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! 

The elements from my open-faced, spicy tuna melt come together in an oven-steamed hot tuna sandwich.

Cheesy Hot Tuna Sandwiches

Though they've been around a long time, you may not have heard about these yummy hot tuna sandwiches. They're a bit retro by now.

A riff on a tuna melt honestly, except while those are typically served open-faced on an English muffin and with cold tuna, topped with cheese and passed briefly under a broiler, hot tuna sandwiches are made on buns or rolls, wrapped and heated through in the oven.

Classic and basic tuna noodle casserole, made with a homemade cream sauce, tuna and peas and topped with kettle chips.

Old Fashioned Tuna Noodle Casserole

Canned tuna is always a good standby, anytime really, and definitely during Lent. We eat it most often in its most basic forms, straight out of the can over white bread slathered with mayonnaise, or on a melt, in tuna and egg salad, tuna mac, or even a slightly more fancy tuna pasta salad.

And then, of course, there's this classic tuna noodle casserole to stretch it out into a full out meal. Since it's just me and The Cajun, I'm making it in a smaller 2-quart size here, which amounts to about 4 full adult servings with other sides, but double it up for a 9 x 13 inch dish if you've got a bigger family to feed.

An old fashioned dish made from tuna, macaroni, chopped egg, celery, peas, salt and pepper - and for my additions, Old Bay and Cajun seasoning. Lots of potential add-ins will make this your own too!

Old Fashioned Tuna Macaroni Salad

Along with tomatoes, cucumbers and watermelon, I have eaten this macaroni salad so many times over the summer, I figured it was about time to share it!

It's not anything new of course, or even anything I've created - frankly it's been around longer then me - but if you're a little younger than me, you may have grown up with it. If you're closer to my age, you may remember it through your early days of marriage, or those struggling first apartment or college years, because it was both easy to make and economical. I'd be willing to bet that at least some of you also still make it yourself!

Classic peas and pasta salad, made with tiny shell pasta and dressed with homemade buttermilk Ranch, spicy mustard, dill, red onion, cubed cheese, bacon and gently tossed with tuna fillets.

Peas and Pasta Salad with Tuna

Okay y'all. I know everybody's in fall mode, sharing their favorite apple recipes, and pumpkin recipes won't be far behind - if they haven't started up already. Heck, we're only in the high 80s this week here in South Mississippi, so that's practically fall weather here, far as we are concerned. But... I'm gonna squeeze in at least one more "summer" recipe before the calendar tells me it's officially fall.

A classic, open-faced tuna melt sandwich of tuna, celery, sweet onion and tarragon and dressed with mayonnaise, gets a spicy kick from Cajun seasoning, hot sauce and jalapeno and is served on a toasted English muffin, topped with fresh, sliced tomato and melted cheese.

Spicy Tuna Melt

Okay, so yes. It's a simple open-faced tuna melt sandwich. But a reader recently asked me for my recipe, which of course gave me a craving for one, so I made them and I'm sharing it with y'all, because that is what a blogger of food does.

Besides. It's too darned hot to cook much, or at least often, and when is the last time you had one yourself? I think it's time!

An old-fashioned casserole, probably patterned as a way to use Sunday's leftover roast chicken, is combined with a creamy sauce, mushrooms and egg noodles, for one of my favorite comfort foods.

Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Casserole

Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Casserole is one of those good, ole, standby recipes common to many of us, no matter where we live - a basic chicken noodle casserole - the kind that has been around for longer than I have. Simple, easy, yummy and comforting. It's a great casserole for anytime but is especially comforting on those cooler nights that are coming up.

Classic tuna salad mixture of tuna, hard boiled eggs, green onion, celery, pickles and dressed with mustard and mayonnaise.

Tuna and Egg Salad

Now honestly, I guess I wouldn't generally post about making something as simple as an egg salad, or here, tuna and egg salad. Or, maybe I would {scratches head} dunno... but, it is Lent afterall and I'm tryin' to do my best to stay away from meat on Fridays and so, I wanted some tuna and egg salad for lunch - so I figured what the heck.