BlogHer Food 2010 - Day 1: The Sessions

The InterContinental San Francisco

Finally, with all of the holiday posting over with - back to the conference! So let me tell you... despite only having the one small glass of wine {or was it two?}, did I sleep hard the night after the Deen Brothers event!  My flight the morning of my arrival day before had been at 6:00 a.m. which means I had to leave the house around 4ish for the airport, which means basically I tossed and turned all night and didn't sleep but maybe 2 hours max. Once I hit the bed at the hotel, I crashed.  By the way, I use one of those sleep machines at night and yes, it travels with me.  If you are bothered by extraneous noises from noisy hotel guests and slamming doors when you travel, you might want to check this baby out - I love it!

Iceberg wedge salad with Homemade Comeback Thousand Island Dressing and garnished with thin slices of red onion, sliced grape tomatoes, chopped pimentos and crumbled bacon.

Wedge Salad with Homemade Comeback Thousand Island Dressing

I'm guessing that just about every southerner has a recipe in their recipe box for Thousand Island Dressing - and every one of them just a little bit different.  It's a pretty simple dressing really - just a mix of mayonnaise, add in some ketchup or chili sauce, throw in some chopped sweet pickles or pickle relish and a bit of chopped egg and you'll have a perfectly fine Thousand Island dressing.

Turkey Bone Gumbo - Turkey Carcass Gumbo

A delicious gumbo made from the carcass of the holiday turkey.

Turkey Bone Gumbo

Turkey bone gumbo, Thanksgiving gumbo or Turkey Carcass Gumbo - no matter the name you use, it is a great way to transform at least one of your Thanksgiving leftovers into a whole 'nother meal, by extracting every ounce of flavor from that holiday bird. While everybody is busy traveling and gathering for the big feast on Thanksgiving, I wanted to remind you not to toss that turkey carcass after your Thanksgiving feast!

And by the way, once all the feasting is over, pop back by here and check out my list of Thanksgiving leftover recipes too. You're bound to find something to transform those leftovers into something else your family will be happy to gobble down.

Fresh sweet potatoes baked in a cane syrup and brown sugar, bourbon glaze.

Bourbon Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Here in The Deep South, we absolutely love our sweet potatoes. And we love our cane syrup. Oh yeah, and our bourbon. You'll find it expressed in an awful lot of recipes, especially around the holidays, so it's no surprise that we love our sweet potatoes glazed with a syrupy bourbon too. For us down along this way, that's most often made using Steen's pure cane syrup, a well loved and local favorite from Louisiana.

Top 10 Turkey Tips - How to Open Roast a Turkey Perfectly

Top 10 Turkey Tips - How to Open Roast a Turkey Perfectly

This time of year it's all about the turkey, or more importantly, not only how to roast a turkey, but how to roast a turkey perfectly so that it's at it's most juicy, tender perfection. Here are some of my favorite tips to help you achieve the perfect turkey.

7 Top Tips to Perfect Your Holiday Dressing

My top tips to perfect your holiday dressing or stuffing.

How to Perfect Your Holiday Dressing

The perfect dressing, or stuffing... however you look at it, can be a bit elusive, and to be honest it just takes practice to get it to the consistency that you like. Some people like their dressing on the dry side, others like it almost soupy. Here are some of my favorite dressing tips that I've picked up along my way of practice.

Another great way to enjoy green beans in a casserole is to add a little onion, bacon and cheese and top it off with a stuffing mix!

Stuffing Topped Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

I remembered seeing this cheesy green bean and stuffing casserole in Kraft's Food & Family magazine a few years back (okay, so I'm slow) and really liked the idea of a stuffing topped green bean casserole.

Or, I guess, technically this would be a dressing topped casserole since it's not stuffed into anything. 

But, anyway... I thought it'd be a great side dish anytime really, but especially for the holidays, if you are stuffing your turkey and always have that little bit of leftover stuffing. If you have leftovers, it sure would make a fantastic holiday leftovers casserole too!

Perfectly Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin

Perfect Potatoes au Gratin, made with thinly sliced potatoes in a cheesy dreamy cream sauce.

Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin

Hello Scalloped Potatoes, meet the best, perfectly cheesy, Potatoes au Gratin, evah.

Ya know, seriously... I am of the opinion that it'd be kinda hard to mess up a dish of potatoes au gratin no matter what you do to them - I mean c'mon now. Potatoes. Cheese. Butter. Cream. Hello. If you're making this for the holidays, you'll probably want to double the ingredients and do extra layers.

Well, I personally love Julia's way with this classic potato dish, however I decided to play with it a bit. You know. For the holidays. 

A souffle'd casserole of baked grits with cheese and sausage.

Baked Garlic Cheese Grits with Sausage

I love my stovetop version of garlic cheese grits. They are a creamy, cheesy, and perfect garlicky cradle for eggs in purgatory, shrimp and grits, or grillades and grits, or as a tasty side dish, great with scrambled or fried, dirty eggs.  Last week though, we were chatting over on the Facebook page about everybody's favorite way to make a baked, casserole-style cheese grits, like this one; souffle-like and fluffy.

Weekend Cocktails: Hot Buttered Rum

Hot Buttered Rum

Hot Buttered Rum

Hot buttered rum. A warm drink made from butter, brown sugar and a few typical spices - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice - oh yeah. And rum.

It's a delicious, heartwarming winter drink that is just perfect for the adults over the holidays. Though it is traditionally made with plain water, I thought why not make it with apple cider?

Careful. These go down real smooth, especially on a cold night, but they are rich and with a punch. Enjoy, but drink responsibly!

Five cup salad, and all of its expanded cup versions, is another old fashioned fruit salad that is perfect for any holiday table. A very simple but delicious and well-loved dish.

Old Fashioned 5 Cup Salad

Five Cup Salad is another fruit salad that has been around forever - well, for as long as I can remember anyway - and, while it's good any time of the year, is a great addition to the holiday table too.

Many of us will remember it from days gone by in our Mama's and Grandma's kitchens, but as always, there are some variations that have appeared in this fruit salad over the years. Some adding additional cups of various ingredients, some even changing up the fruit, but I think this version represents the old, basic 5 cup salad.

A thick and creamy soup with all the goodness of a loaded baked potato - bacon, butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and green onion.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I blame the creation of this Loaded Baked Potato soup recipe on Facebook.  Yep. One day Randy, a reader over there, posted on the wall asking for potato soup recipes so, of course, I gave him links to my Creamy Potato Soup, and my Creamy Cheesy Potato Soup with Bacon. Then, I started thinking... one of those is a shortcut soup and is creamy; the other I used the immersion blender on, so it is also creamy. I really need a chunky potato soup up here on the site.

How to get through the holidays without a can of cream of mushroom soup using a homemade version.

Homemade Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup Substitute

Now if y'all have been reading this recipe site for long, you already know that I am fully endeared to my Campbell's condensed soups and most especially our beloved shortcut southern béchamel (that's Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup for those of y'all with a more sophisticated palate). I have several that are pantry staples around here.

Congealed salads may have gone the wayside in many southern homes, but this Cherry Coke Salad might just bring you right back to it.

Old Fashioned Cherry Coke Salad

Coke Salad. The Amazing Coca-Cola Salad. Cherry Cola Salad. Fruit salad embedded in cherry Jello. Congealed Salad.

It's known by many names, but it's that last term that tends to garner harsh judgment toward the old gelatin encased salads. It's name comes, of course, from that fact that the contents - be they fruit or vegetables - are thickened, or congealed, into gelatin. I'm not sure why congealed salads fell out of favor, and all but disappeared from the holiday table. Maybe it was the term "congealed" that made them sound un-appetizing, but really, although some were made using a bit of shredded vegetables, most are made with fruit, and are simply fruit salads encased in Jello.

Southern Chicken and Cornbread Dressing with Homemade Chicken Gravy

Chicken and cornbread dressing in a casserole form and served with homemade gravy is pure comfort food anytime of the year. It's a perfect dish to carry to a potluck or church social too!

Southern Chicken and Cornbread Dressing

I have shared several dressing recipes along the way and I've even had my hissy fit rant about my feelings on the dressing vs. stuffing debate to which, I will reiterate, once again... whatever you grew up with, and what you do in your Southern kitchen, is right, bottom line. It's all good folks, so let's just eat, okay?

I know. I am such a rebel.

Butterball Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer Review

Fried turkey. Inside. In my own kitchen. If I had not done it with my own two hands, I would never have believed it.

Ever had a fried turkey? Well, let me tell you, y'all know how we are with our frying Down South, and believe me, we are fully endeared to our fried turkeys around the holidays. Once you try it, I think you'll be hooked. It gives you a nice, juicy and tender turkey in flat out no time hardly at all.

Frankly, you hear so many stories about turkey fryer disasters, that I was always scared to even try to fry a turkey at home. I settled for putting an order in with one of the many people in my area who fry up massive batches of turkeys to sell to other people over the holidays.

Chili Spaghetti - Homemade Stovetop Beef Chili with Beans

My homemade beef and bean stovetop chili, served "Cincinnati Style" on a bed of spaghetti noodles and topped with cheese. If you've turned your nose up at this and never tried it, you must try it at least once. I got hooked first bite.

Chili Spaghetti

Oh Chili Spaghetti, Chili Spaghetti (or is it Spaghetti Chili?), where oh where have you been all of my life? ♥

I'm gonna tell y'all straight up front before y'all get all over me, that yes, this is a dish stolen straight away from above the Mason-Dixon line. Yep, sure is.

A well loved casserole of broccoli, rice and cheese, uses canned cheddar cheese soup and cream of mushroom for the sauce and is topped with your favorite shredded cheese.

Broccoli and Rice Casserole with Cheese

Broccoli casseroles, whether alone with cheese, with chicken, or like here with rice and cheese, have been a favorite casserole for potlucks, church suppers, family gatherings and especially holidays for as long as I can remember. Many people like to include Cheez Whiz in their broccoli and rice casserole and certainly you can use that, or even our southern favorite Velveeta as well, but I like to use the canned cheddar cheese soup from Campbell's. It's a pantry staple in my house and is an easy addition. Feel free to sub either of those ingredients if you prefer, or simply increase the amount of shredded cheddar to 2 cups, dividing it as noted in the recipe.

A nicely seasoned chicken stock based chowder made with a small roux, auteed veggies, potatoes, corn, half and half and sweet blue crab.

Corn and Crab Chowder

We've had a quick shot of wintry weather in The Deep South, for at least a few days anyway, and a good chowder made with corn, crab and a little cream, really hits the spot when that cold weather blows in. It's been such a hot fall that as much as I love them this time of year, thinking about soups, stews and chowders has been hard to do frankly. Leave it to The South to go from beach weather to frost in about 8 hours! Apparently we decided to just pass by fall altogether - gotta love The South! Course, we'll be back to beach weather in no time, which explains why my garden looks like a laundry right now, with sheets and blankets strewn across many of my plants.

Pillsbury Grands Mini Biscuit Topped Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Thanks to MyBlogSpark, I recently had the opportunity to try Pillsbury® Grands!® Frozen Mini Biscuits, the new, tiny freezer-to-oven biscuits from your grocer's freezer case.  Now I love my own homemade biscuits, and I'll be honest. I had never tried these.  Lawdy mercy, they are good!  Fantastic piping hot and straight out of the oven, I loved these. I mean look y'all, seriously.

They are the cutest, tiny little biscuits, about a Southern Belle three-biter, and fluffy on the inside but with that loveable crunch on the outside that we southern cooks are already endeared to, only with a smaller surface area.  Translate:  ♫More crunch y'all!♫

Scalloped Cabbage Casserole

Creamed cabbage, seasoned with bacon and onion and baked in a white sauce is a delicious and favorite southern dish.

Scalloped Cabbage

Love cabbage like me? Then I think you'll love this recipe for escalloped creamed cabbage. When I make this, I could eat the whole thing. Oh wait. Since my husband won't give cabbage a second look, I actually do always eat the whole thing! Okay, well, now... not all at once of course.