Hello friends!!! We are two days away from May 1 which means the wedding is right around the corner–it is almost here!! I just wanted to pop in and update because I know there will be no time before May 11 and certainly none the week of the honeymoon

I have BIG news to share! I am employed as the editor of At Home Tennessee magazine. I start June 1 and am overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness!! The Lord has provided at every turn and my cup runneth over!!! Happy almost summer to you all, the next time I post I will be Maggie Weir-cannot come soon enough!

This is by far the BEST thing I’ve eaten all week, THE BEST. And you all know I have had a few of my favorites– shrimp from the beach and Blalock’s smoked tuna dip. This salad though, gosh this salad.

The romaine is crisp, the avocado creamy, strawberries are sweet and vinaigrette, tangy. You cannot beat it. AND this in my opinion, is the perfect wedding diet supper. Antioxidants, protein, fiber, healthy fats–YES, YES and YES.

My Favorite Summer Salad
2 organic chicken breast, thinly sliced (bought like this)
1/2 c blueberries
4 strawberries, sliced
3 c romaine lettuce
1/4 c sliced almonds
1/4 c sliced walnuts
1/2 avocado, slice
**make this salad with a variation of any fruits and any nuts you love

Season chicken with kosher salt and cracked pepper, oil grill, grill until 165 degrees. Let rest, slice, and assemble romaine, fruits, nuts-drizzle with the following deliciousness.

Easy vinaigrette:

I didn’t even measure this guys. Sometimes I feel like if I have to get all the measuring spoons out and mess up a handful of other dishes, I would just rather not do it. For this dressing, I mixed together a baby spoonful of grain mustard, 1/2 lemon juiced, a splash (1 tsp) red wine vinegar, pinch of kosher salt and cracked pepper. Next I whisked in extra virgin olive oil until the right consistency, 2-3 T.

Here’s a no fail recipe but the above works too

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard (e.g. Grey Poupon)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons delicious extra-virgin olive oil

Mom and I just walked in the door and we brought the beach with us! I got to spend the weekend with almost all of my close friends as we celebrated my last fling before the ring. Here are some pictures from the most fun weekend OF ALL TIME.

It’s always hard for mom and I to leave our favorite place so we try to make coming not as hard by bringing seafood back. Bo and I got to see each other last night before he heads out for his work week thank goodness. And what better way to relive the weekend than outside on the porch eating boiled shrimp.

For the shrimp we filled a big stockpot full of water, half an onion, a few cloves of garlic and a bit of crab boil. When I asked my mom just how much crab boil she shook her hand and said “about like this” since I cannot give you exact measurements I can tell you, it doesn’t matter too much. If you want your shrimp hot then leave them in the water for longer (not boiling of course) and if you want them hot hot then ice them down in the water.

We dropped our eight pounds of shrimp into the rolling boiling water for 5 minutes then cooled them off on a cooling rack over the sink with lots of ice. FRESH SALTY GOODNESS!

For the cocktail sauce:
2 cups of ketchup
2 T horseradish
1 lemon, juiced
2 tsp kosher salt
20 grinds of pepper
2 tsp of worsheshire
COMBINE.

We have been blowin’ and goin’ over here at the Giffin residence. The wedding is right around the corner and we feel it! We are stopping to eat though and trying our best to make healthy choices.

Now that the wedding is a month away I have decided to buckle down on the healthy eats. I usually make healthy choices but definetly eat ice cream 2-3 times a week and love my carbs.

I feel as though the time has come to get serious about this wedding diet. Last night we had fresh veggies and roasted a whole chicken. Roasting a chicken to enjoy for the week is brilliant. It is affordable, healthy and delicious. AND with my mother’s fabulous oven it took less than an hour on 400. We tied the bird’s legs under to ensure even cooking, stuffed the cavity with garlic, rosemary and thyme and let it go until our thermometer reached 165.

I feel like this will be a staple for Bowen and myself, so easy and you have chicken for salads all week! I’m off to enjoy the rest of the day, friends. Bowen just got in the freezing cold pool and my dad is cranking up the grill for ribs (not diet friendly) but oh well!

I miss my SPICE so much!I just can’t seem to blog about anything but the wedding becuase that is all that is happening here at the Giffin residence.

That and a big birthday yesterday!!! We celebrated my mom’s birthday alongide our May 11 team.

We had a big day yesterday meeting with Oxford Floral, Pretty Presentations and Will Jax our photographer..and the painters but that’s a whole different animal.

I just HAD to share our Walker’s supper with you from last night. LOOK AT THESE TRUFFLES. My mom and I think we had the best meal we have ever had last night, we both said we would KILL to work the line just once. HA! But really I would love to make somebody as happy as Walker’s made us last night.

After a very long and full 15 months, I finished culinary school. I finished school and I have hardly cooked since. HA! Not on purpose of course, I am dying to get back in the kitchen. I already miss the panic of plating after 3 hours of prep. I even kind of miss starting at the crack of dawn and having a full day packed in before noon.

My mom’s keeping me busy at home though, don’t worry. I’ve moved back in with mom and dad until Bowen and I get married, it took a couple of weeks but we three are back in a rhythm just like I never left. I am so ready for May 11 but am certainly loving living back at home, afternoon runs around my old loop, fixing supper with mom, and watching our favorite show, Downton Abbey is hard to beat.

Tonight mom made one of my favorite things, asparagus soup, and how fitting for the St. Patty’s Day weekend. We also had filet cooked in the cast iron and finished in a 500 degree oven until medium rare and a baked potato. A perfect, simple spring meal.

** Please forgive me for this photos..I am out of practice to say the least!

This asparagus soup is so sweet and delicate, not at all like the vegetable. If you despise asparagus (I like it don’t love it), you will still LOVE this soup. Shrimp are finished in the warm broth right before service which makes this dish extra delicious.

Well after this throw together everything left in the fridge supper I literally do not have anything in my fridge left to eat. All that remains is one bottle of chardonnay (still with the bow given as a gift), one sip of fat-free horizon milk, and some leftover cinnamon cheese (sounds weird, but so delicious).

As I mentioned a few days back, I am moving next week, I made my supper using leftover ingredients from the zucchini spaghetti supper Monday–turkey sausage, two baby portobellos, half an onion, a few cloves of garlic, and the last of a bunch of parsley.

I had to run to Kroger this afternoon for a special surprise recipe, to be revealed tomorrow!! Anyways, I grabbed four peppers to finish the refrigerator clean out and came up with this quick, HEALTHY supper.

  Mom makes a delicious stuffed pepper dish using green chili’s and poncho’s vinaigrette. This is my “use what you have” (lighter) version.

Turkey Sausage Stuffed Peppers

2 italian turkey sausage links, casings removed

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, minced

2-3 portobellos, chopped

4 assorted peppers

What you do:

Saute onion and garlic in 1 T olive oil until soft and fragrant, add Portobello’s, then sausage, using a wooden spoon separate the sausage into small pieces, brown sausage, add parsley, and turn off heat.

*Now would be the time to add any cheese you have on hand, cheddar, cream cheese, parmesan..

Next, rinse peppers, half lengthwise, remove seeds and stuff with mixture. Cover and bake on 375 unit sausage is cooked through and peppers are tender (20-25 min). ENJOY!

OH. I also poured a little leftover Wholefoods vinaigrette I had from my salad last night over the peppers, this ensured a moist filling and reminded me of mom’s homemade peppers.

Don’t forget to check back in tomorrow, I’ve got a healthy sweet coming that involves nutella!!!

I don’t even know where to start…the passed couple of days/weeks have been a whirlwind, a good whirlwind.

Thinking back on Friday and Saturday I am just overwhelmed with thankfulness for my mom. I had such a blast working side by side with mom on this catering event. Having her here was like having an army of culinary greats with me and I truly couldn’t have done it without having a massive panic without her.

I got to really enjoy cooking for 15o people without feeling stressed because I knew it would get done and be above and beyond with mom’s hand on it. This event was brought to me by Bowen’s sister and was for The Orchard Baby Dedication here in Memphis.

We made rosemary, garlic pork tenderloin sandwiches with a horseradish sour cream sauce (with bacon…), grilled chicken breast with an asian dipping sauce and honey mustard, a tomato, mozzarella, basil pasta salad, fruit kabobs, and a marscapone artichoke spread I have made several times on Spice.

Warm Artichoke and Bacon Spread

Dip:

• Butter, for greasing the baking dish
• 5 strips thick-cut bacon
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, optional
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• One 8-ounce bag frozen artichokes, thawed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups (16 ounces) mascarpone cheese
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)

Directions

Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella Pasta Salad 

This is one of my favorites of the evening… we used grape tomatoes which we poked holes in each one with a tooth pick so the tomatoes would be filled with the vinagerrete (which I made from the oil the mozzarella was marinated in).

Balsamic Vinaigrette (my recipe was 100 x this)

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar, optional*
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 T chopped shallot
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• Beat the vinegar in a bowl with the optional sugar, garlic, shallots, salt and pepper until sugar and salt dissolves. Then beat in the oil by droplets, whisking constantly. (Or place all the ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake to combine.) Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Bowen wanted to drink this asian dipping sauce (I think he tried to)…I thought it was such a perfect, sweet and sour sauce that would also be great for stir fry.

Hoisin Sesame Dipping Sauce 

• 1/2cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4cup rice vinegar
• 1/4cup soy sauce
• 1/4cup vegetable oil
• 2tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
• 4teaspoons sesame oil
• 1teaspoon minced or grated fresh ginger
• 1medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)

And…. I am so so thankful for sweet Bowen who was a HUGE help, woooo sigh of relief in this picture!

Hey  my sweet friends, I know I have been out of touch…

for good reason!!!

I am back though with lots of exciting (food related things coming up). I am doing a BIG catering event next next weekend and some cooking next week!! Be back soon with lots of yummy eats.

Happy hump day friends. How is everybody’s week going so far? I’ve got one more half day and I am DONE for the week!! (I bet I just lost some followers) Don’t be too jealous, I am currently in the garde manger phase of school and it’s not my favorite thing I’ve ever done. Garde manger, “cold kitchen”, is a class focused on just that, cold things. Cold soups, sauces, pates, terrines, canapés, chartucerie (bluhHH). Anyways, it’s invaluable information I am absorbing but sometimes it’s hard to get over the moon excited about force meat.

Today was different, though. We made a lobster vichyssoise, gazpacho, cold roasted tomato soup, and sweet pea mint. We are really learning how to season cold preparations because it’s a whole different ball game that hot applications.

We are also learning how to extract as much flavor possible from every ingredient we are given. We used the shrimp shells yesterday to make a fish stock for today’s vichyssoise as well as the lobster shells in the cooking liquid, it really does make a difference. After we have pureed the soups, we strain them through a fine chinoise and garnish with the appropriate ingredient, in this case, fresh lobster.

The real show stealer today was actually the roasted tomato soup. Who wants there tomato soup cold? I do now. Especially since its still eighty degrees here in Memphis. This is the most concentrated, sweetest, smokiest broth.

How do y’all like these Parmesan wafers? I made them in the microwave!!! My favorite chef I’ve had at school taught me this trick he learned in Italy (shocking, right?). Microwave 1 oz of grated parm for 60 seconds and voila!

Use this recipe and then use it again. I suggest reserving some of the soup for a tomato sauce. You could ladle one cup of the soup into a sauce pan, reduce by half, add fresh basil, penne, and parmesan–an easy, flavorful supper.

Cold Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

1 oz garlic, minced

1/4 oz olive oil

4 oz celery, chopped

4 oz onion, chopped

10 oz leeks, chopped

1 lb pum tomatoes (roasted in the oven 400-10 minutes)

16 oz vegetable stock

1 oz basil

1/2 bay leaf

kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste

What you do:
lightly sautee garlic, leeks, celery and onion. add tomatoes, stock basil and bay leaf. Simmer 40 minutes. Remove bay leaf and puree the soup in a blender, season, cover and refrigerate until cold.

AAHHHH!! I have BIG news! I did MY very first guest post on one of my very favorite blogs, Susannah Styles.

Susannah is the cutest, most talented girl and I am honored to even be mentioned on her blog. She has wonderful taste, loves to cook, can host a party like I’ve never seen and always has fabulous finds from ballet flats to yoga dvd’s. Y’all please head over to Susannah Styles and check out her blog, I bet you can’t get enough!!

Check out my guest post HERE.

Who doesn’t love a creamy, cheesy potato soup in the Fall? How about a recipe that calls for making mashed potatoes first?

Potato Leek Soup

adapted from Alton Brown, the very best Food Network Star

Ingredients

3 T unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups finely diced leeks

1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

6 cups chicken stock, hot

4 large yukon gold potatoes, halved-bake in oven at 400 until tender,  pulp scooped out and put through a ricer

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar

1/4 cup minced chives

This recipe calls for making mashed potatoes, literally. You bake potatoes and put them through a ricer, in my case a grater was used due to lack of equipment . Then add buttermilk, sour cream, and parmesan, whip ‘em up and combine with leeks, garlic, and chicken stock. This. is. so. good.

Directions

Oh and I am back on these dang pumpkin muffins. I cannot believe how good this recipe is. The lady I catered for said these were a favorite and I believe it! I will admit to you I ate three on Saturday morning before the grove, I did this knowing I had a new dress to fit into. That my friends is how tasty these little bites are.

To kick these little muffins up a notch I added some chocolate ganache drizzle to the top, here’s how I did it: Scald 1/2 cup of cream in a pot pour over 2 cups chocolate morsels, pour into ziploc, snip bottom and GO! To get the muffin recipe, click HERE.

How about a little something to wet your appetite this evening.. or get  your mind off the debate ;(

I have had so much fun catering for the Auburn game this week and am excited to share these yummy eats with y’all. Here’s a peek at a couple of  things I made for a lady here in Memphis for the game this weekend.

Sausage cheese plates are always a hit-how about making the pick up easy with a skewer. I love this! I might come find this tent on Saturday and snag a couple..

Rendezvous Skewers:

For the BBQ bites, I grilled and basted ( with rendezvous bbq sauce) several (10) skewers of sausage, then sliced them and added them to a bamboo skewer with a bite of cheddar cheese, and a pepperoni-sprinkle with BBQ season and enjoy!

This may look gross, I can’t tell though. All I see when I look at this picture is sausage sizzling in garlic, thyme and bacon fat…

Southern Shrimp and Grits

adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients

Grits:

• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup stone-ground white cornmeal
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Shrimp:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 pound spicy sausage, cut in chunks
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 green onion, white and green part, chopped

Directions

Mini Spinach, Sun-Dried Tomato Goat Cheese Frittata’s

I lucked out with this little bites-they are PACKED with flavor. Yesterday in school we made a goat cheese, green onion, sun dried tomato filling for quiches (that we didn’t use) so I got to take the mixture home. I added this filling with sautéed spinach (with nutmeg) and followed this recipe.

adapted from Italian Food Forever

ingredients:

directions:

Are you hungry yet? I am not because I got to taste test all these delicious bites through my LONG day of cooking, I love it though! The rest of my catering includes those pumpkin muffins (that won the taste test), biscuit cups, an artichoke/bacon spread and a corn dip. Ill be back with  more next week, almost the weekend friends!!!

I‘m back with that recipe I promised AND a verdict on the muffins…

The NON-box recipe wins.. by a land slide. Remember my post about baking and needing a break? Well we all need shortcuts every now and again but the difference between a spice mix and homemade  pumpkin muffins is undeniable. I know these things,  I just had to prove myself right

“Go To” Pumpkin Muffins, adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from the American club, in Kohler, Wisconsin via Gourmet Magazine

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil*
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar**
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

AND thank you to Mary for passing this pork butt recipe along, it is my new favorite and sure to be yours too!

Southern Pulled-Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), cut into 4 equal pieces
• 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 8 soft sandwich rolls, split
• Store-bought barbecue sauce, for serving (optional)

link to the recipe HERE.

Anybody still there???? I have been caught in the grind, bad! Does that even make sense? My wheels have been spinning ninety to nothing!!! Well, I am back to you with a recap of the weekend (lots of birthday festivities) and a big week ahead with a catering gig.

Mary and I threw Bowen and Michael’s birthday party at my house this weekend, after a day of paintball the boys and their gals came over for barbecue and beer (and sprinkle cookies).

We used Mary’s mom’s recipe for the pork butt, which is so so SO good. I have yet to taste pulled pork that stays this moist!! I think it’s the vinegar/water solution/brine you roast the pork in, maybe? It’s delicious though and seeing as we ate almost 8 pounds of meat I think the rest of the party enjoyed it as well!

(and Bo)

Pork butt ready for the oven- I WILL post the recipe tomorrow!!!

And finally, I am catering for the Auburn game this week and did some recipe testing this weekend. I am making an artichoke, mascarpone bacon spread, mini spinach frittata’s, biscuit cups, rendezvous skewers, shrimp and grits, and these pumpkin muffins. You all know I’ll be back with lots of pics and all the recipes. Stay tuned!!! OH, and I started a new phase in school today. Two more to go!!!!!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins:

I wanted to try both a short-cut and non-shortcup recipe for these muffins:

Shortcut: One box of spice cake mix, one can pumpkin puree, 1 T vanilla, 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Follow instructions on box, add pumpkins, chips and bake at 35o for 20 minutes.

Pumpkin Spice Mini Muffins (and Cake)

Adapted from Foodlets

• Ingredients
• 4 eggs
• 1 12 oz. can pumpkin
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup wheat germ
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Plus extra cinnamon and sugar to dust on top

Instructions

Note, if you’re using mini muffins preheat the oven to 425. If you’re baking a pan, preheat to 350 instead. If you’re doing both at the same time, split the difference at 375. Grease your pan(s) with butter or use muffin liners.

Using a handheld beater or standing mixer, beat wet ingredients together until frothy: eggs, pumpkin, oil and apple sauce. Add the sugar. Put a sifter over the mixing bowl and add the flour, wheat germ, spices, baking powder, salt and soda. Sift into the bowl then stir together, breaking up clumps but don’t over-mix. Stopping at just the right time, when everything is well incorporated, will keep your cakes fluffy.

Fill pan(s) about 3/4 full and bake.

Mini muffins: 8-10 minutes

8 x 10″ pan: 25 minutes

10 x 13″ pan: 30 minutes

While your cake(s) are cooling, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

if you’d like the healthy (longer) version, check this out HERE.

(sometimes we all need a shortcut?)