embracing all things southern

Blissdom Bound Y’all

February 4, 2010 by Edie Wadsworth 34 Comments

As I was putting the finishing touches on my little love gifts to pass out at Blissdom, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my very southern roots. I made the cutest little bookmarks and very heavily-iced mocha cupcakes for my friends {old, new and yet to be made}, all the while listening to Tim McGraw’s song from the movie The Blindside called Southern Voice. It reminded me of so many things that I love about ‘the Southland’. I grew up on old school country music and can recite many-a-line from Coal Miner’s Daughter. I regularly say y’all, monogram far too many personal and household items and often get a little happy with the eye-shadow. I hug everyone, use too much butter, make a killer pan of cornbread and love everything Elvis and Johnny Cash. And though I rarely listen to country music these days, I’ve always had a teeny little crush on Tim McGraw. I think it’s because he resembles my own hottie husband and seems to be a devoted family man. Are you following my stream of consciousness here?

I’m going to Nashville for Blissdom…
which reminds me of my country music raising…..
which reminds me of how strange we southerners must seem to outsiders….
which brings me to butter cream icing.

For you see, butter cream icing breaks down all barriers—-and all arteries for that matter—–and buttercream icing seemed to be the most perfect way to welcome you to the south. That and Tim McGraw singing about cicadas, sweet tea and Hank Williams. Something about heading to Nashville makes me wanna put on my boots, make buttercream icing and listen to a little Tim McGraw. I can hardly wait to get there.

I’ll see y’all tomorrow.

I made the bookmark as a pdf file so you can download it, print it off, laminate it and bedazzle it. Love to you all! And don’t worry, if you’re not going to Nashville, I’ll take good notes and share everything I learn. My partners in crime are Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy and Krist from Pink and Polka Dot.

The Lightest Fluffiest Angel Wing Biscuits Ever to FLy Over Southern Skies

December 7, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 44 Comments

I have made it my personal mission in life to per-fect the biscuit. You can’t even graduate from high school in the South until you demonstrate proficiency at biscuit making—-so I’ve been making biscuits a long time. But I just took the recipe that was passed onto me and never questioned it. You’re not supposed to question a long line of Southern biscuit makers.

But…….

What if I want the lightest fluffiest angel wing biscuits ever to fly over southern skies? What then? Well, I scoured the internet—an a few cookbooks—and made a few dozen biscuits—-using various biscuits methods—and I think we have a winner folks. So, put on an apron, roll up the sleeves on your flannel shirt, put on some bluegrass music and let’s make biscuits.

First, you must start with 2 cups of self-rising white lily flour. There shall be no substitutes. It has a lower protein content and says on the front ‘a southern tradition since 1883’. Don’t mess with Texas. Then add 1/4 c. sugar, 1/2 t. salt, 1 1/2 t. baking powder (I know, you’re not supposed to need it with sr flour but these are the lightest fluffiest angel wing biscuits ever to fly over southern skies, so just add it).

Now with a pastry blender, cut in 1/4 c. shortening. Or use a whisk if you tend to be hard on pastry blenders.

Now, add 2/3 cups of heavy cream and 1 cup of buttermilk and stir. The mixture will be very wet.

Add 1 cup of flour into a casserole dish or onto your working surface and then with a medium sized ice cream scoop–or whatever sized biscuits you like—scoop a few scoops onto the flour. Flour your hands and then lightly shape the biscuits—adding flour where there really wet—but shaking off any excess flour. They will be coated with flour on the outside, but the inside of each one will still be quite wet.

Spray a round cake pan with cooking spray and then place the biscuits very snugly into the pan. This step is key. These are southern bisuits so they’re invading each other’s personal space and hugging and back-slapping like crazy. If you’re from the Midwest, where personal space is recognized and respected, this step might be hard for you. But trust me, I made my first batch with biscuit-boundaries—and they were flat and boring. Scooch ’em close together and they’ll sing the hallelujah chorus when they’re done.

Then bake at 425 degrees for 18-23 minutes or until they’re golden brown on top. When you take them out of the oven, they look like this—-like they’re happily snuggled under an afghan watching an SEC football game. Then invert them onto a plate–and then turn them right side up onto another plate. Brush them with butter. And that’s when they start singing the hallelujah chorus. Take a knife and cut them apart and notice how some of them are kinda shaped like angel wings.

Butter them generously and enjoy. And then of course, sneak a bite to the dog that has no doubt when lying at your feet while you make them.

I used Darby’s cinnamon butter, which is most wonderfully delicious and easy. I mistakenly added one more stick of butter than she did but it turned out yummy just the same. I used 3 sticks of softened butter, 1 cup honey, 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 t. cinnamon and beat it well in my electric mixer. You can give it away as gifts—-and she has hers decorated up so cute—or if your 7 year old tastes it and begs to keep it all at home, you can do that too!

Y’all enjoy! Get the pdf file for the recipe here.

Notes from my cookbook:

1. These are so light and fluffy that they may require a fork. These would not be the biscuits that would hold up to a sausage-biscuit sandwich. Unless you use a fork.

2. I will still use my other biscuit recipe when I need more substantial biscuits. These are like biting into a cloud.

3. I will most definitely make my traditional biscuits (that I roll out with a rolling pin) with white lily flour. Also, with any biscuit recipe, if you start out with a very wet dough and don’t over mix/beat/knead, they will be lighter and fluffier. They just won’t have angel wings like this one.

4. I used a recipe from the website Project Foodie and added baking powder to it—after my first batch didn’t rise quite as much as I would have liked. Thank you to their experts for these wonderful tips.

Do-Si-Do

October 29, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 13 Comments

My best friend from high school celebrated her 40th birthday this weekend. Shawna (shown middle) also happens to be my sister’s (shown on your left) sister in law. I know, I know. But it’s the south, remember? And how did she celebrate this milestone, you ask? With a real life ho-down square dance —–in a barn. Now you’re starting to be jealous that you don’t live below the Mason-Dixon! It was unbelievably fun. We laughed at old pictures of big hair and blue eye shadow. We learned how to ‘alabama{allemande}-left’ and ‘rip-and-snort’—-that’s square dance lingo for all you northerners reading. And I think the best part was that the teenagers and small children had just as much fun as the adults. Though they probably won’t be as sore tomorrow.

I spent the night with my sister, who lives at the Foothills of the Smoky Mountains and we enjoyed some good food and good fellowship before the party. That’s my brother–in all his Volunteer glory—who, as you may or may not remember, won $25,000 in the Poker World Series this summer.

Sis made these little pumpkin yummies and I took about 53 pictures of them.

The kids had a blast at the square dance. It reminded me of days gone by when this is how ‘we’ entertained ourselves and our youth. Nobody said ‘bored’ —-not even once!

Shawna, Gina, and I and all our girls (minus my little Caiti—who would’ve had a ball). It was so nice to be together again. Happy Birthday Shawna!!

Uncle Mark, who said before we left for the party, “I don’t why this family has to square dance everytime we get together,” seemed to be having more fun than anyone.

My wheels are turning now ’cause Steve and I are renewing our vows this summer and plan to celebrate a little. I may just have to ‘grab my partner and do-si-do’! You gotta love the south!

From my kitchen— on July 4th

July 4, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 21 Comments

We interrupt the regularly scheduled series—-which I shall certainly not finish by Monday—to bring you a few dynamite ideas for the Fourth of Juuuly. That’s how we say it in the South.

Juuuu-ly.

With an emphasis on the ‘Ju’. And I’ll just confess this right now, I don’t have a whole lot of Independence Day knick-knacks.

Hold on, let me scan around the house one good time. (from the sofa I look quickly in all directions)

Not even one. I don’t have one Fourth of Juuuly knick knack. And I probably won’t look like an American flag myself. I’m just not a ‘try to wear as much holiday paraphernalia as possible’ kind of a girl. Not that I don’t enjoy cute little girls or darling little old ladies decked out in holiday fare. Because I do. And it’s not that I’m not intensely patriotic. Because I am. I get teary eyed almost anytime I meet an honest to goodness soldier, or read almost any book about America’s founding fathers, or see little girls and darling little old ladies decked out in flag-printed clothing.

Not to worry though, I can often be ‘over the top’ when it comes to my tablescapes. And I’m never in short supply of flags. When I saw this cute little idea on Kimba’s site, with the bandanas, I knew it would work perfect for my upcoming ‘luncheon’. We dined inside but in true picnic style. I used one of those genu-ine camping table cloths and my favorite white plates with red napkins. Strawberries and cherries in fancy compotes completed the festive table.

Okay, enough about the tablescape, I must introduce you to the star of the show:

Ratatouille Tart

This recipe came from my favorite source for new recipes, Cuisine at Home. Have you seen this little magazine? I’ve been getting it for about 3 years now–since I stopped hi-jacking them from my mother’s house– and have made so many scrumptious recipes from it. You must subscribe. I don’t mean to make your mouth water unduly, but this is a homeade tart crust (prebaked for 30′ at 375), with basil and fontina cheese layered first, then mandolin-sliced zucchini, squash, red onion, and red pepper, layered next. It’s finished off with generous drizzles of olive oil and salt and pepper and then baked for thirty more minutes.

Then, I searched high and low until I found three cute little helpers decked out in red to skewer the kabobs–jerk chicken kabobs with kielbasa and veggies–from same said magazine.

My style is often to mix elements of style–a little retro with my cottage or picnic with my fancy–I think it makes decorating and living in general, more interesting.

So, I wish you all a Happy Fourth. Of Juuuly. And I wish you were here to taste this tart. Stevie says it doesn’t touch the homeade pizza I made earlier this week, but he was only mad because I didn’t add salami, pepperoni, beef and sausage to this tres chic tart. We’re foodies around here, we can’t help it.

We had such a fun visit with our friends Sebastian and Sarah. And can’t wait to see them again!

I hope to post the ‘Surround Them with Books’ this weekend and then we’ll finish up next week. I can’t decide if I should do a linky or if you just want to post your ideas for ‘Creating a Learning Environment’ in the comments. Let me know today in the comments and my girls will pick one lucky (at random) person to give a one year subscription of Cuisine At Home. And if you have any fun ideas for July 4th desserts (besides the cake decorated like a flag or the standard trifle) let us know!

Disclaimer–I have no affiliation with this cooking magazine, I just love it….and you!

Post Edit: It occurred to me while I was running this morning that you might need to hear Juuuly pronounced, at least those of you who don’t live below the Mason-Dixon. And when this song came on my iPod, I knew I had to share with you. A little family trivia for those of you who enjoy such, our dog Scooter is named after Shooter Jennings—because I thought his name was Scooter Jennings. And our dog Hank is named after Hank Williams—my daddy’s favorite musician. I’m not a fan of much current country music but I grew up listening to eight tracks of Tammy Wynette and George Jones–so if I bust out into ‘Golden Ring’ or ‘We’re Gonna Hold On’, consider it a form of mental disorder forced on me when I was 3 and cut me some slack. Please, for the love of all things honky-tonk and patriotic, give Shooter a listen–at least until you see those darlin’ girls with those sundresses and cowgirl boots (one of my all-time favorite looks) and until he says

‘Foath-a-Juuuly-yyy”

"Doo’s done thowed me out, Momma"

February 15, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 12 Comments

Steve would probably like to throw me out. I’ve been quotin’ Lorettee all weekend. You gotta love a man who’ll watch Coal Miner’s Daughter with you….and laugh just as much as you do. Coal Miner’s Daughter does something good for me way down deep in my soul. I don’t think it’s just a southern thing either. So, now it’s your turn…to pick your favorite line. Some of you have already started and I am touched by your enthusiasm. To repay you for your sincere devotion to my Appalachian upbringing, I’ve found a couple treats for ya.

My first mullet: notice my cute little sister Gina to the far right who would later have that Coca-cola poured into her bottle.

And my first perm: I’m proud to say that I was already accessorizin’ way back when.

Now, to leave your quotes, go to this post. To make fun of me and my mullet, just stay right here.

Thanks for playing. I took three pages of notes while I watched and I’m not sure if I can narrow it down to one. One of my 236 favorite quotes:

“If youns knock sissy off ‘at porch one more tiiime, I’m ona wup youns both”

In which I confess my tiny obsession with Loretta Lynn…….

February 13, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 24 Comments

This is where the rubber meets the road. This is how you tell who your true friends are. I’ve let you in to my little private space in the world. I haven’t held back. At least not much. You’ve been with me when I fished disgusting things out of my drain. You’ve watched me lament the loss of my former job/life/etc. I’ve told you all my deepest ADD secrets. And I even let you in on my King Tut dance and how my heart is breaking that Taylor is graduating. Now I need you. JamieKnoxville called me yesterday and begged me to watch Coal Miner’s Daughter again. And then call her with my favorite quote. I feel that if you and I are going to continue this relationship, then you might as well know now about my obsession with Coal Miner’s Daughter and Loretta Lynn. It was probably because of my sordid childhood, surrounded by really funny drunk people from Appalachia….that I like it so much. And JamieKnoxville can never let anything die. But if you want to go to the next level with me, then don’t ask questions. Just rent it and keep a notepad handy . And report back to me on Sunday….for I will be posting my favorite quote and a few other funnies. So are you in? Okay, we can still be friends if you’ll at least watch this video and give me your favorite line from it. K? Love ya!

P.S. And you can also watch video clips on You Tube. But if you really love me, you’ll watch the whole thing.

P.S.S. Valentine’s Day advice from Coal Miner’s Daughter:

“A wohman needs perty thangs”

P.S.S.S. JK’s facebook page says “Ima puttin’ up 17 quarts a apple butter….and I’m bout da die” I know that’s not her favorite quote but Caiti and I are crying we laughed so hard.