Southern Living Test Kitchen Professional Norman King gets the scoop during the biscuit brunch he hosted for ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ bachelorette Paige Duke and her friends.
Biscuit brunch recipes:
Chicken Biscuit
Melon and Plum Salad
Kane’s Peppery Bloody Mary
Blackberry Cocktail
Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette
Paige may have dished with Norman about who she will pick, but you'll have to tune in Friday, March 16th for CMT’s ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ to find out!
Tune in: CMT’s Sweet Home Alabama
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I just got back from the set of Great Day Houston, where I presented a Christmas segment on homemade gifts from your kitchen and fun ways to package them on a budget. The ideas were so creative and fun, with our inspiration from the fabulous Carla Beurkle, food stylist extraodinaire!
I'm excited to share them with you today. Be sure and check back soon for a clip of the show!
This is the idea I am most excited about using this year! CD Sleeves make the perfect holders for individual cookies. To make them even more attractive, we cut small pieces of scrapbook paper and slipped in behind the cookie. We bought these in a package of 50 for $5.99, making this easy packaging idea come in at around 10 cents per cookie. They fit so perfectly and are so cute, folks will never know what their original use was!
This is a great way to make a single batch of cookies and have thoughtful gifts for every person in your child's class or everyone in your office.
This is a quick snapshot of some of the setup.
In the back of the set towards the right you see large tubes. We packaged homemade Butter Pecan Granola in plastic zipper seal bags and put them down inside cardboard mailing tubes. By covering the tubes with wrapping paper we have a delicious gift for any granola lover. Once they taste that granola they WILL want to make some more, so we glued the recipe on the outside of the tube as an added bonus.
Notice our pretty pedestal platters? Each one cost less than $2.00 to make - some were even free - using thrift store finds and mismatched pieces around your house plus a little epoxy glue (my favorite is E-6000).
Lets take a closer look...
These Pecan Cranberry Cheese Wafers are presented on a teacup pedestal which is made by simply turning the teacup upside down and gluing the saucer on top.
We packaged the Pecan Cranberry cheese wafers (an updated spin on cheese straws - but requires much less effort!) by stacking them in paper towel rolls and wrapping them up with paper and ribbons in the style of British firecrackers. (Recipes at the bottom of this post)
This is a simple tin tray glued to a glass candlestick from the $1 store.
Here we took a Christmas plate found in a thrift store and glued it to another $1 glass candlestick to make this great cake sized pedestal which we displayed peppermint bark on. This would make a great hostess gift to a holiday party.
This is one of my personal favorites! A mismatched green glass bowl that was ready for a yard sale is paired with a dollar store candlestick to create a beautiful pedestal bowl for your holiday buffet!
Each of the recipes featured in my segment are below.
For more great gift recipe ideas click here and be sure and pick up a copy of the December issue of Southern Living!
Butter Pecan Granola
*From December 2011 Issue of Southern Living
Preheat oven to 325. Stir together butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Add oats, pecans, wheat germ, sesame seeds, an stir until mixture is evenly coated. Spread oat mixture out on a lightly greased 10x15 jelly roll pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toasted, stirring every ten minutes. Spread baked granola onto wax paper and cool completely (about thirty minutes). Stir in dried dates.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze up to six months.
Cranberry- Pecan Cheese Wafers
*From December 2011 Issue of Southern Living
Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Cool completely (about 15 minutes).
Meanwhile, soak cranberries in boiling water to cover 15 minutes; drain and pat dry with paper towels.
Beat butter and next 3 ingredients at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until blended. Gradually add flour, beating just until combined. Stir in cranberries and pecans. Shape dough into 4 (12-inch-long) logs; wrap each log in plastic wrap. Chill 8 hours to 3 days. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut each log into 1/4-inch-thick slices; place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheets to wire racks, and cool completely (about 20 minutes).
Peppermint Bark
*Recipe courtesy of Southern Living and MyRecipes.com
Line 1 (15- x 10-inch) jelly-roll pan with parchment paper; grease with butter. Microwave milk chocolate morsels in a large bowl at HIGH 1 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 45-second intervals. Gently stir in cookie pieces, pretzel sticks, and 3/4 cup coarsely chopped candies. Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup coarsely chopped candies. Let stand until firm (about 6 hours). Break or cut into pieces. Store in a cool place up to 3 days.
Note: We tested with Oreo Double Delight Mint 'N Creme Cookies. Do not freeze bark. Freezing will cause a powdery white coating called bloom.
*These are fun to make and easily customizable!
Cake Mix Cookies
*Recipe Courtesy of Southern Living and MyRecipes.com
Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring well (dough will be sticky). Stir in chopped pecans, if desired. Dust hands with powdered sugar, and shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Coat balls with powdered sugar, and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until done; remove to wire racks to cool.
*Can change flavor of cookies by changing flavor of cake mix used.
After I changed into what I refer to as my "airport clothes" I remembered the most important picture of all, one of myself with my hosts!
Special thanks to the Emmy Award Winning Producer Don Geraci and host of Great Day Houston, Deborah Duncan for having me on the show! We had a great time and it was a thrill to be able to spend time on the Great Day Houston set again!
Gratefully,
Christy
Read MoreI prefer to eat my crow warm, so here goes. For the last few years I've been a big ol' pressure cooker naysayer—I just couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. Plus, they're just so dangerous. All that bad mojo changed Monday night when I test-drove the new Fagor Duo pressure cooker. I was 100% wrong about all my preconceived, negative pressure cooker notions. I've now seen the light. I've seen the value. I'm hooked. (That chewing sound is me taking another bite of my crow sandwich.)
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I went to visit my mother, Clementa "Ment" Florio, when I was in Charleston. At 96, she still loves to cook, and was just pulling a pound cake out of the oven when I arrived. She tries different cake recipes she finds, but my sister has convinced her she's found a really good recipe and should stick with it, so she has. . .for now. I don't have a copy of her recipe, but, here's one of our staff'favorites. It's perfect for the holidays or anytime. You can bake it now, wrap it tightly in foil, put it in a freezer bag, and it will keep for several months.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=387309
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I'm thrilled to announce the launch of a new Southern Living column, the Half-Hour Hostess, starting with the October issue. Each month, we'll provide quick and tasty recipes to help pull together any occasion you may be celebrating.
Take a look at some of my favorite ways to keep your get together real:
Entertaining Tips from Rebecca Gordon
Click here for the recipe: Mustard-Dill Tortellini Salad Skewers
Look for it and let me know what you think. I'd Love to hear your feedback!
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I use to carry a secret as I walked the halls here at Southern Living. I don't really like cornbread, I know absolutely shocking! A member of the THE test kitchen that doesn't like cornbread?!?!?! It took a culinary epiphany to realize why, I have been doing it all wrong. I felt like Micheal Keaton in the movie Mr. Mom. He's in the car pool line for the first time and there's a knock at the window by an angry patrol mom........"SIR, SIR YOUR DOING IT WRONG hello sirrrrrrrrr your doing it wrong," as she bangs recklessly on the woody station wagon window (he is entering the car pool line clearly going in the wrong direction) O-M-G! I was totally him, behind the wheel of some pitiful quick bread.
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April was Spring Cleaning month in the Southern Living Test Kitchens and we were all determined to put things in order and simplify our lives.
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