Author name: Madelyn

Make-it-Monday- Sweet Tea

Today’s Make-it-Monday is a repost from a couple years ago.  It features my recipe for sweet tea that I continue to use to this day.  Combine this with some freshly-squeezed lemonade and you have a hit on your hands.

Every Southerner worth their weight in gold knows how to make a good pitcher of sweet tea. As Dolly Parton’s character in Steel Magnolias said “it’s the house wine of the south”.  Like the use of the word coke for all types of sodas, many Southerners simply use the word tea to mean sweetened iced tea. It’s the quintessential southern drink and its popularity is catching on in other areas of the country.

Over ten years ago when my then fiancé and I were eating out and I mistakenly ordered sweet tea at a midwestern restaurant, the waitress gave me a blank stare.  Fast-forward to 2012 and this sweet elixir can now be found in McDonalds nationwide as well as various dine-in restaurants including the one where I received the blank stare. Iced sweet tea is a sign of hospitality that almost any household can offer.  Done right, it can make a lasting impression on your guests.

Several years ago I discovered a great recipe for sweet tea that has always turned out well.  The color is just right and it doesn’t have the “trash” commonly found at the bottom of some pitchers of sweet tea.

Here it is the recipe for your delight:

6 regular or 3 family size tea bags (I normally use good old-fashioned Lipton tea bags  

2 cups boiling water

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 to 2 cups granulated sugar  (if you’re a sweet tea newbie, you may want to start with  1 1/4 cups instead

 6 cups cold water 

In a glass measuring cup or saucepan large enough to accommodate 2 cups boiling water, add tea bags and baking soda.  Cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags, being careful not to squeeze the bags (this adds bitterness).  Pour the concentrate into a 2-quart pitcher and add sugar.  Stir until almost dissolved.  Add 6 cups cold water.  Cool and serve over ice.

*It’s important to remember to add the sugar while the concentrate is hot or warm otherwise it won’t dissolve and you’ll end up with a bunch of sugar at the bottom of the pitcher. One other note; I know the baking soda might seem strange, but it softens the natural tannins,  substances found in teas that can cause an acid or bitter taste.

There are many ways to serve sweet tea but one of my favorites is in an old-fashioned mason jar.  You can’t get much more hospitable than that!  This welcoming drink would be great used during a cocktail hour of a country chic wedding or as a wedding favor as shown below.

What about you, do you enjoy a cool glass of sweet tea? Do you have a favorite recipe?

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Make it Monday- Sundried tomato chicken crostini

Happy Monday!   Today I’m sharing another appetizer dish I’ve become well-known for, sun dried tomato chicken crostini.  This is a quick, easy and oh so delicious recipe that will once again, make you the hit of the party!  I originally came across this recipe when my friend and I attended a cooking class at a local kitchen and bath store.  The chef was a funny, creative person who made some of the most delicious and simple recipes I’ve ever tasted.

For those of you not familiar with the term, crostini (meaning “little toast” in Italian) is an Italian appetizer consisting of a small slice of grilled or toasted bread and toppings.  I like to think of them as open-faced, mini sandwiches.

Sundried tomato chicken crostini

 

Sun dried tomato chicken salad

1 c sun dried tomatoes (I prefer the dried variety to avoid the extra oil found in others)

1 ½ c chopped walnuts

2 tbsp tomato paste

4 garlic cloves

1 c mayonnaise

1 roasted chicken ( I typically purchase a rotisserie chicken from my grocer)

 

Shred the chicken. Add the walnuts, garlic, and mayonnaise and tomato paste.

Chop the sun dried tomatoes and mix with the other ingredients well. Refrigerate until ready to spread on the crostini

 

Crostini

1 thinly sliced baguette (I purchase mine sliced from Panera)

parmesan cheese as desired

butter (optional)

olive oil

salt & pepper

 

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Arrange  baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush each with a small amount of butter, olive oil, and salt & pepper as desired.

Bake for about 15 minutes until the baguette starts to brown.  Spread each baguette with the chicken salad, garnish and serve.

 

Enjoy! I’d love to know if y’all try it!

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Marriage Series: Madelyn & Shaffer Ridgeway

This week I”m excited to feature my own love story.  Believe me when I say that our marriage is a true testament to the fact that Love Always Wins! My husband is my best friend, my biggest cheerleader, my personal comedian, and all-around partner.  To say I love and appreciate him is an understatement!

Love-seriesridgeway

 

engagement photoengagement photo, 2001

wedding picture

Wedding Day, 2002

Ridgeway-presentMay, 2013

1. How long have you been married? We were married September 7, 2002 so as of today, 11 years

2. Tell us about your love story.

Madelyn- Although our hometowns are not far apart from each other in rural Alabama, we didn’t meet until we were both students at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, AL.  We both had majors in the school of Agriculture and were required to take a Computers in Agriculture class. I took it at 8 am and Shaffer took it at 10 am. One day we were both in the lab after hours with other students working on an assignment for the class; each student had to create some type of letter or invitation and do a mail merge with a database we had created.  My invitation was a mock 21st birthday party invitation, of course!  As entertainment for my mock party, I listed a DJ that was very popular in both our hometowns.  As I was printing the invitations to the one printer in the lab, Shaffer was standing at the printer waiting on something to be printed also.  As he nosily picked up my invitation, and noticed the DJ’s name, he screams out across the room “who in here knows Dr. Rock!?”  I responded with “I do! Why?”.

A few days later I convinced my friend Wanda to talk to him and see if he was interested in me.  In his “own way” he said he was and the rest is history!  It was 6 loooonnnngg years later when were engaged on September 8, 2001.

3. Tell us a bit about your wedding (color, location, attendants, etc). Is there anything you would change?

We were married in an outdoor ceremony at a Southern, antebellum mansion named Gaineswood,  in my hometown of Demopolis, Alabama.  The bridesmaids wore orchid/lavender, two-piece, a-line ensembles with silver shoes while the groomsmen wore grey tuxedos.  We had a total of 8 attendants each,  3 flower girls, 2 ring bearers, a mini bride & groom, and several personal attendants.  My attendants and I walked up the aisle under 100 year old crepe myrtles that had grown together to form an arch overhead- gorgeous and the epitome of Southern! Our reception was held at the Demopolis Civic Center which overlooks the Tombigbee River home of the well-known Christmas on the River.

Madelyn– I would change two things about our wedding day: (1) I would have a smaller more intimate wedding.  We sought to please so many people by adding everybody that wanted to be a part of the day.  At some point, it became overwhelming.  (2) I would take the time to enjoy the day and my guest more. The planner in me refused to let go of so many things.  I was depending on so many friends and family to handle things and many things didn’t happen because of that and I found myself frustrated and upset at times on what should have been one of the happiest days of my life.

Shaffer– I would have more dancing at the reception!

4. What is your favorite wedding memory?

Madelyn– Jumping the broom!

Shaffer–  Seeing Madelyn walk down the aisle and escorting my Mom to her seat.  My mom had been very sick for years with kidney disease and the question arose several times if she would ever make it to my wedding. To be able to walk her down the aisle to her seat was an experience I sometimes thought I might not have.

5. What is the key to making your marriage successful?

Madelyn–  Keep God first in your individual lives, learn to let things go and remember to laugh often together. Shaffer and I are always on the lookout for what we call “good material”-  stuff that we can use later to laugh at when it’s just us.

Shaffer– (1) Knowing that this is a lifelong commitment and you have a covenant with God and your spouse.  (2) Asking yourself during an argument, “will this matter tomorrow”? (3)  Allow your mate to be themselves.

6. What are some of your favorite things to do together as a couple?

Madelyn–  Dream big together & travel- We were married seven years before we had our first child so we traveled a lot.  Some long trips and many short, weekend trips.  We found that many of our best dream sessions and funniest moments happened as we were driving down the road and just talking. Even today,  we love taking trips just because of the great conversations we seem to have.

Shaffer–  Because Madelyn is my best friend, I just like spending any kind of time with her.

7. What would you tell the younger you on the eve of your wedding day?

Madelyn- Focus as much on your marriage as you are on your wedding.  Prepare to be a loving and caring wife.  I was so caught up in getting married and having the perfect wedding that I forgot to really pray and prepare for being a good wife and partner to my future husband.

Oh, and get another hairstyle for tomorrow!  You’ll regret the one you have planned.

8. What does LAW (love always wins) mean to you as a couple?

Madelyn– Keep love at the center of your relationship always.  If you focus on God’s definition of love (I Corinthians 13), you’ll never lose and your marriage will always flourish.

Shaffer– Love conquers all.  The bible tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church.  When I think about how much He loved us and what he did for us in spite  of what we’ve done, I can always find a way to forgive or do whatever is needed to get through troubled times.

9. How did you know your spouse was the right one for you?

Madelyn– It took me a while to figure out what I really wanted in a spouse.  In the beginning I just thought it was cool and fun to have a boyfriend!  Once I realized that having someone who loved the Lord, had a strong work ethic and made me laugh was important to me, I knew Shaffer was the one.

Shaffer– Madelyn really complements me in so many ways.  After realizing what it was that God had planned in my life, I knew I would need some help.  I also needed someone that didn’t mind dreaming big.  Madelyn is that person.

10. What is your best marriage advice for couples soon to be married or considering marriage?

You really do have to have more than a natural, physical love to make marriage last.  There will be days when you love your spouse but you don’t like them very much.  Many things that you were smitten with in the beginning may annoy the heck out of you in later years. You need something deeper at the core of your relationship than just a natural, physical love.

We were both children of divorce and realized early on how that had negatively effected us.  We both agreed that divorce wasn’t an option and we would do what it takes to make our marriage work.  That determination, as well as having God at the foundation of both of our lives individually (not just as a couple),  has been the secret sauce to our successful marriage.

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