This delicious recipe is at the bottom of the post. Hope you get to try it soon!

Be sure and share your special Cast Iron memories in the comments below!

(more details at bottom of post)

Today I’m thrilled to bring you a guest post from the good folks at Martha White, along with a fun announcement! The National Cornbread Festival is coming up! The cornbread festival is held each year in the neat little town of South Pittsburg, Tennessee, and this year Martha White has asked me to be a judge. So I get to participate in the festival AND taste all of the yummy entries, to boot! The festival is a weekend long family event with all sorts of fun activities taking place, including tours of the Lodge Cast Iron Factory. Click the Cornbread Festival logo at the bottom of this post to visit the official homepage and learn more.

I’m really looking forward to meeting more of the Southern Plate Family! We have a page over on Facebook where folks can RSVP that they are coming so if you plan on coming out for the fun this year so click here to head on over there and let me know so I can look forward to seeing your face and keep you posted on times and location of the Southern Plate Family meet and greet.

I’m also hoping some of you will enter the competition. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a member of the Southern Plate family won it? I happen to know that y’all are a group of extremely talented cooks – who cook for the love of family and friends – and I can’t imagine a dish tasting better than one made by one of you. For the official rules of the competition, click here. To go ahead and enter, click here.

This Monte Cristo Skillet was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2006 National Cornbread Festival. It caught my eye because I recently had my very first Monte Cristo Sandwich and absolutely loved it. Southern Living sent me to Charleston to do some presentations for the Taste of Charleston Festival. Have you ever been to Charleston? Oh my goodness gracious, is that a beautiful town! With every sight and sound I became more determined to bring my family back there someday so I could experience it with them (It is hard to enjoy a trip without the folks you want to share it with beside you).

As I’ve started traveling from time to time I’ve taken a queue from my adventurous counterparts at SL and started making it a point to try something new in each place if possible. In Charleston, I had my first Monte Cristo Sandwich and it was right up my alley. I ate it in the cafe of a beautiful hotel right downtown. The flavors were a unique combination for me: Ham, cheese, battered and toasted bread drizzled with a sweet fruit preserves and sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. It was part lunch, part breakfast, part sandwich, part dessert, and all the way good!

So when Martha White offered to guest post I got to nosing around for what recipe I thought would appeal the most to everyone and as soon as this skillet came before my eyes, my heart just settled on it.

This recipe is quick to throw together and feeds six people. I like strawberry preserves with mine but feel free to use whichever you like best. I also omit the turkey and use additional ham in it’s place. Lunchmeat ham works just fine!

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

Love Your Cast Iron?

Be sure and pick up this month’s special Cast Iron issue of Taste Of The South. It is filled to the BRIM with delicious recipes for your cast iron skillet, gorgeous food photography,

and those sweet people even put my name on the cover!

I don’t know who is more tickled, me or my mother!

In this issue of Taste of the South, Paula Deen, Myself, Lucy Buffett,

and many others share some of their special Cast Iron cookware memories.

These skillets, pots, and pans aren’t just cookware for us, they’re part of our heritage.

I’d love to hear if you have any heirloom cast iron memories in the comments below!

My son and all of my nephews love sub sandwiches. Their favorite “fast food” place is Subway so when Brady’s birthday was on the horizon, all of the nephews got together and decided that Aunt Christy should buy Subway for everyone at the party. ~blinks~ Now keep in mind this is five boys, all around the age of twelve. You know the age where they eat everything but the kitchen table, still claim to be hungry, and still have ribs poking through their skin? The age where you can get a 50% raise in pay, clip coupons til the cows come home, and still wonder how you are going to afford to feed the boy who has turned into an eating machine?

I asked a few of them what they would want from Subway and realized that most of them had in mind not one, but two twelve inch subs. ~raises an eyebrow~ It didn’t take long for Aunt Christy to explain that I could not afford to do something like that. Instead I offered them the option of having a sub bar at Brady’s party. “Aww but you can’t toast them like they do at Subway!” “Yours won’t taste like theirs does!”

I stopped what I was doing and turned to them and offered The great revelation (at least that is how it was viewed by them). “Boys, did you know that I used to work at Subway?” Their eyes got big as dollars as they looked to one another, trying to decide if I was pulling their leg. Of course, they didn’t believe me so Brady went and asked his daddy, and then called his grandmother for further verification. Once they all realized it was true I was subject to an intense grilling on the mysteries of sub sandwiches (truly, there are none but the boys like to think so) and then given permission to make the sandwiches for his party.

I asked Brady and the other boys what they liked on their sandwiches and headed over to the grocery deli to pick up my supplies. I made them just as they said and toasted each one. The boys declared these the best subs they had ever eaten and Brady said “Wow Ma, you really ARE a good cook!”

Note to self: impressing Brady is waaaay simpler than you thought.

Now I’m gonna tell you the inside scoop on my stint at the home of Jared, the part that I didn’t tell the boys: I worked at Subway a grand total of 3 months when I was sixteen. It is the only job I’ve ever been laid off from. Their reason ? I couldn’t make a neat sandwich! After my first month there the manager wouldn’t let me make sandwiches anymore and assigned me to work the cash register only. Fortunately for me,  ”neat sandwich making skills” aren’t nearly the requirement in life as I had previously thought. ~snickers~

This is Brady and Drew, two awesome guys who love to cook and eat subs

Our ingredients for the Subinator are: Sliced Deli Ham, Sliced Deli White American Cheese, and Sliced Deli Pepperoni.

Oh, and some sub rolls.

You can use the small pepperoni that you buy in a package if you prefer.

Of course, you can really add anything you like to this, I’m just showing you what the boys used.

You get brownie points for adding a little sister who really wants to be in the picture and is kinda getting on your nerves.

Slice your sub roll in half lengthwise and place some cheese on one side and pepperoni on the other.

Then top with ham.

The boys were really focused on doing this…

and they did a great job

Place the sandwiches on a large baking sheet and put under the broiler in the oven for 2 or 3 minutes, watching closely so they don’t burn.

Please don’t let your kids do this step, but do it yourself. The oven gets very hot and it’s easier than usual to burn yourself when cooking like this.

Remove them when the cheese is melted.

Then carefully close each sandwich and place it back in the oven to toast on top.

Pretend this photo isn’t so yellow if you don’t mind. I’m not into the whole photoshop thing. I would love to take time to learn how to do it but I’ve got pants to hem, buttons to sew, food to cook, posts to write and a book to get going on somewhere in the mix. So it would just be a lot easier if you could pretend this photo isn’t so yellow.

I read something the other day that said “You don’t need more hours in the day. God has given you plenty of time to do what He wants you to do.”

Wow, isn’t that an eye opener? So basically, all of the things that have us running around like chickens with their heads cut off are things that we’re putting on our own plates. ~blinks~ We gotta clear our plates off a bit so we can enjoy what we have. I’m pretty much giving myself a pep talk here and just kinda adding y’all to it by default ( I do that a lot, I know). Oh yeah, my point was that I’m not gonna put “learn photoshop” on my plate, which brings us back to my original request of “Please pretend this photo isn’t so yellow”.

Woops! did I burn those in the back? Nahh, I just toasted ‘em really good ~winks~

Then I turn them upside down and return them to the oven to toast on the bottoms for a minute or two.

And now for the taste testing!

Brady and Drew give them a thumbs up!

I’m also passing on the “recipe” for my nephew Austin’s Subinator below as well. Can you tell the boys came up with this name?

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Brady's Subinators

Ingredients

• Deli sliced Pepperoni
• Deli Sliced Ham
• White American Cheese
• Sub rolls

Instructions

1. Slice each sub roll in half lengthwise. Layer with ham and pepperoni on one side and cheese on the other. Leaving them open, place on baking sheet in oven under the broiler for two to three minutes, watching closely, just until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and carefully (so you don't burn yourself) close each sandwich. Return to oven under the broiler until tops are toasted. Remove from oven and flip upside down. Return to oven until bottoms are toasted. Serve to happy campers :)

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Austin’s Subinator

• 1 Package Frozen meatballs
• 1 jar Pizza Sauce
• White American Cheese
• Sub Rolls

Place meatballs and pizza sauce in slow cooker and cook for several hours on low, or until meatballs are heated through (you can do this in a pot on the stovetop to save time if you like). Slice each sub roll in half lengthwise. Place cheese inside sub roll and then place 4-5 meatballs inside it. Spoon a few tablespoons of pizza sauce inside and serve.

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

“There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.”

~Ralph H. Blum

Submitted by Debbie Strum. Click here to submit your quote or check out more of our ever growing collection. Motivation and inspiration await!

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/07/the-subinator-and-why-i-got-laid-off-from-subway.html/feed 73 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/04/great-recipes-for-leftover-ham.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/04/great-recipes-for-leftover-ham.html#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:11:52 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=14586 Pin it

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I’d love to hear what you had for Easter dinner in the comments section below!

I hope you had a wonderful Easter holiday. We had a great day at my mother’s on Saturday, complete with dyeing Easter Eggs, egg hunts, and a wonderful Easter meal (starring Ham, of course!). Then we came back here for our flashlight Easter Egg hunt in the back yard before turning in and waiting for the bunny. Easter morning was filled with the kids going through their treats and a really great service courtesy of Pastor John Dees. It doesn’t get any better than that!

So here it is Monday and I have a care package of ham in the fridge thanks to my Mama. What to do? In case you have the same bounty, here is my list of favorite leftover ham recipes. Have a WONDERFUL Monday!

Gratefully,

Christy

Ham Salad

I love ham salad, and this is my absolute favorite recipe for it!

Red Beans and Rice

Have mercy, this is some good food right here. Good old poor people food and you know poor folks have always known how to cook good food because we know how to make do with what we have and we can season a dish from start to finish with salt, pepper, a ham bone, and hope.

Top to Bottom Ham and Cheese Bread

Just use leftover sliced ham in place of deli ham in this recipe and dive in!

Shortcut Senate Bean Soup

Love this stuff – and my recipe makes it super easy.

Loaded Potatoes – Make ‘em and Freeze ‘em

These are great to keep in the freezer as a last minute heat-and-eat side or a quick lunch!

Pintos and Cornbread

A Southern Classic

“Life is short, and it’s up to you to make it sweet.”

― Sadie Delany

Submitted by Beverly (thanks, Beverly!). Submit your quote or browse hundreds of others by clicking here.

If you like to make my Homemade Cinnabuns using frozen loaf dough, here is another great recipe to put that dough to use with!

I should really write something meaningful about the Super Bowl here since I am posting this the day before the big whooha. But I’m not really thinking about the Super Bowl right now (not that it is ever something that I entertain with more than a fleeting thought). Instead, I’m thinking about perfect stock image families and how much better it is to be an imperfect family.

Several weeks ago I bought one of those collage frames, a really big one with lots of room to put photos of the family. I hung it over the couch in the living room and even put a sconce thingiemabobber on each side to make something of an arrangement. This is odd for me because I have no known decorating skills. The funny thing is I actually went into a store and asked a lady at a register if she could help me pick something out for my living room. She asked what I needed and I said “just something for a really big wall, maybe a frame or something?” She made a few suggestions and there was a sale and next thing you know we actually have things hanging on our living room wall.

This is a big deal because our we went about seven years in our last house without a blessed thing hanging on the wall because…well, see highlighted statement above .

So I hung that beautiful collage frame up and everyone really enjoyed it. A few times the kids asked me who the people were in it and every now and then when folks happened by they’d walk over to it and lean in a bit, trying to spy any familiar faces amid the stock photo inserts which I hadn’t changed out. Hey, some of them had blonde hair. They could have been extended family.

Yesterday, though, I pulled it down off the wall and actually put photos of our family in it. All sorts of photos from hither and yon. I made most of them black and white beforehand and as a result the faces are a bit softer, some of the photos draw you in a little more, and in my zeal to adjust the contrast and color of one photo there is now the disembodied head of my husband’s brother floating just over Brady’s left ear (see below).

Hey, stuff like that just adds interest .

All of the photos I chose are snapshots. Mama always said that growing up, she liked the snapshots of us better than any posed pictures because that showed who we really were. Some are a little posed, some are silly, some are blurred, and all are special. But perfect like the stock ones that came in the frame? Not even close.

It’s fun to look at the snapshots, though.

Glimpses from our daily lives that aren’t captured in a portrait studio or included in a coupon special package. Mama was right yet again.

As I was looking at all of the neat photos, nothing is perfect and we’re seldom dressed “just so” but man, we sure do have a neat family.

We do neat things together. We get out and go places and have active relationships with one another. I like that, and I like the folks in these photos, disembodied heads and hanging upside down monkeys and tongues sticking out and all. They may not be as posed or perfect as the stock images, but in my life and in my home, it just doesn’t get any better than this rag tag bunch.

What does this have to do with the super bowl or the recipe that I’m bringing you today? Not a blessed thing, of course!

Which is why I like being the host at this virtual family gathering. I can tell any story I want, long as I put a meal on the table at the end.

I just love y’all!

Now we’re gonna make pizza sticks.

You’ll need: Mozzarella cheese, Pizza sauce, frozen white bread dough, and pepperoni or YOUR favorite pizza toppings

My family, God love them, hasn’t got much of an adventurous streak when it comes to pizza toppings. I pretty much like everything except little fish and fruit on my pizza. They like: pepperoni. Yup, thats it. Pepperoni. Sometimes they don’t even want to go that far. So I really really really reccomend that you use whatever pizza toppings your family likes to make this a custom recipe just for you.

Oh, with just one small jar of pizza sauce you’ll have plenty left over for dipping. I usually get the generic but this is what I had on hand today.

You have to thaw your bread dough before starting on this.

There are a few different thawing instructions on the package but I usually just put it on a big plate, cover it, and let it sit out a bit. Squeeze it real good and when you can’t feel a hard spot in the center anymore you’re good to go.

Place the dough on a floured surface. I just pull out a piece of waxed paper for easier cleanup when I’m done.

Putting some muscle into it, roll that out into a rectangle.

My rectangle is about fourteen inches long and about nine to ten inches wide (or so). There isn’t a science to this, just roll it out until you get tired of fooling with it and it’ll be fine.

Trust me, you will eventually get tired of fooling with it-This dough is gonna fight ya a bit.

Spread some pizza sauce over the dough.

I’m spreading about ~tilts head and looks~ maybe 1/3 a cup or so…Just go with what works for you.

Again, there isn’t a science to this.

Sprinkle your pizza toppings over the sauce.

I’m using pepperoni and cheese only (yawn) because my family is weird and they’d freak out and snub their noses if I added in banana peppers, bell peppers, onions, sausage, bacon, ham, mushrooms and a little additional Italian Seasoning for good measure.

Sprinkle about a cup and a half of mozzarella over that.

If you don’t have that much, just use what you have. You can also add more if you like.

And if you have cheddar on hand and no mozzarella, roll with it.

Granny didn’t make extra trips to the store for one little ingredient, she used what she had on hand.

If it was good enough for Granny, it’s good enough for us

Now we’re gonna roll over one of those sides like this.

Then wet your finger and run it along the edge of the other side.

This will help it stick together when we finish rolling it up.

Roll that over and press down a bit.

Wet the edges on the end and fold those up as well until it looks something like this.

Now place that whole loaf seam side down in a greased baking dish or on a baking sheet.

At this point you are supposed to spray plastic wrap with cooking spray and then cover your loaf. This is to keep the wrap from sticking to the bread dough as it rises. I just cut out the middle man and lightly spray my loaf itself, then cover the entire dish with a film of plastic wrap.

Let that rise in a warm place for about an hour or two. You can technically let it rise until doubled but I am seldom that patient, so I just let it rise until its noticably bigger.

I’m just not much of a stickler when it comes to sticking to someone else’s rules when my own work perfectly well and prove to be a better guidance nine times out of ten anyway.

Oh, I get asked a lot where I let my bread dough rise. In the summertime, I let it rise outside. In the winter time, I turn the oven on 350 for about five minutes, then turn it off and open the door. When I can reach in and its just a little warm (not hot), I put it inside. If the oven rack feels hot, I put my pan on top of a cookie sheet first so I don’t risk it cooking a bit on the bottom. I then shut the door – make sure the oven is off before you do any of this of course.

Okay, this is what I mean by “noticeably bigger”.

I left it sitting out for about an hour and a half while I ran an errand and this is good enough for me!

Now its time to take out your aggressions on a sweet little innocent egg. Just imagine it is that spambot that posted a link on your facebook page   ten times over the past two days about how to get a $3000 macbook just by filling out a survey. Or that renegade application that hacked some folks accounts and posted about getting free pizza for life five times this morning in less than two hours.

Roll your eyes and beat away.

You know what my Daddy always said? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

I think folks need to say that more nowadays.

This is what is going to give our bread that gorgeous golden appearance when we pull it out of the oven so take a brush of some sort (I have used a spoon and even my hands when I didn’t have one though) and brush beaten egg all over the loaf.

Don’t you feel all artisan-y right about now?

~grins~

Now take a knife (I find that a serrated one works best, like a plain old steak knife) and cut diagonal slits in the loaf.

Place this in a 350 degree oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and gorgeous.

Like this. Isn’t that a thing of beauty?

If it were me, I’d serve it like that and cut it after everyone had time to “ooh” and “ahh”

I’m just cool that way

When ready to eat, just cut into segments about an inch or inch and a half wide an serve alongside the remaining pizza sauce for dipping.

Now that you have those other two loaves of frozen bread dough, if you REALLY wanna impress folks, mosey on over to my Homemade Cinnabuns – The Easy Way post and put it to heavenly use!

Add this recipe to ZipList!

Stuffed Pizza Sticks

Ingredients

• 1 Loaf frozen bread dough, thawed (I use Rhode's- it comes in three packs)
• 1 Jar Pizza sauce (some for bread some for dipping)
• 1-2 Cups Mozzarella
• Your favorite toppings (Be creative and make this for your family's taste!)*

Instructions

1. Thaw bread dough completely. Roll out on floured surface until it is a rectangle approximately 14 inches wide by eight or ten inches tall (this is just to give you an idea, just eyeball it and you'll be fine). Spread with 1/3-1/2 cup pizza sauce. Sprinkle with pizza toppings and cheese. Wet the edges and fold up sides and ends to seal into a loaf. Place seam side down in a lightly greased baking dish and lightly spray top of loaf with cooking spray. Cover with cling wrap and place in warm place to allow to rise for 1-2 hours, or until doubled.
2. Remove plastic wrap and place in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly and then slice in 1-1/2 inch segments and serve with the remaining pizza sauce.

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

“If you want to be happy, be.”

~Tolstoy

To read more quotes or add your own to our ever growing collection, please click here.

If you have a question about Southern Plate, you might want find my Frequently Asked Questions page helpful .

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/02/homemade-pizza-sticks.html/feed 64 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/02/top-to-bottom-ham-and-cheese-bread.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/02/top-to-bottom-ham-and-cheese-bread.html#comments Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:06:32 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=13597 Pin it

Today I’m excited to bring you a guest post by the guy who I’m pretty sure is my long lost twin. Except for the fact that we look nothing alike, have never lived in the same town, have about ten years or so between us age wise (I’m not saying who is the oldest) and we don’t even have the same blood type (hey, I’m thorough), if you were around us, you’d swear we were twins too.

Stacey has been part of the Southern Plate Family for quite some time but I had the pleasure of meeting him and his wife back in October on my book tour when they showed up with a basket of cookies so divine that I’m not going to tell you what they are called because I’m going to make him do another guest post on them soon (oh yeah, Stacey, I meant to tell you that). I then got to hang out with Stacey again at Food Blog South, where we were both speakers.

We got along like peas and carrots the whole weekend. My friend Jyl said he’s the first person she’s met who talks as much as I do (he really does, I was impressed! I think we speak the same number of Words Per Minute, too!).

The funny thing about Stacey is that we seem to think the same thoughts, but he actually voices them. The last night of Food Blog South, we were at a fancy dinner and the chef was describing in great detail how he prepared each dish, then he got to the part about describing the polenta. I was thinking “ok, got it, fancy grits” but I just about shot ice water out my nose when Stacey leaned in at that exact moment and whispered with a playful smile “Okay, now that would be grits…“

When I saw this recipe on his food blog, Southern Bite, I knew I had to bring it to you. Better yet, I knew I had to make Stacey bring it to you (I just love it when a man does the work, don’t you?) and so I asked and he graciously agreed. I know you’ll enjoy getting to know Stacey as much as I did. Who knows, maybe he’s your twin, too?

Hello to my Southern Plate family!  First let me just say how honored and overwhelmed that I am able to share this simple, but yummy recipe with y’all.  When Christy asked me to do a guest post, I was happier than a hog in slop to share one of my recipes with SP, but being able to share this particular recipe makes it even better, because it’s my Mama’s.

You know, I was thinking the other night about what profound things I could share with you all and thinking about this recipe and it just kinda hit me.  Just being able to share my food and the food of generations of my family with others is exactly why I do a food blog.  All this “thinking” surrounded what would have been my great-grandmother’s birthday; she would have been 98 years old on the 2nd.  And (yes, I just started a sentence with “and” – I’m a rebel like that) I guess it was all this that made me realize why I take the time out of my day to work up recipes or reinvent old ones to share.  I don’t often get an opportunity to share with folks what amazing people my ancestors were, but here in this format, I can share a part of them with others in the food they prepared and shared with their family.  My sweet Bigmama passed away without anyone getting her recipes and I guess in some way as a food blogger I am able to capture and share my family’s food for generations to come.

This recipe is a special one for me to be able to share because it involves several very special people in my life.  For years my Mom had always served this gooey deliciousness any time she made potato soup.  We never really had a name for it.  It was just that ham-bread-stuff.  Not long after my wife (Heather) and I began dating in high school, she got the chance to taste this ham-bread-stuff.  It quickly became her favorite thing for Mom to make and she requested it frequently.  And (oops there I go again with that “and”) by frequently I mean all the time.  She even dreamed about it.   But Heather wasn’t satisfied with it not having a name.  One night during a dream about it she called it Top to Bottom Ham and Cheese Bread and shared the crazy title with us the next day.  The name stuck and we’ve been calling it that ever since.

To my Southern Plate Family: Y’all enjoy!
To my sweet, sweet friend Christy: Thanks for all you have done for me and all you have done and continue to do for families and for Southern food!

To get started, you’ll need:  two loaves of crusty french bread, 2 cups of finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, 1 cup of mayo, about 9 ounces of thinly sliced smoked ham, and about half on a medium sized onion thinly sliced.

Slice the two loaves and bread in half.

Next, combine the mayo and cheese.

Now spread the cheese/mayo mixture on both sides of both loaves of bread.

Place the ham and onion on top.

Not everyone in my family is a big fan of onions, so you can leave them off if you want.

Wrap the sandwiches in aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sandwiches are heated through.

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

Not all who wander are lost.

-JRR Tolkien

Submitted by Kristin. Submit your quote by clicking here. (I’m always looking for new quotes and don’t worry about whether or not it’s a quote I already have, that just means I need it again )

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/02/top-to-bottom-ham-and-cheese-bread.html/feed 63 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

I’d have the original doors fashioned into sliding ones and paint their little support beams a contrasting white. We’d fix a new door on the sides, traditionally sized with a screen that had a wooden frame and spring so it would bang a few times whenever anyone shut it.

Of course, it would have to be atop a hill so that the sun hit it just right every morning and silhouetted it against the sky. And it would have to be int he South, because I can’t leave my homeland and I want the grass to be always green for my little view atop the hill.

Just think of the fun we’d have, especially the kids. Living and growing up in a house that echoes. With walls the color honey wood and real clocks with real pendulums that tick-tock tick-tock. We’d have to fashion several windows because I have found that my level of happiness is directly related to how much sunshine I get on any given day, and I want the house to be lit with as much natural light as possible.

I’d put my great grandmother’s chair right there in the lving room and drape her woolen plaid blanket over the back just as it was when she was alive. Beside it I’d set a large basket filled with embroidery supplies and a mason jar of candy corn just like my Grandaddy always had by his chair to offer to  kids who peered over his shoulder to see what he was up to.

The yard would be even, with the perfect slope atop that hill for rolling down. Kids would find it irresistible to run in and I’m sure I’d join in as well from time to time. Each window would have to have a window box, filled with daffodils in the springtime, geraniums in the summer, and pinecones that we collect for the winter time and would use to help start fires in the massive stone fireplace in the center of it all.

I could finally have those chickens I have always wanted and we’d have at least two more cats along with a friendly old lab who’d thump his tail against the porch railing every time someone came near him and dive after rocks folks threw in the pond for sport.

Just think of how much my children could get away with when they grew up. No matter what they did, they could always fall back on the excuse of “Hey, I was raised in a barn!”.

Today I’m bringing you a hearty breakfast that is no muss, no fuss and made in a jiff. Folks, did you see that gorgeous pic up there? That was made in the microwave. Seriously. No skillets to clean, no muffin pans or baking sheets to wash. Get you a plate and have breakfast in under two minutes flat.  I try to start my day off with protein rather than carbs and this is a great way to do it. In case any of you aren’t morning people (I am soooooooo a morning person – but married to the opposite) it might encourage you to know that you can also make it , start to finish, with one eye still closed.

You’ll need: An egg, slice of cheese, slice of lunch meat ham, and a english muffin.

Here is where you can go crazy with the healthy stuff if you’re so inclined. They have high fiber muffins, low fat cheese, lean lunch meat, and nowadays they have eggs genetically engineered to do just about anything so just go shopping and knock yourself out.

Me? I just use what we have on hand and my only preference for eggs is that whatever laid it clucks of its own accord.

Another cool thing about these ingredients is that if you buy them just for this, when you run out of English muffins you got the makings for a nice little sandwich.

Slice open that English muffin.

If you want, you can toast it. I like to toast mine but its a toss up on any given day whether or not I’ll go to the trouble.

I think it depends on how long before the coffee is gonna be done

I am somewhat in between toasters right now so I just stick mine under the broiler for a few minutes.

Here is the careful part. Crack open your egg onto one of the english muffin halves.

Try not to let it run over but if it does, don’t sweat because it is no big deal. It’ll just cook on the plate alongside the muffin and when you’re done you can scoop it back up onto your muffin with a spoon. I was just realllly being careful for this tutorial but normally – blah! Crack the egg and don’t fret.

Now take the other half off the plate and microwave the half with the egg on it for about a minute. Keep an eye on it because each microwave will be slightly different. It will puff up a bit but should be done in 45 seconds to one minute.

Note: I use the smallest egg I have on these to help keep so much from spilling over onto the plate.

Some of y’all have wisely suggested pricking the yolk with a fork. While I don’t do this, because I’m such a wild child and all of that, its a good idea for you to to help vent the egg a bit.

Then I like to put a dash of salt and pepper on mine.

Now this egg will be hard cooked, not runny in the middle, just so ya know – And it won’t taste at all like it was cooked in the microwave.

I’m trying to think of a cute little jingle about eggs to sing here but drawing a blank…

ooh! ooh! I got one!!

~clears her throat and begins to sing~

I love eggs!

from my head down to my legs!

Ooooh you’re gonna love it

the incredible, edible egg!

Oooohwaaaahhh!!!

Okay so that’s cooked, put a piece of ham on it (or whatever critter you prefer to use)

Last week I told this entire long winded story to Katy about how we didn’t have chicken nuggets growing up and whenever we wanted chicken nuggets we’d have to go in the back yard and hunt squirrels with bb guns and then Mama would cook the squirrels so that they looked like chicken nuggets and we’d pretend…

It was just one of those fifty thousand question sessions five year olds like to spring on you that sometimes go wrong. Haven’t decided when I’m going to tell her I was kidding about it yet… We were in the sun room a while ago and a squirrel clamored up onto the deck. I saw her cast this wide eyed look of expectancy towards me. Like she thought I was about to go into some mad hunting frenzy.

~giggle~

Top with piece of cheese and other half.

Nuke that again just until the cheese melts, about twenty to thirty seconds (again, depending on power of your microwave)

Enjoy you breakfast (or lunch!)

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The recipe that is not shared with others will soon be forgotten,

but when it is shared, it will be enjoyed by future generations.

Submitted by Tina. I feel very strongly about this, thank you so much, Tina. What an honor it is to be when someone asks for a recipe. Please share yours with your family. I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve gotten from folks saying someone passed away and their recipes went with them. If you love somebody enough to cook it for them, love them enough to share the recipe as well. Submit your quote here.

“If I was any happier, I’d be twins!”

~Old Southern Saying

This is not a dish you would have seen back in the day in my family. My Great Grandmother Lela never even knew how to make what we all call “loaf bread”. Having a hard life of working in the fields from the time she was old enough to pull a cotton sack, Lela, like so many other Southerners, considered food preparation to be a necessity in order to survive. Few took the time to work with yeast when biscuits were practical, portable, quick and affordable.

Grandmama said they always took biscuits to school for their lunch but she remembers being embarrassed to eat around the other children who had sandwiches made with loaf bread instead of stuffed biscuits. They never dreamed of asking for it from their Mama though, knowing how hard she already worked.

Four generations later, I’m every bit as practical as my Great Grandmother. Although I do enjoy making yeast breads from scratch when I have the time, when it comes to getting dinner on the table for a hungry family, I take an easier approach. That’s why I love this recipe.

Made with surprisingly affordable frozen bread dough, this is a throw together recipe which only requires time in terms of waiting for your dough to thaw and rise. I dreamed this up some years back and it was an instant hit. I encourage you to adapt this recipe to your own family, adding vegetables and spices that you enjoy in order to make it truly your own. My version is very simple (to please little ones who like it that way!) and is a great starting place for you. This sandwich is gorgeous when its baked and impressive when cut but when you taste how wonderful it is, you’ll be shaking your head at the ease of such a filling meal!

For my ingredients, I use three things: Cream of mushroom soup, ground beef, and a thawed loaf of frozen yeast bread.

Before you place your bread out to thaw, spray cooking spray on the plate so that it doesn’t stick to it.

If I were making this sandwich for me and not the picky eaters in my home, I’d cook my meat with some chopped onions and bell peppers . I have a few other suggestions at the bottom, too.

Let your bread thaw but not rise. Spray some waxed paper with cooking spray.

Place thawed loaf on sprayed waxed paper.

This bread dough is purchased in packages of two or three loaves in the freezer section of the grocery store. I often have a difficult (or nigh on impossible) time finding it at my Wal Mart and end up having to go elsewhere. Funny thing is, all of the other Wal Marts I venture into seem to carry it at all times, go figure!

If they do have it at your local Wally World, chances are that it isn’t at eye level. I always have to look way down at the back of the bottom shelf near the frozen biscuits and such. No idea why they make you work so hard for it but I have never once seen it in an easy to spot location.

You can buy any brand, really, but a popular one is Rhode’s. I found the frozen loaves I used for this at Publix and it was an off brand.

Honestly, I’ve never seen a bit of difference in quality from one to the other so just get whatever you can find.

In a bowl, combine cream of mushroom soup and ground beef.

If you like, you can use fat free cream of mushroom soup for this as well.

Really, you can use any type of cream soup also.

I cook large batches of ground beef all at once and package in zipper sealed bags to place in the freezer. This streamlines meal preparation considerably in addition to making the mess only once instead of twelve or more times.

I don’t weigh out my beef, I simply get a one cup measuring cup and measure one cup or two cups into a bag. It is easy to tell which bags hold more and when I am feeding a bit more I get a larger portion. When making many dishes with ground beef, my family doesn’t notice if I put less ground beef than what the recipe actually calls for. I have even put half of what was called for before, if I was running low.

Little money savin’ tip there for ya!

On  your greased surface, roll out your thawed loaf. This is gonna take a rolling pin and a little bit of muscle as the bonds in the bread dough will resist ya a bit. Just lean into it and roll for all you’re worth! There is no required size for this but I make mine about 17 inches by 14 inches.

Seriously though, just roll it til it looks right to you and don’t worry ’bout that!

Spoon ground beef mixture down center of loaf.

Fold sides over and pinch to seal. Do this with ends, too.

Transfer this to a greased baking sheet, seam side down. I lined mine with aluminum foil because I was in the mood for easier clean up. Sometimes we deserve to give ourselves a little breaky-break.

Y’all know I use generic Aluminum foil too, don’t you?

Spray a bit of cling wrap with cooking spray and cover your loaf to allow to rise.

You have to spray the cling wrap to prevent it from sticking to your bread as it rises. This needs to be kept in a warm place and allowed to rise anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours, until it is doubled in size. If your house is warmer, it might rise faster so just pay attention to the size of it.

Someone asked me in a comment a week or so ago if a certain brand of plastic wrap was needed for my recipes. Honestly, plastic wrap annoys me. It seems I can never just pull a sheet off the roll and have it NOT set into wadding up on itself. I haven’t the patience for it. With this in mind, I do tend to buy name brand plastic wrap. Now y’all don’t go thinking I’m getting all snobbish on ya, you know I’m cheap as they come on everything else!

I haven’t had time to post that in response to her comment, either. I tend to stay behind on comments with  my kidders and all but please know that I read and appreciate every blessed one of them!

Once it’s risen, brush a beaten egg over the top so it will come out gorgeous and golden after its baked.

Some bread recipes say to use an egg white but why go to the trouble of separating it?

Life is complicated enough on its own without our putting our two cents in.

Using a sharp knife, Cut several angled slits in the top of your loaf.

Sometimes I part them a bit with my knife, to, if my bread is sticking together a bit where I cut it.

Bake at 350 until golden, about thirty minutes.

Let sit for a few minutes and then cut into slices.

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

More quick & easy ground beef recipes your family will love:

Pizza Rolls

Not Your Average Joe, Sloppy Joes

Deep Dish Pizza

Perfect Man Food: One Skillet Chili Bake

Christy’s Crock Pot Chili

Hobo Packets

Crock Pot Salisbury Steaks

Taco Soup

Meatloaf: Making, Freezing, and Small Batch Options!

This is going to be a busy week for me with my husband out of town (all week), three Valentine’s parties to work on, lots of Southern Plate business and oh…I think my birthday is smack dab in the middle of there somewhere, too! I won’t have much time to respond to comments but please keep them coming! Your comments are the heartbeat of Southern Plate!

Gratefully,

Christy

This fits into the category of a “non recipe” for me but Mama swears up and down there is someone out there who would like to see how we make chicken salad. So, I’m gonna mind my Mama and post it. Whenever a Southerner “Swears up and down” about something, its in your best interest to believe them .

I’m going to keep this post short and sweet because I am getting ready to go see my son in his violin recital! They actually teach violin to third graders in our public schools, how cool is that? Both myself and my Grandaddy played violin “back in the day” and My Grandaddy and I always enjoyed going back and forth over whether it was a violin or a fiddle. Of course, it all depends on the music you play. I was learning to play classical music at the time and Grandaddy was more of a “Lil’ Brown Jug” type guy. I now have my violin and my Grandaddy’s fiddle. I miss seeing him play it. My Grandaddy could pick up any instrument and play a tune after just plucking a few strings to hear how it sounded. He even made instruments in his shop out of jugs, wood planks, and a few guitar strings and played the most lively songs on them! I was very close to my Grandaddy and you’ll end up hearing a lot about him in future posts. But for now, I suppose I should get back to chicken salad.

How many of you have tried the chicken salad sandwich from Arby’s? It is utterly divine in every possible fashion. I know some of you are thinking “A chicken salad sandwich from a fast food place?”. Trust me, its sooooooooo good and this one is right on the money!

My Katy said it was too “puffy” so she fixed that for me.

 *I used Wheat Berry Bread from Nature’s Own which I purchased at Wal Mart.