Fried Green Tomatoes

As you may have already figured out, we in the south fry everything.

If you haven't figured this out yet, everything we in the south cook is good and I meant really good.

Here a simple one to add to your recipe box.

All you need is is a little cooking oil, some white corn meal, salt, pepper and a nice firm green tomato.

Slice up you tomato about 1/8 inch thick salt and pepper then dip in corn meal. You will fry it in about 1/4 inch of oil until golden brown on both sides.

Trust me it's delicious!

Squash Casserole

I got ya a new squash casserole recipe. This one is for a yummy little casserole. All you need are:
2 cups of sliced squash,
a medium onion, diced
a 1/2 cup mayo
2 tablespoons butter
1 fresh egg from the chickens bum
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
some bread crumbs
Boil the squash in salty water until tender (don't let it over cook, there's nothing worse than mushy squash) and saute the onion in the butter while the squash is boiling. Drain the squash and mix in the onion, cheese, mayo, and egg. Salt and pepper well then sprinkle with bread crumbs. Cook at 350 for about 40 minutes.
I'd share a nice little picture except I left my camera at a friends house, oops! I'll post one later...

Southern Fried Okra

My favorite husband will tell you he never knew how truly good fried okra tasted until he had it in the south. You may have tasted that breaded fried okra out of a freezer bag or in one of those big ole buffets, but until you fix it (the right way) at home you can't say you've eat fried okra.

There's a long list of ingredients so get out a pen a paper, this is gonna take a while.

1) fresh okra

2) white corn meal

3) salt

4) cooking oil

Okay, got all that. Now ,here's what you have to do.

Slice up your okra into about 1/4 inch pieces, cutting off the stem.

Place it in a colander and rinse with water.

Salt first then just pour your cornmeal over the okra.

(I just toss it around in the colander over the sink until it's lightly dusted)

Place one layer in a skillet with about an inch and a half to two inches of hot oil.

DO NOT stir it.

As it begins to brown, just turn it over and let it brown on the other side.

When you take it up let it drain of any excess oil. You may want to salt again.

Now start eating!

The Best Garlic Bread You'll Ever Eat

Now doesn't this look simple?

I bet your saying to yourself, "Why do I need a recipe to make garlic bread?" Well, the answer is simple, this is the best garlic bread your ever going to eat and your not gonna want to forget it! Now, let move on.

Take a stick of room temperature butter and a cup of Parmesan cheese, mix well.

Then add a little (or a lot) of garlic, your preference.

If you really want to jazz it up mix in a bit of dried parsley flakes.

Next slice your bread (I like to use different breads; sour dough, french baguette, just use whatever you like) and spread a generous helping of the butter mixture all over your bread.

If you want to make it look real purty like you can it sprinkle with some paprika.

Pop it into a 375 degree oven until toasty brown and there you have it, the best garlic bread this side of the Mississippi.

Southern Fried Squash

We have been getting a lot of Zucchini and Squash in our little suburban garden. I thought I'd share our favorite way to fix squash.

We've grilled it, sauteed it, deep fried it in a tempura batter, stir fried it, sliced and eaten it raw in salads and with veggie dip.
Now I know southern cooking had a bad rap for everything being fried, but good is good and easy is even better.
All you need is a mess of squash diced up, maybe four cups or so, you know I don't measure. Put a table spoon of bacon grease (and yes you need it for the flavor) in a skillet on medium low and sauteed the squash letting it cook down until it tender and browns. I just add salt and pepper, trust me it's delicious!

M & M cookies

My husband has been wanting me to use that bag of M & M's in the cabinet for the past two weeks so, I decided to surprise him and make some M & M cookies tonight. As I was gathering all the ingredients... I realize I was missing one just thing, brown sugar. I quickly hopped on the internet and found a video with directions and made my own. It was really quite simple. Just take 2 cups of white sugar and mix it very well with 1/3 cup of molasses. Now that I had all the ingredients I set to work at making my loving first husband some delicious cookies. Here's all you need ( and yes, I did measure because as I always say: cooking is an art, have fun. Baking is a science, there is no room for creativity) : 2 sticks of softened butter beat with 3/4 cup of white sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar. When light and fluffy start adding 1 tsp vanilla and 2 eggs (straight from the chickens bum) , mix well, then add 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt and 2 1/2 cup of flour. I usually and 1/2 a cup at time mixing well before adding any more. Preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 10 minutes or until brown around the edges. I like to bake a few at a time and keep the rest in a covered container in the frig. That way we can have fresh baked cookies hot from the oven anytime we want.

Molasses-Snow Candy

All you need to make candy on a snowy day is a cup of brown sugar and a cup of molasses.

We heated it to 300 degrees.

Had a dish of ice cold snow ready and waiting.

And just drizzled the candy in the snow.

You can make whatever shape you want, then enjoy!