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Contest closes at midnight Saturday night, October 29th at midnight. Winner announced Monday on Facebook. 

Don’t you just love seeing the gorgeous food on the cover of each issue of Southern Living? Today I thought it might be fun if you join me in my kitchen while I cook the cover!

Note: I cut the cooking time by about ten minutes when I baked it in a 9×13 pan instead of the suggested springform pan. 

For this recipe, pick up a copy of the November 2011 issue of Southern Living or visit them online at SouthernLiving.com (click here to go directly to the recipe).

But I *really* think you should get a copy because there are 103 recipes in this issue alone!

“If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.”

– John Wooden

Thank you, Jenny!

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

Today begins Apple Week on SouthernPlate.com!

I have over TWENTY apple recipes to share with you this week so be sure and Subscribe by email and join us on Facebook so you don’t miss a single recipe!

My Grandma Lucy just loves baked apples. of course we all do but they have always been such a treat for her. Growing up, it was a rare occasion to get them and she often tells us a story of the one day she got one for dessert. They were sharecropping in a field at a nearby farm and Grandmama and her family had walked over there in the morning to work. It was customary that when you worked the field for a family, they provided a mid day meal for you. It got to be lunchtime and they were cold and tired as they headed up to the main house. As they walked in the door, the smell of baked apples filled the air. “Those apples smelled so good. I’ll never forget that, never.”

They all sat down to eat their meal but Grandmama said all she could think about was those apples and she sat there trying to eat and hoping so bad the lady had made some for them. When they finished eating the lady who owned the house came to the table with two big old pans of baked apples, one for everyone.

Grandmama said “There was a lot of workers there so you know that woman musta put a good bit of time into coring all those apples for us, but they sure were good! We didn’t hardly ever get baked apples and we sure did enjoy those. They were the best things!”

I remember asking her, just a few years back, “Grandmama, why didn’t y’all ever get baked apples?” and her answer was so obvious that you and I would likely never think of it, but it made perfect sense when she replied “Because we didn’t have no apple tree!”

So today I’m going to show you the simple way to make baked apples, and how to do it in your slow cooker (or crock pot, as most folks call it). This is a simple recipe, prepared like they did it in the old days where you just core your apple, stuff it with some good stuff, and bake away! But now the bonus is that you can do it in the morning and come home to that same smell my Grandmama walked into all those years ago.

Now, I doubt I’ve ever made these the same way twice. It’s just one of those recipes you can throw together and customize to your liking or based on what you have on hand.

Today, I’m keeping it simple but I’m going to give you lots ideas to personalize it and make it your own and I want to hear your ideas in the comments on this post, too!

For starters you’ll need: 

• Apples (about five fit into my slow cooker)
• Dried Cranberries (or raisins, or leave these out entirely)
• Brown sugar (I’m using dark but light is fine. You can also use white sugar if that’s what you have)
• Butter (or margarine)
• Cinnamon & Allspice (you can leave the allspice out if you like but I love how it enhances the cinnamon. Also, if you are a nutmeg lover you can add that as well. I’ve never been a nutmeg fan so I avoid it)

You can also add: Pecans, walnuts, oats, or anything else you come up with! 

Place your brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice (or whatever spices you are using) in a small bowl and stir them up really well.

Add in your dried cranberries or raisins and stir those up as well.

Usually when I cook with raisins or dried cranberries I like to soak them in really hot water for a few minutes to plump them up a bit before adding them to the recipe but these will be slow cooking with plenty of steam in there so there isn’t any need to do that here.

Core your apples.

I’m not a big fan of kitchen gadgets, mainly because I am unorganized and so I either lose them or can’t find a place to keep them, but I did break down and buy one of those apple corer thingiemabobbers. It is about the size of a vegetable peeler and it sure is neat! I like that thing.

After you core your apples peel off just a little strip around the top.

This is supposed to keep the apples from splitting as they cook but I mostly just do it because Mama told me to….

Now place them in the bottom of your slow cooker and use a spoon to fill each apple with your sugar mixture.

Then, take your finger and push the filling down in there and fill it up some more!

Top each one with a pat of butter.

You can also cut the butter into your sugar mixture but this works just as well and is less work.

You work hard enough as it is, it’s okay to take an easy pass.

Cover with lid and cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 3-4, or until tender.

My husband loves these served with a scoop of ice cream.

Leftovers are great heated up the next day and served with oatmeal!

Remember to add nuts, oats, spices you like, and anything else to really make this recipe your own!

Oooh, how about serving it with ice cream and caramel sauce?

“When bobbing for apples, an idealist endlessly reaches for the

best apple, a pessimist settles for the first one within reach,

while an optimist drains the barrel, fishes out all the apples and makes pie.”

~Vera Nazarian

Submitted by Jenny (thanks, Jenny!). I’d love for you to submit your positive or uplifting quotes to use in future Southern Plate posts. To do so, please visit my Give A Penny page by clicking here.

 MORE APPLE RECIPES !

If you’re an email subscriber, check your inbox tomorrow for an email

with at least three more apple recipes in it!

 I’ll post links on our Facebook page, too!

It’s the end of August, still one of the most sweltering times of year where I live. Summer is giving it’s last hoorah and showing off what it can do here in the South while most of us natives are flipping wistfully through fall clothing catalogs at pictures of folks walking atop hills in chilly breezes while snuggling up in their cozy sweaters.

I’m so ready for fall. I’m ready to wear the sweaters that are never quite appropriate where I live (it never really gets wool-sweater cold here but the models in that magazine make them look so comfy we can’t refuse). I’m ready to bake apples and rake up leaf piles and look for pumpkins. I’m ready to pull my jeans back out and lace up ye olde hiking boots on a crisp Saturday morning to head up to Monte Sano Mountain with the kids. I’m ready to drink my coffee without it making me sweat . (Apologies to my dear mother. You are right, Mama, ladies do not sweat, we glisten. But I wanted to make sure folks understood my point here so I had to be blunt).

…and I’m really ready for fall food. We have a completely different menu in the fall than we do in the summertime and I’m sooo ready for that.

So today, I’ve decided to break my own rule about keeping foods somewhat in season because, honestly, who makes the rules around here anyway? I keep forgetting that little technicality.

So turn down the a/c, put on a fuzzy sweater, grab a cup of coffee and come with me as we mentally fast forward to fall and make one of my very favorite versions of potato soup!

To make this soup you’ll need: 4-5 medium russet potatoes*, instant potato flakes, Heavy Cream*, 2 cans of Chicken Broth, a small yellow onion, cheddar cheese, salt, and pepper.

Now we need to talk substitutions because there are a ton you can easily make when it comes to this soup.

For the Potatoes - if you don’t want to peel and dice the potatoes, just grab a 32 ounce bag of frozen cubed hash browns. You know what, the shredded ones will work just fine, too!

For the Whipping Cream - the cream gives this a rich and delicious flavor so it is my favorite to use. As a substitute though, I suggest canned evaporated milk, because it also has a very rich flavor that you just won’t find in regular milk.

For the chicken broth - I usually don’t use chicken broth but I bought it special just for this tutorial – because I love you that much! Normally, I’d toss in a few chicken bouillon cubes with some water. The package usually says one cube per cup of water but I usually add an extra cube or two for more richness. I buy them in bulk at Sam’s and they save a lot of money over buying chicken broth. You can also use homemade broth, vegetable stock, whatever cranks your tractor.

These ingredients create a great base for your soup but feel free to add the flavors that you enjoy as well. Garlic powder or a little minced garlic would be great. Some fresh or dried parsley would be a good addition, too. You might even want to add additional vegetables and just change it to a creamy veggie soup at this point.

Today I’m making more of a pure potato soup but with a few key ingredients to really up the flavor.

You’ll also need: Some smoked ham. I’m using smoked pork chops.

This is another thing I’m using to really add some body to my soup. Any type of smoked ham will do, though. I like these smoked pork chops because I use them in my freezer friendly twice baked potatoes and since I’m about to make some of those to freeze (they make such a quick side dish or easy lunch) I needed them anyway.

This will add a really nice smokey ham flavor in with our potatoes.

To begin with, pour your broth into your soup pot and put it over medium heat.

Peel and dice your potatoes…

Oh look, I did one of those tight shots of the diced potatoes. I think this is supposed to make them more appetizing or something. Maybe it is just supposed to show that I know how to zoom…

Dice your onion

 And your smoked chops or ham…

Add all of that to your broth and season to taste with salt and pepper, but stay on the light side because we’ll season it again right before serving.

I’d add about 1/4 of a teaspoon of salt now and maybe 1/8 of a teaspoon of pepper.

Bring that just to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender.

This will take anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes, depending on how big your chunks of potato are.

Now add in your instant potato flakes and stir that up.

I love instant potato flakes as thickeners for soups and stews and making the crust to my Mama’s Taco Casserole. I don’t use them other than that, though. My Grandmother’s mashed potatoes were just too good.

Now add in your cheese and pour in your heavy cream.

Stir that up and cook for just a few minutes until heated through.

Like so.

Top with your favorite toppings, such as:

• Chopped Green Onions
• Fresh Herbs you like
• Bacon
• Cheese
• Sour Cream, etc

A note about Serving Amounts

I sometimes get questions from folks asking me how many servings a recipe has and I usually respond with a smile that “It depends on how hungry you are!”.

In general, I feed a family of four and if I have leftovers I freeze them or use them for lunches throughout the week. If you are new to cooking for a family, in time you’ll get used to how much food certain things will make, for example, a 9×13 casserole.

In my cookbook there are servings listed for most of the recipes but on SouthernPlate.com I just cook like my mother did and make sure I have enough for everyone, making good use of leftovers if any exist. However, I figure this makes four generous servings. That is all relative, though. Your version of generous may be different from mine, you may be hungrier than you realize or not as hungry as you thought you were, so the relative state of servings sizes has about as much value as one of those cardboard sleeves they slip onto coffee cups. Goodness, reckon how much they spend on those things each year?

As always, serve to someone you love.

What are you most looking forward to this fall?
Tell me about it in the comments below!

Excellent advice from a teacher!

This is from Sherri, who was kind enough to submit it on our Give A Penny Page:

This isn’t original, but it is so very true. I am a school teacher, and I try my best to remember this when teaching my students:

“People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/08/my-favorite-potato-soup.html/feed 161 http://www.southernplate.com/2010/12/christmas-miracles-in-alabama.html http://www.southernplate.com/2010/12/christmas-miracles-in-alabama.html#comments Mon, 27 Dec 2010 01:24:35 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=12973 Pin it

Christmas morning came pretty early for me this year when Brady came into my bedroom at 4:00 AM to ask if we could get up and open presents. I turned over to find Katy Rose had made her way into our bed during the night and my husband was diligently sawing lumber on the other side of where she slept in between us. I talked to Brady in hushed tones and sent him back to this room, only to have him return several more times to see if I was ready to wake everyone up over the next hour.

Around 5:00 AM I told him I was going to start taking one present away each time he came in my room to ask if we were getting up and that put him off until 6:00 when I felt it would be cruel to make them wait any longer. Now some of you will think I’m horrible for telling him that but with all of the big people in the house having stayed up late watching for signs of Santa’s sleigh, we needed that extra hour of sleep.

As I got out of bed, for some reason I felt compelled to glance out the window. Lifting the slats to the blinds I gasped at what I saw. “Ricky…you’re not going to believe this. It snowed!”. He was up in a flash as we both pressed our noses to the glass and looked out over the miracle of a blanket of white in our yard. I hurried to tell Brady and then set about making coffee as I called Mama, thrilled to discover she was just as much in awe as I was..

“Mama, have you ever had a white Christmas?”

“Not that I ever remember in my lifetime”

I told her that I thought it was a gift. So many families are having a lean Christmas this year in terms of what was under the tree but imagine the joy of those children at waking to our very own winter wonderland to go along with it. In a place where snow is seldom seen and usually disappears within hours if it does make an appearance, the prospect of snowmen and snow angels is often just the stuff of dreams for children in our neck of the woods.

Mama said she thought the snow came as a sign of hope and joy in the year ahead.

Both of us agreed that it wasn’t a random act of nature but a true Christmas miracle.

We got Granny and Mr Pop up and all congregated in the living room where the kids stared in wonder at the snow out the window for a  few moments before tearing into their gifts. I held my breath with each gift, waiting to see a light of joy in their eyes as it was revealed and finally breathed easy once they sat down amid their bounty and began the exclamations of how this was the best Christmas ever.

Once they were done they each took turns handing gifts out to the adults as we each had one or two beneath the tree. Katy Rose was thrilled to be able to read the name tags this year for the first time and Bradybug just loves getting to be the one handing out presents, he has a very giving spirit.

I got the hair dryer I had been hoping for, one so powerful it will just about blow the hair right off your head, and also a large nonstick skillet that I really needed and was surprised that my husband actually thought of (thank you Jyl, I know you had a hand in that!). I surprised him with a few things and it just so happens that one of them is something he’s always wanted, although inexpensive, something he hadn’t thought to buy for himself.

We quickly chimed in with the kids, glancing out the window at the snow and then back to the happy faces around us, that this was truly one of the best Christmases ever.

At that moment though, my kids seemed to think it had something to do with their gifts. Of course, I knew what they will realize later on in life, that this Christmas being special had little to do with those five minutes of paper tearing frenzy.

Years down the road, I’m pretty sure they won’t remember the video games or barbies or even that new fangled play doh set, but they’ll remember decorating cookies Christmas eve with their whole family around the dinner table, trying to make the world’s longest paper chain, their grandparents here on Christmas morning, and the miracle of a white Christmas in Alabama.

Back in the eighties my parents had a dessert similar to this at a restaurant and Mama loved it so much she sat there studying it for a bit in order to be able to come home and recreate it for us. It became a fast favorite and has only gotten better with time.

Speaking of the eighties, they stalked me the other day when I was walking through the mall. I honestly thought it wasn’t possible to out eighties the eighties, but I guess it took 2010 to do it. Neon is back? Skinny jeans and wildly colored makeup? Fashion has run full circle yet again but I’m still waiting to see if the hair returns.

~sighs longingly~

I was really good at eighties hair. Really. I used to tease my wings out and then spray them with aqua net while I stood with my head tilted over in front of an oscillating fan in my bedroom until they dried. It’s a wonder I didn’t fly away with how big those things were. I’ve destroyed most of the photographic evidence but did manage to find this one from my high school graduation and decided to offer it up as a public service message. Look at these two hairstyles and see if you can guess which one is me.

Hairstyle inspiration?

I think my high school class is personally responsible for at least ten percent of the ozone’s deterioration.

The thing that baffles me is that our kids have seen these photos and yet they still want to revisit this era of fashion um…uniqueness.  While I’m not a big fan of the resurgence of eighties style, I will tell you that this flashback recipe from our family in that decade is still as big a hit today as it was back then and it is still a favorite of my brothers. Mama usually makes it on Halloween and calls it “dirt cake” but it is good year round. Be sure to check at the bottom of this post for another Halloween tradition we had growing up that is inexpensive, easy, and fun.

This recipe can make a 9×13 inch pan full but if that is a bit much for your family, why not make 2 8×8 pans and give one to someone as a gift? So many of us get wrapped up and busy that we forget what a kind and loving gesture a gift of food can be.

You’ll need: Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, Caramel Topping, and Oreo’s or a generic version.

You can also use vanilla ice cream and crush some Oreos up in it like we used to have to do before they invented the cookies and cream kind. Feel free to use any caramel topping, whatever kind cranks yer tractor.

Ain’t nobody gonna judge here on Southern Plate because that’s not how we work.

Put your cookies in a big old ziplock bag

Crush the cookies however way strikes your fancy.

This is another one of those golden opportunities that cooking yields to work out any anger issues.

Thats how come Grannys are so sweet. If you think they never got mad at you, just think back to how tender the meat was that they served

If you are making a 9×13, put half your cookies in the bottom of it.

If you are making two 8×8′s, put 1/4 of your cookies in the bottom of each pan.

Soften your ice cream a bit and divide it among your pans.

Spread that around a bit.

Pour your caramel sauce over the ice cream in each pan.

Spread that around some, too.

Sprinkle the rest of your cookie crumbs over the top.

TADA!

Now cover it with foil, wrap it really well, and place in the freezer for a few hours.

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Oreo Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients

• 1 container Cookies and Cream Ice Cream (I am using 1.5 quart container, you can use more or less), softened
• 1 package Oreo cookies (or the cheapie generic, like I use)
• 1 container caramel ice cream topping (about 2 cups)

Instructions

1. Place cookies in a gallon zipper bag and crush them. Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan or two 8x8 pans with half the cookie crumbs. Spread the softened ice cream over the top. Top with caramel topping and then remaining cookie crumbs. Wrap well with foil and freeze for several hours before serving.

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Mama's Jack-O-Burgers

This is the meal Mama always made on Halloween when we were kids. Jack-o-burgers, ghost fingers (french fries), and blood (ketchup). To make the Jack-O-Burger, just use regular old slice cheese and cut a few triangles out for eyes and then the mouth you like. If you are making them for folks who don’t like a lot of cheese, just use the cut out pieces to make a face on their burger (this is what Mama always did for me).

Have a wonderful weekend!

Gratefully,

Christy

“We should believe that when you treat people as they are,

they will remain as they are, but when you treat them as they could be,

they become what they should be.”

Submitted by Kolene. Submit your quote by clicking  here (I always need new quotes!)

If you enjoyed this post, I’d love to hear back from you below.

Your comments make this a conversation!

What was your favorite eighties fashion fad?

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2010/10/oreo-ice-cream-cake-the-eighties-are-stalking-me.html/feed 72 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!

Add this recipe to ZipList!

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/festive-fall-cookie-bars-one-bowl-easy.html http://www.southernplate.com/2010/10/festive-fall-cookie-bars-one-bowl-easy.html#comments Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:48:26 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=11887 Pin it

Today I’m bringing you yet another twist on one of my favorite quick and easy bar cookies. If you haven’t made a variation of these yet. I hope you will today! With everything coming up fall, it’s always fun to do some pretty fall baking and these are just the thing we need for a beautiful but low maintenance office or classroom treat. The great thing is that no one will know you took shortcuts when they taste these buttery, butterscotchy, brown sugary good cookie bars!

(Okay, so Brown sugary and butterscotchy weren’t words until now but hey, that just makes us pioneers in advancement of the English language, right?)

You’ll need: your favorite baking mix, a stick of butter or margarine, brown sugar, oats (I use quick or old fashioned depending on what I have on hand), vanilla, an egg, and butterscotch chips.

You’ll also need some candy corn and fall sprinkles if you like.

Place your baking mix, oats, and brown sugar in a bowl.

I prefer dark brown sugar but use whatever I happen to grab. I always whatever I have on hand no matter if the recipe calls for light or dark.

Melt your stick of butter or margarine and pour that into the bowl.

I love it when we get live action photography on Southern Plate! Wooohoo!

and add your egg and vanilla in there as well.

Stir that up with a spoon.

See? One bowl wonder and you don’t even need a mixer.

Add in butterscotch chips.

Stir again.

Spray an 8×8 pan with cooking spray.

You can also double this and make a 9×13.

It just takes a few minutes longer to bake so watch it if you do that and remove from oven when lightly browned.

Pour your dough into the pan. It will be kind of crumbly and rough looking.

Pat down with your hand into the pan.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Sprinkle caramel corn over the top and return to oven for 2-3 minutes to allow caramel corn to soften enough to stick.

Be sure and watch it so the caramel corn doesn’t melt, just sticks to it a bit.

Allow to cool completely and sprinkle with fall sprinkles if you like.

Isn’t that pretty?

Now when you cut them the caramel corn will stay on top and you can serve them up in festive fall style!

Cookies are best made just before your kids come home to surprise them with!

Easy Festive Fall Cookie Bars

• 1/2 Cup Old Fashioned oats (Can use quick)
• 1 Cups Brown sugar, packed (I use light or dark, whatever I have on hand)
• 2 Cups Baking Mix
• 1 Egg
• 1 Stick butter or margarine, melted
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup Butterscotch chips

Combine first five ingredients in large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pat into greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 for twenty five to thirty minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle top with candy corn. Return to oven, watching carefully, for two to three minutes, just to allow the candy corn to warm enough to stick. Watch carefully so candy corn doesn’t melt. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

View other versions of this recipe below:

Oatmeal Scotchie Bars

M & M Oatmeal bars

*If you have a loved one serving overseas, this is a cookie bar that travels VERY well! I use margarine instead of butter when making them to ship long distances.

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

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Last week was my first full week away from the kids for the book tour. We drove through the night and arrived home around 3:00 AM. As I hit the road again I wanted to bring you this quote from my youngest, Katy Rose, because I just thought it was so precious. When she woke up Friday morning she said:

“Mama, I knowed you were here before I saw you because I felt someone cover me up and kiss me when I was asleep and I thought ‘I bet that’s Ma’ “

This is going to be a semi-crazy and very fun week for me. I’m heading out for a week filled with book signings. I’ll be beginning tonight in my hometown of Huntsville, Alabama, and then going to Oxford, Jackson, and Memphis. Click here for more information about where I’ll be traveling over the next few weeks. I’d love to meet you! *A lot of stores are selling out of our book.If you are planning on attending a book signing, you might want to go ahead and visit that store to pick up your copy of the book to ensure they have enough. You can also help ensure they have enough by clicking on the city names above of the ones you plan on attending to RSVP on FB.

My AMAZING Mother in Law has come to stay and take my place this week so the kids will be well taken care of but I’ve been trying to teach Ricky how to make a few slow cooker meals so supper won’t be a hassle for any of them. Let me tell you a little about my husband – he is an Engineer. He is one of the most intelligent people I know, can design entire space stations and such on his own, but when it comes to cooking his intelligence kinda gets in the way a bit. Just to show you how smart he is, below is something he designed from start to finish in CAD program called SolidWorks (we are sooooooo a SolidWorks Family. Even my eleven year old has been learning the software).

See? Takes a smart fella to make that. Can he cook supper though? We’ll be finding out this week!

His past cooking ventures have been kind of interesting. The perfect example of this is shortly after we were married. He said he was going to cook a special dish for me, a recipe he made up in college called “Beef Rice”. Beef Rice consists of beef flavored Rice-A-Roni and cooked ground beef stirred together. Now, don’t get me wrong, we still eat Beef Rice to this day, but it was how he went about cooking it that made me realize I was destined to be the cook in this family.

Apparently, he had always cooked the beef first and then washed and dried that pan before getting out a pot for the rice and cooking it next. Well, on this fateful day he had a brilliant idea!

What if he cooked the Beef in the skillet AND the rice in a pot AT THE SAME TIME!?

As this groundbreaking idea hit him he called me into the kitchen by yelling “Baby come here!  You aren’t going to believe this!” I came into the kitchen half expecting to see the image of Jesus on his toast by the tone in his voice only to find him beaming like a school kid from the stove as he declared “I’m cooking SIMULTANEOUSLY!”

~blinks~

I had to wonder if he thought we started cooking our suppers first thing in the morning in order to have all of it done by dinner time but didn’t say anything. Instead, I congratulated him on his new found skill, went into the bedroom, and called Mama to tell her.

We still get a giggle out of that today. So in my attempt to expand Ricky’s cooking repertoire beyond PB&J and Beef Rice, here are some slow cooker recipes I’ve been trying to teach him.

P.S. There is no earthly way I could have spelled “repertoire” without spell check. I’m jes sayin…

Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice

Ricky has been having cow fits over this stuff lately and has assured me he WILL be making it this week.

Tender Roast And Veggies

Ever make a pot roast and have it turn out dry? Dry roasts will be forever behind you now!

One Slow Cooker Recipe: 2 Different Meals

This is a great way to cook a roast and get two nights worth of suppers out of it!

Ricky’s Favorite Slow Cooker Pork Roast and Veggies

I can get ANYTHING I want just by offering to make this for my husband! This post includes the entire menu pictured.

Rustic Tomato-less Beef Stew

I just love a good and hearty stew!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork BBQ

This is the type of BBQ we have in North Alabama with a tender and flavorful pork and a nice clear sauce to pour over it. YUM!

Cheesy Chicken And Rice

I think this one is my personal favorite

Valerie, thank you so much for today’s quote! I just love it!!!

If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch,

you must first invent the universe.

~Carl Sagan

Submit your quote to our collection by clicking here. Don’t worry if it has been submitted already, that just means it bears repeating

Family Adventure Days began when my husband and I realized that while we were all together at home on the weekends, we weren’t actually tuning into each other as a family. With the temptations of video games, tv, and the internet at home, we decided to set aside one day each weekend that we are able to leave the house and get out and have some fun together as a family. This began last September and has been the best thing that ever happened to the Jordans!

Hope you enjoy this post and be sure to enter my big Nestle giveaway (FREE Groceries) at the bottom!

Alright so this family adventure day is a little different for us because it is missing a key person but has eight additional ones in his place! Ricky (the daddy in our family) was at work when my mother called and asked if Brady, Katy, and I wanted to come with her and my other Auntlings to Tate Farms in Huntsville, Alabama. The kids were on fall break and I had a TON of work to do with Southern Plate and trying to get ready for the first big leg of my book tour (click here to see where I’m traveling this week). but you know what? A chance for my kids to spend the day with their cousins and grandmother just can’t be passed up so I put ye olde “to do” list on the back burner and we headed out.

Pictured above Clockwise: Jake, Lane, Brady, Austin, Elle, and Katy Rose.

This is me and my girly auntlings: I’m holding Elle, Morgan is to my left, and Katy Rose is in front.

Morgan really wanted to be on Southern Plate !

As you can see, the entire day was just one big old photo op amidst the fun!

We had eight kids with us and by this time my sister, Patti, joined us too.

I told Mama I felt like we were the Duggars!

Speaking of the Duggars. This is SaraBeth.

I got to meet her during the Southern Plate Scavenger Hunt and we had a great time getting to chat.

Turns out we are both big fans of the Duggars tv show! ~waves to SaraBeth~

She told me she is a big fan of Southern Plate and after meeting her, I’m now a big fan of SaraBeth!

Another great photo op of the kids at the Pumpkin house.

I LOVE this one. If you look real close you can see little Elle peeping out from the cotton!

Then to the corn cribs to play! This is always a favorite of the kids.

Katy Rose and Jake

Austin

Lane is smiling up on the left here. He is still reveling in the glory of guest blogging Honeybun Cake on Southern Plate a while back!

These kids think it’s really something to be on here and I am happy to accommodate!

You know, that’s the thing. Kid are so easily thrilled with the smallest things and it is so much fun to make them feel good!

Brady, Katy Rose, Me, Patti, and Elle.

This is on the trailer that takes you out to the pumpkin patch to choose your pumpkin.

Mama, Morgan, Jake, and Austin.

This is also the trailer that is pulled by the tractor that covers you in a thick layer of red dust if it hasn’t rained in a while.

~chuckles~

It hadn’t rained in quite a while…

Then you scatter to the winds on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin!

Victory!

Brady, Lane, and Collin.

And this is a picture we’ll always cherish.

I got pumpkin sitting duty as the kids took some time on the big farm playground.

This is really a neat place, lots of fun. You could easily spend the whole day here and never get bored. As it was we were here a few hours and were exhausted when we left!

Don’t have a pumpkin patch or farm nearby?

You can still have a great Adventure day out of picking out your pumpkin!

• Go to your nearest grocery store, talk it up on the way and let your kids pick out the perfect pumpkin!

• Take photos of the entire process to help make more of an event out of it.

• Afterward, take them out for ice cream, dessert, or even smoothies. Take photos of that, too!

• Bring the pumpkins home and let your kids draw faces on them with permanent markers.

• Be sure to photograph them with the finished pumpkin to instill pride in their job well done.

The key to a wonderful Family Adventure day is not about spending a lot of money or filling your day with amusement park type attractions, it’s in setting aside special time, declaring it special time, and spending it with each other as a family.

And now a little something for your family from Nestle and Southern Plate:

FIVE Winners will be chosen to each win a Nestle Coupon

pack that includes coupons to get everything pictured above FREE.

How do you enter? Simply leave a comment below!

Contest details : Five winners chosen at random using random.org. Contest closes at midnight Sunday, October 17th, 2010. Winners will be notified by email on October 18th, announced on Facebook, and posted on this post.

Thanks for entering and good luck!

Special thanks to the wonderful people at Nestle, who truly understand the value of family time!

This post has been sponsored by Nestle. I have not been financially compensated for this post but Nestle was kind enough to give me the coupons to offer in this giveaway. These disclaimers annoy me so I’m gonna disclaim some fun stuff, too. I don’t like water because it tastes nothing like Diet Dr Pepper and I prefer caramel over chocolate. Oh, and I hope you win!

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I’d love to meet you! This week I’ll be traveling to:

• October 10 -Southern Festival of Books/Nashville(Speaking 1:30, signing books 2:30-4:30)
• October 11 – Books a Million/Huntsville, AL/7:00PM
• October 12 -Square Books/Oxford, MS/5:00PM
• October 13 -Davis Kidd/Memphis/6:00PM
• October 14 -Lemuria/Jackson, MS/5:00PM

For more information and other tour stops, click here.

Yesterday we ended up in the top 100 books on Amazon.com thanks to you!

Please click here to read the post on how you can help us get on the New York Times Bestseller List!

Family faces are magic mirrors looking at people who

belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.

~Gail Buckley. Submit your quote here!

I worked up this recipe especially for my Aunt Sue, who makes the worlds best pound cake but can’t eat tomatoes. How are those two related? Well, beyond me just putting them in a sentence together I reckon that’s about it, but you can get her pound cake recipe in my cookbook ~winks~.

Doesn't he look blissfully unaware?

Y’all, I’m nesting. As we get ready for the book tour, I’m having little minor moments of panic. The good news is that they are minor moments of panic as opposed to significant episodes. While I should be focused on the book and the tour, I’m a mother and so with that, you know full well what I’m thinking about. My poor husband is gonna have his work cut out for him. Y’all might wanna pray for this man, he has no idea what he is getting himself into…

His mother (that sainted woman) is going to be over some to help but there will be times in which he is completely on his own- so I’ve set to fretting at warp speed.

Since I can’t run the house and take care of the kids long distance, I’ve taken to worrying about the little things that I can manage ahead of time. Last night I got to thinking about juice boxes. Sometimes we use as many as four a day, one for each lunch and one for each snack (I think it is cool that my kid’s school has snack time).

So I got to fretting over what would happen if Ricky ran out of juice boxes in the morning. With getting two kids ready, he’d hardly have time to go out and buy any and still get the kids to school on time. Even if he did, he might get the ones with sugar in them and then the kids might end up getting in trouble because they were too hyper. Next thing you know my kids are spending time in prison as opposed to college and the shrink eventually traces it all back to their mother going on a book tour and their father introducing additional sugar into their lives to compensate for her absence..this is how my thought process works.

No worries though, I put that fear to rest right away. Bought fifteen cases of juice boxes.

~exhales~

Then, I passed the paper aisle and got to thinking of all of the possible scenarios of us running out of bathroom tissue while I was away – I’ll spare you those, but let me now put your mind at ease by letting you know that we are the proud owners of 100 double rolls of bathroom tissue.

We also have a fully stocked medicine cabinet, each child has new socks, and enough ground beef is cooked and in the freezer to feed an army. Since nothing I send for snacks has to be refrigerated, this afternoon I’m going to go ahead and make sixty snack bags and put them in a laundry basket so they’ll just have to grab and go while I’m away. I’ve even made up treat bags for their Halloween parties at school. Of course, I am supposed to be home then and I’m not sure if they will even have Halloween parties this year but hey - just in case.

These little things are making me feel a little better about leaving them, something that I could never truly feel good about. Still, I’m making headway, getting a few trivial things done to help me rest a bit easier at night and know that I’ve done what I could to look after my babies when I’m not here. I know it will be a lot easier than I expect it to be and once I get on the road time will pass quickly and everyone will be alright. I also know that in the end we’ll even have more appreciation for one another. This is just part of the journey.

I can’t tell you how much it helps to know that I’ll be spending time with some of you, in person, each day that I am gone.

But now the real challenge awaits me: To teach an engineer how to fix ponytails for a five year old….

To make this stew you’re gonna need: Stew meat,  carrots, potatoes, pearl onions (you can use regular), Dale’s Sauce* (substitution below), and beef broth.

You’re also gonna need a little flour, some black pepper, Thyme, and salt if you use my substitution for Dale’s Sauce.

If you don’t have thyme, don’t sweat it. Just use Italian Seasoning in it’s place and your stew will have a bit different flavor but still be wonderful. If you are new here you may not realize that I pretty much think you could save the world with a $1 bottle of dry Italian seasoning. I love that stuff. Oh, also, if you are new here, welcome! We sure are glad to have  you as part of our family!

~watches as everyone scoots down to make room for another place~

Dale’s Sauce is a marinade available in my neck of the woods but a lot of y’all may not have it near you. If you can get Moore’s Marinade, that’ll work, too. I use the two interchangeably depending on which one is cheapest and I’ve never been able to tell the difference (although I’m sure the Dale’s and Moore’s folks will disagree with that). However, if you can’t get either of them, you can easily whip up my homemade version by using the recipe here.

If you use my recipe, you’ll need to salt your stew a little to taste,because my homemade version isn’t nearly as salty as Dale’s and Moore’s. They give new meaning to the term “salty” so most folks think that is a good thing.

Place your stew meat in a bowl and pour about a cup of flour over it.

Stir it well to coat.

Now place this in a large skillet with a tablespoon or two of oil and cook over medium heat until lightly browned a bit.

We’re not trying to get the meat completely cooked here, just browned. The flour will act as a thickener to our stew as well.

If you decide you want your stew to be even thicker, you can add a few tablespoons of instant potato flakes, one of my favorite thickeners.

There ya go! all ready.

Wash your potatoes and chop them up in whatever way you’re in the mood to.

Cooking is very often about what I’m in the mood for at my house.

Here is where the stew gets it’s “rustic” name. I wasn’t in the mood to peel my potatoes when I did up this recipe so we just leave the skins on, call it rustic, and if we were serving this in a fancy restaurant we could charge double for it just by doing that alone!

This is proof that the world is crazy. Except for Southern Plate folks that is. We just got good horse sense.

Pour your pearl onions over that.

The bag I used had about a cup and a half of them. If you don’t have pearl onions don’t worry about going out and buying them. I make this a lot using just a chopped up vidalia. Whatever you have on hand is fine.

Peel and chop up your carrots a bit and add those.

Add your stew meat and pour in your beef broth.

Pour in your marinade (Dale’s, Moore’s, Christy’s

and thyme.

Bless it’s heart, this is an ugly little herb. As my grandmother would say “God love it”.

and your pepper.

Now cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.

Every time I see the end shot of a good meal I go all Doctor Seuss..

Yum diddy dum dum yum yum YUM!

I like this best with Jordan Rolls but it goes great with cornbread, too!

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Tomato-less Rustic Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup Dales (or my recipe, plus salt to taste if you use mine)
• 1 tablespoon thyme (can use Italian seasoning instead)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 32 ounces beef broth
• 1-2 pounds stew meat
• 5-6 medium potatoes, unpeeled and chopped
• 4 large carrots
• 1-1/2 cups frozen pearl onions or 1 large onion, chopped

Instructions

1. Place stew meat in a bowl, pouring flour over. Stir to coat. Please a tablespoon of oil in large skillet and heat on medium heat. Add coated meat and cook, stirring often, just until browned. Place meat and all other ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4.

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“I like flaws and feel more comfortable around people who have them.

I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.”

~Augusten Burroughs. Submitted by Sandy (thank you Sandy!). Submit your quote to our page by clicking here.

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