Everyday Living

Tablescape Tuesday: Wildflowers

~ Everyday Living, Faith, Food & Entertaining, Gardening, Outdoors, Spring, Tablescape Tuesday

 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭46:10‬ ‭

Happy Tuesday lovely friends.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day Weekend.  My weekend was extremely busy, but it was loads of fun.  Butch took me to my favorite French cafe, Chez Fonfon for dinner on Friday evening.  Saturday was Ella Mae’s birthday, can you believe she is two?!!  Her Mommy planned the sweetest party, I hope to share soon.  My sister-in-love had the family for Mother’s Day lunch, which was delicious.  I didn’t cook all weekend, how perfect is that!!!

Late Sunday afternoon I set a table in the garden with 90 degree temperatures.  It seems that we have jumped right into summer!  I was inspired by the wildflowers growing in our lower pasture and along the roadside, free for the clipping!

Much-used white dinner plates and salad plates with a yellow border and a blue flower were a perfect complement for the wildflowers. 

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Simple + Southern Sunday: Happy Mothers Day

~ Everyday Living, Faith, Gardening, Mothers Day, Outdoors, Simple + Southern Sunday, Spring

 “An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than jewels.
 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life…

…She seeks wool and flax,
    and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant;
    she brings her food from afar…

  …She rises while it is yet night
    and provides food for her household
    and portions for her maidens.
 She considers a field and buys it;
    with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength
    and makes her arms strong…READ MORE

America’s Best Restaurant & A Fabulous Giveway!

~ Everyday Living, Food & Entertaining

“Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:89‬ ‭

Thursday greetings sweet friends…today’s post is a very exciting one for me!  If you have been a long-time reader, you know I am a self-proclaimed foodie. Butch and I love great food and restaurants, even planning our vacations around food. You probably are aware that I am crazy about Chef Frank Stitt’s food and all four of his Birmingham restaurants. We do not hesitate to make the 60 mile drive!  The food photographs that find their way into our Simple + Southern Sunday series are most often from one of his restaurants.  

I have a fabulous giveaway, so be sure to scroll to the bottom to find out how to enter. 

Monday evening as I watched The James Beard Foundation Awards, I was thinking…
could this possibly be the year that Highlands Bar and Grill would win?
This was their tenth straight nomination for the prestigious award of Outstanding Restaurant in America. Their competition has always been from restaurants in much larger markets such as New York City and Chicago. When their name was announced you can imagine my excitement…in total honesty, I might have squealed and done a happy dance! Not only did the restaurant win, but the very talented Dolester Miles won Outstanding Pastry Chef! Both awards were long overdue and well deserved. We have been fortunate to eat at some of the best restaurants in NYC, San Francisco, New Orleans and many places in Europe. After one of these great meals, Butch and I always say to each other, “It doesn’t come close to Frank’s food!” Congratulations Chef Stitt, Pardis, Dol, and all the wonderful staff at Highlands Bar And Grill. You are the best of the best!

You may enjoy my other posts about Chef Stitt and his restaurants here:
Frank Stitt, A Culinary Genius
Eat, Drink, And Be French!
Eat, Drink, And Be Italian!

   The iconic Highlands Bar and Grill opened in 1982 in Birmingham Alabama. With its opening, Chef Stitt changed the food scene in Alabama forever and put Birmingham on the culinary map. Birmingham is now well known as a food destination!

  Photo by Bob Carlton/AL.com; used with permission

Frank Stitt, Dolester Miles, and Pardis Stitt, outside the Lyric Opera in Chicago on Monday evening prior to the James Beard Foundation Awards.

  The baked grits are legendary for all who have tasted this unbelievable appetizer. It is a mainstay on the Highlands menu. Chef Stitt takes humble Southern grits and raises them to rock star status with a buttery parmesan sauce garnished with wild mushrooms and country ham.  Butch always begins dinner at Highlands with the grits!
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