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Comfort When You Need It – Tomato Soup
Today is bleak. The sky is gray. The temperature in central Mississippi feels colder than the thermometer reflects. Our nation has gone bananas. I am grieving the loss of my daddy. Bleak. In the midst of today’s bleakness, I feel the pull toward all things that bring comfort (I’m certain I’m not the only one). Tomato Soup ranks #1 on my internal list of comfort food, so I made it for myself for lunch today. Warm and savory, it did the job it needed to do. I thought I’d share it with you. Tomato SoupOnion – 1 cup , choppedCelery – 1 cup, choppedCarrot – 1/2 cup, gratedSalt – about…
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Thanksgiving How-To: Cornbread Dressing
Thanksgiving has arrived. This year you may find yourself “in charge” of all the food by choice or by circumstance. You may feel completely prepared for this challenge, or you may be staring into space wondering how in the world food will magically land on your table. I’m here to help…with the dressing at least. Here’s a video to walk you through all the steps involved in making good cornbread dressing: Printable Recipe: Hope you enjoy! And, Happy Thanksgiving!
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Red Beans & Rice – Instant Pot Style
Yesterday afternoon was an overcast Sunday, and I had a hankering for cozy food. Mind you, my family was having an honest to goodness lazy Sunday afternoon. I was having trouble mustering up the required amount of energy to decide what cozy food I should make, let alone cook the actual food. I knew my hours were running short, but the hankering did not go away…I started mentally going through my pantry, and as soon as I thought “all those Camilla red beans I still have after an early quarantine trip to Costco”, the decision was made. Red Beans and Rice for the win! You may be questioning how I…
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My “Go-To” Chocolate Chip Cookies
So, here we are…8 weeks or so into this socially-distanced quarantine. My days have swung the pendulum from excessive productivity and positive to utterly lazy and grumpy – and every point in between. Lately, I feel like my family is gravitating toward needing comfort (specifically, comfort food). To that end, I made chocolate cookies. Is there anything more comforting that chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven? Here’s a video of the cookie process: [wpvideo ukkXLeoX ] And…the recipe: 3/4 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour 1/4 cup malt powder…
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Family Favorite – Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
One of my family’s most requested dishes is Chicken Parmesan Meatballs. I’ve been making these for years, and they are consistently delicious. They come together quickly, and they also freeze very well…so, I figured it would be a good recipe to share here. Video of the process: [wpvideo vSA8Msbv ] Ingredients: 1 lb. Ground chicken 1/2 -1 cup panko crumbs (or to feel) 1/4 cup wheat germ (optional) 1tsp parsley 1 tsp granulated garlic 1 tsp salt pepper 1/2 tsp dried basil 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp paprika (optional) 1 egg Marinara sauce DIRECTIONS Oven to 350° Combine all ingredients (except sauce) and mix Lightly oil an oven-proof skillet…
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No Sliced Bread? No Worries…Make Focaccia
As we enter the second week of social distancing, I have no profound words to share, BUT I have a solution for you if you’ve had trouble consistently procuring sliced bread. Focaccia! If you have never baked bread, this is a perfect recipe for a novice – very little hands-on effort, fairly quick turn-around time, and no bread flour needed. The recipe I use is one I found a few years ago on the internets: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/rosemary-focaccia.html I use her method almost exactly except that I don’t use rosemary, but instead top the dough with a little sprinkling of coarse salt, garlic powder, and sometimes a little Parmesan – and, in…
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Church Biscuits
Because I couldn’t make Instagram video play nice, here’s the whole video. Enjoy 😉 For the recipe, follow this link: The One About Biscuits
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The One About Biscuits
Almost every morning of my childhood, my mom made biscuits. She made them from the Pioneer Brand boxed mix and put a pat of Country Crock in each one straight out of the oven. Mom ran a daycare in our house during the week, and all the children knew to expect biscuits at Aunt Sue’s house (every. single. morning.). I’ve never been big on breakfast, so I would have a biscuit after school when they were room temp, but butter had melted all through the inside while they were still warm – a little nugget of perfection. These days, I make biscuits on Saturday mornings whenever possible. I love them all year long,…
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A Girl and Her Kitchen
The kitchen is my happy place. This has been true as long as I can remember. When my house is clean, I can’t wait to spread out all over the kitchen counters and cook something just for the fun of it. If I try a dish at a restaurant and fall in love, I have to research and play in my kitchen until I can replicate it. Rearranging my drawers and shelves until they function just like I want them centers me. Reading cookbooks like they are novels is a favorite past time. I love to feed people. Cancer took my kitchen away from me for a while. After surgery…
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“The Best” Fried Pies
Fried pies are heavily weighted with history to me. I don’t have many memories of my grandmother, but I do have some recall of her fried pies. She obviously made them often enough to leave quite an impression on my father though…my childhood is dotted with searches for the best fried pie – be it from gas stations or flea market vendors or restaurants and of course, our kitchen. There were so many discussions about what kind of crust truly made the best pie. Biscuit dough, pie crust, canned biscuits, etc. I was a little kid surrounded by adults all the time and just absorbing all this conversation. (I’m…
affectionately known as "Mama Devin" to some…