Authentic dirty rice contains chicken livers, but don't fret if you don't like them. Follow this recipe, but increase the beef or pork and you'll have a wonderful basic undirty Cajun Rice.

Cajun Dirty Rice

There are as many dirty rice recipes as there are southern cooks, but authentic dirty rice recipes always include chicken giblets of some kind - usually livers, though the kidney, heart and gizzard are often used as well.

This is just one of those Cajun dishes that was born out of the tradition of using every part of the animal in meals.

Also, when we cook rice in the south, which we do regularly, we tend to cook a bunch so that there's just about always some rice hanging around in the fridge. This dish is a great way to use some of that leftover rice, which I feel surely must've had something to do with its creation in the first place.

The Holy Trinity of Southern Cooking

The Holy Trinity of Deep South Cooking - onion, sweet bell pepper, celery and sometimes wit da Pope (garlic) - is the building block of many Deep South recipes.

How to Make The Trinity of Cooking

One thing you will see repeated over and over in Deep South cooking is the use of the holy trinity of southern cooking, or just simply "the trinity" - onion, celery and bell pepper - sometimes used in equal amounts, but not always.

My trinity is very often 1 cup (sometimes more) chopped onion, 1/2 cup chopped sweet green bell pepper or sometimes red, even yellow or orange, or a combination of two or more and 1/4 cup of chopped celery, because that's the ratio I tend to like the most.

It's simply a combination of aromatic vegetables that are widely used as seasoning vegetables across the south.

A Few Christmas Cookies & More Coming Soon!

I apologize for the quality of this picture, but this was taken when I had baked cookies and put together mugs of packaged candies for some of hub's friends back in 2006, so it was before I had my Canon Rebel XTi which I love, love, love. So the pics on the links are also pretty awful, but at least they will give you an idea of what these cookies look like anyway.

I'm going to start posting some picture-less Christmas cookie and candy recipes in the coming days, but I wanted to repost those cookies up there too since I promised a friend I would. These are for your Diana and are three of my favorite Christmas cookies.

Now this Christmas I am on a quest to do some hand decorated cut out cookies (wish me luck!) so whether I actually get to making any other kind and getting pictures up or not is yet to be seen, but since I want to join all of my recipes here with all of my go-to recipes, I'm gonna post them without pictures just so they will be in one place and handy. Course if those cut-outs are a disaster, this here is the last word you'll ever hear about them!

The Pecan Crescents were my attempt to duplicate my mother's Finger Cookies, though they do sound better as crescents. I did shape these into crescents. I think they must've picked up the finger cookie name when folks stop bothering to curve the cookie into a crescent shape and I guess somebody said "hey... those look like fingers!" I have since found my mother's recipe handwritten in the back of one of her old cookbooks, but it is a big batch, so I may stick with these because they were very good. I've seen this pecan cookie recipe used at Halloween with food dye and made to resemble witches fingers.

I love coconut so these Jam Thumbprint cookies are one of my favorites and often show up on the Christmas goodies table. They are simply delicious!

And last of this repost round are the Chocolate Snowcaps. I love how the powdered sugar pulls away as the cookie bakes and creates a cracked pattern on the surface. They are also delicious.

As I mentioned, I will be posting some other recipes without pictures and of course I'll update them with pictures if I get around to making them, so be on the lookout. In the meantime I hope you give these a try - and please, come back if you would and let me know if you liked them. Enjoy!

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  Blueberry muffins made with both mashed and whole blueberries and topped with cinnamon sugar.

Double Blueberry Muffins

This recipe for Double Blueberry Muffins was one of the first recipes I put up on my then general interest blog that spawned off this food blog.

An extra large white bread, made in a 10 by 5 inch loaf pan.

Extra Large White Loaf Bread

When I made this bread, I wanted a large loaf that rose well above the depth of the loaf pan so I used a larger 10 by 5 inch loaf pan. I think I managed it don't you? This really is an excellent white bread and it is easy to make with a stand mixer, though you can certainly do the kneading by hand too.

Dough Tip - Clean Up

When it's time to shape or roll out dough, best way to manage this is to shape the dough right on the same piece of parchment that you're gonna bake on, but sometimes I turn it right out onto the counter top and the clean-up used to be a mess. Then I figured out that I could drag my kitchen wastebasket right to the edge of the counter and use my bench scraper to scrape the loose flour and sticky pieces of leftover dough straight into the trash can. Depending on your counter top surface you may need to be a bit more gentle so not to scratch it, or maybe find some other softer straight-edge surface. Mine is cheap-o laminate and this works great on getting all that flour and dough up, and no more goopy sponges or scrubbing required either! Less work? I'm all for that!

Bread Tips - Rising

I buy yeast by the jar and store it in the freezer. When I'm ready to make rolls or bread, I remove whatever amount of yeast that I need and let it come to room temperature. Success with any kind of bread or yeast rolls is dependent on the yeast and the freezer keeps it fresh for a long time. Hasn't failed me yet! The jar I use is labeled bread machine rapid rise.

Use the appropriate sized loaf pan. Many times recipes do not specify a size though, so if it doesn't, assume a smaller loaf pan size.

Always proof the yeast by adding some of the warm (110 degree F) liquid to the yeast with at least a pinch of sugar. Let it rest for 5 minutes. If it doesn't puff up and double, the yeast is dead and you must discard it and start over with fresh yeast.

Southern Christmas Dinner Menu and Recipe Ideas

A Southern Christmas menu and collection of Christmas recipes, all from DeepSouthDish.com.

In my extended Southern family, Christmas dinner is always a near duplicate of our Thanksgiving dinner with the addition of seafood dishes, but even in the South, recipes for a Christmas menu can range from the familiar turkey and dressing, to large cuts of prime beef and crown roasts, leg of lamb, dishes centered around at least seven fish recipes and even meals centered around BBQ fare or Sunday gravy and lasagna.

Don't toss that leftover turkey carcass! Repurpose it into a whole new meal with a stock made from the bones for turkey noodle soup.

Turkey Carcass Soup

Don't throw away that leftover turkey carcass. Turn it into a warm and comforting turkey soup.

Here's how to make it.

A delicious oven roasted rump roast that marinades overnight with a Greek seasoning, salt, pepper and lemon marinade, then coated with cream soup, topped with mushrooms and bacon, and it makes it's own mushroom gravy.

Oven Roasted Beef Rump Roast with Mushroom Gravy

This delicious beef roast is from a lady I love, known in Louisiana Cajun country as Miss Lucy. She has written several cookbooks {affil link} and her shows can sometimes be found on local public broadcast television or rural tv stations. Her recipes are what she calls "classic Cajun," and generally very basic. Besides the typical Trinity, her primary seasonings are salt, pepper and hot sauce. Of course, on occasion she also uses another couple of things, but you can rely on her cooking to be basic and simple Cajun country cooking, with rare exceptions like her more involved Crawfish Bisque. This particular oven roast beef she calls "The 'B' Roast," which she named so after the friend who gave the recipe to her.

Open roasted red potatoes, tossed with olive oil and herbs and finished with melted butter and fresh parsley.

Open Roasted Red Potatoes with Herbs

This is one of my most favorite ways to eat potatoes - simple, with just a sprinkle of kosher salt, a few turns of the pepper grinder, some herbs, a little garlic powder and some Cajun seasoning, drizzled with pure extra virgin olive oil and roasted in the oven, tossed with a little melted butter and some fresh parsley - so good y'all! Toss in a packet of dry onion soup mix - remember that? When you're grilling, try these on a skewer with wedges of Vidalia onion. Classic and comforting.

Lightly caramelized onions are sauteed with Italian sausage, a little chicken broth, tomatoes, cream and seasonings and tossed with rigatoni pasta for a quick skillet meal.

Italian Sausage Rigatoni with Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce

This is another one of those quick pantry meals because it uses ingredients I almost always just have on hand. The sauce is a great accent to the Italian sausage and truly nothing could be easier. I used rigatoni, which works perfect with the sausage and cream sauce, but the recipe works well with many other pasta shapes as well. Try it with bow ties or rotini - here's how to make it!

Ozark Pudding - Huguenot Torte

 

Ozark Pudding, in this baked version, creates a sugar cookie type of topping as the flour rises to the top. Underneath is a gooey, super sweet filling, very reminiscent of pecan pie, so that the dessert becomes somewhat of a cross between that and apple pie.

Ozark Pudding

I was flipping through an old holiday cookbook last night - I don't even know the name of the cookbook or when it was published because the cover and the first 12 pages have been long missing to the point of where I had to fashion a cover out of card stock just to preserve what was left of it.

I know that based on the typeset it is pretty old, and it is some kind of holiday cookbook because it has specific sections for holidays and occasions.

This cookbook was in my mom's stuff when The Cajun and I cleaned out her house after finally selling it after she passed away, though it does have my kid sister's name in the front of it. Since neither she nor my brother were there to pack and lay claim to anything left there, I guess I own it now by default and simple possession.

A scrumptious and super easy casserole of shrimp, rice, cream soups and The Trinity.

Shrimp Casserole

I absolutely, positively, without a doubt LOVE this casserole. So yummy - if you love shrimp, you will not be disappointed.

It's a very simple casserole using a little Trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery), some good andouille or smoked sausage, a couple of cream soups to make things easy, cooked rice and of course, shrimp. By using a package of frozen, already peeled and deveined shrimp, this comes together unbelievably quick. It is really a wonderful casserole that I hope you'll enjoy as much as we do.

A layered pudding dessert with a shortbread type crust, topped with a peanut butter cream cheese layer, then pudding and topped with whipped topping.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Layered Dessert

I'm pretty sure the dessert was born out of the 70s, and like all the other layered desserts, it has the press in crust, the layers of cream cheese and pudding and topped with whipped cream. The one difference is that this one has peanuts and peanut butter and if you love peanut butter, you will adore this version.

Perfect for big events, parties, potlucks and the like, back in the day it was known as Jimmy Carter Cake. If you're not a fan of the namesake, don't let that discourage you from trying this dessert, because frankly it is awesome. Just name it something else!

Perfect Steamed Rice

 

No more goopy, gooey rice. Follow this method exactly and get fluffy, beautiful and perfect rice!

How to Make Perfect Steamed Rice

I have been making rice this way as long as I have been cooking. These days I use an electronic rice cooker, and I even steam hard cook eggs in the thing sometimes! But... if you haven't gotten one of those yet, first, put one on your Christmas list, but then, in the meantime, try this method exactly as it is written and you will have beautiful and fluffy, perfect rice. Here's how to do it.

Homemade cranberry sauce, from fresh, whole cranberries.

Fresh Cranberry Sauce

Homemade cranberry sauce is really easy to do and such a special touch at the holidays and you can put whatever you like in it - pecans, walnuts, raisins, currants, mandarin orange wedges, and spices such as nutmeg, cardamon, allspice, cinnamon, or whatever you like. You don't have to eat that canned glob of jelly goo - not that there's anything wrong with it - heck, I grew up with it! Make your own instead and turn some heads!

These pan roasted potatoes are a delicious change from the everyday. Simply slice, sprinkle with salt and pepper and your favorite herb, top with Parmesan cheese, cover and bake!

Pan Roasted Rosemary Parmesan Potatoes

A simple but delicious potato side dish that is another one of my favorite ways to serve potatoes. Salt and pepper are a good start, even seasoning salt (I really love Jane's Krazy) {affil link}, but after that feel free to get adventurous with your favorite herbs and seasonings.

Easy to throw together and bakes quickly since they are sliced thin. I highly recommend using a slicer {affil link} - it's easier, it's faster, and the slices are uniformly even for better cooking. Both The Cajun and I love these potatoes. I could literally eat these as a meal!

A classic pumpkin pie from Libby's, made here with a praline topping and served with a maple rum sauce.

Praline Pumpkin Pie with Maple Rum Sauce

I use Libby's Perfect Pumpkin Pie recipe as the basis of my pumpkin pie and I have for years.

After all, if it's good enough for Martha Stewart, it's good enough for me too.

Yes, it's true! That's the pumpkin pie recipe Martha recommends.

Really though, I know myself well enough to know that I am not about to roast a pumpkin and go through all that mess to make a pumpkin pie, and frankly Libby's 100% pure pumpkin product and Perfect Pumpkin Pie recipe have always provided a consistently great pumpkin pie, so why try any other?

Believe it or not, folks who comment on Facebook that they had used a recipe for anything for years and it's always perfect but "I might just try this one," I always respond - why would you? You know the old saying... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

So as to Libby's pie, don't go messing with it, you hear?! It's absolutely perfect as it is, I promise!

I do say, however, carry your own unique signature in the way that you top it, and in the sauces you can make, like this maple rum sauce ... this is where you can make your own signature pumpkin pie!

I happen to like pumpkin pie with a praline topping, but you can omit that altogether if you like and serve it unaltered - but for a dollop of whipped cream, which, frankly, is almost required!

Maple Rum Sauce

Maple Rum Sauce

1/4 cup of pure butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons light rum
1/2 teaspoon maple extract

Melt together the butter, brown sugar and whipping cream until mixture comes to a boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in the rum and maple extract.

Drizzle over pie or use as a dessert sauce for cakes.

When you have a food processor, making a homemade pie crust is so easy it's sinful. You can still make it without one of course - it just takes a bit of extra work.

Homemade Pie Crust

I know some of you love the pat in the pan pie crust because it's so easy. You just stir the ingredients right into the pie plate and then press it in. It forms a crumbly crust and probably works best for cream pies, which help it hold together, but frankly, I've tried them and have to say that I am not a fan. Maybe I'm just a pastry snob, but when I go to the trouble of making a scratch pie, I want a pie crust that is tender, crisp and flaky and the pat in the pan versions of pie crust just don't give that result.

Did you know that these simple fried balls of cornmeal and flour were actually born out of leftover fish fry coating? We tend to do them a little more on purpose these days and there are many add-ins to make them a stand-out.

Hushpuppies

Have I mentioned I love using a deep fryer?

No, of course I don't use one every day, or even every week for that matter - nobody should. By the way, there is some preconceived notion across this fine country of ours, that we Southerners deep fry or smother everything in heavy layers of cheese. We don't.

Okay, there are some who do, but they are not the majority. However, when frying some foods in oil, deep frying is the more perfect solution and heads above better than pan frying. Food is quickly cooked in a deep fryer with much less absorption of oil than pan frying.

Classic Old Fashioned Lemon Squares

Sweet and tart, these old fashioned lemon squares are a classic.

Lemon Squares

I'm not a huge sweets eater, although I do have a few recipes here for some of my favorites. I don't tend to crave after a sweet as much as something savory and salty, unless it's those basic things - like homemade brownies, chocolate cake, pig pickin' cake, or these lemon bars.

A cafeteria lunchroom favorite, this soup from days long gone by and my all time favorite, made with a tomato and beef broth base, ground beef, a mixture of veggies and seasonings, and flavor boosters - all pantry staples. Make a double batch because this freezes nicely.

My Favorite Hamburger Soup

I love all kinds of soups, but this soup, made with ground beef, has been in my recipe box for years and is hands down my most favorite soup.

If you are anywhere near my age, you probably remember something similar to this from school days of years past, when meals were homemade from scratch and we kids actually looked forward to what was for lunch that day, from the first aroma of it wafting through the school hallways.

Cream cheese mashed potatoes, with butter and cream of course, are all the rage these days. This version is from Martha Stewart's mom, Big Martha so I'm guessing its been around awhile!

Ultimate Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

These are the perfect holiday mashed potatoes. Period. Potatoes. Butter. Heavy cream. Whole milk. Cream cheese. And more butter. You really do not need another one. I was watching The Martha Stewart Show and she was making her mom (Big Martha's) mashed potato recipe with Snoop Dogg. (yeah, you heard that right ... Snoop Dogg on Martha Stewart, seems they're BFFs!) Now... in all fairness, this recipe probably isn't a recipe that you'd want to prepare on an every day basis, but more like a special occasion or holiday recipe.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

All images in this tutorial,
including any not yet watermarked,
are copyright of My New 30 blog.

I love my deep fryer. I really do! And tomorrow ... fried shrimp is on the plan! But one of my favorite snacks when I have a desire for some crunch are homemade deep fried tortilla chips. With just a little salt right out of the fryer and I don't even need any salsa. Okay, well, sometimes I don't even need the salsa. If you have a good deep fryer, give 'em a try sometimes. They really are delicious!

Preheat the fryer to 350 degrees.  Take a stack of 4 or 5 plain old yellow or white corn tortillas - or a combo of both if ya want.


Cut them in half and in half again and again ...

... until you have some triangles like this. You can also cut them into strips if you want to use them as a garnish.

Lower the basket on your fryer and carefully drop in about half of them. They will bubble up a lot at first. Stir them up carefully with a slotted metal spoon to keep them from sticking. It only takes a minute or so, but you'll know when they are ready when they begin to bubble less and you can now hear them "click" as you stir them.

Shake 'em in the basket over the fryer a bit, dump 'em out on some paper towels, salt immediately as they come out, and transfer to a plate while you cook up the other half.

Break larger chips up, or use the strips to garnish chili or soup. 

Serve with some salsa and eat 'em up. They go fast and don't be surprised if you don't decide ya gotta have some more! Luckily that fryer is probably pretty hot still and will heat right back up in no time.

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Good old fashioned vegetable beef soup, shortcut with lean sirloin in a beef and tomato base, with onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, corn and whatever leftover or frozen veggies you have on hand.

Southern Quick Fix Vegetable Beef Soup

Noticing that I had some sirloin tip steak in the freezer and deciding on making up a batch of vegetable beef soup today, sure reminded me of my Grandma.

She passed on a couple years back at the ripe age of 97 and boy she sure was a great cook. When I think of vegetable beef soup I think of her and how every time she'd cook up a batch she'd always say "you just can't find a good soup bone anymore." I remembered as a young gal not at all interested in cooking at the time, I thought, "you can buy bones at the grocery??" but I always just smiled.

A cute favor to give your guests to serve as a reminder of exactly what the Thanksgiving holidays are all about.

Thanksgiving Blessing Snack Mix

I had been a great fan of the now defunct website Organized Christmas for years and ran across this recipe for a great - and meaningful - holiday snack mix. Thankfully I had saved it on my computer back in '02!

Mix some up as favors for each of your Thanksgiving guests. You'll have to do a search for printable tags on the net though since that site is now gone, but you should be able to locate one, or use the elements below to make your own.

Here's the mix.

Sweet Iced Tea - The Elixir of The South. I'm pretty sure if everybody drank sweet iced tea on a regular basis, we'd have world peace.

How to Make Perfect Southern Sweet Iced Tea

I enjoy a nice cup of hot tea pretty regularly, but iced tea is pretty much a year-round staple here in the south - probably mostly because it's so darned hot down here most all of the year. Besides, tea - unlike soft drinks - is loaded with benefits.

Tea contains high levels of antioxidants - polyphenols, flavonoids, and catechins - that help to boost the body’s defenses against diseases. Some studies have shown that tea may also lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and protect against heart disease and may help to protect against cancer.

Ambrosia has moved on to more of a fruit salad these days, here made with apples, bananas, mandarin oranges, mini marshmallows, pecans, coconut and maraschino cherries, but it started out very simply once containing oranges and coconut.

Ambrosia Fruit Salad

Ah, ambrosia... a southern favorite for sure. Classic, old-fashioned ambrosia had only two ingredients though - oranges and coconut - served most often with a dressing of simply orange juice and sugar. It's fallen out of style these days though, because most folks aren't interested in something so plain, but that, my dear, is a true southern ambrosia.

Mary's Gooey Brownies with Peanut Butter Icing

This is my good ole standby brownie recipe that I thought one day, why not add that old fashioned peanut butter icing I love so much as an icing. The results were delicious. I loved it and I think you will too.

Internal Cooking Temperature Chart

I am always lookin' for this so I'm puttin' it right here! Please note though, the temps listed appear to be minimum safe temperatures, except where I have adapted the charts to expand the definitions. So, if you prefer your beef roast to be more of a medium to well done, take that roast up to between 155 °F to 165 °F. It seems these temperatures here may be averages for safe internal temps.

For steaks, see also this excellent demonstration of the touch test - the way that restaurants and most chefs test for doneness. This is how I do it these days for the most part, but I still use the thermometer sometimes just to double check.

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"Is it done yet?" You can't tell by looking. Use a food thermometer to be sure.

USDA Recommended Safe
Minimum Internal Temperatures

Steaks & Roasts - 145 °F
✧ Rare - 140 °F
✧ Medium - 160 °F
✧ Well Done - 170 °F
Fish - 145 °F
Pork - 145° minimum and allow to rest for at least 3 minutes / Well done 170 °F
Ground Beef - 160 °F
Egg Dishes - 160 °F
Chicken Breasts - 165 °F
Chicken Legs - 
Chicken Thighs - 165 °F
Whole Poultry - 165 °F
Veal (Well Done) - 180 °F

Safe Cooking of Chicken

FSIS recommends cooking whole chicken to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured using a food thermometer - I prefer to take it to somewhere between 175 to 180 degrees F. Check the internal temperature in the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook poultry to higher temperatures.

For approximate cooking times to use in meal planning, see the following chart compiled from various resources. Table is based on open-pan roasting at 350 degrees F, or covered roasting at 325 degrees F.

Approximate Chicken Cooking Times
Type of Chicken	Weight	Roasting 350 °F	Simmering	Grilling
Whole broiler fryer+	3 to 4 lbs.	1-1/4 - 1 1/2 hrs.	60 to 75 min.	60 to 75 min*
Whole roasting hen+	5 to 7 lbs.	2 to 2 1/4 hrs.	1 3/4 to 2 hrs.	18-25 min/lb*
Whole capon+	4 to 8 lbs.	2 to 3 hrs	Not suitable	15-20 min/lb*
Whole Cornish hens+	18-24 oz.	50 to 60 min.	35 to 40 min.	45 to 55 min*
Breast halves, bone-in	6 to 8 oz.	30 to 40 min.	35 to 45 min.	10 - 15 min/side
Breast half, boneless	4 ounces	20 to 30 min.	25 to 30 min.	6 to 8 min/side
Legs or thighs	8 or 4 oz.	40 to 50 min.	40 to 50 min.	10 - 15 min/side
Drumsticks	4 ounces	35 to 45 min.	40 to 50 min.	8 to 12 min/side
Wings or wingettes	2 to 3 oz.	30 to 40 min.	35 to 45 min.	8 to 12 min/side

+ Unstuffed. If stuffed, add 15 to 30 minutes additional time.

* Indirect method using drip pan.

Seeing Isn't Believing.

Many people assume that if a hamburger is brown in the middle, it is done. However, looking at the color and texture of food is not enough—you have to use a food thermometer to be sure! According to USDA research, 1 out of every 4 hamburgers turns brown before it reaches a safe internal temperature. The only safe way to know if meat, poultry, and egg dishes are "done" is to use a food thermometer. When a hamburger is cooked to 160 °F, it is both safe and delicious!

Be Food Safe! Prepare With Care.

Know how to prepare, handle, and store food safely to keep you and your family safe. Bacteria can grow on meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy products, as well as cut-up or cooked vegetables and fruits.

CLEAN: Wash hands and surfaces often.

Wash your hands with warm, soapy water for 20 seconds before and after handling food. Wash your cutting boards, dishes, etc., with hot, soapy water after preparing each food item. Wash fruits and vegetables with cold water before using. There is no need to wash or rinse meat or poultry.

SEPARATE: Don't cross-contaminate.

Separate raw, cooked, and ready-to-eat foods while shopping, preparing, or storing. Never place cooked food on a plate which previously held raw meat, poultry, or seafood.

COOK: Cook food to proper temperatures.

Use a food thermometer to be sure!

CHILL: Refrigerate Promptly.

Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared foods, and leftovers within 2 hours or sooner.


Thanks to USDA Food Safety Education Is it Done Yet? who I adapted this from.





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A tender, soft and chewy basic, old fashioned sugar cookie recipe.

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

This has been my favorite recipe for old fashioned sugar cookies for years.

It's perfect for when you want just a plain and comforting sugar cookie, and the blend of lemon and vanilla flavoring is just perfect.

Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit

I studied business in college with an emphasis on marketing, so I know how the mind of the advertiser works. You would think that I would be resistant to that kind of mind bend wouldn't you? Well, I'm no different than any other consumer apparently, because ever since I saw a fast food commercial on tv showing somebody about to stuff a big old bacon, egg and cheese biscuit in their mouth, I knew I had to have one. Course I wasn't gonna run out to the golden arches or go seek to have it my way at that other place, but instead I was gonna make it at home. One of the luxuries of being a homemaker now. And homemade is much cheaper and I know what is in it.

Now, I certainly woulda much preferred to have had some good old pig bacon (is there anything better than bacon??) but the only things I had in the house were turkey bacon and Canadian bacon, so I settled on the Canadian bacon. Get my Perfect Buttermilk Biscuit recipe and secrets to a fluffy and light biscuit here.

Deep South Pinto Beans and Rice

Pinto beans, slow cooked with ham, onion, celery and jalapenos, served over rice with a side of collard greens and hoecakes. Now that is some good eatin'!

Deep South Pintos and Rice

When you mention pinto beans in the South, most folks think of a more classic version, often referred to in some parts of the country as soup beans. I didn't grow up with pinto beans but here in this part of The Deep South, we are all about red beans and rice for sure.

I decided to make a version of pintos much like my own homemade red beans and rice, but with the addition of a little Tex-Mex flair by using jalapenos in place of the usual sweet green bell pepper and a few other flavor boosters.

Shrimp Peeler - Five Stars

I am a very lucky woman. My father in law, who is a consultant for his day job, also owns a shrimp boat, not for commercial purposes, but purely for leisure (though there isn't much leisure involved with shrimping) and for the ability to get out on the Gulf, amidst the seagulls and the fish, and catch shrimp. In fact, that shrimp boat was the only thing and I mean the ONLY thing belonging to my in-laws that survived Hurricane Katrina.

Sour Cream Hash Brown Casserole with Ritz Cracker Topping

A definitive southern favorite, and often called funeral or party potatoes, hash brown potatoes are combined with cream of chicken soup, sour cream, onion and cheddar cheese for a well loved casserole.

Sour Cream Hash Brown Casserole

Every southerner likely has this one in their recipe box, at least in some variation.

Often called a Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole copycat, but honestly, I don't eat at Cracker Barrel enough - not that I don't love it, I do, very much - but I can't recall if I've ever had hash brown casserole there, so I'm not qualified to attest to whether this qualifies as a copycat.

Pop Chips - 5 Stars

Unpaid product endorsement

Today for lunch I just had a simple sandwich - whole wheat bread, reduced fat mayo, turkey breast, tomato and lettuce - but on the side I had my new favorite chip - Popchips. I first heard of these from the Hungry Girl Cookbook a pretty neat cookbook if you're eating lower fat these days, but we don't have the Pop Chips available anywhere locally, at least not that I have found yet anyway, so I actually have to order them from Amazon foods online. I have been buying the one ounce single serving sized variety 36-pack, which works out to be about 85 cents a bag, and the single serving size keeps me from overeating them, so worth it to me since I tend to have portion control issues.

Anyway, the case comes with Barbeque, which is my hubby's fav, Salt & Pepper, Parmesan & Garlic, Sea Salt & Vinegar and plain Original, all of which are fantastic! I'm not a big chip eater, but when eating lower fat, well ... baked chips leave much to be desired if ya ask me. These are different. They aren't fried. They aren't baked. They are popped! So they are healthier than the standard chips, yet unlike the dry, flavorless baked chips that are out these days, Pop Chips are loaded with flavor and crunch, and are nice and salty ... but don't make me puff up with water retention like salty foods tends to do to me. A very good alternative and really delicious - you should give Popchips a try sometime. Oh and they come in a corn chip variety pack too, though I haven't tried those yet.