Book Club Round Up

I hosted book club last week and for my literature buddies, I cooked some old favorites and one new one. If you frequent the Pattiwagon, you will have seen these before, but you're not mad, are you? 

Appetizer: Cream cheese with homemade catsup and crackers. Recipe can be found on Studio Adventure's website here. While it is some (no, more like A LOT) of work, plan ahead, get some friends together, and have a canning party. No fancy equipment needed. This was my last jar of the season. I must really love my book club. 

Main Course: Chorizo and sweet potato skillet. So good and so easy and so economical. Recipe here. 

Because it contains rice and beans and sweet potatoes, I just had one side. This is a new favorite for me. I had the recipe for the first time when I was home at Thanksgiving. Cauliflower has never been one of my favorite vegetables. Steamed, it's inedible. Raw, it needs a mountain of dip. But roasted, I can get behind that. 

I've been trying it all sorts of different flavorings, and this Mexican variety is my favorite. Cilantro haters, go Italian and try pesto and parmesan. Recipe here. 

And for dessert, Molly's chocolate pie. Why would I ever bake any other pie? Recipe here.  

While food/wine/company are the number one priority in book club, we did read a book. I chose All the Light We Cannot See, and I can't recommend it more. It is beautifully written and conceived. It tells the story of the Nazi occupation of France during WWII through multiple story lines. There could be a waiting list of 200 at your local library, but you should go ahead and put your name on it. 

Best of the Tournament

This past weekend, Daddy Pattiwagon and I attended the SEC basketball tournament in Nashville. This was my fourth tournament of the JVC era at UK. And it did not disappoint. The games, the Cats, the fans, the city, the company were all fantastic. As much as I love the basketball, I love the theatrics of the games, so here are some best ofs: 

Mascot of the Tourney: 
Suffice it to say, I LOVE MASCOTS. The new and improved Vanderbilt Commodore (with a touch of Benjamin Button) and of course past winner Rebel the Black Bear were tough contenders, but this year's prize goes to Sue E., the female Razorback. Her hair bows and pompons were on point. 

Dance Team of the Tourney: 

Another tough category. Alabama, LSU, and Arkansas earn bonus points for incorporating their mascots into the routines. Unfortunately, Arkansas was terrible and perennial favorite LSU has fallen on hard times. While I loved Alabama's routine, they have got to do something about that elephant's trunk. Grotesque. Georgia was the surprise winner here. The technical difficult was off the charts, and they killed it. Go Dance Dawgs! Too bad your basketball team isn't as much fun to watch. 

Song of the Tourney: 

I called it a month ago: Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. I heard the song approximately 38,000 times this weekend. I'm not sure any of the bands played anything else. Good thing I love it. 

Band of the Tourney: 

Vandy. Every year. Might have a bit of cousin-bias though. 

Fashion of the Tourney: 

Belk was a sponsor this year, and during every game, they had a "fashion cam" and picked the best dressed fan to win a prize. There were thirteen games, and UK fans won twice. TWICE. The stadium was always 99% UK fans. Despite that travesty, I still got some great photos of the fashionable UK fans. 

Apparently the Bang This Twins are famous in Nashville? I can see why? Any insight, Nashvillians? 

Everwhere. You. Looked.

So here we are, three days before Kentucky begins its championship run. You can have the field. 

If you're feeling nostalgic, here's my last "Best of SEC tournament" post. There is a Draw Something reference. Hah. #tbt

Valentines 5.0

I'm sure some of you avid Pattiwagoneers have been waiting with bated breath for this post. (right? RIGHT?) If you're a new Pattiwagoneer, my family and I have a tradition of making each other Valentine's Day cards every year. You can see previous Valentine posts 

here and here and here and here. 

I went with an old-school theme this year. The front of each card was a simply a heart, and here are the outsides: 

For my dad,

 And my mom,

 And my sister,

For this one, I found a light up button, and put it in the back, so she could turn it on. I was worried about it actually working after being shipped, so I also painted the heart with glow-in-the-dark paint.

And here are the ones I received: 

From my mom, 

The poem is an allusion to the world's most resilient Christmas tree ornament. It is a real ice cream cone that has lived through five presidents (i.e., 27 years). And it still looks like this. I think it has super powers. Or just a lot of additives. 

From my dad,

You can never go wrong with a UK-themed card. Especially in a year when they're 31-0.

And from my sister,

Do you remember where you were when you found out that SkyMall was going bankrupt? I do, and it felt like a little piece of my heart died. And so when I opened up this card with ACTUAL PHOTOS FROM ACTUAL SKYMALLS, that little piece of my heart was filled with a special kind of joy, equaled perhaps only by solving Fermat's Last Theorem or birthing a baby. 

And of course, here's a Valentine's Day bulletin board for all your oohing and aahing.