Oysters, cooked stovetop or on the grill in a cast iron skillet and tossed in a seasoned garlic butter blend. Crackers are dipped in the butter, topped with oysters and a splash of hot pepper sauce.

Cast Iron Oyster Appetizer

Where's my oyster lovers because trust me on this one. You will want to make this!

It's a great snack for movie night, or as a party or game day appetizer and your oyster loving friends will love it too, although you'll want to increase the recipe two or three times.

The idea came from a local cookbook Cooking on the Coast by the O'Keefe family, contributed by Jody O'Keefe, who got it and named it Oysters A and M Breaux, after friends of theirs from Cajun Country.

Cast iron skillet Southern cornbread made with buttermilk and stone-ground cornmeal.

Real Southern Cornbread

What's the fastest way to stir up a hissy fit among Southerners?

Say to them "a real Southerner would never ... [fill in the blank]," that's how.

I hear it sometimes on social media about my own personal recipes because there are some folks who have set in their heads that to be "Southern," a recipe must be prepared a certain way - the way that they grew up with it being prepared, and only that way.

Corn tortillas cut into wedges and tossed with seasoned ground beef, enchilada sauce, green chilies, black beans and cheese and baked.

Sheet Pan Beef Enchilada Casserole

One day I ran across this recipe while browsing through Instagram - something that I like to do when I'm avoiding doing something else I should be doing. That can happen a lot these days and social media can be really good for that!

Anyway, this fella Kevin Ashton (@oldscoolkevmo) is a chef for a sorority house and he makes a lot of good eats that he cooks for himself at home and those gals and shares them on his social media. I'm sure they must really enjoy the things he comes up with because it's a wide variety of cuisines and it all looks good!

By the way, he's also battling stage 4 cancer (but seems to be beating it), so go and give him some love on one of his platforms y'all!

Russet potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and sliced, tossed in cooking oil and fried.

Soft Fried Potatoes

There are versions of these kinds of fried potatoes all across the country, but most definitely in the South - and, as usual, everybody prepares them differently.

There are two versions that I make the most.

• Southern-style, smothered fried potatoes with onion, made with cubed peeled russet potatoes, that are first steamed, then pan-fried in bacon drippings to crisp and turned, resulting in a tender inside, but with crispy outer edges.
  
  
• Unpeeled red skin potatoes, fried up in a cast iron skillet with sweet or yellow onion and bell pepper and nicely seasoned for a take on Potatoes O'Brien. Great for any meal and versatile - add bacon, ham, sausage, fresh herbs and even mushrooms if you like!

Chicken wings generously seasoned and air fried naked. Saucing optional!

Air Fryer Naked Chicken Wings

I love wings. Love them!

They are one of our top favorite foods for football gatherings, movie watching or really anytime snacking.

I used to do them most of the time in the oven and still do occasionally but they are ideal and so easy in the air fryer.

Now... first a disclosure because it's important and it matters.

Italian sausage, sweet peppers and onions, slow baked with crushed and diced tomatoes, olive oil and seasonings, served here on buttered and toasted rolls.

Baked Italian Sausage and Peppers

I love Italian sausage and peppers, but it never occurred to me to cook it in the oven.

While I think that this dish is not really authentic Italian, but more of a fusion of Italian with American, Italians do cook a lot of sausages, though the kinds do vary by region. Typically when authentic Italian sausages are referenced, it means salamina or salame da sugo, cotechino, zampone, or capello del prete and not the typical sweet or hot Italian sausages in our markets here in the U.S.

I love eating this dish, especially on a good sturdy bun, but mostly prepared it in what I thought was the more traditional manner - whole sausages, browned off in a skillet of oil, set aside while sliced peppers and onions are sauteed in that same skillet, then everything combined together.

An appetizer of poached shrimp, marinated in a tangy cocktail sauce based on a combination of V8 and ketchup with lime and a mix of vegetables.

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail - Cóctel de Camarones

This is such a great appetizer anytime really, but will certainly go very nicely as a starter for your Taco Tuesday, any cocktail party, football gathering or tailgate and those cookouts too. Heck, just a movie night even - just bust up some saltines or tortilla chips!

A tad bit different from what you're used to seeing with our classic American-style shrimp cocktail, it's sort of a cross between that, a ceviche and a gazpacho, all in a Bloody Mary-like base!