Favorite Friday Reboot

Missy Tippens

I'm sorry to be posting late! The holiday and a root canal threw off my internal calendar! Back in the day, I used to do Favorite Friday posts. In those, I often shared some of my favorite things and newly discovered favorites. I thought I'd re-post one of those today. Enjoy!

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Missy Tippens, here. And I have a new favorite salad to share. Let me say, first, that it takes a little longer to prepare than Ruthy's cabbage salad (which I've eaten twice this week already!). But I love my new favorite. And it's still pretty quick...

Missy's Wilted Spinach Salad

Ahead of time, boil some eggs to keep on hand for when you want this salad. Store in fridge.

Ingredients for 2 large meal size servings:

Baby spinach leaves (I buy pre-washed to make life easy)

Mushrooms (about half a container)

1 shallot

4 slices bacon

2 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar

1 Tbs. sugar

2 Boiled eggs

(Wheat thins are optional to snack on while cooking and got included in the photo by accident!! LOL)

Fry bacon on medium heat.

While bacon is cooking, chop the mushrooms and shallot.

Remove cooked bacon to absorbent paper towels and and SAVE THE DRIPPINGS (a nice way to say grease). (For Kav and other vegetarians, just skip the bacon and heat some olive oil in the pan.)

Add scallion to the skillet and cook until translucent. Add a pinch of Kosher salt (optional, but something I feel the need to add to any vegetables I'm cooking!)

Add the vinegars, whisking constantly.

Lower temp a little and add the sugar, whisking constantly. (Be careful of how hot it is. The second time I made this, the sugar hardened and I made a very strange candy!) :) Cook a couple of minutes until reduced.

Meanwhile put however much spinach you want into a serving bowl and add the mushrooms.

Pour hot dressing over the spinach and toss immediately to slightly wilt the greens.

Top with crumbled bacon and chopped eggs. Toss.

Serve and enjoy!

Favorite Fridays Revisted: Missy's Wilted Spinach Salad

Sharing a favorite post from 2012...

Missy Tippens, here. And I have a new favorite salad to share. Let me say, first, that it takes a little longer to prepare than Ruthy's cabbage salad (which I've eaten twice this week already!). But I love my new favorite. And it's still pretty quick...

Missy's Wilted Spinach Salad

Ahead of time, boil some eggs to keep on hand for when you want this salad. Store in fridge.

Ingredients for 2 large meal size servings:

Baby spinach leaves (I buy pre-washed to make life easy)

Mushrooms (about half a container)

1 shallot

4 slices bacon

2 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar

1 Tbs. sugar

2 Boiled eggs

(Wheat thins are optional to snack on while cooking and got included in the photo by accident!! LOL)

Fry bacon on medium heat.

While bacon is cooking, chop the mushrooms and shallot.

Remove cooked bacon to absorbent paper towels and and SAVE THE DRIPPINGS (a nice way to say grease). (For Kav and other vegetarians, just skip the bacon and heat some olive oil in the pan.)

Add scallion to the skillet and cook until translucent. Add a pinch of Kosher salt (optional, but something I feel the need to add to any vegetables I'm cooking!)

Add the vinegars, whisking constantly.

Lower temp a little and add the sugar, whisking constantly. (Be careful of how hot it is. The second time I made this, the sugar hardened and I made a very strange candy!) :) Cook a couple of minutes until reduced.

Meanwhile put however much spinach you want into a serving bowl and add the mushrooms.

Pour hot dressing over the spinach and toss immediately to slightly wilt the greens.

Top with crumbled bacon and chopped eggs. Toss.

Serve and enjoy!

Favorite Fridays Revisited: Pigs in a Blanket!

Sharing a favorite post from 2012...

Missy, here. I recently hosted my book club at my house. My kids get home from tennis practice around 6 pm, and I knew I needed to make snacks for book club that could double as dinner for the kids. Soooo...I headed to the grocery store (at 5 pm that day!) and decided to pull out an old favorite from when my kids were really young. Pigs in a blanket. I figured I'd leave them whole for the kids and cut into appetizer size for my friends. :) I also grabbed bags of pre-washed fresh veggies and served with Ranch dressing. Then sliced up a fresh pineapple. Easy to prepare for friends and hungry kids.

Ingredients:
Canned crescent rolls
Hot dogs (I like turkey sausage)
Sliced American cheese

Tear cheese into small strips.
Slice an opening in the middle of each hot dog, trying not to cut all the way through, leaving about a half inch uncut on each end (prevents cheese from leaking out).

Stuff a cheese strip or two inside each hotdog.

Separate the crescent rolls. These were generic and didn't pull apart as well as what I'm used to. I had to do some patching like Ruthy has talked about with pie crusts! :)

Lay stuffed hotdog at wide end and roll toward the point of the crescent roll.

Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Put the wrapped hotdogs on the sheet cheese-side-up. Bake according to package directions. Although they'll probably need to bake a bit longer. I don't remember how long, since my book club ladies had arrived by that time. We were chatting so I didn't pay attention. :) I think it was about 10 extra minutes, long enough to make sure they weren't doughy.

I only snapped a shot in the oven. No finished photo since I was occupied. I sliced them in quarters for the appetizer size (and then, since I hadn't had dinner either, proceeded to eat four! LOL). Kids just grabbed two or three whole hotdogs each. Yep, hungry from tennis. :)

Yum!
www.missytippens.com

It's Favorite Friday Time!

Missy Tippens

Well, it's time to resurrect Favorite Fridays. Because my family is moving! And we have to accomplish that feat in 6 weeks. As you can imagine, the months of May and June will be wild. Thankfully, Tina Radcliffe will be taking over for me in June and part of July. (Bless you, Tina!). And Cate has been wonderful to set up a guest for me this month. But on any other open Fridays in May I will be re-posting one of my Favorite Friday posts. This one is from 2012. (Can you believe we've been doing the Cafe blog that long??) I hope you enjoy!



Missy, here. It's Favorite Friday, and I started thinking about cravings I've had lately. I don't know if it's ever been proven scientifically, but I suspect we crave what our bodies need.

A couple of weeks ago, I craved eggs like crazy. And not my normal egg white omlets. No, I wanted the whole egg, yolk and all. Not only that, but I also craved the yolks runny! I hadn't wanted an over-easy egg in decades. It was all very strange. But I ate eggs several times that week, assuming I needed something in those runny yolks! :)

Then after than, I had cravings for greens.

I'd been on a kale kick already--remember the yummy kale chips? So one night recently for a quick recipe, I chopped up turkey smoked sausage and cooked it with kale. Dinner in ten minutes.

For lunch on two or three days this week, I made sauteed veggies to eat over pasta (which I toss with olive oil and keep in the fridge to eat on through the week). I included some garlic, broccoli, kale, shredded carrots and tomato. YUM! And it definitely satisfied my craving.

Then yesterday, I discovered something new at our grocery store. A mix of greens they call Power Greens! It's baby kale, baby spinach, and baby chard.

Tonight, I sauteed several hands full of the greens, garlic, broccoli and a can of chopped tomatoes. Oh, and I added a little bacon and pine nuts as well. I served it over linguine. Always, always, I top these dishes with shredded parmesan! Lots of it. :)

I'm thinking maybe I'll get my fill soon. But if not, at least it's a good thing to crave! What have you craved lately?

Favorite Friday!

Missy, here. I thought I'd share a couple of items I've discovered that are new favorites of mine. In case you want to check them out.

First.. CARAMEL.

Second... Coffee.

Yes, I say caramel like many of you say chocolate. With adoration. :) And I say coffee with the admission that I'm addicted.

So here is my new product I discovered at my grocery store that I now view with adoration and addiction.

Starbucks Discoveries--Caramel Macchiato! There are three flavors. My daughter likes the vanilla. I'm crazy about this one. You'll find it in the refrigerator section with the milk and coffee creamer!

Next, a product my mother-in-law introduced to me while we were at the beach. She brought us a container, and she and I snacked on it until we thought we would pop. Of course, anything tastes good from the balcony at the beach...

The product she brought? Pimento Cheese...

You may remember when I shared my favorite pimento cheese spread from Very Vera. And also the recipe I shared where I tried to make some as good as Vera's. (Click here for that recipe.) Well, this one is as good! I loved it. It has a hint of spice and is so creamy.

You can check out Palmetto Cheese and its history, made on Pawleys Island, by clicking here. They show a list of grocery stores where it is available at the bottom of the home page.

While eating it on crackers (it was SO good on Wheat Thins Toasted Chips--Great Plains Multi-grain), I kept wanting to taste olives in it. So I may chop some up next time and see how that tastes. What do you think? Olives added in pimento cheese?

Visit Missy at www.missytippens.com.

Favorite Friday

Missy, here. It's been a while since I've posted a Favorite Friday. So I thought I'd take advantage of doing a very easy post and sharing a few new favorite items I've discovered. :)

My Bible study leader recommended these. Truly a Belle item to share! :)

Jeff Foxworthy's Grit Chips

If you like grits, you'll love these! They're crunchy and a bit gritty (no pun intended). Just like I like. But for those who can't even find regular grits in your grocery store, I'm not sure you'll be able to find these either. Hopefully Jeff Foxworthy has gotten distribution in your area! :)

I also discovered these tortilla chips in the gourmet chip area. The area with the smaller, less well-known brands. And some are supposedly a little healthier.

These are seedy and crunchy and wonderful!

The Whole Earth Really Seedy Multigrain Tortilla Chips

Now, I know I've shared this before. But since I'm still addicted to Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, I thought I'd share the new bowl, new flavor (Peachy Keen back in June) and new purple spoon!!

Menchie's--Missy's addiction

I also wanted to share a gorgeous cake and table from a recent 50th wedding anniversary party we attended. Congratulations to the Whitleys!

By the way, those are real magnolias on the table. Not silk. It was a fun celebration of a wonderful couple!

So what fun foods have you discovered lately?

Favorite Friday! The Best Burgers

Missy, here. Sharing another of my favorite things...

A cheeseburger from Five Guys Burgers and Fries! I ate there last night with my daughter. Granted, we'd been shopping for hours, and anything would have tasted good at 9:15 pm! But Five Guys is always my favorite, with the best burger anywhere! The softest bun. Fantastic, fresh toppings. Not too much beef.

And amazing, fresh-cut fries, overflowing their container, filling a brown paper bag.

So what about you? What's your favorite burger (even veggie burgers count!)?

Favorite Friday!

Missy, here. I wanted to share with you a wonderful dinner we had last Friday at a restaurant we love but hadn't eaten at in a couple of years (since they relocated), 2 Dog in Gainesville, Georgia. They have a beautiful patio, and I would have snapped a photo, but my kids were already embarrassed to death that I had taken photos of my food! (They tell me they think I've gone insane since I got my iPhone, taking photos of everything. I always tell them it's for the Cafe blog!) 

So since they wouldn't let me stand up and photograph the patio, I found a couple of photos online. :)

The setting was beautiful, but the food was even better. They use locally grown and organic products. They make most items fresh, in house (as well as grow their herbs).

Here (above) is my spinach and walnut salad with bleu cheese, bacon and raspberry vinaigrette dressing (that had chunks of berries in it!). It was delicious!

Then the main course. A true southern dish, shrimp and grits. Their shrimp is in a somewhat sweet barbecue sauce that's amazing. And it's served with grilled asparagus.

On the menu, they say the shrimp is served with their "own 2 Dog grits." So I'm thinking maybe they possibly grind their own grits. They're the best grits I've ever had anywhere. ANYWHERE. I'm not kidding. When they were located on the downtown square, we would go up there to eat just so I could have those grits! Rich, creamy... Oh, my. Now I'm having a craving!

[Note, I did come home and make grits a couple of days after that meal! I'll share that with on another day.] :)

And then, we had the most amazing dessert. Peanut butter pie. Topped with chocolate that's been melted and poured/spread on top. Outstanding!! Do you see three forks on the plate? My daughter, son and I dug right in! I couldn't even photograph it before several bites were gone. (Again, to the kids' total humiliation and much complaining!)

It was a lovely evening! I hope if you're ever in the Gainesville, Georgia, area, you'll stop by and try 2 Dog.

Have you eaten anywhere lately that really impressed you? That you can't wait to go back to?

Favorite Friday! Good Food and a Book

Missy, here. Back when we started doing Favorite Friday, I mentioned that P.F. Chang's is my favorite Chinese food restaurant. I ate there yesterday (by myself, with a book for my "date") and tried something new.

I thought I'd share it. Especially since I had just bought a new iPhone and wanted to take photos with it. LOL

I usually get the Chicken Chopped Salad and mix both the dressings (ginger and sesame). But this time I got the Thai Chicken Noodle Salad to try something new.

And here, I'll share with you my very first iPhone photo! :)

Here's a description: THAI CHICKEN NOODLE SALAD  
Grilled lemongrass chicken, fresh mango, radish, bean sprouts, crisp greens and thin rice noodles tossed in a Thai peanut dressing.

I really enjoyed it! And I enjoyed reading during my meal equally as much.

I'm loving a book I picked up while at the Southern Kentucky Book Fest and Writers Conference. I attended a workshop taught by Alecia Whitaker and really enjoyed the reading she did of her YA novel, The Queen of Kentucky. So I bought a copy and had her sign it for me. I'm sure the folks around me on the patio at P.F. Chang's (I ate outside since it was such a perfect 80 degree evening!) thought I was crazy because I kept laughing out loud. :)

So, what's your favorite meal to have when you have a date with a good book? :)