Written by Patti on December 2nd, 2009
Last night Miss Diane returned from her holiday and we were lucky enough to snag her for dinner.
I had really had enough turkey (haven’t you?) and thought we were due for a little veggie meal. Hmmm….what’s in the fridge? I have baby portobello mushrooms, a bit of spinach, some mozzarella cheese. What’s in the pantry? Here’s some artichoke hearts, fire roasted tomatoes and farfalle. That sounds like the ingredients for a cozy little meal, doesn’t it? There are some yummy honey yeast rolls in the freezer – lets defrost them, too.
It all went together happily and handily. As dinner baked in the oven, I received a call from Crystal who was walking little Scout and wanted to stop in to see our tree. Of course! And as Teague was officiating at the neighborhood meeting, I asked her to join us. I had missed these two friends since they had both been away for Thanksgiving, so we popped some bottles of bubbly and got to visiting. Eric finished work and joined us. The casserole came out of the oven all ooey gooey and I set the table. Like a 9 year old. I had put my Christmas tablecloth lovingly on my new table in the kitchen earlier this week and thought that since we were eating something that resembled Italian food, I should put out Italian-inspired dish towels as well as tiny tumblers out of which to drink the champagne. When I stepped back, I had to laugh. Loudly.
No, Nothing Matched.
Did this mismatched mess alter the way the food tasted? Not at all. That distinguishes the true friends from the not so true friends.
Moral of the story – always make sure the bubbly is flowing. That makes everyone happy! And hug your friends.
xoxo, Patti
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Written by Patti on December 1st, 2009
Good Morning, Darlings!
Today we have a guest blogger – my hilarious blogging (and real life) friend Curtis from over at Complete Waste of Time. If you remember, Curtis and I made carrot curd together. If that piqued your interest, his cautionary tale of deconstructed cuisine will slay you. I laughed until my sides hurt upon reading his story.
I think you will, too.
Enjoy!
xoxo, Patti
Hungry and Waiting for Paella
Paella Calamity
St. Augustine defined pride as: love of one’s own excellence. Pride I have in excess. Imagination I also have in excess. Cooking technique I do not. Don’t get me wrong, I cook quite well. But every so often I decide to leave the safety of my tried and true abilities for the culinary unknown. When I’m at my best, I do this at the most inopportune time.
This whole fiasco begins with an episode of Bravo’s Top Chef series. They did an episode based around deconstruction. Each chef chose a classical dish and had to deconstruct it as part of the competition. The losing dish was a horrid failing of paella.
Seeing this I decide that I can do better than the trained chef on television and will make it myself. But for what occasion? Paella is a pretty big dish and you don’t just make it on a Wednesday night. And considering I’ve never made it before, I let my imagination run wild with the possibilities. The occasion presented itself in a trip to a cabin in Blue Ridge, Ga. According to the website, the cabin had a well appointed kitchen with every pot and pan needed except a paella pan. But I’m deconstructing so I wouldn’t need it.
Failure or Disaster? Keep reading ->
Posted in Hospitalityaholic | 1 Response »
Tags: beets, bread pudding, Curtis, Deconstructed paella, Guest Blogger
Written by Patti on November 30th, 2009
Happy Monday, Darlings!
Tomorrow is December 1st – 24 more shopping and planning days until Christmas! Isn’t it exciting?
Since it is Monday and we spent all the Mondays in November talking about getting ready for Thanksgiving, we will spend each Monday in December getting ready for the 25th.
Are you hosting dinner? We are, and when Crystal requested yorkshire pudding for Christmas dinner, I thought, why don’t I just serve an entire Olde English Christmas feast? They’ll be roast beef, yorkshire pudding, chocolate brioche bread pudding, trifle and some other side dishes yet to be decided on. We’ll have crackers that we have to pop and then we will wear the paper crowns during dinner. You know about crackers, right? Here is a photo if you have never seen one.
Perfect for Your Christmas Table
Tablescapes and more below the fold ->
Posted in Hospitalityaholic | 2 Responses »
Tags: Christmas, Crackers, Eddie Ross, Martha, Olde English Feast, Olive Straws, Target, Yorkshire Pudding
Written by Patti on November 29th, 2009
I love Italy. Eric and I honeymooned there so it holds a special kind of magic in my heart.
The city we did not visit on our 10 day post-wedding trip was Naples. The city of pizza. And boy, do I love pizza. I consider it to be a food group.
And then, the heavens opened up and so did Antico Pizza, here in Atlanta. At 1093 Hemphill Avenue to be precise. Oh what a wonderful day for me.
Eric and I braved the GA/GA Tech game traffic to eat there yesterday. It was so worth it. Everyone else was so busy tailgating that we got a parking space up front and walked right in. Isn’t that swell? The aroma wafting from the kitchen was surreal. I couldn’t wait to eat.
The first sight you see is tray after tray of empty cannoli shells and trays of sfogliatelle, a super flaky pastry filled with a lemony, ricotta-custardy filling. We ordered one of each, but were told we could pick them up at the end of the meal, so the cannoli could be freshly filled before eating. How divine. Soggy cannoli does not make me happy. Crispy, creamy, fresh filled cannoli does.
Cannoli Shell Waiting to Be Filled
Sfogliatelle So Good It Will Bring Tears to Your Eyes
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Posted in Hospitalityaholic | Comments Off on A Slice of Napoli
Tags: Antico Pizza, Cannoli, Capricciosa, Giovanni Di Palma, Sfogliatelle
Written by Patti on November 28th, 2009
Good Morning Darlings!
Happy Saturday. I trust you are all digested from a big dinner on Thursday and are ready to move on to Christmas. What’s that you say? Too early yet? Oh, no! Not if you are giving a party in two weeks for 75 or so of your nearest and dearest.
And so, last night, Eric and I trimmed our tree. But not without a small incident. Dear friends Crystal and Teague gave us their 12 foot tree to put up this year (so we would have two trees!) Eric took this behemoth down from the attic and set it up in the living room. It fit. Kind of. When we went looking for our big tub of lights and garland, they had seemed to have gone missing. We could not find them anywhere. So after some wifely cajoling, my darling took the big tree apart, back to the attic and brought down our 7.5 ft. tree. I think it looks pretty.
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Written by Patti on November 27th, 2009
I thought I was going to regale you all with some pithy commentary on yesterday’s dinner. But I think I will let the photos speak for themselves. A wonderful day was had by all of us. Eric, John, Danny, Holly, Isham and Tracy and I gathered round the table (we were able to set all the dishes out on the new table John brought me for my kitchen that belonged to his grandmother – so excited to have this heirloom!) There was no drama, no kitchen upsets or drunk relatives. It was the nicest, calmest, dearest Thanksgiving ever.
Thanks, Everyone! We love you!
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Posted in Hospitalityaholic | 1 Response »
Tags: Danny, Eric, fried turkey, holly, isham, John, Thanksgiving, tracy, yeast rolls
Written by Patti on November 25th, 2009
It might seem mundane to list what one is thankful for the day before Thanksgiving, but I see it as an optimistic turn to let those who are so special to me know how I feel.
And now – my grateful list.
First up, of course, is Eric. This man is eternally patient with my infinite hair-brained schemes and ideas and loves me dearly in spite of them. He is kind, hilariously witty, smart as a whip and keeps me warm at night. I could go on, but there are some things I like to keep to myself.
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Posted in Hospitalityaholic | 7 Responses »
Tags: Friends, Georgia, Grateful, Los Angeles
Written by Patti on November 24th, 2009
Our beloved friends, Chioke and Taruan (aka – the best looking people on the planet) hosted the coolest party on Sunday. They let all their friends vote on their favorite movies from the 80s and then chose four for us to watch. They listed the movie times so everyone could come and go when their faves were on. This was the schedule:
1pm – Weird Science
3pm – Coming To America
5pm – Heathers
7pm – Labyrinth
Click to continue »
Posted in Hospitalityaholic | 2 Responses »
Tags: Chioke, Magic Berries, Movie Day, Taruan
Written by Patti on November 23rd, 2009
Thanksgiving is here in four days. I want to make sure you have everything you need. Grocery stores aren’t usually open on Turkey Day, so lets get cracking.
I just found the coolest website called To Do Softlist.com which has lists for everything. For a list junkie like me, this is heaven. But if you are not, I will not subject you to my list proclivity. Except for this one Thanksgiving list. It is so fab. I have just altered it a bit to fit our needs.
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Tags: Thanksgiving, To Do List
Written by Patti on November 22nd, 2009
Eric and I are so lucky that our friends are our family. Last night was a prime example.
Each year, Crystal and Teague host a Pre-Thanksgiving dinner that celebrates all the wonderful friends and neighbors we have. Everyone gets to cook what they would like for Thanksgiving as opposed to what they might be forced to endure annually with their blood kin on the 4th Thursday of November. My dear friends really know how to throw a bash. This year the guest list totaled 30 people – wow! Not only did Teague fry a turkey, but grilled two pork butts as well. Crystal was kept busy making not one – but two – dressings. One was an old family recipe with raisins and apples and the other was an oyster dressing. Yum yum yum. Click to continue »
Posted in Hospitalityaholic | 1 Response »
Tags: beet salad, Crystal, Diane, Eric, friendsgiving, Funeral Food, Teague, yeast rolls
