Recipes

July 5, 2017, posted by Gina – It’s BBQ season and with that all types of baked bean recipes come to mind. Over the years my taste buds have changed a bit. While I used to love baked beans with lots of mustard and ketchup and a little brown sugar baked in, I now have a new favorite and it’s a savory cannellini bean recipe.

My family loves these and they truly are a perfect, healthy addition to any meal. The starch in the beans combined with the other ingredients makes for a bit of a saucy, brothy texture adding to the great taste.

I served these with BBQ chicken and my family and I decided that that the savory taste was a great compliment to the sweet BBQ. Give these a try! They are easy, healthy and delicious.

June 28, 2017, posted by Gina – Over the years I have tried several recipes for French Potato Salad. I created this one using certain ingredients from a few other versions. I absolutely love it because the flavors are so wonderful and it does not contain mayonnaise. Don’t get me wrong, I love mayonnaise but this recipe takes away some calorie worries as well as concerns about serving it outdoors. Since the 4th of July is right around the corner, I thought this recipe would be timely. You should give this a try and if you do, make sure to tell us how you like it.

Start with a 3-pound bag of red new potatoes and a vegetable scrubber. Clean the potatoes.

Place the potatoes in a pan of water and bring to a boil. Boil for about 25 minutes or until tender. Don’t boil them too long or the potatoes will turn to mush. Turn them into a colander and place on a cutting board.

Once cooked, cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces. Return the potatoes to the pan and toss with the cooking wine and beef broth. Let them sit for a few minutes allowing the potatoes to soak the wine and broth in and to cool off.

Make the dressing by whisking the remainder of the ingredients together.

Pour the dressing over the potatoes and toss.

Place the potatoes in a serving dish and top with fresh basil or whatever fresh herbs you have on hand. Enjoy!

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June 27, 2017, posted by Gina – I wrote a post detailing the tablescape I pulled together for our 4th of July gathering and shared the menu. But here, you’ll see all the recipes (or links) for each dish. The blue and white Spode cup on each place setting that you see above will be the recipient of the first dish…delicious Watermelon with Balsamic and Feta.

Tequila Lime Chicken from Ina Garten

Fresh Corn on the cob, cooked and served with butter, salt and pepper.

I have been making Balsamic Roasted Potatoes for years. I no longer need a recipe but wanted to give credit to whoever created this delicious dish. I thought it was Giada but I could not find anything. Then I thought it was Ina and again, I could not find anything. So here goes the recipe straight from my memory and I give thanks to whoever shared it with me.

June 5, 2017, posted by Gina – We’re taking a little break this week from our regular manners and moods posts to share a few simple recipes. This meatloaf is one of Mr. GDFC’s favorite meals. If you are rolling your eyes over meatloaf, you might want to give this recipe a chance; I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Chicken Salad…as pretty as a centerpiece. This is the same chicken salad recipe that we posted HERE but this presentation is quite different. We took our favorite chicken salad recipe and tripled it for a large crowd. We topped it with a bit of fresh parsley and radish rosettes to give it a little color. Serve alongside crackers or fresh French bread.

Well, if these aren’t just the prettiest thing! We found this recipe for Buttered Rosemary Rolls in The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. We followed her infamous step by step instructions in the link above and were mighty proud of these when they popped out of the oven. It kind of makes you look like a real chef. Thanks, REE!

May 23 2017, posted by Gina – The colors in this salad are so pretty you could almost skip having a centerpiece on the table. The best part is that this is one of our all-time favorite salads. Easy and healthy!

May 6, 2017, posted by Gina – This is the third in a series of posts about a recent garden party luncheon I hosted. Earlier this week, I took you on a tour of the garden and the patio where my guests enjoyed an appetizer and champagne bar. I also posted a tutorial showing how to make the rose pavé centerpiece for the main table. Today, I’m sharing the menu for the luncheon with you and a recipe for Salmon and Vegetable Smorgasbord.

You may recall I am in a cookbook club with 11 other members and it was my turn, and my pleasure, to host. We meet monthly and the hostess plans the menu and prepares the main course. We are currently cooking our way through the Junior League of Jackson Cookbooks, Southern Sideboards and Come On In. If you don’t have these cookbooks, I can’t recommend them enough to you. Our menu for this luncheon was:

Savory Pimento Cheese Finger Sandwiches
Onion Sandwiches
Dill Stuffed Eggs
Salmon and Vegetable Smorgasbord
French Potato Salad
Glazed Crackers
Chocolate Paté

Savory Pimento Cheese finger sandwiches (left) and Onion Sandwiches (right)

Dill Stuffed Eggs

Salmon & Vegetable Smorgasbord

Notes:  I used smoked paprika; I used Pepperidge Farm pumpernickel and sliced in half; I substituted very pretty dark organic kale for the lettuce

French Potato Salad and Glazed Crackers

Chocolate Paté

March 16, 2017, posted by Gina – Let’s have a little fun this St. Patricks day and make a memorable meal.

Here’s our menu:
Potato Bar  – Baked potatoes with lots of toppings to choose from; shredded cheese, butter, sour cream, bacon, green onions… the possibilities are endless.
Green Salad
Irish Dessert Bars

For the Baked Potatoes:
Preheat oven to 450°. Scrub potatoes until clean. Place them on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. If you like a steamed texture, you can wrap your potatoes in foil but we prefer them without foil. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Test to see if they are fork tender. Top with all types of goodness.

Green Salad

We thought we would share one of our favorite basic green salads. We avoid buying bagged lettuce since fresh lettuce tastes so much better. There are a few exceptions, like a nice bagged Spring Mix, Spinach or Arugula. But our go-to salad is iceberg and green leaf combined with tomatoes, green or red onions and croutons. Simple and good. Lately, we are loving the Olive Garden salad dressing that you can now purchase in the store. It is delicious and you should give it a try.

And for dessert…

February 13, 2017, posted by Gina – I had the pleasure of attending my Cookbook Club luncheon the week before last. Our hostess chose a Mardi Gras theme and we all enjoyed the décor as well as the food.

Each table was adorned with floral arrangements in the Mardi Gras colors of green, purple and gold. The sparkling tri-colored table runners enhanced the arrangements and the place settings, which incorporated McCarty pottery and copper placemats, worked beautifully.

One of the ladies was charged with making Bloody Marys and our hostess provided an assortment of garnishes for this libation.

We began our time together with a wonderful Zucchini Cheese Spread. Then we served ourselves buffet style beginning with a delicious salad. The main course included Marinated Tomatoes, Grilled Asparagus and Crawfish Quiche. To top the day off we enjoyed a King Cake and a Bourbon Chocolate Tipsy Cake.

We want to share three delicious recipes from this luncheon with you: Grilled Asparagus, Crawfish Quiche and the Very Special Tossed Salad.