Song of the South

Go Dawgs!

Mrs. Linda's tailgate

   This weekend Hace and I were able to travel to Memphis to see some of his family and our college friends and go down to Oxford, Mississippi for the Georgia - Ole Miss game. I must say, it was so good to be back in the South! For once I wasn't noticed for having a funny accent and being obsessed with College-football. Random people would talk to me and befriend me just for wearing red and black.  It was also so good to see great college friends and reunite with people we have such fond memories with. I wanted to high-light the weekend and give some funny re-cap of things that I noticed now about the South after living outside of it for a little while.
     First-off, if you have never experienced game-day in the grove at Ole Miss, it's a must! Talk about tailgating at its finest. My friend Brittany and I just spent some time walking around to find the most extravagant (and impressive) tailgates. Now for a little back-story, I have always been fascinated with tail-gating and game-day traditions of different college towns, I even wrote a research paper about it in college (strange, I know) so I have a great appreciation for things like this.  Some of my favorite and classic Ole Miss tailgate scenes were candelabras on the table, chandeliers hanging from the tent, food on silver platters, and last but not least, bloody Mary's from a drink dispenser. (It was an early game after all.) 
     With the early kick-off there wasn't much time to tailgate before the game but that didn't slow anyone down from getting the party started after the game. It made no difference that Ole Miss lost a game that wasn't really even close, they still threw a great after-party.  We primarily tail-gated with Hace's extended family but after the game we also looked for someone with a TV to catch some of the other SEC games on. That's when we stumbled across Mrs. Linda's tailgate.
     Now Mrs. Linda had quite the spread of food and decor (see picture below) and claimed Southern Living came by to photo her tailgate once. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing, she was also your classic Southern lady, so hospitable, bringing us food, making us take chairs in front of the TV, and slamming Bud Lites. Like I said, classic Southern Lady. But all-in-all it was an awesome weekend topped off by dinner at Proud Larry's on the quaint and beautiful square in Oxford and Sunday lunch at BB Kings in Memphis where they have awesome BBQ and live blues. Last but certainly not least, we went to "that hotel where they have cocktails and trained ducks" (Matt Wood) known to most as the Peabody.

Missoni For Target!!

         Many of you fashionistas are probably well-aware that today was the debut of Missoni for Target! This long anticipated line has had ample news coverage to prepare everyone for the arrival. I first read about it in an interview with the Italian designer Margherita Maccapani Missoni in Vogue.  It has been marked in my planner for over a month and today it finally arrived in stores and online! For those of you who have no idea who this is, Missoni is known for combining bright prints and designed knitwear in their clothing. Like I said before, it is an Italian Fashion house and you can find their clothing in store like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.  The line had a private launch last Wednesday in Times Square and it was a madhouse. This should have prepared Target for what would happen on the full-launch of the line today! The long-awaited line finally hit stores this morning. I thought about heading over to Target on my lunch break to check it out but decided to wait until after work so I wouldn't be pressed for time. Well right at 6 I headed to Target which is 5 minutes from work and I enter the store to see some of the obvious Missoni displays but filled with other things like halloween t-shirts, what the heck? I make my way back to shoes and find an endcap of what few shoes are left. As I search  through the sizes left with another shopper I ask if she knows where the clothes are. She informs me that they sold out at 9:00 a.m.... the store opens at 8! Then I comment that you can buy it online but she then tells me that their website isn't able to handle the volume of traffic and isn't working properly. Major. Bummer. I come home to see if I can access even a peek of the line online and sure enough their website is going haywire. Finally I get to see the clothes but all the really cute-things are sold out, naturally. So if you live somewhere near a Target you should CALL before going and see if they even have anything left and it they do let me know where it is;) Hopefully Target will be replenishing their shelves with more Missoni product soon! Until then I guess we can search the web...

Some of the likely sold out pieces, they are pretty nonetheless!

Fall Cooking

This week I have made some delicious fall treats and will highlight two, pumpkin bread and butternut squash soup.  Pumpkin bread is probably one of my all-time favorite fall foods AND when you bake it, the wonderful smell fills your whole house! I have tried a few different recipes for pumpkin bread but I think this one if the best. It is my mom's recipe that she got from a neighbor when we lived in Roswell. It's pretty easy and makes 2 loves.
Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups sugar
• 1tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs beaten
• 1 - 16 oz. canned pumpkin
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 cup vegetable oil 

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, salt, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg & sugar in large mixing bowl. Add eggs, water, oil, and pumpkin. Stir until blended. Mix well. Pour in 2 9x5'' loaf pans. Bake 1 hour. Cool slightly and take out of pans to let cool on a rack. If I'm not giving a loaf to someone I typically freeze a loaf and it does great! It might even be a little better that way.

       The next recipe is for butternut squash soup. I first had a similar soup in Athens at a potluck. This summer in South Africa we ate butternut squash in all forms possible but mainly mashed. After eating it on a weekly basis I really started to like it! This past Saturday I noticed they had it at the farmer's market so I bought it and looked up a recipe of how to use it. Granted I am not very strong, but cutting the thing took forever! It was like cutting up a pumpin, seriously, my arm is going to be sore tomorrow! The soup was great though! Hace raved over it as well so two thumbs up!
Ingredients:

• t tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
•  1 medium carrot, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 medium butternut squash, seeded, and cubed
• 1 (32 oz) container chicken stock and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.  Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth.  Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. (I also put in some cinnamon because that is what we had it with in South Africa.)

Butternut squash!

In the blender

Mmm.. finished product:)