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“Made South”

June 4, 2017 By Kara Kennedy

Fauxest Gump

Birmingham residents had an opportunity to have the Made South experience this weekend at the Hoover Met. I have been following the Made South and Southern Makers phenomena for a couple of years now on Instagram, so I jumped at a chance to go to the show when a friend told me about it coming to Birmingham.   It was a perfect show to meet the entrepreneurs I have been following on social media.   I also got the chance to support some of them with purchases of Southern-made goods.

There were several vendors and products that caught my eye. I loved to seeing two Alabama distillers participating in the show: Redmont Distilling and John Emerald Distilling Company.   I sampled the Redmont Vodka again I had sampled it at Birmingham’s Sloss Fest last year. It didn’t disappoint.   I have been following the progress of Emerald Distilling on social media and I really was looking forward to trying their products. I am not particularly fond of whiskey, but their Alabama Single Malt Whiskey is smooth! I highly recommend it!

Other vendors I found interesting at the show were:

The vendor Red Land Cotton sells sheets, pillow covers and other Alabama cotton items from cotton grown on a farm located in Moulton, Alabama near the foot of the Bankhead National Forest.

Statesboro, Georgia’s H.L. Franklin’s Healthy Honey is to die for! I’d never heard of Creamed Honey until today. It was so good and unfortunately it had sold out. I did, however, buy their Crystallized Cotton Honey, my second favorite.

I tried the tasty Delta Blues Rice grits from Mississippi. I learn something new every day, and found out that rice was grown in northern Mississippi.

Marc Nelson’s custom-made denim out of Knoxville, Tennessee had samples of hand-made jeans and denim items.

Of course, I sipped on sweet tea from the Alabama Sweet Company and Honest coffee.

One of the highlights of the show for me was meeting an Instagram friend, Here A Chick There a Chick, a company owned by Kerry Leasure. She is an artist who makes jewelry out of vintage items and with each piece also comes a story about vintage piece that makes up the jewelry.

And what southern maker show would be completed without a Forrest Gump impersonator, none of course!

When you get a chance, you should go to a Made South show.

Filed Under: Food, Inspiration, Life Tagged With: Alabama, Birmingham, Made South, South, Southern, Southern life

Auburn Football and the Christmas Holiday in One of My Favorite Cities; Doesn’t Get Much Better!

January 6, 2017 By Kara Kennedy

Kara Kennedy and her dad

My Christmas break usually lasts for about two weeks.  It is a time for me to rest and relax with no worries about deadlines. I spend a lot of time with family and it’s typically very low key.   My dogs love for me to be at home, because they get the constant attention they so lack when I am at work.   This year, however, I decided to cap off the holiday season by taking my dad to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana where Auburn was playing Oklahoma on Jan. 2.   Some friends that I sit beside at the Auburn home games had made plans to go to the Sugar Bowl after Auburn’s bowl game was announced.  I really didn’t think much about going until I found out I could get tickets to the game cheaper through Stub Hub. Plus I was able to get a relatively reasonable price on a hotel room through Booking.com, so the decision to go was made.

It had been about five years since my last trip to New Orleans.  A lot of people don’t particularly like New Orleans because of the 24/7 party atmosphere.  I on the other hand, love the city, mainly because of the food, culture and music.  I used to visit New Orleans every year, but since Hurricane Katrina I have not visited as often as I would like.  The last time I was in New Orleans was in May 2011 around my birthday.  I have always wanted to visit the city during the Christmas holidays. I’ve seen photos of the New Orleans hotels decorated for the holidays on social media, so I knew the holiday season would be beautiful.  So not only was I going to the game but able to spend time in New Orleans during the holiday.

New Orleans has many historic hotels especially on Canal Street, the main street, and in the French Quarter.  My dad and I arrived early in the evening on New Year’s Day. After checking into our hotel in the Garden District, we took the trolley to meet up with our friends at The Roosevelt Hotel.  It was one of the hotels that I had seen on social media, the lobby was gorgeous.   We had drinks in The Fountain Lounge and then walked to the French Quarter for dinner.  We ended up eating at Felix’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar on Iberville Street in the Quarter. The restaurant is known for its charbroiled oysters, and I can testify that they do melt in your mouth.  Being my father’s daughter, I struck up a conversation with the table next to me and met a woman who was a cancer survivor.  She was vacationing in New Orleans for New Year’s Eve before starting a PR job in Las Vegas with MGM Entertainment.  It’s funny how you meet interesting people when traveling.  I have vowed to keep in touch with her.

On Monday morning, my dad and I ate breakfast at the Trolley Stop Cafe in the Garden District before meeting up with our friends. (I highly recommend the restaurant!)  After we caught up with them, we hung out a while at the Marriott Hotel where the Auburn football team was staying.  We saw former players and cheerleaders and, of course, Aubie the Auburn mascot.  My dad stayed at the hotel while my friends and I walked around the French Quarter again.  We went to see the Carousel Bar at Hotel Monteleone.  Part of the experience at the bar is that it slowly turns around the room.   After walking around Bourbon Street we returned to the Marriott and got ready for the game.

Friends in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl
Friend Terri and Travis Bayles at the Sugar Bowl

The game didn’t turn out exactly as I hoped it would, but the night did. After the game we ended up at the world famous Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets. The trip was fun despite Auburn’s loss.  Plus I was able to spend time with my dad and my Auburn friends who have become more like family.

 

Filed Under: Entertainment, Family, Food, Football, Holidays, Southern Cities, Travel Tagged With: Auburn football, New Orleans, New Year, Sugar Bowl

Serve Smoked Gouda in a Pastry at your Super Bowl Party

February 7, 2016 By Kara Kennedy

Gouda Cheese bake
Photo Courtesy of Savory Simple

The Super Bowl game provides a perfect excuse for me to splurge on yummy tailgate party food. One of my go-to appetizers is Baked Smoked Gouda in a Pastry because it’s easy to prepare and has always been well received at parties I have taken it to.  A friend of mine gave me this recipe many years ago when I was looking for something new to serve at a party.

I have always served this appetizer with crackers and a Pinot Noir.   I haven’t tried serving mixed nuts as this recipe suggests, but I am sure they would add to the flavor of the appetizer.

Here’s the recipe courtesy of the Dallas Morning News: 

1 (10- to 12-ounce) round chunk of smoked Gouda, measuring about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick and 3 1/2 inches in diameter, brown rind removed.

2/3 sheet of Pepperidge Farm brand frozen puff pastry, defrosted according to package directions

1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place 2/3 sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. If it is stiff, let sit for 5 minutes or so. Roll out the pastry into a 12- to 12 1/2-inch square. Cut off corners to make a circle of pastry (reserve some scraps for decoration). Place the smoked Gouda round in the center of the pastry. Brush the edge of the circle with some of the egg mixture. Fold the pastry up over the cheese to cover. Trim the excess pastry and press to seal. Brush the seam with egg mixture. Place seam-side down onto the baking sheet.

Decorate the top with pastry scraps cut into shapes, adhering them with egg mixture. Brush top and side of the wrapped cheese with the egg mixture.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until pastry is browned and puffed. Serve with nuts and crackers.

Makes 8 to 9 servings.

Filed Under: Food, Football Tagged With: Food, SuperBowl50, Tailgating

Happy Thanksgiving! My Southern Corn Casserole Recipe

November 26, 2015 By Kara Kennedy

CasseroleIt’s Thanksgiving again, and most southerners, including me, love to serve casseroles at holiday dinners.  Whether it’s the famous green bean casserole my sister makes or the sweet potato casserole, topped with marshmallows, my mom makes, casseroles are a quick and easy addition to any meal.  I found a corn casserole recipe last year that I love, and have cooked it again for this year’s Thanksgiving feast. Once I find a recipe I like, I typically add it to my book and use it over and over.  This casserole is quick and easy to cook!  Enjoy!

Here’s the recipe:

Corn Casserole

(6 – 8 Servings)

  • 1 pkg of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
  • 1/2 cup margarine or butter, melted
  • 1 can (8-3/4 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 can (8-1/4 oz.) cream style corn
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.

Pour margarine or butter and corn into dish. Blend in sour cream. In separate bowl, beat eggs and stir into casserole. Add muffin mix. Blend thoroughly. Bake 35 – 40 minutes or until center is firm.

 

Filed Under: Family, Food, Holidays Tagged With: Casseroles, Holidays, Southern food, Thanksgiving

The Southern Breakfast Casserole On Our Holiday Table

December 29, 2014 By Kara Kennedy

Cheesy Bacon and Ham CasseroleAdmittedly, I believe that most people who know me think I am too busy working and focusing on my job, to know how to cook or let alone enjoying cooking.  But, I am here to tell you that these thoughts couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I spent most of my childhood in the small Alabama town of Opelika, which is the twin city to Auburn.  My father was the basketball coach at Opelika High and so my childhood was surrounded by everything that had to do with small-town America and the activities one finds to do in a small town.   That being said, there were certain activities my mother insisted my sister and I be involved in; one was dancing, ballet, tap and jazz classes twice a week and the other was Girl Scouts. My sister and I were very involved in Girl Scouts, and it was up to my mother to see that we filled up our sashes with every possible badge there was to get in the organization.  This meant that we worked towards badges during our regular meetings as well as at camp in the summer.   Every summer we were carted off to Camp Concharty in Pine Mountain, Georgia.  For two straight weeks we worked tirelessly to earn the badges we were supposed to while living outside in the mountains of Georgia.   Camp is where I learned to cook on a modified Crisco can with a wood fire underneath that you had to build and keep it burning yourself.  Eggs and bacon were practically the only thing you could cook on the small cooktop. Determined to get the cooking badge and after a couple of tries on actually cooking the eggs and bacon, I was successful.

When we returned home after the two weeks at camp and after we started school in the fall, it quickly became my responsibility to at least start dinner when got home from school.  My mother worked outside the home and this was one of my chores after getting my homework.  Even though I belabored the task at times, I am grateful to my mother for making me learn to cook because it helped me later when I went away to college and it taught me how to fully function on my own.  It also kept me out of the fast food lines.   So getting back to the title of this post and purpose of this post Southern casseroles;  my dad every year at Christmas asks me to cook breakfast on Christmas morning.  In taking on this task, I had to find a recipe that would feed our family of 12. I found my Cheesy Bacon and Ham Southern Breakfast Casserole in the 2001 November issue of Southern Living Magazine.   It has become a tradition for me to cook this casserole every year.  It also is one that satisfies even the pickiest of eaters in my family. Incidentally, to save time on Christmas morning and to make getting to opening presents quicker, I make my casserole a day ahead.

From My Recipe.com

Cheesy Bacon-and-Ham Casserole

Southern Living NOVEMBER 2001

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound bacon
  • 1/2 pound chopped cooked ham
  • 3/4 cup quick-cooking grits
  • 1 (16-ounce) loaf prepared pasteurized cheese product, cubed
  • 1/4 cup butter or margarine
  • 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation

Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp; remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon, and set aside.

Cook ham in reserved drippings in skillet over medium heat until browned.

Cook grits according to package directions. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and butter until melted. Stir in bacon, ham, eggs, and remaining ingredients. Pour into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until set.

NOTE: Casserole may be prepared a day ahead; cover and chill. Remove from refrigerator the following day, and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake as directed.

 

Filed Under: Food, Holidays, Life Tagged With: Food, Holidays, Southern life

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We tell real stories about the south. ~Kara Kennedy, Publisher

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