Bright Lights and Stars

One of the things I find the most joy in, are my sweet, beautiful friends.  I always tell them that even though there may be gaps between our visits, we will always be friends because they share a piece of my heart.  I love how they know so much about me and they still will be there for me no matter what.  They are all so special to me, but I am going to tell y'all about a recent event that took place in my life that really explains a lot about one of these friendships that I cherish so dearly.

Taylor is one of my oldest friends.  The thing about Taylor is, you know when you are going to hang out with her that you are going to have a blast!  She is just fun and spontaneous, and I so admire this about her.  She never leaves someone without them having a smile on their face.  I love how if I want to do something out of the ordinary, I know I can call her and she is up for absolutely anything.  That was the case this time...

This is Taylor and I standing in line to audition for James Franco's movie, As I Lay Dying.  My older brother gave me the idea, and I knew that the chances of me ever having time to audition for a Hollywood movie may never come around again.  I knew exactly who to call to do this with me!  

We dug out a photo, and headed over to New Stage Theater.  When we got there, we were cracking up over these pictures because we were pretty much the only ones without a serious Hollywood headshot.  We just knew that the casting directors were going to think, "Only in Mississippi will we have a bride or a girl hugging the tree.  What were they thinking??"

We rounded the corner!  We can see the door!  We had gotten to the theater at 5:00, which had put us somewhere in the middle of the line.  There were girls that had been there since 1:00 in the afternoon.  It was pretty serious. 

During this waiting period, they had three news stations show up to take interviews...two out of the three came directly up to Taylor and me to ask if they could interview us.  We looked at each other, laughed, and politely declined.  Nobody around us could believe that we would dare do that!  Everyone was jumping at the chance to be on T.V.  We just sat back and let the entertainment begin.  We were definitely around some pretty intense characters.

We saw several interesting things while we waited...

Taylor and I finally made it to the door around 9:00.  We are glowing like true southern women that had been out in the 90 degree heat for four hours.  The casting directors wanted girls between the age 16-25 that were well kept and attractive.  We decided that they figured if we could look decent after this waiting period then we might look okay anytime.  I think we fully achieved that :)

Once we got through the doors, we encountered another hurdle.  We filled out a few forms and had our pictures taken with our names, and we waited some more.  This is when the best part of this story occurs.  It was seriously the funniest thing that had happened all day.  Here is how the story went:

During this waiting period, a really special girl (who we nicknamed Kathy) that had been entertaining us all day, asked Taylor if she thought she had enough time to go to the bathroom.  Taylor said, "Um, yea probably."  Taylor was taken aback because she knew just as much as Kathy did.  She had no idea.  Kathy leaves and goes to the bathroom, and we go back to chatting.  A few minutes later, Kathy returns and taps Taylor on the shoulder again.  "I think I was ahead of you in line.  If I could just..."  And squeezes between Taylor and me.

Taylor's face was absolutely priceless.  We start cracking up and I say, "Aw, girl, I hate you are all the way back there.  I am going to join you."  Okay, silly story...but it doesn't end here.

We had been in line for 5 hours, it had been hours and hours since my last meal, and I wasn't thinking very clearly.  This is my lame attempt of an excuse.  While we are waiting inside, some of the girls decided to slightly move out of the line and take a seat on a nearby bench.  Kathy was one of these girls.  I lean over to Taylor and say, "Do you dare me?"  Of course she knew exactly what I was talking about.  I decide to step up in line and close the gap that her presence had left before she sat down.  Kathy started eyeing me, but she wasn't going to get up just yet.  The line wasn't moving.  We stood in this tense bubble for about five minutes.  When the women were called, I stood my ground.  I was standing about a hand's length from the girl in front of me, and Kathy proceeds to wedge herself between us.  I stood firm and she PUSHED me back in line.  She pushed me so hard that I bumped into Taylor.  We lose it!  We cannot contain ourselves!  We enter our audition laughing and completely at ease, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. 

I hope this paints a picture of Taylor and my friendship.  She is a special person to me and has been a sister to me for as long as I can remember.  

My awesome Maid of Honor bringing me hot tea to calm my wedding jitters.  I love you, Tay!

Chicken Cacciatore

Cacciatore...hmm...sounds pretty fancy.  I don't know about this.  All cacciatore means is hunter or huntsman in Italian.  When I found this out, I knew I wanted to try and make it for my little hunter.  I am really not sure where I got this recipe, but I have been tweaking it over the years and somewhat made it my own.  It was one of the first things that I made for Matt, and he raved over it!  Every time I make it, he tells me how much he loves it.

I am also using this recipe to showcase one of my favorite herbs, Thyme.  It is so earthy and pairs perfectly with any type of chicken whether it be roasted, breaded, or grilled.  It is the type of plant that grows better when practically forgotten about.  It loves full sun, high heat, and little watering.  Basically, it is the perfect herb for our Mississippi summers.

Cut off a few sprigs of thyme

Season your chicken legs with salt and pepper.  Let me just say that you can use any kind of chicken you like!  I have also used the thighs and it has turned out just as delicious.  I have not tried this recipe with the breasts, but you will need to decrease the cooking time.  Come to think of it, you could definitely do this in a crockpot.  Just throw some frozen chicken breasts into the crockpot with the other ingredients on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6 hours.  

Here are the players: 2 small onions or 1 medium onion, one clove of garlic, and a few sprigs of thyme.  Also, not pictured are two cans of crushed tomatoes and 1/4 cup of white wine.

Take out your heavy duty cast iron.  I believe this cast iron has been passed down in my husband's family for who knows how long.  We inherited it, and the thing about cast iron is you never, ever, ever wash it with soap.  Nope... I know you are tempted to, but don't!  Just rinse and scrub with water and you are done.  I used 1 TBSP of butter and a circle around the pan of olive oil.  The butter has a lower heat tolerance than the olive oil, so I learned that you can combine the two and get the good qualities from both.  This also adds a depth of flavor which is always welcome!

Start out by searing the chicken  

Look at that fantastic color that is developing!

After the chicken has been seared on both sides, remove it from the pan and begin cooking your onions that have been roughly diced.

The onions really perfume your kitchen.  For some reason, the smell of onions cooking is one of the most comforting smells to me.  I love it!

When the onions begin turning translucent and have a slight brown crust to them, add 1/4 of a cup of white wine.

Chop up your thyme and save a little bit of it to garnish your finished product

Add your thyme and two cans of crushed tomatoes

Place your chicken back into the cast iron

Turn the heat down to medium low and let your chicken braise for about 45 minutes.  It is important to cover  the cast iron so you do not loose too much liquid.

Umm... how delicious does this look???  It is easy to see why it is my sweetie's favorite.  I usually make this recipe and pair it with some sort of grain.  I have used everything from white rice to brown rice to barley.  Believe it or not the barley is my all time favorite.  It has this chewy consistency that I think goes well with the non-texture of the tomatoes.  Grab you a hunk of crusty bread and you have a beautifully healthy, hearty, and rustic dinner that anyone would be proud of.

Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

2 small or 1 medium onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 TBSP of butter

1 TBSP of olive oil

1/4 cup of white wine

3-4 sprigs of Thyme, minced

2 cans of crushed tomatoes

3-4 chicken legs

Directions:

Melt the butter and olive oil over medium high heat in a cast iron skillet.  Sear your chicken legs on each side for about 4 minutes until they turn brown.  Remove the chicken legs and put on a plate.  

Add the onions to the pan and cook until they become translucent.  Add the white wine and reduce by half.  Pour in the crushed tomato and sprinkle in 3/4 of the thyme.  Stir to combine and bring to a boil.  Arrange the chicken in the pan and cover the cast iron.  Lower the heat to medium low and let it simmer for 45 minutes.

While the chicken is braising, make your rice, barley, or couscous.  Spoon the grain onto a plate to make a bed for the chicken.  Remove the chicken from the pan and place it over the rice.  Cover the chicken and rice with the tomato mixture and garnish with the remaining thyme.

I Found the One My Heart Loves

People keep saying, "I cannot believe it has been a whole year already!  Has it just flown by?"

My heart ponders this question.  This year certainly has flown by, but so did the previous six years we spent dating.  Each day that I spend with my love seems to slip through my fingers like grains of sand; each day is different and carefully planned by God to bring us into one heart that beats purely for Him.

When we got married, we received all kinds of marital advice, whether it be: "Never go to bed angry," "Happy wife, happy life," or "Get out while you still can."  But one piece of advice I remember vividly that runs true in our everyday lives was given to us straight from scripture.  In Ephesians 5, Paul talks directly to husbands about loving their wives as Christ loves the church and to the wives, that we need to be submissive to our husbands... I know this sounds very prosaic, especially for the fact that I do not do well with oppressive, Type A guys that take it as they are right about everything and the woman must obey them. Wrong!!  God has blessed Paul with the profound understanding of what God created each of us to need as a man and as a woman.  What this boils down to is that I need to show Matt love through respecting him as man and tenderly speaking to him when I feel like he may be misguided.  I see myself sometimes in my busy school-minded mode, running over his ideas or pushing aside his feelings because I think it is not a big deal.  But it is a big deal to him.  He feels valued in being listened to and having his thoughts heard, not brushed aside.  Your husband is not a child, and you are not his mother.

It does work both ways.  Women are sensitive and need love to be happy.  I have seen friends recently that I have not seen in a long time, and on a regular basis they say, "You look so good...so happy."  I am happy.  Matt has learned over the years what I need and when.  When I am crying, I need a hug and no words.  When I am frustrated, I need him to put things into perspective.  When I am angry, I need time alone.  I am a puzzle that he is still trying to fit the strange pieces together, but patiently and lovingly he figures me out day by day.

Since we have reached our one year anniversary, I wanted to dedicate this blog post to my loving husband, whom I respect for so many reasons.  While I am up and down with my emotions, he is my constant.  He amazes me with his way with people.  He has an ease that attracts even the most closed hearted to him.  He never cares what people think, so doing the right thing is not difficult for him.  He encourages me to reach all of the goals I have set out to achieve.  He forces me to see a situation from the other person's point of view.  He allows me to be myself, even if it means listening to my Sid the Sloth voice.  There are so many things I could say, but I will stop with these few.  I want to end this post with a few flashback pictures over our many years of growing and learning to love and respect each other.

To the man, whom my heart loves for always

French Country Omelet

It is time to showcase my herbs!!  They have absolutely gone crazy this summer, and it has been so fun using them to inspire new recipes.  Let me begin with chives.

Chives are probably one of the easiest herbs to grow.  When I bought my plant, I did research to see if there were any special growing instructions...Nope!  Plant.  Put it in a sunny place.  Watch it grow.  It was that simple!  It has a light onion-y taste that is best used to round out a dish right before you serve it.  It is usually used as a garnish, but my mom always mixes it with butter to put on rolls, steak, potatoes or practically anything.  It is divine!

I had a tough time deciding which recipe I was going to choose for my "chive" recipe, but I kept coming back to this one. I found it in an Ina Garten cookbook called Back to Basics, and trust me, it is very basic...but delicious.  When some people think of Ina, they think of expensive ingredients like truffle butter, soppressata, and gruyere cheese, but I probably spent less than 5 dollars on this entire recipe.  It is super easy, very comforting, and hardly any clean up... basically I just had to share it!

Coat the bottom of your pan with olive oil

While the oil heats up, measure out 1 cup of diced potatoes.  Ina suggests using Yukon gold potatoes, but I only had red potatoes on hand.  This was one large red potato.

Dice 3 slices of thick cut bacon, and put in your olive oil

In a medium bowl, crack five large eggs

Add 3 tablespoons of milk

1/2 teaspoon of salt

and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Wisk these ingredients together

Remove the bacon from the pan and place on a paper towel to drain.  Add the potato to the pan...

Let the potato cook until it is crisp and remove it from the pan as well.  

Cut 1 TBSP of unsalted butter

Remove the remaining fat in the pan and melt the butter in the pan.  Pour the egg mixture over the butter and stir in the bacon and potatoes.  Place the entire pan into the oven at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

While the omelet is cooking, trim some chives and cut them into small pieces

Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the chives on top.

Look at those beautiful colors! 

Country French Omelet

1 TBSP of olive oil

3 slices of thick cut bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 cup of diced red potato

Kosher salt and black pepper

5 extra-large eggs

3 TBSP of milk

1 TBSP of unsalted butter

1 TBSP of fresh chopped chives

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

-Heat olive oil in an ovenproof pan over medium heat.  Cut the bacon into 1 inch slices and put in pan.  Cook until crisp.  While the bacon is cooking, crack the 5 eggs into a medium bowl.  Add the salt, pepper, and milk.  Wisk the ingredients together and set aside.

-Remove the bacon from the pan and let it drain on a paper towel.  Cook the potatoes in the reserved bacon fat until browned on the outside and soft on the inside.  Remove the potatoes from the pan and drain the remaining fat.

-Place the butter in the pan and let it melt.  Pour the egg mixture into the pan and stir in the bacon and potatoes.  Put the pan into the preheated oven and let it cook for 8-10 minutes.

-Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the omelet with chives.

The omelet can serve two on its own or you can serve four with a side salad for a light lunch!

Bloomin' Onions

I hate to admit it, but I was born with a genetic defect in my thumb.  Speaking more specifically, I was born with a black thumb.  And it is not just me.  My mother has some wonderful talents, but even she will admit gardening is not one of them.  Thankfully, my husband's family are avid gardeners and have shed some light on this unknown world for me.

I figured I would start out easy with an herb garden, and I have to say that it is one thing in my life that really brings me joy.  It gives me such a sense of accomplishment to watch my little plants grow and also since one of my passions is cooking, I love that I get to use them in so many of my recipes.  As a matter of fact, I have been tossing around the idea of combining one of my herbs and things I have learned about it along with a recipe that I most use it for/showcases it best.  Sorry... getting ahead of myself.

The point is: my herbs make me happy.  Moving on...

One day as I was browsing through pinterest, I found a link that said "Never buy scallions again."  When I read the blog, I was shocked that I had not thought of it before.  Basically, all it said was to:

A. Buy scallions from your local grocery store (When I bought them from our Kroger, they were 69 cents for a bunch)
B. Put them in a glass of water by a sunny window for 3 days to root them
C. Plant them

Easy as that!  Mine have gone crazy!  I don't typically do this, but a few weeks ago I saw some buds appearing, and I just had to see what the flowers looked like.  Oh, and no... the scallions did not grow to the top of our fence.  That would be called an optical illusion, my friend ; )

I was telling my mom about growing these scallions, and she asked me the question, "Well, what if you want to use the white part of the onion?"  I have thought about this question for a week or so, and what I would do would be unroot the scallion, cut the top part of the scallion, leaving the bulb of the plant intact.  Next, I would replant the bulb with a little bit sticking out of the dirt, and wait for it to grow.

Homemade Bread

Hello.  My name is Emilee Milling, and I am addicted to carbs, but my serious love is bread.  It is always my favorite part of the meal whether it be yeast rolls, cornbread, southern biscuits, or Texas toast.  Over the years, I have tried to make my own bread several times, but I never got it quite right.  It was such a tedious process that took a huge chunk of time.  

I remember one time I wanted to make my then boyfriend, now husband some delicious homemade bread.  I worked all day on it, and when the bread came out of the oven it smelled wonderful.  With my excitement building, I drew out my bread knife and began to cut into the bread... It was hard as a rock.  Little did I know, but early on, my water had been too hot and killed my poor, little yeast friends.  Matt was a champ and told me how yummy it was.  "It's okay, sweetie.  You just have to chew a little more.  See?  It's good!" 

Earlier this year, I found a recipe for bread on the Le Creuset website that was so easy, anyone could do it.  Of course, I didn't believe them, but thought it might be worth a try, and an added bonus, I got to use my new Le Creuset pots I got for wedding presents.  I realize that not everyone has these enameled cast irons because they are pretty pricey.  I found a few that are a different brand that are not quite expensive, and I am sure, work just as well.  You can find them at Belk that are Cooks Tools brand or at Target by the wonderful Giada DeLaurentiis, and they are around $70.

I use this bread to make sandwiches and also for a quick breakfast.  I actually don't even buy bread from the supermarket anymore.  It is that good!  Matt and I went to a work party, and all of his co workers knew me as "the girl who makes the bread!"  When I asked him about it, he said, "I am the envy of everyone in the lunch room.  They always comment on how good my lunches look."  So here is the recipe that is the secret to my wifey success:

Put 3 cups of flour to a large mixing bowl

Add 1 3/4 teaspoons of salt and...

1/2 teaspoon of yeast.  

Wisk the dry ingredients together until they are well mixed.  Now, this decision is up to you.  You can add 1 1/2 cups of water, and you have a really good, basic bread recipe.  I have a tendency to get bored with plain bread, so I add in things that I love to enhance the bread.

This bread has a clove of garlic and cheddar cheese,

This bread has cinnamon, orange zest, and dried blueberries

Cover the bowls with plastic wrap and let it rise for 12-18 hrs.  I usually mix everything up the night before I bake the bread.  It literally takes 5 minutes to stir everything together.  The next morning, I bake our beautiful creation.  The smell of fresh bread is a wonderful start to the day!

Put your empty cast iron pans into the oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes to make sure the bread is cooked evenly.

Poof!  It rose!  It still surprises me

Hey! So did this one!

Now take a second to smell your bread at this stage... oh my goodness, it smells fantastic!

Look at all of those lovely specks of cinnamon floating around in there

Sprinkle a cutting board or counter with flour

Pour your dough onto the floured surface

and form a loaf.  Don't you feel like a professional baker?

Place your dough into your preheated cast iron pot and cover it

Do the same thing with your other loaf if you are making two

Bake your bread with the lid on for 30 minutes

This part is always a tease.  It looks good enough to eat, but you can't do it yet!

Take the lid off and bake it for another 10 minutes

Perfection!

This bread looks so crispy and there is absolutely no oil or butter!  I still have no idea how it gets this crispy!

Place your loaves on a cooling rack.  If you let the bread cool all the way before cutting it, the bread will stay moist longer, but if you just cannot wait, I totally understand.  In my case, the bread is eaten way before it gets a chance to dry out.

Homemade Bread

3 cups of flour (all purpose or unbleached bread flour)

1 3/4 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of yeast

1 1/2 cups of water

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and yeast.  Pour in the water and if you are adding anything, put it in now.  Stir everything until you get a continuous mixture.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for 12-16 hours.  

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Put your cast iron in the oven for 30 minutes.  Remove the dutch oven and put the dough in the pan with the lid on top.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Take the lid off and continue to bake for 10 more minutes.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack.

These are a few combinations I have tried that have been super delicious:

Dried cranberries and orange juice/zest

Cinnamon raisin bread (I also added about 1/4 cup of brown sugar)

Rosemary, asiago cheese, and lemon zest

Lemon zest, poppy seeds, and sunflower seeds

Parmesan and cracked black pepper

These are a few combinations I want to try and haven't yet:

Pesto bread: basil, parmesan, pepper, garlic

White chocolate cherry bread: white chocolate chips and dried cherries

Jalepeno and cheddar bread: jarred jalepenoes and sharp cheddar

I hope you enjoy this recipe!  No one will believe that you made it yourself, and only you will know how easy it is!