Happy first weekend of Spring, y’all! I often say that people who feel like their life isn’t glamorous enough just don’t have the right soundtrack. So I thought I’d share what we’ll be listening to this weekend. Enjoy!
Author Archives: Hannah B.
Cheryl’s Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
When we first moved in to our home, one of the only things that made me nervous was that we were sharing a driveway with a family we didn’t know. (I should say that not knowing someone in a town as small as ours is somewhat of a novelty and worth being a little nerve-racked over.) Husband’s almost always better at these these things than I am. I had to ease in. We started by exchanging nervous ‘hellos’ when carrying in groceries but about a couple months in, as often happens with neighbors, we started having real conversations–about important things like plumbers and the perfect road-tripping music.
Before we knew it, we were getting schooled by this crazy cool couple from Louisiana. They let us share their yard sale. They invited us to their annual crawfish boil (see below)…
How’s that for a Throwback Thursday? Hannah & Husband circa 2008.
…and then I got sick, and Cheryl shared the best chicken soup I’ve ever had. Only it wasn’t soup: it was better. I’d never actually had gumbo before–a crazy circumstance that has since been remedied many times over at more than a few Southern foodie destinations. Anyway, when I asked her about it, she was nice enough to share the recipe, and now I’m going to share it with you. If there really is such a thing as ‘chicken soup for the soul’ (do you remember those cheesy 90s books?), it’s this stuff. Cheryl’s Chicken and Sausage Gumbo will cure what ails you–be it a Spring head cold or a mundane Thursday.
This recipe makes about 10-12 servings, but it freezes well and you can always share it (obviously)! Bonus: It tastes even better the next day.
Cheryl put a reminder on the recipe that measurements are approximate. You don’t measure when you cook gumbo!
Ingredients:
Roux (see below)
2-3 pounds chicken (I recommend organic chicken thighs.)
1 pound smoked sausage (Cut into 1⁄4 inch slices or remove from casing and cook.)
Tony Cachere’s Cajun Seasoning
cayenne
1⁄4 cup fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
filé (optional… I have had a hard time finding this in East Tennessee!)
3 quarts chicken broth (or a broth/water mix)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium to large green bell pepper, chopped
2-3 jalapeños, seeded and diced
green onions
long-grain white rice
How to Make a Roux:
Note: You can make the roux ahead of time, and if freezes well.
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
Stir equal parts flour and oil together–mix well. Cook over medium-high heat in cast iron or enameled cast iron dutch oven or other heavy gauge stockpot, stirring continually until the color of chocolate. (You can also start it on the cooktop and then move to a 400-425° oven while you do other things. Just be sure to stir it every few minutes.)
Directions:
You will need a large, heavy gauge stockpot as well as a bowl to the side.
1. Lightly brown sausage–remove to bowl.
2. Saute about 2⁄3 of vegetables in sausage drippings until translucent. Sprinkle a good coating of Cajun seasoning over veggies and stir, sautéing just a few minutes more allowing veggies to soak up the seasoning. Remove to bowl.
3. Sprinkle chicken with a little cajun seasoning and then lightly brown in the same pot. Remove to bowl.
4. Spoon into the pot several large mixing spoonfuls of rouse and add the broth gradually while stirring evenly. Blend until all roux is dissolved. Will go from paste to soup consistency. You can determine your thickness here–more roux will thicken, more broth will water down.
5. Pour the sausage, vegetables, and chicken from bowl to broth and bring to a gentle boil.
6. Add parsley and bay leaves.
7. Stir in 1⁄2 the remaining (uncooked) vegetables. Add the other 1⁄2 about a half-hour before serving. (“This layers your seasoning.”)
8. Reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered for about an hour.
9. Salt and cayenne to taste. Check seasoning, and add more if needed. (If you do add more, simmer for another 10-15 minutes.)
10. Remove from the heat and remove bay leaves. Skim off any oil that has risen to the surface. Shred your chicken and then add it back to the gumbo.
11. To serve, ladle over rice in bowl. Garnish with filé and green onion tops.
Vintage Button Hair Bauble
When I was little, I would spend afternoons sorting through my mom’s old button collection while she sewed. So when I inherited Husband’s beautiful Nana’s vintage collection, it was like getting a jar full of gold! Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out ways to incorporate these little treasures into my everyday style. My latest idea: hair baubles! Here’s how you can make your own.
First things first: Gather your materials.
- 2 identically cut pieces of felt
- a hair clip (you can get these from any craft store or beauty supply)
- needle
- thread
- vintage buttons
- a glue gun
I started by sewing buttons onto the green piece of felt that I didn’t mind showing up a little behind them. Start with the biggest ones and then fill in with smaller buttons, beads, and pearls.
Next I sewed the navy piece of felt onto the back to keep all those knots from showing.
I could have sewed the hair clip on the navy piece before doing sewing the two together, but I chose to just hot glue it on. In retrospect, sewing probably would’ve made for a prettier back.
Voilà!
Weekending
Yep, this pretty much sums it up.
Cornbread {Finally}
Here in the South, a good cornbread recipe is a prized possession. Every Southern cook has their own take on it, often passed down from generation to generation with a well-seasoned iron skillet. For years, this regional delicacy has eluded me–until this weekend.
That’s right. I made cornbread–moist, fluffy, tasty, Southern gold. And (as is so often the case) it totally happened by mistake. You see, like a lazy Southern cook, I never keep buttermilk on hand. I do, however, have a tendency to throw dollops of Greek yogurt into just about anything I bake. In this case, the food gods smiled, and it worked out beautifully. So here it is, making it’s official debut: Hannah & Husband’s cornbread recipe–heretofore to be passed down from generation to generation with our well-seasoned iron skillet.
Hannah & Husband’s Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients:
6 Tblsp unsalted butter, + a little extra (I split a stick.)
1 cup cornmeal
3⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tblsp sugar
1 1⁄2 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp baking soda
1⁄4 tsp sea salt
2 eggs
1 cup 2% milk
1⁄2 cup plain Greek yogurt
Also needed… an 8″ iron skillet
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425° F.
Grease your 8″ iron skillet with the extra unsalted butter.
In a medium sized bowl, mix your dry ingredients and set aside.
In a small glass bowl, melt the unsalted butter.
Then, add the rest of the wet ingredients (eggs, milk, and yogurt), and mix well.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and fold it in with a spoon. It’s ok if it’s still lumpy.
Pour everything into your skillet and put it in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes. (Use the skewer test to be sure it’s fully cooked.)
When you take out the cornbread, butter the top immediately with any extra unsalted butter, and let it sit for a few minutes to cool before serving.
Ideas for serving:
Serve with a rack of ribs, like we did this weekend, or a hot bowl of chili. Here’s our basic chili recipe.
I *love* using jalapeño butter to mix things up a bit. Here’s my favorite recipe from a 2011 issue of Southern Living.
Craving a mid-afternoon sweet? Try some butter and jam. Get our strawberry jam recipe here.
Not sure how to care for your iron skillet? Here is our primer. Bonus: A link to (one of my favorite Southern cooks) Rebecca Gordon’s cornbread recipe!
So… is there a recipe that has eluded you for years?
Something you’ve tried and tried with no success?
Share it in the comments. Perhaps we could figure it out together!
Tony Bennett in Concert
On Thursday night, Husband and I fulfilled a little dream of ours: We saw Tony Bennett live in concert. He was playing Andrew Jackson Hall in Nashville on a very, very stormy night. While I felt like the concert hall was sort of modern and cold in design, as soon as he walked on stage, the entire room seemed to warm up. It was amazing to watch an 88 year old come out and command an audience with so much charisma and an amazing set of pipes.
We were among just a handful of youngsters (can you be a youngster when you’re nearly 30?), and we may have been the only ones that were thrilled to hear he’d been back in the studio with his “friend Lady Gaga.” Apparently, they’re releasing an album together later this year because, as he put it, “she needs the money.”
The thing that was so striking about Mr. Bennett was his swagger–not normally a statement I make about 88 year old men. When we saw these tickets, we jumped at the chance because when it comes to musicians in their 80s, you can’t really say, “Ah, we’ll catch ’em next time.” But he seemed to enjoy performing as much as anyone I’ve ever seen. At the end of the concert, he set his microphone on the piano and sang “Fly Me to the Moon” with no amplification just because he was so excited about the fabulous acoustics in the nearly 2500-seat room.
We have several friends that have mentioned recently how unhappy they are with whatever age they happen to be, and it really bothers me. I think every day is exactly what you make it. It’s fascinating to me that Mr. Bennett can sing all these standards, but then enjoy just as much recording with a new artist like Lady Gaga. You have to keep things interesting don’t you? You have to evolve and change. I found myself hoping that when I’m 88, I find just as much joy in whatever I’m doing as Mr. Bennett seemed to find on that stage.
If you too are interested in seeing Tony Bennett on tour, you can see the full schedule here.
One more note: While we were in Nashville, we ate at Koto Sushi Bar, and it was delicious! (We’ve been a little obsessed with sushi ever since watching this documentary, but that is for another post.)
Are there any artists you’d love to see perform in person?
What’s the best show you’ve ever seen?
Excuses. Excuses.
Photo from our shoot with Leah Bullard Photography… note the bench.
I’ve been a bit MIA lately, but with very good reason. I’ve been working on several projects and while some are still secret, I thought I’d share the few that I can! I’m proud to announce, you can now view my work and the things that I make at hannahbdesign.com.
I’ve also been busy blogging over at Made + Remade. You can check out the new $5 light fixture in my studio or this rad bench I made with my HGTV pals and the ladies from Spruce Upholstery over there.
Finished product in the top pic.
Take a peek at my new desk in the HGTV offices and get tips for fixing up your own workspace.
Also, if you’re interested in some serious lovey-dovey-ness, the M+R crew wrote profiles on the Makers We Love so be sure to check those out. (Link to my profile of Husband.)
So hopefully that little round-up makes things a bit more clear. We should be back to our regularly scheduled programming now. Thanks as always for all your encouragement through comments, notes, and social media. Husband & I really love sharing our little corner of the interwebs with you!
Curing Cabin Fever: Make Some Hot Tea
If you have a case of cabin fever, might I suggest a spot of tea? As I’ve mentioned before, Husband & I try to make an effort to incorporate processes into our lives that have a little ceremony–a little time to slow down and enjoy the moment, the task at hand, and our surroundings. To that end, we’ve started leaving out our tea set to encourage us to have tea in the afternoons.
Idea #3: Pull out your tea set.
It’s been funny because the silver tea set, that belonged to my Aunt Vangie, seems so over the top to our guests. My mother-in-law didn’t quite know how to react when I pulled it out to serve her on a recent visit. Are we the only ones that use our silver on days that aren’t holidays? If you’re trying to stylishly domesticate, and you’re blessed enough to have fun dishes and serving ware, get them out and use them! There’s no reason to have things that just sit on your shelf collecting dust.
How do you unwind in the afternoons?
Tea? Coffee? Cocktail?
An Afternoon in the Park
Late last Fall, when there was just a little nip in the air but the leaves were still clinging to the trees, Husband and I decided to spend an afternoon in the park. But this time just for fun, we invited one of our very favorite photographers, Leah Bullard, to come along and document our adventure. While we take a lot of pictures, we’ve never been great at capturing photos of the two of us–we never even had engagement photos taken. So this year, we’re going to correct that.
If you’ll remember, we ended up using one of these photos for our holiday cards, and we were so pleased with how they turned out. Leah has such a gift for capturing light and those little details that I tend to nerd out over. Plus, she’s such sweetheart that it’s easy to be yourself in front of the camera. If you’re interested in seeing more of her work, be sure to visit her website.
Photos by Leah Bullard Photography
Curing Cabin Fever: Happy Clutter
Do you have cabin fever? I’ll be the first to confess that winter is hard for my mental state. I get a crazy case of the Januarys that will last until things finally start to warm up, and we can spend our after-work hours drinking cocktails on the porch, riding bikes, and playing tennis again. Until then, I’ve finally come up with just the right set of circumstances to make my case of the Januarys not quite so bad.
Idea #1:
Surround yourself with Happy Clutter
Clutter is usually treated as such an ugly word in internet land, but I’m not talking about laundry all over the living room and stacks of mail. I’m talking about “happy clutter.” The clutter that’s created by a stack of books you’d like to read, a pile of quilts to curl up under, a stack of records waiting to be played, or a basket for your latest sewing project beside your favorite chair. To me, these are the little touches that can make your home feel warmer and happier.
What’s your version of happy clutter?
