Old-Fashioned Dishes for a Family Reunion

I've been craving old-time dishes lately.

Maybe it is because we have Mike has a garden and some of the produce is ripening and fresh garden veggies make me think of lots of the dishes that my grandmothers served up using their garden produce.

Maybe it is because I'm getting older and thinking more like the grandmother I am.

Maybe it is because I'm trying to stir up dishes which are more low-carb for Mike's diet and I'm finding lots of recipes just are not low-carb.  Like one I'm making today that I just love!

Who knows why but when I got out of bed this morning and strolled into the kitchen to prepare what I am taking to the family reunion, my thoughts went back and I started thinking of what I liked to eat when I was a girl and we had family gatherings more often.

One of those recipes I remember my grandmother serving when we would go to her house for Sunday Dinner - which was the meal right after church...

The noon-time meal...

Lunch as I call it today...

Wonder what happened to that tradition?  Maybe when we got older, and the family members got more numerous, and she and Granddaddy moved off to Unionville, the Sunday Dinners seemed to vanish.

Fast times and less family visiting, I guess.

She would always serve this dish at spring and summer visits and I remember it well - Macaroni Salad.  I never got her exact recipe for this dish or for how she fried the VERY BEST fried chicken in the south.

I really regret that now but I was young and times were fast and I didn't do a lot of the things I should have done way back then.

Well, today I found The Pioneer Woman's recipe for Macaroni Salad and it tastes very similar to my Muffa's.  So, I tweaked it a wee bit and it is very close.  Maybe next time I will add a bit of mustard or mustard powder or mustard seed to the dish and see if that is what it needs to be more Muffa-like.

I'm dashing off to the Family Reunion in just a wee bit.  I'll go off with my deviled eggs laid out in a flower pattern on a pretty white plate with a basketweave-patterened-edge, sprinkled with plenty of paprika and a little bit of parsley just like any well-trained southern woman.  In the other hand I'll have my Old-Fashioned Macaroni Salad in a pretty crock bowl nestled in a basket surrounded by ice like all self-respecting southern women would do.  We southern women know just how the old-fashioned dishes need to be presented even if we don't have the exact old-fashioned recipe and are concocting our very own version.

As I'm entering this post I'm thinking of one of my favorite children's picture books, We Had a Picnic This Sunday Past, by Jacqueline Woodson.  I know our reunion is probably going to be much like that story and we will be creating memories for the younger folks in our families.

Hope your Sunday is filled with warm memories of fun gatherings because I know it is probably going to be warm wherever you are if you are in the south today!

Laid Back and Quiet Holiday

With all the rain that was predicted for the holiday yesterday, Mike and I decided to stay home and have a laid back, quiet, and relaxing day.

We enjoyed a little shower during the morning but that only seemed to encourage the thermometer and the humidity level to rise.

Mike slipped out to a nearby farm stand and picked up some squash, since ours is still in the grow and bloom stage.  We diced up bell peppers, yellow squash, and onions and seasoned them up well and cooked them in a foil pouch on the grill.  To that we added burgers, smoked sausages, and hot dogs.  Plus, we had a fresh, vine-ripened tomato!  Yum!

Now, I must confess, when I say WE cooked, what I really mean is Mike cooked it all on the grill.  As you know, I don't grill.  We ate up and crashed in a stuffed-with-good-food coma in front of the TV to watch something via DVR while we listened to the muffled pops of neighbor's fireworks.

While Mike was grilling, though, I stirred up a deliciously, rich and gooey, yummy-to-the-max cake.  If you want to stir up one of the easiest, most delicious desserts you will ever pop your lips on, hop over to my recipe blog for this recipe for Turtle Cake.

Eat your heart out, Bryan!  (This cake used to be one of his favorites.)

While we wound up getting very little rain yesterday, we hope you enjoyed celebrating our freedom just as much as we did and also remembered that our freedom certainly doesn't come free.  Lots of folks paid the price for us and we are ever grateful for their sacrifice.

Because it's BBQ Season...

We pretty much use our grill year-round.

When I say we, I mean Mike.

I don't grill.

Well, I have a couple of times and almost had to call the fire department.

So, I refrain from it and since I ruined the gas side the last time I tried to grill when we almost called the local fire department of our gas and charcoal grill, Mike prevents me from grilling.

Mike is really good at cooking on the grill and he prefers to use charcoal to gas.  This kind-of-sort-of works out to my advantage.  So, every opportunity I get for him to do the cooking, I'm going to take advantage of it!

Since Mike's sugar levels went wonky and he began taking insulin daily, we have focused more on eating low-carb meals and a bit healthier preparation - which includes grilling.  So, we have landed on our favorite way to prepare what Mike used to call flavorless meat - boneless, skinless chicken breast.

About a year ago, our son and daughter-in-law mentioned that  they were taking a stab at some salt-brined chicken cooked on the grill.  I had read about this and was curious.  Especially curious after using The Pioneer Woman's Maple-Whiskey Turkey brine and it turned out so delicious.  Bryan and Jessica reported that their attempt turned out tasty and juicy.  So, I concocted my own brine recipe for chicken.

The first time we attempted this, Mike also had me shape up a couple of hamburgers and he added some hot dogs to the grill - just-in-case.  As it turned out, we both really wound up liking the chicken and have used some variation of the recipe over and over.

Using my Kroger ClickList coupon which offered hot dogs, buns, and lemonade, I ordered us some Pepperidge Farms onion rolls.  Then, I noticed there is a sweepstakes contest listed on the bag.  So, at lunchtime today I prepared and Tweeted out my image as the contest suggested.  (I usually only Tweet from my work account but didn't really think this seemed professional and decided to use my rarely accessed personal Twitter account.)  Not only was my sandwich absolutely delicious, but I hope to win big bucks!  I know that technically my version is not a burger but...Darn!  Doesn't it look tasty?

Unretouched image of my BBQ chunk chicken sandwich on an onion roll - it was yummy!

#RespectTheBunPromotion

I thought I'd pass the recipe along since it is BBQ season and folks might be grilling for the holiday.  Hop on over to my recipe blog to get the brine recipe.

Morning Smiles

I've had the morning smiles here lately.

Well, that is, after I get up and get going and work out the old-age, out-of-shape soreness.

What has been making me smile in the mornings when I'm not really a morning person?  Breakfast!

Well, yes.  Maybe part of that morning smile is because I get to lie abed till later and eat a leisurely breakfast long after the sun comes up because I'm on my summer break, ya'll!

Those late breakfast dates have allowed me to munch on cereal and fruit at a slow pace while sitting out on the back porch.  I have stirred up some beautiful blueberries and yogurt and sometimes even added home-made granola.  Some days I enjoy a nice omelet and the company of my husband.  Some special days I even have the privilege of being served a breakfast cooked by my hubby!

A special treat was provided a few months ago by Mike's friend, Big Willie D.  He gifted us with some breakfast muffins he had stirred up and baked himself.  I was delighted.  I was inspired!

So, I decided to take Big Willie D's verbal recollection of the recipe and tweak it to make it my own. Because it was my nature to put things off, I just now got around to posting the recipe, though.  I highly recommend these muffins to nudge your morning into smiles as well!  Just hop over to my recipe blog for more information and create your own yummy-ness and smiles.

Not Quite Like I Remember...

My mother has made a sweet treat called Chess Cake for as long as I can remember.  She included the recipe in a notebook of collected recipes that she has shared with all us women in the family.  So, when we planned a recent party for my niece, Megan, these sweet treats became a part of the menu.

Bryan volunteered to grill up some pulled pork bar-b-que.  Jessica volunteered to stir up some slaw.  I picked up some chips, corn-light-bread, and baked some beans.  Bridgette suggested a simple dessert of brownie bites, and she and Jessica volunteered to bake them.  I decided to add a bit of variety to the dessert table for those crazy people nutty folks family members who might not want chocolate and dug into the recipe archive for Mama's Chess Cake recipe.  I checked the pantry and gathered my ingredients.  Then, I read the recipe through to make certain this was what I remembered from days gone by.

That's when I noticed the last instruction on the recipe Mama had provided.  It said:

Cut and roll in powdered sugar while still hot.

I NEVER recalled these sweet treats including that step.

I hesitated.

I pondered.

Then, I called Mama to make certain I had the correct recipe in front of me.  After all, I was serving this to guests and I didn't want to make a mistake about a delicious dessert.

She assured me that the recipe was indeed the correct one and the treats would turn out just as I recalled from days gone by.

Then, I mentioned that I NEVER remember having these with the powdered sugar step.

Her response - and I quote:

Well, I might have done that the first time I made them but I didn't think all that was necessary after that.

I informed Mama that I felt really deprived.

I informed her that I felt cheated.

I informed her that I felt misled.

She just giggled and suggested that I sprinkle them with some powdered sugar and it would be fine.

If you want to give them a try, you can find the recipe HERE.

An All-Day Project

I slept late this morning.

It is my second day of summer break and I needed to sleep late.

It was great!

When I finally wandered into the kitchen at around 9:15, I fired up the stove and started cooking some bacon for breakfast.

Well, after I started the coffee.

First things first.

I decided I'd cook up a little extra bacon for a project.

You see, I usually just ask my Mama to make some dishes because I know she is a FAR better cook than me.

This time, I thought I would give one of her recipes a try.

There were six corn muffins left from last night's take-out dinner from Nana's Diner.  Just enough for a good cornbread salad.

So, after breakfast, I crumbled up the muffins into a dish and set that aside.

Then, I started gathering the other ingredients.

I had some left-over October beans from dinner a couple of nights ago...check.

Then, the phone rang...Mike had started to cut hay and the hay cutter had gotten bogged down in the think undergrowth.  So, I slipped on some shoes and trekked out to give him a hand.

Two hours later, sweat dripping off me, grease all over my hands, and itchy from helping Mike work on the hay cutter, I tromped back into the house.

So, I did a good scrub on my hands, sprayed off the rest of my gritty body, changed clothes, and headed back to the kitchen.

Chopped bell peppers...check.

Sour cream, mayo, Ranch Dressing Mix...check, check, check.

Green onions...nope, but there are some growing out in Mike's little garden.

So, I trekked out there to pull up a few...and climbed up on the tractor to put the power-take-off in gear and help Mike for another half-hour.

Then, back to the house to scrub up my arms and change my sweaty shirt again.

Chopped green onions...check.

Grated Cheese...check.

Whole-kernel corn...nope.  Well, I don't really like that anyway.

Tomatoes...nope.  Well, Mike doesn't really like them in a salad anyway.

Then, I crumbled up the extra bacon I'd fried up this morning, covered the dish, and put it in the fridge to chill.

Wow!  A side dish to go along with the steak Mike plans to grill and it only took me all day!

I'm so glad I made this instead of asking Mama to do it.

(You can find the particulars of the recipe HERE.)

Random Ramblings

Periodically I will see something from one of the blogs I follow or a link that I chase in one of those blogs and I will quickly click/copy/paste the link into an email.  Then, I shoot it off to one of the daughters or daughters-in-law with a quick note of...

This porch is getting a spruce up with summer items and pops of colors like you are using.

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...saw this today and thought you might like it...

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or, thought you might need to be reminded of this...

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or, this makes me think of you...

via

or...

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...any number of quick jottings to let them know the post might be of interest to them because it struck a nerve with me.

Today's post is just that.

Random ramblings of things I've stumbled across that I think somebody else might like as well.

You know, things like...

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Wow!  I really like what this sign says and wish SOMEBODY would make a sign for me that says this but in a style that would be a better fit to the style of my home.

or...

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Maybe we should get together and stitch up a couple of these cute summer totes.  Maybe we could add a monogram, too.

or...

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This nautical designer copy-cat tote is a cute one, too.  Maybe we should try this summery version first.

or...

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Oh, how much I'd love to try some of these Skillet Desserts - especially the Chocolate Peanut Butter Skillet Cookie.  Yum!

and...

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I wonder if this recipe is the one I used to make Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars when the children were little fellows.  I should make them again sometime soon!

What have you stumbled upon that you felt the need to share lately?

Happy Random Ramblings to you

Independence Day Celebration and Zucchinis

Well, the nation's birthday celebration sloshed by me.  Mike had to work.  Yuck!

He said, "Maybe if we work on July 4 we can have off Saturday AND Sunday."

I paused only briefly to think about that.  Don't you think something is wrong if he has to work on a national holiday in order to have two days off that he is supposed to have off anyway?

My gripe session about that is over but I would like to have caused a few fireworks with the powers that be over there at the warehouse!

Anyway, yesterday was a sloshy, mushy, rainy day here at the ole homestead.  So, Toby and I spent the day in the kitchen.

Yesterday we had put all of that bushel of yellow squash in the freezer.  Lots of slicing, blanching, chilling, and bagging going on over here.

This was only the first batch...

Then, today, we (meaning I) began work on the bushel of zucchini.  I sliced up some zucchini and dipped it into buttermilk and tossed it into a cornmeal mixture and laid the slices out on a wax paper/cookie sheet.  You can see a tutorial HERE.

I also made Lemon Zucchini Bread using a recipe by NancyCreative.  It is absolutely divine!

Lemon Zucchini Bread with Lemon Glaze

I tried another zucchini bread recipe that my friend Joann G gave me.  It is delicious and she says it freezes well.  You can see that recipe HERE.

I pinned a couple more recipes on my Recipes to Try Pinterest Board that I'm going to give a try.

On another note, Bridgette and family have gone on V-cation and Lillie and Lydia sported their 'zucchinis' (really it was a tankini but guess what was a more familiar term...)  today and went to the hotel pool!

Finally, when Mike got home from work at about eight-thirty, he told me to look out front to see what was going on and this is what I saw:

Yep, there was a roadblock set up right in front of our house!

Stephen and Bonnie fired off a couple of fireworks up on the hill - a warm-up for Saturday, I guess.

Here is what Toby did all day:

Then, when folks started shooting fireworks all around us, he had to look out the window of the back doors and give a few woofs!

Hope your day was exciting and festive.

Trying Something New

Sometimes I feel like I get into a rut.  I don't know what makes me do it.  I find I wear the same three outfits in a rotation or I prepare the same handful of meals in a rotation.  Isn't it nice sometimes to just shake things up?

Well, I had gotten a little bit tired of being in my menu/recipe rut.  So, I started recording Paula Deen's cooking shows and The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  I also started following The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond's, blog.  I also started pinning almost every recipe I thought would be remotely easy and sinfully delicious on Pinterest.  I also started clipping recipes for my ZipList recipe collection.  The next thing I did was go back through all this amalgamation of ideas I had collected.  Then, I made a list of things I wanted to try first - well all the main dishes, anyway.

(As you can see, at one point I got this list confused with my grocery list!)

Of course I first wanted to try all those chocolaty, gooey, delicious desserts first!  But, I forced myself to only look for something to spice up the meal part of our menu.

Then, I began to access those online recipes I had pinned and clipped and bookmarked and we have been shaking things up around here.  The good news is, Mike even commented that he liked the way we have been eating lately!

The first thing I tried was something that claimed to be lower in calories and looked simple and tasty.

You can find the recipe for Yummy Honey Chicken Kabobs HERE.

I made those Chicken Kabobs and they were indeed Yummy!  We at them over a rice pilaf and had a side of fresh pineapple chunks and it was a delicious, lower calorie meal for us.

The next thing I tried was Baked Cheesy Chicken Chimichangas.  See, I was sticking to the lower calorie version of one of our favorites.  Aren't you proud of me?  I was.  They did indeed turn out to be tasty and in some ways better than that you could get at a restaurant - You know except I did the grocery shopping for ingredients instead of somebody else and I did the cooking instead of somebody else and I did the clean-up instead of somebody else.  You can find the Chimichanga recipe I adapted HERE and my version HERE.

To celebrate Father's Day and honor Mike and my Daddy, I tried Loaded Nachos with home-made Pico de Gallo and we had a Nacho buffet for everybody to enjoy.  I used The Pioneer Woman's recipe and you can find that HERE.  It was an easy feast for a crowd and seemed to be gobbled up with gusto by everybody!  Plus, there were leftovers that Mike and I had the next day.

Doesn't this chunky Pico de Gallo look delicious?  It was!

Even after that we still had leftovers.  Now, I LOVE leftovers but Mike is good for one revisit but rarely any more after that.  So, I took the beef and bean filling and created Chimichangas by adapting the other new recipe.  You can find my newly adapted recipe HERE.

I'll share some more of what we have been trying that is new in later posts.  Or, you can go to Recipes Out of the Blue if you just cannot wait.