Homemade stock made from a ham bone or ham hocks.

How to Make Homemade Ham Stock

For most Southern households, major holidays mean ham and most often ham means a leftover ham bone. If you don't have an immediate use for that ham bone, save it and freeze it, or use it to make a stock that you can freeze for later.

Southern Candied Yams (Sweet Potatoes)

Sweet potatoes baked in a spiced, sugar syrup.

Candied Yams

We eat a lot of sweet potatoes here in the Deep South, and especially in Mississippi and Louisiana, because they are state crops for us, fresh and in abundance, especially in the fall and winter months.

Creamed Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts, steamed first, then sauteed in butter and cream, and finished with a bit of salt, pepper and Parmesan.

How to Cook Brussels Sprouts

I have been trying to learn to love brussels sprouts all my life, and more so since I started blogging about food. I've tried them a multitude of ways, and quite a few different versions here lately - a simple saute, oven braised, roasted and now creamed.

Kentucky Legend Off the Bone Ham Review

Kentucky Legend, Original Off the Bone Double Smoked Ham.

I recently had the opportunity to try out a Kentucky Legend Off the Bone smoked ham, and gracious y'all, it sure is a fantastic ham - wow!

Slow Cooker Pepper Jelly Glazed Boneless Ham

Boneless ham, cooked in a slow cooker with apple cider and glazed with a brown sugar, mustard and pepper jelly glaze.

Slow Cooker Pepper Jelly Glazed Ham

I love baking my ham for the holidays, although a slow cooker is a great way to cook ham too, and like crockpot dressing, it's also a great way to free up space in the oven.

When you think about it, a slow cooker is really the perfect environment for ham anyway. Thanks to the natural self-basting that occurs, the ham stays moist and tender, and although a glaze may not finish quite the same as oven baking, that is easily remedied with a quick run through in the oven at the very end to get that nice, shiny set on the glaze, which is exactly how I finished the ham pictured.

Baby carrots made with a traditional butter and brown sugar glaze.

Brown Sugar Butter Glazed Carrots

Honestly, what would a holiday be without some kind of glazed carrot on the table? One of my favorites is Julia Child's savory glazed version, slow stewed in beef stock and butter, but the orange juice and cane or maple syrup glazed is another great version too. This is probably the more classic holiday glazed, candied carrot, made with a traditional brown sugar and butter glaze.

Easy spiced peaches, made from canned peach halves and a spiced vinegar and brown sugar syrup - a perfect holiday side.

Spiced Peaches

Lots of folks still put up peach preserves and butters and jarred slices and peach halves in the summer, and many of them are sure to include a few jars of them spiced.

They really are delicious.

Did you know that you can get that same tasty flavor for a practical holiday side dish, with no canning and just a few basic, pantry items? These really are so simple to put together and just the perfect accent to the holiday meal.

Skillet seared pork chops finished in a pan gravy.

Skillet Pork Chops with Pan Gravy

My husband loves pork chops any way that I fix them, and this is a just a simple skillet recipe that's great for this time of the year when things start to get a bit more hectic. Seasoned, seared and then low simmered in a basic pan gravy, they're fast and tasty. I served these with brussels sprouts for me (I am still trying to learn to love them), alongside some sliced tomatoes and a salad for The Cajun, with leftover rice from another recipe. Special thanks to Jim for reminding me about this simple method.

Brown Sugar Chicken with Bacon - my take on the popular three ingredient chicken, made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, dredged in a seasoned brown sugar and wrapped in bacon.

Brown Sugar Chicken with Bacon

I know that by now you've probably seen the three ingredient chicken recipe floating around Pinterest and Facebook. It uses chicken, a packet of dry Italian dressing and seasoning mix with brown sugar. It's quite a tasty recipe as it stands, very easy and everybody seems to really enjoy it.