Return of the Casa Kitchen

Remember those “What I did for my Summer vacation” essays that used to be de rigeur at a certain time in primary education? I loved those and I still write them. I guess I am lucky enough to have had, and to continue to have, awesome summers that are worth writing about. I imagine that back then I wrote about the pool parties at my house with the kids from the neighborhood, my time at summer camp, and our annual vacation to the Florida beach. Good times.

This summer was pretty eventful and the 6 months before that were busy with work, house selling, house buying, high school senior things, a couple of ski trips, you know…life. But things have slowed way down in the Casa as of late, now that we are an official empty nest. With some of this new time I am writing more and plan to be better about tending to the Casa Kitchen readers. I want to start with a retroactive look at the food that figured in the Summer of 2022.

Starting with Memorial Day weekend and my Savannah’s graduation from High School–we celebrated our girl with her favorite meal… brunch. I wanted to just enjoy the day without having to cook and clean so we relied on local Jax Beach favorite the Casa Marina to feed our little party of six which they did very well.

We enjoyed the usual brunch favorites–bloody marys, mimosas, eggs benedict, beignets, biscuits & gravy for Sav–with a gorgeous ocean view. If you have something to celebrate you cannot go wrong with brunch–its elegant, hard to screw up the food, and looks great with a pretty table and flowers. The first big BD party I hosted for Sav was a brunch for her 5th BD –French toast and sausage links for the kids, eggs benedict and booze for the adults. I recall it was an outstanding party. Brunch never disappoints. Neither do beignets.

June was all about moving in. We bought a 100 year old house with all of the furnishings so we had a big job figuring out what we had, wanted to keep, needed to sell, etc. But we celebrated Father’s Day by purchasing a new Traeger grill for our new garden and Jeff got to work on some yummy ribs for us that I combined with some crock pot collard greens and my grandma’s corn spoon bread–easiest yummiest cheesiest side dish ever and goes very nicely with BBQ.

Corn Spoon Bread:

Prepare a casserole dish by buttering it generously (I feel like every casserole in the South starts this way). In a mixing bowl combine one package of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix, one stick of softened butter, one cup of sour cream, 2 eggs, 1 can of cream style corn, 1 can of whole kernel corn (I prefer the white variety)–combine thoroughly and pour into the casserole dish. Top with grated cheese and a generous sprinkling of pepper and paprika. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or so until golden brown.

On July 1st I departed the swamp that is Florida in the Summer for the more hospitable climate of Blue River, Colorado, elevation 10,100 ft. I was pretty much on vacation the entire month of July so I did not do a lot of cooking. I was also alone for much of that time and I had a hard time finding the motivation to cook dinner for just me but the few times that I did I stuck to the simplest of meals….sautéed chicken tenders with artichokes and tomatoes from the local farm stand in Frisco. Being in a rental cabin without too many amenities brought me back to the basics real fast!

One of my besties came up from Denver to visit one weekend and I made her my “special” naan pizza. Start with a garlic naan and spread pizza or marinara sauce on as you like then top with your favorite ingredients–I like to keep pizza simple so mine were topped with a little EVOO, some mozzarella/parmesan, basil, kosher salt and pepper. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or so. Special ingredients are optional as available.

I returned to Jacksonville in early August eager to finish our big move, get Sav settled at college and figure out my next professional move. Schmoo and I are really enjoying our new home in the city and one of the things we like best is being able to walk to so many great locally owned restaurants and shops. For my local readers I want to highlight a few of our favorites that we enjoyed this Summer.

River & Post–for date night

Our generous realtors who stuck with us through months of ups and downs trying to sell high and buy low presented us with a gift certificate for local fine dining favorite River & Post. This place has a restaurant and a rooftop bar with city and river views–the menu is seafood heavy and the weekend crowd is well dressed and celebrating! I enjoyed a delicious salmon dish and look forward to returning to the rooftop when our weather turns next month. Everyone says it will get better next month.

Carolina Jax–when you just HAVE to have a burger

This is hands down the kids’ favorite spot. A Riverside institution just down the block from St. Vincent’s with a loyal following that nearly guarantees a line at the cash register most of the time. When the docs and nurses in scrubs eat here, you know its good. For $11 you get a delicious old school diner style burger made any number of ways (my personal fav is the Blue Devil with lemon peppercorn aioli, baby arugula, gorgonzola spread, bourbon bacon jam on a toasted brioche bun–yeah its amazing), with a side of fries and do not pass up the fry dip–I prefer the pink sauce. The kids like to add loaded fries to their order. They also do sammies and dogs. Run do not walk to this gem on Oak Street.

Mixed Fillings–I don’t just like Pie, I love Pie

I found this spot before I even moved to the neighborhood. This little shop is a block down the street from my house (dangerous) and they sell pie–all kinds of sweet and savory pies. You can either order online at mixedfillingspieshop.com and pick up the next day or take your chances and walk up but if you do that be prepared to be disappointed because the word is out and Natasha sells out of her pies most days. I have personally tried the Brand New Day-O (like a banana split), Wake me Up before you Cocoa (lava chocolate pie), the Seize the Day Bacon & Cheddar Quiche, the Beach Don’t Kill my Vibe, coconut cream pie, the Apple of my Pie, the Sky is Falling Chicken Pot Pie and my personal favorite, the Blurred Limes Key Lime pie. This little jewel just moved to a new expanded location in 5 points and I wish them every success in the world. Happy to assist with any quality control that might be needed for new recipes.

Now that the Summer is over, we have wrapped up the last move for a while (I swear) and there is no one left to parent, I plan to pay more attention to the blog. I am hopeful that our new urban neighborhood is going to provide me with fresh sources of inspiration for cooking and entertaining. I can tell you that 3 months in, I have absolutely no regrets. We love our new urban neighborhood and have already hosted the first of many parties we hope to have in our new Casa. Now if we can just keep those pesky hurricanes at bay…..

Next post–Hurricane Preparedness, Meal Prep Basics