Posts

Turnip Hash Browns

Turnip Hash Browns are an excellent low carb side dish and the perfect substitute for potatoes.  Make them in an air fryer or roast them in the oven, seriously delicious, not to mention keto friendly. Turnip Hash Browns are a yummy addition to any meal, not just breakfast.  I have always enjoyed turnips cooked with turnip greens, but I have played around with roasting them in the oven and cooking them in the air fryer for an alternative to potatoes in recent years.   I like to peel them and cut them up in small cubes versus shredding them.  I keep it simple and toss them in a little drizzle of olive oil or avocado oil and sprinkle your favorite seasonings on them.  If you would like to cook them in the air fryer, just spray a little avocado oil on them with your favorite seasonings.  

Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Fresh Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting is   the ultimate Southern dessert for any special occasion or a delightful dinner with family.  Fresh juicy strawberries take center stage in this show-stopping strawberry cake and buttercream frosting. I always think of a Strawberry Cake around Mother's Day.  It has a certain Mother's charm about it, richness, softness, and sweetness.   This Fresh Strawberry Cake is a little different from my Mother's heirloom recipe she made when I was growing up in the '50s.  

Caprese Salad Skewers

Caprese Salad Skewers, a simple Caprese salad on a stick, easy to make and, fancy to look at.  The perfect little appetizer to wow your guest any time of the year. With warm weather and the peak of the tomato season coming, I wanted to share one of my favorite appetizers and an afternoon snack, Mini Caprese Salad Skewers.  The best part about this recipe is it only calls for four ingredients, fresh, light, and delightful. Fresh grape tomatoes, mini mozzarella balls, fresh basil, stacked on mini skewers, and a drizzle of balsamic glaze makes for the perfect bite, heaven on a stick.

Pineapple Casserole

Pineapple Casserole, a sweet Southern casserole that can be served as a side dish or dessert at Easter on many Southern tables without a doubt.   It is made with canned pineapple, flour and sugar, sharp cheddar cheese, and topped with crushed Ritz crackers.   Who would have thought pineapple, cheddar cheese, and Ritz crackers coming together would make a remarkable, delicious dish, only in the south.

Roast Bone In Chicken Breast with Fennel

Roast Bone In Chicken Breast with Fennel, an elegant dish, and delicious with complex flavors.  But don't let that keep you from devouring this perfect entree.   Fennel is a wonderfully delicious vegetable when cooked to full tenderness like bone in chicken breast take, which takes longer to cook than boneless chicken breast. My idea that the fennel would lend flavor to the chicken ad the chicken would flavor the fennel nicely was beyond my expectations.  The results were remarkable.

Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Whole Roasted Cauliflower,  a delicious side dish that is meaty and filling enough it could hold center stage as a meatless main dish. Cauliflower has become one of our favorite vegetables.  I have always broken the cauliflower into flowerets and roasted them with a little olive oil and seasonings.  After seeing several recipes come across Instagram, I was so intrigued by roasting a whole cauliflower I had to give it try. The key to getting a tender succulent return on roasting a whole cauliflower is to cook it in butter with fragrant spices and herbs before roasting.  This will cut down on the roasting time and lends a beautiful sauce to serve over the cauliflower cut into glorious steaks.

Stovetop Hamburger Potato Carrot Casserole

Hamburger Potato Carrot Casserole is super easy to make for a weeknight meal.  This was a mainstay meal when my children were growing up. STOVETOP HAMBURGER STEW There is nothing more filling than a hearty bowl of hamburger stew with potatoes and carrots, and this one is ready in 30 minutes. When I tell people we are having Hamburger Potato Carrot Casserole for dinner, they say, "That sounds good, what's in it?"  I answer them with, Hamburger Potato and Carrots--- simple ingredients.

Blackberry Dumpling Cobbler

Blackberry Dumpling Cobbler, luscious, juicy blackberries layered between three layers of buttery, flaky crust with a rich syrup of butter, sugar, vanilla, and water poured over the whole cobbler.  This is where all the magic happens when the dough in the center forms pillows of tender dumplings.  I know you are thinking, why am I posting a recipe for blackberries, a summer berry.  Well, we love blackberries and eat them throughout the year.  I missed the window for posting the recipe this summer and thought, why not.   When I was young and newly married blackberries were only in the grocery stores and better yet on the vines during blackberry season in the summer.  Produce these days have changed so much.  We see blackberries year round in the grocery store and farmer's markets.

Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers

Chicken Fajita Stuffed Peppers, flavors of the traditional fajitas in colorful bell peppers.  The peppers are stuffed with cooked strips of grilled chicken, bell pepper, onion and folded altogether in white queso then sprinkled with shredded sharp cheddar.   Chicken Fajitas Stuffed Peppers are filled with all the ingredients served on the hot iron skillet you get at your favorite Mexican restaurant.   The bell peppers are cut in half and used for the vehicle for eating the fajita instead of flour tortillas.   I like to cook the filled pepper in the rich sauce leftover from the cooking the peppers and onions just until they are soft yet still sturdy enough to pick up to eat.  That way, they are easy to pick up the whole filled pepper.  Leaving the stem on the pepper helps them hold together.  

Summer Vegetable Gratin

Summer Vegetable Gratin, four simple vegetables layered in a gratin fashion on a bed of sauteed sliced onions then topped with a mixture of buttery breadcrumbs and shredded parmesan cheese.   With summer overload of squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and eggplant, I like to make a lovely Vegetable Gratin.  The vegetables bake into a tender bubbly casserole, rendering them into a vibrant melody of summertime freshness. The vegetables are beneficial to using uniform size, so the gratin cooks evenly and not yielding too much moisture.  Also, the larger the vegetables, the larger the seeds. In the recipe, I use fresh Roma tomatoes, straight neck squash, slender zucchini, and mini Japanese eggplants.  At the last minute, I scattered a few garlic pods in and around the vegetables to enhance the flavors.