A few basic ingredients: cherry pie filling, crushed pineapple, sweetened condensed milk and Cool Whip make up the base for this old school frozen delight! From there, make it your own with easy add-ins.

Frozen Cherry Fruit Salad

I live on the Gulf Coast, and down here, the humidity is as important as the temperature. Maybe even more so! We've been under 100+ degree heat advisories here for awhile now because of that heat index. In June. Already. I pray we don't see a hurricane this year, well, ever again in my lifetime really, that knocks out power for long. Gotta have that air conditioning down here!

When the weather heats up like this, cooling foods are a steady in my house. Watermelon, cucumbers, grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries are consumed regularly around here! Of course, although they may mostly be relegated to those family gatherings more so these days, we have our icebox and freezer desserts too. This cherry salad is one of those that has been around for years.

Ham Bone Red Beans and Rice in the Instant Pot/Electronic Pressure Cooker

Ham bone red beans and rice, both made in an instant pot/electronic pressure cooker.

Instant Pot Ham Bone Red Beans and Rice

The Monday tradition of red beans lives on here in the Deep South, even if they’re made on Sunday, which, when they're made from dried beans, more often they are!

Because time is precious these days, I have four different ways I make them up here on the blog currently, depending on the time factor I have on my hands.

From a quick skillet version like you get with those convenience boxes (but without the added chemicals and preservatives), to a shortcut version that you'll never believe started with canned beans, plus one for the slow cooker and of course, old school, slow-stewed from dried beans (still my number one favorite)... I've got you covered. 

Hand-formed, extra large, lard-based cathead biscuits, baked in a hot cast iron skillet.

Cathead Biscuits

It's hard to believe from modern-day biscuits, that southern biscuits were once teeny, tiny little things. Not so much anymore, because like many foods, we've super-sized them!

Who can blame us, though. From skillet biscuits, to cream biscuits, to sweet potato, classic buttermilk and everything in between, we do love our biscuits in the south and we pretty much love them large.

Enter, Cathead Biscuits.

Large shrimp, baked in a buttery seasoned beer, oil and vinegar sauce, great for a party, or the beach!

Party Shrimp

Shrimp is abundant here along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and this is a party recipe that we've been making in one form or another for as long as I've been around. Often made simply with bottled Italian dressing, and maybe the addition of a few other ingredients, it's also been floating around social media for several years now, sometimes called Italian Shrimp. I made my sauce base from scratch instead.

Southern Living dubbed it Beach Shrimp

I don't know where this idea originated, but back in 2007, Southern Living magazine dubbed it with the title of Beach Shrimp, since it's a great dish to make for that beach vacation! It's delicious slightly warm from the oven, or chilled and brought to room temperature. Prepare it in a disposable aluminum pan for easy clean up.