My version of Johnny Marzetti, a well-loved baked casserole originating in Ohio, made with ground beef and pork, the trinity of southern cooking, tomato soup, mushrooms, egg noodles and cheese.

Johnny Marzetti Casserole - My Way

I know, I know... it's HOT! But this is one of my favorite casseroles to make, and I've made it twice here recently, so yeah, I'm sharing it, right in the heat of the summer.

Besides, it's a terrific potluck carry too that everybody enjoys.

There is something about the combination of textures and flavors here that make this an outstanding meal anytime of the year and perfect if you have a countertop oven (#ad), which is what I use the most these days anyway, especially in the summer.

A Tex-Mex casserole made from seasoned shredded pork, chicken or beef and beans, layered with corn tortillas, cheese and taco sauce and finished with chopped onion, tomato and shredded lettuce.

Tex-Mex Chalupa Casserole

I have struggled from day one over what to call this casserole.

The recipe I patterned this after was called Chalupa Casserole. Okay. Except "chalupas" apparently is the Spanish word for canoe or small boat, or something to that effect, so an authentic Mexican chalupa is so named because the tortilla dough is formed in the same manner, to make a corn canoe if you will, then stuffed with a variety of fillings.

On the other hand, I have gone to a Mexican restaurant before, ordered a chalupa plate expecting that, and received what really was a tostada to me - a flat, fried tortilla, topped with refried beans and meat and dressed like a taco, with lettuce, onion and tomatoes. Nothing concave or boat shaped about it!

A quicker prep version of meat lasagna, using ground beef, commercial pasta sauce and oven-ready lasagna noodles.

Shortcut Lasagna

There is nothing that can touch a homemade lasagna. Nothing. And let me tell you, when it's made with a sauce made from homegrown, backyard summer tomatoes, it is out of this world. But, like a good classic ziti, it's a labor of love from beginning to end and takes hours. Is it worth it?

You bet it is!

But the time factor pretty much relegates it to being a day off or weekend kind of meal.

Big, fluffy and tender yeast rolls, reminiscent of those old school cafeteria rolls so many of us loved.

Old School Cafeteria-Style Yeast Rolls

If you're a parent or grandparent who has had the occasion to attend a child's elementary school lunch in recent years, you know that kid's school lunches are nothing like the ones we used to enjoy as children. Back in the dark ages when I was in elementary school, lunches were home-cooked meals, and many my age have fond memories of cafeteria favorites - brownies, goulash, even sloppy joes seem to top the list, but the one I find most often mentioned are those homemade yeast rolls.

Many of us have been on a quest for a roll that is as close to those amazing homemade yeast rolls from our elementary school memories, but in more reasonable batches. Fresh baked in the morning, you could smell those rolls all over the school, getting a symphony of tummy rumbling going.

A quicker, off-season version of Crawfish Bisque made using frozen pureed and whole Louisiana crawfish tails, commercial seafood or chicken stock, the trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery), tomatoes, corn and Cajun seasonings.

Shortcut Crawfish Corn Bisque

Bisque is a soup.

A fairly thick, generally smooth and creamy soup, made from seafood, though often fully pureed to intensify the flavors, leaving no recognized ingredients behind, except perhaps of a garnish.

Seafood is precious, even down here on the Gulf Coast where it is abundant, so I prefer not to puree all of it, but rather to use a fairly rough puree to add body to the soup, but also keep some pieces whole, along with the trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery) for texture and appearance.

Summer Vegetable Gumbo - Garden in a Pot. A mix of summer's best veggies like sweet onion, fresh corn, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, green beans, sweet bell pepper and okra, a perfect dish for the veggie lovers!

Summer Vegetable Gumbo - Garden in a Pot

Let's have a last hurrah for summer y'all! We are finally at the end of it this Friday, well, at least according to the calendar. There won't be any fall-like temperatures showing up here in the Deep South for awhile yet even then. In fact, the past two days there has been a heat index advisory of 110 degrees. Hey, the good news is this dish can be served hot, warm or at room temperature!

I love vegetables, and this stew is loaded with the summer vegetables I love.

Other than just a general vegetable stew, I actually wasn't quite sure what I wanted to call this recipe when it was all said and done, but when I opened the stored container to heat up a serving the next day, and the aroma immediately spoke gumbo to me, so that's what I settled on. 

A mixture of fresh and imitation crab, veggies and a homemade ranch style dressing, perfect for a sandwich, snacking or stuffed into a tomato or avocado half.

Crab Salad

This salad has been a favorite for me many years, and you may remember something similar called the Seafood Sensation Salad from Subway, where you could get it on a sub or in a salad. I used to get them for lunch in my corporate working days, loaded up with vegetables. While mostly removed from their menu, I think you can still find it at Subway in some markets, and you will probably find some version at your local grocery store deli.

Now... I realize that some of y'all are gonna get mad at me, because while ingredients vary, this salad has always been made with imitation crab or in combination with imitation lobster. Relax a bit.

A few basic ingredients: cherry pie filling, crushed pineapple, sweetened condensed milk and Cool Whip make up the base for this old school frozen delight! From there, make it your own with easy add-ins.

Frozen Cherry Fruit Salad

I live on the Gulf Coast, and down here, the humidity is as important as the temperature. Maybe even more so! We've been under 100+ degree heat advisories here for awhile now because of that heat index. In June. Already. I pray we don't see a hurricane this year, well, ever again in my lifetime really, that knocks out power for long. Gotta have that air conditioning down here!

When the weather heats up like this, cooling foods are a steady in my house. Watermelon, cucumbers, grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries are consumed regularly around here! Of course, although they may mostly be relegated to those family gatherings more so these days, we have our icebox and freezer desserts too. This cherry salad is one of those that has been around for years.

An unbaked, baked bean recipe, made with navy beans, onions, jalapeno, bacon, brown sugar, and prepared on the stovetop.

Stovetop Pork and Beans

It was just The Cajun and me for the 4th of July this year, so I kept things very simple. Smoked rib chops from Corky's, warmed on the grill, my classic potato salad, no husk microwave corn on the cob and these unbaked baked beans.

I call them that because it's essentially my baked beans recipe, without baking it, and using canned navy beans - sort of a semi-homemade, stovetop pork and beans, that I enjoy serving as a side dish anytime.

Wedges of cabbage, seasoned, sprinkled with bacon, and wrapped tightly in foil packets, great for the oven, campfire or grill.

Foil Packet Cabbage Wedges

Oh my, isn't foil packet cooking just too cool? Of course, it's really intended to be campfire cooking, or even outdoor grill cooking, but they're just as easy to bake right in your oven.

The advantage of cooking in foil, is that the flavor really intensifies in whatever you tuck away in those little squares. Remember that foil packet corn? Oh my gosh is that stuff good or what?! And yes, wrapping things individually is different than putting everything in one pan and just wrapping the pan - trust me. I've tried it! Not the same at all.

Corn on the cob, smeared with a garlic and herb butter blend, individually wrapped and baked or grilled.

Foil Packet Corn on the Cob

I'm hearing chatter here and there of back to school already and I'm not all that unhappy!

No, it's not for any of the reasons you're probably thinking. It's all because back to school means fall is near, and I am sincerely looking forward to fall this year. This summer has been miserable and it seems as if it gets harder and harder to handle as I get older.

I've become a near vampire in the summertime anymore to avoid the heat, so I'm ready for some soup and sweater weather!

Nubby Fried Chicken Planks

Nubby Fried Chicken Planks - a grown up version of chicken tenders, served here with a homemade chicken gravy, quick fix green beans and a garden salad.

Fried Chicken Planks

What are chicken planks you ask? Well, they are simply chicken tenders for adults!

Seriously though, they are chicken tenders that are pounded thinner, which makes them more appropriate for a fancier fried chicken platform, such as those amazing restaurant copycat recipes, and they cook much faster than traditional chicken breasts, which are typically, well... in my humble opinion, otherwise tasteless! Because planks cook faster, they stay tender and delicious, and no brining is necessary. Yay!

 

 A classic Christmas cookie for many families, this soft and puffy butter cookie uses anise for flavoring and is finished with a lemony, powdered sugar glaze and colorful nonpareils.

Italian Anise Cookies

These are a classic Christmas cookie all around the country, and yes, even in the Deep South for many! I love them, for one, because they are as easy to make as spritz cookies, but also because they are a slightly different take on the classic butter cookie.

One bite and you wonder, hmmm.... what is that?

Green Bean Casserole made with a homemade, butter roux based cream sauce, enhanced with bacon, fresh vegetables and mushrooms.

Green Bean Casserole with Homemade Cream Sauce

Let me first clarify here before anything else, that I have no opposition to cream soups. None. Nada. I have them in my pantry and I use them all the time - always have, always will.

And, like bacon, sausage, deli meats, bologna, hot dogs, red meat, grilled and otherwise, and all those other things somebody else is always trying to tell us that we shouldn't be eating, I love the cream soups! They are convenient and tasty and Southerners have been using them as a shortcut cream sauce in recipes since they were created, somewhere around the early 1930s. I suspect we always will. There's a reason our southern béchamel has been around for this long y'all!

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, marinated in lime juice and Italian seasoning, browned then brushed with honey and cooked with sweet bell peppers. Serve with pan juices over rice.

Honey Sweet Pepper Chicken Breasts

I guess you could say that this is a combination of several recipes. It started as one common and popular chicken recipe using Italian dressing as the flavor base that we've all made. Then my mind went to a dish we make down here using Italian dressing called Mardi Gras Chicken, thanks to the blend of green, red and yellow sweet bell peppers typically used. Then, that Cracker Barrel copycat "ungrilled, grilled chicken tenderloin" recipe using Italian dressing, lime and honey, a recipe that's been making the internet rounds for years, jumped in my head. This was the result of all that thinking. I just love the creative process of recipe development!

Classic peas and pasta salad, made with tiny shell pasta and dressed with homemade buttermilk Ranch, spicy mustard, dill, red onion, cubed cheese, bacon and gently tossed with tuna fillets.

Peas and Pasta Salad with Tuna

Okay y'all. I know everybody's in fall mode, sharing their favorite apple recipes, and pumpkin recipes won't be far behind - if they haven't started up already. Heck, we're only in the high 80s this week here in South Mississippi, so that's practically fall weather here, far as we are concerned. But... I'm gonna squeeze in at least one more "summer" recipe before the calendar tells me it's officially fall.

Southern Field Peas and Snaps - Field peas cooked with green beans and served here with grilled smoked andouille sausage and cornbread.

Southern Field Peas and Snaps

It can be a little bit confusing when a Southerner talks about field peas, because kinda like with butter beans or what we mean when we say "Coke," they might be referring to any one of literally hundreds of Southern field peas.

Field peas, or cowpeas as we also know them, aren't really peas at all. They are beans that grow very well in the South because they are heat and drought tolerant and grow in just about any soil. They're categorized generally in four groups - crowder, cream, black-eyed and field peas, and there are many varieties to be found in each of those categories.

Low to No Calorie Diet Iced Tea

A low to no calorie recipe for a full gallon of presweetened, robust iced tea, using sugar substitute.

Low to No Calorie Diet Iced Tea (Milo's Copycat)

It used to be you ordered tea anywhere in The South, and iced sweet tea was what you both expected and got, without you having to say so.

There is no doubt that we are still very endeared to our sweet tea in The South, but these days you have to specify - sweet, unsweet, half and half sweet and unsweet, half and half, tea and lemonade, or, hot! I don't have a huge sweet tooth, and find most everybody else's sweet tea to be far too sweet for me, so when The Cajun and I eat out anywhere, I always order the half sweet and half unsweet and that suits me just fine.

 

Slow cooked pork roast in an incredibly tasty gravy, using a classic cola soft drink and an envelope of onion soup mix. Great for chicken and beef roasts as well!

Slow Cooker Cola Pork Roast

This pork roast uses that same combination of good ole cola soft drink and dry onion soup mix we love on a beef roast, and the same as that beef roast that is so delicious, so is a pork loin done the same way.

Yes, Southerners like to cook with cola - which of course includes things like 7-up and Dr Pepper and root beer, of course - because we all know that the word cola covers all beverage bases in the South.

 

    Homemade, old-fashioned vanilla custard ice cream, made with a combination of whole milk, heavy cream, half and half, eggs and vanilla.

Old Fashioned Vanilla Custard Ice Cream

I don't treat myself to homemade ice cream as much as I would like to, and when I do, often it's a basic version made in my Cuisinart ice cream freezer, the kind that has the bucket you keep in the freezer and makes a soft serve ice cream in under 30 minutes. That's not counting chilling times and freezing times of course, but it's pretty handy for when you want to make ice cream without all the ice and salt and such... so long as you have the freezer space to keep the bucket frozen.