Bride's Biscuits with County Ham

Bride's Biscuits with County Ham

I was recently asked to prepare Ham Biscuits for a luncheon and wanted to share the recipe with y'all. These are great to have on hand for company, for a tailgate, luncheon......basically any excuse you can think of.  The biscuits are flavorful and fluffy and the salty bite of the country ham adds nicely.  You could add egg, bacon, sausage or pimento cheese too!  They are called "Bride's Biscuits" because (aside from the time it takes to make them) they really are foolproof.

1/4 oz envelope of active dry yeast
3 Tablespoons of warm water
1/3 cup sugar, divided
5 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
1 3/4 cups of buttermilk

Combine yeast with warm water and a teaspoon sugar and let stand for five minutes.

Whisk together flour and five tablespoons of sugar, cut in shortening and butter until crumbly.

Stir in yeast and buttermilk and stir until dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn dough out on floured surface and knead five times.  Place dough in a bowl lightly covered with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours (I usually let sit overnight).

Turn dough out on floured surface and knead 8-10 times.  Roll to an 1/2 thickness and cut with a 2 1/4 inch biscuit cutter.  Arrange biscuits, sides touching, on an ungreased baking sheet.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and sit at room temperature for and hour and a half until they double in bulk.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake 16-18 minutes until golden brown.  Top with melted butter if desired.

Game Day Nachos

College football has returned and all is right with the world!!!  Y'all know I need an excuse to gather family/friends and whip up some food like I need a hole in the head, right?  And who doesn't love a good tailgate?

Once again, I am back sharing some of my favorite munchies that are perfect for a tailgate or even a gathering with friends.  I hope you enjoy and if you subscribe to the blog (click the follow by email button), I'll even email you a recipe card.

All this gooey cheese, beans, meat and seasonings takes about 15 minutes to whip together.  Now that is something to cheer about!

Enjoy!

xoxo,
Lee

Game Day Appetizers

Happy Game Day, y'all!  I am SO excited football season has returned and wanted to share with you the recipes from the "Tailgate Tip" segment I hosted on IG last year.  I'll be hosting it again every Tuesday during September so be sure to follow.   Enjoy and GO TEAM!!! We root for Hickory High, Wheeler High, Elon, Georgia Bulldogs and are a house divided between the Carolina Panthers and Washington Redskins.  Who do y'all root for?

TAILGATE TIPS FROM 2016

Salmon Fillet Burgers

I am a sucker for a good BBQ in the summer time.  NOTHING makes me happier than having family and friends over and the little ones running around.  I honestly would host a BBQ every weekend if my hubby would let me.  

As such, I'm constantly looking for fun, fresh ideas for menu options to break the hamburger and hot dog rut.  I get it - they are easy and yummy; but you can't eat them every weekend. So when I stumbled across this Salmon Fillet Burger recipe from Barefoot Contessa Parties! years ago, it immediately went into my file.  The secret is the sauce so don't skip out on that part, y'all. I also insist on buying fresh seafood from our seafood market.  The quality cannot be beat.

An added perk is that if you have leftover salmon, which I always do because I buy more than I need, you can whip up this salad using all the ingredients plus a chopped up celery.  It is amazing over spinach, in a whole wheat wrap or on its own.  

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Lee

Sail Into Summer

Nothing makes me happier than a lark than to plan parties for my wee ones.  And what better occasion than the last day of school!  The tradition started last year, which you can read about here. We scaled the craziness down a bit this year but had just as much fun.

I substituted a full fledged ice cream bar for Popsicles , omitted water balloons (those suckers hurt, y'all) but still let the best bud spend the night.  Here's a snippet of our fun.

Sail Into Summer Jello Boats

Company Salmon with Asparagus

It's that glorious time of the week where I can start to think about family time, cooking and Sunday Supper (quite possibly one of my all time favorite traditions).

I have not been able to blog as much as I would like lately so it really touches me when I get messages inquiring about one of my Instagram posts.  I always laugh and say my blog is akin to Cinderella before the ball.  I follow some amazingly inspirational folks but this is a do-it-yourself, real-time, no money invested whatsoever dealio.....so THANK YOU for stopping by.

I thought it would be fun to share my Sunday Supper recipes with you at the end of the week so you can incorporate the ingredients into your weekend shopping.  It is my hope some of my recipes may inspire you to recreate the meal with your family or loved ones.  Entertaining really is easy when it comes from the heart.  And for me, nothing beats a table filled with the people I love.

So here it is - last week's Sunday Supper:

Company Salmon with Asparagus

Purchase enough Salmon to serve your crowd
Season to taste with salt, pepper and herbs of choice
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil in a baking dish
Place salmon in baking dish with sliced lemon on top
Roast the salmon for 8 minutes, remove, drizzle with 1/3 cup of dry white wine and roast for another 4 minutes.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Spray inside of a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray
Top and toss asparagus with Parmesan cheese, sea salt and garlic powder
Roast in a preheated 400 degree oven about 10 minutes, until fork easily inserts into thickest part of stem.

*If you have a local seafood shop, I highly recommend you spending the few extra bucks to support your local fishing community.  We have a shop that flies fish in from the coast a couple of times a week and it is so refreshing knowing that my family is eating fresh food, supporting our local economy and regional fishermen.  The stuff at the store y'all - yuck and mostly not even from the United States.  

XOXO,
Lee

Shepherd's Pie

I love Shepherd's Pie but have not found a recipe I absolutely love......until this past week when I decided to marry two recipes I had tried in the past.  At last, a love made in beefy stew heaven.  This is our annual St. Patrick's Day meal so I needed to perfect it.  It would be perfect for a pot luck as well.  Enjoy!

The Southern Sideboard's Shepherd's Pie

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 pounds beef stew meat

1 diced onion

2 minced garlic cloves

1 bottle of beer

4 cups of beef broth

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 1/2 cup frozen peas

2 diced celery stalks

4 diced carrots

5 quartered new potatoes

Heat olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Brown the meat on all sides (approximately 5 minutes).  Take meat out of pot and set aside.  Add onion to the pot, reduce heat to low and cook for 3 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another minute.  Add the beer, beef broth, Worcestershire, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano and thyme.  Return the meat, stir, cover pot and simmer for 2 hours.  Add potatoes, carrots, celery and peas and cook for an additional 30 minutes.  To thicken stew, remove 1 cup of liquid and whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour, then add back to stew.  Stir and cook for another 10 minutes to bake off the flour.  Transfer stew to a cast iron skillet.  Top with your favorite mashed potato recipe (not gonna lie, I used two containers of store bought Bob Evans mashed potatoes).  Cook in a preheated oven at 375 degrees until golden brown.  *I cooked for 5 minutes, got lazy and turned on the broiler to finish the job.  Y'all the dog was howling it smelled so good!!!

XOXO,

Lee

Braised Short Ribs over Cheese Grits

The hubby and I celebrated a belated Valentine's dinner last night.  Such is life with little ones, basketball games, travel schedule and evening meetings.

A few years ago, I was cleaning the house and Food Network was on to The Pioneer Woman.  Ree Drummond was cooking her braised short ribs over cheese grits as Brian walked through the room.  He literally stopped and was mesmerized.........he may have even drooled.  I immediately went online and downloaded the recipe and we finally tried it last night.  Y'all - if he was drooling watching the show you should have seen him eating.  It was SO yummy.  Best of all - there were only a few prep steps and then it simmered in the oven for a couple of hours......my kinda meal.  The meat fell off the bone and was so incredibly flavorful.  We highly recommend.

Red wine, beef broth, thyme and rosemary along with carrots and unions 

My husband thinks its hysterical that he gave me a dutch oven and I love it.

Please tell me I am not the only one who married a manboy.

Enjoy!

xoxo,
Lee

Great Wolf Lodge

We gifted the boys with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, North Carolina for Christmas. Having never been before, they were so excited to go ride the rides and play in the indoor water park.  Great Wolf Lodge also features an arcade room with a bowling alley though we never made it that far.

We opted for a

Make Your Own Pizza Family Night

                                   

I am a huge fan of food stations where you assemble your own meal.  It is interactive, fun and super easy to throw together.  

This past weekend, the boys

Featuring: Raddish Kids Cooking Kit

My Little Chef, Spencer

A neighbor posted a picture of her child cooking with a Raddish cooking kit and I was instantly enthralled.  As a mommy of two boys, any dreams I had of baking with a little girl and grand tea parties were abandoned a long time ago.........until one fateful day, when my baby came into the kitchen and said, "Momma, whatchu doin'?"

I didn't bat a eye lash as my elder son frequently asked the same question

Sunday Supper: Coffee-Crusted Standing Rib Roast

My husband and brother-in-law both celebrated birthday's a few weeks ago and so last night we finally had a family dinner in their honor.  I had a standing rib roast

Wednesday Wit & Wisdom

Enough said.....

Here are some of my favorite recipes for grits:

Paula Deen's Baked Cheese Grits 

&

Virginia Willis' Country Ham and Mushroom Grits

Happy Wednesday Y'all!

xoxo,
Lee

Wednesday Wit & Wisdom

 I love this.  We all bare scars from our childhood.  "Lesson's learned the hard way", they say.  Some scars are deeper than others however;and, as someone who is estranged from her family, this quote really spoke to me.

Zucchini & Tomato Tart

I love pizza and this is a twist that feeds my cravings in a heart healthy way.  The best part is it couldn't be easier, y'all!  Here are the steps:

Wednesday's Wit & Wisdom

I just love this quote that popped up on my Instagram feed from Goop.  Having just come off a pretty emotional roller coaster, I find myself

New Year's Traditions

Like most folks, I suppose, I am rooted in traditions.  Some are childhood memories and others are the ones we've created throughout the years for our children to enjoy. Some are sacred and some are flat silly - yet I hold fast to them.  They offer a sense of belonging and purpose.  My hope is one day my children will reflect on their childhood with love and carry some of these traditions on with their family (while inviting us over, of course!).

No other time offers traditions for families