Search Results for “Recipes” – Page 7 – So Does That Mean I'm SOUTHERN? (2024)

Posted on September 7, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

I keep a list of recipes that I want to make. For a year now, the above recipe has been on that list. I saw it last Summer in Our State Magazine and clipped it but did not make it before all the fresh okra of the summer had disappeared. I will tell you that in the past I have not been very successful in making fried okra. I have never been able to fry the okra and have the breading to attach to the okra successfully. This recipe seemed quite different and I loved the idea of adding the green pepper and onion to the okra.

Here is the picture of our okra beignets.

The recipe is time consuming because you do have to slice the okra, chop the onion and bell pepper. However, compared to making fried okra from scratch it takes about the same amount of time. I used panko crumbs for my bread crumbs and it made the beignets very crispy. Also, instead of using a skillet, we used our small deep fat fryer. Here is the recipe.

The crispiness of the beignet along with the small amount of tabasco sauce made this a great alternative to the fried okra that is usually breaded in cornmeal. This is a great choice for a diabetic because of the small amount of flour and breading included in the recipe.

Mr. D has already asked if we could have this again and I do think this one is a real keeper. If you haven’t ever tried okra, this would be a great way to sample it. It is far from the slimy okra that seems so unappetizing.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in appetizer, recipes, Uncategorized, Vegetables and tagged beignets, fried okra, okra, okra beignets. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on September 3, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

I have to be honest and say I am not quite as excited about fresh summer vegetables in September as I am in June. I think Mr. D and I have eaten tomatoes just about every way that is possible. As I have mentioned before, we are experiencing a drought this summer and extreme heat. Yesterday a local TV station shared the news that we have had 68 days of 90 plus degrees this year. That is extreme for us but I will say we have still been able to enjoy some wonderful fresh vegetables.

The recipe I am sharing with you today doesn’t use that many fresh vegetables but I have eaten this before at a homecoming at a local church and absolutely loved it. If you need a covered dish for a cookout or picnic this coming weekend, I think this would be a great choice. It would be a unique choice here in the foothills of North Carolina and you wouldn’t have to peel all those potatoes for potato salad.

This recipe is from the cookbook Savor the Spirit – Heritage Recipes Passed Down Through the Years – The Alabama Society United Daughters of 1812.

I do like to use fresh ingredients and most of the time during the week, we cook very simply eating a meat, vegetable and starch. However, for the last three weeks Mr. D and I took on the project of painting our master bedroom. I will just say this cook reverted back to her crockpot and those easy chicken or beef recipes that included that gloppy old canned cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup. It was so wonderful to have our meal ready after working on the room for so long.

I plan to share pictures with you when I complete the decorating. That is my favorite part of any painting project. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Labor Day everyone.

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Posted in casseroles, Cookbooks, recipes, Salads, Uncategorized, Vegetables and tagged calico salad, marinated vegetable salads, vegetable salads. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on August 27, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

Children in our area started school on Monday and I know lots of people said, YIPPEE!! I feel very fortunate that the school year doesn’t effect our schedule anymore. I do remember those days of going to school and sending our daughter to school. I know your priorities and activities during the school year effect your daily schedules.

I looked at the calendar and summer does not officially end until September 23 so I can relish in the final wonderful days of summer. It has been extremely hot here in North Carolina this summer and it has annoyed me at times. However, as much as I love autumn, I am not in a rush to welcome it. I think our stores have tried to get us in the mood much to early. I was in A.C. Moore’s the other day to buy some ribbon and realized they have their Christmas ribbon out for sale. Sorry, I just can’t think of Christmas when the temperature is hovering around 90 degrees outside.

As this summer passes, one of my fondest memories will be my visit to Memphis, Tennessee. I have wanted to go there for such a long time and I was not disappointed. As I savor those wonderful memories I want to share a Memphis recipe with you. It is from my Gracious Goodness, The Taste of Memphis cookbook. It was published by the Memphis Symphony League and is from the collection of recipes of Ellen and Richard Dixon.

As Mr. D is really into grilling right now, he got quite excited when I told him about this recipe and was ready to go out and buy the bourbon whiskey. I do think we will be grilling ribs soon. As I read this recipe, the taste of the barbecue I ate on Beale Street came to mind. I do believe the richness of their barbecue sauce came from bourbon and I think there is only one way to find out and that is to make the above sauce.

I hope you are savoring your end of summer days and have wonderful memories made throughout this summer of 2015. Thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in Cookbooks, Meat, recipes, Uncategorized and tagged bourbon marianted ribs, bourbon marinade, Memphis, Memphis barbecue, ribs. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on August 24, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

Growing up in the South, I remember how families would go to Sunday services and then have a special lunch together. It was known as Sunday dinner even though it was the meal served at lunch time. Families had all types of traditions for the meal. Many families had fried chicken every Sunday and others would have pot roast or stew beef. In the summertime, that meal could be served outside and become a picnic. I really thought the tradition had gone away until our church decided to change the service time of the later Sunday morning service. Boy that didn’t go over well and many families were upset as they always went to service and then ate lunch together. I will say that many families now go out together to a favorite restaurant for their Sunday “Dinner.”

As Mr. D and I were traveling home from Morehead City in July, we stopped in Kinston for some wonderful barbecue. We realized we were coming close to the 12 Noon Sunday Dinner time but didn’t think much about it. I will tell you that Kinston is in the farmland of eastern North Carolina. I was astounded at the families that gathered at King’s Barbecue for lunch. There were tables with 15 or so family members at the table and they did not all arrive at the same time. That made me think that King’s might have been a great central location to come together. Or they could just agree with me that King’s has some wonderful barbecue and eating it every Sunday wouldn’t be so bad.

Thinking of the Sunday Dinner tradition, I wanted to share a couple of recipes with you. The first one for pot roast is one I have shared on this blog previously but I think it would be a great choice for Sunday dinner. It is fairly easy to make and is ready when you return home from Sunday Services or a busy workday.

Crockpot Pot Roast

One beef roast ( sirloin tip, chuck roast, it is really your choice,) The weight can be from 3 to 6 pounds and actually depends upon the size of your crockpot and family)

one can of condensed tomato soup

1 bay leaf (remove bay leaf before serving)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup of water

Peeled potatoes 1 to 2 pounds cubed

peeled carrots 1 pound sliced ( I used the fingerling carrots and just cut them in half diagonally)

onion – one sliced

Determine the size of crockpot needed ( I have one of the crockpots that has 3 sizes to select from) I normally use my 2 or 4 quart pot depending upon the size of my meat.

Spray the crockpot with cooking spray. Add the roast, bay leaf, tomato soup, water, salt and pepper. Cook according to your crockpot directions. I placed my ingredients in my pot at 8 am and it was ready for lunch at noon. When I came home from church I checked the liquid and did not need to add any. However, it would be a good idea to check and make sure you have enough gravy for the vegetables when you add them.

During the last 30 minutes of cooking time I add the carrots, potatoes and onion. I have prepared the vegetables by microwaving them for about 5 to 7 minutes per vegetable. I do microwave the carrots, onions and potatoes individually in 1/2 cup of water. I drain them and add them to the roast. I pour the gravy over the vegetables and let them cook for the 30 minutes.

Mr. D’s Mother made fried chicken every Sunday for lunch even though she never attended Sunday Services. The recipe I am sharing with you for Southern Fried Chicken comes from James Villas the Glory of Southern Cooking. His recipe for perfect Southern fried chicken is the way I saw my Mother, Granny and Dale’s Mother prepare their chicken so he could be right that it is perfect. You can tell by his introduction how passionate James is about the preparation of Southern Fried Chicken.

I think it is a wonderful tradition to be together as a family and share a meal. I also know many Southern women that have worked and planned to make sure the tradition continued. I do believe the idea of Jello congealed salad or broccoli casserole must have been created by a Southern lady for a Southern Sunday Dinner.

Mr. D and I usually eat Sunday Dinner every Sunday at home. First of all, the restaurants are very crowded at lunch time and second, I have been preparing Sunday Dinner for us for almost 45 years. It has become a Southern tradition in our home for sure.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in Cookbooks, crockpot, Meat, recipes, Uncategorized and tagged crockpot, crockpot pot roast, fried chicken, James Villas, southern fried chicken, Sunday Dinner recipes, the Glory of Southern Cooking. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on August 20, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

At our local farmers market peaches are everywhere. As dry as the weather has been in our area, they have been delicious. Today I want to share two recipes for peaches that I have shared on this blog before. The old one is my Granny’s peach pie recipe. I can remember how wonderful Granny’s house smelled when she baked and she did enjoy baking. I think this pie is relatively easy to make and so good with fresh peaches.

Granny’s Peach Cobbler

2 and 1/2 cups fresh or canned peach slices

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons shortening

1/3 cup milk

Place peach slices in bottom of one quart casserole. Mix brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of the flour, and salt; pour over peaches. Sift together other dry ingredients; cut in the shortening. Add milk to make soft dough and drop by teaspoonful over peaches. Bake in a hot oven (425 degrees) for 30 to 35 minutes.

The second recipe would be a newer way to use fresh peaches by making peach salsa. I can’t imagine my Granny ever making it but I will say she was very open to trying new products and ideas. In fact, the first pizza I ever ate was at my Grannys and even though it was Chef Boyardee I thought it was wonderful. I made this salsa last weekend and it is easy to make if you don’t mind peeling and chopping. It does deteriorate very quickly so you must consume it quickly and that isn’t hard to do. I served it with tortilla scooper chips.

Peach Salsa

1 pound peaches, chopped ( I peeled my peaches even though that isn’t specified in the recipe)

1 small vine ripened tomato, chopped

3-4 green onions, chopped, including part of the green

2 tablespoons pickled jalapenos, chopped

1 and 1/2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate. Can be kept for 3 days in a tighly covered container. I served my salsa with tortilla chips and corn chips and it was really tasty with just enough heat to be tasty but not overpowering.

I still have a few things I want to make while summer vegetables are available. This weekend I will make tomato and okra succotash and I still have a couple of other things in mind that I want to try. Quality fresh okra is coming into season here in North Carolina and who knows I might try a fried okra recipe again as I have never mastered it in the past.

I hope you are enjoying fresh peaches and can prepare something delicious with them. If you don’t want to take the time to try either one of these recipes, there is nothing better than grilled peaches drizzled with a little honey. Yum and thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in appetizer, baking, desserts, fruit, recipes, Uncategorized and tagged peach cobbler, peach pie, peach salsa, peaches. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on July 30, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

At the top of my “things I want to make this summer” list is salsa. I had an acquaintance many years ago that made homemade salsa every summer. It was so delicious and she canned it and gave it away as Christmas presents to her friends. Darn!! Many times I wished I was a friend and not an acquaintance. As I pondered over wanting to make fresh salsa, I remembered seeing a recipe in one of my cookbooks. I just could not remember which one. At first I thought it was in one of my local church cookbooks that has so many great recipes but it wasn’t. I was on the right track as far as location of the cookbook because I found the recipe in my Hickory Junior Woman’s Club cookbook, “Please Don’t Eat The Geraniums.

There are so many different reasons why I love this recipe. First of all, it does seem fairly simple to make and you can use fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes. The recipe only makes a small amount of salsa and it is just enough to share some with a friend or neighbor.

As I write this post, I am amazed at how our taste for food has grown in the South. I believe our Southern youngsters of today would be totally surprised if we told them we did not have Mexican food or restaurants in the South when we were growing up. We were raised on hot biscuits, molasses, tomato sandwiches and deviled eggs. HMMMMMM!!!!! Maybe that really was the “good old days.”

Thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in appetizer, Cookbooks, recipes, Uncategorized, Vegetables and tagged Fresh Mexican Salsa, garden, Mexican, Salsa, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on July 27, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

I am sharing one of Ina Garten’s recipes with you today. This recipe is in her cookbook, “Make It Ahead.” It seems a little unusual to me but I like the idea of combining molasses and lemon. What I really like about this recipe the most is Ina’s introduction. As I haven’t completely retired yet, I have thought many times that I would like to be our community cake lady and always have a fresh cake baked and ready in a moments notice to offer to neighbors, friends or people in the community that might need something to brighten their day. I think Dorothy Lee has been very successful at this venture in England.

I like this cake because it makes a smaller cake and I can see how Dorothy would have a fresh cake prepared every day. Maybe I should just start the English tradition of having tea in the afternoon here in the South. What do you think?

I hope you have a wonderful week and I am glad you stopped by.

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Posted in baking, Cookbooks, desserts, recipes and tagged cake, ginger, Ina Garten's Make It Ahead Cookbook, Lemon, lemon ginger molasses cake, molasses. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on July 23, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

I can only speak from my own Southern experiences but I do know that around this time of the year our vegetables are abundant. The people that have gardens try to share their vegetables with the people that do not have gardens. It can be a very casual statement between friends such as, “do you need any tomatoes?” Be careful how you respond or you might be the recipient of about a bushel of tomatoes. I have been both the giver and the receiver in this type of situation and I know it can be frustrating for either one. Mr D and I enjoy fresh vegetables but we can be overrun with them if someone bring us a large portion or as we say in the South “a mess of green beans, etc.”

If you are facing some of those obstacles, I have chosen three recipes that I think would incorporate fresh vegetables and would also be delicious. The first recipe is from Dori Sanders Country Cooking, ” I love Dori’s suggestions for incorporating the jam into your meals; however, I think it would be wonderful on a fresh hot biscuit. YUM!

The next recipe is from James Villas, “the Glory of Southern Cooking. It has the wonderful Southern vegetable okra combined with the wonderful bacon flavor.

The next recipe is from Amy Rogers Hungry for Home Cookbook and is similar to James Villas recipe. As it is a Kwanzaa succotash, it appealed to me as I have heard that okra came to this country from Africa.

I am looking forward to my first taste of fresh okra this year. I never think of okra without thinking about how the “old timers” in my life called it okre. I guess that does sound a little better than okra. Of course, I think one reason artichoke hasn’t ever appealed to me is because of the name.

I hope you have an abundance of fresh summer vegetables and be sure to give okra a try for sure. It is very good even though it can be slimy.

Happy Summer and thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in appetizer, Cookbooks, fruit, recipes, Uncategorized, Vegetables and tagged Amy Rogers, Corn, Dori Sanders, James Villas, okra, southern vegetables, spiced tomato jam, succotash, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on July 9, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

I must say that I truly believe that baking a delicious pound cake is a Southern tradition. I do remember when I was first married and I decided to make one that I was so fearful that I would fail and somehow I would disappoint all of those wonderful Southern cooks that came before me. It took me a while but I must say that I always get comments about my pound cakes. I have shared many recipes for pound cakes on this blog and there are so many different options to make a great cake. There is no big mystery in preparation and it is usually the basic way that any cake is made.

A week or so ago a fellow blogger mentioned pound cake as a response to one of my blog posts and that gave me an idea to share some real Southern pound cakes with you. I admire many cooks, chefs and food network TV personalities today but if I want an old fashioned Southern recipe for a pound cake, I always go to my old cookbooks that are usually prepared by churches in the area. The recipes I am sharing with you today are from three of those cookbooks.

The first two recipes are from my Concordia Lutheran Church cookbook, Conover, NC. The first recipe is from Margaret Sparkman and she was a local personality that made so many different things out of gourds and was known as “the gourd lady.” A black walnut cake is definitely a Southern favorite and I do believe “the gourd lady” was a great cook too. The second recipe is from one of my friends and peers that worked with me on a church project a couple of weeks ago and just hit it off as if we had been friends forever. I know buttermilk adds a richness to any recipe and think Paula Brown’s recipe would be delicious.

The next recipe is from St. Peters Lutheran Church, Conover, NC and the idea of making a smaller cake appealed to me. I can understand how a family of one or two would enjoy the great flavor of a full size pound cake but in a smaller portion. The recipe looks super easy to make. Betty Hovis is in a nursing home now but she had a wonderful reputation at St. Peters of being a great cook. I am sure she would be pleased to know that I shared this with you.

The last recipe that I am sharing is from one of my oldest cookbooks from St. Stephens Lutheran Church in Hickory. I was intrigued by this recipe submitted by Mrs. Ollie Kanupp. I love lemon pound cake and see that lemon flavoring is included in the recipe. I am sure she was someone’s special grandmother and her family always looked forward to her pound cakes.

Even though I have shared my Granny’s recipe on this blog before, I am sharing it with you again below. It does make a smaller cake but the ingredients can be doubled for a larger cake. It is definitely a family favorite.

Granny’s Pound Cake

1/2 lb of butter

1 and 1/2 cups of sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1 teaspoon lemon flavoring

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Cream butter and sugar. Sift dry ingredients. Add butter and sugar to dry ingredients with the milk. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. Add flavorings and of course you can chose your favorite flavorings for the cake. Bake one hour in tube pan at 325 degrees. Recipe can be doubled.

Even in the hot summertime, I enjoy baking and you just can’t beat homemade pound cake and homemade ice cream. YUM.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in Cookbooks, desserts, recipes, Uncategorized and tagged black walnut pound cake, buttermilk pound cake, cake, half pound cake, pound cake. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on July 6, 2015 by So Does That Mean I'm Southern

Sometimes I have a really hard time deciding what I want to share with you and this post was definitely a challenge. Not because I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to write about but because I had so many different ideas of what I wanted to write about. I decided I wanted to share southern vegetables with you and maybe a different way of preparing them. I went to my “the Glory of Southern Cooking” by James Villas. James includes so many recipes from all over the South. He is also a wonderful writer and I enjoy reading the introduction to his recipes.

Corn is so plentiful right now and I wanted to share a recipe using corn. I see recipes that include grilled corn or corn on the cob; however, when I saw the recipe for corn fritters, I knew it was the one. What could be more wonderful than sweet luscious corn mixed into a fritter and fried? It just makes my mouth water even though I have never heard of corn fritters and the only way my family prepared corn was on the cob or stewed. Mr. D has eaten corn fritters and thinks they are wonderful. I can imagine how delicious they would be with just about any type of meal.

As I was reading through the Glory of Southern Cooking I also saw a recipe for Coco-Cola Baked Beans. I do remember a time when Coco-Cola was used in lots of different concoctions and I can see how the flavor of the drink would add some zing to your baked beans. I agree with James in his introduction that you can’t use Pepsi, it must be Coco-Cola.

I am a true Southerner tried and true because I believe in the Medicinal properties of Coca-Cola. If I am having some type of nausea or upset stomach, I always crave a co*ke and have felt better so many times after drinking one.

I chuckled a little when I read about the corn fritters and making a meal of them along with spinach salad. A true Southern tradition for sure is to have a plate of fresh vegetables served with hot biscuits or cornbread and butter. Oh My!! There isn’t anything any better than that.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in Cookbooks, recipes, Uncategorized, Vegetables and tagged baked beans, Coco-cola Baked Beans, Corn, Corn Fritters, James Villas, the Glory of Southern Cooking cookbook. Bookmark the permalink.

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