A vintage appetizer made with a seasoned Boursin-style cream cheese filling and pickled okra, rolled up in slices of luncheon ham and sliced.

Pickled Okra Roll Ups

We're going old school here y'all!

I know some of you won't care for these because, well... okra. It's one of those somewhat divisive foods that folks either love or hate. More for me if you're in the latter group, because I love it!

Those of us who do love okra and are of a certain age, will likely remember this party appetizer from year's past. I'm not sure exactly when it became popular, but I seem to remember it from back in the 70s.

Ground beef, chili and beans, spooned over rolls and topped with cheese, quickly passed through the oven and served open faced.

Hot Beef and Chili Bean Plank Sandwich

I'd never heard of a "plank sandwich" before, but apparently it really was a thing because this one was featured in Bell's Best 2 published in 1982, the second in the series of Mississippi Telephone Pioneers community cookbooks. Even still, I thought it was just one of those recipe names that a family came up with.

So, I turned to AI to find out if there was such a thing as a plank sandwich and was told:

A plank sandwich typically refers to a sandwich made using thick slices or "planks" of bread or other ingredients, often layered with various fillings. It can also refer to specific recipes, like a Monte Cristo breakfast plank, which involves dipping bread planks in an egg mixture and cooking them with fillings.

-AI Assist

See? Even us folks of a certain age can still be learning new things everyday y'all!

Skillet Angel Chicken - My Way

My variation of the viral Angel Chicken recipe, made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts, wrapped in seasoned bacon, and finished on the stovetop in a sauce made of chicken stock, cream soup, cream cheese, butter and dry Italian dressing mix.

Skillet Angel Chicken

I'm sure by now you've seen some version of this Angel Chicken recipe, because it's literally all over the internet. It's usually made in a slow cooker, but if you've been around here any length of time you know I'm not a huge user of that appliance in general.

Oh, I like it just fine, especially for those tougher cuts of meat that need a longer cook time. It's not my favorite mostly because it involves advanced planning which I'm not that great at doing! Still, readers here enjoy using a slow cooker, so I've shared a few recipes here and there.

Chicken breasts in the slow cooker though? Those are my least favorite protein to cook in one.

A fully cooked, bone-in, shank portion smoked ham, baked in an oven bag, then opened and finished with a root beer based glaze.

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Oven Bag Root Beer Glazed Ham

It's been quite a few years since I've used an oven cooking bag, though there was a time when they were pretty popular for home cooks. Considering they are still available today, apparently some folks continue to use them, most often I think for cooking holiday turkeys, since they are so easy to overcook otherwise and can be very dry. Better chances with an oven bag!

Initially I bought these to try one of Justin Wilson's recipes - he seemed to have used them quite a bit back in the day - but never got around to that recipe, so I thought why not try one with a ham since at the time of this writing, Easter is right around the corner! Ya gotta admit. That looks really good doesn't it?

A quick and easy snack cake made with pineapple, topped with brown sugar and walnuts and finished with a simple powdered sugar glaze.

Pineapple Cake

Every once in awhile a gal just wants something a little sweet. Something that tastes good but is easy and not fussy.

This is the cake for that.

In fact, one of the names that it's picked up over time is "Preacher Cake" because it's a cake that one could potentially throw together right after church and before the preacher's home visit, although folks tend to add spices to it now.

A breakfast or brunch strata layered with sliced bread, fresh crabmeat and cheese, baked in a milk and egg custard.

Hot Crab Strata Brunch Casserole

I ran across this recipe in a 1977 The Southern Junior League Cookbook (#ad), which is a collection of recipes from different Junior Leagues across the south. Talk about an oldie but goodie! This recipe was submitted by the Huntsville, Alabama group and in the cookbook is called Hot Crab Sandwich.

I had never heard of anything like it before and I just so happened to have a half pound of crabmeat that I needed to use up, so thought I'd give a half recipe a try, although I did make a few changes, including to increase the egg.

Y'all. This turned out to be so absolutely delicious that I wished I would have made the full casserole! I do think while it would certainly make a great addition for any holiday breakfast or brunch, it'd be great for any other time too!

Highly seasoned shrimp tossed with a mayonnaise and mustard dressing and served as a cold sandwich, dressed simply with shredded lettuce on soft sandwich buns. Serve with chips and pickle spears, pickled okra or briny olives.

Cold Shrimp Rolls

Lobster rolls aren't exactly a thing down here because while you will find some, including a Caribbean spiny lobster, in the continental shelf of the Gulf of America, they have a short peak season from September to November and aren't nearly as plentiful or as well known as those lobsters found in the Northeast waters.

I've lived here all of my life and never once eaten a Gulf lobster. Never.

So lobsters are not so common here along the Gulf Coast, but we make up for it with an abundance of all kinds of other seafood, including shrimp!

Beautiful, tasty, delicious Wild American born Gulf Shrimp - the best in the country in my opinion, but then seeing as I grew up in Biloxi, I guess I'm a little biased too.

Amish Wedding Noodles - My Way

Medium egg noodles, cooked in chicken stock or broth, then combined with cream soup and Velveeta.

Amish Wedding Noodles

At some point along the way, you've probably seen those viral TikTok Cafeteria or Buttered Noodles making the rounds on social media. I really don't know the origins of them, but by the name I am assuming that they came about from back in the day when school cafeterias actually served real food instead of the sad excuses that often grace the plates of kids today.

I personally don't remember a noodle dish at all, but I'll be honest. While I remember all of the food being homemade and tasty, the one thing that stands out the most from my school lunches are those awesome homemade yeast rolls!

A roux-based stew made using a quick cooking ground beef instead of a roast, and a shortcut of frozen vegetables. Pictured here with my Old-Fashioned Lard Biscuits.

Hamburger Stew

If you happened to see my previous post for Old-Fashioned Lard Biscuits, you probably saw a bowl of this Hamburger Stew there, so I figured I'd slide this one in before Spring is upon us, although it's fast approaching!

Nevermind that the forecast says we'll be in the high 30s when it does roll in! 

Not that seasons mean a thing to those of us in the South when it comes to food. We don't really have much of a Winter season down here to begin with, but yes, even in the heat of Summer you'll find us making a gumbo, or even a soup or a stew... if that's what we want!

A soft and tender, melt in your mouth biscuit, made with self-rising flour, lard and buttermilk.

Old-Fashioned Lard Biscuits

Back in the day, whole neighborhoods and families gathered in the fall for the boucherie hog slaughter and the big feast and celebration that went with it. Although there are a few old-timers left, that art has all but dried up with rare exceptions in some of the most rural areas of the country.

You know. Those places where folks actually do still live off the land and raise their own meat, instead of buying it at a grocery market. 

Back then, the preferred fat for everything, including biscuits, would have been the rendered pig fat. Lard. And, truth be known, lard was commonly used back then all across the country.