Cookouts, Gatherings, and a Long Overdue Recipe

ETA: I had several pictures to upload on this post but I can't get the Blogger editor to let me upload pictures from my computer. This was the first time that I used the new version of Blogger editor (yeah, I'm a little late to the game) so I might just be misunderstanding how to use it. Does anyone have any suggestions??? 

 

I hope that everyone is having a great week. It almost Friday and a holiday weekend to boot! Yippee!

Last weekend, my parents came to visit for the day to have a belated Father’s Day/Mr. P’s Birthday celebration.  We invited my in-laws over to have dinner with them, and my niece drove up from Bowling Green. We are both so blessed to come from good families that get along well! Mr. P and I smoked a pork roast and grilled some steaks, and served it with roasted potatoes, baked beans and corn. It was yummy!

For dessert ideas, I once again hit up Christy Jordan’s Southern Plate blog and found another wonderful recipe. I am seriously obsessed with this site right now. I have found so many good recipes that I am trying out. Needless to say, Mr. P is quite thrilled with this! I was looking for a good, summery dessert and when I clicked on the blog, Christy was featuring 6 Make Ahead Summer Cakes. I tried the Chocolate Sundae Cake and it was divine! And easy too!

This week, we’ve just been working and relaxing in the evenings together. We have a cookout and fireworks tomorrow night with school people, then we are having friends over on Saturday night for dinner before we go see the fireworks at the lake. Our menu for Saturday is smoked pork roast (Mr. P is wearing his new smoker out!) and Grilled ChickenTenderloins-Without the Grill (another Southern Plate recipe), corn salad (recipe to follow), and green beans.

I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, so here’s a good summery one-my recipe for corn salad. My mom gave me this recipe several years ago and it is always a hit at potlucks and gatherings. 

You've probably figured out by now that once I get a recipe figured out, I tend to "eyeball" rather than exactly measure. I have made this recipe so many times that I don't even measure things out anymore. I just look at it to see if it's as creamy as I want it and of course taste it to make sure that it doesn't need anything else. So bear with me on the measurements!

Corn Salad

I bag of frozen white corn (thawed) or 2 cans of white corn (drained)

3-4 green onions, chopped

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (whatever you have on hand, sometimes I’ll buy the little grape tomatoes and halve them, if I have larger tomatoes lying around I’ll just chop up one or two of them.)

2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise (Just enough to get your desired creaminess in the salad. )And you can use whichever mayo or salad dressing is your favorite. No need to have a big debate about it! : )

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together corn, onions, and tomatoes. Add mayonnaise and stir well. Add salt and pepper, then chill for several hours before serving.

Enjoy!

 So what have you been up to this summer?? Do tell!

Blog Field Trip to Lexington

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I was in Lexington for a conference. I absolutely love this city, so I was thrilled to get a chance to visit yet again. Mr. P’s sister and her family live there, so we are up there quite often for birthday parties, dance recitals, etc.

On this visit my coworkers and I stayed here-

Which was next door to where the conference was held here

Which is connected to this

Home of the University of Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Team!!!

In addition to being connected to Rupp Arena, Lexington Center has some great little shops that I enjoyed perusing on our breaks. Usually we are only up here on game nights and Lexington Center is packed with Wildcat fans. It was nice to browse around when it was nice and calm.

And of course we visited some good restaurants. We ate dinner here one night-

The special was a smoked gouda mac and cheese with chicken and spinach. Oh. My. Goodness. It was to die for….

We also ate here-

It looks like a little hole in the wall, but the food is fabulous. If you ever visit this restaurant, you must try the sweet potato casserole. The best I have ever eaten in my life. No lie.

We didn’t eat here on this trip, but this is one of our favorite restaurants. Mr. P introduced me to it when we were dating.

Joe Bologna’s or Joe Bs for short. The restaurant used to be a Jewish temple and still has the original wood flooring and stained glass windows. Oh, and great Italian food and pizza!

There was not much time for sightseeing or shopping on this trip, but these are a few of my favorite places to visit in Lexington.

Let’s start with the obvious-Keeneland Race Course.

Such a beautiful place! Even if you are not there during a meet, it’s worth it to just take a tour of the grounds. One of my friends got married at Keeneland and it was absolutely beautiful.

Joseph Beth Booksellers/The Mall at Lexington Green

I love Joseph Beth Booksellers, in fact it’s probably my favorite bookstore. Wonderful selection of books and gifts and a great children’s section. I can wander around this store for hours!

And don’t forget to look for the castle on Versailles Road as you drive into town. Construction on the castle began in 1969, but the construction of the castle went on for years and the couple building it divorced in 1975. The incomplete castle sat vacant for years and years, and a fire nearly destroyed it in 2004. It is now open as a hotel called Castle Post. Beautiful hotel but very pricey!

Hope you’ve enjoyed the mini-tour of Lexington!