Deviled Ham Salad - Bologna Salad

Old School Deviled Ham Salad, made with ground ham, sweet pickles, pimentos and mayonnaise. My version adds in celery and onion, and a little horseradish, spicy mustard, hot sauce and Cajun seasoning with the mayonnaise.

Deviled Ham Salad

Back in the day, this deviled ham salad was made using an old-fashioned countertop grinder - the cast iron kind, that clamped onto the edge of the kitchen counter or a table. Usually, a slice or two of bread would be run through first, just to sort of clean it of any dried, leftover residue, since they were next to impossible to clean well. Everything else was added to the grinder in order, and then the salad mixed together with a homemade mayonnaise.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a beautiful Christmas Day,

filled with lots of food,

the love of family,

and the making of many memories

for years to come.

Thank you for being a part

of the Deep South Dish family.

I treasure you all. 

Merry Christmas!

.

A super easy and moist crockpot chicken and dressing, made using a packaged stuffing mix, sauteed onion and celery, cooked chicken and cream soup, blended with chicken stock.

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken and Dressing

The concept of slow cooker dressing certainly isn't unique to me - you'll find a multitude of recipes online and at other blogs and websites, all slightly different from one another.

This method actually dates back to the late 70s in my recipe box, a time when convenience products and crockpots were all the rage with us working women. I used to rely on my crockpot a lot back then, but then fell away from it for years because I got bored with the way they cooked.

Then I started blogging, finally upgraded my slow cooker, educated myself a little bit better on slow cookery and slowly started to build up my collection of recipes again.

Rich and decadent, dense and fudge-like, Mississippi Mud Cake is made with cocoa, topped with marshmallows, a buttery cocoa icing and salted, toasted pecans.

Mississippi Mud Cake

While there is some slight variation in recipes for Mississippi Mud Cake among us Southerners, they all contain flour, sugar, eggs, cocoa, butter, pecans, a layer of marshmallow and a buttery, powdered sugar and cocoa icing.

Some folks use large fluffy marshmallows, some minis, and some use marshmallow creme. I've used all of those!

Some put all of the pecans in the cake, others of us put them on top, others divide them between.

Some even add coconut.

Fresh green beans, blanched then seasoned with onion, garlic and herbs, and tossed with bacon and pecans and a browned butter pan sauce.

Browned Butter Green Beans with Bacon and Pecans

When I'm putting a meal on my table, Mrs. George's voice still rings in my conscience when it comes to menu planning.

She was my Occupational Home Economics teacher at Biloxi High School and I truly loved her.

The term "Occupational Home Ec" probably sounds odd, but it was the way that the Future Homemakers of America were addressing the fact that women had transitioned from being full time homemakers to working women - who happened to still run the home too.

 

Divinity, made a little easier by using marshmallow creme.

Never Fail Divinity

First things first. {pulls out hissy fit soapbox} Calling a recipe "no fail," or "never fail" is bound to be risky because without fail, somebody is gonna come along who doesn't follow the directions and yet, will blame the recipe, or even me, for their failure.

The truth is, this never fail version of divinity has been around at least as long as, or maybe even longer, than me, and it truly is no fail - if you follow directions. Thousands of folks have been making it successfully for many years, but like any divinity, shortcut or not, you must beat the hot sugar.

A cornbread and bread dressing, made with tart apple, hot sausage and pecans.

Sausage Cornbread Dressing with Apple and Pecan

I first made this dressing last Christmas, then again this Thanksgiving and I may even make it again this Christmas, though I'm actually still trying to settle between having a bread or rice dressing, since I'm going with a prime rib roast this year.

Yes, I'm moving away from the traditional turkey and dressing dinner for Christmas this year and going the route of a very expensive hunk of prime rib roast beef with au jus, that I have already warned The Cajun will not be cooked "well done."

An old-fashioned yeast roll, baked in a round cake pan, for pull apart rolls.

Old Fashioned Pull Apart Pan Rolls

A lot of folks get scared off by the homemade yeast rolls, and there are two things that typically do it. Overly dense rolls, resulting from improper measuring and using too much flour by scooping into the flour rather than spooning from it - and the process of having to shape them.

This roll takes a little bit of that away since the rolls are just formed into balls and tucked into a cake pan, or if you prefer an oblong baking dish, slightly smaller than a 9 x 13-inch pan. You don't even have to be all that precise with that to be honest, but I've included a tip in the Cook's Notes of the recipe that might be helpful to get a more rounded top on your rolls.

 

One of the easiest candies to make, this Tiger Butter Bark is made using almond bark candy coating mixed with peanut butter, topped with chopped peanuts and melted semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Tiger Butter Bark

Even if you think you can't make candy, bark candy is probably one of the easiest and most versatile candies there is. It's always a nice addition to a holiday sweets tray but even better received as a gift. Add in some of those sugared nuts with your gift bag and you've got a great sweet and salty combo!

The basic recipe for Tiger Butter is simply a thin layer of melted white chocolate or the lesser expensive vanilla almond bark, mixed with peanut butter and poured into a jelly roll pan, over which melted semi-sweet chocolate chips are poured and then swirled into the almond bark layer.

An oyster filé gumbo, made with the Trinity, oysters, a chicken and spicy andouille sausage.

Chicken, Andouille, and Oyster Filé Gumbo

My father-in-law has been buying full sacks of Gulf oysters the past few weeks and we have been the lucky recipients of several pints, stuffed with delicious, salty, freshly shucked oysters and plenty of liquor. Dad also makes this wonderful oyster gumbo and he usually sends a quart of that over too. I know. My in-laws are wonderful people, I love them to death, and yes. I am spoiled rotten.

 

Fresh baby spinach, blanched then chopped and cooked with butter, cream and a light sprinkle of shredded cheese. Garnish with chopped or sliced, hard-boiled eggs.

Creamed Spinach

This recipe is only going to appeal to the spinach lovers passing by, but if you enjoy fresh spinach like I do, and you haven't had the opportunity to try it creamed this way, you really don't know what you're missing.

I have always loved spinach. Fresh in salads, frozen, canned, doesn't matter to me. In soups, casseroles, and dips, sauteed in a skillet with a little butter, nothing like it. But... oh how much I love it creamed, especially with a beef entree, making it perfect for a holiday side dish.

Classic Southern pecan pie bars with a touch of cocoa in the crust, a layer of melted chocolate, salted and roasted pecans, and a splash of bourbon in the filling... if you like.

Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Most Southerners certainly have a pecan pie recipe in their recipe box, and really, these bars are simply an extension of that pie, made into convenient little bite-sized squares. Add a little chocolate to the mix, and, a splash of bourbon if you dare, and you've got some fantastic pecan pie bars.