Nell's Buttermilk Cheese Biscuits

This weekend was our first weekend to actually lounge about and catch up on things around the house. Ah, what a glorious thing.  I decided that Saturday I would not leave the house, not even to go outside and check the mail. I did do the mandatory p90X workout that day, then showered and resumed lounging.

We really needed to go to the grocery store but I decided we would make do that do with whatever we had and we could go on Sunday. I remembered that Nell had sent me a couple of recipes for my KitchenAid mixer. The mixer still has not been named so feel free to make suggestions. Im thinking something fancy and French, Julia? Nell named hers Tiffany, which is awesome but taken.

I grabbed my trusty laptop and found the email where Nell had sent over her recipe for Buttermilk Cheese Biscuits. Luck be a lady, we had everything we needed. Except buttermilk. Not a problem, if you are a handy chick like me. Just google "substitute for buttermilk" and you will find this little gem. I decided that I would use half Greek yogurt (for the tang) and 1/4 milk, 1/4 cream.  We only have 1% so I made the executive decision to fatten them up a bit by adding the cream.

Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits

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 1/2 cups grated extra-sharp Cheddar
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Place 2 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.

Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened. In a small bowl, mix the Cheddar with small handful of flour and, with the mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.

Dump out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly about 6 times. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. With a sharp, floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles.

Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. ( I used the Oneida Pizza Stone Aunt Sandy got us. That thing rocks!)  Brush the tops with the egg wash, sprinkle with salt, if using, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.
 

As you can see one is already missing and they have only been out of the oven about 30 seconds!

Next I need to try that recipe she sent for Mississippi Mud Cake! Thanks Nell!

Boy Meets Grill

When we lived in Baton Rouge, we had a dinky little charcoal grill. Like the kind that you buy at WalMart for $20. We didnt use it that much and it didnt make the move to the Big D.

Then in Dallas, we lived above the pool in our apartment complex. The complex had gas grills for the residents to enjoy. They weren't the greatest but we got pretty spoiled to using the gas grills a couple of times a week. ***Please note that "we", refers to the dude, certainly not this chick. With the amount of aerosol hairspray I go thru I tend to avoid situations that involve extreme heat. ***

Testing it out!

 When we moved into this super cute little house in Richmond, we just had to have a grilling option. Jeff ordered this baby, put it together himself and has been grilling up a storm ever since.

Im pretty sure our turkey even hit the grill for a minute on Thanksgiving.  We are enjoying it. He is enjoying grilling stuff and I am enjoying eating the grilled stuff. Everybody wins!

Now he's a PRO!



Dogs love Turkey Day too!

Meet Maggie (all white) and Morgan (smaller by the door). These are Jeff's parents doggies. They are really sweet and stayed out our house while Jeff's parents were here for Thanksgiving. Baby G had the rights to our only spare bed so all parents stayed down the street.

They are probably staying really close the door to avoid Jasmine. As usual, Jasmine did not greet her guests with open arms. Instead I had to pull her off Maggie since Jasmine immediately started trying to rip her face off. When I separated them, Jasmine had mouthful of white fluff. Oh hell, is this what its going to be like!

Jasmine has a tendency to  come out of the gate with a full force nasty attitude. I have tried to explain to her how much I do not care for this behavior. She has no interest in what I think and we all just have to live with it. In a short time they are all ganged up and begging at the door together (as seen above).  

 Then napping together. Im surprised Maggie hasnt kicked Jasmine's butt. It seems that she forgives. Morgan (the baby) sleeps in the corner on my bag of linens that were ready to be returned to the rental joint.

You may have wondered where was Charlie? Well, he is a smart guy. He stays far, far away from the three titty babies. This picture makes me laugh because it looks like he has had too much to drink and is planning his next home made ice cream recipe. That sounds more like this chick!

All in all, things went well. Everyone (with the exception of Princess Jasmine) was well behaved. Lets see if we can keep it up and make this the year we create new traditions.

We Gather to Celebrate

With age comes wisdom, or something like that. This year, we have planned ahead, instead of pulling it together in less than 24 hours. Now we can actually enjoy the party. We are so lucky that we got  to spend this evening of 13 new and old friends.

Chris and Ashley

 Chris and Ashley are new friends of ours. Aren't they a cute couple? Chris and Kristen are old friends. They hiked all the way from D.C.  Kristen is the MOH in our fast approaching wedding. Kristen was our only guest who has attended multiple Hanukkah parties hosted by us. She agreed that this one was also a success.

Kristen and Chris



This was the perfect occassion to break out my "woozie". Skeeter, my fabulous friend gave me this at our stock the bar shower in Baton Rouge before our big move.  Its a coozie for your wine glass! Apparantly this is a must have for all the girls. My first question was, " Oh, cute but whats with the G?". Um...."that would be your new last name!", Skeeter informed me. Oh yes, this chick is getting married.

The spread. Jeff made his famous Bloody Ceasars and latkes (from scratch), I will get back to you on the recipe for that. We cheated and bought the apple sauce this year. Jeff made it from scratch year 1 but this year we went the easy route. These latkes were so freaking good, we ate them all in no time. I wish I could have one right now!

I made cupcakes, yellow with fudge frosting and chocolate with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting. Some with sprinkles some without. Ashley brought some treats from her baking extravaganza she embarked on earlier that day. I loved those peanut butter cookies with the Kisses in the middle!

 The boys lit the candles and sang the blessings.

 Then we lit another candle. Happy Birthday Drew!

Every party needs a signature cocktail and some fun games. For this special occassion, we decided to go with Dirty Santa with a twist. We asked every one to bring a re-gifted or something recycled from their house. This was a BIG hit.

bubbles!

keeping it klassy!

This was very successful for everyone involved. Everyone was really happy to get rid of some random stuff but it seemed that everyone was even more excited to get new random unncessary items. Jeff could not have been happier when he stole this Christmas mug from Alana. Good thing Kristen snagged this from the Dollar Tree on her way in. Look at the joy on his precious face!

Princess Jasmine perched on the highest pillow she could find and observed the crowd. This chick was super proud of how well behaved and hospitable this little doggie was with a house full of guests she didn't know.

To top it all off, we had our first snow flurry! We didnt get much more than this  but it was still on the ground in the morning. By noon it was melted away.

 Happy Hanukkah to all. And to all a Good Night!

Holiday Cheer

After our Thanksgiving blow out, it was time move on to the next set of holidays. Since we are a blended family, we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. Enjoy!

We pulled out our decorations from the last few years and I added a few new ones too.

This sign is recycled from our first Hanukkah party in Baton Rouge. We thru that sucker together in less than 24 hours from the moment we decided to have it to the kick off of dinner with 16 of our closest friends. Jeff did everything, made the brisket, latkes and apple sauce from scratch. I got decorations, party favors and borrowed a table. When people asked "what can i bring?", we said if you could bring a chair that would be great, otherwise we going to have to sit down to eat in shifts.

I bought this fabulous tree and almost all the decorations the day after Christmas. My mom and I dropped into the Dollar General in Olla, La. and picked up some Christmas goodies for 75% off. I think I got the
tree, decorations, lights, the tree skirt, and ornaments for about $20. I do love a good deal.

Some people are all about their real tree. I think they are lovely and smell divine. But they are also messy and a pain in the butt. What I really wanted, and I got, was a fabulous, fake white tree covered in rainbow goodness. I may do some after Christmas shopping this year for an upgrade in ornaments. Im thinking we will keep the white tree and maybe do 1 color ornaments, like all pink maybe? What do you think?

 Last year I scored this Santa playing Dirty Santa. I love it. It bobbles arounds. Kind of fun.

 I got some new flair for our new house. The stockings are old stuff but cinnamon scented pine cones (which are awesome!), the greenery, blue and silver ornaments are new. Thank you Micheal's arts and crafts store and Dollar Tree.

I didnt put this ornament on the tree. Instead, I put it by the door, under where we hang the keys. Its a fun reminder that this is a fun, loving,  happy time of year. Although, if you arent careful, it can be stressful. We have enough stress so lets keep this fun.

This baby tree is also by the door, under the fun ornament. This was also scored from that 75% off day after Christmas trip to the Dollar General. My mom has a tree in every room. Yeah, the kitchen, the bathroom, everywhere! The Santa ornament under it weighs about 700 pounds so we just have to put it on the table instead of the tree. With all these plastic trees in the house, we depend on pine scented candles from our friends at Yankee Candle to trick us into feeling legit.

When Kristen came to visit a two weeks ago, she brought us these fabulous stick on window decals as a housewarming gift. 

Im having issues with this one sticking.

You can feel the holiday spirit coming and going!



look at this chick!

I really want a wreath but the crappiest ones are pretty pricey and I do not care to have a crappy one. I am thinking a DIY project may have to take place soon.

Eight Crazy Nights!

Here we are again. The season of celebration.

This year we decided to shake things up a bit. Since we are a interfaith family, this year we decided that our holiday celebration would represent each of our cultures.  Then a Cajun Hanukkah was born.

What is on the menu? Gumbo, red beans and rice, corn bread (jalepeno-cheese), and latkes. Delicious! Our signature cocktail was Jeff's fabulous Bloody Ceasar.

To be completely honest, I have never made a gumbo (even though I am a Louisiana girl). My fabulous friend, Rose, has been feeding me her gumbo and red beans weekly for the last year in Dallas. So I turn to her for recipes and guidance. Rose swears by Savoie's  already prepared roux. If I could have gotten my hands on some, I would have used it. However, we didnt have enough time to order any, nowhere in Virginia sells it and even though Rose said she could, it seemed insane to have her over night it to me.

In Louisiana, you can pick up necessities like gumbo file' on every corner. Here in Virginia this is not the case so you will understand my joy when I found a seafood market around the corner that had file'! I took that as a sign that a Cajun Hanukkah would be super successful.

I decided that the only option was to be a big girl and make the roux the old fashion way. I was nervous but confident in my skills in the kitchen. I decided to start the feast on Thursday night so I could slow cook everything over night and make sure it was going to be fantastic.

You know how the story goes: On the second night of Hanukkah, she sauteed the holy trinity (onions, peppers and celery), boiled the beans and started the roux. And so it begins.

This is a time consuming process. To insure peace and quite you will need to send the man folk outside to play with their fancy grilling machines. This will buy you a little time to peacefully sip your cocktail and stir your roux.

 After about an hour,  we have ourselves a roux, not too dark and not too light, just right. I am very pleased with myself to pulling this off. First you make a roux, that is how you start off any special occasion, at least thats what they say. I was a little intimidated because from what I had heard, making a roux is not hard. It is time consuming and takes patience, not my strong point. Since the roux is the base for our main entree, there is alot of pressure to make sure it is perfect. I have to say I am pleased with my first attempt.

I put alot of love into it:)

Around 11pm, we have all the prep work done. Since I have 3 slow cookers ( I told that dude I needed all 3), this was the perfect time to put them all to use simultaneously. Then the magic happens. We slow cooked all night Thursday and half the day Friday. Just as I had planned, it was delicious. Now the next step was to let her rest overnight, because everything is better the next day.

Good thing we started early because Friday night we had plans to enjoy Comfort for Drew's birthday dinner. Saturday morning I woke up and started phase 2. Baking. Cupcakes and corn muffins.

On the 4th day she bakes and makes latkes.

 I have to confess that I planned to blog this and post it on Friday or Saturday. Then follow up with pics from the party and full report of good times had by all.  I will work on that now. Happy Hanukkah to all! More to come.

Decade # 3

Thanks for the treat Bruce & Rona!

Right smack in the middle of the move from Dallas to Richmond, I up and turned 30. I know what you are thinking, "Why, Emily, you don't look a day over 23!" I couldn't agree  more, but according to public record, myself and Nicole Lloyd turned 30 on October 23.

I was actually very much looking forward to this milestone. I had looked forward to turning 28, for some reason for a few years before that I had decided that would be when things would come together. At the end of my 27th year, I was back from L.A. and started working for myself full time. I had a great apartment and was living with my girl, Jasmine.

Then right before I hit 28, I met this dude.  Then he swept me off my feet and the next thing I knew he blinded me with a big ol' diamond and there I was planning a wedding. Just as I had planned, 28 is when it all came together. I wasn't as big of a fan of 29. It just seemed kind of a lame age. I just wanted to be 30 already.

The day before I turned 30, I was on the road again. All of my possessions (except one suitcase, my doggies, my wedding dress and my herb garden were in the car) were on a big truck bound for Richmond. We had about a week before we needed to meet the moving truck at our final destination. Since we were road tripping, we decided to spend few days in Memphis, this is where I would celebrate the big day.

We stayed at the Peabody Hotel. What a magical place, famous for the duck march, since the 1940's. The whole place shuts down at 11 am and 5pm for these ducks to parade down the red carpet.



After 29 years and 364 days, I finally made it to Graceland. I seemed to have been ahead of the game, since most of the other guests had gotten the AARP discount that day. Nonetheless, I was totally impressed by the King's diggs. How could you not be?  

My Favorite Room



Down in the Jungle Room

I spent the actual day of my birth, doing only things that I enjoy and that I am very good at. First the gym then spa, next a nap, then dinner. We had dinner at Flight. If you are ever in Memphis, GO TO FLIGHT! Given my indecisive nature, this is my dream restaurant. They serve everything in a flight (hence the name) of 3 minis. So the salad/soup/wine/dessert/entrees are all in mini servings of 3, so you don't have to choose between the corn and crab chowder, or the seafood gumbo, or the butternut squash bisque. You get all 3! Same with dessert, as you can see I am blowing the candles on my flight of birthday cake.

To end the night, we took a carriage ride around the city. Jeff said, a princess needs a carriage ride and I couldn't agree more. I think this year will be better than the last.

Post carriage ride, we had a night cap at the hotel bar. We found ourselves chatting with 3 very nice ladies, a 90 year old lady and her 2 daughters. The 90 year old lady was celebrating her birthday (that had been a few months before) and all she wanted was for her daughters to take her to Graceland. The next morning, we laughed at how we had retired before the 90 year old lady, who was still at the bar at 1 a.m., when Mr. Sandman came calling to me.

The next morning we waved hello to these ladies who had taken our recommendation to have breakfast at Cock-a-doo's, across the street, where we had the BBQ omelette and peanut butter banana French Toast two days in a row. Very good stuff. I like Memphis.

And I think turning 30 is pretty cool. I don't understand why so many people think this is a bad thing.