So 3 months turned into a year. And when I finally sold the last house, and started to look for new houses, the kitchen was a priority. 

New kitchen needs new counters. And a double oven. And a new dishwasher that actually gets dishes clean. But oh..... the counter space. It is luscious. It is inspiring. It makes me want to leave this office right now and make dinner. Then pray thanks for the guidance to find it. 

'Night y'all. 

My mother hates to cook. I hate to go to the grocery store. We have a pact that if I make the shopping list and cook, she will procure. I love this deal. I hate turkey. So off I sent her to get a roasting chicken. Usually when I get one it's 2-3 pounds. Somehow, she found the chicken to end all chickens.... a 5 pounder the likes of which I had never seen. In honor of the wine I was drinking, we named it Rex Goliath. 

I know that wine is for a 47 pound rooster, but this chicken was like a girl in a Kink's song. 

Rex Goliath produced a wonderful thanksgiving lemon and garlic chicken. An a post Thanksgiving chicken and dumplings. And a post-post Thanksgiving chicken pot pie. Honestly. This is the chicken that kept giving the family wonderful meals. 

So thanks Rex, for the food, the joy, the laughs over your oddly humongous size. And here's to the next Thanksgiving. 

L

Anyway, it was like homecoming. I got to see all my favorite people, and some new ones too. Yeah for the hydroponic lettuce people. Boo that by 11:40 they were sold out of things I wanted. Yeah for strange little purple cherry tomatoes from Sequatchie Cove Farms. These things are so good! Yeah for blueberries and blackberries and all sorts of yummy veggies. 

But my big "Yeah" goes to Paul at Humble Heart for amazing goat's milk products. Anyone who reads this blog knows I am a fan. While I was there I heard one disappointed customer learn that Hickory goat cheese was a limited edition flavor. Do you think he should add it to the line permanently? It is awfully good on turkey burgers. No worries for me though because I snagged his new Mediterranean flavored goat cheese. At this writing, I am spreading it all over my cherry tomatoes for lunch. So, so good. The other divinely yummy thing he had was a peach, goats milk sorbet. AMAZING!!!!! I know it's a healthy alternative to ice cream, but I had to run away after tasting it. Eating a whole gallon of anything is bad, and this sorbet is so tempting I don't think I could put my spoon down if given more opportunity!

I won't be at the market next week. Sigh. I wish I were though. There are so many good things to try and bring home for a fresh tasty summer. I hope to make it back and see my friends again before harvest time ends!

L

Wrong!!!!

People, designing food labels is hard! In my usual super-obsessive style, I did research. I went to Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Earth Fare, etc to check out the competition. There are a ton of items out there I had never even noticed before on my trips to the store. Then I had to cross reference to price points to make sure I was comparing apples to apples. Are you going cross-eyed yet because I almost did! Finally, after all that, came sketching and then rendering. 

One would think that after sketching my ideas, the rest would be easy. Well, I was working on this over the July 4th weekend while visiting with family. If you've been reading the blog and the site, you know I love my family. But they are one opinionated bunch of people. I wasn't asking for comments... but boy did they give them.  Whew! Their "design by committee" attitude near wore me out! Still, they mean well, and they are the type of people to purchase high-end food stuffs. I have determined it was an early stage focus-group, not a design intervention, to keep the love going. 

Finally, I have 2 options the client (aka friend) loves. Thank goodness. Because if he didn't, this project may have gone south - like to Costa Rica for a break south - really fast. The new designs should launch in early September, and when they do, I will post about them to toot my horn! Be on the lookout and feel free to give an opinion on the blog. It will make you just like family.

L

I love Total Wine. There aren't many places where you get that kind of selection with that level of knowledge. Sigh... I'm on a Spanish and Portuguese wine kick now that the weather is getting warm. Try these Portuguese Vinho Verdes for a light, refreshing alternative to cava.

Yes. I am getting somewhere with this. 

So that leaves me in my charming little Chattanooga neighborhood on many Friday and Saturday nights. I love my neighborhood, and I love my neighbors. Last night, I was invited over to dinner with some of my favorite people to grill. Of course, they said bring nothing. They had it all taken care of down to my preference for turkey over cow. Uh huh. Being brought up well in a small town, I cannot arrive empty handed, even if all I have is wine to bring. Call it leftover manners learned from my parent's bridge club. But going back to the new romance with the aforementioned chef, I now feel a bit intimidated on what to make for dinner. I think that may be why I've been on a frozen pizza kick for a week! Not really, but it sounds good. There is a whole new world of food opening up to me and it is daunting. Honestly, there is a whole brick of tamarind paste in my kitchen that I have to figure out, but that's another post entirely. 

After great deliberation, and a full-our refrigerator rummage, I refused to be thwarted by fancy smancy food and embraced my own brand of domestic prowess! Yes!!!! I decided to make Baked Potato Salad. I swear it is the easiest thing ever. No need for a French culinary education here. The potatoes weren't even baked for heavens sake, although I suppose you could if you are averse to false advertising. This to me is a supreme Southern comfort food, and I like the way it holds up versus mayo based potato salads. There are lots of variations on this. My mom likes dill in hers. The chef recommended celery seed. But here's my take and what I brought to dinner last night. And it rocks next to a turkey burger, cilantro butter grilled corn, and bourbon baked beans. Yum!!!!

I've been on the dreaded post-holiday diet. 

That's right. My mom and I had a contest to loose the most weight before a recent girls trip to Florida. You wouldn't have wanted to read about all the salads I ate. And you wouldn't have wanted to read about me being hungry. And even worse, you would not have wanted to read about my obsession with 100 calorie nut packs or having to check luggage because I was carrying Slimfast with me to avoid high calorie greasy omelets. 

Seriously. 

So we went on our trip. We both did really well though to loose our extra padding, but I won the contest by like maybe 2 pounds. Yeah!!!!  Finally I could hit the cheese and gluten-free bread and have a cocktail for heaven's sake. (yes... I was really trying. The prize was another trip!).  Since we were on a "spa weekend" at the Hilton Marco Island though, our lunches were delightful salads. How healthy. How.... normal. 

That night we went out to dinner. I ordered grilled shrimp and a seafood risotto with parm. My mom wanted to know why I wasn't photographing dinner and why I wasn't writing anymore. And it dawned on me, after 6 weeks of really being good at home and on the road, I did not want to take the time to art direct. I didn't care about sharing my experience. I just wanted to eat. 

And so I did. 

He claims he was cleaning the chimney for Santa's arrival. Seriously?

He didn't kill himself, but he was badly bruised and broke his heel / ankle in five places. Needless to say he couldn't make a seven hour drive, even though mom thought it would be grand to load him up on painkillers and throw him in the back of the SUV. I really don't think she wanted to cook. So for the first time ever, I bought a plane ticket and checked in the same day so that I could fly home on Christmas Eve. I even took the bows off the packages so that I could pack presents and bring them in an extra bag. Flight delays, changes in airlines, and potential luggage fees were not a deterrent for me to see my family this year! And it was my job to cook anyway. 

Since they were coming to my house originally, there were bare essentials in the cupboard in NC. Mom stopped by the store on the way to pick me up at the airport so we could have Christmas Eve dinner - ham, roasted root vegetables, cranberry sauce she had already made, and asparagus in case anyone is wondering. This was all good and well, but she didn't pick up anything else for the holidays. And considering a snow storm blew in on Christmas Day, causing us to be housebound, this was a bit of an issue. 

Luckily, a neighbor had brought pears, and another had sent oysters over. In a snow storm, on the deck, I proceeded for the first time ever to shuck oysters. Did I have one of those fancy knives. Um... no. I had a flat screw driver. Genius. Just what we needed was so me home-grown stitches in case I gashed my hand. And better yet, I had never fried oysters. I had very little idea of what I was doing. I decided that since I had eaten enough though, why not try. How hard could they be?

So with pure creativity, and in theme with the year, I made the oddest Christmas Day dinner yet. We started with said fried oysters (which aren't difficult at all to make), followed by pear and asiago salad, and finished with a portobello cream sauce over pasta. Thank heavens it was really good. And while my mother didn't have to cook and chose cleaning instead, let me tell you, frying is a messy past time!

The fried oysters were the best part of the meal though, and frankly, the pasta doesn't photograph very well. Here is the recipe, as best I can recall. May this become a new Christmas tradition, minus the broken leg. 

So we had the traditional turkey, and home make corn bread stuffing, which is my job to do (yes... it's home made corn bread with sausage and sage and other stuff oh my!). 

But my crazy (in a good way) momma wanted to change things up a bit. This year's big hits were a frilled romaine salad (a shot out for dad on the grill), and a complicated but delicious butternut squash and apple casserole. We have to find ways to simplify that one, but gosh it was good. It may have been the Arkansas Black apples. 

There was no pumpkin pie either. The staple of all staples was replaced by a pineapple upside down spice cake. Momma was surely inventive. 

It's the only time of year we all four get together. I think the tryptophan in the turkey lulls us into good behavior. Whatever. Fat and happy.... it's always worth the trip home.