Mama Reed was a good person. She worked hard all of her life raising up ten good hearted, hardworking kids. She ran a farm, took care of her family and anyone else that needed taking care of whenever the need arose and she had the ability to do so. She grew a garden to raise food for her family and canned whatever she didn’t use. She went to church and lived her life according to the principles taught there seven days a week rather than just the one.

After you mull that one over, how about reaching for a cornbread pan sandwich? They are sure to be counted among your blessings on the supper table

You’ll need: An onion, two packages of corn muffin mix*, Spicy Brown Mustard, 5-6 slices of cheese, a few slices of ham or some other lunch meat of your choice.

*You’re also going to need whatever the corn muffin mix package calls for but I’m not listing that here because between all of us, there is no telling what brands of corn muffin mix we may come back with so the instructions will be different. This is the package size that makes six cornbread muffins so that is the size you should try your best to get. Then we’ll prepare that mix according to package directions.

Mix up corn muffin mix according to package directions. 

Chop your onion, and add it and the spicy brown mustard.

Stir that up really well. 

Spread about half of it in the bottom of a greased 8×8 or 9×9 pan. 

Top with ham slices. If you need to get creative in tearing them up so the spots are covered, go for it  

Top with your cheese. 

Pour the rest of your batter over the top and…

Spread it to cover everything. 

Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until nice and golden brown on top. 

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting. 

Serve warm. 

Enjoy ! 

For a quick supper, These go great with Simple and Delicious Tomato Soup and are also great with Sweet and Sour Green Beans (which I make ahead of time and keep in my freezer!).

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

~ C. S. Lewis

Submitted by Debbie Strum, thanks Debbie! Submit your quote by clicking here. 

We have a lofty goal of taking our kids to as many states in the USA as we possibly can and this summer’s state is ARKANSAS!
Can you believe we’ve never been there?

To get more details and leave your suggestions,

click here to visit our Arkansas Event Page on Facebook.

We’d love your ideas!

Hot Water Cornbread is a recipe as old as the Tennessee Hills.

Speaking of which, do you know how you can tell if a cow is from Tennessee? The legs on one side ae shorter than the other..hehe. That’s an old one, referencing how hilly the state is. So if cows are grazing, it is most likely on the side of a hill...ok explaining jokes takes the wind out of their sails, doesn’t it?

Anywho!

This is a basic recipe that can be gussied up any number of ways. I’m gonna go plain and straightforward with you today so you have the basic recipe and can work from there.

I wanted to show you the plain version to let you know that you don’t HAVE To gussy it up, it will still be delicious, while at the same time encouraging you to really have fun with it. The simpler versions are what were most often made in the old days when ingredients were scarce and we had to make do in order to put food in our bellies.

You know, these days, a lot of people are too far removed from hunger to be able to appreciate food. I’m not talking about enjoying a meal at a fancy restaurant or being able to sniff a glass of rotted grape juice and tell someone where it came from or what kind it is, I’m talking about appreciating the fact that you have food to eat. Appreciating being able to sit down to a meal and truly feel grateful that your stomach will be full when you get up.

I’m talking about having an attitude where, if the pot of stew is a little salty, you eat it anyway and be glad to have it regardless.

So many people don’t have that gratutude, instead there is a snooty, almost callous, attitude towards food. This concerns me because if a body can’t sit down to something made by any random grandmother and express real and sincere gratitude for the meal, regardless of whether or not it tastes good to them or is cooked as they would like it to be, something is just flat out off.

I think a lot of people forget that, when looking at these simple recipes, they were invented out of necessity in order to survive and based on what folks had on hand or could easily acquire. For me, that inspires a reverence for them, and a respect for the wisdom of the old ways. It also makes me want to make them just like they did, if only to feel a little closer to the wisdom and life of my ancestors.

So…lets get started.

For the basic recipe for this, you’ll need: Self rising corn meal and hot water.

You can use your favorite self rising cornmeal mix. Martha White has all sorts of different ones and I like the white best but that is because it’s what my great grandmother used.

 The recipe calls for boiling water to get it hot but I’m just going to use my coffee pot to dispense me some. Because that is what it does…I’m still respecting the old ways with the recipe but there is no sense in adding unnecessary work. Back in the day folks were plum tired and had far too much common sense to go around the block to get to the mailbox. 

Y’all remember that cute little photo of the new addition to my kitchen in my Confessions of A Pyrex Hoarder post?

This is what that area looks like on a daily basis – it’s my coffee station. I have it set up like this so folks can go make a cup of coffee and grab a snack without having to intrude into my cooking domain area while I’m working

And sometimes I step over there to get hot water when working on a post…

 Add your corn meal into the water.

Stir that together until there are no lumps left and it’s formed a good old batter. If you need to add a tablespoon or so of water you can. If you need to add a little more corn meal, you can do that too. 

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

 Once that is hot, carefully drop your batter by spoonfuls into the hot oil and lightly press it flat with the back of a spoon.

Cook until browned on that side, then flip it and cook it until it is browned on the other.

Remove to paper towel lined plate, basket, or bowl. Serve warm

It’s that easy!

 These are great on their own or with butter, maple syrup, molasses, etc.

I’m really looking forward to the National Cornbread Festival this weekend in South Pittsburg, Tennessee and I hope to see some of y’all there! If you’re going to be around and have time for me to give you a hug, just drop by the Judges tent at the cornbread cookoff stage anytime between 12:30-3:00. I’ll be inside the tent judging, but if you tell someonee working around there that you’re there to see me, they’ll give me a holler so I can come out. Don’t you dare think you’re being a bother, either! I’d be offended if you didn’t give me a chance to say hi! If I’m in the middle of judging, it may take me a minute or two but I’ll hop right on out there as soon as I can because I don’t wanna miss seeing you!

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/2-ingredient-hot-water-cornbread.html/feed 65 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/grandmamas-hawaiian-nut-bread.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/grandmamas-hawaiian-nut-bread.html#comments Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:47:57 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21882 I was so honored when Amanda Dobbs sent me this recipe, along with the story of her dear Grandmother who makes it for her. I know you’ll enjoy reading about the fascinating Mrs. Molcie as much as I did, and we’ll all be thankful for her every time we have this wonderful bread! 

Mrs. Molcie Dobbs

“Molcie Dobbs is a phenomenal woman. As a twenty-two year old (mind you, the age I am now), my grandmother had moved out of her family home and took a man’s job driving a forklift at TCI, the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company. She put in an application every afternoon until she got the job, of which she knew nothing about.

There she met my grandfather, fell in love, and started the wonderful family I belong to. Her Hawaiian Banana Nut Bread is just like her—an average old-fashioned favorite, a kind that looks just like every other one on the outside. However, once you slice it open and experience it, you notice that there is something distinctly different and special about it, and her. Grandmama has been making this bread for about as long as I can remember. She uses this recipe to show her talent and her appreciation for numerous people around the community, including the garbage man who would pause his work just to roll her garbage can back to her house for her.

She is known for her Hawaiian Banana Nut Bread around our family and acquaintances; however, I know her for much more than that. Grandmama has taught me more about hard work, true love, and the importance of  independence as a woman than I could have ever asked for. Every time I see banana nut bread, I think of Grandmama and how her special twist makes a very ordinary recipe extraordinary—just like Grandmama makes my very ordinary life that much more extraordinary, just by being in it.” ~Amanda Dobbs, Molcie’s Granddaughter

If a child shoots an arrow that reaches the top of a tall palm tree, then it must be that an elder person carved the arrow for him.

~Nigerian Proverb

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/grandmamas-hawaiian-nut-bread.html/feed 40 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/cinnamon-twists.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/cinnamon-twists.html#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:07:20 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21800

Katy Rose holding the Cast Iron Issue open to my Southern Plate Suppers column! We found this one at Lowe’s.

YAY! It’s time for the Annual Cast Iron Issue of Taste of the South Magazine! This is one of my FAVORITE issues of the
 magazine because it is dedicated to our beloved heritage cookware and filled to the brim with recipes using our beloved heritage cookware. Top that off with lots of stories from notable folks about their cast iron memories from days gone by, and you have an instant classic.

More special to me, though, is that this year I had an opportunity to share the story behind my Grandmama’s tiny cast iron skillets that her father bought for her on her sixth birthday. Be sure and pick up this issue, on newsstands now, to read my story and get my full menu of recipes.

As a special treat, today I’m sharing the recipe for these delicious Cinnamon Twists, which are just part of my complete menu of recipes in this issue. These are so easy to make when you start with a boxed pizza crust mix. We love to serve them with our homemade pizza.

Mama, Grandmama, Katy Rose, and me. In the Current issue of Taste of the South.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

This issue is going fast so if you don’t subscribe,

be sure and look for it on news stands as soon as possible while they last!

Taste of the South Cast Iron Issue, on newsstands now. Also available on iTunes and Kindle.

“Love and Kindness are never wasted.

They always make a difference.

They bless the one who receives them and they bless you, the giver.”

~Barbara De Angelis

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/cinnamon-twists.html/feed 42 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/mamas-mexican-cornbread.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/mamas-mexican-cornbread.html#comments Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:13:23 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21718

Most families I know make a version of this deliciously moist and decadent cornbread. Studded with sweet corn, cheddar cheese, and spicy bits of jalapeño peppers, whenever I make this, I can happily eat two pieces of it, hot from the oven, and nothing else (I wonder if I could fit another comma into that sentence?). Even my husband, who really doesn’t care for cornbread unless it’s sweet, comes running whenever I make this. My son’s only complaint is that I don’t cut the pieces bigger so he doesn’t have to keep coming back. Needless to say, when I make this for supper, there usually isn’t any of it left by the time we sit down to the table unless I am really good at hiding it and running folks out of the kitchen!

This is one of those things that sometimes, I just find myself needing. We all have needs, and I count myself blessed that one of mine can be satisfied with cornbread.

Ruh Roh Shaggy! I think Christy is about to get out her soap box again so hang on!

You know what else we need? We need a lot less television that tries to shock folks and lower the bar of dignity and more television that seeks to encourage and lift people up. I have yet to meet someone who would mind being encouraged a little more.

We need more Little House on the Prairie and less flavor du jour in reality tv. We need less gossip and more integrity. We need more hot dogs in the park and less red carpet galas. As much as we as a people worry about ingesting artificial dyes, preservaties, and chemicals, we need to be equally worried about ingesting negativity, hate, judgement, maliciousness, and arrogance.

We need more time spent at the knee of our elders listening to them and absorbing their wisdom. We really need more wisdom. And while I’m at it, I think we need more hen houses so kids can gather eggs in the morning, more time outside feeding our spirit, and more blue jeans and flannel shirts. We need more phone calls with our Mamas, and family road trips, and handwritten letters.

We need the good people among us to stand up, stand out, and speak louder. Because you are a rock for so many around you. You’re holding it together, setting the example, and caring for those around you in a culture that continually tells you to forsake them and put yourself first. We need more of you.

And you, my dear friend, need this cornbread. Because it’s good and I love ya. ~end rant~

Let’s get cookin’!

 You’ll need: Cream style corn, vegetable oil, egg, self rising corn meal mix, a little bit of sugar, chopped onion, shredded cheese, diced jalapeno, milk, and salt. 

A note about my cheese: Some of you might recognize this brand as being the house brand of Dollar General. If so, give me five shopping buddy! I get a lot of quick trips in to DG when I’m looking for a few things but you could easily shop for full on groceries there most days and hey, look at the package, it’s FANCY! Wow, it just gets better  In my post for Tex Mex Lasagna, I talked about the virtues of shredding your own cheese and all of that still applies and is good and yadda yadda yadda. But that doesn’t mean I always do it.

P.S. I buy organic milk because it stays good for twice as long as regular milk

To everyone who likes sugar in their cornbread:  isn’t this a great recipe? I knew y’all would like it! ~smiles brightly~ Sweet cornbread is AWEsome with a capital “AWE”! GOOO SWEET CORNBREAD!

Now to everyone who wasn’t raised on sweet cornbread: Oh I know this feels so wrong. I know it, I know it, I know it. Cornbread isn’t supposed to be sweet. T’ain’t fittin’ and I know that. Believe me, I know that. I’m married to a man who thinks it is supposed to be sweet. But I overlook these issues with him because goodness knows he’s done his fair share of overlooking issues with me. But, this is my Mama’s recipe and the sugar is just a scant amount and it really works well with the heat of the jalapeños. It won’t end up tasting sweet in this particular recipe so just bite the bullet and do what Mama tells you to do

Check out my new salt crock!

Isn’t this the neatest thing? My friend, Toni, got me this jar for Christmas. It is intended as a honey jar but the little hand carved wooden teaspoon that comes with it. Toni had one that she used for a salt crock on the back of her stove and I just oohed and ahhed over it so she got me one, too! It is handy as can be! I have sea salt in mine right now and it’s just great to keep on hand for recipes and cooking. This came from the Old Mill Pottery store in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

In a large mixing bowl, place all ingredients.

Wait, some are missing from this photo…scroll down.

There we go! now we have an all skate

Did you ever roller skate in the old days? We used to love to do that. Since I’ve gotten older, it’s amazing how “I hope I don’t fall and embarass myself” has turned into “I’d better not fall because if I do I’ll break something…” 

Stir all of that up pretty good with a spoon.

Now this is a cast iron skillet that I’ve had heating in the oven while it preheats.

Pour about a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil in it and swirl it around a good bit.

Like this.

Pour in your batter and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until all golden and  prettified

Like so.

See? Now if someone can’t see the beauty in that, you need to send them to a restaurant for their supper instead of your house. Either fast food or one of those uppity ones where everything on the menu has a title a paragraph long.

Turn that out onto a large plate.

Stand aside because when the family catches a whiff it might spark a stampede!

Note about baking this in an alternative to Cast Iron: You can make this in an 8 or 9 inch cake pan if you prefer for whatever reason. Of course it’s  traditionally made in cast iron but it will turn out just fine if you make it in a cake pan or even an 8×8 square baking dish. Just go with whatever cranks yer tractor

This cornbread is so good you might want to make a meal of bread alone! However, you can also try serving this with:

Chili

Chicken Stew

Senate Bean Soup

Pintos

How to become a positive person in three easy steps:
1. Think about the next thing you say before you say it.
2. Make it positive.
3. Repeat.

~Christy Jordan

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/mamas-mexican-cornbread.html/feed 77 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/12/quick-gingerbread-party-muffins.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/12/quick-gingerbread-party-muffins.html#comments Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:00:36 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21301

While I recover from my adventures in the Dominican Republic (which means catch up on laundry and take care of a flu riddled family), I thought I’d bring you a quick and easy idea to decorate my pumpkin muffins (which require only three ingredients to make!) for a party or Christmas get together….

Or just to impress your kids.

Because it is important to impress our kids whenever possible so that they will eventually realize how incredibly cool and awesome their parents are. I don’t know about you but this hasn’t happened for me just yet. I’m thinking it kicks in around the age of thirty or so.

These are simple, 3 ingredient pumpkin muffins (and one of those ingredients is water!), topped with a homemade cream cheese icing, sprinkled with cake crumbs (I’m about to show you how to make those), and then finished off with a store bought Gingerbread cookie.

To get the recipe for the pumpkin muffins, click here.

Now, lets make us some cake crumbs!

Take one muffin and crumble it up onto a baking sheet.

Place that in the oven at 350 for about ten minutes, or until lightly toasted.

Then crush them until they are really fine… 

There are countless ways to crush them but this is how I do it. This is supposed to be part of a salad server set but I just use it to beat things with.

Another fun thing to do is take these crumbs and double seal them in a bag and run over them with the car. Completely unnecessary when a simple rolling pin will do the job but there are days when it just feels good

Mix up your cream cheese icing (recipe below) and place it into a gallon zipper seal bag.

Cut the corner off and pipe a big dollop into the center of each muffin. I used a large icing tip to get it to look like this but they’re every bit as pretty if you just pipe it straight from the bag.

Sprinkle each one with a pinch of cake crumbs and then stick a little Gingerbread cookie in the center!

Look at all of my happy little cupcakes!

This is them doing a conga line!

Okay, time for me to stop playing with my food. Anywho, this is a quick and easy idea for a fun cupcake during the holidays. Because I’ve never once woke up during the Christmas season and said “Man, I really hope I can come across more ways to make my life more complicated and hectic today!”

Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Icing and Gingerbread Topped Cupcakes

Today’s bread is a really simple one requiring very little work. Most of the time is spent ignoring it while it does its thing and you go about your business. This is a crusty bread on the outside with that wonderful hard crust and a chewy bread on the inside, which I love!

BUT FIRST I wanna tell you a little story…

I am a very motivated person. I get these ideas and I get EXCITED and I run with them. The bad thing is, I generally get a few miles down the road before I get ANOTHER idea and then I get excited about IT and then I want to abandon first idea, because it was cool but I’ve already done it at that point, and go run with idea #2 because it is new and exciting. Welcome to adult ADD, never a dull moment here

So I have had to learn self control and acquire the ability to stand back and examine an idea for feasibility. Still, even though the majority of my ideas get filed away these days due to lack of time and energy, others I still allow myself to enjoy for a bit even though it is too impractical to put into practice.

This morning, as I pulled my tenth loaf of bread out of the oven in two days, I thought of how nice and simple life would be if I baked bread for a living out of my home. Think about it. Get up in the morning, knead the risen dough and shape into loaves, place it in pans and allow it to rise while I worked up the dough for the following day’s bread. Hours later pull golden loaves out of the oven and turn them out to cool while I washed my loaf pans (my husband will be particularly excited to see this dream includes me washing dishes).

Then, once the loaves are cooled I would package them and head out of the house to deliver to all of the people just sitting at home waiting on me to bring them fresh baked bread.

Of course, there would have to be a movie soundtrack playing in the background, an upbeat little piano number, and I’d have to be one of those people who never wears makeup but always looks good (I’m pulling out the serious fiction for myself here). My initial thoughts were that I’d hop on a bicycle to deliver them but in my head I can’t help but picture this as some sort of an eighties movie and I’m in a mini van wearing mom jeans and a sweater vest over an oxford shirt. I dream big.

Then the reality comes into play that I do not have the heart of a business person and anytime I’ve tried to sell anything for profit I have always (consistently) lost money because I’d rather give things to people than sell them….so at this point I need to rewrite the movie so I’m married to a wealthy man and we live in a huge mansion, which means my eighties mini van goes poof and delivering bread in a  ~tries to think of a fancy expensive car brand and fails~ Well, a fancy expensive car just doesn’t go along with the happy piano soundtrack and at this point I’m picturing myself looking like more of a Crystal Carington – because I can’t imagine this invisible rich man having the good sense to appreciate a woman in mom jeans and a sweater vest – and then I can’t imagine Crystal Carington baking bread.

Popped that dream bubble real quick.

So in lieu of me riding a bicycle and devoting my life to bad eighties fashion and flour acquisition, I’m just gonna share this bread recipe with you and let you make it on your own.

I’ve seen recipes for bread like this all over the internet and several months back I made it for the first time, loved it, made it two or three more times, loved it again, then forgot about it. How often do you do that with a recipe? I never considered posting it because it had been on someone else’s food blog and I know firsthand how much it costs to run a blog so the last thing I want to do is post someone else’s recipe and take away the traffic that helps them pay the light bill. So I never intended to share this delicious bread with you because other folks had shared it elsewhere….then I got my issue of Grit magazine and saw the bread again in there. Then I opened my eyes and realized this bread is kind of everywhere and we all do little things differently when we make it. For example, I’m even lazier and ignore half of the instructions but it turns out just fine!

So I decided to make it showing the way and the recipe that works for me and telling you how to do it in my own words with love to the original post  where I got the first recipe I tried from, and to Grit magazine who reminded me to make it again. Google search pulls up over 80,000 other versions of this recipe currently so here we go with 80,001

I have a few breads I’d like to eventually show you because I really believe that everyone needs to know how to make at least one bread from scratch. It is an essential skill that literally helped mankind survive for thousands of years and you never know when we’ll need it again – PLUS, it just tastes so stinking good!

When I was expecting my Katy Rose, I got this hankering for these hard crusty dinner rolls with chewy innards that were sold at Atlanta Bread company. I used to ask my husband to stop by a few times  a week just to get me two or three dinner rolls to munch on during the day. Well, this bread reminds me of that, only it’s better.

I’ll probably bring you some other versions of it eventually as well.

Not literally bring, because I don’t currently have a biccyle or a sweater vest, but figuratively bring…because I do have this website

You’ll need: Hot water, yeast, bread flour, and salt.

NOTE ABOUT BRANDS : I prefer Red Star yeast when I can find it. It is easy to find in the packets here but I like to buy a jar because I use so much that I prefer less fuss, so I had to get Fleishmann’s last time I shopped. I have had better luck with Red Star yeast so if you see that, I’d suggest making it your first choice.

As for this bread flour, I usually use whatever I pick up first that is cheapest but there wasn’t a lot of selection where I ended up so grab some bread flour but don’t worry about getting this gold Medal. It works fine but one is just as good as the other.

You do need bread flour. All Purpose will work in some way but I’ve never made this bread with all purpose flour so you’re flying solo if you choose to go on that mission  

I do love my Kosher salt but plain table salt will work just as well.

You’re also going to need a cast iron dutch oven, such as my Lodge Dutch oven here. 

I got this for Mother’s Day a few years back and it is well used.

Also, it is dirty in this photo because I needed to do dishes in a bad way but the sink was too full of dirty dishes to be able to do them at the particular moment that I needed a photograph.

Life is just crazy like that

An enamel coated cast iron dutch oven is important here and the Lodge ones are very affordable. A lot of folks want Le Crueset but my Le Wallet can afford Lodge. Not to mention it understands my Alabama accent because it’s all made in Tennessee.

Place all of your dry ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl. This means your flour, salt, and yeast.

Let me show you something about the yeast…

When I say a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of yeast, this is what I mean.

Just kinda use a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop it out and then add whatever decides to come with it

Now stir all of those dry ingredients together.

 Stir all of your dry ingredients together really well.

Pour in your water.

Now remember that in yeast bread, if your water is too hot, it will kill the yeast. If your water is too cold, it will take ten forevers for your yeast to come alive. The trick is “baby bath water”. Anyone who has ever given a baby a bath knows just how that feels. Hot, but not too hot, more of warm water on the hot end of the scale

Stir that up until it is a glob.

You can use a mixing bowl for this but I have these handy little bread buckets I use that have a sealing plastic lid and plenty of room for the bread to rise. However, this particular bread isn’t going to rise very much so a large bowl will be just fine.

I have some breads that overflow an eight quart container!

Spray cooking spray in a bowl (or bread bucket) and cover to seal.

Set aside and let it rise for 12-18 hours.

The ideal thing is to let it rise overnight. This nice slow rise builds a wonderful texture for your bread but mostly it helps the bread’s flavor to develop.

This is what your bread will look like the following morning.

All bubbly and spongey and OH MY GOODNESS IT’S ALIVE-Y. ~smiles~

Dust a surface with flour. 

Okay when I say dust, I mean coat

This is what your bread will look like from the top before you dump it out. 

Now dump it out like yesterday’s troubles!

!SPLAT!

Sprinkle some more flour over the top of it. 

Now lay a piece of cling or saran wrap over it… 

Cover with a dish towel. 

Let rise again for about 2 hours. 

When you’re done letting your bread rise, preheat your oven to 475. 

Please note: 475 degrees is hot. 

Place your cast iron dutch oven into the stove with the lid on for 30 minutes.

Please make sure the knob on the top of your dutch oven is heatproof. I purchased a new knob for mine because the original one was not. If your knob is not heatproof it will come out of the oven looking like a deflated balloon that fell on top of your lid. Trust that I speak from experience here…

This is my dough all ready to go.

And as you can tell I did make my bread in the morning so we have a lovely plant shadow from the rising sun.

Remove your hot hot pot VERY Carefully

Please note again: 475 degrees is hot. I’m sooo not kidding here.

Pick up your bread dough with both hands and kinda sorta shape it into a ball as you dump it into the pot, without touching the pot. 

I know I sound like a broken record here but in case anyone missed it and just so we don’t have any McDonald’s “How dare you serve me hot coffee” moments – this pot is going to be hotter than Hades after it’s been cranked up a few thousand years and gotten past the mild stuff.

Put your lid back on the pot and return to the oven.

Bake at 475 for 30 minutes, then carefully remove the lid and bake another 15 minutes. 

Remove from oven. 

This is what you have. Isn’t that gorgeous? 

I could happily live on this bread the rest of my life. 

Well, I might need some pintos…and maybe a little fried chicken from time to time….and perhaps a little apple pie…or banana pudding…and some tea of course.

But I’d be most content, I’m sure!

Think you might want to make this later? Save it to your recipe box!

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

I received a lot of questions on this post and many of them seem to be the same ones so I thought I’d address them here to be able to help everyone. Thanks for asking !

What size dutch oven do you use? 

Pictured here is my Six Quart Lodge enamel coated Dutch oven in Spice Red and my L Series dutch oven in Apple Green. You can click on either photo or name to get more information. I got my red one from Wal Mart and my green one last Christmas when I found an incredible deal on Amazon. Both of these can be ordered from Amazon and they usually have free shipping options. All you need is one and you’ll be good to go!

Common sizes are 3 quart, 4 quart, 6 quart, and 7.5 quart. Any of those sizes would work just fine.

What else can you use a dutch oven for? 

Oh goodness, it is my FAVORITE pot to cook in on the stove top. I LOVE to make stews, chilis, soups, beans, spaghetti sauce, anything that you’d use a pot for you can use this pot for. If you’re making a soup or stew, brown your beef in the dutch oven, then drain it and toss everything else in for one pot cleanup. The reason why I love it so much is because of the heat retention and distribution qualities of cast iron. Regular pots just cook from the bottom but the cast iron distributes and retains the heat all around the pot so it actually cooks from all sides, which makes it quicker and more efficient.

THEN, once you’re done cooking, just put the lid on and turn off the heat and it will stay piping hot for at least an hour (much longer than that but I’ve never timed it or anything). Regular pots lose heat so fast and you end up having to heat things up if you cook a little earlier in the afternoon. Whenever I cook a little earlier, I try to use my dutch oven. I can get it done before the kids get out of school, put the lid on and go pick them up, then come home to a hot supper when my husband gets off work, even though the pot has sat on the stovetop with no heat turned on the entire time.

And yes, I have always used cast iron on my glass stove top. As long as the bottom of your cast iron pot is flat, it works perfectly! 

Where did you get the oven proof knob for your dutch oven?

My dutch oven came with a regular knob that was just fine for temperatures on the stovetop but not for the high temperatures I subject it to in my oven when baking bread. I picked up a stainless steel replacement knob at the Lodge factory outlet store near me but you can order one online by clicking that little box over there. As someone pointed out in the comments, you can also pick up a stainless steel knob at a home supply store and use it as well.

I Don’t Have An Enamel Coated Dutch Oven? What Else Can I Use? 

A regular cast iron dutch oven, like is commonly used in camping and such, should work just fine although I’ve only used my enamel coated ones in making this so I’m not telling you that for certain.

Many folks have talked about using a heavy dutch oven with a glass lid. While I know some of the old heavier ones will work, I would steer clear of putting a glass lid in the oven at these temperatures. Tempered glass is not made as well as it used to be and I’ve had one too many new fangled glass “oven proof” dishes explode upon taking them out of the oven to be willing to risk it.

If you have a thick and heavy dutch oven with a lid not made out of glass and an oven proof knob, it should work just fine.

Hint: If you don’t have an enamel coated dutch oven, Christmas is coming so put it at the top of your wish list! My husband and kids bought me mine.  I took them to visit it several times and made sure they each knew exactly what I wanted to increase my odds, it worked! lol 

Where Did You Get Your Bread Buckets and What Are They?

I bought my bread buckets at Sam’s Club for around twelve dollars back when I got them. They still have them every time I go in the restaurant supply section. Costco sells them as well and many places online but be careful because some folks are awfully proud of theirs! I’ve seen them priced as high as $30, which is ridiculous

I’d expect to pay anywhere between $12-$20 for a set of three. The ones at Sam’s are labeled with their house brand but in the bottom corner it says they are made by Rubbermaid – those are the ones I have. They came in a set of three with yellow lids that seal. They are technically “food storage buckets” but they work beautifully for bread, giving it plenty of room to rise and allowing you to see through the sides to see how far it has risen. The lids seal airtight as well, which saves me from having to grab saran wrap and dish towels every time I make bread.

These also have markings every inch or so on the outside of the bucket, making it easy to tell if your bread has doubled in size because many recipes call for letting it double.

Can I use All Purpose Flour?

As I mentioned in this post, I’ve never made it this way so I can’t speak from personal experience. However, someone chimed in that they have made it with all purpose and it turned out just fine, yay!

Do Dutch ovens actually understand Dutch? 

You know I have a friend who speaks Dutch and I can’t understand a blessed word she says once she gets to going real good on it. She taught me how to say “apple” once but that was about as far as I got. For all I know, dutch ovens may very well speak Dutch because I only speak Alabamian and mine has spent the entirety of it’s life staring at me blankly from the stovetop. No one really asked this question but sometimes I gotta see if y’all are paying attention. 

What is SAF yeast? 

A few people mentioned preferring SAF yeast in the comments and a lot of folks had questions as to what that is. SAF is a brand of yeast, owned by the same company that makes Red Star Yeast, which I suggested. I have found that certain brands have better reliability for me, meaning they are active and fresh. This may very well depend on where you live and what the turnover is at your grocery store. Check the dates whenever you buy yeast and if you find a certain kind seems to always work better where you are, stick with that.

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”

– Ernest Hemingway

Submitted by Jenny (thanks, Jenny!)

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/09/easy-dutch-oven-crusty-bread-and-sweater-vest-dreams.html/feed 152 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/08/anytime-any-kind-muffins-and-why-you-dont-need-lipliner-in-an-earthquake.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/08/anytime-any-kind-muffins-and-why-you-dont-need-lipliner-in-an-earthquake.html#comments Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:53:16 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=20157 If you’re on Facebook or Pinterest and can use one of the buttons above it would be really appreciated!

Let me dive right in and tell you why these muffins are wonderful and why you need to make them TODAY.

*You mix up the batter ahead of time and you probably have most, if not all of the ingedients already.
*The batter keeps for up to a month in your fridge, provided you use fresh eggs and milk (but why would you use old eggs and milk anyway, right?) This will probably remind you of that raisin bran muffin recipe but I actually like it better, so much more versatile and you don’t have to buy that gargantuan box of Raisin Bran.
*You can make just one muffin at a time, or five dozen at a time.
*You can mix in whatever you want to make whatever type of muffin you want.
*They are moist, so so moist, tender, so so tender, and delicious.
*They freeze well once they are baked – but even the batter freezes well before it is baked.
*They’re pretty dern healthy too. Don’t go spreading that, though, because these days more than ever “healthy” is relative. Some people think the only way you can claim that is if a dish has two ingredients: Grass and water. I never did pay no mind to them. Common sense wise, this is pretty dern healthy.

Seriously, what are you waiting for? Oh yeah, you want to tell you my story about how an Alabama girl handles an earthquake in Los Angeles, right? Pfft. What was I thinking! Of course ya do. Then you can make the muffins.

Gotcha.

I’m on it. ~grins~

Get comfy.

I’m SO EXCITED for the premiere of Beat The Chefs tonight (August 23, 2012) on GSN (this is where my earthquake story starts, honest). It will directly follow the American Bible Challenge and I’m really looking forward to both shows. I had a wonderful time filming Beat The Chefs and the crew of folks I got to work with were just exceptional in every way. I can’t wait for you to see the final product! I’ll be live chatting with all of y’all during the premiere tonight on my facebook page so hop on over and “Like” us over there if you’d like to join in.

For more information on the show, click here.

Now the Earthquake story… 

This was my third time in Los Angeles. Kraft flew me out there a few years ago and then a television production company flew me out to meet with me about two years ago. I hadn’t thought I’d be back this soon but Beat The Chefs called and wanted to work with me and within two weeks I was there filming a television series. As always with new experiences, there have to be a few surprises. My surprises on this trip were learning that Jeff Foxworthy is even more awesome in person (especially when you send 200 moon pies to his set), finding out that a one hour game show can actually take 12-15 hours to film, and experiencing my very first earthquake.

Yes. Earthquake. Now y’all get this. I’m from Alabama. I live in tornado alley. I survived my first huge round of tornadoes at the age of two weeks old. I’m used to that. But the earth moving beneath you? That mess t’ain’t natural.

I’ll never forget that experience. Some said it was “just a 3.8” with a wave of their hand, as if that made it okay. As if the earth needed to stand up, play music, and do a full on Macarena for it to be noticed by the ultra cool of California.

Dear California,

I love you and all that- but y’all crazy.

I woke up at 3:19. Isn’t it wierd how we check our watches when something like this happens? As if knowing the time of our almost death is gonna somehow help us later on…Well it helps us to tell the story I suppose.

I woke up at 3:19…There was a single loud boom and it felt like someone had picked up my bed and slammed it down one time. But anytime you’re awakened from a dead sleep by having the earth decide to toss your bed in the air, once is more than enough to make a point.

My heart was instantly racing, instantly. Did I say instantly? Because, seriously. It went from dozing on the porch swing to KILL THE ATTACKING GRIZZLY in less than a blink. Adrenaline pumping, my thoughts came in surprisingly calm order – completely defying the way my heart was beating.

Holy COW An earthquake!

Then, as I waited one…two seconds for whatever was going to come next I braced myself with “This is probably gonna hurt but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

My third thought, which really happened within moments of the quake was “Not to split hairs, God, but I remember distinctly asking for no earthquakes while I was in LA.”

And then my fourth thought: “What do I do?”

At this point, maybe four seconds had passed. My Southern kicked in and I flew into full on “pull me from the rubble mode”. Which meant I had to get dressed really quickly because the last thing I wanted was to be on national television in my pajamas. I got dressed in all of thirty seconds, it’s amazing how fast you can do things when there is a real possibility of the building you’re in crumbling around you.

Then I got to thinking “Well if they pull me from the rubble, and my body gets on news cameras, no one will recognize me if I don’t have makeup…” So I grabbed my makeup bag and went and sat in the bathroom floor. Southerners are programmed that when disaster strikes, you go to the bathroom. Technically, this is supposed to be because it is one of the safest places to ride out a tornado but in reality, it’s just where we keep all the good books and magazines because that is the one place women can get a little privacy – if you lock the door…AND your kids don’t know how to pick a lock yet. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat in my bathroom floor reading in the evenings just to have some time to myself. You ever notice that women like to get those huge plush bathroom rugs for their private bathroom? Yeah, you think they’re rugs, but they’re really nap mats…

So I put on makeup really fast. Not the full face, mind you. Just base, concealer, eye shadow, eyebrow liner, eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick – I left the lipliner off since this was a rush job ~winks~

After I finished my makeup I got out of the bathroom floor and turned on the news, expecting to see a full report and live, on the scene eye witnesses.

Again, I’m used to tornadoes. Whenever there is a severe weather warning where I’m from, schools let out and workplaces shut down just so we’ll have more people stationed around the state who can call in and describe the sound a train makes.

I turned the news on, expecting to see a headline of “Woman from Alabama experiences first earthquake!” Nothing. Not even a blip. I’d later find that most of the natives slept through it about like I would an F2 or 3 ~raises an eyebrow~

After that there were no further shakes so I went and sat on the edge of the bed, my heart still racing. Where should I go? What should I do? If a bad one comes no one will come looking for me. I’m out here in Los Angeles all by myself and no one will even think about me here in this hotel in Podunk nowhere. Ok so my hotel wasn’t Podunk nowhere and I was surrounded by millions of people , but when all of those people are complete strangers, it feels like Podunk no matter how close you are to LAX.

So then I thought about driving to the studio. I’d have to be there in a few hours anyway, but I didn’t know if security would be at the gate to let me in unless someone was filming overnight there…so I may end up sitting in a parked car in a parking lot or outside the studio, and that would lead to more encounters with people knocking on my car window yelling at me to give them money – this happens often to me in LA.

After about half an hour, I decided to lay down again and turned off the bedside lamp, accepting my fate and knowing that if the big one hit I’d at least be partially identifiable, should anyone care to or even think to identify me. I mean hey, eventually my husband back in Alabama would say “I’m hungry. Kids, didn’t we used to have someone who took care of stuff like that?”

I laid down in the pitch dark and total silence and it felt eery, because that is exactly how it was right before the world decided to toss my bed up in the air one good time to see if I’d notice.

Fortunately, nothing else happened.

So I just closed my eyes and tried to convince my heart to slow down.

Then, as I laid there in the dark I got to thinking “There wasn’t anything on the news about this…” I took a deep breath as another thought occurred to me “Crud. What if it wasn’t a earthquake. What if my hotel room is haunted?”

Now, I just had to turn that one over to God right then and there. “God, you know how I said I didn’t want any earthquakes, well I meant ghosts, too so I’m just giving this one to you and I’ll get up in about twenty minutes and head on out of here.”

Just in case, I pulled the covers up to cover my face, because everyone knows  that makes you invisible.

ALRIGHT so onto muffins…..

 You’ll need: Eggs, sugar, all purpose flour, salt, cinnamon, old fashioned oats, shortening (can substitute butter), baking soda, buttermilk, and hot hot hot water.

I know I like for y’all to use what you have on hand but I’d really like you to get old fashioned oats for this because they’re just so good with them and you CAN make due but if you buy generic old fashioned oats, they don’t cost very much – so you can justify it. If you don’t feel comfortable buying generic, pretend you are reaching for name brand and then put generic in your buggy and don’t tell them that they’re not Quaker. See the secret is, ingredients can’t read! So if you don’t tell them they’re not name brand they’ll never know ~beams~

Pour your boiling water over 2 cups of the oats.

Don’t worry, these exact instructions are below in the printable recipe at the bottom of this post

Set that aside to soak a bit while you work on the rest of the recipe.

In a large dishpan or really big bowl (I love my dishpan) place all of your remaining dry ingredients.

Stir ‘em up good and then make a little well in the center kinda sorta like what you see pictured.

Crack your eggs in there…

Get you a wooden spoon or something similar and beat ‘em up a bit with it.

Add your milk….

You know that is a habit I had to work on breaking when I was cooking on television and camera for folks. Directors would always tell me I need to say  ”Break the eggs” instead of “break your eggs” and “pour the milk” instead of “pour your milk.”

Which is silly because if you’re cooking it at home along with me, I would fully expect it is your milk and your eggs…unless you borrowed them. In that case I’d say “Pour your neighbors milk….break your neighbors eggs…”

So today, I’m talking however I want to because I may not be Leslie Gore, but it’s still my party

Stir that up really good.

Stir your melted shortening into the hot oats.

Dump that oat mixture into your batter and stir again.

Cover that up and let sit at least overnight in the fridge.

When you’re ready for muffins, add mix ins…

1 cup of batter will make about 4 muffins. To every cup of batter, add about 1/2 cup of mix ins.

Some ideas are below

This is just a cereal bowl with one cup of batter in each one. Add in about 1/2 a cup of mix ins of your choice.

PIctured clockwise are: Almonds and dried cherries, chopped apple, blueberries, and chocolate chips.

Just stir those up with a spoon.

Place into a muffin tin that has been sprayed with cooking spray or muffin papers like I’m using here. Either one works just fine.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. ENJOY!

Baked muffins keep for up to three days if kept in a sealed container on the countertop, and at least a week if kept in the fridge.

Prepared batter keeps for up to one month in the refrigerator, provided you use fresh eggs.

This batter also freezes well, as do the prepared muffins!

I WANT YOUR IDEAS!

What would you add to these muffins?

Please tell me in the comments section below!

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting

happiness from common things.

— Henry Ward Beecher

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/08/anytime-any-kind-muffins-and-why-you-dont-need-lipliner-in-an-earthquake.html/feed 126 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/07/easy-orange-rolls.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/07/easy-orange-rolls.html#comments Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:48:43 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=19762

Do you have those moments in your life that, no matter if they happened twenty, thirty, or fifty years ago, they can be called upon at a moment’s notice and replayed in your mind as if they were only yesterday? Last week while I was filming on the set of Beat The Chefs, I had one of those moments when I walked outside of the studio and looked up at the moon.

I was on the tail end of a two week filming session consisting of twelve+ hour days working with some of the most wonderful people you could ever encounter. I’m blessed on many levels but most importantly, I’m blessed because I have the wisdom to realize and see my blessings around me. That is a key factor that a lot of people miss.

But I missed my family something fierce, so much so that my heart was just in a constant state of aching.

I looked up at the moon and went back in time.

It was a night just like that one, a moon just like the one I was seeing. My great grandmother  had called me out to join her in the driveway. “Come ‘ere Christy” she said. “I want you to look up at this moon.” I stepped out onto the smooth cool concrete in my bare feet and looked up at her. Her face was weathered from a lifetime of hard work and caring for her family. There was that usual hint of a smile around the corners of her mouth and that little twinkle in her eyes that made you feel she knew something you didn’t. Her countenance was made all the more beautiful by hair the color of the moon’s glow and wrinkles from smiles dating back to 1902.

I followed her gaze up to the tilted crescent moon. “That’s my favorite moon” she said. “When it’s a layin’ on it’s back like that it looks like it’s restin’ “. Her lips curled up into a smile as she looked down to make sure I was looking up as she spoke. “Always did like to step out and look at the moon when it was like that.”

Lela had lived a hard life, with years of working in the cotton fields and many times having to provide for her four kids on her own. Long hard days had given her strength that even advanced age couldn’t take away, and here she was, looking up and admiring the resting moon. I could just imagine how much it meant to her, when her back was nigh on breaking from picking cotton, to be able to find solace in knowing that even the moon got to rest sometimes.

The sky in Alabama is darker than it is in Los Angeles. The sky all those years ago was deep as pitch and the moon and stars were so bright they lit your path wherever you wanted to go, providing far more light than street lamps along city streets. Lela was wearing her dark blue house coat, just like the one of hers that I have neatly folded and tucked away in a box of treasures, that still has her smell of rose scented lotion and vita moist face cream. She smiled up at the moon in a way that made me think she was stepping back to another moment, just like I do when I think of that night and find myself standing under the carport with her and stepping to the edge to gaze up at the moon at her insistence that I do so.

I like it when it’s resting like that too, Lela. And thank you for giving me a little of home as I looked at it again through your eyes. We’re never as far from home as we think we are.

~takes a deep breath~

So today, I’m home. Back where I belong. With that in mind, it’s time to get cooking again, something I have been doing all weekend. Oh how I missed having my kitchen! Today’s recipe is a small and dainty orange roll. They are somewhat like cinnamon rolls in their concept but not much like them at all in taste. Alabama has a few places that are known for their orange rolls, served alongside your lunch plate or placed upon  your table in baskets, and I’ve never even tried any of those. Yes, I am probably the only person in Alabama who has never eaten at All Steak in Cullman – but I never did say I was well traveled. Given the chance to go or stay, I generally choose stay whenever possible It’s not that I’m a homebody, it’s just that I realize how blessed I am to have my home and everyone in it and I need a few lifetimes in order to enjoy it fully.

Here is my simple take on orange rolls and I hope you get to try them soon because they are surprisingly low fuss and supremely divine!

You’ll need: Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate, butter, one orange, sugar, confectioner’s sugar, and one loaf of frozen bread dough.

I get my dough at the grocery store in the freezer section. Rhode’s bread dough sells packages of three frozen loafs like this and Kroger has their brand that usually comes in packages of four or five loafs. You need to set this out on a plate, cover, and allow it to thaw completely.

Okay now we need to zest our orange. Whatever kind of orange you have is just fine so don’t worry about that.

I can’t find my zester, though, and I hate digging through the abyss that is my kitchen drawers so I just grabbed this grater thingiemawhosit and it’ll work just fine.

Some folks might tell you not to do this so if they do, just don’t show them this post. I’m a big girl so I can make these executive decisions

Bada! Orange zest. About a tablespoon.

Now get a heaping tablespoon of orange juice concentrate.

Add all of that in a mixing bowl with your softened butter.

And mix it until it is well combined like this.

Now take your thawed bread dough and place it on a well floured surface.

It is important that you thaw it.

Roll that out a bit.

Like this.

I would estimate that this is about seventeen inches long and six or seven inches tall.

Here is a great tip to rolling out dough:

It will be hard to roll out and take some muscle so I roll it out as best I can and then let it sit for five minutes. This relaxes the dough. After five minutes, finish rolling it out to the size you want it to be and it will be much easier.

 Spread the dough with your orange butter but leave about 1/2 of an inch around the sides.

Sprinkle it with your sugar.

We’re only using 2-3 tablespoons of white sugar here because it doesn’t take much.

Now, to make our small little orange rolls, take a pizza cutter and cut right down the center of your dough to divide it into two looooonnnnnng skinny rectangles.

Starting on the inside, roll 1/2 of your dough up into a log and squeeze it together lightly to help it hold.

Repeat with the other one.

Time to cut! I cut each log into 12 equal sized pieces.

I don’t use the end pieces but if you want to use them, just place them in a separate small baking dish.

Grease a 24 cup mini muffin tin. Yes, mine is well used but I’m just keeping it real here

Place one slice into each muffin cup.

Like this.

Cover with waxed paper or a cloth towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Like this.

Now bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until just lightly browned.

Remove your hot rolls from the oven.

Like this.

Time to mix up our WONDERMOUS glaze!

I like to use orange juice concentrate because it gives you that POP of orange flavor that I love so much.

All you need is about a cup of confectioner’s sugar and two to three tablespoons of orange juice concentrate.

Stir that up until it’s nice and smooth.

YUM YUM!

You know you wanna taste it.

 Brush the glaze over your warm orange rolls.

Can you look at this grin and not smile? I sure can’t!

ENJOY! 

I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

~Abraham Lincoln

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/07/easy-orange-rolls.html/feed 70 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/05/from-scratch-bran-muffins.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/05/from-scratch-bran-muffins.html#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 15:11:17 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=19155 If you’re on Facebook or Pinterest, please consider using one of the buttons above to help support Southern Plate, thank you!

I promise I’m gonna show you how to make these delicious, old fashioned, easily customizable, from scratch bran muffins in this post, but I gotta drive around the bend a bit first…

Have you ever eaten at a Picadilly restaurant? My great grandmother used to consider that one of the greatest dining treats! I have to admit, I’d much rather go to a cafeteria for lunch than an “upscale” restaurant. My tastebuds get far more excited about boiled cabbage and carved beef than a glass of wine and a …well whatever those places serve with wine.

Growing up, I’m sure there were nicer restaurants in Huntsville, but they didn’t exist in my little world. Every now and then on Sundays my grandparents would pick up Kentucky Fried chicken to go with our dinner and they’d take us out to eat at Piccadilly on very special occasions. On birthdays we’d get to go to Mullin’s Drive In, where I still find myself gravitating a few times a year for a small hamburger and an order of broasted potatoes.

Nowadays my favorite local haunt is The Blue Plate Cafe, a meat and three that is only open for breakfast and lunch. If you ever go there, ask for Selvenia, she’s a waitress who dishes up hugs along with sides of peach cobbler, and look up Jerry Sparks and tell him I sent ya – maybe he’ll send me an extra helping of tomato and cucumber salad next time I’m in! Speaking of Blue Plate, what a thrill for me to be featured in the latest issue of Alabama Magazine – which also lists Blue Plate as one of the “must try” restaurants in Huntsville! There is a big feature on me and my family (I love the photos) and another feature on my hometown and all there is to do here in the latest issue of Alabama Magazine. So if you live near the heart of Dixie, be sure and pick up a copy.

Now where was I before I went off in the ditch? Picadilly, yes!  My favorite part about eating at Picadilly is that you can usually get a bran muffin as the bread to go with your meal – and I dearly love bran muffins.

With that in mind, I’m bringing you my incredibly versatile bran muffin recipe. These can be made plain, or you can add in your favorites mix-ins. They can be made only slightly sweet for a dinner bread or muffin-sweet for a breakfast muffin or dessert.

This is just a good basic bran muffin recipe so feel free to make them exactly as I am in this tutorial or run for the hills with it!

See? If you stick with me long enough eventually you will be rewarded by me getting to my point! ~grins~

OH! If you’re looking for the recipe using Raisin Bran cereal, just click here to visit that post. I actually like these I’m about to show a little better though!

You’ll need: Wheat Bran, Vegetable Oil (or melted butter), Self Rising Flour*, Buttermilk, Vanilla, Egg, Brown Sugar, and Dried Cranberries and Walnuts – but you can use different add ins if you prefer them to the cranberries and walnuts.

*If you don’t have self rising flour, see my FAQ page on how to make your own

If you want to make your own buttermilk, here is an easy way. For each cup of milk, add 1-2 tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and allow to sit for five minutes before using.

Finding Wheat Bran – Wheat Bran is the hard thing to find here. If you have a health food grocery store near you, they should have it. I seldom go to those though because they are just so stinking expensive. I understand that it’s worth it and all that…but understanding that doesn’t soften the blow to my wallet or make money magically appear. My Krogers has an organic foods section and I can usually find it there, but I always have to look pretty good in order to find it.

Place your wheat bran and buttermilk in a bowl. 

Stir well. It will look kind of like sawdust paste

Add in egg, oil (or melted butter), brown sugar, and vanilla and stir well once more.

Add all remaining ingredients.

Note: I’m using chopped walnuts and dried cranberries but you can use whatever you like.

Get started customizing by adding 1/2 to 1 cup of any of the following or a combination of the following:

• chopped nuts of your choice (pecans, walnuts, peanuts, etc)
• Dried Cranberries, raisins, dried blueberries, chopped dried peaches, chopped dried apples, etc
• finely chopped fresh apple
• fresh grated carrots
• Seriously, pretty much anything you’ve got a hankering for!

Stir until it’s well combined.

You’re not supposed to eat it at this point because it has raw eggs in it. I would never do such a harrowing thing as tasting raw batter. No sirreee…not me.

~licks the spoon~

Oh, by the way this is a Pyrex bowl in a pattern called “New Dot”.

Spoon out into 12 muffin cups.

You can either line them with muffin papers or just spray your muffin tin with cooking spray.

I have done both but I usually put these in muffin papers because I like to freeze them and it just makes it a little easier.

I have a “stunt muffin pan” that I usually use for photos but it was way back in the cabinet and this one hopped out first so I guess it was feeling neglected. I had Mama look over this post before I sent it out and she called to say “The post looks good, but I can’t believe you used that ugly old muffin pan…” I’m just keeping it real. Oh the tangent I could go off on about folks talking ugly and hiding behind the phrase “keeping it real”….but I’ll spare you that one today.:)

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned on the top.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in muffin pan and then remove to cool completely on a towel lined counter or platter. Can serve warm, of course!

To freeze: Cool completely. Place in zipper seal gallon sized bags and freeze. Thaw by wrapping in paper towel and heating in the microwave until heated through, about 45 seconds or so.

What do you like in your bran muffins?

I’m giving away a complete Dollywood Vacation including tickets to the park, tickets to the Dixie Stampede Dinner Show, Tickets to Splash Country, AND A Cabin! Click here for details. Contest closes Tuesday, May 15th at midnight!

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

Aesop, The Lion and the Mouse

Submitted by Brenda. Click here to add your quote to our ever growing collection or to read more!