8 slices Big Sky or other great whole wheat bread
1 stick butter, softened
2 TB mayonnaise
1 recipe Jann’s pimento cheese spread (see recipe below)
OR
4 oz sliced good swiss or white cheddar cheese
8 slices bacon, cooked (optional)
1/2 stick butter

Mix softened butter with mayonnaise
Make sandwiches with your choice of cheese (and bacon, if desired)
melt some of the stick of butter in a preheated cast iron pan
spread one side of sandwich with butter mixture
Place sandwich, spread side down, in melted butter when just sizzling
Spread top of sandwich with butter mixture.
Turn when brown and beautiful like Jann.
Grill other side
Cut into halves or quarters and serve with chips! (We like Zapp’s)
Eat and feel good!!

Some frown on homemade gifts, assuming that one has gone the “cheap route” in selecting a gift.  In fact, some homemade gifts such as fudge, can get pricey, but the effort involved says, “I care enough to create something special for you with my own hands.”

Stick around, as I’m about to share with you some of my favorite homemade recipes and ideas to make the holidays simple, inexpensive, and unique.

First, my kids love to walk in from the brisk air to the smell of wassail simmering in the crock-pot. Yes, the crock-pot.  Don’t you still have one?  If not, go and get one.  Even the modern ones are great for warming your holiday beverage, keeping that awesome cheese dip warm, or filling the room with the scent of homemade potpourri.   You may thank me later for reminding you of how great a crock-pot is.  Feel free to search the internet for your favorite wassail recipe. There are thousands out there.  Below, you will find my favorite.  I great, simple gift to sit at a friend’s doorstep would be a brown paper grocery sack filled with all the fixin’s for wassail.  Put a bow on it, and run back to the car.  I’ll bet in a few hours, your phone will ring with a smiling face on the other end.  Potpourri would be a great gift which would last many days through the season, too.  The delightful scent of the potpourri in your friend’s home would constantly remind them of you.

Second, homemade potpourri is enchanting.  My best memories of the holiday season, is the candy dishes on my mom’s coffee table filled with fresh Georgia pecans, Clementine, Washington apples, and round peppermint candies.  As a child, the sight of the dish being emptied and refilled made Christmas seem closer and closer.  At 9, I didn’t know that I could dry the fresh fruit and make my own potpourri.  The scent of apple pie baking is American’s aromatic elixir.  You don’t have to be a great baker, just fool the senses with your homemade apple potpourri.  Mother’s Clementines sliced and dried in the oven are an aromatic delight as well.

Now, when I think of the edible delights of the season, my mind does directly to two Southern traditions.  My mid-western dad has a sweet tooth like the day is long.  My mom baked a lot, and he loved her it!  His favorites were Hummingbird Cake and Buttermilk Pie.  We still have a copy of the recipe that Scott Richards submitted to the Birmingham News decades go.  The recipe is crinkled and worn, but the beautiful memories of preparing and eating that cake are forever a part of me.    I recently noticed a FoodNetwork recipe contest where Emeril Lagasse specially recreated the Southern Buttermilk pie.  I haven’t yet tried it, but I have a deep-dish pie shell and some buttermilk ready.

The holidays are not about how much money we spend.  I’m teaching my children that the holidays are aboutThe Season.  All the magic, all the joy, all the gatherings of the holidays which create lifelong memories is what they are learning.  Try one or two of the holiday ideas I’ve shared with you.  Make this holiday season a little less expensive and a lot more memorable.

Share your questions, comments, and stories.  I look forward to hearing from you.

jann

Crockpot Holiday Wassail Punch

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,183,134189-241194,00.html

Hummingbird Cake

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Hummingbird-Cake-IV/Detail.aspx

Simmering Potpourri

http://www.examiner.com/women-s-arts-crafts-in-salt-lake-city/create-your-own-fresh-simmering-potpourri

Emeril’s Buttermilk Pie

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/buttermilk-pie-recipe/index.html

Really, you don’t have to cook for the Holidays. jannrob!nson has been Your Holiday Secret Recipe since 1999, preparing dinner for hundreds around town, but that’s a secret…..ssshhhhh.

Feast your Eyes

Learn more at http://tastetheholidays.eventbrite.com Save the date, rsvp early, and join us for a tasty good time. We will have a Quarterly tasting in January. Look for more on a date in the weeks to come. If you don’t need a anything for yourself, consider ordering some for others unable to prepare a Holiday Feast.

“So you want to go this on your own?”  Ok.  Let’s do it!

There are loads of resources out there should you want to try your hand at cooking for the holidays. Personally,  I love http://www.allrecipes.com/, http://www.southernladymagazine.com/, and http://www.digsdigs.com/.  These are ALL great for planning your at-home celebration.

A helpful tip to strongly consider is to plan your trip in advance.  Sounds contrite, but so worth mentioning.

• Know what stores you need to hit before the get into the car.
• I would suggest a shopping center with a plethora of stores in one parking lot.  This way you reduce your driving and stoplights…..you will possibly run in the half the county while you’re out shopping.
• Additionally, shop early or shop opposite everyone else.
• Go very early in the morning, as they have shelves and aisles freshly stocked anticipating your visit.
• Look for the advertised specials on your beverages and other items such as paper goods. This trick frees up dollars for your more pricey items such as spices and rich dairy products that make the holidays like no other time of year.
• Should you need extra table settings and platters, try TJMaxx’s Home Goods stores.   No doubt, Tuesday morning is the place for ready to eat appetizers and snacks and one-of-a kind decorations.

You are now ready and set for the holidays.

Should you need more tips, advice, or recipes, I am an email away.  Email me at jann@justcalljann.com and I will be happy to help.
Cheers!

jannrob!nson

http://www.justcalljann.com

http://www.mythanksgivingdinner.com

For more ideas on decorating for the holidays visit:

http://www.digsdigs.com

Did you really not know that Alabama has a Youth Symphony Orchestra?  Yes, right here in Birmingham, AL with performances at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.  The ASYO’s inaugural season begins late November.

In September, I sat down with Meaghan Heinrich, Education Coordinator for the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.  As I walked into the Alys Stephens Center, I see this wonderful young woman with pink hair and I immediately know that today will be like no other.  Meaghan and I discussed the former youth orchestra before the ASO bankrupted in 1993.  Being an arts enthusiast, I recall that time and the years after as symbolic of the heart and artistic vibe of our state silenced.  Meaghan detailed her arrival in Birmingham and spoke of how it was the combined desire of many within the ASO and our community at large, who shared a common commitment to reviving the Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra.

On that visit, I was fortunate to have the rare and most delightful opportunity to sit for a visit with the ASYO’s  conductor,  Fawzi Haimor, who is also an Assistant Conductor for the ASO.  Before going into ASO rehearsal, Fawzi and I discussed his move to Birmingham from California, which was reminiscent of a orchestral scavenger hunt.  Fawzi portrayed his personal experience in the process by which the Alabama Symphony Orchestra used to choose a conductor for the rebirth of the Youth Orchestra.  To hear him speak of his travels to Birmingham and to Anniston to conduct their youth orchestra as a portion of his audition was so visual, so real, I felt as though I were there with him.

For the sake of time, not all of the interviews were featured in the final cut, but I believe viewing the piece will give you a sense of the excitement of this rebirth.  Additionally, you will see three short interviews with ASYO participants from Hoover, ASFA, and a sophomore student at UAB.   Some of the participants have committed a six hour time frame for rehearsals, driving from Montgomery to Birmingham to be a part of Alabama’s youth orchestra.  The dedication to their art is uncommon.  To these families, I say, “Bravo! Bravo!”

You may learn more about the ASYO, by visiting http://alabamasymphony.org/aysorchestra.htm or LIKE their page on facebook.

Enjoy,

jann

ASYO from randalcrow on Vimeo.

The Annual Open House is a tradition we all look forward to.  Our clients remember last year’s shindig and expect this year to be the best of the decade! Not to mention our staff and families who appreciate the token of gratitude for their dedication to the company another year.  So what do you do to fulfill everyone’s Holiday wishes?  Just Call Jann.

Many of Jann Robinson’s Birmingham clients not only require catering this year celebration, but also are calling on Jann’s diverse skills to coordinate the annual event.  Jann will plan the menu and decor, organize the guest list and create the e-vite and social media (facebook) invites, coordinate valet service, and handle the rspv list for the event.   Don’t shuffle between host and chief bottle washer. Just call Jann Robinson so you can be Host, but feel like a guest of your event.

You don’t have time to plan the event.

jannrob!nson Culinary Living

Just Call Jann. Learn more at http://www.justcalljann.com

Hanukkah (Chanukah) catering menus available too.

Jann Robinson

205-314-5723 and jann@justcalljann.com

This is the inaugural post on my new blog and website.  I am so thrilled with the look, the layout, and the feel of my site.  It will house all that is jann robinson from catering and events, to media and health outreach.  Thank you for your participation and I hope to see your comments and questions posted on the different topics address here.

Here we go……

I’ve got this question, “What’s so great about the South?” that I need help answering.  Will you tell me what you believe is so great about the South and living here?

My answer to this question is, marvelous medical research, SEC football, having the NCAA finals here in Birmingham, our wonderful arts community, amazing independent restaurants, and ‘Sweet Tea’.

What’s your answer?

Thanks for responding.

Best,

Jann

Southern Fried Chicken, Buttered Corn-on-the-Cob, and Lima Beans with Chunks of Cured Turkey