Christmas Tea Cakes

Christmas Tea Cakes are festive tea cakes that are super easy to make with few ingredients, including two cake mixes. Holiday Mincemeat Tea Cakes This is the perfect recipe to use extra cake mixes you have on hand.  This recipe was inspired by all the cookie recipes that use cake mixes.  Another secret ingredient that is classic around the holidays is mincemeat pie filling. You will love the Holiday Mincemeat Tea Cakes if you love mincemeat pie.  I know there are some yays and nays when mincemeat is mentioned.   Growing up in the 60s, my family always had mincemeat pie during the holidays.  Mincemeat is a sweet concoction of dried fruit, spices, dark brown sugar, nuts, and beef. When I saw a jar of None Such Mincemeat pie filling in my cabinet, I wanted to try and make a cookie with some cake mixes I needed to use.  

Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

  Slow Cooker Turkey Breast is simple to prepare and has as much flavor as a whole turkey.  Start with a bone in, skin on, and use the same seasonings, but the secret to the juiciest meat is the brining. Crockpot Turkey Breast This Crockpot Turkey Breast recipe is an excellent addition to serve extra white meat for your Thanksgiving meal, which my family loves.  We always run out of white meat, but not anymore. My recipe for Crockpot Turkey Breast is straightforward, with only 3 ingredients, turkey, poultry seasoning, and butter, that's it.  It turns out moist and flavorful every time.   Whether cooking a whole turkey or a turkey breast, the leftovers are always my favorite.  I love making turkey sliders, sandwiches, turkey soup, and my new recipe with this year's leftovers, Turkey Bubble Up.

Waldorf Salad

The Waldorf Salad recipe is straightforward and delicious and can be made with ingredients from your pantry.  It is ready in 15 minutes and easy for family gatherings or potlucks.   Granny's Classic Waldorf Salad I have been making this classic Waldorf Salad recipe for the holidays and special occasions for years. The recipe comes from my Mother.  It is one of my favorite recipes growing up.   The original Waldorf Salad was introduced on March 14, 1893, at the Waldorf Istoria Hotel in New York by the first executive chef for a charity ball and became an instant success.  In years since, the original recipe, which consisted of apples, celery, and mayonnaise, has taken on more additions.

Hamburger Soup

Hamburger Soup is warming and satisfying, loaded with vegetables.  Ideal comfort food on cold nights. Hearty Hamburger Vegetable Soup This Hearty Hamburger Vegetable Soup recipe is a simple and hearty soup made with lean ground beef, various vegetables, and a delicious beef broth. Soup season is in full swing here in East Texas. I couldn't be more excited.  On weeknights, I like to make a soup that takes little time and ingredients that I keep in my kitchen, but on the weekends, I want to do the long and slow method. Growing up, ground beef was one of the less expensive meats to feed a family.  I remember my mother would make Hamburger Soup several times in the winter months.   To get a few more servings, she would stretch the recipe by adding mini pasta shells.   This ground beef soup is hearty and chunky, loaded with delicious vegetables and plenty of juices for a chunk of cornbread to soak them up.   Also, It is a versatile soup in that you can play around with the vegetables an

Super Easy Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti is the ultimate comfort food for a crowd or just a family night dinner, rich and gooey with layers of pasta, creamy meat sauce, and three different kinds of cheese. EASIEST BAKED ZITI YOU WILL EVER MAKE Baked Ziti is the easiest and quickest casserole dish you will ever make.  You can have a fantastic meal in about an hour, a perfect weeknight meal. As soon as the weather cools, I start cooking comfort food, like this Super Easy Baked Ziti.  Total comfort food in a bowl.   Baked Ziti is the Mother of all pasta dishes. The recipe has existed in Italy for ages.  There are so many ways to make it, including making the sauces from scratch or using a jar sauce, mixing the sauces together or not, and using ricotta or not.   I make a lot of casserole recipes from scratch, but this is one time I prefer to use the jar sauce. The recipe just became Americanized.   I like Rao's brand for the jar sauce for the Homemade Marinara and Alfredo sauce.  

Simple Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

Simple Broccoli Cauliflower Salad will elevate a meal for Kings or refresh a family potluck dinner.  The perfect salad with only six ingredients, including the creamy, tangy dressing. Broccoli Cauliflower Salad with Creamy Dressing My recipe for delicious Broccoli Cauliflower Salad is simple and quick to make, full of fresh broccoli and cauliflower florets, julienne red onions, and tossed in a dressing you want to drink.   Growing up, anytime we had a big gathering, Mother would cook the biggest meal, and the whole family would come.   Recipes like this classic Broccoli Cauliflower Salad totally remind me of those days the love and care my Mother took in hosting all the family and celebrating us. Just like Mother, I keep this salad as simple as possible.  My family loves this salad year-round, especially around the holidays.   This brings up Thanksgiving around the corner, always a favorite.   I know this salad will become one of yours, too.

Baked Feta Pasta Recipe

Baked Feta Pasta became a TicTok sensation last year, becoming the most instantaneous recipe made with four simple ingredients.  Baked Feta and Ricotta Pasta with Chicken Like many pasta recipes, adding chicken will indeed please and become a family favorite for weeknight meals. Creamy, flavorful, and cheese, all the components you want in a pasta dish. Baked Feta Pasta is the perfect fall comfort food, creamy, tomato–y and so incredibly delicious.  It is probably the most straightforward pasta dish I have ever made. When I say simple, everything gets baked together until the tomatoes burst, releasing all their jamminess.  The cheeses get melty, and you stir it all together, making this quick creamy sauce, toss in the chicken and then the pasta.  Generously garnish with more basil.  Boom, dinner is ready.

Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake

Summertime is the season to indulge in a perfect combination of tangy and sweet desserts like this Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake.    Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake Bars These delightful Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake Bars have the perfect combination of flavors, the ease of the recipe, and the ease of carrying it somewhere.   Perfect for any celebrations, picnics, potlucks, or grand enough for any dinner party. Gooey Butter Cake has been around for many years.  It all started with the made from scratch version supposedly made by accident by a man in a St. Louis bakery.  Then, in the early 70s, Paula Deen introduced her version using a butter cake mix.  Since then, there have been many versions of the Gooey Butter Cake. With the ease of making recipes that call for few ingredients, I can whip up a batch of these bars in no time.   I had a couple of cups of blueberries that needed to be eaten, so I added them to the recipe.  The tartness of the lemon zest and cream cheese and the sweetness of t

Old Fashioned Hot Water Cornbread

Enjoy these  little medallions with collard greens, purple hull peas, fried catfish, soup, chili, and the list goes on! Granny's Old Fashioned Hot Water Cornbread Old Fashioned Hot Water Cornbread just like Grandma used to make.  Hot Water Cornbread is more about the feel of the batter than a precise measurement.  The main thing is to get the right consistency with the hot water and the cornmeal mixture. Making Old Fashioned Hot Water Cornbread is more about the feel of the batter than a precise measurement.   The main thing is to get the right consistency with the water and cornmeal mixture.

Oven Smoked Brisket

Oven Smoked Brisket is tender meat that tastes like it has been smoked in a smoker for hours.  You don't need a smoker to enjoy this mouthwatering oven smoked brisket. Beef Brisket Smoked In The Oven The best Texas style brisket is tender without falling apart while slicing, and it has that thick layer of smoky, peppery bark surrounding each slice.  This recipe meets all of those standards. Brisket was a new cut of meat, you might say, at our house growing up as a teenager. When my mother first started cooking brisket, she would cook them in the oven at first, and then, when she got a smoker, she started smoking them. The best part about my mother cooking brisket was not how she cooked them but how she selected the one to buy. The briskets you buy in Texas are usually known as a packer cut—this means that it’s the entire chest muscle, and most of the time covered with a generous layer of fat and weighs anywhere from seven to eleven pounds.