Tuesday, March 24, 2015

DON'T BRING A THING........Just Your Appetite!!

How often do you invite people over for dinner
and the first thing they normally ask is....
"What can I bring".....
If your a cook like me you will usually have a menu all
Planned from soup to nuts...
And you really don't need something that might not
Go with what your cooking...

Of Course
The one exception would be Cook Outs....and
Southern BBQ's....
Who wouldn't  always welcome some one's special
Potato Salad....Cole Slaw or
Baked Beans....
or even a simple dessert....
I find that people... when told
"Don't bring a thing....just your appetite"
come with long time favorites
Flowers.....Or
Candy....

But....
then you will hear "Don't bring flowers as a Hostess
Gift"....
The Hostess has to stop what she's doing to put the
Flowers in water and it seems nobody likes to do that...
I'm the exception as I love any kind of flowers and
would welcome them with open arms...
Candy is another iffy item with everyone
seeming to be dieting these days....
So when I invited neighbors over for Sunday
Dinner this past weekend....I was very impressed
by what came along with the company....
Such a clever idea I never would have thought of...
So I'm sharing it with you and hope you'll surprise
someone with this very thoughtful
new take on the ultimate
Hostess Gift.... 
The Next Days Breakfast.....
Yes you read that right....
I was "gifted" with breakfast for
Monday Morning....
Six wonderful little
Italian Frittatas all baked and ready
with Instructions to be re-heated for the next morning..
How did she know that although I love to
Cook....
I hate to cook breakfast food....
Too many dirty pots and pans to clean...
Absolutely wonderful....
Heated in my trusty little Cuisinart
Toaster oven for 15 minutes...
and served with Campari Tomatoes....

The perfect hostess gift....
A break from cooking...
And think about how someone who doesn't
Like to Cook will appreciate this!
Forget the flowers....wine....or candy
Next Time....and Turn to
INA!!
Recipe can be found in her latest book
Or right here!
Bon Appetit and your friends will love you
for it!!


Mini Italian Frittatas...

  2 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra for greasing the pan
  1 1/2 cups chopped leaks, white and light green parts
  4 ounces sliced prosciutto, coarsely chopped
  8 ounces fresh baby spinach
  2 1/2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves
  1 1/2 cups grated fontina cheese
  8 extra large eggs
  1 1/2 cups half-and-half
  salt and pepper
  4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush a standard 12-cup muffin tin with olive oil, including the top of the pan.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the leeks and saute for 3 minutes, until tender. Add the prosciutto and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, breaking it up with a fork. Add the spinach, tossing with tongs, then cover the pan and cook for 3 minutes, tossing once while it cooks, until the spinach is all wilted. Remove from heat and stir in the basil and lemon juice and set aside while you put together the egg mixture.

In a bowl, beat the eggs, half-and-half, salt, and pepper together until blended. Divide the spinach mixture evenly among the 12 muffin cups, leaving an liquid behind. Sprinkle the fontina evenly on top. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the filling in each cup, filling the muffin cups to the top. Sprinkle each frittata with the Parmesan cheese.

Bake the frittatas for 20-25 minutes, until puffed and lightly browned on top. If you insert a toothpick in the middle, 
they should feel firm. Cool for 5 minutes, remove with a sharp knife, and serve hot or warm.
Frittatas can be re-heated the next day in a 350 degree oven or toaster oven for 15 minutes.



Friday, March 20, 2015

THE "HOT MESS EXPRESS".......the girls do Asheville.


It was at our last get together that someone
in the group mentioned a "road trip" to see the
"Dressing Downton" exhibit at the
Biltmore Estate in Asheville N.C.
It didn't take but about 3 minutes for us all to agree this
was something we needed to plan....
So with reservations made and tickets bought...and
Five easily agreeable women we were all set to take on
The Vanderbilt's!!
Calling ourselves
The "Real" Real Housewives of Atlanta"
we ended up after 2 days and I don't know how many
Miles....Rose re-named us...
"The Hot Mess Express".....
I think it had something to do with the green feather
Boa's and the little green hats...
Hey....it was St. Patrick's Day!

Here we are at our first stop of the Day....
Mary's Fall Cottage in Greenville S.C.
We decided to stop in Greenville for lunch so we could
finally all get to the infamous
Christmas Tree Shoppe
Because every Blogger has either been or has heard about
the place....

Greenville is a fabulous little town with a great
Main Street....where there are shops and tons of
places to eat and it's just plain pretty....
Here is the "head instigator" off all things
Trouble...
Joyce...of ex-blog "Flour Power".....
Our cute little waiter.....3rd day on the job....
He'll never be the same...
It was Cheri's birthday so here she is taking
off her ring....she will put it around the candle on her
cake and "Make a Wish"...
Better known as
The Two Lucys!!
We laughed for two days straight....
The Gang....
Rose...Cheri....Linda and Joyce...
The beautiful Greenville Falls....
A walk over the "Liberty Bridge"
a Cantilevered curved bridge right in
Downtown Greenville....
that rocks when you walk across it....
I stayed on one end and took pictures...
Linda looking like all she needed was a
stripper pole!!

A talented young man playing his
Guitar in the afternoon sun...
Shopping in the "Mast General Store"
I decided to find my inner
"Housewives of Beverly Hills"
persona...

Lisa Rinna....eat your heart out! 

This is for our friend "Cuisine Kathleen".....
We finally got Joyce to the CTS!
 
Not saying that the CTS sells crap....
Here is a frog lawn ornament holding a
Camera...
After some shopping....
we headed on to Asheville....
Where I promptly made a scene by having the
cooler filled with ice and water fall off of the
luggage cart all over the lobby carpet...
In my defense....Cheri was pulling the Cart
Waaaaay Too Fast....LOL
After a short rest we headed out for dinner at
Cedric's at the Biltmore....
Unfortunately this Shepard's Pie
Looked better then it tasted...
The ground lamb tasted like a jar of
Baby Food....not a good thing...
and I would hate to tell you what that little dish cost...
Another birthday dessert for
Miss Cheri...
After dinner I decided to further make an
A$$ out of myself by trying to ride
Cedric....
Mr. Vanderbilt's beloved Dog...
Linda sat on Cedric more lady like....
Next Morning!
We took the shuttle to the Estate...
We felt like we were at Downton....
We were so excited....
Beautiful and grand from the outside
we could only imagine what the inside would be like...
Joyce even wore her favorite
"Downton-esque" Hat....
And then we got the bad news...
"No Photo's Allowed"
Are you kidding me....
45 gorgeous Downton Abbey Costumes.....
And I can't take pictures....
You can't tell me I can't take a picture....
Granted it's of Rose and she's not in Costume
But it's a picture!
we snuck this while wandering through the
3rd floor hallway...
After the house tour we got back in the car
and drove around the grounds

It was very beautiful even though it's still March
It must be spectacular in the Spring and Summer...

Inside the Greenhouse....
I spotted this adorable little girl....
With her adorable little Converse
Sneakers...

The smell of the Orchids were
intoxicating...
We re-named this the
"Hot Flash House"...
It was getting time for lunch and after not being
impressed with dinner the night before we cancelled
Our High Tea reservation when we found out that it was
at the Hotel and not the Estate....so we drove in to
Downtown Asheville..... not being
overly impressed with that either.....we all opted to drive back
down to Greenville...
Where we stopped at my
Favorite place to eat...
"Grill Marks"...
The girls all agreed it was the best burger they
Have ever eaten.....
They have the best sweet potato fries with an
Orange dipping sauce....
We did a little more shopping...
We all found goodies at the
Tea and Spice Shoppe...
A stop back at the Mast General Store found
Us All bringing home their famous
Mice....and then we were on the road back to
The ATL.....
Where we all decided it was two of the best days
we have spent in a long time...
How often can you say you laughed for
48 hours straight....
and in closing...
always remember this....
Amen to that.....