Tender, homemade coconut cake made easy in a sheet cake, finished with a 7-minute, divinity icing, shredded coconut and here, with a sugared cranberry and mint leaf garnish. 

Homemade Coconut Sheet Cake with Divinity Icing

I love a coconut layer cake during the holidays. It's a beautiful presentation on a holiday dessert table, covered in a perfect divinity icing and dusted all over with fluffy, white coconut. I just looks like heaven on a cake stand!

Unfortunately, while I think I'm a fairly decent cook overall, I am definitely not a baker, and though I can pull off a pretty good pan of brownies, cookies even, or a snack cake, well... layer cakes aren't my forte.

Little bite sized pecan desserts, made with a cream cheese pastry crust baked with a brown sugar based pecan filling.

Southern Pecan Tassies

These little bite-sized treats are popular on the Christmas tray because they are easy to make and, even better, delicious to eat!

Internet bloggers often confuse them as mini pecan tarts or pies, though us southerners know them as pecan tassies. They're similar, of course, to pecan pie, although most pecan pies have a syrup base - most often corn, cane or sorghum are used - but tassies always have a brown sugar based filling.

Seasoned pork chops, seared and baked over toasted rice with beef broth, herbs, onion and bell pepper.

Southern Pork Chop and Rice Casserole

This recipe is a pretty classic preparation of a common baked pork chops and rice dish we all enjoy in some form here in the south.

There are some variations as always among cooks, but it typically involves very basic seasonings, some kind of liquid - sometimes a cream soup, sometimes a consommé or French onion soup, sometimes just a simple broth and water added to double the ratio of rice, and sometimes a packet of onion soup mix and water is used.