Dinner on the Grounds - Southern Suppers and Soirées

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Dinner on the Grounds - Southern Suppers and Soirées 

Pre-order your copy at jamesfarmer.com/store/books to receive in April. 

Thanks y'all!!

Giddy Up, Yee Haw, Y’all!

Baby Napp turned one this past January. So naturally, when you turn one, you have a square dance, right? RIGHT!!!

Napp loves to dance. And, fortunately for him, he was born into the perfect family. We all love to dance – especially when no one is looking… that’s when my best moves, I feel, are perfected. I digress…

Whether one of us holds him and waltzes around the living room, or sashays around the dining room table with him, sways, shags, line dances or just grooves, this baby lights up and joins the fun! He just loves to dance. “Dance, Dance” we call it and he performs on cue. Since we have a pole barn pavilion on our land, a square dance was totally apropos.

From a fantastic Lisa Mae Cake (she makes all our special occasion confections) to hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixins, we ate and danced and played with all our friends all afternoon long! Pine trees in planter boxes and quilts and hay bales (and space heaters since it did get chilly) all filled the pavilion – along with the laughter of so many other babies and children.

I loved seeing Napp’s face light up when he saw his friends surround him and dance and even help him open his birthday presents. Many of his friends are the children of our friends - this simply makes the circles of friendship grow tighter and more special with each generation. Having our friends there along with their precious babies was fulfilling and heartwarming as it could be.

The kid in all of us did a dosey doe, clapped our heels and ate too much cake – and enjoyed Napp time… and nap time too afterwards!!! 

A New Byrd in the Nest

There’s a new Byrd in our nest over at James Farmer Incorporated! Stacey Leigh Byrd has flown back home to Perrydise after an internship in the Big Apple. What is the next step after working in New York for almost a year? Why working at James Farmer Inc of course!

One of the many things I love about living and working in a small town is how information is garnered. One day, I was chatting with Mrs. Penny at the bank, asking her how her daughter, Stacey, was enjoying New York. Mrs. Penny informed me that Stacey’s internship was coming to a close and she would probably be returning home soon. I started thinking (a dangerous pastime) and scheming more so. Well, lo and behold, if I did not run into Stacey one day later in downtown Perrydise – right smack on Carroll Street and in front of JFI’s international HQ!

I said “Stacey, what are you doing home?” fully aware that Mrs. Penny had informed me of Stacey’s impending return. Stacey innocently replied that her internship had come to an end and she wanted to be back down South. She said she was “currently looking for a job…” Well, an interview and quick hiring later, Stacey joined the JFI team!

As members of Team JFI, we all wear many hats. Sami is my personal assistant and handles all my speaking and book signing engagements and helps on design installs. Laura Lyn is my office manager and my boss really, and helps on design installs. Jason gets the window treatments and paintings hung as well as finds the best grapevine for wrapping the storefront in the material when needed and of course helps on design installs. Stacey in now on staff a la JFI as my in house marketing guru and PR gal, as well as store manager, and helps with design installs. As you see, it is all hands on deck for install days!

I wanted to formally welcome this Byrd into the nest on the blog! She flocked in this summer and has proven herself quite capable of all the tasks at hand. Thank you Stacey for joining the team – we are all glad you’re on board! As my marketing and PR maven, she would want y’all to follow me and the shop on Instagram @jamestfarmer as well as James Farmer on Facebook and @allthingsfarmer on Twitter.  Tweet tweet tweet… literally for this Byrd!

Sunsets

Sunsets have always moved me almost to tears. As the sun sets upon 2013, I wish all the best for y'all this new year. Recharging body and soul are vital, and I find the mountains and gulf both invigorating.

I wrote this poem this past summer while vacationing at Seagrove, and as the last drops of light slipped beneath the glassy Gulf this New Year's Eve, I felt it only apropos to read it again and toast to 2013. The year brought amazing highs and depths of lows I've never known, but the sun kept setting each day and rose shortly thereafter.

New dawns, new days, New Years... May they all be happy.

It changes every second,
It's liquid more than light.
Colors, tints and hues and shades
Melt before in pure delight.

What hues they are I cannot tell,
But cast and caught beneath its spell, I gaze with wonder, with awe and zeal.

Thus another day has dawned
and thus another day has set,
and I pray for no regret,
That in hope this day has found me wholly true and wholly blessed,
simply for I lived to see it set.

This day no more shall mark my brow
Nor rouse my heart to beat anew
For the sin or good my soul allowed,

For beneath the sinking, silky sky, I am renewed and must ask why?
Why did I receive the glory
of seeing the heavens declare Your story?

Of mastering the art of time and place, and feel the glow upon my face
I am but man who's day has set,
A son who's sun has ended nigh,
But garnered a promise from on high, that when I wake, with mercies anew, the lights of heaven will still be true.

Sun come set and crown each day,
With feasts of color and awesome sway,
For when we see you vanish beyond the shore, we are reminded that once more,

You'll crest the coming dawn with shades
that words are too afraid
To capture wholly or truly tell
And remind us again
for why we're made,

To glorify and praise
the One who let the sun rise
and in balance made the sun set.

“Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup with a Soda on the Side”

First off, having a baby sister ten years my junior allows me to have experienced all the wonderful songs, YouTube videos and fun lingo I may not have otherwise been privy too.

This video and catchy tune notwithstanding, for I sing it every time I make this soup. Thank you Meredith!

I love soups, stews, chilies – one pot wonders that will fill you up and feed you for days! Often when I’ve been writing about food, having a food photoshoot for a book or magazine or discussing menus with clients, the last thing I want to do is go home and cook. Yet, cooking is my therapy too – being a foodie is a tangled web indeed.

 

My chicken noodle soup is simple. I think it is delicious (toot toot goes my own horn) and it cooks up fast and will feed pharaoh’s army – a highly desirable trait for a dish in my family! I also like that this recipe is basic enough to appeal to year round flavors. Of course, during the winter, I crave this warm soup with some leafy kale and carrots, but I’ve found that basil or lemon thyme are delightful additions in the summertime as are sage and rosemary in the fall and chervil in the spring.

There are two ways to make this soup – neither of which are right or wrong. There is the homemade version where you stew a hen, make your own stock, cut the kale and herbs from your garden etc etc etc and then there’s the quick and easy version – the latter I find myself preparing more often than the former! PTL (Praise The Lord for those not brought up in the Bible Belt) for store bought rotisserie chickens!

Farmer’s Note: This “recipe” is more of a read through, thus you can cook to your liking. Enjoy y’all!

What you’ll need:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• ½ stick butter
• 1 rotisserie chicken (the flavor really doesn’t matter)
• ½ a large Vidalia or red onion, chopped
• 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 cups carrots, cut into rounds
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 3 cups egg noodles
• 4 cups of kale (shredded, torn or julienned)
• ½ cup fresh parsley roughly chopped
• Tablespoon of Nature’s Seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste

Like my Mimi, just about any dish I make starts with browning onions. Onions are marvelous but divine when browned. A little oil for temperature and butter for flavor, I brown the onions and season them well. Salt and pepper to your liking and add some Nature Seasoning too.

Once the onions are brown, add the garlic and celery. Also like Mimi did, I like using lots of celery – it is like parsley to me, for the flavor is often forgotten since they’re used as garnishes and a healthy addition to buffalo wing platters.

Once the garlic and parsley are softened I add the stock. Make or buy it depending on your time but a good two quarts is plenty. You can always add water and bullion to reduce or increase the stock amount. I like a little broth with my soup so you may want to increase the stock/liquid if you prefer more of a soupy soup!

Pull the chicken from the bone and add to the stock, onions, celery and garlic. Bring the soup to a gentle boil. Add the carrots. I don’t like the carrots to be too mushy, so I add them toward the end – even at the end. A bit of crunch is just fine!

Add the egg noodles then the kale. The noodles cook fast and the kale wilts just about immediately. Season further to taste and serve hot!