So today something cool happened. Alright, actually several cool things happened but I’m gonna focus on one here because if I took the time to write about every little detail in my life that I felt was cool or neat or served as evidence to enforce my view that the world is mostly a good place full of good people, y’all would just have to clock in each morning by 5:00 AM and hang in there with me til I ran out of wind around midnight - And Repeat next day  

So I checked in on twitter and I saw a wonderful tweet from Charlie Daniels, so I retweeted it. Then I got to working in the kitchen and cranked up some CDB while I was cooking. I tweeted about that, too. Cool thing is, I heard back  “Bet you’re cooking something good” from Charlie Daniels himself!

As a girl I used to listen to his fiddle playing, begging my dad to play Devil Went Down To Georgia over and over again. When I took up classic violin in middle school I had visions of playing like him one day. The fact that I never got much beyond The Old Gray Goose is entirely beside the point… 

I called my mother and said “Guess who just talked to me on twitter? Charlie Daniels!” 

She replied, “Really? Now you know They say he’s just the nicest man.

I held in my chuckle. We do that a lot around here, talk about “They” say this or that.

“They” is a group of people that just about everyone I know has. “They” apparently get together frequently to discuss current events, recipes, people, and raising your kids.

I’ve spent my life hearing:  They say you should (insert should here)… They say this really tastes good…and when it comes to people “They say Charlie Daniels is the nicest man”

So I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who happens to be in our group of “They”. There are all sorts of “They” groups and I’m so thankful that the “They’s” in our lives are the kind that say nice things about people. :0)

If your group of “They” is like that, They say you should let them know how much they are appreciated! 

And now, On to the Pie! 

Okay, kinda. I have something else to talk about first but I promise we’re getting a lot closer to the pie…

The famous Miss Fay's portrait is also with us in this photo!

So this past weekend, my mother and I ended up at the famous Loveless Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee with our friends Shannon Kozee and Tamera Alexander. I’m gonna talk more about Shannon in a future post. If Tamera’s name sounds familiar it is because she is a wonderful author of historic fiction. (You can check out her blog here. You can also get her latest book here, which Mama is reading now and I’m reading as my treat once I get done writing my second cookbook.)

Getting to meet her was a complete thrill for me because we’ve had some of those encounters with each other via internet that you know just can’t be coincidences. The first time I was made aware of her blog was when I got a notice that someone had blogged about me (it is an automated thing that sometimes works but most of the time doesn’t). I looked at the name and thought it sounded familiar but couldn’t quite place it. Then, a few days later, someone was giving a copy of my cookbook away on Twitter and again, her name. So this time I decided to do a little investigating and went to visit her blog. As I scrolled down I saw the cover of a book she had written – and that book was sitting beside my chair because I had just finished reading it. LIGHTBULB.

We exchanged a few emails and Tammy was always so encouraging and warm in hers. I was actually a little nervous about meeting her but she was even warmer in person! She absolutely exudes kindness and grace and is just one of those people you want to sit around and soak in for as long as possible. She also had perfect hair. ~sigh~ But I shall not covet…much.

While there, of course we had to have dessert. They had a new offering which immediately caught my attention: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pie. Oh my goodness, how I love a good oatmeal raisin cookie! I had to get it.

When it came, I was not disappointed. Mama and I split the piece and it tasted like the ideal oatmeal cookie, hot from the oven (even thought it was served cold!) because the middle was nice and gooey with the richness of oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon. I set to looking for the recipe the moment I got home.

I found one of the original postings of it on Sun Maid Raisin’s website, so I contacted Sun Maid raisins and they graciously gave me permission to share their wonderful recipe with you. I have to tell you my funny Sun Maid story though..

When I was going to New York to do the Today show a little over a year ago, I was scheduled to promote my book by making Lela’s Fried Peach Pies. The secret to Lela’s fried pies is, of course, the dried peaches. Whe you make pies with dried fruit instead of canned or even fresh, you get a much bigger punch of flavor. Well, I got a call from the food stylist in NYC to see if I could bring the dried peaches with me. It turns out, they are almost impossible to find in the big city! So I headed to the “big town” with three bags of Sun Maid dried peaches in my suitcase. I guess tha tmakes those pies “fancy” since they were made with fruit imported all the way from Alabama If you’d like to see that segment and my recipe for fried peach pies, click here, but come back because I wanna show you this pie, too!

Oooh yum, de pie! de Pie!

(that was supposed to be my impersonation of Tattoo in Fantasy Island, in case you didn’t recognize it)

To make this delicious pie, you’ll need: Raisins, Cinnamon, quick oats, corn syrup, salt, brown sugar, and a wee bit of melted butter and flour.

You’ll also need a pie shell.

The original recipe called for a graham cracker crust but I’m using my traditional mix-in-the-pan pie crust. You can click here if you’d like that recipe.

Place brown sugar, eggs, corn syrup, and melted butter in a bowl. Mix well with a large spoon.

Until it looks like this

Now add in all of your other ingredients and mix again.

So it looks like this.

See how easy that was? Easy as pie, right?

Thus the expression

Oh! I forgot to show you my bowl.

You’ve probably seen this one before but just in case it is a Pyrex Cinderella Bowl in Amish Butterprint blue.

Ain’t it purty?

Spend time with those you love. One of these days you will say either, “I wish I had,” or “I’m glad I did.”

~Zig Zigler

Thank you to Angela for submitting this one! Add your motivational or inspiring quote to our collection by clicking here. 

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/02/oatmeal-raisin-pie-and-they-say.html/feed 95 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/chicken-pot-pie-flowers-vs-weeds.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/chicken-pot-pie-flowers-vs-weeds.html#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:34:30 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=17812 Pin it

Today I have a guest post for you for Chicken Pot Pie from one of the head chef’s at UNA’s Culinary Department. But before I hand over the reins, I’m feeling chatty so I thought I’d spend a few minutes visiting with you if I may…. Y’all know how I am when I get chatty. Not much that can shut me up

I have some great friends and each one seems to have a specialty when it comes to the friendship department. Jyl is good as a sounding board. She lets me do my “brain dumps” and then she helps me put the pieces of the puzzle together until they make sense. Jason is good for talking things out to. When I get a thought in my head that I want to think more on and examine from all angles, Jason is always good for a few other perspectives.

Yesterday, I was working on a story that I’ve had in my head to write for well over a year now and I needed to go meet Jyl in nearby Scottsboro. So I asked Jason if he’d mind going along since I wouldn’t be back home til after dark and …oh yeah, did I mention Jason is a very good driver and used to staying up late at night? Well that’s one of his gifts, too.

We share a Southern heritage and a friendship that started back in high school when he was editor of the literary magazine and I was junior editor. He also fills the role of our “Adopted pitiful bachelor who needs to be fed” in the family. We always had a few of those hanging around my mother’s kitchen growing up and so I’d feel a little empty if my family didn’t have one, too. So you see, Jason is a handy feller.

So we get in the car and I immediately started in (The beauty of good friends is that you can skip the niceties and greetings and just begin your thought waves wherever they are at that given moment)  “Okay, so George Washington. You know what he did, right? He was actually offered the throne of the United States, they offered to make him KING of the US and he turned it down because he felt it was in the best interest of the country…”

He didn’t miss a beat as he adjusted the driver’s seat of my car to accommodate his legs when he replied, “Oh yeah, I know that! And did you also know that he was the one who first introduced the idea of term limits and that they used to be voluntary until it was written into the constitution in 1947″

This is a pretty typical conversation between me and Jason.

From there we somehow took a detour and got into talking about our childhoods and attitudes and the kind of people we look up to, from there we went to our culture and how it has changed in our lifetime.

And that is where he told me the story.

It was in a book he had as a child, a collection of fairy tales and fables that his mother used to read to him. This one had stuck out to him, it had struck a note in his heart that still rang true today. He didn’t know it word for word but he knew the premise enough to tell me and for me to recreate the premise for you now.

There once was a king.

One day this King chose a man and assigned him the task of going out into the kingdom and picking the most beautiful flowers he could find to bring back to him. Another man was dispatched on the same day to pick the most noxious weeds he could find and bring them back.

And so each set about their assigned tasks and at the end of the day they returned, one with a wagon full of beautiful flowers and one with a wagon full of terribly noxious weeds.

The wise king called them before his throne and he asked the one who had brought the flowers “Tell me, did you find any weeds?” The man replied “No my king, I was too busy looking for flowers, I didn’t see any weeds at all.”

The king smiled and turned to the man who had gathered the large load of weeds, which were most assuredly resting amidst the beautiful flowers and asked “Tell me, did you find any flowers?” “No my king, I was too busy looking for noxious weeds. I didn’t see any flowers at all.”

Jason’s point was that more people used to look for flowers. We talked about this a while and he thinks Watergate was a turning point. Now I know full well what Watergate is but I prefer Jason not bring it up because it just makes me want that green goopy salad with marshmallows in it. I’m not sure if Watergate was the turning point but it definitely stands one of those times in which the record skipped, the party stopped, and the lights were turned on.

I guess it doesn’t really matter when or why it started, the end effect is the same. At some point a majority of media outlets (news, tv networks, filmmakers  etc) stopped looking to Little House on the Prairie and started looking to the National Enquirer to set the standard for behavior – and once the pied piper started playing that flute all the rats just followed along behind and ran right off the cliff together. Note: My use of rats here is a pied piper reference, not calling people rats. People are hope and potential filled individuals, regardless.

At that point, they decided that the business of looking for flowers held little appeal in terms of ratings or shock value and instead began the search for noxious weeds.

And after our talk yesterday, I finally understand reality tv.

Today, as I’m writing on my second book (You can purchase my first book by clicking here) Chef Lewis from my Alma Mater has graciously agreed to share with you a simple recipe for Chicken Pot Pie. I asked him specifically to do a guest post on Chicken Pot Pie because I’ve received so many requests for one that I’ve lost count. Why haven’t I ever brought you a recipe for chicken pot pie? The same reason I won’t be bringing you a recipe for seafood. ~giggles~ Take it away, Chef! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi there, I’m Chef Lewis from the University of North Alabama’s Culinary Department in Florence, Al. I was asked to do a guest post to share some of our recipes for the holidays, and I was more than happy to do so. We’re very happy to have Christy as one of our departments alumni’s, and we’re happy that we can share some of our ideas with all of you. This recipe was done by myself and my team Kenny and Devon.

The ingredients you’ll need for the pot pie are chicken breasts, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, corn, peas and carrots, butter, white pepper, diced yellow onion, and buttermilk biscuits.

I will give easy instructions for making a smaller quantity  below as well.

Begin by boiling the chicken breasts in 4 cups of water with ½ of your diced onion until they are fork-tender (this will be around 20 minutes).

Remove the chicken from the water, keeping the water for later. Strain the onion out of the water with a colander or strainer, and let it cool.

Next you’ll brown the other half of your diced onions in the butter until they’re soft (around 8 minutes).

Then you take the cans of mushroom soup, chicken soup, the browned onion, and the white pepper and combine all of that in a big bowl.

Then you add about 1/2 (2 cups) of the chicken broth (the leftover water you boiled the chicken in) to thin out the soup mixture.

After that you open up the can of peas and carrots and the corn, and drain the liquid out of them, then pour that into the soup mix as well.

By now the chicken breasts should have cooled down enough that you can cut them up into bit-sized pieces.

The chicken goes into the soup mix as well. Just stir it all together and make sure it’s evenly mixed up.

All of the soup mix then goes into a deep greased 13×9 inch pan.

For the topping, you take the biscuits out of the can and flatten them out (you can use either a rolling pin or your hands).

Then stick the biscuits on the top of the chicken soup mix, till they’re covered.

Then you just stick it in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for around 20 minutes, and the top should be golden brown.

Enjoy! 

Today’s quote will likely make most of y’all giggle!

“Any mother could perform the jobs of several air traffic controllers with ease.”

~Lisa Alther

Submitted by Louise. Click here to add your quote to the collection.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/chicken-pot-pie-flowers-vs-weeds.html/feed 41 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/11/cranberry-crunch-and-ghosts-of-thanksgiving-past.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/11/cranberry-crunch-and-ghosts-of-thanksgiving-past.html#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:02:13 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=17393 Pin it

If you’re on Facebook and haven’t been receiving my posts in your news stream, please visit the SouthernPlate Family page and like or comment on one of my posts there to begin seeing it show up again. Facebook now requires you to have recently interacted with a page in order to receive it’s updates.

Some recipes just get you talking about the old days, which is why we love them so much. This is one of those recipes that gets my mother to talking about her childhood. The school lunch ladies often made this around the holidays and she loved it so much that one of them gave her the recipe for it, which has led us to enjoy it for the past couple of generations. Nothing like an heirloom recipe to bring memories back to life, especially around the holidays. Which brings me to my point…

Cranberry Crunch with Whipped Cream

You know, our kids are going to look back on this Thanksgiving the same way you look back on yours as a child. This time of year, I can’t help but think back to when I was a girl, when my Grandaddy and great grandmother were still with us at all of the Thanksgivings we celebrated at their house on Brookline Drive in Huntsville, Alabama. My cousins and I would stay outside as long as we could because the house was so hot from all of the baking. We’d come in when called, eat a plate full of our favorite foods, and rush right back out into our leaf piles and hide and seek games.

Later on, I’d end up sitting up against my grandaddy, my head resting on his shoulder as he worked on a crossword puzzle or told one of his latest jokes to the family, fully content at feeling the warmth of him through his thin cotton shirt and his strong arm around me. He’d lean over at some point and kiss the top of my head and tell me he loved me. It was such a natural gesture for him that I don’t think he even gave it thought when he did, which made me all the more content.

I can’t help but get caught up in those memories this time of year, but I try to stay ever conscious that these Thanksgivings, today, are the ones my kids will remember.

My parents are Grandmama and Grandaddy now. I’m one of the ones at the stove, who put them in the sweater that ended up being so warm it forced them outside to seek a cool breeze away from the oven’s heat.Someday folks will gather on a Thanksgiving day and play a video of this year and one of my kids might walk in during the middle of it and see faces that are no longer with them. They may be the ones finding themselves having to walk out of the room, feeling hurt that no one warned them they were about to hear their Grandaddy’s voice calling out for the first time in nearly fifteen years.

Some parts of the holidays will always be bittersweet when you have loved and been loved, but living in the past should always come full circle as a reminder to live in the moment.

Nowadays I understand the hint of sadness in the eyes of people, even though they are with their family at the holidays. Even though children are sitting up in their laps and siblings and spouses are chattering away while they pass dishes around a table filled with blessings.

Oftentimes, as we look around that table it occurs to us…

someone is missing.

Yes, some folks may be missing from our tables this year, but that isn’t an excuse for you to be. I miss them, too, but there are so many people here with us now waiting to have an arm wrapped around them. Waiting to be told they are loved. Waiting for that one special moment with you that they will someday tell their kids about when they think back to Thanskgiving. Waiting to taste that special recipe you made just for them.

Next year, 2011 will be a Thanksgiving past and it will be added to your reserve of treasured memories for you and all of those around you.

Don’t set yourself so firmly on remembering Thanksgivings past that you forget to put your heart into this one.

You’ll need: Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce, Old Fashioned Oats*, Flour, Brown Sugar, and Butter.

*I use old fashioned but quick will work just as well if that is what you have on hand. You can also use margarine instead of butter and don’t waste a single moment fretting over it! As for brown sugar, I’m using dark because it is my very favorite, but if you have light or prefer light, knock yourself out!

Place your flour, oats, and brown sugar in a bowl

Stir them up.

Add in your butter or margarine and cut that in with a long tined fork.

Like this

Now spray a pie plate or 8×8 dish with cooking spray.

And press half of your mixture into the bottom of the pie plate.

Top that with the entire can of cranberry sauce.

I just glob it by spoonfuls on top of my little crust…

Then take that same spoon and spread it around a bit.

Sprinkle remaining topping over cranberry sauce

Bake at 350, uncovered, for 45 minutes to one hour, or until bubbly and browned.

Excellent served with whipped cream or ice cream but you can also serve it as a side dish as well.

Some parts of the holidays will always be bittersweet when you

have loved and been loved, but living in the past should always

come full circle as a reminder to live in the moment.

~Christy Jordan. I apologize for quoting myself, but I think it bears repeating.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/11/cranberry-crunch-and-ghosts-of-thanksgiving-past.html/feed 176 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/08/great-recipes-for-football-season.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/08/great-recipes-for-football-season.html#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:30:19 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=16591 Pin it

If you’re on Facebook, please click the little Like button above, thanks!

I asked if there were any events coming up in the Football Realm on the Southern Plate Facebook Page this morning an got all kinds of comments about Gators, Bulldogs, Tigers, Eagles, Dawgs, Knights, Elephants, Colts, Rebels, Ducks, Vols, Falcons, and even Huskers (wait a minute, do they shuck corn for ya? Oh I’m all over that!). Suffice it to say, I am now aware football season has begun! ~grins~ I later asked a follow up question and found out that Yes, there is at least one football team with a bunny mascot!

Well folks, when it comes to football I’m on the side of any team whose fans like to serve food – so with that in mind, here are some recipes that might come in handy!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork BBQ

Pulled pork barbecue is pretty much heaven on a bun as far as I’m concerned and it seems every region has their own way of doing it. Where I am from, the barbecue is smoked and juicy, served as pictured here or with a little bit of clear mild vinegar sauce poured over it. Here is how to

Tender Babyback Ribs – in the oven!

 Love me some Babyback ribs – especially when they’re this easy!

Little Pigs in A Blanket

My daughter’s favorite, these are always a hit with the kids!

Stuffed Pizza Sticks

My dad read this post on Southern Plate and immediately printed it off for my Mama to make for him. Since then he’s asked for it on a regular basis.

Mama, you better go get more pizza sauce!

Click here to browse through SIDE DISH RECIPES on Southern Plate.

~~~~~~~DESSERT~~~~~~~

For Quick and Easy desserts, why not try a cake that you can make ahead of time?

If you’re traveling, just pop it in the cooler and off ya go!

Miss Mary Anne’s Twinkie Cake

Chocolate Sundae Cake

For more of my favorite Refrigerator Cakes, be sure and check out:

Elvis Presley Cake

Butterfinger Cake

Daddy’s Coconut Cake

Mandarin Orange Cake

Don’t forget the Sweet Tea!

No matter the season, Sweet tea is always the beverage of choice at our house.

To get my recipe for perfect sweet tea every time and watch a video of how to make it , click here.

Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.

~Robert Schuller

Submitted by Amy. Submit your quote by clicking here.

~~~~~~~~

Got a question that needs a quick answer? Need help or some suggestions for an upcoming meal? Wanna share a victory in your life, or just check in and chat about your day?

Join us all on the Front Porch!

Southern Plate’s Front Porch Forums are where we all congregate to sit a spell and chat a bit with each other. We share recipes, stories, and so much more. We already have over 22,000 posts so there is always a conversation to join in. Membership is free! Just click here and register in the top right corner. All memberships are manually approved (it may take a few hours for yours to become active), so register now to be able to chat with us anytime you like!

Click here to visit the Front Porch.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~GREAT NEWS ABOUT NURSING HOME ADOPTION PROJECT!~~~~~~~~~~

I’m thrilled to announce that Donny’s Diamond Gallery has signed on as our first local business to serve as a drop off point in our  Nursing Home Adoption Project! To find out more on Donny’s Diamond Gallery is located, visit his Facebook Page.  

Please visit this link to learn more about adopting Nursing Homes and how you can start a project in your area!

If you’re on Facebook, please click the “like” button above if you can. Thanks!

Today one of our family’s dear friend, Kate Burhop, was gracious enough to share her Grandmother’s Peanut Butter Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe with us. She even brought me a piece, too! It was absolutely amazing and I’ll soon be making one of my peanut butter loving family. This is similar to my Old Fashioned Yellow Cake With Peanut Butter Fudge Icing but the from-scratch cake and cream cheese twang in with the peanut butter icing really differentiate it and I know you’ll love it as much as I do! Thank you so much, Kate!

Gratefully, Christy

From Kate:

My mamaw passed away when I was just a little girl, but since then there are two major things I’ve learned about her from my family.

1. She was shorter than your average woman.  She was 4’11’’ if she stood up as straight as she could, which was a big difference from Papaw’s height of 6’6’’. But just because Mamaw was short didn’t mean she couldn’t hold her own. Papaw would call her “Banty Rooster” because she had red hair and a temper to match.
2. She could cook like no one’s business.  Mamaw was a true Southern cook with a natural know how in the kitchen. She knew all of her recipes by memory and was never once seen with a measuring cup.  Intuition was a large part of her cooking, which made it difficult for anyone to borrow her recipes.

Mamaw was particularly well known for making a to-die-for peanut butter cake and frosting.  When asked to write down the recipe with ingredient measurements, she never could.  She would say, “Just do it ‘til it looks right.” Finally, people realized that the best way to copy her cooking was to watch her firsthand.  That’s how the family finally managed to get her “Peanut Butter Cake” and “Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese Frosting” recipes on paper.

This is the first cake that I learned to bake from scratch, and I can say that it is absolutely the most requested dessert recipe from my family. It’s stick-to-your-mouth good and never leaves a crumb to spare!

For the cake and frosting you’ll need: Self Rising Flour, Sugar, Baking Soda, Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese, Powdered Sugar, Butter (Mamaw liked Blue Bonnet), and 2 eggs.

Place sugar, butter, peanut butter and eggs in a mixing bowl and mix up with an electric mixer until well combined and smooth.

Mix self-rising flour with baking soda. I don’t sift. Neither did Mamaw. A spoon works just fine for this. Add flour to wet mixture alternately with the buttermilk.

Frost your cake however you wish!

I assure you it will taste just as good if not better slopped on the cake as it will neatly decorated.

Don’t forget your glass of milk!

I’d like to hear from you in the comments below!

Kate’s Family calls it “Frosting” and my family usually calls it “Icing”. What does your family call it?

If you aren’t grateful, you’re not paying attention.

It wasn’t until a phone call I had with someone in New York last week that I realized most people consider slow cookers to be for fall and winter dishes. From reading my Facebook page, though, I know that most of us (you and I) LOVE our slow cooker in the summer time. There is nothing like having supper ready on a day when it’s 100+ degrees outside and not having to turn on your oven. A slow cooker sure does keep your kitchen a whole lot cooler!

So today I’m bringing you my latest slow cooker recipe that I dreamed up last week. I love chicken teriyaki and I also love cashew chicken so a combination of my favorite ingredients turned out to be a supper that I loved so much, we’re having it again tonight .

Before we go into that though, lets talk about your weekend. Did you have a good one? Ours involved a trip to Sam’s club, a drive through the car wash, and taking the kids to play in the fountains at a local shopping center. On Sunday we went to church and then participated in our church’s first family fun night last night where we all got to watch the premier of the Princess and the Pop Star, the latest VeggieTales movie. After that we had an ice cream social in the church’s gym. I thought our weekend was fun, of course, but since we didn’t travel anywhere or do anything specifically planned it seemed low key to me (I’m used to planning these big Hallmark moment weekend adventures, I can’t help it).

I realized I was very wrong this morning when Katy got up and said “Mama, wasn’t this weekend a blast? It was more fun than playing on a rainbow!”.

Wow! More fun than playing on a rainbow? Now THAT is some kind of fun!

Now keep in mind that the main money we spent this weekend was on groceries. Other than that and the gas we used just piddling around, we may have handed over a whopping $20 total. So to anyone who thinks great time together as a family has to cost a lot of money, here is a recap:

Folks, Katy is right, this is the life!

Check out today’s quote at the bottom of the page for another dose of perspective but in the meantime, I suppose we gotta eat…

You’ll need: Chicken tenderloins, Teriyaki marinade and sauce, cashews…

and rice.

This is my favorite rice. You can get it near the Asian foods section, it usually isn’t near the regular rice. It’s kind of almond shaped and a friend of mine who is from Korea refers to it as “sticky rice”.

My Mama (and consequently myself) was raised eating rice for breakfast. We like to take hot rice and stir some butter and sugar into it for a quick breakfast, lunch, or even a sweet evening treat. I call it sweet rice and this brand makes the best on earth!

You’ll also need some type of veggie to toss in there towards the end. Go with what your family likes. I just used these.

I put them in the microwave for about two minutes, just enough to thaw them out a bit, then poured them in the slow cooker. One box was plenty and they are so good!  You can also use fresh sugar snap peas if you like or any other vegetable that cranks your tractor.

Place your chicken in your slow cooker.

Pour in one cup of teriyaki sauce and add in your cashews if you want them to be cooked and tender.

*If you prefer your cashews to stay crunchy, add them in the next step.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Lots of folks might prefer water chestnuts or even peanuts to cashews. If that is you then go for it!

Water chestnuts make me cringe every time I bite into one so I try to avoid them and really only use them in my cooking when I make Chicken lettuce wraps(click here for that recipe), but they’re diced pretty fine for that so they aren’t as noticeable.

After your chicken is fully cooked, add in some sugar snap peas if you like, or other vegetables.

Stir that up and cover again until your veggies are tender.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

This supper is easy, delicious, and easily customizable for your family.

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken Teriyaki

Ingredients

• Chicken (4 boneless skinless breasts or 8-10 chicken tenders)
• 9 ounce package frozen sugar snap peas (or veggie of your choice), thawed
• 1 Cup Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce (I used low sodium - because it is what I grabbed first)
• 1 Cup Cashews (can substitute water chestnuts or peanuts)

Instructions

1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Add sauce. Add in nuts if you prefer them tender but if you want them crunchy wait until step #3.
2. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4
3. Thirty minutes before serving add in thawed vegetables and nuts (if you didn't in step #1). Cover and cook another thirty minutes.
4. Serve over rice and enjoy!

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1.2

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

Enjoy this moment, for this moment is your life.

~Omar Khayyam

Submitted by Jenny

Speaking Engagement in Huntsville, Alabama

I’ll be speaking at the Huntsville Public Library on August 27th. Please click here to visit my facebook page for that event and rsvp if you can come so I can be looking for ya (I love to recognize faces!).

I’d love to be able to travel more to meet all of you but my personal budget and family time with all that I have going on right now just doesn’t allow for that. In the meantime though, my grateful heart is with you and I sure do appreciate you visiting with me here on Southern Plate!

What did you do this weekend that seemed simple,

but ended up being more fun than playing on a rainbow?

If you use Facebook, please “like” this post by clicking the button above. Thanks so much!

This morning as I was walking through the den going on my daily dirty clothes scavenger hunt, someone said the name “Sally Mae” on tv and I stopped and looked up in surprise just as if they’d said “Christy Jordan”. I chuckled at myself as the memories flooded back of all the times I’ve answered to Sally Mae in my life.

I have no idea who Sally Mae is but during my childhood, I must have looked an awful lot like her. “Come on in here, Sally Mae” Mama would sing out as she opened the door when I ran in from playing to grab a quick cup of Kool Aid. Or she’d call out to me after running my bath at the end of a long day of playing “Get on in here and get in the tub, Sally Mae”. I never questioned it, even though in retrospect I realize my sister answered to it just as willingly as I did.

I got to thinking about that nickname as I read an email from Elaine Wong who mentioned how her Grandpa used to call her “Lanie girl”. There is something about a nickname that shows an acceptance, familiarity, and its sort of a way of saying “You and I are special”. It’s like in Little House On The Prairie (I think everyone should be required to watch the entire run of Little House On The Prairie before they are allowed to be an adult). Did you notice how Laura, who had been called Laura all of her life, suddenly became “Beth” to Almonzo and Almonzo suddenly became “Manley” to Laura? They wanted a special connection and way of talking ot each other that set them apart and so called each other by their middle names instead of first. Surely we all know what Laura’s Pa called her, do you rememeber it? Half Pint. She was his little tagalong, his best helper, and calling her what everyone else did just wouldn’t do.  She was his Half Pint.

I received my most prominent nickname shortly after I was born, the one my dad still calls me to this day (I don’t know if I’ve ever heard him call me Christy) and wrote about the story behind it in my book (page 171). It’s funny because every now and then I’ll be out and someone I don’t know will call me that, I instantly know where they got it from!

I have so many nicknames for my kids it isn’t even funny but they willingly answer to each and every one. My favorite nickname for myself to date though is Ma, Mom, or Mama, whichever one the two of them feel like calling me on any given day. I’ll never forget though, about two years ago, when Katy Rose asked “Mama, when you were born, how come Grandmama named you ‘mama’?”

I’d love to hear about your nicknames in the comments below and especially the stories behind them! While we work on that, let me show you how to make some awfully good baked beans. This is how my mother has always made hers and I can make a meal out of the beans alone! They get rave reviews at any barbecue and would be the perfect addition to your fourth of July menu. They’re also a breeze to throw together, always a plus in my book ~grins~.

You’ll need: ground beef (cooked and drained), 28 ounce can baked beans (any kind you want), 2-15 ounce cans Navy beans, onion, barbecue sauce, mustard, worcestershire sauce, bacon, and salt and pepper.

*Instead of the 28 ounce can of baked beans you can use 2-15 ounce cans.

Now I have my ground beef already cooked and in the freezer but if yours isn’t you wanna go ahead and cook that before this step.

Place beans (liquid and all) and ground beef in a large mixing bowl.

This is the largest of a set of vintage Pyrex bowls called “New Dot”. This one was hard to come by but it completed my set. The others are blue, red, and yellow. Just in case you wanted to know that…

A lot of folks have asked me about my salt and pepper shakers. They came from Cracker Barrel and I got them on Clearance

I could chat all day but I guess you came here for a recipe so I’ll get on with it…

(~whispers~ but the plate below is a Corelle pattern called “Memphis”)

Chop up your onion

Add to the bowl all of your other ingredients except for the bacon.

Stir it all together really well.

Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray

And pour your bean mixture into the dish.

Top with 3-4 strips of uncooked bacon.

Place this in the oven at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

During that time your husband, who has repeatedly stated that he does not like baked beans, will ask you “Man, what are you cooking? That smells good!”. When you tell him it is baked beans he will say “Oh….really?” and look at you in disbelief. This scenario will repeat itself ever ten minutes or so until the beans are done and then your husband, who has repeatedly stated that he does not like baked beans, will magically appear in the kitchen with a bowl and a spoon.

At least that is how it goes down at my house

Enjoy!

Now pull up a chair while this is cooking and chat with me about your nicknames in the comments below!

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Beefed Up Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 28 ounce can baked beans, undrained (or 2-15 ounce cans)
• 2-15 ounce cans navy beans, undrained (or bean of your choice)
• 1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained (can substitute cooked shredded pork bbq if you like)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup Barbecue sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Yellow Mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 to 4 slices uncooked bacon

Instructions

1. Spray 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Stir together all ingredients except for the bacon. Spoon into baking dish. Top with strips of bacon. Place in 350 degree oven for 45-60 minutes.
2. This is a very forgiving recipe so feel free to use what you have on hand and modify it to suit your family's tastes.

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Get rich quick … Count your blessings!

Submitted by Debbie Strum. Submit your quote or read hundreds of others by clicking here. Don’t worry if you have a good quote and you think it may have already been submitted, that just lets me know that it bears repeating.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/06/beefed-up-baked-beans.html/feed 221 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/06/visit-to-a-dairy-farm-giveaway.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/06/visit-to-a-dairy-farm-giveaway.html#comments Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:37:01 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=14940 Pin it

June is National Dairy Month! To celebrate it, we were invited to visit an Alabama dairy farm courtesy of the Southeast United Dairy Association. We had a WONDERFUL family day and I’m so excited to bring you along with us in today’s post!

This is Mr. and Mrs. Childers, who celebrate their 47th wedding anniversary next Tuesday.  They were so kind to invite us to visit their dairy and you couldn’t hope to meet a nicer couple. They are a friendly as the day is long.

Mrs. Childer’s grandfather began the dairy in 1945.  He had purchased some jersey cows and bred them to sell but when the calves started coming they found they didn’t have a buyer so they built a barn and started milking instead. When Mrs. Childer’s father came home from the war he just sort of stepped in and took over taking care of the cows and eventually built up the herd.

Mr. and Mrs. Childers met when they were both attending Auburn and were married in 1964. They both graduated in 1966 and moved home to start their own small dairy. By then, though, her father’s barn was in need of remodeling and some new equipment so the couple decided to merge the two herds and ended up with over 400 cows, in a rather crowded neighborhood. Mr Childer’s says “We got a lot of notice from the neighbors so we decided to move over to another location and built a brand new facility in 1983.”

And that is the facility we had the opportunity to visit.

We began our day in the break room, eating Mrs. Childer’s delicious oatmeal cookies and washing them down with ice cold milk (of course!) then we moved on to the milking room. (I’ve already asked for the recipe and will bring it to you soon!)

The dairy is a true family business, with two sons and several grandchildren helping out now. This is my family with Mrs. Mary and her husband (Mary works for the the Southeast Dairy Association), Mister Childers, his granddaughter Anna and his grandson Murphy (front right).

As we went through the farm, little Murphy, age four, caught me gazing up in admiration at a long line of cows getting ready to be milked and he softly pulled me down to his level and proudly said “Them’s my cows.”

Katy Rose checking out the milking process

Each cow is equipped with a sensor on their ankle.

As they come in to the milking stations the computer instantly reads that, picks up what cow it is and records all of the milk production and several other areas of data on the cow.

If the cow is determined to be ill or in distress in any way, they are then tagged in the computer and given special care to ensure they get well again. Instead of being milked, they are led out of the barn and a special gate (connected to the computer) opens when they get near it to send them to a section of the farm where they are looked after.

Okay, so it is much more technical than that but that is the jist of it.

It is amazing how well cared for the cows are and how sterile your milk is.

Did you know that the dairy industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the United States?

This is everyone headed out to the big barn, which is kind of like a little cow barracks

Murphy and his cows.

I just love this photo of the Childer’s daughter in law, Leigh Ann and her younguns, Murphy and Anna.

I love this photo of Miss Mary talking cows with Katy Rose. She looks like one of those Normal Rockwell kids

Here are the cows in what basically amounts to their beds. They just kinda roam in and out of the fields and shade as they want. Not a bad life!

Brady and Mister Childers talking about the cow business.

Mooo!

Don’t you just love black and white cows?

They have a pretty good setup here!

This is a big old pile of soil and fertilizer. There is a pretty involved drainage process throughout the farm and all of the water used to wash out the areas is then sent to a pond. The pond water is then filtered out, sediment removed to this pile, and reused. This pile then gets spread out over the fields where food for the cows is grown. Pretty cool.

Here is one of those drainage canals which is taking the water to the pond. I love how self efficient it all is.

And now for the best part!  BABY COWS!

Brady and Katy loved getting to meet all of the calves. The first one mooed as she went to pet it and she said “Mama, that cow growled at me!”

I said “Katy Rose baby, cows don’t growl, they moo.”

To which she replied “Well you didn’t hear that one then!”

Katy Rose and Murphy

This is Katy checking out the calf “crib”

Isn’t that the sweetest thing?

I highly recommend searching in your area to see if there is a dairy farm your family can visit. We had such a fun day!

I wanted to take this little baby home with me

Later on the Childers gave the kids popsicles while they continued with their cow gazing.

I just love this place!

Special thanks to Miss Mary for arranging this tour for us!

We had a FABULOUS day!

Happy Cows from from Happy Farmers

You can get your own coloring page like this by clicking here.

If you color one, ask your parents to post a photo of you and your picture on my Facebook page so we can see what a great job you did!

Be sure and check out the other great free kid’s activities they have, too!

Pour one more!

Experts reccommend three servings of milk a day but studies show that most people are falling short. An easy remedy to this problem is to “Pour One More” glass of milk a day for better health and stronger bones!

Here are some yummy ways to add more milk to your diet:

• Coffee drinker? Make it a latte! I love adding whole milk to my coffee. To make the coffee extra creamy and smooth, I pour the milk into my cup first and microwave it for about thirty seconds before adding in my coffee.
• Thrill the kids with Smoothies! Smoothies are a favorite of the whole family. They can be made with yogurt, milk, and a variety of your favorite fruits. For a quick and easy smoothie recipe, check out my Bananaritas by clicking here. You can also check out my recipe for Orange Juice Specials (similar to an Orange Julius) by clicking here.
• Yogurt! We all love Yogurt and each of us has a favorite. My husband likes Yoplait. Katy Rose likes Trix yogurt. Brady likes that Yoplait smoothie yogurt, and I love the Fiber One and Activia Light yogurts (key lime pie is my favorite!). That new greek yogurt is also very good, especially with some honey stirred in.



Pour One More today!

Be sure to search on the internet for great National Dairy Month Events in your area!  This weekend in my hometown of Huntsville, Alabama the Burritt Museum is having a Dairy Day. Click here for details.

You can also visit Working Cows Dairy online, Alabama’s own organic Dairy Farm

And be sure and check out Wright Dairy as well!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**GIVEAWAY**

June Dairy Month Giveaway from the Southeast Dairy Association




To celebrate National Dairy Month, EVERY DAY THIS MONTH the great folks at the Southeast Dairy Association are giving away all sorts of great prizes like t shirts, hats, and even grocery gift cards! To enter, check out their facebook page for details!

Go say hi to them and get more details on their Facebook page by clicking here!

(Be sure and tell them I sent ya!)

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned,

worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.

– Denis Waitley

Thank you, Jenny, for submitting this wonderful quote. If you’d like to view some of the hundreds of others that have been submitted, or add your own, please click here.

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by anyone and I wasn’t financially compensated. We did have a great family day, though, and no amount of money can buy that! I hope you get to visit a dairy farm soon, it’s a great experience.

I’m so very honored to have a chance to know each one of you. We’re a family made up of good hearted, hard working, life triumphing, loving people and when we come together on Southern Plate the atmosphere is truly amazing to experience.

Today’s guest kitchens recipe and story are yet another perfect example of that. I’m about to send out another call for submissions to email subscribers so make sure you’re signed up and watch your inbox for details on how to submit your family’s cherished recipe for possible inclusion in Southern Plate Guest Kitchens. I know you’ll enjoy hearing from Pat today and join with me in sending love to both her and her wonderful mother for sharing this delicious recipe with us.

Gratefully,
Christy

My Gorgeous Mom, Betty

Hey Christy!  I’ve been following your blog for a while now and your cookbook release as well.  I’m so excited for you!

The recipe I’m submitting to your Heritage Recipes is from my Mom, Betty Barnes.

Mom is 88 and still quite spry.  She is an excellent cook now, but when she married my Dad in 1942, she couldn’t even boil water. My Dad taught her to cook, bake, and put up canned goods.

I’ve taken over the daily responsibility as her health is beginning to fail.  I graduated from culinary school in 2009 at the age of 47!   The recipe I’d like to share is for “Lemon Poppy Seed Bread” and is one of my best-loved recipes from my Mom.  True, it uses a cake mix, but sometimes you just GOTTA! LOL

~Pat Barnes

Recipe from Betty Barnes, given by her loving daughter, Pat.

Me (Pat Barnes)

To see a complete list of all of the wonderful Guest Kitchens Posts so far, please click here.

I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.

-Thomas Jefferson.   Submitted by Amy. Submit your quote by clicking here.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/06/lemon-poppy-seed-bread-from-betty-barnes.html/feed 32 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/05/yum-recipes-for-memorial-day.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/05/yum-recipes-for-memorial-day.html#comments Wed, 25 May 2011 13:33:49 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=14883 Pin it

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and remember, it’s not the food but the faces around the table that make the meal memorable.

You know, every time I grill out I end up with leftover hamburger buns. Now I get excited when that happens because this is the BEST french toast ever! Okay, sometimes I even go and buy buns just to do this with them ~grins~. Instructions for freezing also included .