Miss Janice's "Friendship Gifts" for November 2010

I'm so happy with the "Friendship Gifts" that I have prepared for visitors to my home during the month of November. Everybody will surely be fixin' a turkey this month, so I decided to prepare a spice mix and placed it into these little mini-jars, and then topped them off with a cute label that reads: "Gobble Gobble Gobble -- Turkey Spice Rub." I added some raffia and voila..."Miss Janice's Turkey Spice Rub" is ready to go!
The apron obsession continues...this one is from HomeGoods--it's my Thanksgiving apron..."Give Thanks!"


This spice rub will flavor the turkey meat...leave it on for awhile and it will permeate into the turkey. Be sure to rub the spice under the skin!

Recipe for Miss Janice's Turkey Spice Rub:
2 tsp. dried rosemary
2 tsp. dried thyme
2 tsp. rubbed sage

You will need about 1 tblsp of the mix for each pound of meat.

It will soon be turkey time y'all...Gobble Gobble!!!

Thank you so much for stopping by today...I'll be back later this week. Hmmmm, not sure what I'll post about--maybe I'll show the photos of my "Turkey Tree!"

Miss Janice's Gourmet Product of the Month

Cranberry chutney!

What is Chutney? Chutney is a relish orginiating in India made with fruit and spices. The Chutney preserved the fruit itself so that it could be eaten out of season and it also acted as a cooling condiment to tone down the hot and spicy flavor of Indian curries.

Taste of Gourmet's Cranberry Chutney is a sweet, flavorful condiment filled with whole cranberries and spices to serve with roast turkey, chicken, or pork. You can mix a little of the Chutney into chicken salad or spread it on sliced turkey/ham sandwiches. A great party food treat: Cover the top of a Brie cheese with the Cranberry Chutney, wrap it in pastry, and bake until browned!

We had a big Halloween night here at "The Roost." Today, I'm taking down the Halloween decorations and putting up the Thanksgiving decor. Earlier this morning, we enjoyed some bagels with a mixture of cream cheese and Cranberry Chutney on top. Yum. Yum. Yum, y'all!

Recipe for Cranberry Chutney Bagel Spread:
2 to 3 tblsp Cranberry Chutney
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature

Mix the Cranberry Chutney into softened cream cheese. You can add a bit of milk or orange juice, if needed for softness. Spread onto warm bagels and enjoy! (The spread will last in the frig for a week).

The Small Print Y'all!!!
Nutrition Facts: For 1 tblsp: Calories 40, Calories from Fat 0, Total Fat 0g, Saturated Fat 0g, Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 0, Sodium 0mg, Carbohydrate 9g, Sugars 2g, Protein 0.

This Cranberry Chutney is the Taste of Gourmet "Product of the Month" during November. TOG has a "Product of the Month" each month...a fundraising project to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Purchasing the Cranberry Chutney during the month of November will generate a $1.00 donation to St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The hospital is devoted to research and treatment toward eliminating chronic childhood diseases like leukemia and is the only childhood cancer research center designated by the National Cancer Institute.

It's time to start thinking about hostess gifts for the holidays. Food is a gift of love and is a perfect gift to give in this economy. We all have to eat y'all!!! Stock your entertaining pantry and gift closet while making a donation to St. Jude!!! A 12 oz. jar of the Cranberry Chutney is only $8.95. This is delish y'all and will make a great hostess gift during the holidays. Just take your hostess a jar of the Chutney and some bagels that she can enjoy the next morning. You can order your Cranberry Chutney online here.

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit with me. I'll be back maybe on Wednesday with my "Friendship Gifts" for November. Gobble Gobble Y'all...we're on the road to Thanksgiving!

Jezebel Sauce...A Staple at Southern Socials

One thing I've learned about living in South Florida...when you live near one of the exits off of I-95, friends are always coming and going up and down the interstate and dropping in! A few nights ago, I enjoyed a casual "Girls Night Out" with a long-time friend who wass heading 'up the highway'. "Girls Night Out" ain't what it use to be for me...Now, it's some appetizers with a glass of Merlot, followed by a quiet dinner out. My, my how things change!!!

My friend called earlier this week and said she was passing thru, so I needed to come up with some nibbles...fast! Now, y'all know Miss Janice loves to entertain and I keep my Southern Entertaining Pantry stocked at all times. I served Taste of Gourmet's Jezebel Sauce as a dip with crackers.
I mixed 8 ounces of cream cheese with 3 tablespoons of the Jezebel Sauce and served with crackers...and some Merlot!

Love these little "Girls Night Out" napkins I purchased a long time ago...perfect for us Jezebels (aka little old ladies)...going out on the town!
The matching "Girls Night Out" paper plates...

Jezebel Sauce is an old Deep South recipe that is a staple at Southern soirees, potluck dinners, and church socials. Jezebel Sauce is made with peaches, apples, and apricots and flavored with hot mustard and horseradish for a "kick." The mixture of the flavors will trick you...like the cunning woman in the Bible that the Jezebel Sauce was named for.

It is tasty as a dip for chicken fingers and fried shrimp, or as a spread on ham, turkey, or roast beef sandwiches. It's the perfect party food y'all!

Nutritional Analysis: 1 tblsp. Calories 50, Calories from Fat O, Total Fat Og, Saturated Fat Og, Trans Fat Og, Cholesterol O, Sodium 50mg, Carbohydrate 13g, Sugars 9g, Protein O.

You can purchase the Jezebel Sauce at my Taste of Gourmet site here. The cost is $8.95 for 9-oz. jar.

The outfits have definitely become less-risque for my "Girls Nights out!" "Here's What I Wore" The jeans are my 'Saturday Jeans' by Ralph Lauren and the white blouse is from Coldwater Creek. I wore my brown cheetah print mules and carried my '2.55' pocketbook by Chanel.
The cheetah print mules are by Van Eli and the camel '2.55' pocketbook is by Chanel. Along with my rollring wedding band by Cartier, I wore my 'Oyster Perpetual' watch by Rolex, a gold Chanel charm necklace along with cheetah print earrings and my cheetah print scrunchie (yes ma'am, I'm bring back the scrunchie!). My fragrance of choice for the evening was Burberry.

Gifting Idea
I wanted to give my friend Lane a gift, so I thought she might like to have a pack of the cute little girly-plates and napkins, and also a jar of the Jezebel Sauce. I made a little gift tag with cheetah border...the crown in the logo for The Crown Restaurant in Indianola--home of Taste of Gourmet! Inside the tag is the recipe for the Sweet Jezebel Dip.
I wrapped it up in cello and tied it all up with a cute little cheetah print ribbon. Makes it memorable y'all!

Thank you so much for visiting with me today. Please visit my Taste of Gourmet site if you would like to order this fabulous Jezebel Sauce. I also have an Entertaining...Southern Style section--which will always be a work-in-progess!

Are you from the SOUTH???

LOVE my new Southern-girl wall art!!! It's all about the So-uth!

Where exactly is the South???
Well, some say the South is...
Florida, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Texas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.

I say the Old South/Deep South is The Real South...
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana

I'm proud to say that I'm American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God!
This cute little photo saying just that...graces a guestroom in my home, along with photos of my mama with her mama and of my mama and daddy...Hazlehurst, Georgia--early 1950's.

~The South is a place where tea is sweet and accents are sweeter!
Even though Southerners love Co-Cola, their hearts belong to sweet tea. We drink it all the time--whether the temperature is 32 degrees or 102 degrees...it's our go-to drink that you will be offered when you come to visit.

As a Southerner, I love to hear the sound of a sweet Southern accent--not a fake one, a real Southern drawl!!! Miss Janice speaks two languages...English and Southern. I can definitely turn on the Southern drawl when I feel like it!

The Drawl...
One has to be raised in the South to speak with a Southern drawl... We speak slowly and drop the endin' consonant; i.e., fixin', darlin', et cetera. We don't enunciate our words--that would be uppity!

~In the South, Summer starts in April.
I'm not sure about this one y'all...maybe it's because we start wearing white shoes and carrying our white pocketbooks on Easter Sunday??? Hmmmmm

~Southerners like to believe that Macaroni and Cheese is a vegetable.
Macaroni and Cheese is definitely in the vegetable food group y'all! It's right there with fried green tomatoes and butterbeans! Miss Janice's Macaroni & Cheese baked in a Paula Deen casserole dish. ~Front porches are wide and words are long.
Southerners are "porch people". When we are sitting on our porches we are welcoming visitors!

My front porch here at "The Roost" was made for me...I love to sit on the porch, relax and watch the people go by, and enjoy some sweet tea or maybe a glass of merlot!

~Pecan pie is a staple.
The "Dessert of the South" is pronounced "Pee-KHAN" pie y'all! It's a welcome dish at dinner parties, covered dish suppers, funeral receptions, and just about anywhere Southerners come together to socialize! You are a special Southerner if the pecans were picked from your own orchard!!!

My favorite pecan pie recipe is from the book by Alda Ellis, Sentimental Living.
*Recipe for Ms. Ellis' Pecan Pie
3 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup maple-flavored pancake syrup
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
1 cup pecan halves
Combine eggs, sugar, salt, butter, and syrup in a medium-sized bowl and mix well. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with pecan halves. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Very Southern...very decadent.

~Y'all is the only proper noun.
Most of us 'etiquette people' like to tell y'all that you should greet people properly with..."Good Morning/Good Evening Sir/Ma'am," but the truth is...In the South, "Hey, how y'all doing" is a perfectly acceptable way to greet people whether you are at church, the grocery store, or at a football game. Sometimes it's just "Hee-eeey"...two syllables please! Perfectly acceptable.

What is not an acceptable form of greeting in the South? "Hey you guys!" Good Lord. Chalk on a chalkboard!!!

~Chicken is fried and biscuits come with gravy.
Now savvy Southerners try to enjoy this delicacy in moderation!!! But, we still love it y'all! It's our go-to food for picnics, tailgating, family reunions, Sunday suppers, and weeknight take-out meals.
~Everything is Darlin'.
Addressing someone as "Darlin'" is a high compliment in the South. Professionally, it's probably not a good idea to start calling everybody in the conference room "Darlin'" but in the South, it's still done!

Here's a recent conversation I had on Twitter with my friend Preppy101...

Me: Totally slept thru the (Kentucky) Derby...so un-Southern!

Preppy101: Oh, darlin', are you feverish?

That's the way we talk y'all! I promise. But don't you dare call me honey!!! Ooooh, I don't like that!

~Someone's heart is always being blessed.
We say "Bless your/his/her heart" all the time! It doesn't matter if you are sick, just graduated from college, got divorced, got a great job...whatever, we want to bless your heart!

I'm feeling real Southern tonight, I'm fixin' some good ol' comfort food for dinner and serving it Buffet Style.

Just the way Mama does it!!!
With some sliced tomatoes...
Salt & Pepper on the mac & cheese and tomatoes...butter on the biscuits (if husband passes on the gravy)
Miss Janice uses her knife and fork to eat fried chicken but husband doesn't:) To be on the safe side, we're using these cute little napkins tonight.

So, are YOU Southern? Love to hear from you!

SWEET TEA AND BOILED PEANUTS

I've been doing yard work all day long and I'm ready for a glass of iced tea...on the Porch--at The Roost! The little tea towel is an inside joke with friends back in Mississippi!

The lazy days of summer are here! Sunny days at the beach or lake, taking in a movie at a nice cool theatre, relaxing on the porch under the cool breeze of a ceiling fan...with a good book...

June is National Iced Tea Month
In 1904 a gentleman by the name of Richard Blechynden was trying to sell his hot tea at the World's Fair in St. Louis and because there was a heat wave, no one wanted any, so he added some ice and iced tea became popular. Like most Southerners, I began drinking iced tea at a young age. Iced tea is considered the beverage of hospitality, the table wine of the South, and sometimes referred to as the champagne of the South.

Take the heat out of your summer, slow down, and join me in sipping some great iced tea! Today, I'm enjoying a longtime Southern favorite, Lipton Iced Tea.

The Southern Country Caviar
What goes well with iced tea in the summertime? I'm lovin' some boiled peanuts! Pronounced "bald peanuts" below the Mason-Dixon line, boiled peanuts are an acquired taste, but to Southerners, they are addictive. They are a true Southern delicacy and most Southerners would tell you to enjoy them with sweet tea, a coke, or an iced cold beer!
If you are from the Deep South, you've no doubt driven by "Boiled Peanut Stands" on the side of the road. Everybody loves 'em-I know y'all have bought them on occasion!If you can't find a roadside stand, you can buy them canned (available at Publix, Walmart, et cetera). They may be eaten straight out of the can or placed on a plate and covered with a paper towel, and heated in the microwave for 30 seconds. You may also make your own...here's a recipe.


Recipe for Boiled Peanuts in a Crockpot:
1 1/2 quarts raw uncooked green peanuts
1/2 cup salt
2 1/2 quarts water

Wash the peanuts well. Place the peanuts into the crockpot, add the salt and water; stir. Cook, covered on high for 5-7 hours. Add more water if necessary, to keep the peanuts covered.

Miss Janice's Summer Friendship Gift
All my summer houseguests will receive a can of boiled peanuts as my friendship gift throughout the summer. What an easy way to say "Welcome" to guests and give them a little bit of a Southern delicacy to take home! Here's my "Friendship Gifts" for the summer:
Very easy...very Southern!
Thank y'all for dropping by today. I'm off to relax with my sweet tea and boiled peanuts...the whole can, by myself--yes ma'am!