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.

Cranberry Chicken Salad, made with shredded chicken, dried cranberries and pecans, and tossed with a honey mayo dressing, perfect on a cracker, over shredded lettuce or made into sandwiches.

Cranberry Chicken Salad

I do love me some chicken salad! Anytime I have a little bit of chicken leftover from a meal, I pull it and whip it into some form of chicken salad for lunch the next day. I even get the larger rotisserie chickens when I buy them just so I can make some chicken salad the next day. Might be a good basic deli style chicken salad, which I love. Might be a slightly fancier grown up chutney style version served on some still warm croissants. It might just be this one!

Wedges of cabbage, seasoned, sprinkled with bacon, and wrapped tightly in foil packets, great for the oven, campfire or grill.

Foil Packet Cabbage Wedges

Oh my, isn't foil packet cooking just too cool? Of course, it's really intended to be campfire cooking, or even outdoor grill cooking, but they're just as easy to bake right in your oven.

The advantage of cooking in foil, is that the flavor really intensifies in whatever you tuck away in those little squares. Remember that foil packet corn? Oh my gosh is that stuff good or what?! And yes, wrapping things individually is different than putting everything in one pan and just wrapping the pan - trust me. I've tried it! Not the same at all.

South Your Mouth Some More Cookbook Review

Many of you already know Mandy Rivers from the release of her first cookbook South Your Mouth and her blog of the same name, but available now, is her follow up cookbook and newest release, South Your Mouth Some More! If you're already a fan of Mandy's blog, and have the first, you'll love adding this cookbook to your collection too, but even if you're new to her blog, if you like the way that I cook, I know you'll enjoy a copy.

Though Mandy and I have never actually had the opportunity to sit across the table from one another, I've liked her from the moment we met across the net. We've shared many conversations via email over the years of blogging and I find her to be not only funny, but very down to earth and authentic.

Seasoned mashed fresh sweet potatoes, stuffed inside crescent dough bundles, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and baked in a flavored sugar syrup.

Sweet Potato Dumplings

I may have mentioned before that I love sweet potatoes. They're an easy side and so many ways to enjoy them. Plain baked or twice baked, as chips or fries, roasted, grilled, mashed, in a skillet hash, tossed in a buttery glaze or candied in a simple syrup, added to soups, in a casserole, in fried pies or a classic sweet potato pie, in biscuits, or added to quick bread, I'll take them all.

When I bake them, you can be sure I'll bake off a few extra, since they keep several days in the fridge and are super easy to reheat in the microwave. Well, that is when you have a microwave.

Country Green Beans with Ham and Potatoes - Green beans, slow stewed in a ham broth, with chunks of torn ham or tasso and potatoes, and served with a flavorful pot likker.

Country Green Beans with Ham and Potatoes

If I had to pick only one vegetable I could eat for the rest of my life, it'd sure be hard.

While The Cajun's veggie list is very limited, I pretty much love them all. Just take a look at the cover of my cookbook and you'll see one of my favorite meals ever!

Yep, I'm a veggie plate gal and I can make a meal out of just about any vegetable pairing. Well... actually that cover shot was my supper that day!

Deep South Dish Cookbook, available at your favorite local bookstore, or online at Amazon!

Southern style meatloaf, made with ground chuck, onion and sweet bell pepper and finished with a brown sugar ketchup glaze.

Southern Style Meatloaf

Y'all know how I feel about labeling recipes or methods of cooking as "real" or "true" southern. I say it all the time, and I will continue to repeat it as long as I'm sharing recipes here on my blog, that one true reality I have learned in my now about ten years of blogging about southern food, is that there is no one "true" way to cook in the south. We sometimes do things a little bit different from one another.

Truth is, it rests solely on two things - the region of the south where you grew up, and what your own mama did - which was likely drawn from what her mama did. I am a southerner, born and raised, but my way of cooking some things may be potentially far different from your way, though it doesn't make either one better or more "right" than the other.

 

 Ham, egg and cheese breakfast cups, are little mini omelets, baked in a Texas muffin pan and stuffed into a crispy ham cup. Shown here with mushrooms and spinach, but easily adaptable for your own favorite add-ins, these reheat and freeze beautifully, making them a perfect make-ahead breakfast.

Ham, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Cups

I was flipping through my Woman's World magazine and was reminded about these little cups. I really enjoy that magazine! Have you ever read it?

I used to pick up a copy at the grocery store every now and again, so when I checked on a subscription, at first glance I had a little sticker shock! But after realizing it's actually a weekly subscription and not just monthly, I thought I would treat myself.

The magazine features things of interest to me as a woman - diet, fashion, gardening, health, crafting, spiritual inspiration, new cookbook features and, of course, recipes. This week's issue has the most adorable cupcakes and treats for Halloween so you might want to pick one up at the grocery store. One of the other recent issues featured egg cups similar to those I used to make often when I was working in the corporate world and had that long commute each way, every day.

An Italian-American pasta dish, this southernized version of ziti comes together fairly quickly in a skillet on top of the stove, but with no sacrifice of the classic flavor.

Skillet Ziti

Although my ancestors come from the same area of Europe, it wasn't until recently that I learned that there actually is Italian lineage in my family tree. Seems that at least one of my great times I don't know how many grandparents was actually 100% Italian! I sure do seem to gravitate toward good Italian food. And good French food too for that matter. Aw heck, just good food I reckon!

I can tell you for certain that I sure do love my homemade baked ziti. Love, love, love it! But... like a good lasagna, homemade baked ziti takes a little bit of work and a whole lotta love to come together. It's a process, usually involving the entire family, to help make the sauce, the meatballs and all of the stuff that goes into making a good homemade meal, full of love.

That makes it a mostly weekend, and usually Sunday meal too, and as Rachael Ray has proclaimed in her newest book, Everyone is Italian on Sunday {affil link}. Ah, finally some validation for this southerner's love of Italian food... thanks Rach!

 

A filling and satisfying cabbage soup made with a beef stock and tomato with V8 base, ground beef, turkey or sausage, and served over rice, with flavor that is reminiscent of an unstuffed cabbage roll.

Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Soup

There's a lot to be said for cabbage soup. For those of us who love cabbage, it's an easy way to prepare it, it's tasty and filling. I have several versions here on the blog, including my interpretation of the one that's been around forever, and is known as zero point, diet soup and free soup, and made popular by Weight Watchers. With a tomato base and loads of vegetables, it's low cal, diet friendly and filling, making it a favorite diet soup, although it's pretty well loved by all cabbage lovers.

Cookin' it with Kix Cookbook Review

With this newly released cookbook, Cookin' it with Kix: The Art of Celebrating and the Fun of Outdoor Cooking, Kix Brooks is sharing a collection of favorite recipes, some inspired, but many tried and true, hand-me-down heritage recipes from his own family.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this cookbook as well as the promotional giveaway books free, as a member of the "Cookin it with Kix" blogger team. 

As the highest selling duo in country music history, with more than 23, #1 hits, 75 major industry awards, and over 30 million in record sales, if you know country music, you know Brooks & Dunn. I mean who doesn't go back home from wherever you currently are when listenin' to Red Dirt Road?

What you may not know is that in 2015, Kix Brooks had a successful Cooking Channel show called Steak Out with Kix Brooks - where he says he picked up the secrets to a rockin' steak from guest chefs. You also may not know that he is a founding partner and co-owner of Nashville's Arrington Vineyards. You may not know that he moved to Nashville from New Orleans, where he once played at Tipitina's and the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon. But you will learn these things and much more from his new book.

 

Pizza made with French bread and a few of my own unique, personal twists that put it over the top.

Garlic Bread Pizza

A few days ago I went to Walmart for one of those bigger trips that usually involve multiple pet products and various and sundry household stuff. I couldn't resist picking up a few more Pioneer Woman goodies while I was there - these adorable little measuring cup bowls and some of the kitchen towels this time.

My interpretation of Aglio e Olio, spaghetti, sauteed in olive oil and garlic, tossed with fresh herbs, red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese, and finished with melted tiny tomatoes.

Spaghetti with Olive Oil, Garlic and Melted Tiny Tomatoes

I cannot imagine living my life without pasta. I hope the day never comes that I have to!

I try not to go overboard with it, of course, and yes, like everybody else, I try to incorporate some of the healthier pastas into my diet here and there too. Some of it is quite good, like this Dreamfields brand {affil link} (love!).

Melted tiny tomatoes - cherry and grape tomatoes, roasted with olive oil and a few seasonings, pictured here smeared on toasted bread, though they also serve as an excellent base when pureed for sauces, tossed with pasta, as a pizza topper or added to sandwiches and salads.

Melted Tiny Tomatoes

It's still hotter than hot down here in the Deep South, and I am already missing summer vegetables. Locally grown summer vegetables are pretty much out the door around here. Thankfully, veggies from other sources, in and outside of the country, can always be found thanks to free trade and all that, so that's some solace... I suppose. Truth is, I'm already starting to have cravings for the foods of fall anyway.

Southern Style Skillet Ratatouille - a simple stew of diced vegetables, made with bacon drippings, the Trinity of Southern Cooking, zucchini and summer squash, tomato, eggplant, okra and fresh herbs.

Southern Style Skillet Ratatouille

Most folks these days seem to associate ratatouille with the Disney movie of the same name, and many may only know it from that. It actually is a real Mediterranean dish, most closely associated with France and said to have originated in Nice. The word perhaps comes from "touiller" and translates to mean something akin to "toss or stir."

Traditionally ratatouille is simply zucchini and tomatoes, with peppers, garlic and onion, sometimes sliced, sometimes cut into chunks. Somewhere along the way, eggplant was included, and though it wasn't always a part of the traditional dish, it's pretty much expected these days. I decided to make it with a dice of a variety of summer vegetables that we love in the south.

Pineapple Icebox Cake, made with layers of Nilla wafers, a blend of cream cheese, pudding and condensed milk with pineapple and whipped topping. I like to finish mine with a little coconut, maraschino cherries and a sprinkle of chopped nuts.

Pineapple Icebox Cake

Can y'all believe that summer is almost out the door? Well, it won't be temperature-wise around here for months yet, but kids around here have been back in school for weeks now and we're already coming up on Labor Day?

Well, are y'all sittin' down? Because last month I shared a Summer Berry Cobbler and today, I already have a dessert again!! I say that, because, if you've been around here any length of time, you know that I'm much more of a savory gal than I am a sweets lover.

Highly seasoned, sauteed shrimp, tossed in fettuccine noodles and a lighter alfredo sauce with a quality freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo

I don't know too many folks who don't like a rich alfredo sauce. I mean, let's face it. When you go out to a restaurant do you ask for your cream sauces to be made with skim milk? Um, nope.

Heavy cream is delicious, though I don't keep it in my fridge all the time, and it's not something I want to consume on a regular basis. I usually only buy it for a very specific recipe. Like holiday mashed potatoes. Custard ice cream. Rich, oyster stew. Or my spicy tomato cream sauce for pasta. Definitely my cream biscuits with the leftovers!

Fresh green beans, quickly blanched, then covered in a pickled brine, with fresh dill, garlic and hot peppers.

Refrigerator Dilly Beans

I have a love-love relationship with anything pickled - cucumber pickles, of course, my favorite being bread and butter - I can plow through a jar of those like nobody's looking, though frankly I really haven't met a pickle I didn't love.

I adore pickle relish.

Fresh or frozen baby lima beans or butter beans, slow simmered in a ham hock seasoned broth with onion, chicken base, salt and pepper, and finished with a nob of butter or bacon drippings - a definite summertime southern favorite.

Southern-Style Baby Lima Beans or Butterbeans

You can use this for both butterbeans or baby lima beans, both of which I love.

Southern Style Hissy Fit Warning... I love all kinds of butterbeans - big and small and speckled - and I don't understand for the life of me, why some southerners get all up in a tizzy about what they think a butter bean is, any more than what constitutes a "real" cornbread or whether a hoecake is flour or cornmeal based.

The internet has opened the south to all southerners and revealed that despite what we thought growing up, there is no one south. Truth is, how you cook in the south and what you call things in the south, depends on what part of the south you grew up in and how your mama did it, which is more likely than not to be different from how somebody else's mama did.

Corn on the cob, smeared with a garlic and herb butter blend, individually wrapped and baked or grilled.

Foil Packet Corn on the Cob

I'm hearing chatter here and there of back to school already and I'm not all that unhappy!

No, it's not for any of the reasons you're probably thinking. It's all because back to school means fall is near, and I am sincerely looking forward to fall this year. This summer has been miserable and it seems as if it gets harder and harder to handle as I get older.

I've become a near vampire in the summertime anymore to avoid the heat, so I'm ready for some soup and sweater weather!

Melissa's Southern Cookbook Book Review

Melissa's Southern Cookbook by Melissa Sperka, a labor of love, paying homage to those who instilled in her a love for cooking and baking Southern-style.

Wow is it hot y'all! I almost hate to say this because I know many of you are thrilled that summer is here, but it seems like it's been super hot here in the Deep South long enough now, that I'm actually looking forward to fall.

In the meantime, I've got a nice cold dessert recipe from Melissa Sperka, straight from her newly published, debut cookbook Melissa's Southern Cookbook - Tried and True Family Recipes. It's her Granma's Famous Blueberry Icebox Pie, a true delight and perfect for these hot summer days. First, however, I'd like to introduce you to Melissa and tell you a little bit about her new cookbook!

The best of summer berries in a comforting cobbler. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the perfect summer indulgence.

Summer Berry Cobbler

I guess cobblers are about as popular in the summer as anytime for us southerners. We just turn on the oven and crank down the air conditioning here in the humid deep south. I guess we contend with high summer electric bills like folks up north do with heating bills in the winter.

Could you imagine only ever having a winter cobbler made with canned peaches? Not that there's anything wrong with that - I love those too - but I sure love a cobbler made from fresh fruit when those fresh summer peaches arrive, as much as I do a cobbler made with the luscious fresh berries of summer we all love too.

A vegetable skillet meal, made from fresh summer squash, sweet Vidalia onion, with fresh okra and tomato.

Summer Veggie Skillet - Squash and Okra with Onion and Tomato

This is one of my favorite summertime skillet vegetable dishes - just simply squash and sweet onions, sauteed in a little bit of bacon drippings and butter, and stewed down with sliced okra, fresh tomatoes and finished with some garden parsley and basil. Quick and easy to make, I can make a meal of this entire pan on these hot summer days!

Ways to Use Those Garden Cucumbers

When the garden cucumbers start flowing, here's a collection of recipes for salads and more, to enjoy them!

This year, for the first time since we moved, I planted a small square foot style, raised bed garden right outside my backdoor patio. In that, I planted an heirloom tomato, some herbs, two pepper plants and two cucumber plants that just exploded, so I've been picking two to three cucumbers a day for several weeks now. The only thing I did was to feed it Jobe's organic fertilizer for vegetables. The cucumber salads have certainly been flowing here lately, and I just love having different variations to make.

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven and My Thoughts on Low Carb Dieting

Perfect bacon, cooked all at once in the oven!

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Oven bacon is the easiest way to cook a lot of bacon at once, but first, I want to address a subject that interestingly several long time readers have contacted me about recently, and that is to ask what I think about this new low carb trend among some southern food bloggers, to which I respond, "there's a trend??"

Between family, grandchildren and work, I don't get out much across the interwebs so I wasn't aware of this, but y'all tell me there has been, and seriously, I'm not at all surprised to see some southern food bloggers taking the low carb path. Here's why.

 

Brabant Potatoes, known as Louisiana fries, are made from peeled and cubed potatoes, first blanched, then deep fried and tossed with a rich, butter garlic sauce. A delicious side for fish, or any main dish!

Brabant Potatoes - Louisiana Fries

While still served in high end restaurants around here on the Gulf Coast, I'm afraid that Brabant Potatoes, a Louisiana style, cubed, fried potato side, has mostly fallen out of favor with home cooks in recent years - probably due to their multiple steps.

Although folks seem to be making their way back to home cooking - and often, lamenting the fact that they didn't pay more attention to their grandmother in the kitchen - I'm afraid that in this hurry up, busy world we live in, we've mostly become more of an eat out and fast food nation.

Cold Green Bean Salad - fresh green beans, blanched then shocked in cold water to retain crispness, dressed with a seasoned vinaigrette and finished with sliced cherry tomatoes.

Cold Green Bean Salad

I have a confession to make. I have been cheating on y'all!

Well, not like that... but, when it comes to posting new stuff, things were a bit slow last month. Although I have written quite a few new recipes lately (that I've yet to write up, including this one), I have primarily been using my usual, regular, repeat recipes that y'all have also already been using for years too now. I've also been using my Traeger grill and my pressure cooker quite a bit too.

Meatballs and Marinara - Meatballs, tossed in a quick, homemade marinara sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese and served over rotini pasta. Add a side salad and some crusty bread for a fantastic meal!

Meatballs and Marinara

The Cajun loves meatballs. I swear his eyes literally light up when I say we're having meatballs for supper, without him knowing a thing about how we're having them. Just the word meatballs makes him happy!

Of course, I'm pretty sure he could also finish off a full 3 pounds of them in one sitting, if I let him. He is definitely your quintessential meat and potatoes man, so I do try to "fill in" with things like sauce, maybe some pasta, a little bread and a salad.

Catfish fillets, dredged in blackening seasonings and cooked in a hot cast iron skillet, served over Cajun Rice Pilaf and finished with an etouffee sauce with crawfish.

Blackened Catfish with Crawfish Etouffee

Southerners have been blackening foods since Paul Prudhomme came up with this method many years ago. Heavy seasonings seared into a piece of protein is heaven on a plate, and most of us in the Deep South have eaten it in some form or another in our lives.

It started with redfish, and seafood is most common here along the Gulf Coast of course, with catfish certainly taking a top spot on the list. These are the gorgeous filets I used this round.

A cross between gumbo and jambalaya, this quick and easy skillet meal packs a burst of gumbo flavor, but without the usual lengthy time commitment - great for busy weeknights.

Skillet Gumbolaya

This is a great skillet meal that's a bit of a cross between gumbo and jambalaya. It's another one of those quickie dishes that I'm making while I work my way through getting whatever gardening and planting I want done before summer heat sets in.

Honestly though, I'm not quite sure which is worse... spring allergies or summer heat!

I got a high allergy alert on my Weather Channel app a little earlier, and just the thought of it made me cough! We've got a little rain moving in tonight and tomorrow, so I may get a break on the allergens and a little time to catch up on blogging and writing duties, speaking of which...

Meat and Potatoes Casserole, a baked dish, layered with potatoes, seasoned ground beef, cream soup sauce and topped with shredded cheese.

Meat and Potatoes Casserole

I've been super busy the past few weeks, trying to get my spring gardening in before the heat sets into south Mississippi. It comes pretty quick, and seems quicker as I get older, and once it does, it makes it impossible for me to do much in the way of gardening. I just can't tolerate the heat anymore.

You may recall that we moved a few years ago, and although this house had so many features we loved, gardens and flowers were not one of them. Previous owners had either not had an interest in planting or had failed due to the east/west exposure. All the post-Katrina planting I did at the old house, which frankly was an awfully good selling point and one of the reasons the new buyers fell in love with the place, I'm having to completely start from scratch with at this house.

One of my Freedom hedge roses - I planted 4 more of them this spring!

>

The Masters, held in Augusta Georgia every April, is steeped in tradition, and the food served there is an important element. If you're not lucky enough to be a patron, set the mood for your own home viewing with some of my traditional, Master-worthy recipes.

Food for The Masters

We get a lot of golfers down here along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and we even have some popular tournaments - in fact, the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic was held in Biloxi this past week, and with a $1.6 million dollar purse, it's serious stuff.

The Masters, held annually in the first week of April, is really the one to watch though, and it is firmly centered in traditions, including the classic foods that are served there. One of four major professional golf championships, it is always held in the first full week of April, and unlike others, always at the same location at the Augusta National Golf Club, a private club located in Augusta, Georgia.

When you find yourself with some leftover hard-boiled eggs, here are a few ways to incorporate them into future meals.

Recipes Using Leftover Hard-Boiled Eggs

Leftover boiled eggs aren't something we hear too much about anymore, especially in my family, because, well we eat them up! I know there are more folks who don't even boil real eggs for Easter anymore than there are who do, but for those of us who do still boil eggs, I've pulled together a round-up showing a few ways to use up those leftover boiled eggs!

First out of the gate, of course - Deviled Eggs!

Fresh asparagus, cooked to crisp tender, then marinated in an oil and vinegar seasoned dressing with pimentos and finished with sliced grape tomatoes.

Cold Marinated Asparagus Salad

I am so happy to see that spring has arrived, though, much like the rest of the country, we had a bit of a cold snap to usher in the spring season. No snow in the south, but we did get temps down in the mid-30s, even here in south Mississippi.

No worries though... won't be long before we'll all be complaining about the heat, same as our northern neighbors tire of the snow! My A/C has already been running full time, though truly, I never turned the central heat on one time this winter. The few cold snaps we did have were covered just fine by my little Duraflame fireplace heaters.

Nubby Fried Chicken Planks

Nubby Fried Chicken Planks - a grown up version of chicken tenders, served here with a homemade chicken gravy, quick fix green beans and a garden salad.

Fried Chicken Planks

What are chicken planks you ask? Well, they are simply chicken tenders for adults!

Seriously though, they are chicken tenders that are pounded thinner, which makes them more appropriate for a fancier fried chicken platform, such as those amazing restaurant copycat recipes, and they cook much faster than traditional chicken breasts, which are typically, well... in my humble opinion, otherwise tasteless! Because planks cook faster, they stay tender and delicious, and no brining is necessary. Yay!

 

Catfish fillets, breaded with seasoned flour and panko breadcrumbs and pan fried - fast and easy and the perfect fish for sandwiches or tacos.

Crispy Pan-Fried Catfish

Fresh catfish is as common around here as ground beef is everywhere else, so we tend to eat a lot of it all year round and especially during Lent. Cut into strips and deep fried is the most popular way of course, though it's also excellent baked and even stewed, but whenever I prepare it as a whole fillet I like to prepare it pan-fried.

Broccoli, lightly steamed in water and olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes. Toss with a bit of cooked penne or rigatoni for a nice light meal and finish with a sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Dr. Weil's Steamed Broccoli

I love fresh broccoli, and the less you mess with it the better, far as I'm concerned, well... unless we're talking about batter-dipped and fried, which is an occasional, fun appetizer, not a side dish, y'all.

Chicken Lazone, made using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, either cut into chunks, tenders or left whole, highly seasoned and pan seared, then served with a creamy butter sauce over pasta, rice or mashed potatoes.

Chicken Lazone

This Chicken Lazone recipe seems to have blasted across the internet recently, but what you probably didn't know was that it was developed back in the mid to late-90s by Chef Lazone Randolph of Brennans Restaurant in New Orleans.

He wrote it for the cookbook, Sugar Bust for Life with the Brennans, a companion guide for the then very popular Sugar Buster's Diet {affil link}, a project with which Ellen Brennan was involved as a consultant, editor and publisher. I definitely remember that diet, written by a group of Louisiana doctors, and it seemed everybody I knew from New Orleans was doing it for awhile, which probably prompted the cookbook.

It was, of course, minus the pasta, since wheat flour pasta was unheard of back then, though somebody along the way added it as a serving suggestion for the rest of us. It is also delicious on it's own or served over mashed potatoes or white, brown or yellow rice though. Try my homemade yellow rice from page 117 of my cookbook, Deep South Dish Homestyle Southern Recipes {affil link}. It is divine with Chicken Lazone.