Fresh Tart

Hola! Hola! Back from Mexico, in fact since Thursday night, but I've been having too much fun hanging with the Bryt family, visiting from New York, to scratch a post together! It's been a fast blast of weekend, with Bartley arriving Wednesday for work, and Maud and their daughters Catherine and Natalie joining him (us!) Friday night. We just had dinner here at the hacienda, simple pasta and roasted vegetables.

Yesterday Maud and I stole over to Stacey's to see Cooper Cuteness, Stacey's amazing Stacified house, as well Stacey's studio/new work. Thanks Pooh!

Then back here to cook and cook, with Harry Cunliffe and Suz et al coming for dinner to join all of us. For a little appy I made shrimp paste, a recipe from The Gift of Southern Cooking, basically sauteed shrimps pureed with lots of sweet butter, with a hint of cayenne pepper, sherry, and lemon. We spread it on toasts, but I'm dying to try it stirred into some hot grits, oooh... I'm a little obsessed with it in fact. (Recipe posted in comments, below.) For dinner, I grilled an insane amount of beef tenderloin (lots of tasty leftovers, more than enough to put Bartley & Maud on the plane with thick roast beef, tomato, lettuce, and horseradish sandwiches!), whipped up my new favorite saute of okra, onions, and tomatoes withbacon, and made a pile o' popovers. Ahhh, popovers. Nothing is better alongside beef, especially with pan juices to soak them in. Just kill me. It was a pretty magical evening - literally, since Harry is a sometimes magician and was gracious enough to show off a few of his tricks for the kids. (And adults!) Great, great fun!

And now, the Bryts are gone, sniff. House is very empty feeling, although not for long. Nathan is home from Florida soon (yay!) and then we're heading out for Cooper's 2nd Birthday Party! Happy Birthday Cooper Cuteness!

Many, many highlights from Mexico to share, a little later today, so stay tuned...

More brunch! This time here at the hacienda, with a group of Santa's Little Elvettes, aka The Merry Miladies, aka The Brunching Beyotches (ooh, bad one, sorry): Kim, Suz, Polly, Kasey, and Stacey. I've found it quite relaxingly festive at this time of year to host a casual little brunch, a sit-down and put-up your-feet affair. No kids, no hubbies, just girlie chat, a few sips of prosecco, Christmas music, and simple brunch classics like eggs and pastry and cured meats and a new addition this year - cheese grits. Puffy and golden browned and creamy decadent...I'm all about cheese grits, dang (recipe posted in comments, below). I'll have to toss what's left because John and the kids aren't the grits/polenta types, which leaves just me and the grits (shiver), baaad idea.

I made several of my favorites, in fact. Mini-popovers to start (with Hope Creamery butter, natch). Then a crustless quiche with spinach, tomatoes, potatoes, and mushrooms; Neuske's Canadian bacon; cheese grits; and Mom's Almond Puff Pastry with coffee to finish.

Fullness! Fortified for last-minute shopping! Merry Christmas ladies!

Popovers! I love them so dangerously (as a delicious delivery vehicle for Hope Creamery butter) that I don't let myself make them very often. But tonight, aka Crazy Wednesday, when I needed a quick, hot something to go with a quick, hot soup for the whole fam... Eggy, buttery popovers, yep. So easy. So perfect. To die.

Although I'm almost still full from dinner last night - a gift certificate extravaganza at The Capital Grille, courtesy of Ana Scofield, for Debbie Williams and...lucky me! It was very sweet of Ana to share her bounty with us, and oh boy, did we do it up. Wine and king crab with drawn butter and huge, juicy steaks (that we could hardly put a dent in) and killericious truffle-Parmesan fries (holy fries). The place was hoppin', quite a scene, I must say. Lots of good holiday cheer (even a table of revelers in Santa hats!), it was a perfect Holiday Ladies Dinner. Thanks Ana and Debbie!

And thanks to Cooper for such a fun afternoon today - I missed him last week, but he had a great time in Maine, visiting Stacey's friend Caroline at her family's amazing home. Horses, a pot-bellied pig, dogs, beach - a postcard perfect pre-Christmas visit to one of the most beautiful places in the country. NICE! I don't know (yet!) what Stace is doing for a Christmas card this year, but this picture could do - Happy Merry Sweet Baby Cooper, awwww.

And oh! Lest I forget, have a look at the Famously Fabulous Amy Brown Christmas Cookies that we gratefully receive and devour each year. I'd offer a taste - but they were gone in mere minutes. All that hard work! All that loving care! And John and I ate them so inelegantly, I was rather ashamed - which is actually a compliment, a testament to how amazingly irresistible they are.

Dangerous time of year for the waistline, very dangerous...