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V-Day Recap and The Morning After

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

Hope you all had a fine Valentine’s Day – no matter who you spent it with. Ours was swell. Lets recap the menu:

Crab Cakes
Creamy Pasta
Fresh Green Salad
Lemon Souffle

It was all so good. The souffle was delicious, but needs some work. I thought it was pretty good for a first try. An oven thermometer would probably help to make sure it’s calibrated correctly.

Some photos?

Crab Cakes and Creamy Pasta

Eric whipped up the cream sauce with the most spectacular oregano and gorgeous Greek olive oil by Frixa, that was just sent by lovely Miss Leigh in St. Simons Island. The Chryssaidis family owns a restaurant, Athena, in St. Augustine, where they go through 20 liters of this elixir each day. Can you imagine? And you can buy both the olive oil and oregano online. Yum.

The sauce goes like this (thanks, Honey!): Melt 2 tbsp butter and add 2 tsp Frixa oregano, infuse with low heat while the pasta cooks. When the pasta is al dente, strain and quickly beat together 2 eggs, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 cup parmesan with a little pasta water. Dress the pasta in the sauce and drizzle with the butter to serve. (cooks note: boom done).

Eric’s crab cakes were essentially crab, a bit of mayo to bind and panko for coating. Perfect.

I dressed the table with three large pillar candles, red beaded placemats from Mexico, silver napkin holders, hammered silver flatware and red champagne flutes. Although I believe I forgot to shoot the table because I was so excited about dinner. Sorry, Darlings.

Here’s a peek at the souffle.

Fresh from the oven and dusted with powdered sugar.


To our plates.

And into our bellies! Nom nom nom. And having an excuse to practice my souffle skills is a delicious reason for dessert, yes?

But, Eric and I both agreed, the really special treat came this morning inside the delicate confines of four very fresh eggs, gifted to us by our oh-so-sweet friends Stephanie and Reeves, who raise chickens just a few blocks away from us. They taste nothing like what you buy from the grocery store. No, these are much more piquant, with a richness that betrays its supermarket brethren, and puts them to shame. And look, Stephanie puts the date each one, so you know exactly what day it was gathered.

Gathered 2 days ago! And more cooking in the background. In Beka!

We didn’t say too much during breakfast – we were too busy trying to savor every bite of those pristine eggs. Thanks Stephanie and Reeves!

Aren't they lovely?

Oh, and my Sweeties – I am giving away two tickets for The Wedding Experience tomorrow. You just need to comment here on this blog post. You don’t have to be a bride, you might have a friend who is getting married and could benefit from this – so get your comments in!

xoxo, Patti

Today blogging to Nat King Cole – Love

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Valentine’s Day Dinner

Monday, February 14th, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

Welp, today’s the day. The day we make those who are so special to us feel even more special. This does not mean you have to have a significant other – or more specifically, it means that a significant other can mean lots of different things.

It could be your best friend, your child, your dog. Doesn’t matter. Just give someone you love a big hug and enjoy the day together. And tonight, cook up something special.

Eric and I love to cook together and it’s a rare occasion on a weeknight. But tonight at our house it will be crab cakes and pasta with cream sauce, fresh green salad and lemon souffle for dessert. Crab cakes are one of those fab dishes that are super easy and impress everyone. Just add bubbly! Here is a great recipe from Miss Paula Deen, who knows what we southerners like. I would omit the bell peppers, but that’s just me. And I would let the cakes rest in the fridge before I dipped them in flour and fried them, just to make sure they keep their shape. And one more note: I like buying big king crab legs instead of the canned crab. This way I know where the meat came from and there is less chance of shells. You just cut them up the middle and pull out the crab meat. Easy peasy.

Paula Deen's Crab Cakes, Courtesy of Food Network.com

Ingredients
1 pound crabmeat, picked free of shells
1/3 cup crushed crackers (recommended: Ritz)
3 green onions (green and white parts), finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
Dash cayenne pepper
Flour, for dusting
1/2 cup peanut oil
Favorite dipping sauce, for serving

Directions
In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients, except for the flour and peanut oil. Shape into patties and dust with flour.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, carefully place crab cakes, in batches, in pan and fry until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip crab cakes and fry on other side until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Serve warm with preferred sauce.

Don’t they sound good? See? Now go impress your loved ones. And don’t bother baking – let your neighborhood bakery do the work.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

xoxo, Patti

Today blogging to Ella Fitzgerald – That Old Black Magic

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13 Years at 4th and Swift

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

When two people have been madly in love for 13 years, it is certainly cause for celebration, don’t you think? Eric and I met that landmark last week and decided to mark the occasion with dinner at 4th and Swift. A decidedly good choice. My friend, Pedro over at Foodie Atlanta raves about this place, so that seemed like a pretty fair endorsement to me. Open Table provided the reservation (my points are really racking up over there. If you don’t use it, you might want to check it out. Especially if you are the person in your office responsible for making all the dinner and lunch reservations. You can earn dining dollars that translate to cash. And no, I do not work for Open Table.)

Join Eric and me for a lovely dinner

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Super Bowl, Super Snacks, Super Friends

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

Ok, I’m all refreshed after taking the day after Super Bowl to tidy up and plan what I am going to do with the leftovers. I thought you might enjoy seeing how we celebrated.
Join our party!

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FFF-Are You Ready For Some Football?

Friday, February 4th, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

Whooo Hooo! It is Super Bowl Weekend! Second only to Christmas and the Academy Awards (Feb. 27, if you were wondering). The most fun time for everyone to get together, eat, drink and holler at the television.

Everyone is coming to our house this year and we have asked everyone to bring an appetizer to share and some booze. You need booze for a good Super Bowl party. Just ask Don Draper.

Or, you could ask our resident NYC party-girl-about-town, Esther, who is always coming up with the tastiest cocktails. This time they are hilariously named after players from both the Packers and the Steelers. Just in time for Sunday.

If you live in Georgia, please remember to buy your libations on Saturday. When are they going to lift these blue laws already?

Whip up some cocktails with me inside!

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Mmmm…Tacos

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

Wasn’t yesterday with Arlynn fun? She is such a delight.

And since she was such a love to write such a wonderful post, I am going to keep it short today and talk about tacos. Tacos are Eric’s favorite food. I like them, too, but I am more partial to pizza.

The other day I gazed into my refrigerator to see what I could conjure up for lunch. Um….slack jawed and uninspired, I stared. And then it hit me. I saw some chorizo I had just picked up, spied a hunk of queso, there’s some sour cream and we even have salsa verde! Hot diggity. I always try to keep tortillas on hand and so I fished those out of the pantry. Voila!

Eric joined me in the kitchen and diced up an onion to go with the chorizo frying in the pan. I heated up the tortillas over the flame on the stove (it’s fun! it’s like camping inside!) Not too long after, we were gobbling down some of the tastiest tacos I have ever had.

One fine meal.

Life’s funny like that. When you least expect it, the tastiest treat comes out of nowhere.

I hope your day is full of unexpected pleasures, Darlings.

xoxo, Patti

Today blogging to Taco – Putting On The Ritz

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Saving Money Can Be Fun!

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

I have been on a crusade to save money recently. And I bet you might be, too. Let’s help each other, shall we?

There are more than a few websites and blogs that specialize in just this thing. One site I found recently that I have fallen in love with is “Budget Bytes” written by an adorable blogger named Beth. So it is “Beth’s Budget Bytes”! She dissects each recipe and tells you how much each ingredient costs and it all looks mouthwatering. I am making one of her dishes tonight but I am surprising Eric so I will share it with you tomorrow.

My sweet friend Aimee is the author of the blog “The Coupon Diva“, another amazing way to watch your pennies. She works very hard to bring you the best deals, so go check her out.

For flat out fun and all out hilarity, visit my friend Susan at her blog “The Frugal Hostess” – she is a hoot and has some wonderful ideas to boot. Hey, that rhymes!

What am I doing to save? Well, I am certainly throwing more interactive parties. We really debated over having a Super Bowl party, and decided to invite everyone over to share their favorite football watching snack, bring their own beverages and we will rev up the Pop Corn Machine (did I tell you about the POP CORN MACHINE? We bought it for a song at a yard sale. In fact, when they told us the price, Eric and I just howled because it was exactly the amount of money we brought to the yard sale. To the penny. And it is the big kind – like at the movie theatre. So now my house always smells like pop corn. But that’s not a bad thing.) We will whip up another snack or two to share and we will open our home. Because that’s what matters – having everyone together. Not how much you spend. If you treat each guest like royalty and greet them with a huge smile and a hug, they will always be happy to contribute.

And if they don’t  – well, you don’t want them in your home anyway, now do you?

Please share your money saving tips with me!

xoxo, Patti

Today blogging to Ginger Rogers – We’re In The Money

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Fun Find Friday-The Perfect Grilled Cheese

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

Usually I feature a product or place on Friday, but I’m in a grilled cheese kind of mood.

I’ve only become proficient at making these beauties in the past few years. Before that, I would always burn the bread and end up with cheese that wasn’t melty, stringy and delicious.

But no more. If you find yourself with unmelty, unstringy and not quite right grilled cheese, worry no longer. I am here to help. And it’s easy.

Photo courtesy of The Glam Society at Blogspot

First, make sure your butter is softened. I would say at room temperature, but in the winter, at least at my house, that would mean rock hard. If you have a microwave, you might zap it for just a few seconds or let it sit on a warm stove for a bit. Spread the outsides of your bread with your softened butter and move on to the cheese.

Second, use grated cheese. Grate it fresh if you have to. I adore Jarlsberg for my grilled cheese and feel that the extra effort to grate a hunk of it worthy of the perfect sandwich. Grated cheese is going to melt up much easier than sliced cheese. Trust me on this. Almost all cheese will work for grilled cheese, except maybe parmesan.

Stove temperature – I set the burner to medium, melt a little more butter in the pan and when it warms up, place my bread buttered side down into the pan. Now, take a mound of  your grated cheese and heap it on top, followed by the second piece of bread – buttered side up. Give the sammie a few minutes, pry up the bottom with a spatula and if it looks brown, turn the whole shebang over to grill the other side. This can be tricky, so don’t be afraid to use your fingers to hold the top piece in place. Just don’t burn yourself. Owie! Give it another few minutes on the second side and voila, you have yourself a tasty treat.

I have to admit that a very guilty pleasure of mine is grilled peanut butter and jelly. Don’t scoff. If you have never tried this, you are missing out. So go on over to the pantry and pull out the pb&j and give it a try.

Happy Weekend!!

xoxo, Patti

Today blogging to Little Chris Moyles Show – Brand New Cheesy Song

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I Love A Little Tart

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

You know, I was thinking about you and how I listed all those yummies Eric and I made for Holly’s birthday Sunday night with nary a recipe for you. I’m sorry, that was mean. Let me fix that today with the recipe for the Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Tarts.
They are very similar to the tarts I buy at Trader Joes for $6.99 for 12, but tastier and far less expensive.

Click Here For The Recipe

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A Very Happy Hollyday

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

Good Morning Darlings!

Sunday night was a double whammy – the Golden Globes and our beloved Holly’s birthday! A dual reason to celebrate.

Now, you might remember me trying to make Holly a “healthy” cake from black beans, as documented in this video. That didn’t go so well. So, I tried again Sunday morning to make a “real” cake. Not so great, either. Note to self – it is extremely difficult to soften butter at room temperature when it is snowing outside.

Oh, geez, what to do now? Cake Hag to the rescue!! If you remember, they were the star of our dinner with Eddie + Jaithan this past summer, with their luscious red velvet cake. I called Maggie & Katie and even though they had been closed due to the snow/ice storm, they had one perfect cake, just for me. I have never been more relieved. Four layers of rich, dark chocolate cake layered with scrumptious chocolate buttercream. Thanks, Ladies!!
Click here to see how it all turned out

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