Post-Thanksgiving All Girl Vegetarian Extravaganza

I'm a compulsive planner, but I also enjoy a last minute get-together. With no plans for Friday night and not having cooked much because Liz and I had Thanksgiving dinner with Judith and Michael Foltz and their extended family, I decided to put together the Post-Thanksgiving All Girl Vegetarian Extravaganza with daughters Liz and Laura and Laura's friends Kelly, Lisa, and Cheri. There's nothing like a group of women and some festive beverages to make the kitchen a merry place--and raise the noise level.

Left to right: Liz, Kelly, Lisa, Cheri, and Laura.

Every guest brought a bottle of red wine, but we started with Rosemary Pomegranate Royales.

These are a delicious concoction of rosemary-infused simple syrup, pomegranate juice, prosecco, pomegranate seeds, and a rosemary garnish. Following the cocktail hour, we opened some wine and hit the buffet.

Cornbread dressing and port-tangerine cranberry sauce. The Tofurkey is a prop. We are not fans of most faux meats.

Carrot souffle, a longtime family favorite, takes 2 pounds of healthy carrots and, with the addition of milk, eggs, and cheddar cheese, turns them into something decadent.

Who doesn't love red potatoes roasted with olive oil and rosemary?

The secret to the baked spinach and artichoke hearts is the bechamel sauce and two bags of baby spinach wilted in olive oil and minced garlic..

What's Thanksgiving without deviled eggs?

Or cheese biscuits?

We lingered at the table before bringing in the dessert: Spicy pumpkin trifle. I was inspired by a recipe I found for gingerbread pumpkin trifle, but I made lots of changes, including swapping spice cake for the gingerbread. I like trying experiments out on guests--you get lots of opinions that way.

Here's the side view:

And the top view:

Our family has a favorite summer strawberry trifle. Now we have a favorite winter trifle. This one's a keeper!

A Post-Thanksgiving All Girl Vegetarian Extravaganza--That's what we're having.

The Last Pear

Last night we had a little party at Kendrick Place to celebrate the life of our pear tree. It stood along the fence row between Kendrick Place and the Masonic Temple. We've long speculated how it came to be there. Who plants a pear tree in the middle of the city? My favorite explanation is that it's a remnant from the farmland that was here before the city expanded.

The tree had developed both blight and canker--and on the recommendation of the experts at Cortese Tree Specialists, who had tried in vain to save it, the decision was made to take it down. Here's how it looked in full bloom this spring. Pretty, isn't it?

I was too busy pouring pear bellinis for the party guests to take any photos last night, but when men with chain saws and a wood chipper arrived early this morning. I was ready. Here's the view from the bedroom window. That speck of blue up in the tree is the guy from Cortese whose job it was to climb the tree and start sawing off the top branches.

With the branches gone, you can see the guy a little more.

At the end of the courtyard, a big wood chipper waited.

All gone--except for the stump.

Heard the expression "rotten to the core"? That's a pretty good description of this tree's core, which they handed me as a souvenir.

Here's a close-up view of the core.

Speaking of souvenirs--some of us decided last night that we wanted a slice of the trunk. I am not exactly sure how we will use these, but the guys were nice about honoring our request. Here's one of the guys doing the slicing.

My neighbor Mary Holbrook, who joined me in witnessing the take-down, started stacking the slices.

Ultimately, we stacked them on our stoop--while we decide what to do with them. The rings were too indistinct for anyone to gauge the age of the trees, but we were told that when they are sanded a bit, we might be able to see the rings.

Here's the new view from the bedroom window. No pear tree.

There was one final surprise. A pear! This was a big surprise because there were very few pears this year

Now, back to thinking about what to do with the pear tree slices...Suggestions welcome!!!

A chain saw and wood chipper kind of morning. That's what we're having.

A Progressive Pre-Gameday Tailgate Party

Last night's Downtown Progressive was a lot of fun--as always. You can read about the last one at this link: http://bluestreak.moxleycarmichael.com/2012/06/11/patios-porches-and-rooftops-another-downtown-progressive-dinner-and-another-pair-of-targets/).

For these Progressives, we always choose a theme and invite a guest or two we are hoping to recruit to downtown living. Since the party was set for the night before the UT vs Florida game, we decided on a tailgate theme. Our recruits? Dan and Cathy Brown. I kept it easy and casual: a chili bar with 10 toppings and box wine on our roof. A tailgate party on a roof? Why not? It's just like the G-10 parking garage next to the stadium--but a lot less crowded.

A word about chili. Whatever else I throw into the pot, my basic recipe has two essential ingredients, Mexene Chili Powder and Bush's Best Chili Hot Beans.

Last night's version was vegetarian and less spicy than usual to accommodate various palates and preferences.

We started in the courtyard at Cherokee Lofts, home of Cynthia Moxley and Alan Carmichael, where we had bacon-wrapped cream cheese jalapeno bites, tomato-basil spread, and a cheese ball. Note the pretty Vol-themed platters--in keeping with our tailgate theme. That's a glass of "Gator Blood" in the background--more about those in a minute.

Cynthia thought the bacon-wrapped jalapenos were way too hot and almost didn't put them out, but most of us loved them. If you want to decide for yourself, you can get the recipe at this link: http://www.doughmesstic.net/2010/11/04/bacon-wrapped-cream-cheese-jalapeno-bites/

Check out this "pumpkin"--a creative fall take on a cheese ball. (The orange color comes from crushed Nacho Cheese Doritos!)

Get the recipe at this link: http://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2012/09/the-perfect-fall-cheese-ball.html

Cynthia always has amusing cocktail napkins:

The Gator Blood--aka Orange Slush--was refreshing and delicious. Here's the recipe:

Orange Slush aka Gator Blood

6 oz. fresh orange juice

12 oz. frozen lemonade

6 oz. vodka

6 oz. apricot brandy

1 quart Fresca

Chablis (chilled)

Enjoying the food, drinks, and company:

Kristin Grove, Karen Eberle, and Eddie Mannis, all residents at the Glencoe.

Alan Carmichael and Monique Anderson, who also lives at the Glencoe

Mickey Mallonee, who lives at the Emporium, and Nora Robinson, 

another Glencoe resident. The Glencoe was well represented last night.

Bruce Anderson and Bill Lyons

Kristin took a photo of me with Kim Trent, who lives at the Emporium, just before she and I left for Kendrick Place to set out the food and drinks there. 

When the guests arrived they headed straight for the crockpot of chili and started piling on their favorite toppings.

Wonder what Nora and Mickey are looking at?

Love the lights in the background. Seated far right is Kkin Fairbank,
who will soon be moving into the Elliot (at the corner of Church & State)

Uh-oh, I think Cynthia put a blurry hex on my camera when she saw me taking her picture. 

Karen, Bruce, and Dan Brown, whose wife Cathy joined us later

Then it was off to the courtyard between the Glencoe and the Elliott for BBQ and dessert hosted by Eddie, who recently moved to the top floor of the Glencoe. I got one final picture before my flash sputtered and died.

Kristin, Kim, and Gina Changas

Another fun Downtown Progressive...That's what we're having.

Allons enfants de la patrie

Le jour de gloire est arrive!

I received a wonderful new French cookbook a couple of days before Bastille Day.

Since I didn't have tickets to the Knox Heritage Summer Supper celebrating Bastille Day (Click here for photos of that event), I decided to throw together a last-minute Bastille Day Dinner Party and invite a few guinea pigs (uh, guests sounds better, doesn't it?) to test some recipes. I am loving this cookbook! 


I pulled out an old tablecloth.  

Rustic dishes and lots of wine glasses added to the ambiance. One of my friend Cynthia Markert's prints in the background didn't hurt. (For more about Cynthia and her art, click here.)


We gathered in the mews at Kendrick Place (for the uninitiated, that's the alley between the two rows of townhouses) for nibbles (sweet & spicy nuts and cheese wafers) and apperitifs (kir, kir royale, or kir cardinale--your choice). 


I was so busy making sure the guests were happy that I forgot to take photos of the first course. But, as you can see, all had a good time in the mews.

Even looks a little French, oui? That's Bob Whetsel, Bill Lyons, and Rick and Alta Emmett enjoying the first course way down at the shady end of the mews.

Melynda Whetsel, one of my plant muses, checked out the greenery and offered me advice on my sickly rosemary: "Chop it way back!"


We moved to the kitchen table for the second course.

Mini waffles with smoked salmon, scallions, creme fraiche, and chives. It was a hit.


All of the recipes served came from the new cookbook except for the salad. There's not exactly a recipe, but it's really good.

Spring mix, blueberries, tiny Roquefort squares, and a drizzle of blueberry balsamic from The Tree & Vine, the newest business on Union Avenue. (Read about it on my friend Cynthia Moxley's blog, The Blue Streak.)

We tore off pieces of the baguettes all night. 


I got busy and missed taking a photo of the salmon and tomatoes en papillotte and the pancetta green beans before they were eaten. They were so pretty--and delicious. What can I say? It's hard to serve six courses--and take photos of all of them! 


Afterwards, we grabbed some bottles of wine and our glasses and headed four flights up to the roof. 

The cheese course!


And an extra treat: 

With Rick playing the guitar, we had a John Prine singalong. Things were getting pretty laid back by this time.

Bob Whetsel (left) took off his shoes and assumed a comfy position while Rick played.

Love this photo of Alta and Melynda! Sunsphere in the background.


I'd planned to serve dessert back downstairs in the kitchen, but we all agreed it was simply too lovely on the roof to leave it. (Where's that dumbwaiter when I need it???) Fortunately, crepes, lemon curd, lemon sauce, and 6 forks and dessert plates don't weigh much

Crepe filled with lemon curd, drizzled with lemon butter sauce.

Melynda enjoying her crepe. 


A glorious Bastille Day--that's what we're having. 

Okra Fries

That's right. Not fried okra, okra fries.

It all started when I ran into friends, Randall De Ford and Wes Goddard, at the Market Square Farmers' Market this morning. A discussion of Juliet tomatoes, different kinds of eggplant, and uses of okra led to their describing how they make okra fries. I'm not sure if mine are anything like theirs, but we liked them. Thanks for the suggestion, Randall & Wes!

I sliced the okra in half lengthwise and rubbed a little bit of a paste made of minced ginger and garlic on each. Then I combined a spice mixture called Dukkah (from Trader Joe's), cayenne, turmeric, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and a little flour, and tossed the okra with it. I let it sit for a while before frying and served them with a squirt of lime juice. Delicious!

To complement the okra fries, we had grilled eggplant. The green stuff is simply a combination of flat leaf parsley and mint tossed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I also tossed in some Dukkah since it was sitting there.

Mango salad--nothing but mangos, olive oil, lime juice, and red pepper flakes.

Grilled salmon seasoned with one of my favorite rubs, Potlatch Seasoning (fromWilliams-Sonoma).

It was a little warm for grilling tonight, but we stayed cool with a pitcher of mango margraritas.

Yummy okra fries--and more. That's what we're having.