15 January 2012 – Golden Globes

It's been a great weekend! Friday night, we went up to Blue Ridge to visit our dear friends, Steve and Amado. We had a great dinner at the Blue Ridge Brewery and then went back to their beautiful cabin in Morganton for a delicious cake by Amado, music, fun and laughter. It was a great night and long overdue. Last night, we went to Decatur to have dinner with more dear friends, John and Cory. We met at John's place and then went for Turkish food at Cafe Istanbul. We sat on the floor and enjoyed Turkish wine, great food, belly dancers and a Hookah pipe! It was exotic, different and great fun. Today, I made a healthy breakfast, and then we went to hike Kennesaw Mountain. We went on the Pigeon Hill Trail and then proceeded to the top of Little Kennesaw Mountain. We took the West loop back and had a great time. It was nice exercise on a beautiful winter afternoon.

Tonight, I made a healthy Chinese Sunday Supper. Cory and John joined us for organic vegetable potstickers, hot and sour soup and chicken and broccoli stir fry with roasted cashews. It was very good and also very low in total Weight Watchers points! I lost six pounds last week on the program and look forward to greater results in the weeks ahead. The exercise also helps! I need to be very good this week in preparation for the big 50th birthday bash next weekend at Frogtown Cellars in Dahlonega. I will not be counting points next weekend but hope to continue the healthy trend going forward. Now, we are watching the Golden Globe Awards and gearing up for Oscar season! Oh the drama of it all...

We had fresh orange slices and fortune cookies for dessert, and I was comforted by my fortune:

"You will always be surrounded by those who truly love you." I believe this to be true!

May each of you be surrounded by healthy love in the week ahead and beyond!

The Menu:

- Organic Vegetable Potstickers

- Hot and Sour Soup

- Stir Fried Chicken, Broccoli and Peppers with Crunchy Cashews

- Sesame Jasmine Rice TImbales

- Organic Navel Oranges and Good Fortune Cookies

08 January 2012

The first weekend of the new year was very productive. I got a lot done at work, including purging and cleaning my office! Plus, we had some great client presentations such as a new brand identity and new rug designs for 2012. The home purging continues as well. Today, we cleaned out the office, and I want to build some bookshelves in there and transform it into more of a "study." It was fun going through all of the books and DVDs. I also found some great photos and other little surprises.

The first week of the new diet also went well. We are doing the Weight Watchers for Men program, and so far, so good. It is kind of tedious to track all the points of everything that you eat, but it really makes your aware of what you eat. Plus, you can make choices about where and how you want to use your points. I think I am down a few pounds already, so wish me luck!

Of course, the new diet is challenging for Bill's Sunday Suppers. I have started to research the best Weight Watchers recipes, and some of them don't look too bad. In fact, tonight I found a great comfort food recipe on skinnytaste.com. The blogger researches and recreates her favorite dishes with WW points in mind. Tonight, I prepared her Pollo in Potacchio, chicken in spicy tomato rosemary sauce. It was really filling and delicious. I served it over roasted polenta cakes and served it with roasted brussels sprouts with a balsamic drizzle. It was a very satisfying meal and very low in WW points. Who would have thought? For dessert, Jeff made a Weight Watchers pear tart with a ginger snap crust. Yum!

Now that dinner is out of the way, it is time for the season 2 premier of Downton Abbey on PBS! It is an amazing show with great production value, beautifully filmed and expertly acted. Maggie Smith is a revelation! If you haven't watched it, I suggest you download or purchase season one on DVD. You won't be sorry!

Have a great week, and lighten up while you are at it!

Cheers!

Bill

The Menu:

- Pollo in Potacchio, Chicken in Spicy Tomato and Rosemary Sauce

- Roasted Polenta Cakes

- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Maple Drizzle

- Pear Tart with Ginger Snap Crust

01 January 2010 – Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Christmas was great for the most part, only a few "hard candy Christmas" moments. There was a lot of great food, dear friends and most of my adoring family. Of course, we all desperately missed my little sister, Stacy. So 2011 was a mixed bag, but 2012 is full of promise and hope. Here's to a great new year for everyone.

We spent the weekend in Atlanta and had some great food. On Friday we ate at Miso Izakaya on Edgewood. It is a great new Japanese "tapas pub." The steamed buns were phenomenal, especially the crispy duck buns! I was very pleased. On Saturday, we slept in but went to HobNob for lunch. It was okay, but we decided to go to the Zoo afterward. It was great fun and a beautiful day to see some amazing animals. After the zoo, we stopped by The Earl in East Atlanta Village for a burger and bloody mary. They have the best burgers in Atlanta, bar none! For New Years Eve, we went from Japan to Spain and dined at Barcelona Wine Bar. The tapas were delicious, but the service was spotty. Nevertheless, I have never had better Papas Bravas – amazing Spanish spicy potatoes! We rung in the New Year back at the W Hotel by watching the ball drop in Times Square and the fireworks around the Atlanta skyline. 2012, bring it!

The weekend was a last hurrah before a healthier diet and lifestyle in 2012. It starts tomorrow, so wish me luck. I will be turning 50 in a few weeks, so it's time to get back in shape. I'll keep you posted on my progress. My first New Years text was from my dear friend, Scott Skidmore. He wished me a Happy New Year and proceeded to tell me that I needed to check out Parade magazine this week because it had an article about Dolly Parton, including her recipe for Chicken and Dumplings. Scott suggested the dish would be a great candidate for Bill's Sunday Supper, so tonight's dinner is dedicated to Scott! Lifelong friends are few and far between, ad even though Scott is now living back in Greensboro, I know he is only a phone call or text away. Plus, he knows me well enough to realize that Dolly Parton's Chicken and Dumplings would be the perfect comfort food for the first Sunday Supper in 2012 and the last "less-healthy" choice before the diet begins. For dessert, I used some leftover Christmas provisions to make tiny pecan tarts.

So here's my hope for all of you in 2012, in the chicken and dumpling adorned lyrics of Dolly Parton:

"I hope life, will treat you kind,
And I hope that you have all
That you ever dreamed of.
Oh, I do wish you joy,
And I wish you happiness,
But above all this,
I wish you love.."

The Menu:

- Dolly Parton's Chicken and Dumplings

- Individual Pecan Tarts

25 December 2011 – Merry Christmas!

We had a very special Sunday Supper last night! Not only was it Christmas, but we had some special friends over. including two local mayors and their adorable wives. The Honorable Gene Hobgood, Mayor of Canton, and the Honorable Rick Roberts, Mayor of Ball Ground joined us along with their better halves, Elly Hobgood and Elaine Roberts. We started the day with an amazing breakfast at Jeff's parents. They made waffles, eggs, sausage, and bacon. We got home around noon, and the preparations began. I prepared a huge standing rib roast with brussels sprouts, marscapone mashed potatoes, roasted carrots and parsnips and salt and pepper cream biscuits. Elly brought a delicious toffee pear cake for dessert! It was divine. Everyone arrived around 6:30, and we had cocktails, cheese gougeres, bacon wrapped dates stuffed with cream cheese and pecanss, and bloody mary shrimp cocktails. We stuffed ourselves at dinner and had some great conversation. All in all, it was a great Christmas. I hope everyone else had a great holiday with lots of wonderful food and fond memories. Cheers to all the Sunday Suppers in 2011, and I look forward to more memorable meals in 2012.

The Menu:

Appetizers:

- Cheese Gougeres

- Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Pecans and Cream Cheese

- Bloody Mary Shrimp Cocktail

Christmas Dinner:

- Standing Rib Roast with Au Jus and Horseradish Cream

- Marscapone Mashed Potatoes

- Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Lemon

- Roasted Carrots and Parsnips with Rosemary

- Salt and Pepper Cream Biscuits

- Elly's Toffee Pear Cake

04 December 2011 - Happy Birthday Cory!

We spent most of the weekend putting up the Christmas tree. On Saturday, we went to Christmas tree farms in Gainesville, Dawsonville, and finally Macedonia. I was looking for a nice open Noble Fir, but alas, there was not one to be found. We finally found a beautiful and indigenous 10' Georgia White Pine. It is beautiful and fit perfectly in the house. 3000 lights later and hundreds of ornaments, and One Britt is closer to being ready for Christmas. My family is coming down for the Grant holiday hoedown on the 17th and 18th, and I am very excited.

Today was hectic with the finishing touches to the tree and other decorating projects, but I had to make time to cook Sunday Supper to celebrate Cory's birthday! I prepared his favorite dish, Chicken Parmesan. I paired it with Brussels sprouts with pancetta. We had a decadent Bavarian Chocolate Cream Cake for dessert! We gave Cory the Adele DVD - Live at the Royal Albert Hall, and we are watching it now. She is amazing!

So happy birthday to Cory and happy holidays to all!

The Menu:

- Chicken Parmesan with Homemade Tomato Sauce and Perciatelli

- Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

- Bavarian Chocolate Cream Cake

20 November 2011

What a treat! I worked today, so Jeff decided to cook Sunday Supper. I am still trying to get caught up at work, and next week is a three day work week with the Thanksgiving holiday. Jeff is also on a Weight Watchers program, so we are trying to eat healthier. He decided to cook a Weight Watchers Thanksgiving dinner that got really great reviews. I am thankful to not have to cook tonight and for a very productive day at the office. It's been a fun weekend. Dinner and bowling on Friday night, and dinner at our friends' house last night and then home to catch up on American Horror Story – great show! I LOVE Jessica Lange, and she is amazing in the show. Thanks to Jeff for a delicious and healthy Sunday Supper!

The Menu:

- Apricot Glazed Turkey with Roasted Baby Dutch Potatoes

- Fennel, Fig and Thyme Stuffing

- Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Maple Balsamic Drizzle

- Cranberry Jalapeno Sauce

- Pumpkin Ice Cream in Homemade Sweet Tortilla Bowls

13 November 2011

Well the election was Tuesday, and I lost unfortunately. I did have a good showing and gained about 40% of the vote in a three man race. I am glad it is over, but it was a great experience – all in all. I had an amazing committee and some really enthusiastic supporters. I certainly learned who I could trust, and I met some amazing new people in the process. Now, back to doing the things I love: designing and cooking.

Jeff's birthday was the day after the election, so I took him to Atlanta for a birthday dinner at La Grotta. It was amazing, as usual, and we enjoyed chatting with the owner's son afterward at the bar. We stayed in the city overnight, and we had lunch at Mary Macs Tea Room on Thursday. Last night, we invited friends and family over to celebrate Jeff's birthday, and I prepared fajitas, refried beans from scratch and a Mexican chocolate cake for dessert. It turned out great, and everyone had a good time.

I worked today, and now I am preparing Sunday Supper. It feels good to be back on schedule! I saw a show on the Food Network this morning, and I wanted to make a dish from that episode. I prepared Spaghetti and Meatballs with a Bacon Tomato Sauce. It hit the spot and provided just the right amount of comfort on a chilly Fall night!

Winning!

The Menu:

- Spaghetti and Meatballs with Bacon Tomato Sauce

- Grilled Rosemary Olive Oil Breadter