Sunday Bloody Sunday for the Tennessee Theatre

Scarecrow Foundation's Downtown Derby Week starts this week. As a kick-off to the fun-filled schedule of events, guests gathered at Sapphire today for Sunday Bloody Sunday which featured waffles; biscuits; Americana music by three great acts, Scott McMahan, Josh Stack, and Jessica Watson; and, of course, bloody marys--with a portion of the proceeds going to the Tennessee Theatre.

Sapphire's brunch menu includes all kinds of clever waffles, biscuits, and bloody marys.

Some of the waffles include the Robusto with Spanish chorizo, parmesan cheese, and tomatoes; the Berry Patch with fresh berries and whipped cream; and the Campfire--a S'mores-inspired concoction of chocolate syrup, peanut butter, marshmallow, and graham cracker--which was Brooke Buckner's favorite Here's Brooke with her dad, Jimmy.

Here are a couple of other waffles I spotted:

The Tennessean, made with boursin mac & cheese, pulled pork BBQ, and red onion.

And the Presley, made with house-made peanut butter, bananas, and Benton's bacon.

The biscuits include a strawberry shortcake biscuit and a capicola ham and horseradish biscuit. Here are a couple of popular ones:

Here's Blake Valentine's pimento cheese and jalapeno biscuit.

And Amy Gibson's bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit.

And, of course, there were some creative Bloody Marys developed by Sapphire's mixologist, Amie Snyder.

I was intrigued by one called Spring Fever, which consists of vodka, muddled strawberry and orange, splash of simple syrup, Zing Zang mix, sugar & cayenne pepper rim, with a fresh strawberry, and another called Tree Hugger, which consists of Pinnacle Citrus vodka, muddled cucumber, splash of olive & fresh lime juice, Zing Zang mix, kosher salt rim, with pickled vegetables from Phickle Pickles. If spicy’s what you like, I recommend the Flamethrower, which is made with tequila, 3 different hot sauces, horseradish, muddled jalapenos, and Zing Zang mix, with a red onion garnish.

The Shark Bait (vodka, horseradish, ketchup, worcestershire, Zing Zang mix, Old Bay rim, with a jumbo shrimp garnish) was popular.

One guest swore by his own creation: Stevie G's Bloody Mary, which is Sapphire's classic Bloody Mary with black pepper, additional hot sauce, and bacon bits.

Kelly Absher posed with the Rock Star Guitar, which will be sold at the Party in the Park Thursday night.

However you stirred it, it was a fun way to start Scarecrow Foundation's Downtown Derby Week.

A bloody good time. That's what we're having.

A whole lot of my favorite things

After coming home from the Rossini Festival (which was fabulous by the way) and preparing tonight's dinner, I realized that every single ingredient is on my "favorites" list.

Spinach with pickled beets and fresh strawberries served with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Capellini pasta with pesto and fresh spring peas served with grilled shrimp.

The pasta is what I brought home after we had dinner with friends Cynthia Moxley and Alan Carmichael at the  Bistro at the Bijou last night. Deducting what I ate last night still left us with two generous servings for tonight--with the shrimp added because I noticed that the Market at Union and Gay now has Gulf shrimp for 10.99 a pound.

A perfect spring supper. That's what we're having.

Chips!

I'd already decided on an appetizer to take to the Kendrick Place Reunion tonight--crostini made of grilled Harry's challah bread, peppered goat cheese, and Blackberry Farm's pickled beets & strawberries--but I noticed three potatoes that needed to be used and thought: What party isn't improved by a bowl of homemade potato chips?

Besides potatoes, the most essential thing is a mandoline for thinly slicing the unpeeled potatoes.

Preheat to 375. Spray baking sheets with olive oil and place potato slices on baking sheets. Don't crowd the slices; this is very important.

Bake 10-15 minutes. I usually bake multiple pans at once. You don't have to turn the slices, but you may want to rotate the pan about halfway through. And watch them--they cook quickly.

Put the slices on pages of newspaper and sprinkle with sea salt.

Store them in an air tight container and serve.

There were a few left, but, trust me, they're gone now.

Homemade baked potato chips. That's what we're having.

Wine on the Roof

Spring and fall are the best times to sit on our roof decks.

We have a view of the Kendrick Place pear tree, which is not looking well.

I hope it survives, but I fear it will not. It bloomed so beautifully about a month ago.

We always look at the Hilton to see if anyone's looking at us.

When we see someone looking out, we wave at them. Tonight, we also had a view of the smoke from the mulch fire on Ailor Avenue.

A fine spring evening up on the roof. That's what we're having.

Mimi's Chicken Pot Pie

I'm not a grandmother (yet), but I decided a while ago that my granny name--should I ever be so privileged to be one (not to put any pressure on any of our offspring)-- would be "Mimi."

My grandmothers were Nanny and Mammaw, and, while I loved them, I can't picture either of those names applying to moi (not a typo). I am more of a Mimi, I think. I'm pretty sure I would also be a good yia-yia.

But whether you're a grandmaw, a nanny, a mammaw, a mimi or a yia-yia, you're going to be feeding people. It's what we do. And what's more of a grandmaw dish than Chicken Pot Pie?

The thing I love about this "recipe" is that you can do it as mammaw did--or you can take some of the shortcuts mammaw probably wished she had available. Pick your shortcuts. I'm pretty sure both my grandmothers' recipes began with this step: Catch a chicken and wring its neck. I skipped that one.

Step 1: Pastry in a lightly oiled, well-seasoned iron skillet.

You can make the pastry or you can buy it. But place it in the bottom of an iron skillet.

Step 2: Chicken and vegetables in a cream sauce

You can cook the chicken or you can buy rotisserie chicken. Either way, you're going to be pulling or slicing chicken. You can saute fresh vegetables or you can heat frozen ones. You can make a bechamel sauce or you can use canned cream soups. You need to end up with a mix of chicken, vegetables, and sauce that is pleasing to you--and is the right, thickened, seasoned consistency to be poured into the bottom of the pie shell.

Step 3: Pastry on top

Regardless of whether you made the pastry or bought it, you need to place another piece on top and seal the edges. Then make a few slits in the top to let the steam escape while baking.

Step 4: Bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes until the inside is heated and the pastry is browned. Monitor the pastry. The edges will brown more quickly than the center, so you may want to cover the edges in foil about halfway through.

Step 5: Serve Mimi's Chicken Pot Pie

Here's what was left in the pan. Leftovers. Yum.

Mimi's Chicken Pot Pie. That's what we're having.

An Eventful Lunch

After Liz got a good report from the physical therapist today, we celebrated with lunch at Holly's Eventful Lunch, an offshoot of Holly's Eventful Dining.

What a great idea--Holly posts a different menu every week. All we have to do is show up and enjoy.

We interrupt for a Public Service Announcement: Come to Dogwood After Dark this Thursday at Knoxville Museum of Art and enjoy Holly's dance-inspired appetizer menu. It's going to be a fabulous party--great food, lots of beverages--including the signature beverage, the Dogwood Dazzle. Dance, dance, dance. And fun, fun, fun. Trust me. Would I steer you wrong?

But whatever the season, every day, every week, check out the lunch menu at Holly's Eventful Lunch. Make friends with Holly on Facebook and get the menu each week. She's making it pretty, too. Love the vintage tablecloths. And look at these tulips in a mason jar.

I thought the artichoke-lemon soup I had last week was the best soup ever. Maybe not. Today's garlic- pistachio soup may just have been better. You can't go wrong with either one. Here's the garlic-pistachio soup.

At Holly's suggestion, I ordered the garlic roasted flank steak with guacamole, cumin, Locust Grove Cheese, lettuce, and tomato. I ordered the half sandwich (so I could have the small cup of that divine soup). Wonderful!

Liz ordered the same thing--but as a wrap.

Even the check was cleverly delivered--in a mason jar.

I recommend that you have an eventful lunch soon. That's what we're having.

Dancin' in the Rain

Knox Heritage Executive Director, Kim Trent, and I spent this afternoon near Harrogate, TN taking photos and touring an upcoming Knox Heritage Summer Supper location. We are working on the booklet for Summer Suppers 2012.

To be among the first to learn about this Summer Supper and all the rest of the 2012 Summer Suppers, go to KnoxHeritage.org and become a major donor. It costs $1000 per year for a household and comes with all kinds of benefits, including dibs on purchasing tickets to the popular Summer Suppers series which will start in June.

As long as we were in the neighborhood, Kim and I stopped for a few minutes in Cumberland Gap, a tiny town near the TN/VA border. Neither of us had ever been there, and we've vowed to go back. We think we spotted a George Barber house among the homes near the main street. I'm pretty sure Kim will be sharing that photo on FB.

There are a couple of restaurants, some antique stores, a bed and breakfast, and other interesting sites. Kim was drawn to the bicycle museum. I, seeing a post office with window boxes, remembered we were out of stamps and figured the lines might be shorter at this post office than at any in Knoxville. It was a good call!

One friendly clerk, no waiting--and aren't these pretty?

Here's a look down main street in Cumberland Gap on a Monday afternoon. Charming, but a little slow. I'm betting they draw bigger crowds on the weekends.

I liked this sign I saw in a store window: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." I can identify with that.

A chance to be a tourist for just a few minutes in the middle of a workday. That's what we're having.