This slaw is one of my very favorite accompaniments to a big old juicy hamburger, especially a Mouthwatering Meatloaf Burger like I posted yesterday! It’s simple to make and compliments beef really well.

I ‘m really excited to get to speak to an elementary school today so I’m gonna dive right in here with the recipe to allow myself more time later to get my ducks in a row before heading out. Hope y’all have a wonderful day!

Let’s get cookin’!

You’ll need: White vinegar, cole slaw mix, sugar, and Season All. 

Yup that’s all. I know we see these long drawn out recipes all over the place so sometimes when we happen upon an easy on we stand there like a deer in headlights for a minute.

Can it be that easy? 

But….but…it appears to be written in English! There are no words I have to look up in order to understand this! 

I don’t have to take off work a half day to make this? How could I possibly enjoy it then! 

Calm down. Relax. Get off the gussied up recipe freeway.

Good food doesn’t have to be complicated and complicated food isn’t always good anyway. 

If it makes you feel better, you can shred the cabbage and carrots yourself instead of buying this bag (you overachiever, you!). Just get a small head of cabbage and about 2 carrots (whatever size you grab first) and shred those puppies up.

Pour sugar into vinegar. 

Stir that up a minute or so or until you’re tired of fooling with it. 

Most folks would say until your sugar is dissolved but we’re gonna pour this over our cabbage and let it marinate for a bit and the sugar can dissolve just fine during that process without needing me to babysit it

Add Season All…

…which has no MSG. Not that I, personally, have a vendetta against MSG but I know a lot of folks do and suspicions would be raised in the comments about whether or not this was evil.

I don’t get on the food is bad bandwagons because, in my line of work, I have entire wagon trains of various and assorted bandwagons coming by every single day and if I took up every cause I’d end up huddled in a corner wearing a straight jacket and starving to death.

Having said that, I am a big respecter of personal convictions. I just keep the majority of my own convictions personal

Stir that up. Again just until you’re tired of fooling with it. 

Put your coleslaw mix in a big old bowl and pour our vinegar mixture over it. 

Stir it really good until it is all coated. 

Put a lid on this and place it in the fridge for about half an hour (or more if you need to)

During that time it will wilt down significantly and become filled with even more wondrous yumminess.

Use to top your favorite burger – I especially love it on these Mouthwatering Meatloaf Burgers that I posted yesterday.

Now go make it a GREAT day!

Falling in love is not a choice.  To stay in love is.

~Unknown

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/burger-slaw.html/feed 45 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/08/pickled-onions-heaven-for-an-old-southern-soul.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/08/pickled-onions-heaven-for-an-old-southern-soul.html#comments Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:17:35 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=20036

Pickled Onions, Pintos, and Mexican Cornbread on a 1970′s Corelle Spring Blossom Plate.

I’m going to start this post out with a disclaimer: half of you will hate even the thought of this recipe,  but the other half will take one bite and set about doing paperwork to rename all of your children after me.

Pickled onions are not for the novice who is new to Southern food. These are hardcore, for old school Southern tastebuds – but oh will they make those buds sing! Would you believe that I had them for the FIRST TIME this past weekend? We went to a restaurant in Nashville with the kids and they brought out a bowl of pickled onions and hot cornbread, still in the cast iron skillet it was cooked in. I reached for a wedge of cornbread and put it on my plate where I topped it with a spoonful of pickled onions. Not knowing what to expect but trusting the instinct of my Alabama roots, I dug my fork in to get a bite full of hot bread and onion….

…and tasted all that was reverent and good in the world of old fashioned soul food.

I started praying over the food right then and there. “Oh LORD! We thank you for this meal.” ~Shoveled another bite in~ “Dear God, thank you for this food that is so good, oh Lord it’s still warm and these onions are so crisp and sweet…” ~shoveled in another bite~ “We thank you so much for letting us take this trip and getting to spend this ..” ~reaches for more onions~ “time together!” After a moment, I just about started speaking in tongues, it was so good. But then I got to thinking that if I kept on describing it to God, He might just come down to join me and then I’d have to give Him most of it because, that is the only nice thing to do considering all of the exceptions and forgiveness he’s had to pipe out on my account. I paused and noticed that my kids and husband were just looking at me, blank faced.

I encouraged them to eat.

One child took a timid bite of the spicy cornbread and put it down. “That tastes weird.” My husband waved his hand over the plate “I’m just not into that kind of stuff, you can have mine.” My other child just continued watching me in disbelief and looking at the cornbread trying to figure out if I saw something he didn’t.

Apparently, I did. Oh good gravy, it was amazing!

As soon as we left the restaurant I called Mama and Grandmama and by the time I was home I had a recipe.

My husband came in yesterday while I was cooking a big pot of pintos (definitely not one of his favorites, he won’t even eat them) and said “What is that SMELL?” Note that this was said in the tone that let you know he left out “horrible” before smell because he knows it will get him killed. ~sighs~ I get that a lot from him. Bless his heart, he doesn’t know any better. He’s good hearted but terribly uncultured when it comes to  an appreciation for po’ folk food.

“Pintos” I replied “If you don’t like that you might wanna hurry back to work because I’m about to get some cider vinegar boiling.” You’ve never seen a man eat lunch so fast in all your life. I made up a quick pan of Mexican cornbread (my mama’s recipe is in my first cookbook) and come suppertime I had a spread so good it’s a wonder my ancestors didn’t rise up from the grave at the smell of it!

My husband texted “Do I need to stop and get anything on the way home?” That is his code for: are you going to serve that stuff I smelled earlier for supper?

 I texted back “Well I made a big pot of pintos, mexican cornbread, and pickled onions for supper – so you might wanna grab takeout for you and the kids :”

Sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do.

These onions are heavenly. I sent a pint jar of them to my 81 year old Grandmother yesterday along with a quart jar of pintos. She called at 5 this morning. “Did you try it yet Grandmama?”

“LORD Yes! Done had me two bowls! That was the best stuff. Lord oh that was so good. You fixin’ to put that recipe up on your website?”

“Yes Grandmama, I’m putting it up today!”

You’ll need: Salt, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, about 4 sweet onions (Preferably Vidalia), Cider Vinegar*, and Sugar

You can use white vinegar instead of Cider so if you prefer the taste of white, I’d recommend you go with that instead. I want to try them with white next time but I did love the extra little tang cider vinegar gave it.

You see my Kosher salt up there? My friend Jyl turned me onto that a year or so ago and I’ve fallen madly in love with it. It really does taste amazing and it doesn’t cost a lot, so it’s an easy switch. I still use regular old iodized salt, too, but am using Kosher more and more these days out of personal preference.

Soapbox time! Whenever you make a change in your cooking or eating habits, do it out of personal choice rather than some ad campaign or a zealot on the internet telling you that you have to. There is big business in buying and selling opinions out there so just be careful that you don’t ever feel the need to adopt anyone else’s personal convictions because they bullied you into doing so.

~tucks soap box away~

In a medium saucepot, place vinegar, sugar, salt, and garlic powder.

Stir that up well and put over medium high heat to bring it just to a boil while you cut up your onions…

Keep a watch on it and stir it often.

Peel your onions and slice them into rings.

I cut my rings in half, too, to make them easier to eat.

You could even dice them if you want.

It’s your kitchen, you’re a big boy/girl,  and the only rules are the ones you decide to make

Oooh look! Our cider mixture is boiling! Now, if you or anyone you know has their sinuses stuffed up, alls ya gotta do is invite them into your kitchen and have them stir this pot Actually, cider vinegar is an old folk remedy for many an affliction.

But if someone decides onions are outselling a vegetable they represent they are liable to launch a pr campaign talking about how onions are causing brain damage or some such. Sadly, that really is how this works most of the time.

Remove pot from heat.

Dump your onions in and stir them to coat.

At first, it will seem like there are way too many onions but just let them sit for about five minutes and they will wilt a bit.

Like this. Now stir that again and let sit just a few minutes more.

Until they look kinda like this. Now place all of these in a container and cover it to put in your fridge.

If you do not cover it, your sinuses will clear each and every time you open your fridge, which is good or bad depending on how stuffed up you are Come to think of it, maybe this is a good springtime recipe in the south when our world is coated in that lovely yellow dust…

Voila! My refrigerated onions all ready to make my stomach happy!

These are wonderful served as a side or as a topping on beans, hot cornbread, etc.

Just git ya some!

THESE CAN WELL. FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON CANNING, CLICK HERE TO VISIT MY CANNING TUTORIAL.

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to everyone who takes the time out of your day to chat with me in the comments. Getting to hear back from you is my favorite part of Southern Plate!

Do you have any memories of pickled onions? How often did you dine on beans and cornbread growing up (it was weekly at least at my house)? I’d love to hear from you in the comments, or just drop a Hidy! 

Gratefully, 

Christy 

It requires less character to discover the faults of others

than is does to tolerate them.

~J. Petit Senn

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/08/pickled-onions-heaven-for-an-old-southern-soul.html/feed 262 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/creamy-peanut-butter-fruit-dip.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/creamy-peanut-butter-fruit-dip.html#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:59:56 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=17970 If you are on Facebook, please click “Like” above. Thank you so much!

I love to surprise my kids after school with little treats and things that show them I was thinking of them and excited about them coming back home at the end of the day. Sometimes I pick them up and take them for surprise frozen yogurt, sometimes it’s a walk in the park, every now and then it’s Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies or Peanut butter cake….but a few days ago it was this pretty tray of apple slices, arranged just so around a big old bowl of creamy peanut butter dip. My kids love all things Peanut Butter.

I had it sitting in the center of the table with plates and two glasses of juice, just waiting on them. They walked in and I was already beaming, which caused them to beam - I love how beaming is contagious in my family!

Now I’m not one on to get persnickety on food presentation (I always say we’re cooking the food to eat, not to build a shrine to it) but I do enjoy setting a nice scene for the kids and as they turned the corner their eyes got big as dollars and my heart swelled up so big it just about burst. THAT is when it is worth the extra effort

There are two groups people in this world that make it really fun to do nice things for, children and folks older than me. It just seems both of those groups take the time to notice life more than those of us in the middle. The middle folks like to rush around with a head full of “I” ideas. “I have to go here. I have to call so-and-so. I have to work on this. I have to pick up that. I have to talk to so-and-so about how they hurt my feelings when they looked at me funny. I’ve got to get up in the morning. I’ve got to cook breakfast for these people. I’ve got to wear this. I need that…”

Children and Older folks have more sense than middle minded folks. They notice things. They don’t walk by flowers without smelling them or at least smiling at them. And when someone offers a kindness, their hearts are readily available to notice it and add in an extra pump of blood flow to their mind in a moment of joy. This makes it lots more fun to do even the smallest things for them.

I was reminded of that this morning when I ate a peppermint lifesaver. Hang in there with me, there is a point to this..

When I was five years old, My parents always said “Don’t shut the car door by yourself when you get in. Let us shut it for you.” They said this over and over so of course I was just pretty much waiting on the day when I could beat them to it and shut the car door on my own because, you know, shutting the car door by yourself must be an awful lot of fun for them to always want to save the experience for them!

So I shut it by myself one day, and broke my thumb in the process.

As it turns out, thumbs aren’t meant to be shut in car doors so there is your public service announcement for the day.

It wasn’t all bad though, because I got to ride in Mama’s lap in the front on the way to the hospital and my brother and sister still had to sit in the back ~fights the urge to call her siblings and remind them that she got to ride in the front and they didn’t~.

So we ended up at the emergency room back in the day before you had to bring a bedroll and rations to make it through the wait and I kept my coveted spot in Mama’s lap, sniffing from time to time while I looked at my odd looking thumb.

A lady sitting there with us smiled at me. I still remember that. Then she opened her purse and looked around for a minute before pulling out a roll of peppermint lifesavers and said “Would you like one?”. I lit up and nodded eagerly and she gave me that peppermint lifesaver. There was something in that tiny little gesture that, for whatever reason, just came at the right time for me and made me feel better.

I knew at that moment that everything was going to be alright because nice ladies were handing out peppermint lifesavers in the waiting room of Huntsville Hospital.

I don’t remember any of the pain of having a broken thumb. I just remember getting to sit in Mama’s lap and that peppermint lifesaver.

So this morning I was piddling around in the house and came across my husband’s “pile”. That little area where he cleans out his pockets at night and refills them again in the morning. My eyes caught sight of some peppermint lifesavers and my heart did that little jump as I smiled and took one and remembered how good that felt to have a stranger take notice of me and do something so sweet. I’m sure she has no idea that her tiny little gesture is still bringing me joy over three decades later.

Folks, you just never know. It is the smallest acts of kindness. Don’t fret over trying to make a wave, all you’ve got to do it just add your tiny drop of water…

And maybe keep some lifesavers handy.

You’ll need: Creamy Peanut Butter, Brown Sugar (dark or light, your preference), Softened Cream Cheese, and Milk

 Place cream cheese, peanut butter, and dark brown sugar in a mixing bow and mix until smooth.

Like this.

Now we wanna add in our milk to make it nice and creamy and dippable.

Silly Spellcheck is trying to tell me that “dippable” isn’t a word but we both know exactly what I mean by that so clearly, our intelligence level is just above that of the computer.

Add in the milk and mix again until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed.

When you’re done it is gonna look like this.

Now at this point, this stuff is just plain good. In addition to dip, it would also be a great icing for cupcakes or cookies!

Cut the apples into wedges, removing the center and seeds.

Now there are different ways to keep your apples from turning brown, the most common is using a powder called “Fruit Fresh” or coating them in lemon juice. I try to avoid both of those because they put a really sour coating on the apples. So I use orange juice instead and it works every bit as well.

Place the apples into a bowl filled with orange juice (this keeps them from turning brown)

Take the apples out of the orange juice when ready to serve with the dip and place on a paper towel lined plate while you arrange them on your platter, this gets the extra OJ off of them.

Enjoy!

This is great served with apples, celery sticks, cookies, ginger snaps, etc. It would also be a fabulous icing to cupcakes!

“An inexhaustible good nature is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather.”

– Washington Irving

Thank you Christy Ryan for submitting this! I’m always tickled to get more quotes submitted so please click here if you’d like to visit our Give A Penny page and add your words of wisdom and wit!

A Little Video Coffee Chat about Taste of the South, National Cornbread Festival, The Book I’m Writing, and more.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/creamy-peanut-butter-fruit-dip.html/feed 72 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/05/make-your-own-butter-fun.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/05/make-your-own-butter-fun.html#comments Tue, 31 May 2011 14:47:23 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=13452

When I was a girl, my mother was a saint. I was one of those children who talked contantly (Never saw that one coming, huh) and was always right up on her with questions and endless conversation. I can’t ever remember a time, even now, when I haven’t been trying to figure the world out, finding some new angle almost daily to view it through and gain a better understanding of the whys and what-fors of any given situation.

I was one to question, examine, and then declare my findings. Again, much how I do now. But folks, I can tell ya, My poor mama needed a break from time to time and she always came up with wonderful ways to keep me busy while giving me something else to figure out.

Most of these actiities have become habit for me now, ways I busy myself in the odd need to be doing multiple tasks in order to focus. My friend, Jyl is night and day different from me in this respect. She actually focuses on one thing at a time, just like my husband. Mama is like that, too, so I’m really surrounded by people who stand in place doing one appointed task while I buzz around them talking away with the speed of my thoughts. I imagine it leaves us both a little tired.

Recently I was on the phone with Jyl talking over some things I have coming up with Southern Plate and while talking to her, I walked into the kitchen and got all of the fixin’s out to make a little butter. I poured my cream into a mason jar, screwed the lid on good and began shaking away. ~swish swish swish~

After a few minutes of talking while I swished in the background Jyl asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m making butter.” I declared, as I continued swishing while I walked around the house talking on the phone.

Did you know I can’t stand still or sit while I talk on the phone? Doing only one thing at a time is very difficult for me and always has been. Of course it’s ADHD but it is certainly not a disorder, it’s a gift, a talent, and a blessing. The only reason it is called a “disorder” is because other folks beat us to the punch in declaring themselves normal and us abnormal. If we wouldn’t have been so busy up and leaving Europe and creating an entirely new country based on an entirely new governmental concept, we could have gotten to declare the rest of the world “OTATD” or “O-Tats” for short, One Thing At A Time Disorder. ~grins and giggles~ But that is a post for another day so back to what I was saying about butter..

Jyl sounded incredulous “You’re doing what?”

“I’m making butter, I’m going to spread it on some saltines.”

“Are you talking about actually churning butter?”

“Yeah, but in a mason jar. Haven’t you ever made butter?”

This is when it occured to me that Jyl, being the quiet person that she is, most likely never annoyed her mother like I did and therefore was never given the fascinating task of making butter in a mason jar. Since I can’t see her ever being able to annoy people to the extent that I do, I guess it is up to me to take the initiative and show her how it’s done so this post was born.

Tomorrow begins National Dairy Month and this is a great post to help us kick that off so yesterday, me and the kids made butter. This is a GREAT activity to do with kids, or to let them do on their own to buy you a few minutes of quiet in the kitchen while you cook. Even adults enjoy the “neatness” factor of making your own butter with just some whipping cream and a mason jar!

All you’ll need is: Heavy Whipping Cream and a jar or two.

I usually use the larger jars but these little eight ounce ones are easier for little hands to hold and do just fine.

Fill your jar 1/2 to 3/4 full, but no more than that. Your cream needs space to shake around a bit.

Put the lid on well and then start shaking!

This will take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes, but your butter will most likely be ready in twenty minutes or so. It all depends on how much you shake it. Little hands will take frequent breaks

Now let me tell you what is gonna happen here so you don’t think you’re shaking your arms off for nothing:

First, the liquid is going to completely coat the jar as you shake and you’ll hear it just a shaking back and forth

Then, the liquid is going to get really thick, still coating the jar, but as you shake you won’t really hear it shaking anymore and you’ll begin to doubt me. Hang in there, I promise there will be butter soon enough, just keep shaking on faith . You can open the lid if you want and see that your cream is just really, really thick. Then…

After about fifteen or twenty minutes, you’ll notice the sides are no longer coated and it pulls away from the sides a bit.

You’re almost done!

A few minutes later you’ll feel solids shaking around in there and the liquid and solids will separate completely. Now your butter is ready.

When you open it up you’ll see this.

Pour that out into a strainer or colander so the liquid can drain out the bottom.

This is Brady and Katy’s jar both emptied.

Now adding a little salt is optional but I like to.

This is just a little kosher salt that I’m going to stir in.

You will need to add this to taste so start small.

Stir in salt, if adding it.

Spoon butter into small ramekin, cover, and refrigerate.

It will harden as it gets cold.

Enjoy!

Doesn’t this look good? I love it on Saltines!

Making Butter At Home (Fun activity for all ages!)

• Whipping Cream
• Mason Jar
• Salt (optional)

Fill jar 1/2 to 3/4 full with cream. Place lid on tightly. Shake for ten to thirty minutes, or until you hear solids shaking around and can see through the glass that the solids have separated from liquid (read up in post for more details of what the shaking stages will be like). Pour into colander to separate liquid from butter. Place butter in a ramekin or bowl and stir in salt, if desired. Refrigerate until hardened. Enjoy!

Did your Mama have creative ways to keep you busy as a child?

My Mama Reed used to have her grandkids shuck corn and snap beans on the front porch. They loved feeling needed!

I’d love to hear what your parentsand grandparents did in the comments section below!

We had a WONDERFUL time this past weekend when we got our own private tour of a working dairy farm in Alabama.

Stay tuned to my next post for details and photos!

Subscribe by email so you don’t miss a single post. It’s free and you won’t ever get an email from anyone other than me. Click here to subscribe.

What you DO speaks loudly, I can’t hear what you say.

~A quote Nick Saban used in his book, How Good Do You Want To Be?

Submitted by JoAnn. We have a great collection of positive and uplifting quotes which I’d love for you to read through and enjoy, or add your own! Submit your quote by clicking here!

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/05/make-your-own-butter-fun.html/feed 196 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/03/vidalia-honey-vinaigrette-and-other-words-i-hate-to-spell.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/03/vidalia-honey-vinaigrette-and-other-words-i-hate-to-spell.html#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:03:48 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=14165

You know, my mother is one of the best cooks around and certainly the best I have ever known. It’s no wonder, she was trained at the finest culinary school of all time, the elbow of her grandmothers. So when I can give her one of my recipes and have her, Daddy, and both of my grandmothers singing its praises (not to mention making it three times in one week) I feel like I’ve really accomplished something in my life.

Todays recipe is the one that did just that. This is one of my favorite salad dressings that I like to whip up and it’s so very easy to do (my other favorite salad dressing is Mama’s homemade Thousand Island, the link is at the bottom of this post). I gave this recipe to Southern Living to print in the October 2010 story they did on me and I was just tickled with the reviews it got there as well, so now its time for me to share it with you.

A lot of folks don’t make homemade salad dressing anymore because bottles of every shape and flavor are available at pretty good prices at the grocery store, but those bottled ones don’t hold a candle to homemade and you’re really going to be surprised at how easy this is!

Oh, about the rest of the post title…

Close your eyes for me and spell Vinaigrette. Seriously, could there be a harder word to spell? With a bachelor’s degree and English honors, I still have so many words that trip me up and I always get a good giggle at some of the simple ones that seem to present a persistent problem to my short circuited brain cell.

I’m gonna mention a few more throughout this post as they come to me and I’d love to hear the words that trip you up in the comments section on this post. To keep it fun, I’ll pick one person at random and send ya a “Whatever Cranks Yer Tractor” sticker (I’ll pick one tomorrow night and put their name here after I do).

You’ll need: Cider Vinegar, Vegetable Oil (or your favorite oil), Dijon Mustard (honey dijon will do), Honey, Vidalia Onion (or other sweet onion), Salt, and Pepper.

Necessity- Oh good grief this word is a hard one for me. I never know how many c’s and s’s to put in. Thank goodness for spell check.

In a sauce pot or skillet, place a tablespoon of oil over medium heat for a few minutes.

Add chopped onion and cook, stirring often, over medium heat.

Opinion: For years, I wanted to put an extra “p” in opinion. Even though I don’t do that now, every time I spell that word I stop and look at it to make sure I have it right.

Your onion will start to brown after a few minutes, keep stirring and cooking while it caramelizes and develops that yummy flavor.

Souvenir - the mother of all messed up words. My definition of this word is “Cheap plastic junk that you buy out of compulsion while on vacation.” Now seriously, close your eyes and spell it for me. See how hard that is? If you got it right, you deserve an attaboy so here ya go “ATTABOY!”.

You want them to be nice and browned all over – but at this point I’m usually tired of fooling with it so this is good enough for me.

Your onions could stand to cook for another minute or two if you want but this will do just fine.

I just love low maintenance recipes.

Maintenance isn’t the easiest word to spell either, ya know.

Now pour your cider vinegar into the pot.

This part always makes me think of dying Easter eggs…

Oh, I forgot to warn ya about that vinegar facial you are about to get..

~snickers~

Now I want you to take your spoon and just kinda rub all around on the bottom of your pot.

Fancy folks call this “deglazing” the pan but we can just call it for what it is, rubbing the bottom of your pot to get the stuff up.

The vinegar will clean off all of the wonderful caramel glaze on the bottom of the pot and pull all of that delicious flavor up to be used in your dressing.

I know there are a gazillion other words that trip me up but I’m going on about two hours of sleep right now due to a wild case of insomnia among my children last night so I just called up Mama and asked her what words tripped her up the most. She said : worcestershire, jalapeno, occasionally, and necessary. See how normal we all are?

Now we’re going to put all of that into a blender and add our oil, salt, pepper, mustard, and honey.

Oh how I love honey…

Now put your lid on your blender (I like to state the obvious from time to time) and press that button!

Whichever button you press depends on your mood. If you’re having a pretty good day, just hit “whip”. If you’re feeling a little tension in your life “pulse” might work better for you. If you need to work off a little stress before the kiddies get home, go straight to “liquify”.

Now the trick is to let this just go to town in the blender for a few minutes, even though it will appear to be perfectly blended after just a few seconds.

You want to form an emulsion here, which basically means you are whipping the ingredients to within an inch of their life, thereby causing them to be too frightened of your awesome blender-given power to separate too quickly.

This will make your dressing nice and creamy and it will mostly stay that way.

After storing it in the fridge for a time, you will need to give it a good shake, though. This is why I like to store mine in mason jars because they are so handy to shake and keep around, taking up very little space in the fridge.

You can serve this over greens, with vegetables, or any salad combination of your choice.

My favorite is a salad of dark greens with pecans or almonds, cranberries, and apples.

YUM! Now thats some good eatin’!

Vidalia Honey Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 3/4 Cup Vegetable oil (or oil of your choice, note that other oils may alter flavor)
• 1/2 cup Vidalia onion, chopped (or other sweet onion)
• 1/4 Cup Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 Cup Honey
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard (honey dijon is fine)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. Place one tablespoon of oil in skillet or sauce pot and heat over medium. Add chopped onions and continue cooking, stirring frequently, over medium heat until browned and caramelized, about eight minutes or so. Pour in cider vinegar and stir well to loosen coating on bottom of pan.
2. Pour entire contents into blender and add remaining oil along with all other ingredients. Blend on high for two minutes, until well blended and emulsified. Refrigerate several hours before serving over your favorite salad. Recommendation: Dark greens with pecans, chopped apples, and dried cranberries.

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“Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by it’s ability to climb a tree,

it will spend it’s whole life believing it is stupid”

~Albert Einstein

This excellent quote was submitted by Tamara and holds a great significance to me. Thank you so much, Tamara! To submit your quote, please click here to visit our Give A Penny page. ]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/03/vidalia-honey-vinaigrette-and-other-words-i-hate-to-spell.html/feed 128 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/02/no-fuss-buffalo-chicken-dip.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/02/no-fuss-buffalo-chicken-dip.html#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:56:34 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=13562

Up until about eight years ago my mother had never left the South in her life. Then Daddy got elected as president of our state Fraternal Order of Police and the traveling commenced. You see, the FOP has conferences throughout the year in different states and such and Mama and Daddy go to a great many of them as part of Daddy’s job.

Mama has seen places and done things in the past few years that I know I’ll never see. She’s seen deserts, the Grand Canyon, she’s sat directly in front of two different Presidents of the United States as they spoke, she’s been to Canada enough to tell you what restaurants she likes best, and to California enough to tell you who has the best price on groceries and where to get the best hamburger.

We’ve benefitted a lot from her travels in terms of neat souvenirs and interesting stories but today you’re going to benefit from a recipe Mama got at a police conference in Virginia Beach a few years back, Buffalo Chicken Dip. She took one bite of it and went to hunt down the caterer who graciously offered the recipe. This dip combines the best of both worlds with the taste of buffalo chicken wings, cheesy goodness, and none of those little annoying bones! Serve it up warm with your favorite chips and it will disappear like...umm…Okay, I’d really like to put a football analogy here but I’m not actually into football so it’ll disappear like umm…ok like a really good Buffalo Chicken dip!

You’ll need: Hot sauce (like Franks, Texas Pete, or generic- get whatever is cheapest), cream cheese, chicken, and cheddar cheese.

You can use chicken that you cooked but I had this on hand because I buy these cans at Sam’s and eat them as quick lunches from time to time.

I know, I’m wierd, but a little salt and oh my that stuff is good!

Okay, now I know you’re seeing hot sauce here and thinking this is going to be spicy but it’s really not. The hot sauce adds a lot of flavor but the cream cheese and other ingredients really cut out the zing and just leave you with a very flavorful dip that won’t scorch your mouth. It’s mild enough for everyone. Honest!

Place your cream cheese in a bowl and soften by putting it in the microwave for thirty seconds or so.

I just love a recipe that doesn’t require me to soften my cream cheese at room temp. I’m not into planning ahead like that anyway

In that same bowl, add your cheese and chicken.

Add in your hot sauce.

Seriously, I promise this isn’t going to be zingy hot.

Mix all of that up in a bowl with a fork or spoon.

Whichever one you happen to grab first, we’re not particular here.

Spread into your pan and bake at 350 for twenty minutes.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Cream Cheese
• 1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup Hot Sauce
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (or large can of chicken)

Instructions

1. In large bowl, soften cream cheese in the microwave for about thirty seconds or so. Add cheddar cheese, chicken, and hot sauce. Stir well to combine. Spread into 8x8 baking dish and bake at 350 for twenty minutes. Serve warm with pretzel chips, tortilla chips, or veggies.
2. *You can put all of this in the slow cooker on low until heated through (about an hour) and then keep on warm to serve

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In light of the snowstorm about to hit a bunch of y’all, I thought this would be a great quote for today.

When life gives you Lemons, you make Lemonade.

So when the Lord gives you snow…you build a snowman!!!

Submitted by Connecticut Vol. Add your quote to our collection or read over a few more by clicking here.

I added a new story time video for all of the Southern Plate folks who are young or young at heart! Click here to watch me read Giraffes Can’t Dance.

Cheesy Spinach and Bacon Dip

• 10 ounce Package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 pound (16 ounces) Velveeta, cubed
• 4 ounces (1/2 a brick) Cream Cheese, cubed
• 1 (1o ounce) can Ro-Tel, undrained
• 8 slices bacon, cooked til crisp and crumpled

Place everything in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high three minutes, stir. Microwave another two minutes or until all cheese is melted, stir well. Serve with chips or vegetables for dipping.
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“If you don’t enjoy the journey, chances are you won’t enjoy the destination. Start having fun now!”

~Aine Belton. Submit your quote by clicking here.

Countdown to the book!

My book hits shelves October 5th!

We’ve been #1 in Southern Books on Amazon for the past two days thanks to all of you who are pre-ordering now!

In trying to decide what to post today I asked for votes on the Southern Plate Family Page on Facebook between Corn Relish and Unfried Fried Ice Cream. I honestly expected the ice cream to win out but am heartened by the healthy respect of corn relish nowadays. There were about 95 votes and it seemed to be pretty equally divided. I could have counted but I have a firm policy against using math unless absolutely necessary and yes, counting counts.

So I did the only diplomatic thing I could do, I let Mama decide!

I love to can, even though it may be considered antiquated and unnecessary by some. I can’t help but think about the old days, how efficient houses were ran back then, out of necessity. Women would tend to their gardens all summer long not as a hobby, but knowing that how that garden fared would determine how her family fared over the winter months. Eating fresh vegetables during the summer with a constant eye on canning, dehydrating, and various other methods of “putting up” food for the winter. How much a woman canned really made all the difference in whether or not her family went hungry. With that in mind, its hard not to have a reverence and appreciation for canning today.

Relish was an easy way to save vegetables and the combinations were limitless. This corn relish is a little similar to a relish called “End Of The Garden Relish” where you pretty much took everything that was left in the garden and combined it together. I customized this recipe for my own tastes and you can do that, too. Just know that as you add or take away you will end up with more or less in terms of quantity to can.

I had to hunt all over to track down enough jars to can this. I was talking to my mother about how many canning jars I’ve bought over the past few years and how I still ended up not having enough and we got to talking about what a waste it is that folks throw away canning jars nowadays when they are done using the contents. Canning jars can be good for generations as long as they don’t have any chips or cracks on them or around the rim. You just buy new lids each year and you’re good to go!

I give away a lot of my canned items, though, so it makes sense that my jar collection would have to be constantly replenished. Mama says back in the old days whenever someone gave you a gift of something they had canned, it was customary to give them something you had canned as well, and in doing so you had traded one of your jars for one of theirs. Smart folks back then!

Now for those of you who say “I wish I could can” I want you to know that you ABSOLUTELY can! Canning is simple as can be, so don’t be intimidated by it. Folks have been doing it for countless generations and there is absolutely no reason why you can’t, too. You don’t even need any special equipment, other than the jars and lids. I don’t even own a canner, I just use a big old pot lined with a dish towel to keep my jars from clinking together while they are boiling. I did a full tutorial on this a year or so ago with step by step photos and even a little video to start it out so click here to go visit that and can away!

Once you are done canning, be sure you check out these brilliant canning labels that you just print out and place in the lids. No more sticky residue to remove and no more wondering what is in the jar! They even have a back side where you can print the date it was canned and request that they return or reuse the jar. My post includes the template for you to download and use in Microsoft Word.

To make this recipe exactly as I am, you’ll need: Bell Peppers, tomatoes, vidalia onions, vinegar, and frozen corn.

Of course you can use fresh corn but I gotta tell ya, if I’m going to go to the trouble of shucking and preparing fresh corn, I’m gonna eat every last bite of it fried. I recently put up eighty ears of corn and ended up with enough for about five meals. Thats a lot of work for just a few meals! Fresh corn is a precious thing and since we’re canning this you won’t be able to tell much difference so lets keep it easy, alrighty?

Alrighty.

For your tomatoes, they don’t have to be ripe, but if they are that is alright. You can even use green ones if you like. Vinegar is essential. That is what is going to give us the acid we need to preserve all of this.

But wait, we’re not done yet..

You’re gonna need some spices. I am using Ground Turmeric, Ground Mustard, and Celery Seed.

You’re also going to need a little bit of Sugar and Salt.

Just plain old table salt is fine. Salt adds flavor and also serves as a preservative.

Chop up your onion, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Put all of that in a pot with your corn.

Now you’re gonna need a R-E-A-L-L-Y big pot! This is the pot I’m gonna use to boil my jars in later, too. It’s massive. I got it pretty cheap several years ago at TJ Maxx or Marshall’s or one of those stores.

Add your vinegar

And your sugar

and your salt. I know you are thinking this is a lot of salt but keep the amount of vegetables in perspective and it really isn’t. You do need the salt, honest. It won’t taste salty when you are done.

Add your turmeric

Celery Seed

and ground mustard

Stir that up as best you can. You’re going to bring it to a boil over medium high heat, stirring often, then reduce the heat to medium and keep stirring every now and then, for about thirty minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.You are going to think “wow, this is not nearly enough liquid” but as your vegetables start cooking up it will generate a whole lot more.

Here it is stirred up after it has cooked for a little bit.

and while we’re waiting on that to cook, do you subscribe to Southern Plate?

Click here to subscribe and receive an email from me each time I post something new.

No one will ever see or have access to your email address but me.

It’ll look like this. If you try to take a photo of it it will steam up your camera lens.

Isn’t that beautiful?

Can according to directions found here.

Enjoy your garden all year long!

Corn Relish

Ingredients

• 3- 32 ounce packages frozen whole kernel Corn
• 4 Cups chopped Bell Peppers (can be any color but green is pretty)
• 2 Cups chopped Vidalia onions (about two large)
• 4 Cups chopped red tomatoes (can use green if that is what you have)
• 5 Cups Vinegar
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Turmeric
• 1 Tablespoon Celery Seed
• 1/2 Tablespoon Ground Mustard (not bottled mustard, but dry)

Instructions

1. Combine all vegetables in a large pot. Add vinegar, sugar, salt, turmeric, celery seed, and mustard. Heat to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, stirring every now and then to ensure even cooking.
2. Seal in hot, sterilized canning jars according to directions that can be found on my canning tutorial (the link to visit that post is directly below this recipe card). Try to get an equal amount of liquid in each jar. You need a good bit of liquid to cover the vegetables but you strain that out when you serve it. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water for pint size, and five for half pints. Yields 12 Pints
3. *I prefer to can things in 1/2 pint jars so I can have more to give away, which is why I never seem to have half pint jars! :)

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**Visit my canning tutorial for instructions on how to can this! Click

here.

Kolene submitted this to the quote page yesterday and I just loved it. Be sure to send it to someone you care about today, I bet they could use a hug in their email!

Quick!

Put your left hand over your right shoulder and

your right hand over your left shoulder!

That was a quick hug from me!

Submit your quote by clicking here.

I love it when my in-laws come to visit. My kids get to spend time with their grandparents, my husband gets to spend time with his parents, we all get to hang out and catch up, and I get more people to cook for. Of course, its that last part that I like the most. Having only a family of four (with two being pretty small), I don’t often get to cook the kind of big meals I grew up with so whenever Rick and Linda Jordan plan a trip over, I get busy meal planning!

This past weekend they came to spend the fourth with us so you can bet I had me a big old time in the kitchen. The wheels came to a screeching halt though, the morning I went to make french toast for breakfast. I decided some scrambled eggs would be good, too, so I cracked all of my eggs and had them good and beaten up, the skillet all warmed and ready, and went to reach for my bacon grease jar. It wasn’t there. I looked around a bit, because I am not prone to putting things back in the same place anyway, and I figured I’d moved it around and set it down somewhere else last time I used it. Still no bacon grease jar.

Now I knew full well I had a good supply of that liquid gold because the week before I had cooked over five pounds of bacon – just to have bacon grease to season all of the wonderful summer vegetables which were about to start pouring in from my garden. Five pounds of bacon, scraping the pan each time to get all of the goody-goody sediment that I so enjoy using in my cornbread and eggs. That was some of the best bacon grease I’ve ever seen in my life and I’d go to sleep at night thinking of all the wonderful things I could make with it. And now I couldn’t find it.

“Ricky, have you seen my bacon grease?”

I hated to ask the question, feeling certain I knew the answer already. You see Ricky had been helping clean up the house in anticipation of his parents arrival. Things are busy around Bountiful these days and Ricky and I just kinda cover the bases as best we can – and I will tell you he got a whole lot more of that “cleaning and organization” gene than I did. Actually, I don’t have a single organized bone in my body but that is a story for another day. He got that confused look on his face, the one with a little bit of “oh no” behind it because we both already knew this wasn’t going to end well.

“Bacon grease, what was it in? ” I could tell he was buying time.

“Same thing it is always in, a mason jar.”

He winced.

I died.

He had thrown it away.

~Hangs head for a moment of silence~ My heart was broken. I did the only thing I could do at a time such as this. I mourned the loss on Facebook. Y’all chimed in with condolences, howls of horrification, and questions, which I will now address. (Special thanks to Jeanna, whose comment had me laughing about this right off the bat!)

Dawn asked: “Where is he from?” Well Dawn, He is from Georgia. I know you were hoping for some other state that would possibly excuse such a crime but alas he is from Georgia.

Dale said: “How long y’all been married? You need to train that boy…” Twelve years next month, Dale. After today I can see that I am a complete failure as a wife. Based on that, I take the brunt of blame for this. God love ‘im. In my defense, I did tell him in front of his mama and daddy that if he ever threw my bacon grease away again I’d kill him in his sleep.

~batts lashes~

Cheryl asked “Are you sure he’s a Southern boy?” Good question, Cheryl. He speaks with a Georgia Accent and I know he was born and raised there. However, odd things are afoot with that boy and always have been. You see, he doesn’t like gravy. I have no explanation for that.

In his defense, he is truly sorry now that he sees the impact it has had on my morale. He has generously funded a trip to the grocery store to buy over six pounds of bacon (although he doesn’ t know that just yet) and I am devoting this week to replenish my bacon grease supply by bringing you a week of bacon dishes. I think he realizes how precious my liquid gold is to me now and is truly repentant, as evidenced by the pink roses and diet dr pepper he brought me last night. With our twelve year anniversary coming up in a few weeks, I’m plannin’ on keeping him.

So in the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, I set out to do the only thing I could and make more bacon grease from bacon.

Okay, so bacon is a heck of a lot more delectable than lemons but I needed an analogy to kick off the remainder of this post so roll with me here..

While my in laws were here I decided to make one of my mother in laws favorites.

I fried up a whole pound of bacon…

Got this big old tomato out of my garden

Layered it all with some toasted bread, lettuce, and mayo..

and made a champion BLT

It’s a start!

Tomorrow I’m bringing you one of my mother’s favorite recipes. Join me this week as we fill up the grease jar!

Me and my husband, who now fully understands the value of bacon grease.

To read the other posts from my week of replenishing bacon grease, click below:

Bacon Breakfast Pizza

Bacon Fried Cabbage

Dream more.

Care more.

Be more.

Do more.

Submit your quote here.

Alright y’all, don’t let this get around but I don’t actually watch football. The reason I say don’t let that get around is that you know any Southerner who doesn’t consider themselves to be a fan of such a sacred sport stands a serious chance of losing their citizenship card and being deported.
Fortunately, I can redeem myself to all of the football fans with the following statement: “I LOVE MAKING FOOTBALL FOOD!”
That’s right, y’all come on over and watch whatever sport you want and I’ll be happy as a lark shuttling food back and forth from the kitchen.

AND everyone knows that no football spread is complete without an ooey gooey cheesy dip. So VELVEETA and I partnered up again to bring you the following video, which I hope you’ll enjoy. I’m excited to be serving as one of five VELVEETA IT!  Kitchenistas for all of 2010 where I’ll be coming to you every few months with another video post of me making something yummy with my favorite cheesy ingredient!
I hope you enjoy my video, filmed and produced by my expert cameraman – otherwise known as ye olde hubster, Ricky. Turns out, he has a few additional talents outside of building space stations!

Oh, and another great thing about this dip: It uses ground beef! Y’all know I love my ground beef. Nothing beats it for economy and versatility when it comes to feeding your family!

Click below to watch my video and get the recipe!

VELVEETA Spicy Cheeseburger Dip

• 1 lb. (16 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 can (10 oz.) RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained (I used mild)
• 1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 lb. ground beef, cooked, drained
• 4 green onions, sliced

MIX all ingredients except onions in microwaveable bowl.
MICROWAVE on HIGH 5 min. or until VELVEETA is melted, stirring after 3 min. Stir in onions.
SERVE with RITZ Crackers and assorted cut-up fresh vegetables.

For more great Velveeta recipes, visit the VELVEETA website by clicking here. Also, be sure to join us over at the VELVEETA Facebook page to see videos from all of the other fabulous Kitchenistas!

This original recipe may be found here.

Life may not always be the party we hoped for but while we are here we might as well dance .

Submitted by Karen. Submit your quote here.

I’m heading off for the weekend as soon as I post this to attend a blogging conference in Nashville. Last year, I met the VELVEETA PR Folks there as well as my AWESOME Literary Agent! I’m excited about getting to meet all of the other bloggers and representatives from some of the sponsoring companies but y’all aren’t going to believe who is singing at this thing: Harry Connick JR. ~blinks~

I’ll be tweeting and facebooking this weekend so be sure you hop on over to the Southern Plate Family Facebook page or follow me on Twitter! I’d love to hear what y’all are up to this weekend in the comments. I’m always looking out for new things to do with my kids! Love y’all!

Gratefully,

Christy

Transparency Disclosure: I have partnered with VELVEETA to serve as one of five VELVEETA it! Kitchenistas. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program, which includes vlogging about my cooking experiences with VELVEETA and developing one original VELVEETA-based recipe. I have also been compensated for the food purchased for my VELVEETA vlogs. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments – because that wouldn’t be right anyway.