A skillet meal of yellow squash and zucchini, corn, onion and tomatoes with garlic, that can be used as a side dish or served stuffed into warmed corn tortillas for a vegetable taco.

Skillet Squash and Zucchini with Corn - Calabacitas con Elote

I think it may have been when I shared the recipe for my Southern-Style Skillet Ratatouille on the Facebook page recently when a reader, Austin, mentioned calabacitas, a Southwest/Mexican-style dish that also uses some of the summer bounty of fresh vegetables that many of us love.

Summer is coming to an end soon so let's get them in while we can y'all!

Cheese Delights - Broiled Open-Faced Tomato and Cheese Sandwich

An open-faced, broiled tomato and cheese sandwich with bacon and fresh basil.

Cheese Delights

One day, when I was sharing my broiled tomatoes on the Facebook page, Cheryl, one of the readers there, was reminded of an open-faced tomato sandwich her grandmother used to make. She called them Cheese Delights.

You can find a variety of open-faced tomato and cheese sandwich recipes around the net, and while they have different preparations and some with a variation in ingredients, you'll primarily find the ingredients to contain at least:

French Potato Salad - Pommes de Terre a L'huile

A cold potato salad, made with red skinned potatoes, tossed with chicken stock and white wine, dressed with a lemon and mustard olive oil vinaigrette and tossed with green onions and herbs.

French Potato Salad

One day, as I shared cookout recipes on my Facebook page, I shared my classic potato salad, a recipe that, while I do prepare other versions on occasion, is my standby recipe and most similar to the way that my Mama made potato salad. A reader commented that I really should try French potato salad sometime.

Of course, I took that as a challenge!

The Dish Rewind - Vol. 1 August 2022

This week's rewind: Speedy Strawberry Lemonade, Easy Cocktail Sauce with Boiled Shrimp, Hamburger Hot Dish Casserole, Carottes Glacées - Savory Glazed Carrots, Southern Summer Succotash and Coconut Key Lime Pie with Minty Whipped Cream.

Welcome to Vol. 1 August 2022 of "The Dish Rewind," where I highlight some of the past recipes from my many years of sharing this website.I hope you'll find some recipes in these collections that you may have missed seeing in the past!

Tap this link to visit all of the past collections from The Dish Rewind.

Chicken drumsticks dredged in seasoned flour and a buttermilk and egg batter and prepared in an air fryer.

Air Fryer Fried Chicken Drumsticks

While I don't eat it every day, and I rarely cook it at home anymore because it can be a bit messy, I do LOVE fried chicken.

Absolutely love it.

The chicken is tender. The coating on the deep-fried skin is so deliciously crunchy and loaded with flavor, it may well be my most favorite part. With easy access to places like Popeye's, and our local fried chicken buffet Hartz, fried chicken is The Cajun's and my top comfort food. We probably eat it more often than we should! 

A quick skillet meal of sweet or hot Italian sausage with seasoning vegetables, pasta noodles and a southwestern-seasoned tomato and sour cream sauce.

Italian Sausage and Pasta Skillet

Oh my goodness y'all... is this summer heat ever gonna end?? And it's not even August yet.

I know that I whine about it every summer but it's not getting any easier as the birthdays come on, that's for sure! The boys came by with their Dad for a swim and while PawPaw hung out in the pool with them, I had to go in and out of the house, alternating between visiting and cooling off. It was awful.

It's really been hard to get motivated to cook too.

Fresh, juicy tomatoes and garden cucumbers, paired with purple onion and dressed with a local honey and mustard vinaigrette, finished with torn basil, fresh from the garden.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Y'all know that I love me some fresh summer cucumbers and juicy, seasonal tomatoes and as salads go, I mostly just toss them with a mix of vinegar and sugar and call it a day. I do love that whole sweet and sour thing and that's the way I combine them most often.

Sometimes it's just simply cucumbers with onions, mostly sweet Vidalias, because it is the season for them too after all, but sometimes a sharp, purple onion is in order instead.

Chicken salad, made with green onion, celery, roasted pecans and bacon and dressed with blend of a mayonnaise and avocado. Serve as a sandwich filling or line individual plates or serving tray with lettuce leaves and scoop chicken salad on top, garnishing with tomato wedges.

Bacon, Pecan and Avocado Chicken Salad

C'mon now y'all... what's not to love about a chicken salad with avocado, bacon and pecan?

Well, I for one can attest - it is delicious!

I've noticed when engaging on social media that a lot of folks favor and have one signature chicken salad that they make all of the time and that most everybody knows them for. It's the one that they always bring to events.

I guess in that case, mine would be what I call my deli-style version, a very basic but delicious version, though I've made multiple variations of that one over the years, this being one of them!

Boneless pork ribeye chops, dredged in a seasoned mixture of cracker meal and panko crumb coating, and cooked in the air fryer. Shown here with a drizzle of milk gravy.

Breaded Air Fryer Pork Chops

I really love using an air fryer, especially in this heat. It's way less messy than frying on the stovetop too, that's for sure!

I have mentioned before, but it took me awhile to get on board with them admittedly, but when I did finally, I ended up with several of them! The one that stays out of the pantry and that I use the most is an oven style version though I did use the larger basket style fryer this time.

The Dish Rewind - Vol. 2 June 2022

This Week's Rewind: Sour Cherry Lemonade, Pickled Shrimp, Summer Squash and Rice Gratin, Broiled Lemon Herb Chicken and Zucchini Nut Bread.

Welcome to Vol. 2 June 2022 of "The Dish Rewind," where I highlight some of the past recipes from my many years of sharing recipes on this website.

I hope you'll enjoy this new feature as well as to find some recipes that you may have missed seeing in the past!