Maker's Mark Bourbon Balls

Maker’s Mark Bourbon Balls are my family’s favorite holiday tradition. I make at least one batch every Christmas season! This recipe was been passed down from my great-aunt Marie. While I’m all for exploring your bourbon palate most of the year, I’m pretty adamant that this must be made with Maker’s Mark! The sweet wheated bourbon is just perfect with the tart semisweet chocolate! Besides, who am I to question a 50 year-old family recipe??

I know the Christmas holiday is a few weeks off, but I wanted to share my

View recipe on Kulinarian.com

recipe with y’all so you can plan to include it in your holiday dessert plan!

I’ve teamed up with some great Kentucky-based bloggers to share holiday dessert recipes. Just click the photos to read the recipe! I hope y’all enjoy them all!

Ginger Snaps by JCP Eats

Cinnamon French Butter Cream Cookies by Eye See Scarlett

Kentucky Bourbon Ranger Cookies by At Home With Haley

Turtle Thumbprint Cookies by The Motherhood Hustle

Go Big Blueberry-Lemon Brie En Croute!

Brie en Croute with Fond Originals Blueberry Lemon Jam. Stoneware & Co Hot Brown Plate, Pomegranate Inc UK Collage napkins.

If y'all are like me, you're counting the minutes until tonight's UK basketball game. It's the best time of the year and the 'Cats have been playing so well. You need a snack that's a little more sophisticated than hot wings or chips and dip. Well, here's the perfect treat -- it's quick and easy and so, so delicious!

You only need three ingredients: a wheel of brie, a sheet of puff pastry, and a jar of Fond Originals Blueberry Lemon Jam. Y'all, this stuff is so, so good. When Chef Madeline Dee, owner and executive chef at Fond, offered to send me a jar to try, I was so excited! Chef Madeline's tiny Frankfort Avenue bistro is already booked until after Derby! She must be doing something right! Just cover the brie in the jam, add to a defrosted sheet of puff pastry, and bake at 425 until golden brown. It's the perfect accompaniment to your March Madness enjoyment!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Today is National Gumbo Day. That might be the best holiday I can think of for football season, chilly evenings and, well... any autumn day! I made a big batch of chicken and sausage gumbo last night. I love this recipe because it can be as easy or as elaborate as you'd like it!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

• 2-3 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• 8 links andouille sausage, sliced
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 bag frozen 
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, mashed
• 1 bay leaf
• Cajun seasoning
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• Louisiana hot sauce
• chicken stock (recipe below or use one box of stock with additional water as needed)
• 2 cups dry rice

If making own stock:

• Skin, drippings, and bones from cooked chicken
• 2-3 garlic cloves, mashed
• 1 white onion, sliced in half
• 4 ribs celery, including tops and leaves
• 2 carrots
• 8-10 cups water

1.  Place chicken breasts and thighs in glass cooking dishes. Bake on 425 until skin is golden brown and meat is cooked through, about 35 minutes. (Breasts will take longer to cook than thighs.)
2. Allow chicken to cool somewhat, peel skin and remove large bones that can be easily separated. Place chicken in stand mixer with paddle attachment and blend on medium low speed until chicken is shredded. Pick through for any remaining bones.
3. If you're making your own stock, add all stock ingredients to a large stockpot, bring to a rolling boil, then allow to simmer for 1 - 1.5 hours. Strain and skim fat from top.
4. In Dutch oven, brown sausage in olive oil on medium-high. Remove meat and set aside, leaving fat in the Dutch oven. Add butter and allow to melt on medium-high heat.
5. Make a roux by reducing heat to medium-low and adding flour to the fat mixture. Stir constantly until the mixture is the color of milk chocolate. (If your roux burns, throw the mixture away and start it over with butter and olive oil and flour!)
6. Add onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, onion, and okra to the roux mixture; saute until vegetables are tender and onions are translucent.
7. Add reserved meats (chicken and sausage) to mixture and cover the mixture with chicken stock (homemade or purchased). Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 2-3 hours, seasoning with Cajun seasoning, bay leaf, and and hot sauce to taste.
8. About twenty minutes before serving, prepare rice according to directions on package. 
9. Serve gumbo over a heaping scoop of rice.

Happy Gumbo Day, y'all!!! 

My #KYBeef Iron Chef Experience, Part I: Cooking with Meijer at Michigan State

A couple of weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to visit Michigan State University courtesy of the Kentucky Beef Council and Meijer. There were a lot of fun experiences, like learning how beef is graded and visiting the College of Food Science and Nutrition at MSU with a group of fellow bloggers, Michigan State employees, and representatives from Meijer, the Kentucky and Michigan Beef Councils and the Cattleman's Association. The sessions were titled #BlogMeetsBeef, and I feel so much more confident about how to purchase and prepare beef after these events! My favorite portion of #BlogMeetsBeef was the cooking competition. The participants were divided into three groups, given a $100 gift card to Meijer, and asked to prepare, plate, and photograph a balanced meal, including a wine pairing. 

I was paired with two registered dietitians -- Kati Mora, a practicing dietitian focusing on eating disorders, and Tina Miller, a dietitian on on the Meijer health communications team. I laughed that, from the beginning, it was a bit of a funny fit since my cooking tends to veer into bacon-and-grits territory, while the two dietitians on my team started thinking vegetable servings and a healthy dose of quinoa! We actually all worked really well together! 

The rules for our competition were that the main protein for our meal had to be the actual beef that our team had cut the day before. Working with the Meijer beef team in the MSU Food Science butcher-training room, we broke down a full beef sirloin into a sirloin cap, sirloin steaks, and petite sirloins. We chose to use the sirloin cap as the portion for our meal. This is a great, tender cut that I'd never worked with before!

The requirements of our competition were that we should use (preferably) 8 ingredients or less, that we should use Meijer branded products wherever possible, and that it should be a balanced meal. We chose to sear our sirloin cap in a grill pan and serve it with a quinoa salad, feta cheese, and a cherry- Pinot Noir reduction. We served the meat over a bed of arugula; the sweetness of the cherries, saltiness of the feta, and peppery bite of arugula are one of my favorite combinations, so I was excited about our team's menu!

To add some fresh flavor, we added lemon juice to both the cherry reduction and the quinoa salad; we garnished the plates with parsley.

Scallions and bell peppers added color and crunch to the quinoa salad. I have to say that it was great to cook with dietitians. In preparing a similar meal at home, I wouldn't think to consider a cup of bell peppers. I'd serve the quinoa/ bell pepper mixture as a starch and then add in a veggie. It was a good reminder about portioning and nutrition!! 

In working with the beef folks, we were given many reminders that, for safe consumption, a meat thermometer is a better indicator of doneness than internal color! 

Our final product turned out pretty lovely! We plated it using some of the guidelines provided to us by Michael Ollier, Senior Corporate Chef for Certified Angus Beef. Our team actually won the cooking competition! I was pretty excited that our ideas came together so well!

Thanks so much to Meijer and the Kentucky Beef Council for this experience! I can't wait to tell you about the second time that week that I played Iron Chef -- the second time was at the Kentucky State Fair!!

Pumpkin-Peanut Butter Dog Treats and the Draper James #BeKindYall Challenge!

These cookies are Sophie-certified

The recipe I'm most frequently asked to share is for my homemade dog treats. They're full of pumpkin and peanut butter, and dogs go crazy for them!  I adapted the recipe from this one to make a double batch and amp up the pumpkin and PB goodness. This morning, I decided to bake a batch for my own dog, and to share with my friends' dogs. My friend Ashley just adopted a precious senior beagle from the Kentucky Humane Society (that story is coming soon!) and Cathy's Willie is recovering from severe leg injuries. Since our crazy dog lady crew has eight dogs among the three of us, it seemed like a great time to make a big batch of dog treats! Here's the recipe for you to print out for yourself! (Just make sure your friends' dogs can tolerate wheat! It's a pretty common allergy!)

View recipe on Kulinarian.com

It just happened that, as these treats were cooling this morning, my Draper JamesBe Kind, Y'all tote bag arrived, along with the #bekindyall challenge card. I love this idea: simple ways that you can make someone's day a little better. You'll notice that I may have edited my challenge just a bit! 

I have to say that this challenge has inspired me to find more ways to do small everyday things to be kind to others. I plan to use this tote to carry donations to the food bank donation bin at my local grocery store and dog toys to my humane society. I also plan to keep out some notecards to drop notes to friends more frequently. Thanks so much to Draper James for the important reminder to be kinder! (Click here for $20 off your next Draper James online order!)

How do y'all plan to be kind today?

HerKentucky Bourbon Punch Recipe on the Draper James Blog!

Draper James Hello Sunshine Tervis Tumbler

I'm so excited to share my bourbon punch recipe on the Draper James blog today! I love the Draper James brand; it's one of my favorites for preppy, Southern classics. And, of course, Draper James's founder, Reese Witherspoon, has been one of my very favorite actresses since her Sweet Home Alabama days! 

Check out my post here, and click here for $20 off your next Draper James online purchase! 

Thanks so much to my dear friend Cathy of Dogladyhorsecrazy for the gracious use of her river house for the photo shoot and for the fun pic of me! 

Thortons Kentucky Derby Bourbon Ball Donut

Bourbon balls are one of my very favorite Kentucky traditions. They remind me of holidays with my family; my great-aunt Marie always made bourbon balls using the exact same recipe that I use to this day. I always think of bourbon balls as a Christmas treat, or something to savor at the end of a bourbon distillery tour. I only recently learned that a lot of people make bourbon balls as a Derby treat as well.  This morning, I picked up a bourbon ball donut from Thorntons' new #ThorntonsBourbonKitchen line, and it was fabulous! 

If you're in the mood for a bourbon ball, my recipe is below, or you can just pick up one of those donuts at Thortons for 99 cents. It's the same flavor with a lot less effort! And let me know -- do y'all think of bourbon balls as a Derby time treat?

• 1 to 2 cups good bourbon whiskey 
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 to 1 cup whole pecan halves (optional) 
• 1 two-pound bag of powdered sugar
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 bags Ghirardelli semisweet chocolate chips
• paraffin wax

1. Place 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped pecans in shallow bowl. Pour bourbon over nuts, immersing completely. Cover and let soak 12 hours to overnight. 
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pecan halves in shallow pan and toast lightly for about ten minutes. 
3. Cream butter in stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Combine bourbon-pecan mixture with powdered sugar to form a stiff ball. Refrigerate to let stiffen slightly. 
4. Roll dough into small balls. 
5. In double-boiler (or a sauce pan placed over a cooker full of boiling water), add a third to a half a bag of semisweet chocolate chips and a small shaving of paraffin wax (no more than 1/4 cup). Heat until just smooth. Dip dough balls into the chocolate mixture. The key is to coat them quickly and make small, frequent batches of melted chocolate. 
6. Place bourbon balls on wax paper to cool. Top each with a toasted pecan half, if desired. Results are better if you leave them to cool at room temperature rather than in the refrigerator.

Yields between six and seven dozen bourbon balls.