Cudjoe Key for Thanksgiving

I just returned from a wonderful week in the Florida Keys! The weather was absolutely gorgeous. We spent plenty of time eating seafood and lying in the sun. I am going to post pictures and reviews of the restaurants that we went to, as well as our fabulous Florida Keys Thanksgiving meal. Check back soon!

Greatmomma's Dressing Recipe

My wonderful grandmother, who we so fondly called Greatmomma, passed away in 2001. She was famous for many things, but around this time of year we remember her cooking. Mainly her dressing balls. They are so yummy, and for some reason I woke up the year of her passing thinking that the recipe came to me in a dream. Probably in all reality, I watched her make it or asked her to tell me how she made it enough times that it just stuck in the depths of my brain somewhere. I wanted to post a few pictures of my family's Thanksgiving last year and I thought I would also share the famous dressing ball recipe.

Enjoy!!

GREATMOMMA'S DRESSING BALLS

2 pkg. Jiffy corn muffin mix (cooked as cornbread according to the directions on the box. You can do this a day or 2 in advance.)
1 pkg. Pepperidge Farms Herb Stuffing Mix
6 - 8 stalks of celery - diced very small
2 large yellow onions - diced very small
1 stick of unsalted butter
a bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley - roughly chopped
a bunch of fresh sage - chopped fine
2 quarts of chicken stock (get more just in case)
salt & pepper to taste

Mix your cornbread according to the directions on the box. Heat a small black skillet in the oven with a pat of butter. Pour the cornbread mix into the hot skillet and cook. After it's finished, crumble the cornbread into a large mixing bowl and repeat. After both cornbreads are in the bowl, add the stuffing mix and one of the quarts of chicken stock. In another skillet on the stove, add an entire stick of butter over medium low heat. Once it melts, add all of the onions and celery. Sauté this until the onions are translucent. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the onions and celery to your large mixing bowl along with all of your herbs. Add the remaining quart of chicken stock slowly to get the right consistency. Mix all of this together until combined. It should be wet, but manageable and you should be able to form it into balls with your hands. Place each ball (about the size of a tennis ball) onto a nonstick cookie sheet and press slightly to sort of make an egg or small loaf shape. Bake at 350º until the outside browns a little and the inside is still moist and fabulous!!

If you want to really spice things up, you can add a package of sage pork sausage that's been browned and crumbled. Make sure to drain it over paper towels before adding it to your dressing mixture.

My Aunt Dancey and sisser Chelsea


Aunt Dancey's beautiful table setting


the Sanders dining room in all it's glory


Aunt Dancey's amazing centerpiece


Uncle Nip and Cousin Haynes


Dana, Chelsea, and Dancey cooking away!


dining room looks perfect!


time to eat


save room for dessert


awww... my cousin Chenault and yours truly!

Still Pumpkins on Your Porch?

If you are like me and meant to carve all of the pumpkins that you purchased, but ended up just carving the one pumpkin, then you will appreciate this resource for a superb pumpkin soup! I didn't want my left over pumpkin to go to waste and ended up coming up with this idea. I used a few different recipes and actually made the soup twice. The second batch was by far much better than the first, so that is the recipe that I will pass on to you!

ROASTED PUMPKIN SOUP

1 small pumpkin - deseeded and cut into quarters

3 whole large carrots - chunked

1 small onion - chunked

2 tbsp. olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

1 can low sodium chicken broth

1 cup apple juice

1 tsp. nutmeg

pinch of Italian seasoning

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt & pepper the pumpkin pieces and roast on 400º until tender - about 1 hour. In a skillet over medium high heat add the carrots, onion, and olive oil. Sauté until they start to get caramelized and then add salt and pepper to taste. Add a splash of the chicken broth, reduce heat to low and cover until soft. Make sure to scrape all of the bits off of the bottom of the pan. Transfer this to a food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a large stew pot and start on the pumpkin. Cutting large chunks that will pull away from the skin fairly easily, add in batches to the food processor. Blend until smooth and pour into your stew pot. When you have all of the pumpkin, onion, and carrots pureed, add the apple juice and chicken stock to the pot and heat over medium low. Add in the Italian seasoning and nutmeg and let it simmer over medium low heat for about 30 minutes. Stir in the cream about 10 minutes before serving.

You can top it with thinly sliced green onion or a dallop of sour cream.

Perfect Potroast

This recipe is perfect for a cool winter day. It will warm you right up from the inside out!

rump roast or chuck roast

salt & pepper to taste

3 or 4 tbsp. olive oil

6 - 8 carrots - peeled and cut into 2" pieces

6 - 8 celery stalks - cut into 2" pieces

2 large yellow onions - cut into 1" chunks

1 small pkg. of button mushrooms

8 - 10 small red new potatoes

1 can beef broth

1 can healthy request cream of mushroom soup

handful of parsley (optional)

garlic salt

Italian seasoning

Preheat the oven to 375º. Generously salt and pepper your piece of meat. Heat dutch oven on medium high for a few minutes and then add your oil. Place the meat in and hope that it immediately sizzles. If it doesn't, raise the heat. You want to get a good sear on all sides before adding everything else. After you sear all sides, reduce the heat to low and add all of your veggies IN THIS ORDER... onions on the bottom, then celery, then carrots, mushrooms and potatoes on the top. Do not worry that your meat is not cooked through. It will finish cooking in the oven. Top with more salt, pepper, garlic salt, Italian seasonings, and chopped parsley. In a separate bowl combine the beef broth and the mushroom soup and wisk together. Pour this mixture into the dutch oven slowly to evenly coat all of the veggies and meat. Place the lid on you pot and put it into the oven for 3 - 3.5 hours. The longer you cook it, the better it will be for up to 4 hours. 

After it looks perfect to you, remove all veggies and place on a platter. Also remove your piece of meat and place on the platter. Cover with aluminum foil and let it rest. Place your dutch oven back on the stove top over medium heat to reduce your sauce. Wisk as it reduces. You may need to add a tablespoon or 2 of flour to help the gravy thicken, but usually you won't need to do that if you let it reduce quite a bit. Pour the gravy over your meat and veggies and enjoy!

Currier's Coq Au Vin

I have created my own version of this classic French dish that is absolutely marvelous! It is essentially chicken with wine, but adding a little of this and a little of that will make it ohh so much more. I just made this for a dinner party last weekend and learned a few new tricks along the way. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture, but here is one that I've found that looks pretty similar to mine.

COQ AU VIN

ingredients:
12 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on)
1 large yellow onion - diced
1 pkg. of fresh pearl onions - peeled
6 large carrots - peeled and cut at a diagonal into 1/2" angled slices
3 medium turnips - peeled and cut in half, then sliced into 1/2" pieces
1 large package of white button mushrooms - cut into 1/2" slices
2 or 3 handfuls of long, thin greenbeans - trimmed and left whole
1 decent bottle of shiraz
1 can of low sodium chicken broth
large handful of rosemary
1 small can of tomato paste
a handful of flour
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400º. In a bowl combine flour, salt & pepper. After cleaning and towel drying your chicken thighs, lightly dust each one with your flour mixture. They do not need to be drenched in the flour. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter and the olive oil. After this melts, begin adding each thigh and browning them on both sides. They do not need to be fully cooked through, just nice and caramelized on either side. Then remove from the heat and pour in your chicken broth & wine. Yup! The entire bottle. Toss all of your veggies except the green beans on top and lightly push everything down into the mixture. I added a little more salt and pepper and a few shakes of Italian seasoning here, but that's optional. I personally do not like pieces of rosemary in my food, so I place the whole stems on top so that I can remove them later. Put your lid on and place in the oven for 1 hour. Pull out your dutch oven and lightly move everything around to get it reincorporated into the sauce. Add your green beans and try to push them into the sauce as well. Return your pot uncovered back into the oven for another hour.

After you take it out of the oven, remove your rosemary and let it sit uncovered while you make your sauce. With a soup ladle, try and remove as much of the liquid as you can (5 or 6 ladles full) and transfer it to a sauce pan over medium low heat. Add in your can of tomato paste and wisk to combine. This sauce will thicken after a few minutes and you can remove it from the heat.

I served my Coq Au Vin over mashed white beans. I will include that recipe below, but it would also be nice over some simple garlic mashed potatoes. Place a heap right in the center of your plate, top that with a peice of the chicken. Sprinkle a variety of the veggies around the sides and pour a ladle of your sauce over the top! For a really pretty touch, add a fresh sprig of rosemary on top. This is a show stopper of a meal and sure to please any crowd.

MASHED WHITE BEANS
1 bag of dried white beans
1 ham hock
1 large white onion - chopped into large pieces
a few sprigs of rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Soak your beans overnight. Then cook them according to the package with the salt, pepper, rosemary, onion and the ham hock. After they cook for several hours, remove the ham hock and the rosemary and drain as much of the liquid as possible from the beans. Mash roughly to combine and serve.

Aunt Currier Thornton Goodall

My namesake, Currier Goodall, would make beautiful cakes with marzipan flowers. This picture from the Review Appeal is one of my favorites of her surrounded by her amazing creations.

My grandmother wrote this poem for her:

For Currier T. Goodall on her 89th Birthday

by Jane Trabue

You look at your hands with frustration
Because they can't do the jobs they once could.
They won't hold a cup, a needle or brush,
or do the work that you wish that they would.

I look at your hands in amazement
To think of the work they have wrought,
Beautiful flowers of marzipan, needlepoint, clothes, ---
Things that money could not have bought.

You have made beautiful things,
But more beautiful than all of these
Is the life that you have lived, and the joy that you give
With the work of your beautiful hands.

If You Like Piña Coladas...

I absolutely LOVE to sip on a piña colada. Here is my recipe for a never fail version...

1 small can of creme de coconut (usually in the cocktail mixer section of the grocery store)
12 oz. pineapple juice
4 oz. dark rum
plenty of ice

Shake up can of coconut creme really well before opening it. Fill up a blender with ice. Pour in the rum. Fill 3/4 of the way up with the pinapple juice and then add a few tablespoons of the coconut creme. The more of this gooey goodness that you add, the sweeter your concoction will be, so make it to suit your taste.

Share the Love

I love a party! Any excuse is a good excuse to invite people over and make them ooh and ahh over my scrumptious creations! Fresh veggies and creamy dips are always on the top of my list. I also thing it's fun to have a signature drink such as summer beer served in champagne glasses.

SUMMER BEER

1 small can frozen limeade
1 small can vodka (use empty limeade can)
3 domestic beers of your choice
plenty of ice

Stir all ingredients until combined and slurp up this tasty treat! Be careful though - it goes down very smoothly!

Colorado Fruit Salad

This recipe is simple, yes, but totally fabulous. I combined 1 ripe peach, 1 sliced banana, several sliced strawberries, and the juice of 1 tangerine. In the words of my friend Rachel Ray... yumm-o!

Organic Me Please...

During the summers here in Tennessee I shop at my local organic farmers market. The pico de gallo that can be made with tomatoes like these is something to talk about! Here is my recipe for superior pico...

PICO DE GALLO (Currier Style)

4 large ripe tomatoes - diced
1 large sweet yellow onion - diced
2 fresh jalapeños - deseeded, deveined, and minced
handful of cilantro roughly chopped
juice of 1 lime
salt & pepper to taste

Serve this with good ole tortilla chips or spice up tilapia by baking it with a little pico on top. The possiblities are endless. I also love to add things to vary the flavors. Add 1 cup of fresh corn kernals and a diced avocado to make a dip that is the envy of all your friends. Serve this dip topped with crumbled feta and watch out! Of course, a corona with lime is always a fabulous accompaniment.

Live Life with a Twist!

Well here goes... I am planning on writing a cookbook eventually because I love to cook and I write recipes daily. But for now, this blog will be a way for me to see how much information is actually in my head.

I think cooking is one of the greatest forms of therapy. Chopping, stirring, smelling, tasting all sooth my soul in a most amazing way. I like to try and invent things out of what is in the fridge. I also like to try new and unusual concoctions of ingredients that are unfamiliar. Some turn out horrible, some are pretty good. I'll try and spare you the ugly details and share the pretty cool foods for thought.

I live life with a twist! Each new day brings something different and exciting. Hopefully I can bring you into my world a little with my recipes.

Enjoy!!

BIRTHDAY MORNING BLOODIES

1 can regular v8 juice
4 oz. vodka of your choice (Polar Ice is nice!)
plenty of ice
juice of one lime
dash of worcestershire sauce
dash of hot sauce
celery salt to taste
2 large stalks of celery - cleaned very well

Combine all ingredients and serve in 2 large glasses with the celery for garnish.