Celebrate Mom with Graeter's!
Sunday is Mother's Day, and I've teamed up with Graeter's to share some ways to make your mom's day a sweet one.
Graeter's is, of course, the handcrafted French Pot ice cream favored by Sarah Jessica Parker, George Clooney, and a whole lot of Kentuckians. When they sent over a couple of recipes for me to try -- and share with y'all on WKYT today -- I knew they'd be huge hits for Mother's Day dinner.
Brownie Parfait
This is a treat so easy that the youngest kitchen helpers can assist! Start with a couple of small brownies (I used my tried-and-true recipe of boxed brownie mix with a splash of bourbon and a sprinkling of sea salt). Layer a brownie, a spoonful or two of chocolate pudding, then another brownie and another dab of pudding. The recipe calls for vanilla ice cream and chocolate pieces, but I opted for Graeter's Bourbon Ball, my favorite local flavor. Of course, top with some whipped cream!
Strawberry Shortcake
• 2 pints ripe strawberries, hulled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 5 prepared strawberry shortcake cups
• 1 pint of Graeter’s strawberry ice cream
Prep: 15 minutes
Ready in 45 minutes
1. Place the strawberries into a glass bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Stir condensed milk into strawberries and mash together with a fork until somewhat juicy. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Place each shortcake cup onto a dessert plate. Evenly divide the strawberries and their juice among the shortcake cups. Top with whipped cream to serve.
Five Tips for a Great At-Home Derby Party
When I think of favorite Kentucky Derby memories, there are, of course, stories about sitting right at the Finish Line, over-the-top Derby Parties, and elaborate hats. But, the truth is, some of my very favorite Kentucky Derby Memories are family parties when I was a kid. I can remember sitting in my grandmother's living room -- at a home where drinking or gambling would never be permitted -- and watching the Derby with my cousins. It was always so special to realize that Kentucky was the focus of the entire sports-loving world for the afternoon!
Here are some great tips for hosting a memorable Derby party at home.
1. Keep an assortment of great beverages!
When you think of Derby Day, of course you think of mint juleps! But, y'all know that everybody doesn't like the Kentucky Derby's signature cocktail. Try an Ale-8 "minty julep" mocktail for the kids. Keep some sweet tea and lemonade on hand for those who choose not to imbibe. Maybe mix up a batch of bourbon slush. Have a couple bottles of good bourbon on hand -- a high-wheat and a high-rye should satisfy everyone's tastes. And don't forget that crushed ice makes it all a little more festive!
2. Keep it low-key!
There's no need to pull out the fine china or even the silver julep cups. Make your guests feel comfortable with everyday serving pieces. I LOVE the mint julep cups from Louisville Stoneware. These carafes are only $3 at Target right now. And Derby glasses are always appropriate! I love using a well-loved quilt as a tablecloth. And colorful Fiestaware is always great for a party.
3. Everybody loves a tiny bite!
Make boxed brownie mix something extraordinary by adding a splash of bourbon to the mix, then topping the cooled brownies with a liberal sprinkling of sea salt; cut into tiny, bite-sized squares. Serve sweet Sister Schubert rolls as sliders with salty country ham. Mini hot browns and individual-sized Derby-Pies® are always great tastes of Kentucky!
4. Play some games.
Download a jockey silks template and let kids (and grown-ups!) design their own silks. Draw names of the horses in the field from a bowl, so everyone has a horse to cheer for. (If your crowd is gambling-friendly, set up a small pool for the race winner!) And purchase cheap feathers and flowers from a craft store to decorate Derby hats. Purchase a few extra Derby glasses for party favors that will remind your guests of the fun day.
5. Sing My Old Kentucky Home!
Don't forget the state song. It's a great Derby tradition!
Here's to a fun, laid-back Derby at home!
Kentucky Derby Festival Princesses
Yesterday, the lovely ladies at The Peppermint Palm invited me to meet the Kentucky Derby Festival Princesses! Aren't they lovely?
With Derby approaching, and the Derby Princesses fulfilling their royal duties, I thought it would be fun to re-post this guest post by our friend Grace Wainwright, the gorgeous Louisville-based fashion blogger from A Southern Drawl. Back in 2014, Grace was kind enough to describe her experiences as a Derby Festival Princess for HerKentucky readers.
Hey y’all! I’m Grace, the gal over at A Southern Drawl --my personal style blog of all things southern, stylish, and awkward. I’d like to describe my style as preppy, classic, and feminine (yet very much unexpected at times). My personality, on the other hand, is quite different. Yes, I may say y’all and may be a George Strait fan, but I’m not the typical southern proper girl. I come from a large Lebanese family that’s always in your business. {There’s no such thing as privacy in my family.} So, pretty much here’s the equation of my life: Lebanese + South = Comedy. I’m sarcastic, loud, blunt, and despite “popular” belief, I’m not graceful, have no poise, and trip in public daily {if not more}. Sounds tragic, right? Right.
…and then I became a Kentucky Derby Festival Princess. Go ahead, gasp. I was pretty shocked too, to be honest. But, don’t worry, I’ll give you some background.
Kentucky Derby Festival {KDF} kicks off with Thunder Over Louisville {April 12} and consists of nearly 70 events leading up to the good ol’ Kentucky Derby {go baby go!}. As for the KDF Royal Court {that’s me!}—we act as ambassadors for Louisville and represent the community at all of the functions and Derby Festival activities. That means we attend nearly every event {and keep in mind that all the princesses are full-time students}. The princesses are chosen out of more than 100 applicants with two interviews, the last being given by out-of-state judges. How are we selected? Knowledge of the Derby Festival, Poise, Intelligence, Personality, and Campus/Community Involvement.
All of the Princesses; Photo Taken by Marvin Young
So, I’m a Derby Festival Princess. What now? First, I wear my crown and pray that I don’t trip and break its precious stones. Chances are pretty high for that, y’all. Second, the great sponsors, like Macy’s, Anthropologie,Dillard’s, Gretchen Scott , and many more dress us until we’re looking as fabulous as can be. {I always love getting to do what I do best—try on clothes and shop}. Third, we get to be ambassadors for the KDF events and functions and strut our stuff everywhere. A scholarship is also given to us by The Fillies, which is quite the perk too. So here’s to me {and the other four gorgeous princesses} proceeding through these last couple of weeks without doing anything too traumatizing to the public and to us enjoying every fleeting second of this. Oh wait, and to always remembering that the soup spoon is scooped away from your body and not towards {etiquette lesson of the day}.
Fairy tales never included princesses taking selfies with the Governor... Pretty cool, eh? {Photo Taken By Marvin Young.}
Feel free to stop on by over here to get your daily dose of sarcasm and style from yours truly. I promise I don’t bite…well, sometimes.
The $1000 Mint Julep
A unique collectible benefits a worthy cause!
Image courtesy Elizabeth O'Neill
A $1000 Mint Julep, made from ultra-premium ingredients. For some, it sounds like the ultimate trackside luxury; for others, it sounds like an unattainable way to sip a cocktail that they haven’t quite learned to enjoy properly. For Kentucky Derby fans in the know, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime way to give back to the horse racing community in a significant way.
Bourbon and horses are, of course, Kentucky’s two most famous industries – some would even call them Kentuckians’ most famous obsessions. And, as renowned bourbon historian Michael Veach recently noted, bourbon and horses are intertwined in more ways than we can count. Elizabeth O’Neill, Master Taster of Woodford Reserve, tells a story of her perfect Kentucky Derby moment, which marries racing and bourbon in beautiful harmony: “Last year was my first year attending the Derby in my professional capacity for Woodford instead of just as an enthusiastic spectator. I arrived at 4 a.m. to assist Chris Morris (Woodford Reserve’s Master Distiller) and Tim Laird (Brown-Forman’s Chief Entertaining Officer) in making cocktails and talking to the press about the $1000 Mint Julep. There we were at Churchill Downs on Derby morning and nobody was really there yet. We were set up for an interview near the second turn of the track and there was a moment when I was able to just enjoy watching the horses galloping and trotting during morning workouts. As a horse lover and a Kentuckian, I just thought, ‘I’m so lucky to be doing this!’"
Elizabeth O'Neill of Woodford Reserve and I recently chatted over Mint Juleps.
It’s that very spirit of thanksgiving that leads Woodford Reserve to give back to the equine community. For eleven years now, Woodford Reserve, the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby, has used the $1,000 mint julep as an outlet to raise over $425,000 for equine and humanitarian causes. This year’s $1000 Mint Julep Cup will benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, an independent 501(c) public charity that provides financial assistance to former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries. Created in 2006 by leaders in the horseracing industry, PDJF has disbursed over $7 million dollars and currently supports 60 permanently disabled jockeys, most of whom have paralysis or traumatic brain injuries. It’s truly a remarkable charity that gives back to those jockeys who have made life-altering sacrifices in the pursuit of a sport they love.
So what makes a mint julep worthy of a $1000 or higher price tag? Unique ingredients, a rare, collectible vessel, and, of course, a charitable spirit. Ninety Crafter’s Cups, sold at $1000, will be available for purchase at the 142nd Kentucky Derby. These individually numbered cups, designed by Hamilton Shirts, feature Hamilton’s classic plaid pattern, along with the 2016 Kentucky Derby date and Woodford Reserve logo accompanied by a gold-plated sipping straw. Each Crafter’s Cup is available for $1,000. Even more rare are the fifteen gold-plated Master’s Cups, which feature a design similar to the Crafter’s Cup and are accented with diamonds and a silver sipping straw. Each Master’s Cup sells for $2,500.
As for the contents of the Julep Cup? It’s a special take on the Mint Julep created by New York mixologist Julie Renee Williams to invoke a traditional Southern dessert pecan pie. The recipe is:
Woodford Reserve 2016 Kentucky Derby Mint Julep
• 2 oz. Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select
• ¾ oz. toasted pecan orgeat syrup
• Fresh mint
• Caramelized pecan crumbles for garnish
• Edible bronze flakes
Rub fresh mint around julep cup. Combine ingredients with crushed ice and swizzle in glass. Add more crushed ice, garnish with mint bunch, caramelized pecan crumbles and edible bronze flakes. To make toasted pecan orgeat, toast pecans, mix or muddle into small pieces and simmer on low heat to create a nut milk. Fine strain or use a nut milk bag to remove nut pieces, and add equal parts sugar to liquid.
Cheers to smooth sips, a great cause, and the magic of the Kentucky Derby!
(This post was brought to you by The Kentucky Derby Book and also appears on the book's blog. Check out The Kentucky Derby Book for an interactive look at the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports!)
Kentucky Burgoo
The history and tradition of Kentucky's iconic hunter stew.
Of all of Kentucky’s iconic regional dishes, burgoo is the oldest, the most rustic, and certainly the heartiest!
A catch-all hunter’s stew, burgoo has as much variety in its origin story as it does in its ingredients. Some claim the recipe was brought over from Wales, while others attribute its creation to French chef Gustave Jaubert, who served Kentuckian John Hunt Morgan during the Civil War. After the War ended, Jaubert was hired by Frankfort’s Buffalo Trace Distillery to cook large iron kettles of burgoo for its employees. Jaubert was soon known as The Father of Burgoo, catering events with 1000 gallons of burgoo, which reportedly contained “400 pounds of beef, six dozen chickens, four dozen rabbits, thirty cans of tomatoes, twenty dozen cans of corn, fifteen bushels of potatoes, and five bushels of onions,” according to a Louisville Courier-Journal article at the time.
These days, burgoo is one of Kentucky’s signature regional cuisines, served everywhere from Keeneland’s track kitchen to church picnics across the Bluegrass State. The stew was even referenced in the name of the 1932 Kentucky Derby winner, Burgoo King!
Kentucky Burgoo, Recipe courtesy Churchill Downs
Ingredients
· 1 pound beef top round chunked
· 1 pound lamb sirloin chunked
· 1/2 pounds chicken thighs chunked
· 1 tablespoon salt
· 12 cups water
· 1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
· 6 cloves garlic, minced
· 2 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (one 12-ounce bag)
· 2 1/2 cups frozen sliced okra (one 12-ounce bag)
· 2 15-ounce cans, butter beans, drained
· 1 1/2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
· 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
· 1/4 cup Kentucky sorghum or molasses
· 1/4 cup ketchup
· 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
· 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
· 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Preparation
1. Place the beef, lamb, and chicken in a large Dutch oven.
2. Add the salt and water. Bring to a boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.
3. Reduce the heat, partially cover, and simmer until the beef and lamb are fork tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Remove the beef, lamb, and chicken pieces to a plate and let cool.
5. Strain the broth, pour back into Dutch oven.
6. Stir in the onion, garlic, mixed vegetables, okra, butter beans, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, sorghum or molasses, ketchup, vinegar, cloves, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 1 1/2 hours.
7. Add the meat to the vegetables and cook for about 1/2 hour to thicken the broth.
8. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Quilts, Quilts, and more Quilts at the AQS Quilt Show
There is one event the entire year revolves around. There is one event every Kentuckian around me loves but also dreads. The tourists. The crowds. The traffic.
The Kentucky Derby?!?!
Nope! That's for you central Kentuckians. Over here in Western Kentucky, the event of the year is the AQS Quilt Show. Starting early this week, the streets of Paducah will start to fill with quilters from near as far (seriously, FAR, as in Japan far) and really live up to its name The Quilting Capital OF. THE. WORLD.
The Quilt Show transforms the entire town. I will never forget the first year I moved back. I walked into my favorite coffee shop downtown only to find the front had been filled with fabric bolts of every color. Coffee shop/Fabric store! Only during the Quilt Show.
Some less enthusiastic citizens complain about The Quilt Show. These are the people who have never actually gone to the Convention Center and taken in the beauty and artistry that is competitive quilting. These are the people who prefer to frown over the slightest change in their routine and giggle at the ladies in their quilted vests. These are the people who don't even go down town the entire week for fear of being confronted by someone not from Paducah!
These are not my people.
I'm very lucky to have my own quilting tour guides every year. My husband's parents run Planet Patchwork, a popular quilting website, and have been coming to the Show for years. (That's how I knew Nicholas and I were meant to be. He took me to the Quilt Museum on his first visit to Paducah and showed me his father's endorsements in the front of all the quilting books.) They show me all the best shops and shows. We eat at the church quilting luncheons. It's a blast to be a foreigner in your own town.
So, as the rest of Kentucky gears up for a little horse race, Paducah will be living large with the quilters. If you're not from around here, I encourage you to come by. And if you are from Paducah and have never embraced the Quilt Show in all its glory, it truly is your loss.
~ Sarah Stewart Holland
Rediscovering the Mint Julep
The mint julep gets a bad rap.
Kentuckians, especially the Louisvillians and bourbon aficionados among us, tend to write the Kentucky Derby’s signature cocktail off as something for amateurs or tourists – at best relegated to a Derby Day-only experience. We hear countless variations on the old joke “throw out the mint and syrup; drink the bourbon” going as far back as famed Louisville newspaper editor Henry Watterson (Pluck the mint gently from its bed, just as the dew of the evening is about to form on it…Pour the whiskey into a well-frosted silver cup, throw the other ingredients away, and drink the whiskey.) to the Kentucky Derby Book’s author Bill Doolittle. But, a well-made julep can be refreshing and quite tasty. I recently spoke with my friend Elizabeth O’Neill, the Master Taster at Woodford Reserve, about the mint julep’s origins and the proper way to prepare a julep.
The mint julep – a combination of Kentucky bourbon whiskey, simple syrup, and a sprig of mint – arose on horse farms as a medicinal elixir, Elizabeth says. “It was a way of treating aches and pains in the era before you had aspirin lying around to treat every headache or sore muscle.” The signature silver cup also originated on horse farms, where “silver cups were used as trophies at horse races, and drinking out of the winning cup was a celebratory tradition.”
These days, Elizabeth says, mint juleps are meant to be fun – “like an adult slushie!” The rule she observes in advising folks on how to mix the perfect mint julep is that there’s no wrong way to enjoy the cocktail: “Play with the amounts of sugar or bourbon to develop a taste that you like!”
To make a great mint julep at home, according to Elizabeth, you have to start with a good bourbon. She suggests Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select, the Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby. You’ll also need simple syrup – a mixture of one part water to one part sugar which has been heated until it dilutes, then cooled – crushed ice, and several sprigs of mint. Place the mint in the julep cup first and muddle it a bit, then pour in an ounce or so of simple syrup. Fill your cup to the top with ice, then add about two ounces of bourbon. Be sure to add a generous sprig of mint to garnish – according to Elizabeth, “the majority of the taste experience is through smell. If you don’t have that up-front aroma of mint, you won’t really experience a mint julep.” Most importantly, “Drink it how you like it!”
Whether enjoyed solely on the First Saturday in May or as a refreshing cocktail during the summer months, the classic mint julep is a drink that deserves a little more respect!