Refreshing, Make Ahead Meal

I love any meal that I can make ahead of time. I absolutely adore making dinner in my crock pot so when the witching hour rolls around, I am not asking myself "What am I going to make for dinner?". All this month Miss Priss has had cheerleading practice from 5:45-8:15 and it is about a 40 minute round trip ride. So, I need to have dinner made ahead and it needs to be something that requires no fuss when I get home at 8:30! I tried this recipe the other day and it was a HIGE HIT in our house. It is served cold so I was able to make it after lunch then just pull it out of the fridge when we were ready to eat!

Mediterranean Rice Salad

Ingredients:
3 cups cold rice
1 cup Zesty Italian salad dressing
salt and pepper to taste
1 pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 small cucumber, halved & sliced
1 container feta crumbles
1 lb. cooked, deveined shrimp

Toss together all ingredients in medium bowl. Cover and chill for 2 hours or more to blend flavors. Serves 4-6.

Mermother of Identical Mermaids!!! Will you pretty please send me a new invite to your blog?! Blogger tells me that my invite has expired! Thanks, girl!

My New Checks

When I saw these Gone With the Wind checks at Checks Unlimited, I just knew I had to order them. Aren't they a hoot?! I wonder what kind of looks I will get using them up here in "Yankee Land"?

Plugged In

Do you know about Plugged In Online? It is a website run by Focus on the Family whose motto is "Shining a Light on the World of Popular Entertainment" and it reviews all kinds of popular entertainment, including movies, DVD's, music, television and games. Ever wonder if that movie or television show that your child is just dying to see is appropriate? Now, all you have to do is head over to this site and find out! You can also sign up to receive their weekly newsletter via email that includes their latest reviews to aid you in making informed entertainment decisions for your family.

Designing Women, Season II

Designing Women's complete second season is now out on DVD and you can get it here.

The second season of "Designing Women" ran from September 14, 1987 through March 28, 1988. The episodes include:

"101 Ways to Decorate a Gas Station" - The Sugarbaker ladies are not too thrilled when a gas station owner wins their contest for free interior decoration.

"Ted Remarries" - Mary Jo isn't happy with Ted's new wife, who is spoiling the children.

"Anthony Jr." - Anthony receives news that he is a father.

"Killing All the Right People" - A fellow decorator is dying of AIDS and wants the ladies to design his funeral.

"Half an Air Bubble Off" - The ladies have a strange new client and decide to fix him up with Bernice.

"Dash Goff, the Writer" - Suzanne's ex wants to commit suicide because of writer's block.

"Heart Attacks" - Reece has a heart attack.

"Cruising" - The ladies go on a cruise and an admirer has eyes for both Suzanne and Mary Jo.

"I'll Be Seeing You" - Charlene dreams of WWII.

"Stranded" - On a trip to St. Louis, Charlene, Mary Jo and Julia get the flu and Suzanne and Anthony have to share a motel room.

"Howard the Date" - The ladies take pity on a nerdy high school acquaintance and live to regret it.

"I'll Be Home For Christmas" - Charlene and Anthony hire a Santa to outsmart Mary Jo's disbelieving son on Christmas Eve.

"Great Expectations" - One of Anthony's prison cellmates shows up at Sugarbaker's and wants Anthony to go into business with him.

"Second Time Around" - Charlene's boyfriend breaks up with her because he is still grieving for his first wife.

"Oh, Brother" - Lewis Grizzard plays Julia and Suzanne's half-brother, a discharged mental patient who wants to become a comedian.

"There's Some Black People Coming to Dinner" - Mary Jo's daughter wants to take an African-American boy to a school dance.

"The Return of Ray Don" - Suzanne is desperate after her accountant steals her life savings.

"High Rollers" - Suzanne, Charlene and Anthony go to Atlantic City.

"The Incredibly Elite Bona Fide Blue-Blood Beaumont Driving Club" - Julia and Suzanne are invited to join an elite club but Julia balks when she discovers that they have discriminatory practices.

"How Great Thou Art" - Julia is invited to sing at a Baptist convention and Charlene is upset with her minister because he is against women preaching.

"Ted-Bare" - The ladies are suspicious of Ted when he suddenly develops an interest in Mary Jo again.

"Reservations for Eight" - The ladies are stranded with their boyfriends on their ski trip.

Which one is your favorite? I love, love, love "Oh, Brother" because I love, love, loved Lewis Grizzard and I also love, love, love the dance scene complete with a great Charley Pride song at the end of "Reservations for Eight."

A Recipe for the Weekend--Sunday Sauce

My baby brother found this recipe like four years ago and has been dying to make it ever since. Well, last weekend while his lovely wife and daughter were out of town he had lots of time on his hands and decided the time was now! Just try to read this recipe without your mouth watering!!!

Sunday Sauce

This is a penne with meatballs and sausage, or as it's known throughout the Italian-American community, the Sunday Sauce. This version comes from musician Dean Ween, he says it is hard to make this in under 4 hours.

Prep:60m Cook:180m Servings:10

Ingredients

• 4 lbs of ground beef/veal/pork (if you’re lucky enough to have a butcher in your hometown have him grind it from cutlets, if not then buy it in the plastic packs)
• some pork chops (bone in)
• 2 lbs. of penne rigate
• 1 gigantic yellow onion
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 fresh batch of basil
• 1 batch Fresh parsley
• 1 egg
• 1 long ring of hot Italian sausage
• 4 slices of bread ( any kind of white bread)
• Milk
• pecorino/romano cheese (don’t skip on this one, buy the best cheese you can get and either grate it or spend extra for the good stuff already grated)
• extra virgin olive oil
• dry white wine
• 3 big (29 oz.) cans of tomato sauce (depending on what texture you like—I like regular, already pureed sauce for this recipe)
• 5 1/2 C. Water (you will fill the 3 tomato sauce cans up 1/2 way to get this water, will not need to measure and set aside during prep)
• 4 bottles of wine
• A loaf of fresh Italian bread, and get some butter too.

Directions

Meatball Mixture:Dice 5 of the garlic cloves and the entire yellow onion, very fine. Chop the basil, all of it. Mix together and Set these aside.
Put the beef/veal/pork/ into large bowl and add salt, pepper, a little bit of oregano, ½ cup of the cheese, and one raw egg.

Take 4 slices of the white bread and put it into a cereal bowl and fill it with milk. This is what will make your meatballs excellent.

Sautee ½ of your onion, garlic & basil mixture in 2 tblsps of oil in a big pan, slowly. I mean really slowly. If you burn the garlic right here then all is lost. Be cautious and go slow and low, medium low heat. When the onions are translucent then it’s ready, approx. 15 minutes.

When the onion/garlic/basil mix is finished sautéing, then dump it on the bowl of meat.

Squeeze out the milk bread and put the wrung-out milk bread into the meat bowl too. Squeeze the milk bread gently so it relinquishes half of the absorbed milk. Go easy.

Knead the meat mixture for 5 minutes, getting it thoroughly blended. Set aside.

The Sauce: Add another 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large spaghetti pot and sautee the rest of your onions, garlic and basil, again, slow and low. Do not burn the garlic.
When the onions are translucent, add the three cans of tomato sauce. For every can that you pour in the pot, go to the sink and fill up 1/2 the can with water and dump it in the pot, rinsing out the remaining sauce still in the can. 3 cans of tomato sauce, 1 ½ cans of water.
Now sprinkle oregano on the pot of sauce, and add a tablespoon of sugar, stir it a little, and simmer the sauce on medium low heat.
Meatballs: Brown meatballs before putting them in the sauce. Pour an inch of oil in the bottom of your pan and turn the burner to medium high. Get oil scorching hot. Shape the meatballs in your hand to whatever size you like. Add them to the scorching hot pan, try and not let them touch one another. If the oil is hot they should brown on each side quickly. We are not trying to cook them here, it’s okay if they’re still undercooked in the middle, they will be cooking in the sauce for three hours. When each side is browned, remove the meatballs to some paper towels and add the next batch to your pan. I usually have to do this 4 times, 4 batches of meatballs. When you’re done, add your browned meatballs to the sauce.

Pork Chops: You can throw a couple of (bone in) pork chops into Sunday sauce, they add a ton of flavor and they completely fall apart while cooking in the tomato sauce. Anyway, using the same oil you used for the meatballs, brown your pork chops, remove them from the pan and pat some of the oil off with a paper towel and then add them to the tomato sauce too.

Sausage: After this, cook the sausage and repeat the previous, add the sausage into the sauce.. It too helps the flavor of the sauce.

Deglazing the pan: By now the bottom of your pan is filled with little bits of meatball, pork chop, sausage, onions, etc. put the empty oily pan back onto medium high heat and pour in some wine, enough to cover the bottom and then a little more. Smoke will come billowing out and all of the pieces that were stuck to the bottom will come off. Simmer this for a couple of minutes until the alcohol cooks off, you will be able to smell this. Now pour the brownish wine gravy into your sauce and stir it in.
The hard work is now over. You are going to let your sauce simmer on low heat for the next three hours. Stir it at regular intervals to prevent it from burning on the bottom. Clean up the mess that you’ve created and get ready for the final phase. Over the next three hours your sauce is going to relinquish a lot of fat and oil, like tons of it. Try to skim 90 percent of it off. It is a constant job. Some people believe in stirring it back in for flavor. You will see what I mean. Leave some and stir it back in, but not a whole lot.

Cook your Penne pasta until it is al-dente, about 11 or 12 minutes. When it’s finished, drain it in a colander and then transfer it to a big serving plate. A large plate is better than a bowl for this.
Grab a fistful of cheese and cover the pasta with it and then toss it a little, this will help the sauce adhere to the pasta.
Now start spooning the tomato sauce over the pasta, stirring it in, covering the pasta. Don’t put too much sauce on it yet, let your guests decide how much they want, I just cover it enough to use as a starting point.
You can put some meat around the outer ring of the serving plate, but take the whole pot of sauce and meat and put that on the table too. Let people decide how much sauce they like and let them hand pick what meatballs, sausage, pork they want.
Last but not least, sprinkle the dish with parsley and a little more cheese for presentation. You made it!

Tomato Pie

I love Face Book. I love how it keeps me in touch with people from all stages of my life. we have moved--A LOT--and Face Book keeps me in touch with all my friends from all over the world. One of my Face Book friends is my fourth grade teacher, my favorite teacher of all time! When she saw on my status that I was growing my own vegetables, she sent me this recipe for Tomato Pie from Paula Deen. I made it on Sunday and it was to die for!

Tomato Pie

Serves 6
4 tomatoes peeled and sliced
8-10 fresh basil leaves (or use less if dried) chopped
1/3 c. chopped green onion
Salt & pepper to taste
2 cups grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese (combined)
1 c. mayonnaise
1--9 inch prebaked deep dish pie shell

Preheat the oven to 350. Layer tomato slices, basil, and onion in pie shell. Add salt & pepper to taste. Mix together grated cheese and mayonnaise. Spread on top of tomatoes. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Note: In the summer when the tomatoes are so juicy, I slice them and place on paper towels for several hours to get some of the juice out, and so the pie won't be runny. You can also ad bacon bits on top of the onions if you wish! If you do, go easy on the salt. I have also subbed Parmesan for the mozzarella with good results.

Halloween Decorations

I know it is a little early to start thinking about Halloween decorations but when I saw this picture in the lastest Pottery Barn catalog, I knew I had to recreate it in some way at the PG&S home! Isn't it great?! And the best part? I already have the urns, I found the leaves and the crows at the dollar store and I got the knock-off version of the lanterns this summer at my local Wal-Mart in the garden section. Now all I need is the pumpkins!!!

Yummy Cucumber Recipe

Another favorite from my garden are the cucumbers. This is my all time favorite cucumber recipe. It is so yummy and suprisingly low-cal!

DILLED CUCUMBER SALAD

2 small cucumbers, thinly sliced

1 small onion (preferably Vidalia), thinly sliced and separated into rings

½ cup white wine vinegar

3 T. sugar (I use the equivalent of Sweet/Low)

2 T. mince fresh dill (1 T. dried dill)

¼ t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

Combine vinegar and remaining ingredients; pour over cucumber and onion mixture, tossing well. Cover and marinate at least 8 hrs., stirring occasionally.

Hannah Montana Movie For Less

My girls love Hannah Montana and we really enjoyed the movie so when it came out on DVD last week of course we had to buy it. Well, imagine my joy when it got it for $9 off the asking price! How'd I do that, you ask?

I had a $5.00 off coupon from Disney Movie Rewards and a $4 Rebate from Sunmaid Raisins.

You have to sign up for Disney Rewards to get the coupon, but then you get a $5 off coupon for every new Disney release ($10 off Blu-ray) and with the Movie Rewards site you enter codes when you buy movies and voila, FREE STUFF!

For the rebate, all you have to do is buy a package of raisins. (The 6 packs are great for school lunches!)

Picnic with My Girl

I just got back from an impromptu picnic with my sweet Pinkie (Miss Priss, the pre-teen, is still asleep...). We walked over to the library and sat under a lovely shade tree and just enjoyed each other's company. Then, we went into the library to play and read books. Oh, how I love my girl and am going to miss her in a few weeks when school starts and she is gone all day.

Speaking of school and lunch, check out these cool sandwich cutters that I picked up at Wal-Mart the other day. I always cut Pinkie's sandwiches into shapes with cookie cutters but hate how a huge part of the sandwich is wasted. With these cutters, the only thing you throw away is the crust (which she won't eat anyway!). I love it!

(In case you can't tell from my picture, the blue cutter is two dolphins and a tiny heart and the pink cutter is two big hearts.) They have cute "boy" designs too. They are called Dino-Bytes and they cost $1.98 each.

Keurig Coffee Maker

We just a Keurig coffee maker and I love it! We still use our old coffee maker in the morning to brew a big pot but I usually like to have an afternoon cup of coffee and have always hated making it. Enter the Keurig, which makes a quick, perfectly brewed single cup of coffee with no clean up--what more could you ask for?

Amazon says:

Ideal for entertaining, this 1500-watt single-serve home-brewing system brews a fresh cup of gourmet coffee or tea in less than a minute. The unit uses Keurig's patented K-Cups, which offer over 70 varieties of pre-measured gourmet coffee and tea from a variety of premium brands. The brewer's patented one-touch technology ensures precise control of brewing, and there's no messy grinding or clean up. Simply open the lid, insert a K-Cup, close the lid, and select a cup size. Two brew-size options include a 7-1/4-ounce cup and a 9-1/4-ounce mug. The machine fits both regular and travel-size mugs easily, and comes with a two-hour automatic shut-off for safety. Other useful features include a descale indicator, a removable 48-ounce water reservoir, and a removable drip tray. Providing a convenient size and quiet performance, the single-cup home-brewing system measures 13-1/4 by 10 by 13 inches and carries a one-year limited warranty.

The Vicksburg Tomato Sandwich

After I posted the other day about my yummy tomato sandwich, one of my readers, Blushing Hostess, mentioned how much she loves the Vicksburg Tomato Sandwich. Well, I am quite embarrassed to admit it, but this Southern Belle had never heard of the Vicksburg Tomato Sandwich. Well, thank God for Goggle!

Here is what I found:

VICKSBURG TOMATO SANDWICHES

This recipe was printed in The New Orleans Times-Picayune. In Vicksburg, these sandwiches are considered mandatory at every party.

• 4 loaves day-old sliced bread
• 6 to 8 medium tomatoes, peeled
• Salt and pepper
• Mayonnaise, preferably homemade
• 1 grated onion with juice
• Paprika

With large (2- or 3-inch) biscuit cutter, cut bread slices into 72 rounds. Slice tomatoes thinly and place on double sheets of paper towel to drain. Salt and pepper tomatoes.

Spread mayonnaise on bread rounds. Place well-drained tomato slices on half the bread; sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon onion with juice over each tomato and top with remaining bread rounds. Sprinkle tops with paprika.

To hold until serving, place on baking sheet with waxed paper between the layers.

Makes 36 sandwiches.

-- Junior Auxiliary of Vicksburg, Miss.

Well, I bet you can guess what I had for lunch today! Sounds divine, right?! Next, at the suggestion of another one of my readers, Preppy Bumpkin, I am going to indulge in a tomato biscuit. Will someone please tell me why I didn't think of that?!

The Rest of our Saturday

Thank you all for your kind words and advice about our Pre-K dilemma. Many of you asked if there is another Pre-K section at her school and unfortunately, the answer is no. I have yet to make up my mind but when I do I will certainly post about it! UPDATE: I just found out that there is another little girl in the class!!! Her name is a traditionally male name so when I saw the class list I assumed she was a he!

Before we got Pinkie's class schedule yesterday, we had a fun morning at a little carnival put on by Mr. K's office.

First, Pinkie got her face painted but it started to itch her so that lasted all of 2 seconds. I had to wash it off with baby wipes, but not before I got a picture of her!

She jumped on the bouncy machine

then hit the petting zoo where she was terrified of all the animals except for the baby chicks, which she adored

She even got to sit in a real fire truck

That afternoon when we got home, Miss Priss informed me that she had been invited to a party that evening--a HIGH SCHOOL party!!! She is going into seventh grade for crying out loud! When I questioned her about this, she wanted to know if it mattered that it was a pink and green party!

(For the record, after calling the mother of the girl Miss Priss was to attend the party with and questioning her at great length about the details, we did decide to let Prissy go to the party, with strict instructions to text us immediately if things got out of hand. Also, the party was being held at a house just around the corner from our us so technically she could run home if she needed to!)

Help!

I just got Pinkie's pre-K class list in the mail and out of 12 children in the class there are only two girls...and she's one of them! I am FREAKING OUT!!! She is technically old enough to go to kindergarten but her birthday is only 20 days before the cut off so I chose to hold her back. Now I am questioning my decision. A friend of mine warned me this could happen since more boys than girls get held back. But did I listen? NOOOOO!

Maybe I should go ahead and send her to Kindergarten. At least I know she will be in a balanced classroom. But that means my baby leaves the nest one year earlier :( And no there is not another section of Pre-K or another Pre-K program unless I want to spend $10,000+ to send her and that is not going to happen.

So help me, please, EVERYBODY!!! Any body out there have any words of wisdom for me? I could sure use them! Any teachers want to weigh in? Is there anybody out there who has been through this before?

The Best Thing About Having Your Own Vegetable Garden?

Tomato Sandwiches!!!

Ingredients:
Toasted WHITE bread
Lots of Duke's Mayo
Lots of salt & pepper
Thick slices of homegrown tomatoes

Can you hear the angels singing?!

Genuine Kids from Osh-Kosh

It is no secret that I LOVE kids clothes. Pinkie has way too many clothes but when we were at Target last night killing time while Miss Priss was at cheer practice I saw this new items for fall and seeing as how it is tax-free week here in CT, I just had to buy them for Pinkie to wear to big girl school this fall (I will however have to take back some other things I previously purchased for her; even I realize that she has way too much). These little outfits are from Target's Genuine Kids by Osh-Kosh line and I think they are just too cute, very Boden-ish if you ask me:

Isn't the brown tweed skirt with the pink ruffle peeking out the bottom just too much?! (Hot pink "Uggs" are also new this year at Le Tar-jhay.)

How about this bubble skirt?

And this bubble skirt with the ruffled placket jacket? Click on the pic to enlarge it so you can see the little tissue flowers with the beaded center on the t-shirt's neckline.

This adorable paisley dress has the cutest ruffled hood.

I also puffy heart these shoes by Osh-Kosh but am still debating on whether or not to buy them since I do not think they will last long in the snow!

At last but not least, I bought Pinkie these cute dresses by Cherokee. She just loves a comfy dress and these fit the bill perfectly.

They come in tons of colors so check 'em out!

I LOVE Pink Damask!!!

This adorable pink damask bed in a bag set is on sale for $45 right now at Tar-jhay! Of course I had to get it for Miss Priss. Won't it look adorable with her monogram on the sham in lime green?!

Miss Pris Goes Fishing

As I mentioned in my last post, Miss Priss stayed in Louisiana with my parents. Well, on Sunday they took her "down the bayou" to Venice, La to go fishing.

Once there, they saw a pelican, the Louisiana state bird

Ever wonder where that gulf shrimp that is sooo good comes from? Well, here you go...

South Louisisan is full of shrimpin' boats just like these.

After eating a yummy dinner of fried redfish and shrimp pasta, they went to sleep in the lodge and woke up at 5:30 a.m. on Monday to ride this boat

out to their fishing spot. On the ride, they witnessed this lovely sun rise

Once they got to their spot, Miss Priss turned into a fishing QUEEN!!!

Just look at her reeeling 'em in!

Here she is with Captain Rick & her prize catch

And here is the day's catch

After spending all day outside in the hot Louisiana sun, my baby took a short rest on top of the ice chest!

But by the time the boat was ready to head back to shore, her lovely smile was back!