A simple spiral sliced ham, brushed with a brown sugar, mustard and pineapple juice glaze enhanced with optional holiday spices and baked.

Baked Spiral Sliced Ham

I have a pretty good collection of baked ham recipes here on the website, but you may have noticed that I haven't ever featured a spiral sliced ham here. Ever.

Until today.

There's a reason for that, and it's simply that I have never had a great amount of success in warming them through without it ending up dry. Until today.

I am happy to say that, as simple as this ham is, it turned out excellent!

A potato salad made using half smashed and half chunky potatoes and finished with a sour cream and mayonnaise-based dressing.

Sour Cream Smashed Potato Salad

Hope y'all don't mind me sneaking in another potato salad before we roll into Fall in a few days!

Not that it matters much what the calendar says in the Deep South because yesterday it was miserably hot and humid. Not that the weather has ever stopped a craving on me, I sure do look forward to some cooler temperatures and some belly warmin' meals though - hopefully soon!

I wrote this version of potato salad in honor of my mother-in-law, who passed away a few years back. Although it's a bit different from her version, very different from my Mama's and different even from the way my father-in-law, who was also a great cook, made his, she prepared her potato salad mostly mashed, something that was very new to me.

A classic spinach casserole based on Spinach Madeleine, made with spinach, sauteed vegetables and a simple, cheesy cream sauce.

Spinach Madeleine Bake - My Way

Known by a couple of names with some variations - Spinach Madeline, Calhoun's Spinach Maria, Spinach Supreme, Spinach Justine, Spinach Gratin, Spinach Pauline, Spinach Dorinne, or just simply Spinach Bake - if you enjoy spinach you're sure to like this.

It's really a basic skillet dish made of spinach, seasonings, some kind of cheese, half and half, milk, or heavy cream, sometimes eggs and is sometimes topped with cheese or buttered bread crumbs. Each recipe has its own unique twist and variation. I've even seen one recipe that uses phyllo! Spinach Madeline is a holiday favorite for sure - be sure to double the recipe!

Tender, homemade coconut cake made easy in a sheet cake, finished with a 7-minute, divinity icing, shredded coconut and here, with a sugared cranberry and mint leaf garnish. 

Homemade Coconut Sheet Cake with Divinity Icing

I love a coconut layer cake during the holidays. It's a beautiful presentation on a holiday dessert table, covered in a perfect divinity icing and dusted all over with fluffy, white coconut. I just looks like heaven on a cake stand!

Unfortunately, while I think I'm a fairly decent cook overall, I am definitely not a baker, and though I can pull off a pretty good pan of brownies, cookies even, or a snack cake, well... layer cakes aren't my forte.

 

Fresh baby spinach, blanched then chopped and cooked with butter, cream and a light sprinkle of shredded cheese. Garnish with chopped or sliced, hard-boiled eggs.

Creamed Spinach

This recipe is only going to appeal to the spinach lovers passing by, but if you enjoy fresh spinach like I do, and you haven't had the opportunity to try it creamed this way, you really don't know what you're missing.

I have always loved spinach. Fresh in salads, frozen, canned, doesn't matter to me. In soups, casseroles, and dips, sauteed in a skillet with a little butter, nothing like it. But... oh how much I love it creamed, especially with a beef entree, making it perfect for a holiday side dish.

Southern Easter Menu Ideas and Recipes

A collection of Southern Easter menu ideas and recipes from Deep South Dish.

Deep South Dish Southern Easter Menu Ideas and Recipes

Looking for some menu ideas for Easter? Well, Easter dinner is certainly the best time to finally throw open the curtains and throw back the heavy covers of winter to bring in some fresh, spring color, fragrant flowers and a few favorite recipes to the table. Besides all of the religious attachments many of us have to Easter, it is also a time of refreshing and renewal. What better way to welcome spring than a nice brunch, buffet, or dinner?

 

Move over Cracker Barrel copycats - this is my ultra ultra cheesy hash brown casserole and it started as an accident!

Ultra Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

This Ultra Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole was born from a mistake, but in the end it proved to be a good mistake!

I had been trying to cook through my pantry and freezer to sort of spring clean out the old, so I can bring in the new. One thing that was taking up space and constantly falling out on me when I opened the freezer, was a one pound bag of frozen hash brown potatoes, so I decided to make a hash brown casserole as a side dish for supper one evening.

Happy Easter - Hot Cross Buns

Happy Easter


This recipe for Hot Cross Buns was shared with me by one of our readers. Hope you enjoy it!

My Way Spinach Bake and The Original Spinach Madeline

A classic spinach casserole based on Spinach Madeleine, a simple spin on Creamed Spinach, typically made with spinach, sauteed vegetables and a white sauce.

The original Nevill recipe starts with making a roux, and then adds in 1/2 cup evaporated milk, with 1/2 cup of the liquor from squeezing out the spinach. It also called for the now discontinued Kraft garlic cheese roll {or the also discontinued jalapeno roll, depending on which "original" recipe you are endeared to.

A yummy breakfast casserole that can be put together at the last minute - hash browns, cheese, sausage or ham, onion, bacon, milk, eggs, salt and pepper - what more could you want to start the day?!

Speedy Sausage and Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

I love breakfast casseroles but I hate having to think about building them the night before ... I never think about that the night before!! And besides that, I usually wake up deciding I want a breakfast casserole - I don't usually want it the night before!

While occasionally I will construct a night before dish, this breakfast recipe is my go-to for the most part. It's got everything a good breakfast casserole should have - potatoes, cheese, sausage, bacon and eggs. And you can make it right away!

A well loved pie, reminiscent of those served at Shoney's restaurants back in the day, made with fresh sliced strawberries and set with the help of strawberry gelatin and a secret ingredient!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

It's the season for strawberries, which makes me a happy person. I LOVE strawberries! And especially locally grown sweet Louisiana or Florida strawberries.

Strawberries are best purchased fresh when you need them because they just do not store well. Last year though, I discovered that the Debbie Meyer green bags and boxes kept them fresh in the fridge for much, much longer than any other storage method.

Southern Style Big Batch Super Creamy Special Occasion Macaroni and Cheese

This big batch, super creamy macaroni and cheese, made with cheddar, monterey jack, and velveeta, is insanely decadent, buttery, gooey, and over the top cheesy, perfect for those special occasions.

Southern Style Big Batch Super Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

This is not a mac and cheese you want to serve once a week but more say for company, pot lucks, special occasions, birthdays, events, or holidays ... and even though it's not quite the holidays, I so wanted to make it to share with you, so you could add it to your holiday menu. Oh the sacrifice!

Cream cheese mashed potatoes, with butter and cream of course, are all the rage these days. This version is from Martha Stewart's mom, Big Martha so I'm guessing its been around awhile!

Ultimate Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes

These are the perfect holiday mashed potatoes. Period. Potatoes. Butter. Heavy cream. Whole milk. Cream cheese. And more butter. You really do not need another one. I was watching The Martha Stewart Show and she was making her mom (Big Martha's) mashed potato recipe with Snoop Dogg. (yeah, you heard that right ... Snoop Dogg on Martha Stewart, seems they're BFFs!) Now... in all fairness, this recipe probably isn't a recipe that you'd want to prepare on an every day basis, but more like a special occasion or holiday recipe.

 

Frozen or canned corn, dressed up with a little butter, salt and pepper and fresh parsley. A traditional holiday side dish in my family.

Parslied Corn

Parslied corn is just a fancy way of saying take some corn, add a little butter, some salt and pepper and a bit of fresh or dried parsley. Nothing to it, but it's a great way to dress up plain corn just a little bit, and since it's easy to microwave and will free up a burner on the stove, is great for the holidays.