Welcome!

Welcome to all you girls visiting from Jenna's blog! I am super excited about the commenting challenge and will be visiting your blogs to leave comments...hopefully we'll all meet some new friends along the way!

I am constantly trying to catch up on my blog reading while I am doing other things, so I am quite often guilty of not commenting. I am going to be better about it, promise!

If you are interested in participating in the commenting challenge as well head on over to Jenna's blog and link up!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Sips of the South~Southern Etiquette

I am joining in the fun over at Sweet Tea and Biscuits this week, participating in her weekly series Sips of the South! The theme of Sips of the South this week is Southern Etiquette...certainly a must have for sure!

I decided that my focus on Southern Etiquette would be geared towards all the manners we Southern girls LOVE our Southern boys to have!

Here are a few essential rules every Southern boy must have...

~Open doors for a lady, and for other men, for that matter. A simple gesture such as this goes to show the world that you are a kind person, willing to help others.

~Offer your coat to a lady when she is obviously cold. This is usually better accepted than the offer of your arm, especially if you have just met. If you are lovers, a coat and your arm is a welcomed gesture.

~Be kind and honest to those around you. Protect the woman that you are with - yes, while she is totally capable of protecting herself, its always nice to know when someone has your back. If another man tries to hit on her or makes a rude comment, simply place your arm around her and lead her away. There is no need to start a fight.

~Pick her up when you go out on a date. If its your first date and she wants to meet you at the restaurant, be considerate of her feelings. She's trying to maintain her safety, if she does not know you. However, still offer to pick her up. If you are insistent, however, it might make her nervous.

~Open the car door for her to get in, and if possible, to get out of the car as well. Pull the chair out for her in the restaurant and make sure she is seated comfortably before you sit.

~Allow her to order her drinks and food before you do. Take care of her needs first, or at least offer her the option.
Source

~It is always important to say please and thank you along with yes/no ma'am and yes/no sir.

Whether we are talking boys or girls, good manners are always essential!

How would you like to win this little gem...

You can enter to win this book {it's super cute} by joining me and my Southern Sisters in our cute little community group, Southern Mammas! You don't have to be a mamma to join {I am certainly childless for the moment}, so what are you waiting for?!?!

Happy Friday to you!

xoxo

Merry SITSmas!

{this is my tree from last year...we are headed to the Christmas Tree Farm this weekend}

It's time for the annual Merry SITSmas party today over at The Secret is in the Sauce and you have to check it out! It will be so super fun for sure! They are giving away a different prize every hour, wow!

As a SITS girl we are all about some comment love, so I will be sure to visit as many of my Sitstas as I can today to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas! While you're here, you might want to watch this hilarious video of me and my handsome hubby...I elfed us, ha! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and hope to see y'all back very soon.

I hope that all you girls have a wonderful Holiday season, Merry Christmas!

XOXO,

Natalie

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!

Tomorrow is a BIG day...the start of college football season! I am sure that you understand my extreme excitement, especially if you read my earlier post this week.

What goes perfect with your favorite game? Chips and Dip of course!!! On Gameday at my house an arsenal of dips along with an ice cold Diet Coke in my Razorback koozie are a must!
BooMama is hosting a Diptacular today with tons of dips recipes. Stop by her blog and check out all the recipes...I am sure that you will find a ton of dips to add to your gameday dip collection!

Here is one of my favorites and it's so delicious! It's from sweet Paula Deen so you know it's gonna be good!

Shore Is Good Seafood Dip
Recipe courtesy of your favorite and mine, Paula Deen

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium green bell pepper
diced 1 medium onion
diced 2 stalks celery
1/2 of a 10 3/4-ounce can cream of shrimp soup (discard top half and use bottom half of soup)
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 pound freshly grated Parmesan
1 (6-ounce) can crabmeat, picked free of any broken shells, drained
6 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon white pepper {I just use black unless I am trying to be extra fancy}

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
Add the bell pepper, onion, and celery and saute for 2 minutes.
In a bowl combine the soup, mayonnaise, Parmesan, crabmeat, shrimp, and pepper.

Stir the sauteed vegetables into the seafood mixture and spoon this mixture into a lightly greased 8 x 11-inch casserole dish.
Bake for 30 minutes then serve with crackers, toast points, or chips.

I don't like celery, so I omit the fresh celery {I hate the stringy parts} and substitute with celery salt. Paula does not call for any salt in this dish so the celery salt works out perfect...it gives the dish the taste of celery but without the dreaded "strings."

I always use fresh lump crab meat {you can buy it at Sam's} and fresh uncooked shrimp {deveined} as well. I cut the shrimp in half and lightly chop the crab meat still leaving it a little "lumpy." By chopping the crab meat just a little bit it disperses better so that there is some in every bite.

I like to serve mine with Kettle Cooked Lays {love that chip} or Club Crackers.

Have fun cheering on your favorite college team this weekend! I will be screaming my lungs out cheering my Arkansas Razorbacks to a victory over the Missouri State Bears...Go Hogs Go!

Natalie

Show us your Life-Baby Shower Ideas

The theme for "Show us your Life" this week over at Kelly's Korner is baby showers. Since I do not have any little bitty babes of my own yet, I thought that I would share for you some pictures that I think would make the perfect baby shower.

Take a look at this centerpiece...I love that the colors are so bright and crisp! No shower would be complete without some gorgeous flowers scattered here and there.

Photo from Bridal Showers

Take a look at the favor ideas-I love the first one and they are actually homemade! They took a scripture verse and printed it on some super cute paper then tied it on the top to finish it off. This one is definately going to be stashed away in the back of my mind to use later on...I think that it is a fun favor for sure!

Photo from Southern Living

Here is another cute favor idea...personalized candies. You better believe that I would have my baby's monogram as the sticker label on the top of course! The little cookies underneath the candy are super cute as well!

Favor Photos above from Tiny Prints

Take a look at this beauty! This is a cake that I would love to have for sure...this cake is chic, Simply Classic, and totally my style!All you girls from the South will agree...what is a shower (or really any occasion for that matter) without petit fours! Love these to pieces...so precious!

Photo from Tiny Prints

And then the invitations...I love these simplicity of this one and think that the pink flowers are the perfect touch!

Photo from Tiny Prints

I can't wait to start a family of my own...these ideas are for sure on my future shower wish list! I hope that you are having a wonderful Friday! Head over to Kelly's Blog to see some more great ideas for Baby Showers.

Natalie

Blog Hop-My Favorite Photo

This picture was taken of my hubby and I on our way to our "WeddingMoon," so it is of course one of my new favorites for sure!

Have fun blog hopping, I hope to see you back again soon!

Natalie

Blog Hop~Favorite Recipe

This is the one recipe that always has people coming back for more. Anytime that I have taken this to any function, everyone always asks for the recipe because it is so delicious! My mimi has made this for as long as I can remember...this is definately a down home dish that I love. I hope that you will enjoy this one as much as I do!

Cornbread Salad

2 Boxes Jiffy Cornbread/Muffin Mix
1 Large red onion
1 Can whole kernal corn
1 Package bacon (I like to use the precooked bacon)
1 Package mild cheddar cheese (2 cups)
1 Medium english cucumber
3-4 Roma tomatoes
1 Bunch green onions
2 Cups mayonaise (I never said that this one was low-fat!)
Salt
Pepper
Ground cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. Mix cornbread per the package instructions and season with a little bit of salt and cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper will give the cornbread a little "kick."
2. Bake cornbread in an 9x9x9 baking dish until you can remove a toothpick cleanly from the center. Set the cornbread aside to cool.
3. While the cornbread is baking, dice your vegetables. I make an effort to try to dice all the vegetables so that they are similar in size. I peel the skin and remove the center of the cucumber with a spoon leaving only the crisp outer edge. I also remove the seeds from the tomatoes.
4. Put all of your veggies, including the drained corn, in a prep bowl and season with salt and pepper. The salt will bring some of the water out of the veggies, so once all the ingredients are ready to combine you will need to drain off the liquids. This eliminates some of the moisture from the salad so that it doesn't get mushy ;)
5. Cook the bacon until crispy. Once the bacon has cooled, place it in a ziplock bag and crumble.
6. Crumble your cooled cornbread into a large bowl.
7. Drain and then add your chopped veggies to the crumbled cornbread. Next you will add the cheese, bacon, and mayonaise then stir to combine.
8. Once combined season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

You can serve this salad alone, but it is also delicious with chips. I love to have this salad as a dip with Kettle Cooked Original Lays.

This salad should not be spicy, but the cayenne adds that little bit of heat that will leave people wondering what spice it is.
Depending on how dry your cornbread is, you may have to add an additional 1/4c-1/2c of mayonaise. This salad should be creamy and have the consistency like that of potato salad.

I hope that you make this soon, it will certainly be a hit! Let me know if you do try it or if you have any questions in reagrds to the recipe.

Natalie

Don't Miss Out on All the Fun...Join the Blog Hop!

This is the first week for me to join the blog hop and I am super excited about being apart of it! This will be a great opportunity to meet other bloggers and share your favorite photo with a caption. Here is my favorite picture...I just love it!

The caption for this picture should read, "Two Silly Sisters" because that is definately what we are when we're together. This picture is of me and my sister Lindsay...she's on the left. I am lucky that my sisters both live in the same town as me, so we get to see each other frequently and I am so thankful for that. My sister Lindsay is married to a wonderful guy, Charlie, and has 3 beautiful kids that I absolutely love to pieces. When I see this picture it makes me super happy that I have such a fun, beautiful, and silly sister!

Now, all you have to do to join in the fun is click on the MckLinky link below to get the code to add to your blog!