ideas?

homemade ranch dressing is definitely in the future.

so we bought precooked salmon from the cafe section of the store.

for dinner, i made a lemon dill sauce with lemon juice, fresh dill, pepper, garlic powder and sour cream.

i also roasted some small yellow potatoes in olive oil, salt, pepper and grated parmesan cheese.

and then we roasted asparagus tossed in olive oil, fresh garlic, salt and pepper.

yummmy!

we were completely on course for a dinner of epic proportions.

it was epic alright.

the salmon was an epic fail.

there are a number of things that could have gone wrong, so this is where i need your help.

i rarely cook fish at home...mainly because most times i do, it turns into a natural disaster.

so here's what i'm thinking.

first, i'm thinking i shouldn't have reheated the salmon and just ate it cold on a salad or something like that.

second, failure could have resulted in the time the fish was out of the fridge for filming and in the car from the store.

i wrapped it in a foil tent and heated in the oven for about 7 minutes. the result was a very fishy tasting salmon, and i don't do fishy.

so....fish pros, help me out here. what could have saved this dinner?

while i'm asking for advice, is anyone else having trouble with the blogger templates? my entire sidebar has gone to the bottom of the page. now, this seems to only be a problem on the home page....all of my other pages have it displayed correctly. i'm just trying to figure out if it's a blogger glitch or something on my end. help!

could it get any better?

i mentioned last week that hubs got a new job working for earth fare.

this weekend he worked on his first video project for the online specials.

he had filmed some at the office, but then he wanted to get some additional shots on our farm table at home.

of course i was giddy with excitement to get to play with pretty foods.

the special this week is on grapes, so the video was showcasing fun things to do with grapes besides eating them all by themselves.

grapes are fabulous in lemonade.

i made fresh squeezed lemonade just for this.

and grapes make a lovely addition to salads. ;)

and of course i had to put some flowers in the mix. 

none other than a hydrangea would do.

any excuse to have them in my house works for me!

give me a vase of hydrangeas and peonies = heaven. 

pure, absolute, heaven.

so then of course i had to find the perfect place to display my pretty flower. 

this was SO much fun.

i will be so sad now if every single video isn't here. haha.

maybe i missed my calling....

i could be lauren thomas - food stylist extraordinaire.

bahahaha.

we'll add that to my never ending list of life goals. ha!

Jalapeno Popper Sammies

i love jalapeno poppers.
pretty much if they're on a menu, i'm gonna get them.
but i'm picky - i only like the ones with cheddar...NOT cream cheese.
when chris and i were first married, we were super poor. so we would go to Sam's Club and get a big pack of poppers, and then ration them out every night as our dinner.
oh, those were the days.
i digress.
so i've been seeing recipes for jalapeno popper dip, sandwiches, casserole, etc. but have yet to try any.
this past sunday, i had a lazy day of food network consumption and watched a show called the sandwich king. wouldn't ya know that he'd make a jalapeno popper sandwich?
and it looked SO super yummy.
after a long debate discussion about what's for dinner, we settled on giving them a try.
i didn't have all of the ingredients he used, so i got creative with what i had.
first of all, growing up i hated grilled cheese sandwiches. i can't even remember the last time i ate one.
so tonight, it was a bit risky. and definitely worth the risk!
something this good i just had to share!

i started with some fresh jalapenos. i used 4 small/medium sized peppers.
first, wash the peppers, then cut in half length wise. now, depending on how spicy you want your sandwiches will determine how you handle cleaning up your peppers. the seeds and veins are where the heat is. so i cleaned a few slices really good, and then left a little vein in a few to get a medium heat. place them skin side up on a non-stick cookie sheet and broil until they look a little burnt. then pop them in a baggie and let them steam for a few minutes.
once they were done steaming, i peeled the skins off of the peppers and cut into thin, long strips.

i actually had left over peppers after the sandwiches were made, so i threw them in the food processor with some sour cream to use as a dipping sauce for either quesadillas or nachos later this week. multi-purpose here!

next, it's cheese time.
i grated a block of extra sharp cheddar cheese. i find block cheese melts a little better.

and you've gotta have something to hold it all together.
so for a spread, i used light sour cream, a dollup of light mayo, garlic salt, black pepper and parsley.
the mayo helps it hold up to the heat a little better. you could also use cream cheese or mascarpone cheese.

now bread is a big decision. just so happens we had some sour dough. perfect! i would suggest a sturdy white bread.

and like any grilled cheese, you have to butter the bread.

assembly time:
so you butter the side of the bread that goes in the skillet.
then place a little of the sour cream spread on the inside of the bread.
place cheese and press it down, so the cheese sticks.
then lay a few slices of the peppers on the cheese.
add a little spread to the other piece of bread and cook it until both sides are golden brown.
then cut and serve!

now, go get creative and make yourself one!