October truly is my favorite month. Who can resist 31 days of family fun, gorgeous weather, marching band half-time shows endless football games and pumpkins everywhere you look? Not to mention free candy just for the asking! Could it get any better??? Read more about why October is on my best-ever list at my weekly newspaper column for the TimesDaily in Florence, Alabama: http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20091016/ARTICLES/910165000
... because nothing says "Christmas" like planning your keg party.
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend with family and friends ... and some ice cream! Grandson Capt. Adorable, 17 months, sure enjoys his.
If you don’t have your Labor Day weekend menu planned
yet, consider these two quick, easy and extremely wonderful salads. My friend Sherry Campbell, director of the Shoals Commercial Culinary Center in Florence, Alabama, that’s part of the innovative business incubator Shoals Entrepreneurial Center, made these salads for us during a recent cooking class — and we all gobbled them down and asked for more. The class focused on end-of-the-summer fresh and local ingredients and simple recipes for entertaining. Her menu included chicken roasted with figs and port wine — yum! Check out the Culinary Center at http://www.shoalsec.com/.
End of Summer Supper Salad
Cook 1 pound unshelled raw jumbo shrimp* in 3 quarts boiling water until pink. Rinse shrimp in cold water, cool and shell. (If holding more than 10 minutes, chill in refrigerator.) Bring water back to boil and add 1 1/2 pounds trimmed green beans until tender-crisp, about 3-7 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again. Meanwhile, whisk together 1/3 cup rice vinegar, salt and fresh pepper to taste, 1 tablespoon coarse or Dijon mustard and 2 minced large garlic cloves. Whisk in 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil until dressing is thick and add a thinly sliced half medium sweet onion. Toss shrimp and green beans with dressing. Arrange sliced tomatoes around edge of platter and mound salad in middle. Sprinkle with fresh basil, scallion slices and fresh lemon juice. Serves 4. *You could also use chicken or tofu in this recipe. You’d cook the chicken, of course, with your preferred method — the tofu can be used right out of the package.
Italian Panzanella
Whisk together 1/4 cup each red-wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Add 2 cans rinsed and drained cannelloni beans, 3 cups cubed country bread, 1 pound plum tomatoes cut into smaller pieces, thin slices of English cucumber, thin slices of red onion and 4 ounces diced provolone cheese. Toss, cover and chill 2-8 hours. Just before serving, stir in fresh basil. Serves 4. Note: Sherry also used bell peppers and celery when she prepared this. “Just use up whatever fresh veggies you’ve got,” she said. “That’s the whole idea.”
I am pretty much the messiest eater ever. I literally cannot get up from a table without a shower of crumbs, I carry stain removal products with me at all times and my husband begs me not to drink my favorite strawberry-flavored drink mix in the car because I leave splatters of red everywhere. This problem led me to create the Cathy Wood Method of Wardrobe Selection, or, How to Coordinate Your Clothing with Your Food So You Don’t Look Like the Slob You Truly Are and Your Family and Friends Will Eat with You Again. Intrigued? It really works! No more hastily pulling on a sweater to hide the coffee dribbles. No more holding your purse in front of you to distract from the gravy droplets. You will be free to eat and enjoy without fear! Read more at http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090826/SW/908259959/1085.
And while you’re there, read other Shoals Woman articles, such as the story on Halloween food, http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090826/SW/908259955/1085 with my friend Kara Sams, and another story I wrote — a guide to retirement planning, http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090826/SW/908259973/1085.
This is — to use one of my dad’s favorite expressions — a prime example of … well, I don’t know what. But 
something. It’s still two weeks until the Labor Day weekend, yet walking around a corner in Hobby Lobby I ran smack dab into a clash of holidays that jarred my eyes and confused my brain. Islands of orange pumpkins and homespun scarecrows competed with rows of red Christmas bows and twinkling evergreen trees. I don’t even know if a summer item was left anywhere in the store — if you’re looking for something to enhance your Labor Day cookout, forget it. And why is Hobby Lobby doing this to us, anyway? On my ever-lengthening Stress List, “get ready for holidays” wasn’t even a contender. But now it’s vying for a top spot. Thanks a lot, Hobby Lobby!
The first sign of fall isn't football practice or back-to-school shopping -- it's the "seasonal" aisle at CVS changing from sunscreen and beach toys to pumpkins and scarecrows ... in the first week of August.
Happy Fourth of July! Hope everyone enjoys food and fun with family and friends -- and you $%#* kids be careful with those Roman candles! (Sorry -- I became my dad there for a minute.)
Capt. Adorable's other grandparents, Sharlie and Buddy Behel, of Tuscumbia, Alabama. See? I can share!!!
The back porch of the Behels' log cabin
Were you lucky like me and got some good family time this Memorial Day? I count myself lucky — and blessed — because my daughter’s in-laws consider my husband and me bona-fide family and invite us to every holiday gathering. And that’s a good thing because I would hate to miss out on all the food and fun that results whenever two or more Behels gather together. Sharlie and Buddy Behel, my daughter’s in-laws, are some of the most generous and hospitable people I know. Their home is always open to family and friends — nobody’s a stranger. They sort of adopted me when my daughter first started dating their son — I was a single mom then without family nearby and with characteristic kindness they took me in right from the start. And since I’m only a year or so older than their oldest son (my son-in-law was their surprise third baby), Sharlie and I feel more like sisters than in-laws once removed. You can see from the picture how much I care about them — I don’t share Capt. Adorable with just anybody!
Post-Easter Monday always is filled with getting rid of 
leftovers: Eggs, eggshells, assorted mangled chocolate bunnies and those little foil-wrapped solid chocolate eggs that nobody eats. But I hope this spectacular egg centerpiece carved from a watermelon gets to hang around at least another day or so. It was featured at the Easter Sunday buffet at the 
Manchester-Coffee County (Tennessee) Conference Center, where we gratefully enjoyed ham, prime rib, lamb and all the trimmings after a morning full of rich and inspiring church services. And presents! My brother and sister-in-law, who live on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are some of the best present-givers I know. They gave my mom an Easter basket full of beautiful ready-to-be-transplanted greenery, and I got Blue Smoke coffee beans (http://bluesmokecoffee.com/) and some of the best toffee ever — less like peanut brittle but still fresh and crunchalicious — from local candymakers Scenic City Toffee (http://www.sceniccitytoffee.com/). And the travel French press coffee mugs from Starbucks? An Easter present from me to … me. I’d been eyeing them for days and finally gave in. I always do French press on lazy mornings when all I have to do is sit and sip — which means I do French-press coffee perhaps about twice a month. Maybe being able to indulge on the run will transfer some of that rare peaceful relaxation to my normal daily routine. All I know is that it’ll take lots of experimentation to find out — the things I do for scientific exploration!
Coffee with Cathy 