An easy cream cheese filled danish made from crescent rolls and your favorite jam or preserves.

Crescent Danish

Y'all know I love Pillsbury crescent rolls for all the things you can create from them and these easy danish rolls are no exception. These are a slight adaptation from the Pillsbury website and they are so quick, easy and downright delicious, you will love them.

 

    Homemade, old-fashioned vanilla custard ice cream, made with a combination of whole milk, heavy cream, half and half, eggs and vanilla.

Old Fashioned Vanilla Custard Ice Cream

I don't treat myself to homemade ice cream as much as I would like to, and when I do, often it's a basic version made in my Cuisinart ice cream freezer, the kind that has the bucket you keep in the freezer and makes a soft serve ice cream in under 30 minutes. That's not counting chilling times and freezing times of course, but it's pretty handy for when you want to make ice cream without all the ice and salt and such... so long as you have the freezer space to keep the bucket frozen.

 

Whole figs, preserved in a thick sugar syrup.

Preserved Figs

I've talked about it here before, but I grew up in a home where the back property line butted up against a heavily wooded field. We had a short, wood framed fence along the back, easy to climb, and we had such fun playing in those woods, building caves and forts out of twigs and branches and using our imagination to entertain ourselves.

Times sure were much more innocent then.

Crab melts, also known as crabbies and crab canapes, are English muffins, topped with a mixture of crab, mayo, cheese, green onion and seasonings and passed under the broiler or baked.

Crab Melts

These are a treat that's a real throwback for sure, because for me they are another recipe that dates back to the 70s. I call them crab melts, though they have picked up a number of names over time, including crabbies, crabmeat bites, crab pickups, and crab canapes, to name a few.

Fresh garden tomatoes, seasoned with salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, fresh basil and brown sugar, in a casserole made with bacon, butter and the trinity of Deep South veggies - onion, bell pepper and celery - topped with shredded cheddar cheese and buttery cracker crumbs.

Tomato Casserole

I recently shared a recipe from one of my round-up lists of fresh tomato recipes over on our Best Southern Recipes Facebook page and Phyllis, one of our readers there, mentioned in comments that she was still waiting on tomatoes in the area where she lived.

A no-bake, icebox dessert, layered with a mix of cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and pudding, sandwiched between sheets of graham crackers scattered with a mix of fresh berries, and topped with whipped cream.

Icebox Cake

Oh my goodness, do I love an icebox cake! They are so easy to throw together, making them great for those, who, like me, aren't especially high skilled bakers, they make as pretty a presentation as any layer cake does, and it doesn't hurt at all that they taste pretty darned good too.

Classic Southern style pinto beans, stewed with salt pork and cayenne pepper and always served with a side of cornbread.

Classic Southern Pinto Beans

We've had so many days of rain now that I've literally lost count, and according to our weatherman, there's more to come this week. Generally speaking, I don't mind the rain at all, well, so long as I don't have to drive anywhere in it at least. It's relaxing and cleansing, sort of washing away the world's residue and making everything fresh once it moves along.

Boy don't we need that in this world today!

A marinated squash salad using summer vegetables, including squash, zucchini, vidalia onion, sweet bell pepper and jalapenos and dressed in a horseradish infused, sweet and sour "Fire and Ice" vinaigrette.

Fire 'n Ice Marinated Squash Salad

I have mentioned many times here, that like most other Southerners, I am a huge fan of the flavor of sweet and sour, most especially when it comes to salads. To that, however, I also like a little heat added too, so from pickles, to coleslaw, to one of my favorite cucumber and tomato salads, I love the "Fire 'n Ice" versions that bring in a bit of fire.

Marinated squash salads are popular here in the summer, so I thought why not bring those fire and ice elements in there too?

Bone-in, skinned chicken thighs provide plenty of flavor for this slow cooker pulled chicken. Great on sandwiches, as a pizza topper, or stuffed in a taco or burrito. Shown here with a side of Red Slaw and Sweet Potato Fries.

Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken

I love slow cooker "pulled chicken" because of its versatility. Not only is it good piled on rolls and buns, but its great rolled up in tortillas, stuffed into taquitos, tacos or burritos, or if you're trying to reduce carbs a bit, piled up in lettuce cups and topped with coleslaw or for barbecue pizza.