Boots McBlog

We southerners tend to make a grand spectacle of our holiday dinners. Give us a chance to make a meal cheesier, more buttery, or bigger and we’ll take it.   The centerpiece of most menus below the Mason -Dixon this Christmas will include some type of sugar glazed ham – a BIG ham.   A ham so big that once the holiday china is cleared and that perfect wrapping paper you painstakingly chose to match your tree is ripped to shreds,  the one thing of Christmas that remains is that ham.    Now The Angler will tell you that one of the things he likes most about the holiday eating frenzy is his Dec 26th ham sandwich.   I’ll confess,  I’m not a big fan of leftovers.  I’m learning to be more creative and resourceful.  This is one of those recipes that makes me revel in the luxury of leftovers.  I encourage you as your make your last run to the grocery prior to sitting down for your celebratory meal,  add a few of these ingredients to have on hand next weekend. If Christmas brings out the kid is us,  this recipe will make you glad you’re a grown up.

Grown Up Ham & Cheese Paninis

4 slices of ciabatta bread, medium slices  ( preferably, use fresh baked bread of your choice from your  local or grocer’s bakery)

6 oz of sliced sugar glazed ham  (I often make this with deli ham to make it a year round treat)

2 oz  ripe Brie  ( I buy an 8 oz wheel and slice into 1 oz portions.  Spreadble brie could also be used)

2 Tbsp Apricot Preserves ( substituting with orange marmalade is also yummy!   I’ll have apricot preserves on hand leftover from those jam cookies)

Baby Spinach Leaves

Heat your panini grill to medium high heat.  (if you do not have a panini maker,  you can use your old counter-top grill.  You know the one – it may be named after a boxer. If you want to use your cooktop – grab a brick and wrap it in foil.  Heat your skillet over medium heat.  We’ll get back to the brick in a minute)

While the heat is rising,  spread one slice of bread with 1 Tablespoon of preserves.  Layer the cheese on top of this.  Followed by the baby spinach leaves then with ham slices. Top with slice of bread.   Repeat to build second sandwich.

Place sandwiches ham side down on your panini maker. ( If you are using the cooktop method,  put the sandwiches in your skillet,  pull out that aluminum foil wrapped brick and place it on top of the sandwiches to act as a press.  You want the all these yummy flavors to melt and squish together)

Cook for 5-7 minutes.  Remove from grill.  (makes 2 sandwiches)

Cheers, Y’all!

There weren’t cute and clever invitations.  There wasn’t a guest list.  There weren’t even reservations to my favorite restaurant.  It was a simple celebration..at the McCottage.  It was perfect.

The Angler arrived home last night with an armload of pink and white flowers wrapped in paper and tied with a blush bow.  As he handed off the blooms he explained how he had stood in the florist’s cooler handpicking each posey.  Roses -which, of course,  he knows this belle loves  ( We only had 1500 of them at our wedding) and white flowers which he choose for fragrance.   I smiled.  He does pay attention to my domestic ramblings sometimes.

He also brought home a catered meal.  Start to finish. An appetizer of cheese and crackers,  a delicious strawberry goat cheese salad, Chicken Florentine with a bechamel sauce, twice baked potatoes and green beans almondine. (Again, he picked them all himself!  The boy can plan a menu.)

Our dinner was interrupted by a call from his brother – I suspect this was perfectly timed.  By the time he returned to the candlelit dining room.  (Yes, The Angler  had set the table with our china and candles), he told me he had drawn a bubble bath – again candlelit. (This girls, is why you keep three dozen glass votive holders and a mass of tea lights at you disposal.  One day – the mister will finally realize he can use them, too)   Pink Martini  softly playing in the background. He told me to enjoy the bath…alone.  Ahhhhh!   I did.

After the bath he poured the perfectly chilled Veuve Cliquot into our Waterford Millennium Prosperity flutes -which I completely forgot that we owned. What a surprise to see those beauties again.     And then of course the piece de resistance…a pink cupcake.

Everything I adore was wrapped into one evening.  I had the flowers, the meal, the cupcake, the music, the bubbly, the hot bath, and mostly my guy.

Thank you, sweetie,  for a wonderful birthday.

Birthdays have always been a big deal in my family.  Thanks to my sweet mom.   Tomorrow – December 18th is my day.  Growing up with a December birthday meant school dismissed for holiday right before my day, so I never once got to take cupcakes to school and share them with my classmates.   I always got the group sing-song of the birthday tune which I  shared with the rest of the folks who would celebrate their day somewhere between Dec 15 and Jan 5. ” Happy Birthday to You.  Happy Birthday to you.  Happy Birthday dear Marc, Shane, Heather, and JoBeth.  Happy Birthday to you”   Not to mention, all of us were out shone by another BIG birthday occurring this time of year. Thankfully, my mom saw to it that she always gave my special day panache.   Even if my entire class didn’t get to see me blow out the candles, she created birthday events that were something the other kiddos wouldn’t want to miss….even during holiday break.

I had the best birthday parties.  And this was before birthday parties were the productions they are today.   When I turned 5,  she sent out invitations shaped like teapots and requested that all the attendees dress like their very chic, fashionable mothers.   I’m pretty sure she got the idea because I had a skirt of hers that I insisted on wearing all. the. time.   It was black with a green ivy print.   I would pull the skirt up under my arms and fashion it into a strapless dress.  I would cinch it with a gold belt.  I would remove  the proper barrette from my hair and let my waist long locks wildly cascade down. I considered this my “Jane” look …as in Tarzan and Jane. My dog Misty was Cheetah.  ( I was a pretty intense 5 year old)  When birthday party day arrived. I wore the skirt – but she made me wear the matching top and put my hair in a bun.  I had to be a young lady for the tea party.  Jane was not invited.   We held a fashion show.  Each girl dressed in her mother’s ‘best” sashayed down the catwalk (our long narrow coffee table).  My mom took pictures of each girl.  After the party she had them framed and gave them as party favors.  I grew up spending the night with a friend who kept that picture on her bookshelf until we left for college.

In 3rd grade,  we hosted a Valley Girl party.   It was totally tubular!  I mean, like , I’m so sure if you weren’t there you were so totally not rad.  I wore a red sweatshirt with the neck line cut out of it  - a la Jennifer Beale.   We played a game where we had to stand straight up, drop spoons from chest level into a large pickle jar painted with red lips on it. The game was called….oh yeah ….wait for it…..”Gag me with a spoon”  Mom was clever.

My thirteenth birthday was captured on film in a Polaroid scavenger hunt party.  One of our assignments was to get a picture of our favorite junior high football player with his jersey.  While my mom and her friends were shuttling us around town for our winning shots. There was another mom who suddenly had 15 girls clamoring on her house one quiet Saturday afternoon to get pictures of her son.   We apparently all had the same favorite player.  (Hi Jim!)

As I’ve grown up,  I’ve carried on the birthday party tradition. Some years it’s over the top. This year,  I’m keeping it simple.   My dearest friend from childhood is flying in from Dallas for the day. She’ll meet another dear friend of mine here in Little Rock.  The three of us will lunch.  There’s some Vueve Cliquot chilling in the refrigerator that the Angler brought home tonight.  I have no idea what is up his sleeve.   We’ll have to wait and see.

As for mom, she’s already mailed me the  birthday card I can’t read without boo-hooing.  And I’m expecting an early morning phone call.   She’ll start by singing “Happy Birthday to You” off key – but that’s ok.    Then she’ll tell me she remembers it well the day I was born.  She was up at midnight making cookies for my brother’s 1st grade Christmas party.  (Does this start to explain some things about me?)  I was born a mere 4 hours later  at 4:35 a.m.   I’ll joke that it was the only time I’ve ever been a morning person.  Then she’ll sing “you are my sunshine” – off key.  She’ll tell me she wishes she could hug my neck.    I’ll tell her I’ll be home soon to hug hers.  She’ll also remind me of the cute yellow coat she bought me as a gift.

After I hang up the phone with my mother,  I’ll put on my yellow coat and get ready to face a brand new year.  I’ll head to the airport to pick up my friend. I’ll splurge at lunch and get dessert.  And if they so happen to put a candle on my raspberry pie – I’ll make a wish.  I’ll wish that all of us have a year filled with joy and panache.

Cheers, Y’all!

In a season of miracles, some things still never cease to amaze me.  I recently had the honor and privilege to contribute to Little Rock Soiree Magazine‘s December 2009 issue.  It’s a beautiful publication that does a great job of highlighting those in our community who are working to make a difference  in the areas of  philanthropy, non profit and the arts.  I was asked to write about  ”A Day in the Life in Little Rock.”  I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity, and was richly blessed by the process. (Please read it, and you’ll see why.) My deepest gratitude to Editor Becki Moore and Assistant Editor Amanda Morgan for taking a leap of faith that I could actually stay within the 500 word count limit.  (I submitted 850.  They kindly gave me 700).

If you have yet to pick up your issue,  they are on newstands in Little Rock, you can purchase a subscription here: www.littlerocksoiree.com , or you can peruse it online here:

http://www.pageturnpro.com/Arkansas-Business-Group/9809-Soiree-December-2009/index.html

Christmas baking has commenced…which means the only thing getting a good workout at the McCottage right now is my Kitchen Aid Mixer.  As we get to know each other, I should warn you  I have had a tendency to be a wee bit over the top.  I’m getting better about this.  For example,  in Christmas pasts my contribution to company potlucks (mine and my husband’s)  were homemade Buche de Noels replete with little meringue mushrooms or gift box cakes with butter creme frosting made with pounds of butter (gasp!) and draped in red ribbons made of sugared fruit roll-ups.  They were gorgeous!  They were delicious!  And I think they cost me some friendships.  At the very least, The Angler (aka my curly haired husband) suffered some serious ridicule at work.   Bless his heart!  He was in a jam. His young bride slaving away for hours in the kitchen, beaming with pride at her latest culinary creation, followed by the seasonal offering… “Sweetheart, you can take this to your office”.  As the good husband,  he always took it.  I can’t even begin to imagine the jokes that ensued when he brought a cake shaped like a log to an office dominated by men.  (Ren and Stimpy’s Log Song comes to mind)  Still he reported back the glowing praises of his colleagues.

Thankfully time calms us  – or maybe it is that I no longer have the time nor energy to create such holiday masterpieces. The recipes are easier this year which allows me to embrace the joy this season has to offer.   Nothing is better than hugging a friend’s neck when I deliver the sweet treats to their door.  So, this year’s simplified Christmas 2009 baking list includes:

My famous “secret-ingredient- I-may-someday-tell-you-what-it-is” Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mocha Bundt Cakes ( recipe via Junior League of Little Rock’s BIG TASTE OF LITTLE ROCK cookbook)

Ina Garten’s recipe for Jam Thumb Print Cookies.*

The thumbprint cookies are the one thing this year that err on my historical pattern of culinary pretension.   I blame the jam jars.  I mean – just looking at them makes me smile.   But they are still JUST cookies – and not so difficult to make.   This morning, I offered to plate a few of these delicious jam covered morsels and let the Angler share them at this year’s company potluck.   He looked at me.  I knew that look.  It’s that same look I gave my mom when she wanted me to wear the pink bow in my hair when I was twelve and I felt way too old for bows.    He smiled and said,  ” They are a little sissy.  I think I’ll stop and pick up doughnuts.”  Despite the fact I just launched a culinary / photography/ lifestyle blog yesterday,  I let him. More jam for my cookies and less of putting him in one.   I guess it’s the joy of the season taking hold.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

recipe courtesy Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2002

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature  (BUTTER – not the fake stuff)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (PURE – the best you can find)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
• 7 ounces of sweetened flaked coconut (don’t worry it’s not that coconutty)
• Raspberry and or apricot jam  ( blackberry jam would be scrumptious, too)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla.  Separately, sift the four and salt.  ( yes, sift the flour.  don’t skip this step.  It incorporates the right amount of air and allows the salt to distribute more evenly) With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar.  Mix until the dough starts to come together.  Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk.  Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1 1/4 inch balls.  (Ina suggests a scale to weigh each at 1 ounce.  I use a one ounce cookie dough/ ice cream scoop) Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in the coconut.   Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indention into the top of each with your thumb. (Get it THUMBPRINT cookies) Drip 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown.  Cool and serve.

Cheers!