thanksgiving casserole

kdavis 2 Comments
all of ze ingredientz.

all of ze ingredientz.

to all my fellow americans and thanksgiving-celebrators out there, happy turkey day!  let’s give thanks for days off from work and no alarm clocks and good food and tradition.  let’s also give thanks for the family and friends we can see today, while also keeping in our memories those who are no longer with us or cannot be with us.

clark and i came home to birmingham tuesday night, and as they always say, there truly is no place like home.  our childhood is here, our past was created here, and i will gladly return to suburbia nearly any day of the year.  it continues to amaze me that although my life is bustling with adventure and activity, i sometimes crave and cannot get enough of a bit of a slowdown, to ensure that i do not let the most cherished people and moments pass me by.

this thanksgiving is full of pajamas and tradition as always, but we tried something new with our grandmother gaga’s breakfast casserole.  my mom had uncovered this dish in her recipe box, and although it’d been years since she probably received it, there was no question that it was penned in gaga’s handwriting.

from the andrich family to you and yours, happy thanksgiving.  let’s eat!

ingredients

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

4 slices bread (cubed)

*we just used a loaf of french bread and ripped it up.  keeps you form having to dirty up a knife and cutting board.  plus, it looks cool and rustic when you rip up bread.

1 pound sausage, hot or mild

*we had some frozen, fully-cooked sausage patties that we just plopped right on top.  worked perfectly!  but, if you prefer to cook and crumble your own sausage, be my guest.

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

*i highly recommend you use at least 2 cups of cheese.  1 cup looked so wimpy, so i said, “to heck with one cup!”  it was a very good choice.

directions

cook sausage and drain.

beat eggs.

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add salt, mustard, and milk.  then get an action shot of the tori, because who doesn’t love to be photographed in their pajamas?

in a greased baking dish (a glass 9 x 13 should do you just fine), layer the bread, sausage, and cheese.  ooh, baby, that’s the stuff.

pour milk mixture over the top and refrigerate overnight.  bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 45 minutes or until set.

eat with a fork, but make sure it’s just like milo is doing here, with a side bite, or else it won’t taste the same!

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rum balls

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i’ve known my coworker mark now since 2010, and years ago i brought in rum balls per his special request.  now, these things are not my cup of tea at all, but oh goodness, he could not get enough of them!  these strong little suckers are right up his alley, and he so kindly reminded me last week that i hadn’t made them in quite some time…

say no more, mark!  i grabbed my ingredients, made a quick stop at the liquor store for the good stuff, and got to work tonight.  these rum balls are quite easy to make, but i will warn you now that they are a bit messy.  rum balls don’t roll themselves, so be prepared to get your hands dirty.  the recipe is below, along with all kinds of fun pictures.  enjoy!

ingredients

1 cup milk chocolate chocolate chips

1/2 cup white sugar

3 Tablespoons corn syrup

1/3 cup choice rum (i used captain morgan’s white rum this time, but you could just as easily use a silver rum; you could also use bourbon if that’s more your style)

2 1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers (about an 11-ounce box will do)

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

directions

if you were so fortunate to find a box of vanilla wafers already ground up, good for you!  if you were not so fortunate, crush those little guys up with a food processor.  it’ll take all of about two minutes, and opening up a brand new box of vanilla wafers is, le sigh, divine.  those things might be some of the best smelling crackers/cookies in the world.  just my opinion!

next, microwave the rum for about a minute and then add the white sugar to dissolve it.  i promise that doing so will make the mixture easier to incorporate in a minute.

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oh, and after you heat up that rum, it is going to smell strong.  just a warning.

place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and heat them in the microwave for one minute.  stir, and if necessary, return to the microwave and heat at 20-second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth.

add and blend the rum-sugar mixture and corn syrup with the silky chocolate.

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in a large bowl, stir together the crushed vanilla wafers, walnuts, and chocolate mixture until evenly distributed.

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okay, next comes the fun part.  use your hands to roll the “batter” into little balls, just a skosh smaller than a ping pong ball.  anything bigger is going to be overwhelming, take my word for it.

oh, also take my word for it that it is easiest to roll all of the balls first before we take them for a dip in the confectioner’s sugar.  and yes, your hands are going to get quite icky.  that’s why you have a little brother to take that picture for you, so no one misses any of the fun!

so, the final step is to roll each ball of chocolately-alcoholic goodness around in a bowl of confectioner’s sugar.  i use more like a 1/2 cup of sugar because i like to coat those things well.  after they’re all covered and white like winter snow, pop them in the refrigerator, cover them, and leave them for a week so that all the flavors can blend together.  once you finally do peel off that lid, the rum will be strong and taste even stronger which, if you’re anything like mark, is a glorious thing.

how to roast squash, by kelsey v

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this story is about a girl named kelsey v who needed to roast some squash for an early office thanksgiving potluck.  prizes were going out to those cooks who whipped up the best dishes, so this little chef didn’t waste any time getting her winter squash soup ready.

step one?  roast some fresh squash for the ultimate autumnal flavor.  well, seeing as how this young lady had never purchased or prepared anything larger than a four-inch yellow squash in her life, she was in for a treat.  she perused the shelves at publix, picking out a sizeable butternut and dainty acorn.

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next, all she had to do was take a sizeable knife to those sweet squashes, lop off the ends, gut ’em, and halve them up for the pan.

that oven was all hot and bothered at 350 degrees fahrenheit, welcoming the squashes cut side-down with about a fourth of an inch of water in the pan.  things were going to get steamy!

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the kitchen filled with fall scents as the squashes roasted for a solid hour.  after checking their tenderness with a knife, they were declared perfectly cooked!  they cooled for a half hour, and then came the fun part.

those skins just had to go, so a spoon had services to provide.  the insides were mercilessly scraped out and chopped up and…

…dumped into a bowl for later use!  and she was scared?  they’re just little squashes!

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where to eat!

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the new year seems just around the corner, and with our resolutions come changes, and kelseyv.com shall not be left out of the fun!  my regular readers will start seeing some improvements and new features over the next several weeks, and i want to first point out perhaps the most exciting one:  a restaurant map!  on the new restaurant wednesday page, you’ll find a map of the greater atlanta area with red stars of all the restaurants we have visited and reviewed.  it should help you find the perfect place to dine no matter where you are!

as you begin, or continue, to explore kelseyv.com, please send kind recommendations my way.  there’s always something bigger and better out there!

gypsy kitchen – atlanta, ga

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logo

some of my plans fell through this evening (which seemed to be continuing the weekend trend…), so when clark got back home from auburn, i easily persuaded him to go try gypsy kitchen in the buckhead atlanta area for dinner.  i love going out to eat with clark because he’s always up for it and is usually interested in trying a new place with me.  gypsy kitchen had opened back in mid-october, and after driving by it nearly everyday and seeing it pop up on my facebook newsfeed, it was time we see what it is all about for ourselves.

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la urbana – atlanta, ga

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urbana

***author’s note:  since our visit last fall that prompted this post, la urbana has unfortunately closed its doors.  do read on, though, to hear about how we enjoyed this local joint.

we brought nrw back this week and took it to the westside of town at la urbana, a spot that came highly recommended from my coworker batkinson.  now, i already have my favorite mexican place in town at bone garden cantina, so i was looking to be impressed.

la urbana opened in march of this year, and considering their peripheric location, i’m sure they were thrilled to have nine people come in for dinner.  their spot took over some pizza joint that used to be there a couple years back, and they’ve certainly made it their own.  the large space isn’t too crammed with tables and chairs, and i think we were all comfortable at our tables that were pushed together.

the ey crew!
#andrichheavy.
kyle, kari, me, adex, clark, gregory.
broken bow south reunion!

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soup heaven

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panera soup

okay, so maybe i’ve been on a soup kick all week, is that so awful?  i agree that it isn’t, which is why i kept on with it today when we ordered in panera bread for my client training session.  like always i went with the you pick two, selecting the thai chicken salad as one of my options.  it was when i was trying to make my other selection that there, on the order screen, was a picture of the vegetarian autumn squash soup, and my heart was aflutter.  it looked rich and savory and i just had to have it!

i brought my brown bag back to my desk and opened the lid with much anticipation.  first, the smell alone was so warming.  wisps of cinnamon and curry floated up to me, and i dove right in with my spoon.  it was thick with all that pureed squash and pumpkin, and the honey and apple juice helped sweeten it up just a skosh.  the chewy pumpkin seeds were a nice surprise with each bite, and i was glad i had ordered the bowl size instead of a cup – it was that delicious!

if you are a soup-lover like me, i highly encourage you to give this one a try the next time you find yourself hooked up to the wifi and catching up on your personal e-mails and netflix series at a panera bread.  it’s perfect for those cool fall days and will bring calming thoughts of slippers and gloves and scarves to your sweet little mind.

eos: my latest lip balm obsession

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photo cred to my big brother kyle. he's planning on quitting his consulting career to become a professional photographer. (to anyone who took that seriously, i kid!)

photo cred to my big brother kyle. he’s planning on quitting his consulting career to become a professional photographer. (to anyone who took that seriously, i kid!)

okay, by the title of this post, you might think that i have several lip balm obsessions.  i would like to say that fact really isn’t true, but considering the amounts of lip glosses and chapsticks i have scattered throughout my life (bedroom, purse, clutch, car), i might not be able to deny it.

while watching tv the other day, i saw a commercial for eos lip balm.  it wasn’t a new one, and i’d seen it plenty of times before then, but something about this recent viewing of it got me convinced that it was finally time i give it a try.  so, it was incredibly convenient that i was already making an unnecessary trip to target for other things that i probably do not need, but hey, i couldn’t resist this sweater and this top.  aren’t they just perfect for the change in seasons?  i thought so, too.

anyway, so i caved into the cute and clever marketing efforts of this company and picked up a sphere of the strawberry sorbet flavor at the checkout line.  this little ball is sweet and so precious that i couldn’t help but smile when gliding it over my lips.  it’s dainty and light with a subtle flavor, and there’s a very good chance i might never go back to anything else.  as a consumer who had no opinion but her own inkling to give it a try, i highly recommend it you.

mm, noodle soup

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i hadn’t really cooked for myself in a solid couple of weeks, so tonight i decided to take on homemade chicken noodle soup.  ah, yes, because soup is so difficult!  especially when i don’t make my own noodles and buy frozen ones…but, hey, who’s judging?  if you are, well, then, i got nothing…except this excellent recipe!  the inspiration came from the pioneer woman, but since i couldn’t find those ever so convenient egg noodles, i went with dumplings instead and married that recipe with ree’s.  the results?  my very “own” noodle soup recipe!  ah, just like that!  sometimes life is easy to us.

if you’re in the need of some ridiculously simple humor this evening, i urge you to take a read of all the photo captions.  i had a lot of time to think them up, considering this meal is a labor of love and took about two hours…and it helps that i think i am hilarious!

below are the steps i took after combining directions from the other two recipes.  enjoy!

ingredients

a whole chicken, cut-up (mine had the bones in and skin on and came in a cool griller pack from kroger)

2 whole carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground thyme

2 teaspoons parsley flakes

24 ounces mary b’s dumplings (use half the package or a little more or all of it if you love carbs like everyone in my household!)

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

mary b’s!
carrot peel graveyard.
stuff, all chopped up.
quite possibly the most uninteresting thing in the world: chicken boiling.
things are getting steamy!
look at all these little buddies (almost of varying heights).

directions

cover chicken in 4-5 quarts of water.  bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low.  simmer 30-40 minutes.

p.s.  the smell of boiled chicken is just lovely!  (please sense the sarcastic tone)

remove the chicken from the pot with a slotted spoon.  using two forks, remove and shred as much of the meat as you can.

bring the broth back to a boil and add the frozen dumpling strips (cut to your desired size) and drop into broth one at a time, stirring frequently.

return the bones to the broth, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 45 more minutes.

remove the bones with the slotted spoon.

add the carrots, celery, and chicken to the pot, along with all the spices, and simmer for 10 minutes more.

*a quick note here:  i found my soup was underseasoned, which is either due to the excessive amounts of water or not enough spices or both.  fyi.

mix the flour with a little water, stirring until smooth.  pour it into the soup, simmering for another 5 minutes or until the broth thickens a bit.

more chicken!
these chips are not an ingredient. they are, however, the suggested snack while making the soup.
seasoninnnngggssss.
shredding with forks was WAY too tedious. get your hands dirty!
chicken carcass!

we are #andrichheavy

kdavis 3 Comments

okay, folks, i know things had been quiet on the blogging front from me for the past couple of weeks, but i have good reason:  my brother kyle and kari got married last week at the first southern andrich wedding!  we had been busy bees in those days just beforehand, and when all was said and done, everything was worth the effort.

out-of-town guests started to arrive on thursday, and so began the #andrichheavy invasion.  so, what is this #andrichheavy hashtag of which we speak?  well, we had a lot of family and friends from the andrich side of things at the weekend festivities, so we coined it all as being #andrichheavy.  the words were spoken, and that was all she wrote.  every post and tweet and instagram picture were tagged with #andrichheavy, and we could not have loved it more.

andrich heavy

the rehearsal dinner was a blast at the yellow house up in roswell.  so much southern food, plenty of beer and wine, and lots of laughing as we roasted the groom and played a few ditties for the happy couple.  as i have been told, i was quite the tipsy hostess all night, and i would not have expected anything less.

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now, after months of planning and a whirlwind weekend of activity, we have a new addition to the #andrichheavy clan, miss kari.  kari and i met each other in college through the redcoat marching band.  she and kyle began dating our sophomore year, and it wasn’t before too long we all knew something really special was there.  over the years, kari has slowly inducted herself into the andrich family, counting herself lucky getting to meet them in waves rather than all at once.  i’ve been told we can be a bit to handle…

kyle and kari black and white

the october weather was cooperative and gorgeous, with crisp and untainted clarity in the air.  the wedding party looked sharp, and the guests were glamorous as well for the evening event.  you could not have asked for a more perfect setting.

me, getting emotional, again.
a beautiful bunch.
aaww.
that’s some real emotion right there.
more tears!

after a teary-eyed ceremony, the real fun began as we danced and drank the night away at the roswell mill club.  glow sticks and tunes carried us into the cool autumn night, keeping us close to a sweet event of love and laughter.

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as i drove into the office monday morning, i realized i was crashing hard, physically and emotionally.  my body was exhausted from the weekend’s events, and it seemed my heart was just as sore.  i was overjoyed to have our loved ones in a single place to celebrate such a wonderful step in life, but watching them all leave on marta trains and delta planes left a bitter taste in my mouth.  i was in a glass case of emotion for nearly four days straight, and now i’ve been ripped back into reality.  ah, such a harsh jolt!  when you feel things as fully and strongly like i do, it can all seem like a big wave sweeping down, no matter the occasion.  i guess we’ll just have to plan our next gathering soon!  who’s up next?