Party Time

Taking a Girls Trip Back in Time

Published on August 15, 2019August 19, 2019 by Charlotte Cajun Queen1 Comment

Recently my mom and I went on a weekend long girls trip, something we are trying to do every couple of years. In honor of what would have been my late Grandma’s 99th birthday (Aug 9th), we took a trip back in time to Abingdon, VA. A small town about 3 hours north of Charlotte, Abingdon is rich with history and theater, good eats, and antiques shopping.

Arriving midday Friday, we checked in at “the Martha“. The AC unit had broken in our reserved room so we got upgraded to a quaint suite on the top floor! Built in 1832 the Martha Washington Inn was originally home to General Robert Preston. Nearly 30 years later the home was purchased for $21,000 and turned into an upscale women’s college, and named after first lady of our nation, Martha Washington. It served as a college for 70 years through the Civil War and Great Depression, where it was also used as a makeshift hospital for wounded soldiers. In 1935, the Martha was opened as a hotel and has hosted Eleanor Roosevelt, President Harry Truman, Lady Bird Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Elizabeth Taylor. The grounds are centered around a beautiful fountain, lush with bright flowers and large trees. It was calm and peaceful.

Another jewel of Abingdon is the Barter Theater. My grandma once told stories of the Barter Theater, the longest running professional theater in the nation, opening in 1933. It was called the Barter Theater because during the Depression, people could trade goods for a ticket to the show, or “ham for Hamlet”. On Saturday, we were fortunate to see one of the funniest plays I’ve ever seen, Exit Laughing. It had us laughing so hard our cheeks hurt. Coupled with a sentimental message of always living life to the fullest, it was a heart warming reminder of why our girls trip tradition is so important.

The remainder of our weekend was filled with a lot of walking, admiring the beauty and history of this small town, antiques shopping, and a lot more eating and drinking. Our first stop for lunch on Friday was 128 Pecan, a quirky small restaurant right off Main Street, with THE BEST spinach artichoke dip (hint: there was bacon in it). The food was comforting and delicious. We strolled back down the brick paved Main Street and popped into Anthony’s Desserts where I had a key lime tart and my mom had a chocolate peanut butter cookie. Needless to say, a quick swim in the hotel pool was needed after that. We rounded out Friday with dinner at Sisters, the hotel restaurant. Bubbly rose’ and braised short rib were our top choices and we were not disappointed.

Saturday was ate our way through the town (again) but fortunately our 15,700 steps were able to negate some of it, at least we hoped. We enjoyed a grand breakfast complimentary of the hotel, followed by a tasty lunch (and dinner too, because it was so good) at The Peppermill. For lunch, a fried green tomato BLT with sweet potato fries, and for dinner, cheese ravioli with veggies and balsamic reduction! MmmMmm!

After the matinee showing of the play, we managed to squeeze in a special tea party for two. Hosted at the inn, we drank hot tea and enjoyed petits fours and mini sandwiches, pinkies raised, of course.

Anther highlight of the trip was the neat trinkets and memories we found in the many antique shops we visited. Saturday morning we started the day with an early visit to the local farmer’s market, where we picked up some locally made beef jerky and jewelry. We topped off the weekend with olive oil tasting, art galleries, and an international food shop.

Overall, we had an amazing trip and enjoyed all that Abingdon had to offer. Bursting with history and beauty, this small town was just what we needed for a fun, relaxing, and food-filled getaway. I was so lucky to share this trip with one of my best friends for life and I know Grandma was smiling down!

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Bacon Wrapped Sausage & Cream Cheese Stuffed Poblanos

Published on July 30, 2019July 31, 2019 by Charlotte Cajun QueenLeave a comment

Did you get all of that? This year in our garden we grew poblano peppers, and we grew a lot of them! Having freshly picked a handful of peppers I started pondering what I could do to use them in bulk for a recipe. Inspired by jalapeno poppers, I thought this recipe would be one that James and I would enjoy for dinner, but also versatile enough that it could be a party appetizer. With football season approaching, this would be a good addition to your tailgating menu!

Ingredients:

2-4 Poblano peppers, depending on size (mine were small so I used 5)
1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
3 links of mild Italian sausage, cases removed
1 cup of cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded Colby jack cheese
Bacon
1 Tbsp of olive oil
Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Halve poblanos and remove stem and seeds. *Avoid touching your face during this step. Wash your hands immediately after to prevent your skin from burning. You can also wear gloves to protect your hands.
Heat medium skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil, and saute onions until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
Add sausage and use spoon to break up into small pieces as it cooks.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together cream cheese, Colby jack cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
Add cooked sausage mixture to cream cheese mixture and stir together.
Spoon sausage and cheese mixture into peppers. Don’t be afraid to fill it so that it’s piled high. Use 1-2 pieces of bacon (depending on size of peppers) to wrap around peppers.
Bake for 30-40 minutes on broiler pan or until bacon is cooked. Tip: if you don’t have a broiler pan you can use a rack from your toaster oven (see photo above)!
Enjoy!

Happy 4th!

Published on July 3, 2019July 3, 2019 by Charlotte Cajun QueenLeave a comment

Happy birthday America! Looking for a patriotic treat that’s perfect for your summer party? I’ve got just the thing! This easy recipe will ‘wow’ your friends and family and the kids will love it too.

Fruit Fireworks

Ingredients:

Blueberries
Seedless watermelon
Mini marshmallows
6″ Party picks/skewers
Small star shaped cookie cutter

Cut rind off of watermelon and slice 1/4 – 1/2 inch pieces all the way through (so that you have a large surface area for cutting out stars).

Cut stars out of watermelon and place on a plate. *Tip: cover with plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour. This will make it easier to skewer without the juice going everywhere.

Skewer blueberries and marshmallows, alternating, and top with watermelon star.

Enjoy!

St. Patty’s Day Teacher Appreciation

Published on March 4, 2019March 12, 2019 by Charlotte Cajun Queen2 Comments

I can’t believe it’s already March!🍀

We are fortunate at our kids’ school to have some pretty amazing teachers and I try to show them how much we appreciate them all year round. They have one of the hardest jobs in the world and it takes a special person to be able to do it. I couldn’t do it. I can barely handle two. 🤷

This is a super easy, inexpensive token of appreciation you can throw together for St. Patty’s Day for anyone you are lucky to have in your life. You can easily change it up to give to your family, friends, etc.

Supplies:

Mini gift bags from local crafts store (these are the cutest little bags and come in all colors) – perfect Leprachaun size!
Tissue paper
Stickers
Card stock or scrap book paper
Twine or string
Hershey’s gold nuggets candy

If you want me to email you the template I used, please use Contact section and I will email it! 🍀🌟🍫

Crafty Thanksgiving Tradition

Published on November 8, 2018November 9, 2018 by Charlotte Cajun QueenLeave a comment

It’s nearing that time of the year where family traditions are shared amongst your loved ones. In preparation for the upcoming turkey day, I’d love to share with you a tradition that I’ve started with my kids, which carried over from something I used to love doing as a child and continued into my adult life. Thanksgiving name place cards. I actually have no idea how it started – it probably began one year with me coloring everyone’s name on an index card, glorifying them with fall related stickers. Either way, I remember it being something that I looked forward to doing every Thanksgiving. Now with my kids, it’s something fun and creative that we can do as a family and also creates a keepsake for years to come.

The basics:

Start with some form of card stock, scrapbook paper, or even buy cheap pre-made place cards from local craft store.
Write the names on the cards.
Decorate with fun stickers, glitter, feathers and other crafty add-ons.
Hint: tiny hands make for cute turkeys!

Here is one of my favorites from recent years past made courtesy of Brooks.

We cut glittery scrapbook paper into squares, added painted hand turkey with googly eyes, and finished them off with more glittery pumpkin stickers and glitter glue names.

Last year we took the easy road (aka waited until the last minute and also had a 7 month old) and bought the pre-made fold over cards and added giant 3-D turkey stickers.

This year we are going to “pimp out our pine cones”! Since there is no shortage of pine cones in Asheville, which is where we are travelling this year, I thought this would be an easy and cheap project. Going on the hunt for pine cones will be half the fun and I think any kid would love to paint them and who knows, maybe add a little sprinkle of glitter.

I’d love to hear about your family’s holiday traditions and ideas for place cards. Feel free to leave a comment below. Happy Turkey Day!

Birthday Kabobs!

Published on September 26, 2018September 26, 2018 by Charlotte Cajun Queen2 Comments

Allow me to introduce you to our newly turned 4 year old B-Man, formerly Baby Brooks (but will always be BB if you ask his daddy). For the past 3 years, we have done the obligatory cupcakes or cookies for his class birthday celebration. Although I may groan about it, not recognizing what I get myself into sometimes, I secretly love doing it. But this year I vowed to do something different. Tired of the fake-colored, sugary store-bought treats, I feverishly searched Pinterest for “alternatives to school cupcakes”. While I did not find exactly what I was looking for, partly because I did not know what I was looking for, I did come away from my search with some ideas.

I wanted to do something fun for the kids and something B could help me make for his friends. That’s how we came up with the kabob idea.
I wanted something decently healthy, so fruit was the focus.
It also had to have a “birthday flare” to it, so of course, sprinkles came to mind. And what could I douse in sprinkles, that would also fit on a kabob? One of Brooks’ favorite treats, MARSHMALLOWS.
Thus, 1+2+3 = Birthday Kabobs!

These treats were super easy to make, and a really fun way to get your kiddos involved; only if you don’t mind them eating the project along the way, as evidenced above. Also, for those fans of the show Umizoomi and Milli’s pattern power (in your best singing voice), this activity provides a great opportunity for your kids to learn about patterns. And yes, I realize I missed a blueberry on one – oops!

Here’s what you need to make the kabobs:

Assortment of whatever fruit you like that can be skewered. We used strawberries, bananas, blueberries, and canned pineapple chunks.
A bag of big marshmallows
Sprinkles
Chocolate candy melts – you can find these at your local craft store in all colors. I used the white chocolate party melts.
8″ treat sticks – also found at local craft store. They look like the white cake pop sticks.

And here is how:

Wash hands 🙂
Have your marshmallows ready to dip, and pour the sprinkles out on a plate or any shallow pan with sides.
Melt the chocolate candy according to the directions on the bag. You have to work kind of fast before the chocolate hardens again, but even if it does, just nuke it again to melt it.
Dip the ends of the marshmallows into the chocolate, then the sprinkles, and set on wax paper. Repeat for as many as you need. We made 20 kabobs, but probably had 25 marshmallows to begin with. They seemed to disappear along the way.
Wash and prep the fruit. Trim the tops off the strawberries, and slice the larger ones in half. Cut the bananas into one inch rounds.
Skewer the fruit and end the kabob with one of the birthday marshmallows. Brooks helped me with making the marshmallows but I skewered the actual fruit, while he helped me with the pattern.
Enjoy! I will admit I was a little nervous about Brooks’ friends just eating the marshmallows and leaving the fruit on the stick, but I was pleasantly surprised that every kid (all 19 of them) ate every.single.bite. of the kabobs. And the teachers enjoyed them too. They were a hit and Brooks was so proud to be able to say he helped make them!

Note: you can make these ahead of time, and refrigerate them for the next day. Just be sure to tightly wrap them so the marshmallows don’t dry out.