Category Archives: recipes

Perfect BLT + A Father’s Day Giveaway From Petit Jean Meats

  June 5, 2013 - 8:00 am | ,
31 Comments

Want to know what the key is to a perfect BLT in my opinion? There are lots of factors that can add to this pretty much perfect combination of sandwich ingredients.  Good bread, a good grainy mustard, super fresh tomatoes or the addition of avocado all make this sandwich yummy. But the thing that makes a BLT extra special is this: Peppered bacon. Seriously, this extra thick peppered bacon from Petit Jean Meats is one of the best ways I know to make a BLT pop with flavor.  It’s also pretty amazing all by itself! I am super excited to … Continue reading →

Bacon Wrapped Dates With Goat Cheese

  June 3, 2013 - 8:00 am |
1 Comment

Yummiest little bite of party food ever?  Bacon Wrapped Dates With Goat Cheese! Sweet + Salty + Cheese = Goodness. Such a happy combination of flavors, I promise. Bacon is relatively hard to beat as a crowd pleaser, so naturally, these were a big hit at my house. My sister makes platters and platters of them for parties at her restaurant.  It took me a little while to prep them, but that part could be done ahead of time for sure. And speaking of bacon, I am giving away a Petit Jean Bacon Sampler this week! Just in time for … Continue reading →

Colorful Summer Salad with Peppers and Edamame

  May 22, 2013 - 6:00 am |
2 Comments
Colorful Summer Salad with Peppers and Edamame, #Bean2Blog, #Soy, #Healthy, Salad Recipes

I put together a new salad featuring edamame this week in preparation for Bean 2 Blog, a super fun blogging event at P. Allen Smith‘s Moss Mountain Farm, hosted by P. Allen Smith and The Arkansas Soybean Promotional Board. Edamame makes a regular appearance on our table, as a dinner side or an afternoon snack.  The kids love it and so do I, so I am excited that my state is growing more of this great crop. Edamame is basically a common soybean, but it is harvested at the peak of ripening right before it reaches the hardening that makes … Continue reading →

Homemade Insect Repellent

  May 21, 2013 - 6:00 am | , ,
2 Comments
Homemade Insect Repellent

When the temperatures warm up, the bugs come out to play, but we still want to be outside!  Solution: Homemade Insect Repellent! When I was out in the garden last week, I tried some homemade insect repellent that my friend, Sandy, had made.  I loved the way it smelled, so I asked her for the recipe and made some for my family. Turns out, it is super easy to make your own all natural homemade insect repellent!  Try it! Sandy used olive oil in hers, but I used soy oil because I am taking my bottle with me to learn … Continue reading →

Chinos to Moss Mountain Farm

  May 20, 2013 - 10:00 am | , ,
16 Comments
Chino House, Moss Mountain Farm, P. Allen Smith

Last week we played hooky one day to spend some time in one of the most idyllic settings in Arkansas, P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm. The kids were excited because they had heard me talk all about the farm after I went to Bean 2 Blog out there last spring. It was a very busy day on the farm because P. Allen Smith and his talented team of producers, assistants, designers, photographers, publicists and camera folk were all working on many projects at once. Photo shoots, recipe segments, gardening pieces, radio recordings and dinner plans were happening all over … Continue reading →

Cole Slaw

  May 9, 2013 - 8:00 am |
1 Comment
Cole Slaw, Recipe for Cole Slaw, Picnic, Side Dishes

It is starting to get hot enough outside that you need a good standby recipe for cole slaw. This recipe is part Ina Garten and part Rhonda Eubanks, my dear friend and catering buddy. Rhonda and I love to cook together!  We have a great rhythm in the kitchen, and we freely alter each others’ recipes. She makes a slaw with bacon and blue cheese that I love.  The combination is brilliant.  However, she makes hers with bottled dressing and cole slaw mix, so I changed it up a little to have a homemade dressing and freshly chopped cabbage and … Continue reading →

Front Porch Picnic

  May 8, 2013 - 9:00 am | , ,
3 Comments
Front Porch Picnic, Hot Dog Party, Petit Jean Grillers, Grilled Corn, Cole Slaw

I’m sorry if you don’t live in The South right now because we are having our two weeks of perfect weather. (I exaggerate, but we really only get a few weeks of spring before it becomes brutally hot!) Since our family is on a Media Break (for Seven), we’ve been looking for different ways to spend our time together than in front of the TV or computer, so this week we had a Front Porch Picnic. Our back deck is currently all ripped up, so we set up a hot dog picnic in our front yard. Petit Jean Meats provided … Continue reading →

Lemon Basil Garden Salad

  May 2, 2013 - 8:00 am |
1 Comment

One of my Grandmother’s favorite local restaurants serves this salad that I find delectable, and since I cannot yet find it in me to go there without her, I have come up with a suitable imitation of this spring garden salad. I used arugula instead of salad mix, because it’s my favorite, but I imagine that you could use just about any kind of salad greens.  Yellow squash are really beautiful at the farmers’ market right now.  I love them sliced thinly in salads or on pizza. In addition to being yummy, they add such great color to any dish. … Continue reading →

Family Photos: In the Kitchen + Arkansas Sugar Cookies

  April 19, 2013 - 9:00 am | , ,
3 Comments

After we made our and ate our yummy gumbo for our fun family photo shoot with Whitney, we made cookies! These are my kids’ favorite sugar cookies! And we made them in the shape of our favorite state! Arkansas sugar cookies with Razorback red icing! Yum! I can remember when the kids were really little, I would let them sit up on the counter and dump the ingredients in a bowl for cookies.  Then as they got a little older, they got to measure the flour and sugar themselves.  Soon, they also learned how to break the eggs and mix … Continue reading →

Family Photos: In the Kitchen + Gumbo Recipe

  April 11, 2013 - 7:00 am | , ,
10 Comments
IMG_2885

Making Gumbo Together As A Family I’m continuing today with our family photos that I started posting last week. After we bought our groceries at Argenta Market, our family took our photo shoot to our house, where we made dinner together. Ben is cutting up some Petit Jean Smoked Sausage for Gumbo! I love how you can see all the different parts of the process of getting ready for dinner in these photos.  Whitney has even more from this series online, and I feel like they really tell the story of our family being at home in the evening. Our … Continue reading →