Easing Into Fall

Blogland is full of beautiful sites featuring gorgeous fall decor but I just can't go there yet.  I know the calendar says September and Labor Day has come and gone, but my heart still screams, "SUMMER!"  But then this happened......

My sweet hubby was out the door for meetings today and I was running around trying to get to my weekly Bible study group all while finishing getting the boys ready for school.  You know those mornings when you wake up late, are running late, get stuck behind slow drivers (I live in a small town and everyone has to wave to everybody and check on their Mama) and then proceed to hit every.red.light in town......oh! and the kids are pitching a fit to boot - yep, it was one of those mornings.  All of a sudden, I hear the front door open.  I run out thinking my 4 year old has run off to play with the neighbors when who do I see but my sweet husband standing there with a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  It was my first PSL of the season too - squeal!!!!

I've traded my Nantucket Basket out for my Louis duffle, Chance has been replaced by No. 5, pink lips are now red and my head now dons a Georgia Bulldog cap rather than my Atlanta Braves....it may be hot as blazes down south still, but; with the return of PSL's, I guess I am ready to welcome fall.

See ya at Starbucks!

xoxo,
TSS

Open For Business

I am so excited to announce that The Southern Sideboard is now officially a business!!!  While I have been relying more on Instagram these days (a picture is worth a thousand words, right???) I did want to fill in the gaps here on the blog.

As you have probably figured out by now, I love to cook and entertain.  While I still can't recall what exactly made me think to do this, I am so amazingly grateful for the support (and orders) that I have received since the announcement.  I love to cook for family and friends and am always looking for ideas to welcome those I love around my table.  In this hectic world we live in where most communication takes place via social media, I treasure the opportunity to slow down, sit down and actually catch up - face to face - with those I love.......and if it happens to be over a yummy meal, all the better!

I have created a new site for catering purposes, which you can read here.  And for more up to date info, follow along on Instagram @the_southern_sideboard.  Each month will offer family favorites collected over the years featuring the best the season has to offer.  I can't wait to share what we are serving up on our sideboard.

Now, off to prep for Game Day - Go Dawgs and Long Live Elon.....go Phoenix!!!!

xoxo,
TSS

Eleven Years Of Wedded Bliss

Eleven years ago, I walked down the aisle of The Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Marietta, Georgia, and proceeded to marry the most charming, handsome, hysterical, compassionate man who has stood by my side through all the ups, downs and in betweens life has thrown us to date. After thinking up all the glamous locations we could get married, we kept it simple.  We married

Back To School

Yesterday marked the first day of school.  It came and went, was fabulous but I am still sitting here thinking to myself, "where the heck did summer go?"  10 weeks felt like 2 - no joke.  As they say, time flies when you are having fun; and we did have fun.  We capped our summer off with a week at the beach.  I'll have more on that later but for now, here is how we toasted the first day of school.

An apple for the teacher (with a little caramel dipping sauce) inspired by Amanda over at Dixie Delights.  Her back to school ideas and printables are pretty hard to beat.  I also love Amanda's Parties To Go - different Amanda but equally adoreable ideas.

A Boost Of Inspiration

I don't know about you but I have lost all motivation to accomplish anything lately.  I assume it is because we have a week and a half left of summer.  My to-do list has a slight dent in it, a personal goal is far from being met and with a trip to the beach looming - I guess I just feel like it is too late to worry about accomplishing things now.

I was pretty down in the dumps about my lack of progress until I looked up and saw my kids playing and laughing AND my puppy just happily watching them (without eating a pair of my shoes I might add).  We've had a great summer.  There have been countless playdates, card games and family shenanigans.  We have laughed until our sides hurt.  Spencer learned how to swim without his floaties and Harrison learned how to dive; amoung other things.  And the best gift was a new job for the hubby which means no more leaving Monday and coming back on Thursday.  So that darn to do list can just wait.  I write this only to say that if you are like me and get bogged down with what isn't being accomplished, look around at what is being accomplished.  I didn't mean to trade my materialistic to do list with a family centered memory making list - but I'll never regret it!

In the meantime, I have joined Instagram so come find me at the_southern_sideboard.  Talk about motivation😍😍😍so many inspirational folks out there.  Can't believe I held out for so long.

So make today amazing in a meaningful way!!!!

Xoxo,
TSS

Bourbon Peach Tea

Now that we are in the height of peach season, I am on the hunt for yummy recipes featuring Georgia's favorite cash crop. This recipe from Our State magazine is pure perfection for a fun end of summer cocktail. I whipped up this batch last night for an impromptu porch party and it was an instant fav.

Bourbon Peach Tea
3 cups sweet tea
2 cups peach nectar
6 shots of bourbon
Mint and peach slices for garnish
Serves 6

Bottoms up!!!!
xoxo,
TSS

Grilled Flank Steak with Peaches

We continued our farmer's market inspired "farm to fork" dinner tonight with grilled flank steak accompanied with grilled peaches and crispy potatoes.  I love the idea of grilling fruit and while I have done it for dessert before, I had never tried it as a side dish.  So glad we did!

Summer Supper: Grilled Mountain Trout with Succotash

Tonight's dinner was the perfect North Carolina farm to fork meal (well, in my humble opinion at least).  90% of the meal was purchased from our local farmer's market and the local seafood shop that gets their farm raised Rainbow Trout just up the mountain.  It was fresh, healthy and absolutely delicious.

Southern Sideboard Logo

I have had the most fun working on branding The Southern Sideboard.  Jamie with Fresh Lavender Designs created my logo and I am thrilled with the results.  It encompasses inspiration from my parents:  the name comes from my mother's love of entertaining (which I clearly embrace) and the logo from my father's love for the outdoor sporting life.  It was love at first sight!

Boat Trash

Y'all, I cannot begin to tell you how quiet it is around our house without the kids.  In 7 years, I have never been without them for this long - a weekend yes, but not a whole week.  Well, once when my father died but that can't really count.  So while we are having a great time catching up with each other, friends and tackling projects, I am going to be ready to welcome them home.

Sierra Nevada Brewery

We left the kiddos at Granddaddy and Gigi's home on Saturday and embarked on a kid-free week.  Our first order of business was a visit to Asheville to see the newly opened Sierra Nevada brewery.  I now know why the beer is so expenive - this place was amazing!!!!

Cold Mountain

There are a lot of fun things going on in our corner of the world that I cannot wait to share.  First and foremost, is my father-in-law's new home on Cold Mountain.

Cold Mountain is located an hour west of Asheville near the towns of Canton and Waynesville.  If you are a civil war enthusiast, you may recall the name from the critically acclamied novel written by Charles Frazier.  If not, you may recall that Hollywood butchered the story into a film starring Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zelwegger (who went on to win an Oscar for her role as Ruby).

My father-in-law closed on his 4 acre farm house in January and has been hard at work with renovations. While there is still a ways to go, it is finally in a stage to accompany guests.  So we loaded up the car and headed up the mountain for a looksee and, to our delight, the drive was just under two hours.  If you have never driven through Western North Carolina, you really don't know what you are missing.

Here is a glimpse of our weekend fun.

Heck of a front yard....complete with pear trees, apple tree, grapes and blueberry bushes.

Which my boys turned into a kickball field.

A wrap around porch is the perfect setting for shucking corn purchased from a neighbor.

Of course we hit up the Waynesville Mast General Store.  I can neither confirm nor deny that a whoopie cushion was bought and that my husband was the victim.

Shocker, somebody went fishing.

And after a fun weekend, we left the boys for a week with their Granddaddy and Gigi.  It is soooo quiet without them but we are managing.

Have a great week!
xoxo,
TSS

Happy Blogiversary!

Two years ago today, I embarked on this fun little blog.  We have some exciting developments to unveil in the coming days but in the meantime, here is a walk down memory lane with the very first post.

http://southernsideboard.blogspot.com/2013/07/welcome.html?m=0

Thank you for reading!

Xoxo,
TSS

Lemonade Bar with Homemade Lemonade

There are several staples we keep onhand in the house in the summertime:  namely, Coca Cola (a nod to my home state of Georgia), Cheerwine (a nod to my adopted home, North Carolina) -both of which are purchased in glass bottles though rarely consumed - sweet tea and lemonade.  

I am sucker for pink lemonade - I just think it is special though I have no idea why.  So as I was cleaning up from the 4th of July soiree we hosted with our neighbors last weekend, I decided to turn our bar into an indoor lemonade stand.

These days, the house is filled with the friends coming and going for playdates galore.  And with the dog days of summer sitting squarely on our backs, I find a cold glass of lemonade is a sweet and refreshing way to wet the wee one's whistle.  I keep a batch of regular and pink chilled at all times.

HOMEMEADE LEMONADE

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup boiling water

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice

5 cups cold water

Stir together sugar and 1/2 cup boiling water until sugar dissolves.  Stir in rind, juice and 5 cups of cold water.  Chill 8 hours.  Garnish with lemon and/or mint if desired.

Yields 8 cups

HOMEMADE PINK LEMONADE

1 cup sugar

10 cups water

1 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup grenadine

1/2 pint fresh raspberries or strawberries (optional)

Cook sugar and1 cup water in a saucepan, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves.  Cool; pour into a large container.  Stir in remaining 9 cups water, lemon juice, grenadine and the raspberries/strawberries if desired.  Chill 2 hours.

Yields 3 quarts

Cheers!

xoxo,

TSS

Happy Birthday America Sing Along and Parade

I love my sweet little town.  My husband grew up here and I adore having our kids retrace their Daddy's footsteps by making the same memories in the same locations.

Every year our local library hosts a Happy Birthday America sing along and parade.  This year's marshalls were players from our local minor league baseball team and their beloved mascot, Conrad the Crawdad.  A mini train was also on hand but the John Deere tractor rides stole the show.  Look closely, it is nothing more than dollys put together and carved out barrells.  Sadly, there was a weight limit and I could not particpate but I did have fun on the mini train.  haha

So without further ado,  here is a slice of Americana from my corner of the world.

Once home, I got to work on the food for our annual neighborhood 4th of July party.  Stay tuned for the recipe.

I like big butts and I cannot lie!

Hint:  slow cooker, on a bed of onions with....

Tell me if you can guess what this is???

Happy 4th of July fasting!!!
xoxo,
TSS

Patriotic Porch

We are getting ready to host our 5th annual Fourth of July party with our neighbors on Saturday.  We share a drive way and our littles run back and forth between the two yards as if it were one.  So thankful for sweet neighbors.  And this party has become an event my wee ones look forward to all year.  As such, we have decked out the front porch to welcome our party goers.

Uncle Sam Door Hanger

Love my Porch Rules sign from Sparkled Whimsey (also on Facebook)

Morning coffee with the resident goofball

I love sitting on my porch and looking at this view - usually the yard is full of kids laughing and playing

Happy 4th of July!!!

xoxo,
TSS

Father's Day Fete

Swinging by quickly to share the fun we had on Father's Day.  Words simply cannot tell you how blessed and grateful I am to have had such a wonderful father.  Though no longer with me here on Earth, he is always in my heart.

As I am still working through some depression over that loss, I realized that I have royally sucked at celebrating my children's father over the past few Father's Day.  So the resident cheeseball went into overdrive and we fussed over my sweetheart all.day.long.  After a yummy breakfast, we headed up the mountain to spend the day in Blowing Rock and then back home in time for a yummy dinner.

LOVED this super cute Father's Day printable from Amanda Parker and Family

A cute breakfast inspired by Pinterest

The hubby loves Italian food so I whipped up one of his favorites, Chicken Marsala.  It is absolutely delicious and fairly fast and easy to prepare.

1/4 cup all purpose flour for coating
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon back pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast - pounded to 1/4 inch thick (perfect job for the kiddos)
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1/4 cup cooking sherry

In a shallow dish, mix together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano.  Coat chicken in the mixture.

In a large skillet, melt butter and oil over medium heat.  Place chicken in the pan and lightly brown.  Turn over chicken piece, add mushrooms, pour in the wine and sherry and then cover; simmering chicken for 10 minutes, turning once until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Serve over pasta or rice.

Hope y'all had a great day celebrating the Father's in your life!

xoxo,
TSS