Tablescape Thursday and Foodie Friday

Back in February my third post ever was a Foodie Friday contribution titled, "Meet the Fockers". We were entertaining the future in laws for the first time to discuss wedding plans. I mulled over the menu for days. Well, last weekend Firstborn Son asked us to entertain his girlfriend's parents from out of town. It was her birthday and he wanted us all to "meet and greet". This time I just went with the flow and it turned out to be a fun and relaxed evening for all!

A simple red and yellow themed buffet style table worked like a charm. After feeding sixteen last weekend on china, I wised up--dinnerware by Chinet! Yep, I used red plastic over sized plates for the nine of us! I pulled out the tailgating tablecloth, bought my Kroger sale bin flowers, and hit the picnic aisle in the grocery store. Those leftover galvanized buckets seem to show up in almost every tablescape. The Target birds have friends--the Target fish!

The menu was a simple one--Fried dill pickles and spinach dip for appetizers, catfish, hushpuppies, french fries, homemade tartar sauce, slaw, and fresh cucumbers with sweet onion in a red wine vinaigrette. I served a batch of peach tea and a few chilled long necks on the deck.

The bucket was a great condiment container--of course ketchup, the required Louisiana hot sauce, and commercial tartar sauce. Firstborn Son doesn't like my homemade variety (ungrateful thing :) A condiment dish held onions, lemons, and the homemade tartar sauce. The birthday girl's favorite dessert is creme brulee'. Although I might not have chosen it to go with this particular meal, it's my favorite too so I made it! Now, the tablescape is not awe inspiring, but it was fun and easy--my goals for the evening. The food, on the other hand, was down home gourmet! My husband is an expert with the deep fat fryer he got for Christmas. I've included a couple of recipes from the evening. And in case you're wondering, I was listening, but I didn't hear any wedding bells yet --but maybe soon :)

Homemade Tartar Sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons grated carrot, 1/2 mayonnaise, 1 1/2 tablespoons grated onion, 1 tablespoon dill pickle relish or grated dill pickle. Mix all ingredients. This gets better as the ingredients have time to meld.

Mama's Hushpuppies

This is a recipe that was not really a "recipe" until I watched and measured my mother's ingredients one day. Lots of good cooks use "about this much" as a guideline. That is why you will see the words "heaping" and "level". It's as close as I could get to measurements, but it has worked like a charm for many years. l full cup of white corn meal, 2 heaping tablespoons of flour, l level tablespoon baking powder, l teaspoon salt, 3/4 of a medium onion chopped finely, about 1/2-3/4 cup buttermilk, and 1 egg. Mix dry ingredients. Add buttermilk and egg; mix until the batter will drop by spoon (a little thicker than pancake batter). You may need to add a little more buttermilk. Drop by the spoonful into hot oil at 325 degrees. If you get it just right, these will turn on their own! Cook until golden brown.

I hope you'll join Susan at Between Naps on the Porch, our Tablescape Thursday hostess (and the bogoversary girl) and Michael at Designs by Gollum, our Foodie Friday hostess. Thanks for having us over! You can get there in a wink by clicking on their buttons on the sidebar!