A snack mix of corn and rice squares with cheese crackers and a mix of pecans, cashews and peanuts, tossed with a spicy seasoned butter and slow baked.

Spicy Party Mix

Everyone makes these cereal-based snack mixes all year round because they are a great snack for parties, movie nights or just anytime, but for some reason they became a holiday favorite too. I think a lot of folks bag it up and gift it and frankly, once you start doing that, it will be expected every year!

What I call the original original 1952 advertised recipe was simply 2 cups each of wheat and rice Chex cereals, 1/2 cup nuts, butter, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and garlic salt. That's it! Even that original has evolved over the years and isn't the same original as is on the current Chex website.

I won't go into it here again, but you can read up a bit on that Chexistory at this link.

Homemade or frozen meatballs sauced with a cranberry barbecue sauce.

Cranberry Meatballs

Who doesn't love a sauced party meatball?

I know my husband (aka "The Cajun") sure does! You really have to reel him in to save some for other guests when he finds them on the table at any gathering. He does tend to get carried away when it comes to meatballs!

These Cranberry Meatballs are pretty popular around the major holidays when cranberries are in vogue. You certainly could make your own fresh cranberry sauce and yes, even chili sauce if you'd rather. I've actually got recipes up here for both.

We're going a little shortcut here!

A bone-in turkey breast, rubbed in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked. Pictured here with southern cornbread, dressing and skillet green beans with turkey gravy.

Classic Oven-Roasted Bone-in Turkey Breast

One thing that I have certainly learned in this world of cooking is that when it comes to large cuts of meat, you really need a digital in-oven probe-style meat thermometer (#ad), and not just the typical stick-in instant read thermometer.

I bought this Polder back in 2012 and so far it's still hanging in there!

Note: As an Amazon.com Services LLC Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases linked in my posts and marked as #ad or #affiliate links.

Since all ovens vary in the way that they cook, using a digital in-oven thermometer means that you can insert the probe, set the temperature you need the meat to reach and it will set off an alarm as soon as that temperature is reached. There's no need to keep opening the oven and removing the turkey toward the end of the cooking time to keep checking the temperature because every time you do that you lose some heat.

A quick skillet meal made with seasoned, boneless, skinless chicken thighs and frozen mixed vegetables, served over rice or noodles.

Skillet Chicken and Vegetables

I love a quick skillet meal!

Even though I run this recipe website, I'm still like many of you. In between recipe development and getting things in a form where y'all can recreate it in your own kitchen, I have some days where I'm just not super inspired about what I want to eat, or even whether or not I even feel like cooking!

A favorite dish of pasta with ground beef, tomatoes and chili seasonings, made easy using the Instant Pot!

Instant Pot Chili Mac

I love sauce and pasta dishes like this chili mac. It's so easy to throw together and gives you such a tasty dish that really most everyone loves and it's good any time of the year.

Besides a multitude of variations within the recipe itself that you can make by increasing and decreasing the chili seasonings and yes, even the cheese (or even leaving the cheese out), there are other ways to vary it too, just to give it a different flavor. Taco seasoned comes to mind as does a more mildly seasoned ground beef "helper" style of pasta and everything in between.

Strips of chicken breast, tossed with fajita seasonings and combined with sauteed peppers and onions, served on warmed corn or flour tortillas.

Skillet Chicken Fajitas

I love when you're sitting in a Mexican restaurant and a server passes by with a sizzling cast iron fajita plate filled with veggies and meat. It leaves behind it such a fragrant trail doesn't it?

Apparently,  it's a bit addictive too, that aroma, because you will often see tray after tray after tray delivered after that first one passed through!

Even my veggie adverse hubby aka The Cajun, fell into that fragrant allure once, and ordered some, despite my warning that they were more vegetable than they were protein.

A spicy, slow-simmered red sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes and tossed with penne pasta. Here I've added a few additional seasonings, some chopped sweet onion and finished it with fresh Parmesan cheese and parsley.

Spicy Arrabiata Sauce with Pasta

The word arrabiata (ah-rah-BYAH-tah) literally translates into the word "angry" and it's the heat from the addition of red pepper flakes here that earned the sauce the name, setting it apart from other more traditional Italian sauces.

If you enjoy a little heat in your sauce, start with the lesser amount of red pepper flakes. If you are already a lover of super spicy, increase that according to your personal taste.

While you can use fresh tomatoes, this sauce is often made using shelf-stable canned tomatoes, whether home canned or commercially bought, so it's an easy pasta sauce that can be prepared from the pantry anytime.

The classic dip combination of spinach and artichokes in an Alfredo base, with Italian and cream cheese and crabmeat.

Alfredo Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Crab

We're kind of in that awkward stage of food seasons down here along the Gulf Coast. Summer is gone from the calendar and mostly along with all the great summer vegetables, and though fall has arrived, the weather here can get a little wacky. Some days cooler, then others downright summerlike.

One thing is for certain this time of year though.

Tis the season for football and football means appetizers and snacks! Sandwiches, wings, meatballs, gumbo, chilis, soups, snacks, a wide variety of finger foods and dips, of course! You can grab up some ideas by tapping on those categories, or right here at this link.

A homemade from scratch snack cake made with peanut butter and finished with a caramel cream cheese frosting.

Homemade Peanut Butter Snack Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

If you've been around my blog any length of time, you already know I'm far more of a savory cook than I am a baker. Primarily that's simply because I'm not a huge sweets person.

It's not that I don't enjoy sweets because I absolutely do, and those beautiful desserts that pass by us all on social media certainly get my mouth watering, but I'm more likely to crave a bag of potato chips over something sweet.

I'm just more of a salty gal!

Tortilla scoops, filled with a blend of bacon with Rotel diced tomatoes, mayonnaise and cheese and topped with taco sauce and more cheese, then baked, for a great party appetizer!

Cheesy Bacon Rotel Cup Appetizers

Football season is king around this house with my husband, aka The Cajun. He loves the game, so I'm always looking for a good appetizer to snack on when it comes to game time, and this is a great one.

Typically made using phyllo cups, those can be a little hard to find around here for some reason. One day when I was adding my standard tortilla chips to the grocery list, I was reminded about the tortilla scoops. I thought hey, I bet those would work for those little snacks I like to make.

Turns out, somebody had already thought of that, so I made the adjustment and frankly, it worked out well!