Oui~Oui, It was Fifty!

My BFF just celebrated her 50th birthday... A big event in any life! (not that I've been there yet)
She had always said that she wanted to be in Paris for her big day. She is going in a couple of weeks, but in the mean time we thought we'd bring the Eiffel Tower to her.It was a fun event and we managed to pull off the surprise... thanks to a lot of co- conspirators.

As with any good party there was plenty of good food! We had bruschetta, chicken salad croissants, and of course, a spinach dip. A party isn't complete with out the all time favorite spinach dip.


Spinach Dip
1 pkg frozen spinach
1 can water chestnuts
diced red onion
1 container sour cream
1 small block cream cheese
Knorr vegetable soup mix
1 round fresh sourdough bread

Strain the spinach of most liquid, Slice water chestnuts. Combine all ingredients. Hollow the center out of a round of bread- creating a bowl. Serve with pita chips and a cute little spreading knife.

Speaking of birthdays...Y'all pop in to Kari's at Living Large and wish her a Happy Birthday today too!
Sandi

Moving on up...

Birmingham Alabama is a lot like most large old cities.
Old, empty, and in need. Years ago we all started moving to the burbs... and left behind some beautiful and graceful old ladies of style.

The good news is that these old ladies are getting dressed up once again.

There is a new generation breathing life into the downtown areas. Can you tell this 1920's building used to house the Southern Bell offices?Loft living is becoming the ideal atmosphere for the young and hip.But~Mom doesn't mind when the view is of Police headquarters!

Grilled Pizza

SEC football starts today!
This starts a new season, a new battle.
If you remember, last November, Auburn won bragging right for 365 days. This is the beginning of a new era for Alabama fans... the Saban-Nation!

How 'bout some pizza to eat during the games?

I have a basket of fresh tomatoes from the market, my basil has survived the heat and the drought. Perfect! The secret here is the freshest ingredients.

Margherita Pizza
dough for one pizza
1 small can crushed tomatoes
2 roma tomatoes
bunch of basil leaves
pizza blend grinder
grated mozzarella cheese

Place the dough on a hot grill, cook until set on one side, 3-5 minutes. Flip dough. Smear the crust with tomatoes, top with slices of tomatoes and fresh basil. Sprinkle generously with spices from a pizza grinder. Top with cheese. Close the lid and cook 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and dough is cooked through. Allow to stand a few minutes before slicing.

Y'all enjoy!
Sandi

Centerpiece of the Month~ August

The month of August has almost slipped past me, like a Kat in the night.

It is time to send my centerpiece of the month to Janelle at Talk of Tomatoes. In spite of trying to sell a house, she has managed to find the time to round us all up.

Last month Meeta posted a collection of orange. Myriam had the most prefect and simple design of cats grass in a square vase. MishMash filled a watermelon with summer flowers. All such creative ideas!I am dreaming of a trip to the beach... I am in need of a re-charge. My centerpiece this month is a collection of sea shells, and a reminder of the ocean waves.

Labor Day is around the corner... could it be that summer is almost over?

Hallelujah y'all!

Sandi

A Nest

DebraK from Bunnies Bungalow ask the question... Where's your nest? I think we all have a nest that we settle into when we want some down time, or need to feel in control. KJ talked about her Eye-Dyllic nest, a computer central for her busy home. Sophie Honeysuckle talked about hiding out in her nest when she wasn't feeling well.

My nest is in my blue and yellow sun room. The perfect spot to curl up with a good book, a cup of coffee in the morning, or to share a snuggle. It makes me feel like I'm relaxing at the beach... which would be my heart's nest.
I have been tagged with a new 'middle name' tag by 'Elle Marie' at Feeding My Enthusiasms
So this meme works this way (condensed version):
*You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.

*If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
* At the end of your post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

My Middle name is LOU (luckily very short)
That makes me a Sandi Lou~ born in Texas, raised around the world, settled in Alabama.
L~ I love the beach. The sound of the ocean, the fresh air, the beachy food, the bad for me sunshine. You name it. It is my heart's nest. I can go to the coast for just a few days and feel instantly refreshed and recharged.
O~ I once died my hair Orange. Not on purpose... It was a 'do it yourself' thing that goofed. I just wanted a 'little' color. I must say that it was before orange was even cool.
U~ U'all brighten my day when you stop in and leave a comment. Bill is always wondering what I am snorting about over my lap top... it is the funny comments on this blog. My internet friends~ Who would have ever thought!

So let me pass this on to 3 of my internet buddies
First, DebbieK What's the K for?
Surely Honeysuckle isn't Sophie's middle name.
What goes with Shabby?

All Y'all show me your nests!
Sandi

What a Wonderful World

This is an amazing video that is making the rounds... Have you seen it?

When you put your kids to bed tonight... how many shadow puppets can you make?

It's a wonderful life.
Y'all have fun!
Sandi

Keep an eye on this guy

Tucker wasn't to sure about this guy... Keep an eye on him!

I was more than happy to! I watched him all the way into the pot.

We didn't try to hypnotize our lobsters... apparently rubbing a lobster on the top of his head will relax him. Another little factoid... lobsters don't scream when you put them in the pot. The sound (and there is one) comes from steam escaping from under the shell. Head first in the pot of boiling water, with the rubber bands in place.

While they are boiling, melt butter and spread out some newspapers.

Let the feast begin!

Y'all enjoy~

Sandi

Home Again...

Y'all were so sweet to stop in and visit while I was off wandering around the marsh. I laughed at all your comments...
Kat is the winner with 'Does this trailer make our buts look big?'We had a kickback- relaxing time.
Timing on the 'spit' is critical... this beach will be under water in just a few minutes. We made a quick getaway by boat.There isn't much that is more beautiful than New England in the summer... It is a great place to visit.

Besides that... the eatin' is yummy!

More to follow~

Thanks y'all for stopping in!

Sandi

Road Trip!

Road Trip!

I'll be gone for a few days... if we're lucky Bill will man the blog.

In the mean time~

I need a caption for this photo...

Bye y'all,

Sandi

Crabby?

Does this heat make you as crabby as it makes me?

Are you tired of the regular lasagna with a jar of Ragu sauce and hamburger meat? How 'bout a crabmeat lasagna? This is a yummy lasagna that is good enough for company or to fill up a family of 8. It is easy to throw together, then takes an hour to bake. Serve it with a salad and some garlic bread. Crabmeat Lasagna
1 box lasagna noodles
1 can cream of shrimp soup
1# crabmeat
1 pint cottage cheese
8oz veggie cream cheese
1 egg
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 onion chopped
2 Tbs fresh basil
Combine soup, cream cheese, egg, and crab meat. In another bowl combine cheese, diced onion and basil. Precook noodles with olive oil, according to package directions. Lay noodles in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Cover with crab mixture, then cheese mixture. Repeat layers again. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Let stand 10-15 minutes before to serving.

I like the Barilla noodles, they are thin sheets of pasta... almost like homemade.

Y'all enjoy!
Sandi

Nice Matters

Quoting from the person that started this lovely award: "This award will be given to those that are just nice people , good blog friends and those that inspire good feelings and inspiration! Those that care about others, that are there to lend support, or those that are just a positive influence in our blogging world!"

I was tagged not once... but twice! My mom always said 'If you can't be nice, keep your mouth shut'. With advise like that, I have learned a lot. So I guess I do deserve the 'Nice Matters' Award.

First I was tagged by Sandi McBride who is from South Carolina. She may have been a hard nosed law enforcement type, but is now just plain nice. She writes a columns for Progressive Journal.

Then Garden Goose, who is a country girl at heart. Tina takes country nice and spreads it around the blogging world. She and her husband have an on line magazine Small Town Living.

Friends who have spread 'Nice' around the blog...

Dot who is strolling through Georgia

Heather Splaneyo in Michigan, a little bit of this and a whole lot of that.

Adriann A Day In The Life Of Oaks in Montgomery

Tammy's Gentle Retreat

Beachy's Cape Cod Cupboard has been on a little hiatus, but her niceness lingers.

Jill at Who Could Ask For Anything More manages to stay nice... while being a busy mom.

Rhoda, who is Southern Hospitality, has already been tagged with this... but deserves another tag for helping me with ideas for our Country Store.

Thanks Y'all!

Sandi

Staying cool?

Just looking at this picture of lemons cools me down 10 degrees.
Which makes it only 98° in the shade here in Alabama.
How 'bout a quick and easy dessert for the hottest day of the year? These Lemon Squares will hit the spot.



Lemon Squares
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 8oz pkgs cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
Combine flour and confectioners sugar. Cut in cold butter until well blended. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes until firm, but not quite brown. Set aside.
Beat cream cheese with sugar, add eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix on low until well blended. Pour over warm crust. Bake 35-40 minutes until set in the center. Sprinkle confectioners sugar over the top. Cook in the fridge. Slice into squares to serve.
Y'all stay cool!
Sandi

WhistleStop Country Store

Y'all know that WhistleStop carries a variety of products; batter mixes, cookbooks, aprons, and gift items. If you check out our web site, you will see that these are all available wholesale. We ship mostly to small Mom & Pop's and local markets across the country. Bill and his staff work hard at keeping these great items on the store shelves. Since I have gotten involved in the blog, I have been trying to think of a way to make our products available to everyone right here.

We are always having people email us and ask how to get a certain product that they may not be able to find. We get questions about our great marinade. They ask how to purchase an apron, or how to get their hands on our newest cookbook.

So we have decided to open the WhistleStop Country Store, A Pinch of This, A Pinch of That. This way we can make things available to everyone. We can highlight some special products, and offer gift packages for special holidays and events. Hopefully we have worked out the quirks~ time will tell.

Our little country store won't replace our web site, but hopefully make it easier for us to feature a pinch of this, and a pinch of that.

Thanks y'all,

Sandi

Bon Appetit, y'all

From Champaign, Illinois~ ChampaignTaste is hosting a Julia Child cook-off in honor of her birthday. I knew that this was one event I wanted to be a part of.

I can remember watching Julia Child on our black and white tv... way before HDTV, satelites, and the Food Network! (As my son would say 'Back in the Day') I can remember her amazing presence and throaty laugh~ that is when we could get the rabbit ears pointed in the right direction.

For this event I pulled out my book of 'Julia's Kitchen Wisdom' to decide what to make. This is the best of all her cookbooks; a collection of her helpful hints and basic recipes. If you ever see a copy, grab it! In this small book she offers advice on everything from making a hollandaise sauce, to roasting a duck.

I decided to go very basic~ after all, we are about good home cooking at WhistleStop. I'll admit that I have never roasted a duck and probably won't any time soon! Instead, I roasted a turkey breast and made some great turkey salad... a la Julia Child.

Turkey Salad

6 cups chopped cooked turkey

1Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs lemon juice

1 cup celery

1/2 cup purple onion

1 tsp fresh tarragon

1/2 cup parsley

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup walnuts

"Toss the chicken with salt pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, celery onion and nuts. cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes or overnight. drain out any accumulated liquid; toss with the parsley and tarrragon. Taste analytically and correct seasonings. Fold in just enough mayonnaise to enrobe ingredients. "

I thought the phrasing was 'looooovely', especially if you read the recipe in a Julia Child accent with a glass of wine in your hand. The only thing I changed is using Alabama pecans instead of walnuts. I don't think Julia would have minded!

Bon Appetit~ y'all

Sandi

The Most Creative Tag

I have found that bloggers take the game of 'tag-you're it' very seriously. This one takes the cake!


I was tagged by Just A Beach Kat with a most creative bowl of vegetable soup. The idea behind this challenge is to to write the names of 8 friends in a unique way~ 'using the wonders of the world'. Tag 7 friends and the person who tagged you. Here at the WhistleStop Cafe Cooking Blog we recognise the green tomato as one of the natural wonders of the world!

This one's for you Kat~ you are just precious!

Pat is on her Back Porch Musing... hopefully about a unique way to write names of her blogger friends.

Kim has taken Daisy Cottage and done so many creative things in decorating it. I am sure she will be able to amaze us all with her ideas.

Shabby In The City has a new way of looking at old stuff, she also makes some fun banners for other bloggers. She can come up with some banner ideas.

The Bunnies Bungalow is where DebraK creates her magic. She hasn't been blogging long~ but does such a great job. Let's see what she does with this.

Tracy can take Junk 2 Jewels, and it is some inspiring work. Imagine what she can do with names of her blogger friends!

GiGi can do just about anything with a cake and icing... Don't disappoint us now!

Rhoda is the queen of Southern Hospitality and can take a garage sale item and make it look like it 'belongs'. I can't wait to see what she does with this.

Kristen is a serious foodie and is always dishing at Dine and Dish. I am expecting her to come up with a food inspired creation.

Track your way back and you will see the other incredible ideas... from rocks to rabbits. This is a fun tag to pass on.

Now I have a basket of green tomatoes. I bet I know whats for dinner!

Y'all enjoy~

Sandi