Baby back ribs, sprinkled with a dry rib rub and air fried with sauce applied in the last minutes of cooking.

Air Fryer Baby Back Ribs

Y'all, I swear. If I hadn't tried it for myself, I never would have believed you could successfully prepare baby back ribs - in an air fryer!

What??

In fact, the first time I made them I thought surely it was a fluke. So I tried it again.

Sure enough, it's true! And they are good y'all.

Social Media Roundup Cookout Menu Ideas 2 - What You Missed! - Old Fashioned Hand-Squeezed Fresh Lemonade, Fire and Ice Summer Salad, Mississippi Comeback Sauce, Baked Vidalia Onions, Pimento Cheese Finger Sandwiches, Southern Caviar - Black Eyed Pea Salad, Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese, Country Style Ribs with Pepper Jelly Barbecue Sauce and Creamy Peanut Butter Pie.

Social Media Roundup Cookout Menu Ideas 2

With Memorial Day and summer cookouts around the corner, we've begun sharing on our social media some of those favorite foods we love to have when it's cookout time - even for those of us who don't really cook outside much!

We've got you covered for beverages and cocktails, appetizers, dips, salads and sides as well as main dish offerings and summer desserts!

We share on social media regularly every day, but unfortunately, algorithms keep a lot of those posts hidden from our members there who have actually "liked" the page! I've starting duplicating some of those shares in roundups right here on my website.

Social Media Roundup Cookout Menu Ideas 1 - What You Missed! - Southwestern Chip Dip, Cucumber Salad with Creamy Buttermilk Herb Dressing, Beer Braised Hot Dogs, General-Purpose Grilling Marinade, Memphis-Style Southern Dry Rub Grilled Pork Spareribs, Baked Bean Medley, Bacon Ranch Cold Baked Potato Salad and Mandarin Orange Pig Pickin' Cake.

Social Media Roundup Cookout Menu Ideas 1

Memorial Day is just about here y'all!

As the commemoration of our country's servicemen and women who have died in the line of duty, Memorial Day also kicks off the unofficial beginning of summer in the U.S., with all kinds of events across the country, and, of course, yummy barbecues!

It's a long summer ahead of us, and I just heard that it's gonna be even more hot and muggy than usual. And possibly more tropical storms and hurricanes to deal with too. Ugh.

Well, I say, let's just enjoy the food for now!

We've begun sharing some of those favorite foods we love to have when it's cookout time - even when we may never cook outside! Favorite beverages, appetizers, salads and sides and of course those main dish ribs, chicken, steaks and such, and let's not forget summer desserts!

A classic tuna salad made with the addition of grated apple and served here on griddled Texas Toast.

Tuna Salad with Apple

Not long ago, my sister in law told The Cajun she was getting rid of some old cookbooks and asked him if I might like them.

Since physical libraries don't hold onto cookbooks for very long these days and the older cookbooks are extremely useful tools for recipe research, I'm never one to turn down cookbooks, so I said of course! 

Most of them were older Southern Living annuals and back then, not only were they summaries of the year's recipes shared from the magazine, a lot of folks don't realize that many Southern Living recipes started much like you see with Taste of Home - they were recipes submitted by readers! 

Social Media Roundup Seafood Favorites 2

Social Media Roundup - Seafood Favorites 2, What You Missed! Gulf Coast Style Pan Fried Crab Cakes, Hushpuppy Breaded Fried Shrimp, Godchaux Mixed Seafood Salad with Creole Vinaigrette Dressing, Seafood and Eggplant Dressing and Spicy Orange Pecan Shrimp Stir Fry

Seafood Favorites 2

We've been sharing more of our classic favorites on social media lately and of course, considering I live right along the Gulf Coast that is very often seafood and certainly a lot of shrimp recipes!

I do love shrimp and it's a very versatile protein.

Of course Fridays have always been a seafood day here where I live, as much as Mondays have always been a red beans and rice day, but we have amazing seafood here along the Gulf Coast so any day can be a seafood day!

A whole cut up chicken, soaked in a seasoned buttermilk and mustard marinade, then dredged in a seasoned flour, deep fried and finished in the oven. Pictured here with roasted potatoes and black-eyed peas.

Buttermilk Mustard Fried Chicken

Like many Southerners, I love fried chicken, especially when it's prepared well. Although pretty rewarding in the end, it is a little messy frying it at home though and frankly takes practice,  meaning you need to keep making it often to perfect the processes!

You know. Like Grandma did.

For those reasons, lots of folks satisfy those occasional fried chicken cravings with take out these days and while really great fried chicken can be found at sit down restaurants, you can also find it at locally owned gas station counters, at regional grocery store delis like Winn Dixie and Rouses in my neighborhood, at local sit down or take out buffets like Hartz, Cajun's and Broome's and fried chicken places like Popeye's and KFC.

The one problem? Have you seen the prices?

American-style tacos made with slow braised, seasoned ground beef or turkey.

Tex-Mex American-Style Taco Meat

I love American style Mexican food, and I'm certainly not opposed at all to using seasoning packets to season them.

They are 100% convenient and I usually keep a few on hand, but sometimes I also like to change up the ingredient amounts for different kinds of dishes.

I've tried a few different ones, including generics, and the brand that I like the most personally is Taco Bell Original (#affiliate) because it seems to have the best combination of flavors for me, but hey... I also enjoy their tacos on occasion when I'm hungry and I just want a quick snack!