The Junior League Project- Charleston

Today we turn to Charleston- Charleston Receipts Repeats to be more particular.  and if we're going to talk about the Junior League of Charleston, one must always be particular.

Now, the food I made inland on a cold November night is rather different than the food I associate with Charleston. 

Summer after freshman year at Georgia, myself and four dear friends loaded up our cars and zoomed off for a summer in Charleston, lucking into an amazing place downtown.  Our furniture consisted of mattresses, folding chairs, and various items purloined from the street or Goodwill.  Our jobs were menial and rather hilarious- a couple girls worked at a restaurant that had a suspicious backroom where mafia types met, while random college students ate pizza out front.  I toiled at a well known tourist trap, where I entertained myself by telling grits-ignorant Ohioan tourists that our premises on Market was a former well-known whorehouse frequented by the likes of Rhett Butler.  No one questioned the authenticity of my ludicrous claims- not even to note that Rhett is, in fact, a fictional character.

Between our arduous schedule of hostessing duties, going to parties, hanging at Washout, and exploring what bars would let us in with out rather dubious forms of identification, we cooked.  The seafood market on the way home from the beach, along with the roadside vegetable stands were our main sources of sustenance (along with Bert's hot dogs).  I have never been so skinny as I was that summer.  Sigh, glory days.

Anyway, back to the present.  So, this is the sequel to the first legendary Charleston Receipts cookbook.  I needed something a little more current after the soup and eggs experiment.  I love this cookbook!  You can tell by its dog-eared nature- I loved to read it when I was a child, and peruse the menus and beautiful illustrations of south of Broad life.

First- a Cheese Soufflé (a misnomer, it's really more of a strata, delicious either way)

Take four pieces of high quality white bread- or the rough equivalent of French bread, which is what I did, and a heaping half-pound of freshly-grated sharp cheddar. Layer a slice of torn up bread, and a fourth of the cheese.  Repeat 3 times.

Mix together the following:

• 3 eggs separated and beaten.  I don't know why you separate them, because it all goes in together- you don't beat the whites until they are stiff, and fold them in like you would for a soufflé.
• 2 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%)
•  1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• sprinkle of red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon mined onion (I cheated here and used about a tablespoon of onion)

Pour the egg-milk mixture into your casserole dish.  Now let sit in your fridge for a least 5 hours, or overnight.

Preheat your oven to 325, then place your soufflé in a larger baking dish full of water.  Carefully put the whole shebang in the oven (cooking the soufflé in the water mollycoddles your custard to just the right consistency), for an hour and a half.

Okay, we have much more coming.  My mouth is drooling just thinking of this soufflé, and I have two other recipes to share with you readers.  However, blogger is being a hater, and refusing to upload any pictures.  Y'all have to see this gooey cheesy yumminess to understand how much I love Nancy Jane, and her not-actually-a-soufflé Cheese Soufflé. So, to be continued, and a souffle cliffhanger.

Spoiler- it turns out delectable.

New Mama Cuisine

So I've been busy taking dinners to all the new mamas in our group of friends lately, especially as the last year has been a baby boom!  The other day I had several questions on how to put together the meal (ahem, Kinger) in a special way.  So I photographed my stuffed shells for y'all this past Sunday.  Now, those of you who have actually been new moms, please correct me if I am supposing wrong with anything, or give me any suggestions.

The most important facet of the meal is disposal containers!  If you've got a wee one fussing at you, the last thing you need to think about is when you are going to return someone's dishes.  Glad makes some especially nice oven-ware which comes in packs of threes.  It's perfect for my meal- 2 packs of stuffed shells, and one of salad.

A recipe for a 13x9 pan usually works just as well in two 8x8 pans.  That way, recipient can put one in the freezer- perfect for when that flood of food dries up.  Especially if you are part of a "meal train", the family is going to have leftovers coming out of the ears.  I attach a card to the uncooked pan of shells with freezer and baking instructions.

 Now salad can be a bit difficult, since you don't want to dress it, as it might be wilted by the time the family eats it.  However, an easy way to jazz up a very simple green salad (here, just mache and cherry tomatoes) is to make a homemade dressing.  It will take about three minutes, and makes a world of difference.  I do either a vinaigrette or simple creamy dressing and put it in a mason jar.  This one is easy, and made with ingredients I usually have on hand.

Creamy Peppercorn Parmesan Dressing-

1/2 high quality mayonnaise, (or Greek yogurt or sour cream could be used if you are one of those mayo haters- hmmmppph)

1/2 cup Parmesan

1/4-1/2 cup milk (add to desired consistency)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Tons of freshly cracked pepper

Whisk together, pour into your jar, then let sit in the fridge for a while for the flavors to meld.

I like to tie a ribbon coordinated with the gender of the new baby- it's all about a little flair ladies!

A name-card with the menu and any instructions.  Wrap  the heated dish in a new clean dishtowel.

Now, a burlap grocery bag tied up and ready to go! 

Of course I got this all together so purty, and forgot both the bread and the dessert I had ready.  Sigh.



T & A

This is a slightly serious post, and I suggest my couple of male readers will be totally disinterested with "Do I look fat?" talk, so move along. 

Let's talk body image ladies.

The other day in Jazzercise (don't snicker, it burns more calories for me than running and involves "sexy walking"- try it and you'll be addicted!), I was looking at the girl in front of me.  She was about my height but probably 20 pounds lighter.  Basically the size I was when I was a freshman in high school.  Waif-like yet toned.  I started daydreaming about how nice it would be to have a figure like that.  I wouldn't have to layer on the heavy duty sports bras at the very least.  I could wear button ups, and pencil skirts without looking like a slut bucket.

Most of the time, I'm pretty content with my body.  Don't misunderstand me, I wouldn't mind losing five pounds or so, but I think that's pretty normal.  I like to exercise, and I like to eat lots of fruits and veggies.  As long as I keep those in track, I eat pretty much what I want.  If I was more regimented, I would lose those five pounds, but I just don't care that much.

Anyway, so a group of us were eating dinner, and I said something about how I saw this skinny girl and wanted to lose some weight.  One of my male friends turned to me, and asked why in the hell girls want to be so skinny. Men like curves, he stated.  Girls who look like girls. 

I pondered this.  I feel like girls like to be tiny for other girls.  I know that Hubs has no interest in me being a stick figure.  My trainer once told me he was never going to let me become twig-like, as (a) I wouldn't have a life, (b) I would be grumpy and (c) my figure is cute as it is, now let's just get my body fat percentage down.

So, when I weighed myself this am, and saw the water weight effects of my sodium laced Chinese food extravaganza last night, I tried not to freak out.  Tried being the operative word. Lately, due to the Halloween debacle and plethora of delightfully fun-sized bits of chocolate in the house, a reliance on too much diet coke, and several incidents like the aforementioned moo shu pork, my face is a  bit rounder than normal.  I need to remind myself that I look cute, and a little winter padding never hurt anyone.  However, it's so difficult not to freak out, and start a shame cycle. 

Why do we do this ladies?  I'm in a bad mood because I've gained a couple pounds- that's so ridiculous if you objectively consider that reaction. I should be grateful and proud, instead of envious of others.  I'm never going to be tall and flat-chested. If I was I would probably lament my lack of boobs, instead of celebrating the fact that I can wear anything.  Those body envy moments are thankfully so much rarer than they were in the past, when I was not as strong in my body image as I am now. 

I shoudl be thankful that I have a strong healthy body that does pretty much everything I ask of it. 

Except fit into a size two.