An old-fashioned casserole, probably patterned as a way to use Sunday's leftover roast chicken, is combined with a creamy sauce, mushrooms and egg noodles, for one of my favorite comfort foods.

Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Casserole

Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Casserole is one of those good, ole, standby recipes common to many of us, no matter where we live - a basic chicken noodle casserole - the kind that has been around for longer than I have. Simple, easy, yummy and comforting. It's a great casserole for anytime but is especially comforting on those cooler nights that are coming up.

Cajun Shrimp Pilau (Pilaf) - Rice Cooker

A quick and easy main dish shrimp and browned rice dish, great for the rice cooker, Instant Pot, or on the stovetop.

Cajun Shrimp Pilaf

With rice a predominant menu feature in this part of The Deep South, rice cookers of some form are very common in the southern coastal states, or at least they were until these fancy electric pressure cookers like the Instant Pot showed up, which is how I make this recipe these days.

A pilau, or pilaf, is very much like a jambalaya, except that the rice is first browned. To that seasonings, broth vegetables and a protein, in this case shrimp, are added.

Thick cut rings or strips of sweet Vidalia onions, dredged in buttermilk and seasoned flour, and deep fried to a crispy crunch.

Deep Fried Sweet Vidalia Onion Rings

I know those skinny onion string haystacks are all the rage across the blogs these days, and I love those too. On a burger. Or on top of a salad. But when I want a side or a snack of onion rings, first I want the onions sweet - and that calls for a sweet Vidalia onion - but then, I want them nice and thick.

And they must be crunchy.

And, light.

And not at all greasy.

Hey, I have my standards, even with onion rings.

Seafood and Eggplant Dressing, a breaded seafood dressing, sometimes referred to as a casserole, made with fresh shrimp, crabmeat and eggplant.

Seafood and Eggplant Dressing

I was introduced to eggplant by my first mother-in-law. Eggplant was something that I do not ever recall my mother preparing, in any form, not one single time ... but my mother-in-law did cook it, and often. One of the ways she often made it, was in a wonderful seafood dressing.

These little biscuit cup treats are filled with bacon, cheese, tomato and basil are like little mini-BLTs in a bite sized form, perfect for parties!

Bite Size Bacon and Tomato Biscuit Cups with Basil

I went to a party recently where one of the guests brought some little biscuit cups similar to this. Well, they were delicious!

When I asked them what was in them, she said they had bacon, tomatoes, Swiss cheese and mayonnaise.

Well, of course, I came home set on recreating them!

Mary's Basic Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Homey and healing chicken noodle soup, made with a homemade stock from a whole chicken and fresh veggies.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I was feeling a bit under the weather this weekend so I decided to put on a pot of chicken noodle soup. Funny thing about this stuff... I can get a pot going, leave it warming on the stove along side a pot of cooked egg noodles, snatch a cup of it several times throughout the day and feel all better before nightfall. Often referred to as "Jewish Penicillin" for its known powers of healing, it really does work and that's not just an old wives tale either!

Weekend Cocktails - Pat O'Brien Hurricane Cocktail Copycat

 

A homemade copycat version of the famous Pat O Hurricane using two kinds of rum, grenadine, orange & fresh lime juice & a little simple syrup. Watch out - these sneak up on you!

Hurricane Cocktail

I can't even count the number of times that I have been to Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans, both as a tourist from Mississippi and as a resident of New Orleans, but one thing is for sure. It is a ritual for most everybody to have at least one Hurricane when you go there. 

One is generally enough for me, because the fruity sweetness of this drink is very deceiving. Like drinking shots of tequila on a barstool and then suddenly standing up and thinking ya might have wanted to stop 2 or 3 shots back!

Not that I would know anything about that...

15+ Ways to Cook Corn on the Cob

Fresh, in season corn is so delicious, why not try it a variety of ways?

Fresh on the cob sweet corn is still tasting pretty good down south so I'm gonna get my fill while it's at its peak flavor, even though it's pretty much available year round these days. Me, I just love the stuff, any way that you make it. My preference though? Simple, and pure, boiled corn on the cob, done just right and only long enough to cook the kernels yet leave them crunchy, with a generous sprinkling of salt, and butter. Butter. Now that's where you can really mess around with some flavor combinations.

How to Make Flavored Compound Butter

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✍ COMPOUND BUTTER COMBOS

Compound butters. Or as Chef Anne Burrell - Executive Chef at New York's Centro Vinoteca, and sous chef to Mario Batali when battling in the Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium - would say, "butter with stuff."  I just love her ... don't you?

Jumbo shrimp, tossed in an olive oil and lemon Cajun seasoned marinade, skewered with onion, bell pepper and tomato and grilled.

Cajun Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Wow. I still cannot believe that summer has practically got it's foot out the door and fall is literally just around the corner! The weather here was very mild there for a bit, but the past few days have proven that summer is definitely not gone just yet, not that we ever really put our grills away down here anyway.