On A Cold December Night

Tonight we will have split-pea soup and bread and an apple crisp for dessert. Then, we will decorate the tree!

All of that sounds nice and all, but I really wish I was in Portland to get a signed copy of Alicia Paulson's Embriodery Companion. I have been embriodering like crazy lately. Photos to come soon!

Tonight I will make an O Fizz (Oprah's favorite holiday drink) to enjoy while I deck the halls. Lately I keep discovering that I like the same things Oprah likes. Or maybe Oprah likes the same things I like? Its weird. I can't remember ever watching an entire Oprah episode.

Tis the Season! Here's a little Graceland and Elvis... Our "Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas" record would skip at 1:17...

"Lights a glow...ow...ow...ow... "

Love those Christmastime memories!

Saying Goodbye to 2009...

A few bloggers are posting their Top 9 of 2009 + 1. I thought I would join in.

#1. Most Memorable Moment: Holding my nephew, Mark Grayson, for the first time. My brother Brian and his wife Jenni had a beautiful baby boy in May. I love being an aunt! There are many other wonderful moments this cute little guy has given to our family. Like taking a bottle and then a nap on Jenni's lap in the stadium during Ole Miss games. Or smiling his big smile and laughing when his daddy says "Go Rebels!" He's a doll!

#2. Biggest Discovery: My love of kayaking. And I love that Chip and I enjoy doing it together.

#3. Biggest Mistake: Wow - this is tough. I make so many mistakes daily, that it is hard to pick just one! I'll pick something easy - we dicked around and never had our friends over for a cookout and pool party. Now that was a mistake!

#4. Biggest Accomplishment: Backpacking with Chip. I've been wanting to take Chip backpacking for the longest time. This year, I actually convinced him to do it, and we had an amazing time.

#5. Best Movie: I didn't see many movies in 2009 that I thought were great. My favorite was probably 500 Days of Summer or The Hangover. I obviously need some better movie recommendations!

#6. Best Song: ummmm... Don't laugh. BEST I EVER HAD by Drake. I freaking love that song and listen to it over and over. Some of my other favorites of 2009?

This Tornado Loves You by Neko Case.

Oh No by Andrew Bird. I saw Andrew Bird live at The Lyric in Oxford in March and it was phenomenal. He is such a fantastic musician!

Laughing with a Mouth of Blood by St Vincent... I love her voice, the strings, and the trippy sound of this song! I saw her on Austin City Limits. She's just amazing. We actually had a chance to see her play in London when we were there in 2007, but after a day of sightseeing, we were too tired to catch the train to the venue in East London. I really regret that now.

#7. Best Meal: This one is easy. The French Laundry was hands down the best meal of 2009 and the decade and probably the next decade. It is hard to believe that we actually ate there. The salmon coronets were divine. And I'll never forget how melt-in-my-mouth delicious the confit veal heart was, and I never knew I would even eat veal heart.

#8. Best Book: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. A beautiful love story set in my favorite place in the world - the Appalachian Mountains. I can't believe it took me so long to discover this book.

#9. What Made Me Laugh: Mark Grayson, of course! He is so cute and funny.

+1 for 2010... My Biggest Wish for 2010... is that I put more effort into making friends in the Jackson area.

Happy New Year, everyone! We're off to Dallas in the morning for the Cotton Bowl and some Tex-Mex. Go Rebels!

Merry Christmas

The weather outside is frightful! Heavy rains, strong winds, and a tornado watch. I love Christmas Eve. I got out of work early and started on my Christmas baking. I'm going to take a walk, then will get ready to head over to my brother-in-law's house for dinner and champagne.


Some scenes from my house this Christmas Eve.


The stockings are hung.

The tree is all lit up and topped with a pretty new angel.



I set out the gifts that I will be taking to Vicksburg tonight.

And I set out some homemade cookies for Santa Claus. Today I made Chocolate-Almond Macroons and Caramel Pretzel cookies.



Walle is dressed and ready for Santa to come.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Shopping

I love giving handmade and handcrafted gifts for Christmas. I have made a few of the gifts myself - mostly cross stitches - but I'm really not that talented when it comes to crafting. For the past few years, Chip and I have gone to the Chimneyville Crafts Festival in Jackson to purchase a majority the Christmas gifts for our families. Hundreds of artisans have their pottery, jewelry, stained glass, woodwork, quilts, knitting, and crocheting for sale.

The past two years, I've gotten my brother's wife a piece of Lil McKH jewelry. I love Lil's stuff, and my sister-in-law likes it, too. We've gotten jewelry for Chip's mom, stained glass crosses, and wooden spoons from some of my cousins.

I've been obsessed with McCartys Pottery Delta Bells and Mushrooms Chimes for a few years now, and I'd been dying to go to McCartys Pottery in Merigold to buy some of these handmade beauties. My friend Leah was up for a road trip to the Delta to visit McCartys and Peters Pottery, so we headed up there the weekend of December 5th.

We had lunch on Saturday at McCartys in their cute-as-a-button restaurant. The tables are set with McCartys Pottery and all the food was served in their pottery also.

Leah sitting down for lunch at McCartys Restaurant

We headed to McCartys then Peters after lunch. I loved McCartys gallery! It is tiny, but they display their pieces so beautifully. At McCartys I bought Mushroom Chimes for two of my sisters-in-law and a gorgeous bowl for Chip's mom. At Peters, I bought a sugar bowl and creamer and a tiny little kitten for myself.

On Saturday night, we stayed in the Pinetop shack at the Shack Up Inn. It was so much fun! The shack had central heat and air conditioning, but with its wood walls and floors and shabby furnishings, it still felt like an old shack.




Outside our shack... Pinetop Perkins.
Some photos from the grounds.

It was a wonderful trip, and I really can't wait to go back because now I need some Delta Bells for myself!

Chance of Snow

Snowy Skies. It is a cold, wintery day here in Central Mississippi. It is only 43F out there now, and the weather forecast says we could get snow showers this afternoon and evening. The cold weather seems to have come upon us all at once. I still have blooming shrubs and perennials all over the garden.

The leaf situation in the back yard is getting serious. Something needs to be done about this, but I don't know what because I am meeting Leah in the Delta tomorrow morning to go Christmas shopping at McCartys Pottery in Merigold, Mississippi.

We plan to go to Peter's Pottery, too, which is just down the road in Mound Bayou. After all of these fun outings, we will have dinner at Madidi in Clarksdale, some drinks at Ground Zero Blues Club, and will shack up for the night at the Shack Up Inn.

Madidi and Ground Zero are both Morgan Freeman's. Who knows if he'll be there, but if he is, I plan on getting my photo taken with him. As for the Shack Up Inn, I am a bit nervous about staying in a shack when it is supposed to be around 28F. I am bringing flannel pajamas and my 20F sleeping bag. And plenty of hot chocolate and Malibu coconut rum, too! A friend turned my on to that concoction on a camping trip in the Smokies. You really must try it!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Let the holiday shopping begin!

Christmas Eve

We hosted Christmas Even dinner at our house this year. For dinner I wanted to do a yummy, hot appetizer and then big pot of something hot and steamy.

For our appetizer I chose the Warm Piquillo and Crab Dip that Food and Wine listed in their "Best Fast Recipes Ever" issue earlier this year. I had actually clipped this recipe years ago when it was first published in F&W, but I'd never made it because good crab meat (and piquillo peppers for that matter) is so rarely avaliable here in Mississippi. Well, I found some good quality crab meat at the new Kroger and gave this recipe a shot. Unfortunately, I didn't think it was that great. Certainly not good enough to make a "Best Ever" list. It was just bland to me. I might give it one more try and add some salt or more lemon juice.





For our main course I decided to try to make Hoppin' John Martin Taylor's Easy Shrimp Gumbo from his book The New Southern Cook. I know Ina and Martha always say never to try out a new dish on company, but I did it anyway. Hey, my guests were family, and I figured that as long as I got the roux right, it would be pretty hard to screw up shrimp, okra, sausage, and rice. I made a baked roux (as Hoppin' John suggested), and it was really pretty easy. The homemade seafood stock smelled heavenly as it simmered. The only change I made to this recipe was to add a few pounds of turkey sausage. The gumbo turned out fabulous! I highly recommend Hoppin' John's recipe (scroll down about 3/4 to bottom to find it). I'm not sure if I would call it "easy", but then again I'd never made gumbo before. It was certainly time consuming (peeling shrimp, stirring the roux, chopping the veggies, etc) but worth it in the end.

Of course it wouldn't be Christmas Eve without a little bubbly. Somehow we managed to drink three regular bottles and a magnum. Oh! And a bottle of white wine. We were on cloud nine when this photo was taken:
Quite a Merry Christmas!

Welcome to the New Year... 2009

Hard to believe it is 2009! First off, the Cotton Bowl was so much fun! Chip and I met my brother, Brian, and his wife, Jenni, and two of their friends in Dallas on New Years' Day. We went to the New Years' Day parade and then to the Ole Miss pep rally. I was really disappointed with the pep rally. Not a single player or coach gave a pep talk or anything. The band played straight through the pep songs, and that part was exciting, but I think everyone there was hoping for a little bit more.

We went to bed early on Thursday night so we could rest up for the big game. We stayed at the Adolphus Hotel, and I thought it was wonderful. Big, clean rooms, great service, and they had a delicious breakfast buffet on Friday and Saturday morning.

We took a city bus from the Pearl Street station to the Cotton Bowl. The lines were long, but moved quickly and we were at Fair Park by 11:15 AM. Fair Park and the Cotton Bowl stadium have such a traditional football feel. And if you know the Ole Miss Rebels, you know we are all about football traditions. I wish I had gotten a few more photos of the sights: the swan paddle boats, the huge Texas ferris wheel, the sky trams. All of this just added to the hype of the big game.

Jenni took our photo in front of the Cotton Bowl stadium. The Cotton Bowl game is moving to the Dallas Cowboys' big new stadium in Arlington next year. I'm sure it will be nice, but it certainly won't feel like this stadium did.

Our crew: Jenni, Lindsey, Jeremy, and Brian.

The Rebels charge the field in style!

Touchdown!! We could hardly sit down. This game was just too exciting.

Rebels celebrate their Cotton Bowl win! I wish I would have gotten a photo or video of #5 Melvin Harris do his backflip at centerfield. He is a 6' 6" freshman, and after the Egg Bowl he literally did a backflip from standing. We saw it and went wild. I hear he did it at this game too, but I totally missed it. If anyone finds a photo or video of this on youtube, please send it to me!

We got a photo from Cotton Bowl stadium overlooking the downtown Dallas skyline.

Brian and Jenni headed back to Mississippi with Jeremy and Lindsey after the game. Chip and I went to Craft. Craft is Tom Colicchio's restaurant (of Top Chef on Bravo). I wanted to dislike it, because I've never really liked him on the show, but the food was really good. All of the apps, salads, and sides were delicious.

On Saturday night, Chip and I went on a quest for awesome Tex-Mex food. At Monica's Aca y Alla, I'm not sure if we found the best food, but we certainly found the best atmosphere. Don't get me wrong - the food was fantastic. I had chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce (my favorite). But the very best thing about Monica's was the Latin Jazz band that began playing around 8:00 PM. I got a great photo of this place in action. The guitar player started a conga line, and at the end of the line one of the waiters poured a tequila shot in each participant's mouth. Now, that is a party!

O Christmas Tree

Our Christmas Tree stands in the dining room. I like placing the tree in a front window and incorporating it into the outdoor decorations. I've done this for a few years, and I love the way it looks. I finally got around to taking some photos of the dining room. I love our tree this year! I think it is our best yet. It's a Leyland cypress - not at all a traditional tree. The shape isn't the best, and there are some holes in it. And it is kinda crooked at the top and wide at the bottom. But, the very best thing about this tree is that we cut it at Kazery Tree Farm less than 10 miles from the house! It was a great little tree farm. Mr. Kazery helped us pick out the perfect tree, and his son loaded it on the truck.

I forgot to put gloves on when I wrapped the lights around the tree, so the needles really tore up my arms. But this year, I remembered to put the gold ribbon on! It's got to go on the tree before the ornaments, and I've forgotten it two years in a row. I really wanted this recycled oil drum angel for the top of the tree, but Viva Terra is all sold out now! Boo... Oh well, the ribbon will do. After we were all done with decorating, Chip said, "Wow. Everything is red, white, and gold, and we didn't even plan it like that!" I just had to laugh, because of course I planned for that! I mean don't most of you ladies come up with "tree theme" or at least a color scheme? These things don't just happen.

And what about the tree skirt and table runner!? Both are from Wisteria. Wool felt and embroidery. I love them! Christmas decorations are so fun.

We're off to one of our family Christmases today. I made Ina Garten's Macaroni and Cheese, and it looks fabulous. Can't wait to dig in. Happy Holidays!

Winter Veggies

Right before Halloween I planted some veggie seedlings in my garden. This year is the first that I've tried to do any kind of fall and winter gardening. The low temeratures have stayed in the low 30s to upper 20s - not too bad. I've been covering the veggies with a couple of old, flannel bed sheets at night to keep the frost off of them. I probably got these seedlings in the ground a little late (story of my life). Combine that with the limited sun I get in this garden spot, and so far they are growing really slowly. I do have a few baby veggies to be proud of.


tiny Broccoli . . .
quarter-sized Cauliflower . . .

Leeks . . .
Swiss Chard . . .

and (my favorite) Fennel . . .

I think I'm supposed to mound soil at the base of the leeks so that the bottoms turn white. I probably need to do that today. The plants could probably use a dose of (organic) fertilizer. I need to get on that, too.

The weather is supposed to be nice this week - getting up to 70 on Tuesday. So far the cooler weather has been perfect. Just when we've thought it's been too cold for too long, the weather warms up and gives us a break. And we've had rainy days often enough that I haven't had to water much. Wonderful!

Today I am heading to the Mississippi Trade Mart for the Chimeyvillle Crafts Festival. I've been looking forward this for weeks now. Mississippi craftsmen and women have their works for sale, and I plan to get a good bit of my Christmas shopping done. For a few years now, Chip and I have gone to the Mississippi Crafts Center to purchase Christmas gifts for our families and friends. We've been able to find lovely gifts there: mugs and pottery made from Mississippi Delta clay for Chip's mom and stepdad, hand-crafted earrings for my best friend and my aunts. I've got a list of things I'm looking for, but I'm excited about being inspired by these artists' handmade things. And what gift could be better than one made right here in Mississippi by our local craftsmen? If you are in the area this weekend, check it out!