If you’ve never had a Butter Roll, you’ve been missing out on one of the most delicious simple pleasures that life has to offer!

The Southern Plate Family is plum full, brimming over actually, with brilliant people. I’m talking about you, y’all, and all of us collectively. Seriously, y’all have the best ideas! So when I mentioned my Old Fashioned Butter Roll Recipe on my facebook recently, I had a few comments and emails about how some folks make them with crescent roll dough.

I was intrigued.

I was inspired.

I was hungry.

So I took my intrigued, inspired, and hungry self into the kitchen and decided to give it a go.

My mother called every five minutes to check on the progress.

My house began to smell like it was placed two steps from the gates of Heaven.

Then I pulled them from the oven and had me a taste while they were so hot steam was coming off my fork.

Mama called and I told her “I do not say this lightly, but these are actually better than the from scratch version.”

If you’re not in your kitchen already, I’m not quite sure what is keeping you.

Unless you need the recipe or something…

 You’ll need: Milk, Crescent Roll dough, cinnamon, sugar*, vanilla, and butter (or margarine).

That is all.

Notice my choice in getting the generic crescent rolls. Y’all know my motto, right?

Nothing but the cheapest for my family!

Pretend there is vanilla in this photo just like I sometimes pretend my house is clean.

P.S. You can use Splenda as a replacement for sugar in this whole recipe if you like. A lot of folks have been on a Stevia kick lately so I gave it a go but Stevia is definitely not for me. Of course, if you have a favorite artificial sweetener and want to try that, go for it. I’ve only done it with Splenda so I can’t speak for any others from a personal account.

To start, you’re gonna need a surface to roll all this out onto.

Usually I get some waxed paper and sprinkle a little flour on it but I felt like being even easier today so I just grabbed a baking pan and sprayed it with cooking spray.

Place your dough on the greased or floured surface.

Roll it out and press the seams together so it is one big old sheet of dough.

 Spread that whole thing with softened butter or margarine.

Don’t spread all the way to the edge but leave about 1/2 an inch all around.

Sprinkle that with sugar.

Sprinkle a wee bit of cinnamon over it if you like.

You can also leave this off.

Roll that up longways and press it together a little bit with your hands.

Cut that into 10 or 12 pieces.

Just see where your knife ends up and cut. It don’t make no nevermind if you have 9, 10, or 12 slices.

Spray an 8 inch round pan (A cake pan works fine) with cooking spray.

 Place your slices in it.

Place milk and vanilla in a microwave proof measuring cup and heat his in the microwave for about a minute, or until it is very warm.

Microwaves are so stinking different that I can’t really tell you an exact time here so you’ll have to use your common sense.

Stir in your sugar to the hot milk and keep stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Pour over rolls.

Place this in a 350 degree oven and bake until rolls are golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.

I like to serve these warm as dessert at the end of a good country meal, but they are also delightful for breakfast or a coffee snack.

Just eat one.

And then another.

And you should probably have at least a third or fourth, just for quality control purposes, before serving them to your family

“Life is short, but there is always time for courtesy.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Submitted by Angela Lewis (thanks Angela!). Submit your quote by clicking here.

I’m gonna get to the “redneck” part of this post shortly but let me tell ya, this picture does not do the flavor, texture, and incredibleness of this chicken justice. Boneless, Skinless chicken breasts, breaded in crushed Ritz crackers (oh yeah, I just said that!), fried, and then stuffed with pimento cheese….

Voices from the back of the room shout: “But Christy! In order to be a true Chicken Cordon Bleu it must be stuffed with ham and swiss cheese!”

Christy: Yes, but this isn’t a true Chicken Cordon Bleu, this is a REDNECK Chicken Cordon Bleu

Voices from the back of the room shout: “But Christy, you can’t call it Cordon Bleu unless it follows the rules!”

~Christy goes to check the Constitution of the United States of America and finds no law pertaining to this~

Umm…I just did.

And now a history lesson about the term “Redneck”…

As a descendant of a long line of proud rednecks, I thought I’d use my airtime today to explain the origination of the term and the honor that rests in it’s history.

Redneck began as a literal term, describing the sunburned necks of people who spent their day bent over working in a field in the hot sun.

This insult came from the elite who, as my mother points out, “would have starved to death if it wasn’t for the rednecks working all day to support them.”

My grandmother was born to one of those families and spent her childhood being one of those people. She worked out in the fields from the time she was old enough to walk and take orders, alongside her brothers and sister, behind her mother and father, each member of the family needed to tend to the cotton crop of the landowner.

Grandmama spent her childhood picking cotton for families while those family’s children played, and then wearing long sleeve shirts in town in the middle of the hottest days of summer to help hide the field tan on her arms because she dreaded hearing that term by the folks who wanted to make sure the kids knew they were different from them.

However, my great granny raised her kids to know full well that they had dern well better be different from them.

Looking back, I think my great grandmother understood a simple truth often goes unnoticed by some.

You see, there is only one point to insulting someone and that is to tell them that they are not like you.

Generally, there are two types of people who insult. One is a person who does it on dire occasions, when they feel it is absolutely necessary in order to defend themselves. The other type are those who make a living out of it. The ones who do so very little of value in their lives that, in order to elevate themselves and become “better” people in absence of real worth or usefulness in the world, they have to lower others around them. Now, if this is sounding familiar, it should, because this doesn’t just apply to folks who call others “redneck”. This also applies to folks who insult others based on their appearance, skin color, beliefs, etc. There are bullies for everything under the sun, and most of us will be subject to at least a few of them in our lifetimes.

But next time you’re facing one of those people…The next time someone decides to judge, condemn, belittle, or otherwise go out of their way to prove to you that you are different from them, rebel against the ridiculous urge to go on the defense.

Don’t bite at whatever bait they put out. Whether they call you fat, skinny, dark, light, redneck, ignorant, hick, trash or any other of the names they’ve been coming up with for thousands of years…ignore it. That’s just their language, but the translation is the same: You’re different from me.

And really, when faced with people like that, don’t you want to be?

Then Prove them right.

Be different from that.

And thank the good Lord you are.

Then make ya some redneck chicken in honor of some folks who were “different” before you were even born.

You’ll need: Ritz crackers (generic are fine), oil for frying, eggs, boneless skinless chicken, and some pimento cheese.

You can make your cheese from scratch using your own recipe, my spicy pimento cheese recipe, or my grandmama’s recipe, or you can just go buy some.

This recipe is going to be for two boneless skinless breasts so double it if you want to make four. Now keep in mind that you don’t have to stuff all of your chicken, you can just fry some and leave it be. I say this because my daughter loves fried chicken but she is at that point in her life where, if it looks funny, she won’t  eat it. So I just stuff enough for me and the hubs and leave the kids as is.

 Before you get started: Pour oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a large skillet and put it over medium high heat.

Set up a little breading station with a bowl of crushed ritz, a bowl of beaten eggs, your chicken, and a plate to put it on.

Dip each piece of chicken into beaten egg on both sides…

Then press it into the cracker crumbs

Try not to make as big of a mess as I do.

I doubt you can, though, I’m pretty gifted at making messes.

Reduce the heat under your skillet to medium and carefully add your chicken to it. Cook until well browned, about 7-9 minutes, then turn and cook until well browned on the other side and chicken is no longer pink in the center.

 Like this.  

 Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Now keep in mind that we just removed this chicken from hot oil, where it spent a good bit of time so consequently, this chicken is going to be of considerable temperature.

If you are someone who has ever ordered hot coffee and then felt tempted to file a lawsuit when you took a sip and it was, in fact, hot, recipes like these (and cooking in general) is not a recommended activity for you. Please view this post (and others like it) as purely a voyeuristic activity and find you a good old redneck to take care of you.

Using a fork to hold the chicken rather than your hands, cut a nice sice slice into the side of each piece to form a pocket.

Like so.

Carefully stuff that pocket with a few tablespoons of pimento cheese. This puppy right here is holding about four tablespoons.

This smaller guy on the left has about 3 tablespoons.

I just put a big old spoonful in there one at a time until I feel like I have all I can get in there.

Prop stuffed chicken pieces up on their sides in a small baking pan or an 8×8 baking dish.

Put this in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted a bit on the outside. Since the chicken is hot, you know it will be nicely melted on the inside, too.

Enjoy

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

~Winston Churchill

Submitted by Tamela. Submit your quote by clicking here.  

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!

SO you know how from time to time you catch sight of a magazine on the racks that calls your name? I know, like every single issue of Taste of the South, right? (Which I coincidentally write for).

Well right now, RIGHT NOW there is a special issue of Taste of the South on newsstands, but you gotta go grab it quick, called SOUTHERN CAKES, Classic Cakes for Every Occasion - and boy is it a doozie! This is one of those magazines you’ll find yourself thumbing through fifty years from now.

As with all Taste of the South publications, there are recipes for every level of cook, but they’re all simply written so that even beginners can have success with each one. Today I want to share with you one that jumped out at me and after I tasted it, it’s one that I’ll be making for the grandkids someday.

Dark chocolate cupcakes, with a Rolo baked inside, topped with browned butter icing and toasted pecans…

Have you ever had browned butter icing? I hadn’t ever had it until I made it for these.

WOOOOWEEEE is that stuff good! It taste like butter that has been slightly turned into butterscotch, then with more butter added in and some sugar to top it off. 

Just on the off chance that description and this photo doesn’t get you revved up, let me show you one that my dear friends at Taste of the South Magazine gave me permission to use….

Hello! See that little puddle of caramel oozing out of the center of a dark chocolate cupcake topped with buttercream frosting and toasted pecans?

~gulp~

Exactly. So below is the recipe, please don’t trip over yourself getting to the grocery store. Remember, I know we’re all excited, but I need you to walk – don’t run – because when we all walk we all get there safely. My innner kindergarten teacher is talking here again. I’m afraid she’s just telling y’all to walk so she can get to the Rolo aisle first…

Because Inner Kindergarten teachers are sneaky like that…

You’ll need: Devil’s Food Cake Mix, Vegetable Oil, Vanilla, Eggs, Cupcake Papers, and Rolos. This is for the cupcake part.

Having a black lab mix squirrel hunting through a window is optional.

For the brown butter frosting you’re gonna need two sticks of unsalted butter and some confectioner’s sugar. 

If you only have salted butter, just go ahead and use it. The salt will be a delightful accompaniment to the sweet!

 Place your cake mix, eggs, vanilla, and oil in a mixing bowl. 

I have three eggs in here but one is hiding. Sometimes we just have to trust the unseen…

Put papers in muffin tin.

For fun, go get a piece of paper and write “TO DO LIST” at the top. Add this step as the number one thing, then cross it off.

~exhale~ See? Life is terribly easy if you know how to properly make a to do list. Make sure you leave off things like “create world peace” or “figure out who is abducting the missing socks”.

Goals like that only complicate things. 

Divide your batter among the paper lined muffin cups.

Umm, you’re gonna need two muffin pans for this. Did I mention that? No? Well I just did.

I’m all informative like that.

 Unwrap Rolos. Because biting down on gold foil paper is seldom fun for anyone…

If you haven’t had a Rolo lately, you should have one now because Rolos are the bum diggity in the world of chocolate.

My Katy Rose always wants to help out whenever I’m cooking so she stepped in to add the Rolos to the cupcakes.

Place one rolo in the center of each cupcake.

Then push it down a little with your finger.

Now the recipe says to make sure the Rolo’s are covered with cake batter so I got a butter knife and just kinda swished some batter over each one. It was easy and just took a few seconds.

Like this. Do that with all of them.

Bake your cupcakes at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Okay, I admit, I thought this cook time was a little short, so I baked mine a few minutes longer and that caused the Rolo to melt a bit much, so please follow the actual instructions on this and read about the toothpick test for doneness in the recipe below – because they were right.

Take a weird angled photo so people think you’re into food photography and all that, even though you’ve never considered “enjoying your food” to be anything beyond eating it.

Let those cool about ten minutes in the muffin pan and then remove them (keep them in the liners though!) and let them cool completely.

Now it’s time for the magic to happen! I know, I know, putting a rolo in a cupcake qualifies as pretty magical already to me, but this is even better!

Place a stick of butter in a small skillet over medium heat.

It’s gonna melt. (Just call me Captain Obvious)

Stir it every now and then and let it cook until it is browned, about ten minutes.

It’ll look like this and there will be browned bits in the bottom of it. It’s all good!

Pour that into a cup or bowl or whatever you grab first that is heat proof and refrigerate it for thirty minutes.

Take your deliciously browned butter and put it in a bowl with your other 1/2 cup of softened butter.

Add your confectioner’s sugar.

Beat the living mess out of it, scraping down sides as needed, until it is all smoothified. New word just for you. Try to work it into your vocabulary today so you can impress folks – I challenge you to use it in regards to yourself.

“Son, did you see how smoothified your Mama was in the kitchen today?”

“Baby, did you hear how smoothified my singing was in the car on the way home?”

Etc. Knock yourself out.

Southern Plate, it’s so much more than recipes. It’s cutting edge grammatical challenges! 

Okay, about the toasted pecans… I had every intention of skipping this step. I mean there is no law that says you have to follow every recipe to the letter, you know? But after I made the frosting, it got the better of me so I dipped a pecan half into it and had a taste.

SWEET BABY MULE PULLING A STEAMBOAT THAT WAS GOOD!

So I got a good cup or so of pecan pieces, scattered them on a baking sheet, and placed them in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes or so, until lightly toasted.

Ice the cupcakes with your delicious brown butter frosting and top with a few pieces of toasted pecans.

Then get ready for a cupcake unlike any you’ve ever had before!

You wanna see that other pic again? Sure ya do!

Recipe printed with permission from Taste of the South Magazine.

Look for this magazine on newsstands now (hurry and get it while it lasts!) or skip the crowds and order it online at the Hoffman Media Store by clicking here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

~ Desmond Tutu

Submitted by Jenny. Click here to submit your own.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/05/rolo-cupcakes-with-brown-butter-frosting.html/feed 43 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/05/slow-cooker-sloppy-joes.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/05/slow-cooker-sloppy-joes.html#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 13:40:56 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=23026

Sloppy Joes were one of my Mama’s favorite weeknight suppers for busy days and I’ve always loved them. I have my skillet Sloppy Joe recipe on here already (click here) but this one is what I use on those days where I don’t have time to brown my beef so I just throw it all in the slow cooker. Yup, you don’t even have to cook the beef (as long as you use lean ground chuck)! Toss it in, turn it on. Supper is ready when you are.

I grew up in a small neighborhood populated with families, kids, and bicycles. We’d all congregate at the vacant lot three doors down and across the street from my house. At best, it was only 1/2 an acre but all the neighborhood kids referred to it as “The Big Field”.

Once, we had a new neighbor move in named Miss Sandy. She had teenagers mostly and we didn’t know what to think about them. Then, one day Miss Sandy opened up her screen door and started making popcorn in her kitchen. It wasn’t long before the scent drifted across the road to my yard and curious kids began showing up. She peeped her head out the screen door with a grin and held out two brown paper lunch sacks, filled to the brim with freshly popped kernels. “Who wants popcorn?” We left a dust cloud as we raced over, not believing our luck as more and more sacks appeared until we were all sitting in her driveway on our bicycles, holding brown paper bags like we were some type of popcorn loving huffy bicycle gang.

About the time we finished our popcorn, someone rode by on a bicycle and yelled  ”Hey! We’re going to play kickball at the big field. You wanna play?” and a slew of bicycles fell in line as we shouted behind us to Miss Sandy’s kids to join us, telling them that they just had to because we had so much fun there.

We played with new friends until we heard our Mama’s calling us and then we picked our bikes up off the ground and pedaled on back to our waiting suppers and hot baths that would wash our dirt necklaces off. After supper, a few of the kids made an appearance outside again to catch lightning bugs in jars with orders from our Mama’s not to get dirty again, then we’d head back into the house and watch a little television in our parents laps before heading off to bed.

I don’t think about those as the “good old days” like some people do, though. Because if you spend your time looking too wistfully to days gone by you miss all the good in days that are still here and yet to come. There is just as much good in today as there was in yesterday, that hasn’t changed, our appreciation and ability to recognize it has.

Now let’s make some Sloppy Joes.

Don’t forget to wash your dirt necklace off before coming to the table.

You’ll need: Diced tomatoes, Ketchup, Mustard (maybe), BBQ Sauce, and Sweet Relish.

And also some LEAN Ground Chuck, buns, and whatever you want to serve with your Sloppy Joes.

Note : A lot of this stuff is optional and you can easily customize this. You might want to add chopped onion, garlic, omit the mustard, etc. You really need to use the ketchup, bbq sauce, and tomatoes, but other than that knock yourself out playing with it.

And I really like to add a tablespoon or so of these puppies.

They aren’t enough to make it hot, but it is enough to give it a weeee little kick.

Okay so the beauty of this is that you can put your ground beef in the slow cooker uncooked.

See? This really is an easy one. Toss it in sometime in the morning with no prep work needed.

Chop up your ground beef a little bit.

Now, I know from emails that a lot of folks find the appearance of raw ground beef rather unappetizing. If you fit into this category, I strongly suggest that you have your servants prepare this meal. If you find yourself without servants, I strongly suggest you get used to the appearance of raw ground beef. It’s looked mighty fine to me going on about forty years now! 

Add all of your ingredients in on top of your beef.

Stir that up good.

Then put the lid on and place this on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4

“A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all — he’s walking on them.”

~Leonard Louis Levinson

Submitted by Bonny (thanks, Bonny!). Click here to submit your quote. New ones always welcome! ]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/05/slow-cooker-sloppy-joes.html/feed 54 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/05/cuatro-leches-cake-four-milk-cake.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/05/cuatro-leches-cake-four-milk-cake.html#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 14:26:09 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=23057

I’m different.

Some see this as a bad thing, some see it as a good. I see it as what it is. Chances are, you’re pretty different, too, maybe in some of the same ways, maybe in different ones.

Wouldn’t life be boring if we were all stamped out copies of one another.

I’m not putting a question mark at the end of my previous sentence, even though it is technically a question. It is a question meant as a statement, intended to get you to thinking but true enough that it requires no answer.

So I’ll just ignore all of the grammatical rules I was taught in college in lieu of some better ones I just made up on the fly.

I’m cool like that.

Because I said so. Don’t you agree – period. Of course you do.

When I was born, in the hospital, all the other babies came out bald or with heads full of hair that laid down perfectly.

Mine was white as a sheet and stood straight up all over my head. The nurses tried to slick it back with baby oil and that held for a minute or two until PLINK! a small tuft broke free from the oil to stand up again and then PLINK!PLINK!, two more, and then PLINK! PLINK! PLINK! PLINK! PLINK!

And I smiled.

Some say babies don’t smile – but those are usually folks who have a hard time smiling themselves and don’t want to believe that another human, only hours into this world, would do something so much better than they do.

I was born smiling and I haven’t forgotten how to do it, regardless of what life has thrown me.

And life has thrown me things and they’ve been some hard hits, but you don’t hear me talking about them or focusing on them or wallowing in them like some folks do. You don’t even know most of them exist.

Because I’m different.

I’m not different because I want to be or try to be, I’m different because that is who I am. And this world has tried time and again, and it won’t stop trying in the days and years ahead, to make me be like it, but I can’t do that.

Because I’m different.

And when I make Tres Leches , three milk cake, I make Cuatro Leches, Four milk Cake instead. Because I can’t march to the beat of other drums because I can’t even hear those drums over the roar of my own orchestra.

And I know that if three milks are good, four will be even better, especially when that fourth one is caramel.

Don’t you agree.

Again, no question mark.

Gosh I have fun!

Now let’s make a cake…

You’ll need: Heavy Cream, Sweetened Condensed Milk, Evaporated Milk, Caramel Sauce, whipped topping, and a cake mix.

I like Butter Golden but you can use yellow, white, or whatever you have. You could even use chocolate if you want.

Prepare cake mix according to the package directions.

This butter golden mix is fluffier than regular cake mixes but I promise whatever you use will be just fine so trust me and don’t fret. If you’re going to fret over something there are greater causes than cake mix.

Spray a 9×13 pan with baking spray.

Spread cake mix into pan and bake according to directions on the box, making sure to get cake completely done before removing from oven.

We’re gonna put all sorts of good stuff on top of this cake so we don’t want it sinking in the middle.

Here is the finished cake.

Now poke holes all in the top of the cake using either a fork or the end of a wooden spoon or whatever you grab out of the drawer first.

Pour your sweetened condensed milk into a bowl…

Add your other milks

Now I’m using the big can of evaporated milk, so there is a wee bit left in it. Anyone wanna guess what I do with that?

BOTTOM’S UP! I love evaporated milk. It’s also good in coffee

Stir all of that up really good until well blended.

Pour it over the cake.

Give it a few minutes to soak in good.

Let it cool a bit and then spread your caramel over the cake.

Don’t eat it yet.

I know, this seems like a cruel thing to say…

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Ice with Whipped Topping.

Enjoy!

“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you are climbing it”

~Unknown

Submitted by Marian, thanks Marian! Submit your favorite quotes by clicking here.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/05/cuatro-leches-cake-four-milk-cake.html/feed 50 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/2-ingredient-hot-water-cornbread.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/2-ingredient-hot-water-cornbread.html#comments Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:26:04 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=22990  

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/2013/04/cracker-pie.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/cracker-pie.html#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:00:50 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=22964

This is a simple pie with simple ingredients and it’s easily altered to suit whatever you have on hand. I like to use a can of drained fruit cocktail but it would also be good with a can of drained pineapple. I use saltine crackers but I’ve heard of other folks using Ritz type crackers. Mama always adds a little coconut to hers and you could also add dried fruit instead of canned, without having to alter the recipe. When I got ready to make this today, I found I had everything I needed on hand, which is why old fashioned pies like this have been favorites of home cooks for as long as stoves have been in kitchens.

I’m getting ready for the folks from Taste of the South Magazine to come spend the day with me tomorrow. We have a full day of photo shoots for my column that is in each issue of the magazine and it’s always a joy to get to spend time with anyone from Hoffman Media because they’re all just as good as gold.

I do need to get some dishes washed and floors mopped, though, so lets just dive right in!

You’ll need: A deep dish pie crust, sugar, eggs, vanilla,  fruit cocktail, chopped pecans (optional), saltine crackers, and a little bit of baking powder.

Prick your crust a few times with a fork and bake it in a 325 degree oven for ten minutes, or until very lightly browned.

Crush your crackers.

I’m crushing them for their own good

Place egg whites in a mixing bowl.

Beat this with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. You’ll know this has happened when you pull your beater up out of it and a peak of beaten egg white still sticks striaght up where your beater was.

These are my stiff egg whites, with my sugar and baking powder dumped on top of them.

Mix this again with an electric mixer until the sugar is well incorporated, about one minute.

Now dump your vanilla, pecans, and cracker crumbs on top… 

Then dump your well drained fruit cocktail.

Using a spatula or big spoon or whatever you grab out of the draw first, stir all of that together really well by hand.

Pour into your baked pie crust.

Bake this at 325 for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.

 Why did I not take a photo of that? I have no idea. I’m just glad my head is screwed on or I’d surely leave home without it most days.

Like this.

Allow pie to cool completely before serving. This is wonderful as is or topped with whipped cream and a few chopped pecans.

Have a wonderful day and don’t forget to savor every moment of your life, just as you savor every bit of a piece of pie. That’s what it’s here for.

“I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth. But rather, by some means, excuse the fault I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody.”

~Benjamin Franklin

Yesterday I came in from the back yard with a hand full of four leaf clovers…

You know, some people think that four leaf clovers are hard to find but when I was a little girl my mother could always walk right up to a clover patch, look down for a few seconds, and pluck one right up.

It seemed she had a special gift for finding clovers, and as I grew older I came to realize she had a special gift for finding a lot of good things. In the middle of the worst storm, Mama could find a song to sing. When we came home with a bad hair cut, Mama could point out the one thing that made it just perfect and turn everyone’s opinion right around. When our school friends went away on trips we could never afford, Mama would invite all the neighborhood kids over to play in our back yard and fill our days with homemade popsicles and hosepipe tag.

She could find good in any situation as easily as looking down at a patch of hundreds of clovers and plucking out the one with four leaves on it.

I spent my childhood looking to her as my example and this morning, I got to thinking about those clovers and how much better I am at finding them now that I’m older. Now, when I walk outside and come back in with a handful of four leaf clovers my daughter exclaims with delight that I must be really good at finding them! I just smile and tell her that they’re there for anyone who looks. Like the special little moments in life, pockets of happiness, and reasons to be grateful.

Four leaf clovers aren’t rare. The people who take time to look for them are.

~takes a moment to look at the picture and let it sink in~

Alrighty, time to package my heart back up and get on to the cooking!

If you’ve never had this soup, you’re in for a treat and a half. It’s kind of like an Italian version of chili – and my family LOVES it!

There are all sorts of variations of Pasta Fagoli out there. Translated from Italian, it simply means “Pasta and Beans” and is traditionally an economical meatless dish. I like to add meat to mine but you can certainly leave it out.

I was originally inspired to make it due to my favorite soup, salad, and breadsticks treat at the local Olive Garden. This is not the exact recipe Olive Garden uses, of course, but it  is close. This is also not the exact recipe found around the web, but it’s close enough to those, too. My recipe is a little more streamlined and makes about half as much as the other recipes do. My recipe makes about 4 quarts, which is a reasonable amount for a family. Leftovers reheat and even freeze really well, too.

You’ll need: Kidney Beans, Navy Beans, Beef Broth, Crushed Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, Matchstick carrots (or carrots you cut yourself), diced onions, small ring pasta (or small pasta of your choice), and browned ground beef.

Note: I was tired the day I made this and decided to cook up some ground beef. As soon as I got it into the skillet I went and sat down to gift myself with a little time reading my latest Tamera Alexander novel…a while later I remembered my ground beef. Needless to say, it was a little overcooked but the beauty was that I was browning it for this recipe and since this is a slow cooked soup, that gives the overly cooked ground beef time to soften up a bit. Crisis averted. You know, really, most crises can be averted if we just refuse to let them become crisis in the first place, don’t you think?

You’re gonna need some seasonings, too. I’m using salt, dried parsley, and dried Italian seasoning.

Now if you’ve been with me a long time you may be thinking “Christy sure does use Italian seasoning a lot!”.

If you’re thinking that, you’re right.

I like it.

It’s good.

It’s cheap.

For me, it is the ketchup of dried herb blends! Having said that, if you would prefer to make it a little more complicated, feel free to come up with your own herb blend. I’m sure it will be great – or just give yourself a break and do it my way. It’s not like you don’t work hard enough as it is.

So basically, you dump everything in a slow cooker except for your pasta. I drained my beans but it’ll be just fine if you’d rather not.

Dump, dump, dump, dump, then….

Stir.

Now put the lid on it and let it cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

About half an hour before serving, stir in your pasta and put the lid back on so it can get done.

Top it with fresh grated parmesan if you want or just go my route and use some mozzarella. There is no rule that says you can’t use whatever cheese your heart desires – and if you find that rule written somewhere, just go ahead and break it.

C’mon, be a rebel with me. Speaking of rebels, we should start our own gang. We can wear yoga pants and ride Schwinn’s – the kind with the big comfy seats, not those factory puppies that give you a total of two square inches to balance your entire body weight on. We’ll get those little horns that honk like we had when were were kids and big tall flags to go on the back of our bikes so when we’re about to crest a hill, the kids will know we’re a coming! I used to have a battery operated loudspeaker on my bicycle with a little cb type handset that let me talk to people as I passed and that could come in real handy, too. “Hey Amy! What’s for supper?” as we drive by a friend’s house. Or the occasional “EHHH!” really loud if we see a kid, dog, or random person about to do something they should know better than to do. ~giggles~ That would be fun. Remind me to start a gang in my spare time. Y’all go ahead and pick out a name...

Oh look, our soup is done! If there are any leftovers, they refrigerate and even freeze well. I thought I’d have leftovers from this but after teenage son ate two bowls and husband ate three…then I myself came back for another bowl…it disappeared pretty fast.

There are four things you cannot recover: The Stone—after the throw, The Word–after it’s said, The Occasion–after the loss, The Time–after it’s gone.

~Anonymous, submitted Faye Hillard (thanks, Faye!). Click here to submit your own  

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Click here to Like The Southern Recipe Box on Facebook. 

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/slow-cooker-pasta-fagoli-small-batch-finding-clovers.html/feed 50 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/quick-asian-skillet-budget-friendly.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/quick-asian-skillet-budget-friendly.html#comments Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:56:09 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=22781 If you’re on Pinterest or Facebook and could use one of the buttons above, I’d sure appreciate it! 

This dish with it’s sweet blended honey sauce coating tender bits of meat, assorted veggies, and noodles has become a weekly favorite at our house since I first whipped it up about two months ago.  I always seem to have everything I need on hand, especially considering the ease of substituting in this, and it can be thrown together using only one skillet and a few minutes of my time.

My son, a teenager growing at warp speed, relies on ramen to supplement his daily diet. I serve him three meals a day, he is still starving to death (he’s at that age where you can’t get food into him fast enough) so he supplements by making ramen.

I used to not be huge on ramen myself. I could take it or leave it but never found myself just having to have it until I started watching Korean Dramas.

~For those not interested in hearing me talk about Korean Dramas and make amazingly insightful analogies (if I do say so myself) between today’s failed relationships and trees,  scroll down to the next line of smilies to jump straight to the recipe~

Korean dramas aren’t like American dramas, where two folks meet, go out on a date, and wake up together the next morning. Pulleeze. Those are Bradford Pear relationships, Korean dramas are more like oaks.
Did I lose you?
You see, Bradford Pears are these gorgeous trees that are often planted in new subdivisions and such because they spring up fast and are really pretty above ground.

The thing about Bradford Pears, though, is that they are all prettified on the top but their roots are about as deep as…well as a relationship of two people who spent their first night getting to know each other and their next morning learning how they liked their eggs.

Come the first big storm or strike of lighting, that tree is severed in half. The Alabama Extension Service even warns against planting Bradford Pears for this very reason: “Despite their standing as one of the most popular landscape trees in the Southeast, Bradford pears aren’t what they’re cracked up to be. For despite all the beauty they lend to thousands of landscapes throughout the region, the trees are plagued with one fatal flaw: due to their combination of vigorous growth, weak wood and poor branch structure, they often begin falling apart…” Sound Familiar?

In  K-dramas, we plant an acorn because we aren’t seeking a Bradford Pear, we want an Oak. Oaks are slow growth trees, taking much longer than Bradford Pears to grow, but while doing so establishing a deep root system strong enough to support the tallest growth. Oak trees are a long held symbol of strength and endurance, and that there have been oaks documented to have lived for over 1,000 years.

So many people want Bradford Pears, and are perfectly happy with that, but then they’re shocked when theirs crumbles and the Oak in the neighbor’s yard survives. It’s like planting a tomato seed and not understanding why it doesn’t grow into a tulip.

So Korean Drama…No Bradford Pears in anything I’ve watched yet.  In an entire season, say 20 or more episodes, we may build to the grand finale ….a kiss. Some of the best ones are when it ends in a hug. Not just any hug, though, a hug with meaning – an embrace.

Relationships build over time and life experiences. There is a lifetime of fixing eggs for each other to come but we actually start by developing a root system that can sustain any storm.

So if you’ve hung with me past these metaphors, by this point you know that a big part of what I just wrote has absolutely nothing to do with Korean Drama and is more of a plea for us to look for the acorns and nourish them in our lives rather than the quick-to-sprout and quick-to-die off saplings. Just a thought.

Moving back to Korean Drama though, some of you are probably wondering where to start so here are my top three along with things I’ve loved and things that unnerved me about them.

1. Faith - A female surgeon is transported back in time over 600 years and a whole lot of other stuff.

Things to get past: The leading character has a medical degree and is a noted surgeon but during the first four episodes she has so little sense that if it were to come a hard rain she’d drown to death looking up at it trying to figure out what it was.

Hang in there though because – Her character suddenly becomes intelligent around episode 3 or 4 and Lee Min Ho. Yup, Lee Min Ho. Those three words make any drama worth watching. I love his character in this. This becomes an incredibly fulfilling drama.

2. City Hunter –  An action based drama about a young man who sets out to right some wrongs from his past, untangles quite the web in doing so, gets a great girlfriend and she rescues a tomato shortly before he rescues her in a really cool scene somewhere mid-season, and a bunch of other stuff.

Things to get past : The leading female character is chosen as a member of Korea’s secret service to guard the presidential family – but outside of her work, again  she has so little sense that if it were to come a hard rain she’d drown to death looking up at it trying to figure out what it was.

Hang in there because - Lee Min Ho. I know, but seriously. Love him in this. The waters of this drama don’t run too deep but it still rates above and beyond anything this side of english subtitles.

3. Boys over Flowers – Basically, there is this private school and 4 incredibly wealthy guys (practically quadruplet Prince William’s to see  the response to them) go there. Through a series of events, a dry cleaner’s daughter is given a full scholarship and one of the 4 guys sets out to make her life miserable – taking it to an extreme. And this is where it gets really good… By the way, this all happens in like, the first half of the first episode. No one can complain that Boys of Flowers drags on and on, I think they pack a few lifetimes of events into an hour of their character’s lives in each and every episode you watch. Definitely an A.D.H.D. Friendly KDrama. P.S. ADHD is my super power, more about that here. 

Things to get past : Wondering how on earth Jan Di survived all those years of her life without the fab 4 to save her every single day. Also, the continual string of highly unlikely events. Just sit back, check your brain at the door, and enjoy it. I imagine that is how folks watch American reality tv but the big difference here is that you are at the very least honing your reading skills with the subtitles There really isn’t a point in this drama where you are left unsatisfied and it is the one I find myself watching again and again.

How do I watch these? I use Viki.com (which is free). You can watch them online or use the free app if you have an iPad. Viki is free, there are a few little commercials that play during the course of watching (usually about three) but you get to see your shows with english subtitles – and maybe learn a little Korean in the process .