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Incredibly moist Dark Chocolate Cake iced with a Whipped Cappuccino Buttercream icing and served with chocolate ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup… 

We used to have this great restaurant in Huntsville called Darryl’s. Everyone loved that place. As a teenager, anytime homecoming, birthdays, or any other eating out occasion rolled around, we all went to Darryl’s. It got to be kind of funny because you’d show up with a date or a group of friends and it would turn out more like a class reunion with practically every other table filled with folks you know.

Unfortunately, Darryl’s closed a good while back. There is only one remaining in North Carolina, but I live in Alabama so I’ve spend over ten years pining away for my very favorite thing on their menu – Cappuccino Cake.

Cappuccino Cake was one of their signature desserts and they always brought out a huge wedge of it for birthdays and special events. My sister got her first job working there as a hostess and we’d never been more proud of her than when we’d come home on the rare occasion and find an entire cappuccino cake in our refrigerator! They served it cold (I think it is better that way) with a side of chocolate ice cream and generously drizzled chocolate syrup over the whole thing.

This is a deep dark chocolate cake iced with a whipped cappuccino buttercream icing. Does it get any better than this? Maybe, but not right now because right now, we’re focusing on this little side of heaven .

After pining away for over a decade, I decided it couldn’t be that difficult to duplicate the recipe so I set out to do just that. You can’t find a copy anywhere on the internet so I went by memory and a basic starting point of dark chocolate cake, coffee infused buttercream – and we have a winner. We have  grand prize winner. This puppy deserves one of those 6 foot tall trophies.

If I didn’t share this recipe I could retire and just bake Cappuccino cakes the rest of my life. But it’s not nice not to share recipes and I don’t really want to wash that many dishes. 

I hope you get to make this soon. It is definitely a showstopper cake perfect for any special occasion.

Come to think of it, today seems pretty special to me, doesn’t it to you? 

For the cake part, you’ll need: 

Chocolate Cake Mix*, milk, sour cream, eggs, dutch process cocoa powder (dark cocoa powder), and oil. 

*You can use any dark chocolate cake mix such as devil’s food, dark chocolate, or even regular chocolate if you like. You can also use your favorite chocolate cake recipe if you like but I like this one because it is dense and extremely moist.

In a mixing bowl, place all of your ingredients. 

Mix that with an electric mixer until well blended and smooth, about 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides as needed. 

Some folks have you add gradually but unless you’re just now joining this party, you know I’m really not a gradual person. 

If you are just now joining this party Welcome to Southern Plate! Come holler at us on Facebook so we can all welcome you proper and love on you a bit!

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While that is mixing, grease two or three 8 inch round cake pans. I’m only using two. 

To grease my pans I fold up a paper towel and dip it in vegetable shortening and then smear it around real good.

Instead of flouring our pans, since this is a chocolate cake, I like to use cocoa powder. Just put a tablespoon or so in your pan and then…

 tilt your pan all around while patting it to distribute it evenly like this. 

Dump excess out into the trash or back yard. Squirrels need chocolate too. Just kidding. It may be bad for squirrels and then I’d get all sorts of squirrel rights activists boycotting my website and such, which is utterly ridiculous considering I’m practically running a squirrel wildlife refuge here at my house considering I have two of the biggest pecan trees you’ve ever seen in my yard but have gotten a grand total of two pecans in the past three years. The squirrels sure are plump though. And happy. In fact, I don’t think they could be any happier unless I started giving them chocolate…

Then you divide the batter evenly between your two baking pans.

This batter is going to be really thick and will likely remind you of jello.

Remember, never ever eat raw cake batter. 

But I don’t count licking it off the spatula as eating it. 

So many things are all about perspective…

~grins~

Bake cake layers in the oven at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Note: If you are making more than two layers, check on them after twenty minutes. Mine are thicker since I’m only doing two layers so they will need to cook longer.

Once they are finished baking, remove from oven and let sit in the cake pans for ten minutes. 

After ten minutes, turn cakes out and allow to cool completely. 

I like to let mine cool and then wrap them really well and refrigerate overnight for easier icing the next day

Time to make Cappuccino Buttercream Icing!

You’ll need: Butter, milk, instant coffee, vanilla, and powdered sugar. 

I only use instant coffee for recipes such as this so I got those neat little packets that have a sleeve you open for each cup. They were just $1.00 for a box of seven so that seemed like a pretty good deal to me and my instant coffee stays fresh for whenever I need it.

When it comes to my daily coffee, I need the hard stuff. The real stuff. I’m talking coffee so strong you’d have to put quarters on your eyelids if you wanted them to shut anytime in the next eight hours. 

Take the instant coffee and stir it into your milk until dissolved.

 This may take a minute. 

You don’t have to heat your milk first though.

Place your well softened butter in a mixing bowl. 

Important: Don’t be tempted to soften your butter in the microwave, on the stovetop, or any other trick we use to soften it when we’re in a hurry for this recipe. We really want to just leave our butter on the countertop for a few hours until it softens on it’s own for this recipe. Normally, I’m all about shortcuts but this one is important because we’re gonna have us a whipped icing in the end so bits of melted butter won’t help us achieve our purpose

.

Beat for a minute or two, until fluffy like this. 

Add in all other icing ingredients. 

and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed (like in this picture)

Now crank up that mixer again and beat this icing until it is fluffy, 5-7 minutes. 

If you haven’t tasted this icing by now, I’d sure like to know where you get your willpower from.

Time to ice the cake!

This cake is best if made ahead and refrigerated until good and cold. 

I know that is torture but just try it for me once, it’s totally worth the wait!

Serve with chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup (I used Hershey’s) and a strawberry.

Eat the strawberry last – your body might get confused and think you just finished a fruit plate

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 “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

Proverbs 16:24

The honeycomb is one of the strongest structures designed. Strengthen those around you with uplifting speech. Everyone needs cheerful words these days. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, Choose LIFE.

~Submitted by Marilyn Miller. Click here to submit your quote.

Please read the post below to see why I’m calling this “original” mud hens, and then try them soon! Have a GREAT day!

Gratefully, Christy

I have spent a considerable amount of time in the kitchen lately trying to come up with a shortcut recipe for my original Mud Hens recipe from My Cookbook.

No matter what I did, I ended up a little disappointed. The “shortcuts” weren’t nearly as good as the original. I normally don’t post recipes on SouthernPlate.com that are exclusive to my cookbook but when I found myself online looking to see if anyone else had come up with a good way to shortcut Mud Hens, I immediately came across over ten websites featuring the recipe from my cookbook ~laughs~  So I decided that if they can post my original recipe, I certainly can, too!

So forget the shortcuts. This recipe is simple and easy as it is. Once you taste it, I’m sure you’ll think it is worth the effort  

You’ll need: Shortening, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, baking powder, and all purpose flour. 

You’ll also need: Chocolate Chips, Marshmallows, and Brown Sugar

Note: Use dark or light brown sugar, whatever cranks your tractor.

You don’t have to use mini chocolate chips but that is what I had on hand.

Begin by separating two of your eggs, whites in one bowl and yolks in the other.

Make sure you don’t get any of the yolk into your whites because we’re about to make an amazing brown sugar meringue and if any of those yolks get in there our meringue won’t beat up right.

Now put your butter, shortening, and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.

Add in your 2 egg yolks and the additional whole egg and beat again. 

Like this. 

At this point you should get out a separate bowl and place your flour, baking powder, and salt in it and stir together.

You really should do that.

I’m not, I’m going to just add in my flour, baking powder, and salt into the batter.

But you should really mix them up in a separate bowl first and then dump them in.

Unless you’re not in the mood to. In that case just put them into your batter separately like I did.

Mix that up until well combined and you have your dough.

Pat into the bottom of your greased 9×13 inch dish.

If you need to you can put a little flour on your hands to help keep it from sticking, like I did. 

Top with chocolate chips and marshmallows.

Now we need to make our brown sugar meringue topping.

My mouth started watering just typing that..

Place your egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat the mess out of it until stiff peaks form.

Like this  

Add in your brown sugar…

And stir with a spoon until it’s well combined like this.

Now this contains raw eggs so you shouldn’t taste it..

~She says as she licks the spoon and sets it aside for the next photo~

Pour your meringue over the top of your marshmallows and spread it around to the edges.

Like this.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Oh how pretty!

Allow to cool completely and then cut into bars.

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“Opportunity is always knocking.

The problem is that most people have the self-doubt station in their head turned up way too loud to hear it.

~Brian Vaszily

ENTER NESTLE’S BAKE AND SHARE HOLIDAY TREAT CONTEST

I’m teaming up with Nestle to help promote their Bake and Share Holiday Treat Contest! Click here to visit their Facebook page and get details on how you can enter your recipe for a chance to win $5000! We have some AMAZING cooks in the Southern Plate Family and I’d love to see one of you win this!

Goodness gracious almighty! Is it just me or are the holidays coming up on us faster than a freight train? At first I was trying not to mention them on Southern plate because, you know, there are holiday police out there waiting to pounce if we mention the holidays “too early”, but then my mother called this morning and said “You know our Thanksgiving is this coming Sunday” and I just had to blink.

So I’m just gonna come on out with it and tell ya – My house is decorated for Christmas and I’m thrilled to death. I know, some of you are thinking “But Thanksgiving is first! You can’t decorate until after Thanksgiving!” Well that all depends on what you’re giving thanks for. The thing I’m most thankful nowadays is the entire meaning behind Christmas, and I’m thankful for that with every breath I take, so what better to give thanks for at Thanksgiving than the meaning of Christmas? ~grins~ Ya just gotta decorate for that… 

My in laws came to visit this past weekend so they could attend my Holiday Cooking Show (I’ll post a recap of that with photos soon!) and while they were here, we put up all of my Christmas decorations.

Is it too early to decorate? Not for me! I’m in the Christmas spirit 365 days a year so getting to take off my hat and let my elf ears show is always a welcome change. So I had my mother and father in law were here for a whole weekend. I’d been traveling some, under the weather for a while, and kinda feeling snowed over with all the work I had on me and I thought “HEY! They can help me with the Christmas decorations!”

With all of us working together we got the halls decked and trees trimmed in no time flat. I was on a roll so to top it off I even made Christmas cookies and the kids had a wonderful time decorating them with their grandparents. We had a great weekend before the folks had to head back to Georgia and we would have missed out on all of that had I stuck to any one person’s plan or ideal time frame as to when holiday activities should happen.

We even got the lights up on the house, so I can heave a sigh of relief that we got through one more year without my husband falling off the roof – I always worry about that. Now little Teaaspoon (our kitten) is enjoying the wonder of a Christmas tree. We have yet to explain to her that it isn’t her personal chew toy or kitty winter wonderland themed obstacle course. I think we need to post before and after pics of our trees when we have cats…

Speaking of trees, we got a new tree this year. It is somewhat smaller, not as big in girth, but still pretty tall and just fits in our den a little better. I went all over tarnation looking at trees before settling on this one. It came from Hobby Lobby (oh my, they have beautiful trees). The display model was on a revolving base and it was just beautiful. I had every intention of getting that base until I found myself gazing at the tree on my third visit to the store standing next to a sweet lady who said “I sure do love that base, but my cats would have fits”. She had a point ~Watches at Teaspoon eyes a sparkly ornament hanging just out of her reach…~

Artificial tree? Yup, it sure is. I’ve always loved real Christmas trees but the winter before I started college (when I was 23) I was in the midst of a mad dash to make as much money as I could in order to make it through my first semester and took an evening and weekend job at a Christmas tree farm. I worked in a credit union during the day and then headed out to Greenbriar, Alabama to hand out saws and explain the finer points of tree cutting for all of the days leading up to Christmas. I’ve never been so cold for so long in all of my life. Just looking at a live tree now makes me want to find an electric blanket and a few more pairs of socks. As a result, I’m one of the few people whose heart (and toes) feels considerably warmer around an artificial pine

So as we head on into the final stretch before Thanksgiving, I thought I’d bring you a quick and easy skillet supper. This is one of those meals that just makes your stomach feel good when you eat it. I could eat this every day of my life and be happy as a lark so I hope you get to try it soon. My son was feeling under the weather when I made it yesterday and I took him a plate and said “Here baby, try to eat this.” He saw what it was and said “Don’t you worry one bit Ma, I’ll SURE be eating all of that!”

**Note: To make this vegetarian, just use cream of celery soup in place of the cream of chicken and ask your hens to lay off the worms before their “big day”.

Just kidding…:)

~Giggle~

You’ll need: Chicken breasts, a can of cream of chicken soup (I’m using fat free*), a package of ranch dressing mix (dry), a bag of frozen vegetable blend (your choice), and some egg noodles.

You’re also going to need a little bit of milk, just 1/2 a cup.

I forgot to put that in the photo because … well when the day arrives that I only have to think about one thing at a time I’m just sure I’ll remember to put everything in the photo them. Unfortunately that isn’t today and as they say tomorrow isn’t looking good either .

*Occasionally I grab something like fat free soup just to show y’all that you can use it and it won’t make a difference. If fat free makes you happy or if that is what you have on hand, knock yourself out. It’ll be just as good. If you don’t have fat free, please don’t go out buying it just for this recipe. On a normal day (one in which I was just doing whatever I wanted and not trying to prove a point) I’d just use regular cream of chicken soup.

Place a little bit of oil in the bottom of your skillet and heat over medium heat.

Add your chicken breasts and cook over medium heat, turning as needed, until lightly browned on both sides.

Once your chicken breasts are browned on both sides, add in the cream of chicken soup, dry ranch dressing mix…

and milk.

Stir that up a bit as best you can.

Note: Your chicken breasts won’t be done at this point, just browned on the outside. That is okay because we’re fixin’ to finish cooking them.

This is our chicken with our little sauce we made all stirred up.

Now cover and reduce heat to simmer for about ten minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

After about ten minutes of simmering this is what you’ll have.

That sauce is absolutely delicious and we’re about to toss some veggies into it to make it even better.

I like the California blend of veggies that has carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli in it but you can go with whatever you like here.

Pour your frozen vegetables into the skillet and stir them up a bit to coat them.

Continue cooking this whole shebang until the veggies are tender.

Voila! Dinner is done

Salt and pepper to taste if you like, but I like it just as it is.

The ranch dressing mix gives it a fantastic, well seasoned flavor and the cream soup and milk join in to make a delicious gravy, perfect for serving over cooked egg noodles.

Like this.

I’m a talkative person, but it’s not a conversation unless I hear back from you!

Please leave a comment below  

Thank you! 

Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind.

To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy,

is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

~Calvin Coolidge

Towards the end of the week I’ll be giving away an

ENTIRE Set of Calphalon pots and pans!

Be sure to stay tuned to Facebook and Southern Plate for information on when this great giveaway starts!

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/11/creamy-chicken-skillet.html/feed 102 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/10/crispy-breaded-pork-chops-with-milk-gravy-and-memes-mashed-potatoes.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/10/crispy-breaded-pork-chops-with-milk-gravy-and-memes-mashed-potatoes.html#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:09:33 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=17220 Pin it

Goodness gracious alive, am I ever blessed. As I write this, I have a small suitcase open and waiting for a quick trip to Texas to appear on Great Day Houston. I’ll fly in, do a live tv show (I have so much fun doing tv I feel guilty about it) and then fly back to the great state of Alabama. My kids won’t hardly know I was gone! Don’t forget that I’ll be on Paula Deen’s Best dishes November 5th (Check times in your area). To stay up to date with all of the goings on, join us on Facebook and have a great Monday! 

Comfort food. Pork chops breaded in a delicious crunchy coating served with my MeMe’s ultra creamy mashed potatoes and all of it happily covered in a good coating of milk gravy.

I sure do wish you would have been here last night when we were eating this. I even had an extra pork chop set aside. But alas, we’re screens apart and truth be told my house wasn’t clean enough for company anyway, so you’ll have to make this yourself if you wanna eat it anytime soon.

Now some of you are looking at that plate and thinking to yourselves “There’s nothing green! You’re supposed to have something green!”. Calm down, it’s okay. I kicked the “supposed to” people out of my kitchen a long time ago. There are plenty of restaurants they can eat at on their way back to their house where they do everything they’re supposed to do. If you need something green, head on over and have some of my sweet and sour green beans. I could eat a vat of those every day and still want more. Besides, it’s not like we have to eat the entire food pyramid in one sitting.

If you’re still feeling guilty (Hey, I had that same homeEc teacher in high school, too!) have a salad for lunch. Then you’re good to go

To make the pork chops, you’ll need: Chops, two eggs, and a sleeve of saltine crackers.

Make sure you use the salted crackers because they really give us a great flavor here. This recipe will make four -five pork chops and you can get the thickness you prefer, adjusting cooking time accordingly. I’m using chops that are almost one inch thick so they will take a little longer to cook.

I like to use pie plates for my ingredients to get ready for this.

Crack your eggs into a pie plate or bowl and beat them up with a fork.

In another plate, place your crushed saltines – I crushed the entire sleeve.

Dip both sides of each pork chop into the beaten egg.

and then press each side of each chop into the cracker crumbs.

Place in heated oil and cook over medium heat until browned, then turn and cook to brown on other side, removing when fully cooked and center is no longer pink.

Here is a photo of them just about to come out. It is a bit blurry but so are my kids when they run in and out of the kitchen wanting to know when supper is going to be ready….

so this pic will work just fine because they’re hungry

When your pork chops are completely done, remove them from the skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate.

Now it’s time to make our milk gravy.

There are just a few simple ingredients to making milk gravy and one of them is optional.

Flour, milk, salt and pepper are a must. Bacon grease makes it even better and I’m going to use it in this post but you can leave the grease out entirely if you like, you don’t even have to use oil.

It is entirely possible to make a perfectly good milk gravy with nothing but flour, salt, pepper, and milk. My mother was shocked when I told her this and others probably will be too so lets just keep the whole “greaseless milk gravy” thing to ourselves .

If you are using bacon grease, go ahead and put it in a small skillet and place that over medium heat until melted.

I’ve been storing mine in the refrigerator so it may look a bit more solid than yours.

Now add your flour and give it a gooooood stir. 

If you’re not using grease just put your flour in a dry skillet.

Continue cooking, stirring constantly, over medium to medium low heat until your flour is browned.

Now with bacon grease added the flour is going to quickly become paste-like. Without bacon grease it will just stay dry but it will still brown in a dry skillet. Stir constantly, especially if using a dry skillet, until your flour is good and browned.

You can go ahead and add the salt and pepper before it is done browning.

or whenever you think about adding it  

This is a photo of my browned flour.

Remember, if you aren’t using bacon grease it will be dry instead of pasty but it will still brown.

Pour in milk while stirring.

Cook this over medium low, stirring constantly, until gravy is thickened.

To start with it is going to look like milk with a bunch of brown globs in it. Just hang in there and keep on stirring.

You’ll know it’s thickened when it coats the back of a spoon like this If it gets too thick, just stir in a little more milk. 

Serve pork chops with Meme’s Mashed potatoes and pour gravy over it all. YUM!

P.S. This entire meal is also excellent without the gravy if you have non-gravy lovers.

Come and get it! 

 When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

~Gilbert Chesterson

You know, the coolest thing for me about filming all of these Quick Fix Supper videos at Southern Living was getting to work with all of the wonderful people there. That was such an honor. The second coolest thing, though, was getting to taste all of the food!

These Tuscan Pork Chops were a favorite of mine and I cannot tell you how many times I’ve made the Chicken Tacos. I keep the chicken precooked in my fridge now so I can throw together a quick lunch whenever I’m on the go. Click here to visit my chicken taco video on SouthernLiving.com (and see the coolest tip ever at the end!).

To get the recipe for these delicious Tuscan Pork Chops, click here.

Wanna be part of a future Quick Fix Supper Video?

If you’d like to be a part of a future Quick Fix Supper Video, click here for information on how you can submit your video question!

You and your question could be in our next Quick Fix Supper video!

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Watch all of my Southern Living Quick Fix Supper Videos by clicking here!

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Is your day partly cloudy or partly sunny? I choose partly sunny!

~Submitted by Jyl

We just returned from a four day road trip to Kentucky. Ricky and I had agonized for months on where we should go or what we should do for our summer vacation. I started up entire sections on the Front Porch forum and Facebook just to get ideas.

We couldn’t afford to fly four people anywhere and we didn’t want to drive more than six hours from home, but the main thing is that all four of us really wanted to do something we’d never done before but that all of us would enjoy – which leaves out skydiving, ziplining, anything to do with Nascar (sorry Ricky), and even white water rafting since I made a promise to God last time I went down the Ocoee that if He would let me live I would never do that again. ~breathes~

Don’t you just love run on sentences? I know I sure do!

So one night, just two weeks ago, I turned to Brady and said “Do you have any ideas?” He replied “You know, what if we just went all through Kentucky? We’ve never done that before. We could just go exploring.” Ricky and I looked at each other and shrugged. Why not? For some reason, other than my occasional pilgrimage to the American Quilter’s Society in Paducah, we’ve never done anything in Kentucky, even though it is awfully close. So we circled a few days on the calendar and we set off to somewhere in Kentucky but nowhere in particular.

With our sole intent to connect with each other and just enjoy our family, and no agenda whatsoever, we ended up having a trip of a lifetime. We talked, we played little question games in the car, took turns deciding where we were going to eat and stay, stopped off at a few national parks, and laughed – a lot.

It was like a four day decompression retreat from the stresses of the world around us. Four days where nothing mattered beyond the most important people in our lives. Am I sounding like a Hallmark movie yet? Well, slap a “Movie – Of – The – Week” sticker on my forehead because thats just what it felt like.

Each day was filled with little miracle moments beginning with the very first day when the kids threw pennies in a fountain to make wishes. Katy turned around to us and said “You know what I wished for? I wished that Brady and I wouldn’t fight so much” Brady seemed to have a new awareness of his sister’s adoration after that. The next morning as Katy was standing looking out the window, I saw Brady walk over to her and put his arm around her to look out as well.

Yeah, the whole trip was like that. Well, except for the part where I tried Cincinnati Style Chili but we don’t need to discuss that one .

When we got back I called our friend Jason, who has been keeping Teaspoon (the kitten) for us. Jason and I go way back (He was editor of the literary magazine in high school and I was junior editor). Jason was asking how our trip went and I did my best to expain to him how four days in a car, going nowhere in particular could be so meaningful for us. I mean, our “best” vacations up until this point have always involved princesses, a mouse and various roller coasters.

I told him “I just can’t explain it but this trip really changed things for us. On the way home I pulled up a card with the question ‘What was your best vacation ever and why?’ One by one we each took our turn answering and one by one it came out that this road trip to nowhere in particular was the best vacation ever. No one could give a particular reason for it, but the look of joy and contentment on the faces of my family said it all.”

I tried to convey this to Jason by saying “I just don’t know. There was something about this trip. I mean, technically it was nothing special but it ended up being..”

Jason interrupted me and said “Sounds like it ended up being a trip that your kids are going to grow up and write about in their books.”

I know he couldn’t see me nod on the other end of the phone but that was all I could manage to do with the lump that had risen in my throat. I imagine Jason is right. Maybe this will be one of those memories they carry with them and eventually end up using as an example of how much we all loved each other. Maybe they will even write about it in a book someday. I bet they’re Mama will beat ‘em to it though… ~grins~

The back of our shirts read "Unplug to Connect Proverbs 22:6"

Today’s post is quick and easy and one I go to at least a few times a week when tomatoes are coming in. I make these as a side dish with supper sometimes but I also like them as an evening snack or a quick lunch when it’s just me here. They’re super easy, fuss free, and done in no time at all. Best yet, if you have a garden, chances are most of the ingredients are right outside your door!

You’ll need: Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil (fresh or dried), and kosher salt (or table salt if that’s all you have).

I’m using Roma tomatoes but you can use garden tomatoes if you like.

You can also just use shredded mozzarella if that is what you have on hand.

I have basil growing in my sunroom right now but I wouldn’t think twice about using dried basil or dried Italian seasoning on these. Personally, I think I could just about get by with Italian seasoning as the only herb in my kitchen. I even get the stuff that is 50 cents to a dollar a bottle.

A lot of folks will tell you that fresh herbs are the only way to go but oftentimes you’ll find those are the folks who don’t know what it’s like to look at  grocery list of necessities  and have to find a way to trim off enough to be able to pay for diapers and baby food. You’ll often find them in fancy grocery stores bemoaning our “ignorance” for not buying all organic and completely overlooking the fact that we’re paying our bills, raising our kids, and living on a budget. I don’t know any mother who wouldn’t love to provide her family with all of the finest grocery stores have to offer, but I also don’t know many who can afford to pay double what they currently do for groceries. Yessiree,  A dollar bottle of dried Italian Seasoning tastes just as good now as it always has

Oh, I’m done with my rant now.

If using Roma tomatoes, slice them in half lengthwise. If using garden tomatoes, slice them 1/2-3/4 inches thick.

Place in metal pan and sprinkle tops with kosher salt.

Be sure you use a metal pan for this because we are going to be cooking it pretty rapidly under a very high heat and glass just isn’t designed to be cooked with in that way.

Place under the broiler on high and cook for anywhere from 3-5 minutes, watching carefully.

I cook mine until it gets lightly wrinkled on the skin.

You can just cook it just long enough to heat it through if you like though.

I love tomatoes in any cooked form but don’t care at all for raw tomatoes. I’m weird like that. Actually, I’m weird in many other ways too but today we’ll focus on my odd raw tomato aversion.

If you’d rather not cook it under the broiler like I do, you can just put it in a 500 degree oven for 5-7 minutes.

Remove tomatoes from oven and top with slices of fresh mozzarella and bits of torn basil.

(remember, you can also just sprinkle with some dried basil or dried italian seasoning)

Enjoy!

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Your attitude is the aroma of your heart. If your attitude stinks, it means you’re heart isn’t right.

~Facing The Giants film

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/06/tomato-mozzarella-melts.html/feed 78 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/04/aunt-sues-orange-juice-cake-from-danielle-dykman.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/04/aunt-sues-orange-juice-cake-from-danielle-dykman.html#comments Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:34:17 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=14488 Pin it

This recipe for an Orange Juice Cake was passed down to me by my Aunt Sue, about a year ago. My Aunt Sue and I have always been very close, when I was a little girl she loved to take the curling iron to my hair and add a dab of makeup to my face then take me through every room in her house (except the bathroom of course) and take tons of pictures of me. She always wanted a daughter, but had 2 sons instead. So as her only nieces, my sister and I were obligated to get dolled up by her, at least once a week. I have always been told I look like Aunt Sue’s daughter instead of my momma’s, but I love my momma!

The recipe itself it special to me because it is my grandpa’s favorite cake ever! I have been my grandpa’s girl since I can remember. My dad passed away when I was 7 years old, and I do believe my Pa made a special effort to not let me feel left out at any time. During the long summers as a child my cousins ( all boys) and I would love to go play and wade around in the creek. He was usually busy during the day and would persistently tell them boys “No!” But all I had to do is walk up to him, put my little hand in his and give him that sweet “Papa, can we go to the creek?” and it worked every time.

About 4 years ago while I was home for the summer  from college, I was helping Ma and Aunt Sue cut and freeze corn out of the garden. Pa walked in the kitchen holding his chest. He thought he had heartburn and being stubborn went on to bed. He woke up the next morning, drove himself to the hospital and found out he had a heart attack. He was sent on to a larger hospital and ended up having a triple bypass. This was probably the scariest time I had experienced since my own dad died. But Pa made it through and the only thing he wanted to eat was this darn orange juice cake (despite being told to watch his diet). He said if he was gonna die, he was gonna die happy and full. (Thats my pa! hehe).

So since I love my Pa so very much I make him this cake every chance I get. He always makes sure to tell me how good it is too.

Danielle Dykman

Danielle and her Aunt Sue

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.

~Margaret Atwood

I really need more quotes so if you have a moment, please hop on over to our “Give A Penny” page and leave your favorite inspirational, motivational, or otherwise uplifting quote. Thank you so much! Gratefully, Christy

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/04/aunt-sues-orange-juice-cake-from-danielle-dykman.html/feed 75 http://www.southernplate.com/2010/10/honey-punkin-cream-cheese-pie.html http://www.southernplate.com/2010/10/honey-punkin-cream-cheese-pie.html#comments Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:26:58 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=11906 Pin it

I had fun reading another story for the kiddies. Click here for my bedtime story.

Don’t you just love a recipe that has not one, but two terms of endearment in the title?  Well, Honey Punkin, I sure do! Today’s recipe just begs to be served to folks you love for that reason alone. “Honey Punkin, you want some more pie?”

You know, Pumpkin isn’t one of those things that we ever ate growing up and I don’t think I’m alone in this. In my family, we ate sweet potato pie and all sorts of yummy dishes made with sweet potato in place of pumpkin. I think this is mostly due to the same reason my grandmother always found baked apples to be such a treat – they didn’t have any apple trees so apples were given to them as gifts to use in their recipes and such. Well, I reckon my family didn’t have a pumpkin patch.

Funny thing is, Mama and I just discovered how much we love pumpkin a few years back and we’ve been making up for lost time ever since.

Me and Cheryl Lovin Bone at the Memphis Book Signing

Today I’m going to bring you a recipe I adapted from a Libby’s recipe. I didn’t realize Libby’s was owned by Nestle and now that I know that, it makes it even better for me (y’all know I like to preach on how family friendly Nestle is). I simplified the recipe a wee bit and added honey in place of corn syrup – thanks to a dear member of the Southern Plate Family, Cheryl Bone, who I got to meet recently while doing a book signing in Memphis. She gave me the biggest jar of honey I’ve ever seen so I wanted to put it to use right off!  I love the richness of flavor honey lends to this pie and think you will too.

This is a great pie to share kids as well. Speaking of kids, I sure do love mine and have been missing them something awful when I go on the road. My book tour is a short term thing, and my mother in law is coming to stay with us for most of it so that at least, while I am gone during the week, they have a grandmother with them, the next best thing to a mother (sometimes even better!).

Coming home has been so exciting for all of us, though. The kids hug me and greet me with pictures and stories and just chat away until they run out of steam and fall asleep, then I head to my computer to try to get caught up on the work I didn’t have time to do while traveling. Next week I’m headed to Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Oklahoma City. I’d love to meet you if you live in any of those areas. Click here for more details.

You’ll need: Canned pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, honey, cream cheese, pumpkin pie spice, and an unbaked pie shell.

If you don’t have a store bought pie shell or would rather make your own, you can use my mix in the pan pie crust recipe here.

Place your cream cheese and honey in a mxing bowl.

By the way, this makes a great recipe to double because it only calls for half a brick of cream cheese (4 ounces) so with one brick and a little extra of the other ingredients, you can bake a pie for your family and a pie for another family.

What a nice gesture that would be, too!

Mix those up until well blended.

then put that in a bowl because we’re gonna use that same bowl to mix up our pie filling.

In the same mixing bowl you used to mix the cream cheese in, (and don’t bother cleaning it, it’ll be fine with a little cream cheese stuff left over) place pumpkin, eggs, honey, and sugar.

Pour in your evaporated milk.

I love the taste of evaporated milk! it is great in your coffee or drank straight from the can.

Not that I would ever do such a thing! Oh goodness no. Not me. ~grins~

Mix that up until smooth and well blended.

Pour into unbaked pie shell.

Place cream cheese in dollops (or gobs) on top of the pie.

Use a butter knife to swirl the cream cheese in just a bit.

Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

YUM!

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Honey Punkin Cream Cheese Pie

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked deep dish pie shell (can double my mix in pan pie crust recipe to make your own)
• 1/2 pkg. (4 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup honey, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup Evaporated Milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

1. Beat cream cheese and 1/4 cup honey in a mixing bowl until smooth and creamy. Scoop into another bowl and set aside. In same mixing bowl, place pumpkin, milk, eggs, remaining honey, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix until well blended. Pour into unbaked pie shell.
2. Drop cream cheese mixture by dollops over pumpkin mixture. Swirl lightly with a butter knife. Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

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The tongue is the dipstick to the soul!

Submitted by Ann Lokey. Click here to submit your quote. New ones always welcome!

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2010/10/honey-punkin-cream-cheese-pie.html/feed 50 http://www.southernplate.com/2010/10/coconutmeringuepie.html http://www.southernplate.com/2010/10/coconutmeringuepie.html#comments Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:50:38 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=11605 Pin it

Today I’m bringing you a recipe for one of my all time favorite pies. I’ve been wanting to bring you this recipe for a while now but I can’t bring everything at once, gotta pace myself because I plan on keeping this website going for at least another generation or two.

You often hear tales of pregnant women and their cravings and I was no different with both of my children. With Brady, I wanted extra sour lemonade and chicken noodle soup. I was working on my degree at the time and the local Chik-Fil-A saw me pull through their drive through at least three or four times a week. With Katy Rose, all I wanted was this pie. Thing is, you can’t go to the grocery store and buy this pie. Sure, they have coconut pies for sale in the freezer section but the only resemblance they bear to a true old fashioned coconut pie is their name. This is one of those pies that, if you find yourself craving it, you’re just gonna have to make it yourself.

But don’t worry, it’s easy to do and you probably have everything you need on hand already except for the coconut.

Here is my recipe. Hope you enjoy it!

You’ll need: Sugar, vanilla, flour, milk, margarine, eggs, and some sweetened flaked coconut.

That little bowl is a Jewel Tea bowl, same pattern as the plate in the final photo of the pie. Raise your hand if you remember Jewel Tea from your childhood!

I’m using my mix in the pan pie crust. It’s in the cookbook and on Southern Plate as well. Click here to see the tutorial. This pie plate is a bit larger than usual so I’m doubling the recipe and will end up with a nice thick crust. I prefer the taste of this crust to a store bought crust but you just do whatever is easiest for you. In other words, feel free to make your own or use store bought – your pie is still gonna be just as good so don’t you dare feel bad if you don’t make the crust from scratch!

I have a rule: If someone complains, they don’t get to eat my cooking again.

Ain’t had a complaint yet!

Place your margarine in a sauce pot.

Add sugar.

and flour

and your salt

and your milk…

now separate your eggs, yolks from whites.

Make sure you don’t get any yolks into your whites because we’re going to whip those up into a meringue later and if there are yolks in there the whites won’t whip up like we need them to.

There are lots of ways to separate your eggs. I think a lot of folks use an egg separator. Some folks use their hands by dumping the egg in and letting the white slip out through slightly spread fingers. I just crack my egg and gently tilt the shell until the white all falls out.

However you prefer, do it that way.

Pour your yolks into the sauce pot, too.

Look what a happy little family we have there!

With a wire whisk, beat up your eggs a bit and break up the margarine some.

Okay so you don’t have to break up the margarine because it will melt on it’s own in the pot but I had fun beating at it a bit with my whisk. You know, kinda how a kid can’t resist kicking a can as they walk up to it..

Isn’t my whisk beautiful? A couple of weeks ago Chef Bobby of The Big Green Egg came to my house to give me a lesson on how to make the perfect steak in a Big Green Egg cooker.

While he was here, I was admiring his toolkit and all of the lovely knives and spoons and such he had. I fell in love with this gorgeous whisk. The handle fit just right in my hand and was large enough that it was easy to hold even if your hands were tired. I admired it and planned on trying to track me down one just like it. The next day Bobby sent me a message telling me to check the drawer to the right of my oven and when I did, this whisk was in there!

Now let me tell you what, that tickled me to death! Felt just like Christmas.

Stir stir stir stir, cook, cook, cook, cook.

Don’t stop stirring because you don’t want it to scorch.

When it coats the back of the spoon like this, it is done BUT we are going to cook it a little bit more, about two minutes after that.

Go ahead and turn your heat off, though.

Now see, this is how thick I like it.

If you cook it until you can swipe at the bottom of the pot real fast and see a trail like this, it will  be thick enough that your pie will set up a little firmer and you can cut prettier pieces.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’ll gladly eat a runny coconut cream pie!

Now stir in your coconut.

This is where I forgot to put my vanilla in but I don’t beat myself up about things like that.

You try to remember to put it in, though. It’s in the recipe at the bottom.

Pie turned out just fine

Spread filling into your pie shell.

It usually isn’t this yellow but it all depends on the eggs. I must have gotten me some rich eggs this go around!

Now lets make us some meringue, or “Calf Slobber” as my Mama calls it…

Place your egg whites in a mixing bowl.

Make sure your bowl is really clean because if your bowl or your beaters have any oily residue on them that will interfere with your meringue as well so it never hurts to wash them again before this step. I wash mine in the dishwasher on high temp so we’re good.

Whip it until nice and frothy and light.

You can whip it to soft peak stage but I like to stop here and add my sugar so it has plenty of time to dissolve.

With so many things in cooking, there isn’t really a set “right” way unless you are in a culinary class.

When you’re cooking in your home, however you want to do it is the right way. ~grins~

~pours in her sugar~

~dumps in a little vanilla~

~Beats the living mess out of the egg whites until they are at stiff peak stage.~

I know this isn’t stiff stiff peaks, but its soooooooooooo much easier to spread if you don’t beat it too much.

Besides look at this whisk when I turn it upside down…

See? that’s a stiff peak!

Spread that over your pie, being careful to make it touch on all sides.

If you don’t spread it and make it touch on all of the sides it will pull back and shrink up a bit as it bakes.

Sprinkle some coconut on top of that.

Ooh did I tell you to get a little extra coconut? Well of course you should know that. I mean, you can’t actually make a coconut pie without eating some coconut along the way! I get a bag of sweetened flaked coconut, take out a cup, and nibble on the rest the whole time I’m making the pie!

~giggle~

Here is our pie all ready for the oven.

Bake this at 325 for about ten minutes, or until golden.

I usually cook my meringues for about fifteen minutes but you have to go a little shorter with this one so the coconut on top doesn’t burn.

Oh now that is a thing of beauty!

I got this pie plate and the little carrier thingie for it at Marshall’s for about ten dollars.

Coconut Meringue Pie

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• stick margarine, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 heaping cup coconut, sweetened flaked
• 9 inch pie shell, baked (Or my Mix In The Pan Pie crust)

Mix flour, sugar, salt, margarine, milk, and egg yolks in large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until thick. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and coconut. Pour into baked pie shell. Top with meringue.

Meringue

• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 C sugar

Whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar. Continue beating on high speed until soft peaks form. Pour onto top of pie and spread to edges to seal well. Sprinkle additional coconut on top. Bake at 325 for ten minutes or until top is golden. Refrigerate until completely cold before serving.

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

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

Dear Family,

I can’t believe this day is finally here. October 5, the official release date of my book. Although, when you get a chance to read it, I hope you’ll understand that this is actually our book.

When I was a little girl, I was fortunate enough to go to a very special school, Lincoln Elementary in Huntsville, Alabama. Lincoln was one of the poorest schools in the city, most kids qualified for free lunch (including us) and had parents who worked long, hard hours just to put food on the table.

While our income levels were low, the staff at Lincoln was something special, the best of the best. They made it a point to single out each and every child and let them know that we were special, too. They made sure we all knew that we had gifts and talents which set us apart. They proved this to us every day, too, by praising our efforts and encouraging us to do more and reach higher.

When I was seven, they singled me out and told me I was a good writer. Each week I got to go to a special class where we wrote poems and stories. We’d design a cover for our books and they’d laminate it and let us bind them up with tape to show our teachers and take home with us for our families to enjoy. My first book was a collection of poems about my cat, Tom, and Mama still has it today.

A little over two years ago I started this blog as a hobby. I’d talk about food, ramble off on tangents, tell about the things in life that stirred my heart, and come back to a recipe at the end. It was an outlet that was it’s own reward because I’ve always had a need to write, ever since I was a little girl and got the rush of seeing my book about Tom.

I wasn’t looking for anything to come of it and I never dared to dream I might be published someday.

It was just too much to let myself hope for.

Enter the wisdom of a child.

You know, Katy Rose is at the age where she just really wants to have her whole life planned out. She often says “When I grow up, can I be a Mama AND a Doctor” or “a Mama AND a teacher“?

I’ve tried to explain to her that Mamas have many jobs. Some Mama’s work outside of the home and some Mama’s work inside but that there aren’t any limitations, you can be a Mama and be other things, too.

I also tried to explain to her that I had other jobs as well, even though the most important one was being her Mama. I could tell she didn’t quite get it, though, until this past summer when she came up to me and said “Mama, I figured out what your other job is.”

I looked down at my curly headed little girl with a smile and said “You did? What is it?” Knowing my Katy Rose, I was prepared for pretty much anything to come out of her mouth.

She looked up at me with eyes filled with pride and a beaming smile and said “You’re a book writer.”

I wasn’t quite prepared for that.

To realize that I have had a dream all along that was just too dear to allow myself to even hope for, and in that same moment to realize that it had actually come true.

I pulled her close to me and gave her the biggest hug just like I’m going to give you when I see you.

Today, I’m a book writer.

Gratefully,

Christy

Enthusiasm is contagious. Be a carrier.

~Susan Rabin. Submit your quote by clicking here.

If you live in the Huntsville, Alabama area and would like

to join me for a Southern Plate Scavenger Hunt and little

get together tonight, please click here for details.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2010/10/coconutmeringuepie.html/feed 100 http://www.southernplate.com/2010/09/ham-salad.html http://www.southernplate.com/2010/09/ham-salad.html#comments Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:19:16 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=11384 Pin it

Good morning! ~thinks a minute~ Okay, so it was morning when I started working on this post. However, by the time I got back from the grocery store, made the ham salad, and heard my stomach growl as I took photos of the finished product, I ended up sitting down to eat my model (it was just too pretty not to eat right then and there) and lo and behold, by the time this puppy is posted it will likely be early afternoon – if I’m lucky. Good thing is, by then it will be time for a snack of …more ham salad ~grins~. It’s a tough job.

I’ve had more requests for a ham salad tutorial than I can count since starting Southern Plate so I’m hoping y’all will enjoy this one. This is one of those old timey recipes that used up leftovers and scraps of ham to make something pretty, filling, and delicious. There are as many ways to do ham salad as the day is long so if you don’t have your own ham salad recipe, feel free to take this one and customize it to your tastes or make it up with what you have on hand. Don’t have spicy brown mustard? Use a bit of regular and add a little more pepper if you like. Prefer a different mayonnaise than what I used? Go for it. Tweak it, mix it up, taste it, and make it your own.

Fact is, I can think of very few recipes as simple as this one. I’ve been getting a lot of comments lately from really nice folks thanking me for having such simple recipes and I want to thank You for being kind enough to read them and taking the time to comment! I think cooking really should be simple, though, and I’ve found that its the simple recipes that tend to taste the best.

Of course, that could be due to the fact that I won’t actually go to the trouble of making a complicated recipe…

Either way you look at it, here is another simple but good one for ya. Hope you get to try it soon!

You’ll need: Spicy brown mustard, sweet pickle relish, mayo*, boiled eggs, pepper to taste, and chopped ham**.

*I am not a big mayo person. I often try to get Duke’s because so many of y’all have told me how much you love it but I mostly just use it to mix up things with so sometimes grab whatever I can find first. If you have a favorite mayo, be sure to use that in this recipe.

**A lot of folks chop up their ham for ham salad in the food processor. If you like it really fine, that is the best way. I’d just as soon chop it up coarsely with a knife as opposed to having to get the food processor out and go to the trouble of cleaning it afterward. Big old chunks of ham are a beautiful sight! You’ll notice from the photo that I also don’t cut the skin off my ham, but just leave it on there. I don’t see any reason to add an extra step to things. You can if you like, of course, but if you’d rather not just consider it a wee more on the gourmet side. Kinda like how we made that stew a few days ago and didn’t peel the potatoes but just called it “rustic” instead. It’s all in the perspective…

Place your ham in a mixing bowl. Add Mayo.

See how easy this is already?

Add pickle relish.

I’m using the same cup I had the mayo in and just eyeballing it. No sense in dirtying up another measuring cup.

Add in your mustard

Don’t stress if you don’t have this exact type of mustard. Just use what you have on hand and roll with it.

Some of the best recipes came about by folks using what they had on hand.

Here we go. Ready to stir!

It doesn’t look too purty right now but hang in there with me.

Stirred up well

Oh, let me tell ya about my bowl.

This is a Pyrex mixing bowl from the sixties-ish era and the pattern is called Snowflake Garland. It is one of my favorite patterns because this is the pattern of dishes my Grandmother Lucille had when I was a little girl (for those of y’all who have heard this story before, bear with me!).

We didn’t have much money at all growing up so we never ate out. We actually won dinner for our family at McDonald’s once and it was such a big deal that we had a family photo taken out front! But Grandmama and Grandaddy both worked and could afford food out from time to time. A lot of times they’d invite us over to their house for supper. Lela (my great grandmother who lived with them) would make corn and rolls and Grandmama would make her mashed potatoes and then they’d go get Kentucky Fried Chicken to go with it. We’d eat it on these snowflake garland plates and to us that meal was just such a treat. To this day, whenever I use my snowflake garland plates, I think “These plates are for the fancy food!”.

If you’d like to read more about the plates we had growing up and why I use the dishes I do, there is a tangent on that in my Pork Chop Biscuits post.

After you have everything all stirred up and added in, add in your chopped boiled eggs.

Stir gently. Your ham salad is now ready!

You can refrigerate it for a while to allow the flavors to blend well or you can just eat it right now.

Guess which one I’m gonna do?

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Ham Salad

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped smoked or baked ham- diced as finely as you like
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
• 2 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
• pepper to taste (I usually don't add salt because the ham is salty, but add it if you like!)

Instructions

1. Chop up ham with a knife or food processor (however fine you want it to be). Place ham, mayonnaise, relish, mustard, and pepper in a bowl. Stir with spoon until well blended. Gently stir in chopped eggs. Serve on sandwiches, rolls, or crackers.
2. Makes about three cups ham salad.

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You can’t control the direction of the wind

but you can control the direction of your sails.

Linda Barker (thanks, Linda!). Submit your quote or browse through our

collection of positive quotes by clicking here.

New to Southern Plate? We sure are glad to have you! You can subscribe by email to receive an email from me each time I post something new on the website by clicking here. You also might want to join us over at our Facebook Family Page. I know you’re going to love the rest of the family!

Gratefully,

Christy

P.S. I don’t want to bog down your mailbox by sending too many emails so I’ve started a new section on Southern Plate where I can write about my adventures on the book tour. If you’d like to check it out, you can do so by clicking here. I’ll also post updates on facebook so you can keep up with new posts by joining us over there as well. Visit the Tales From The Tour section. These posts won’t be included in the emails I send out. I still try to keep those mostly geared towards recipes Love y’all, Christy