A classic coleslaw, dressed with a sweetened vinaigrette, called Forever Slaw because of its long, refrigerated shelf life.

Forever Slaw Vinegar Coleslaw

It's been hotter'n hot here this past week or two y'all. The Cajun and I went out shopping together yesterday and I thought I was gonna fall out from running around in the heat.

Grape jelly made with the Southern Muscadine and Scuppernong grape.

Muscadine and Scuppernong Jelly

It's muscadine time! Muscadines are the native Southern grape, ripening here in the South during the late summer and early fall months. You'll find both muscadine and scuppernong grapes right now and through about October at U-pick farms, local farmer's markets and produce stands and many local grocery markets in the South.

A cold spaghetti salad, made with angel hair, vermicelli or thin spaghetti, Italian dressing, fresh tomatoes and a variety of add-ins.

Cold Vermicelli Spaghetti Salad

Many of my blogging colleagues are all abuzz about fall recipes right now - every form of apple and pumpkin and oatmeal, caramel and maple syrup, soups and stews and chili, casseroles, butternut and acorn squash recipes are all already starting to appear.

I've been blogging since 2008, and it begins every year right about mid-August, but... as I write this, it is 105 degrees on the heat index down here in mid-afternoon and, well, I just ain't ready for that yet y'all!

A hot dip made with pepper jack cheese, mayonnaise and sweet Vidalia onions, topped with more cheese, buttery Ritz cracker crumbs and garnished with bacon.

Cheesy Warm Vidalia Onion Dip

You've probably noticed that Vidalia onions are a little smaller now than they were earlier in the season, an indication that the season is winding down and will soon be over until next spring.

Million Dollar Sweet Pickle Relish

 

A heirloom sweet pickle relish made from cucumbers, onion and sweet red and green bell peppers.

Million Dollar Relish

A couple of years back, Mary Fonville, a reader from our Facebook page, shared her personal recipe for Million Dollar Relish, an heirloom recipe for a sweet pickle relish that she's been personally making for more than 40 years.

A homemade spaghetti meat sauce made with fresh tomatoes and ground beef.

Homemade Fresh Tomato Spaghetti Meat Sauce

There is not a thing wrong with shortcut spaghetti sauce - I use a semi-homemade version of one myself most of the time. It's a quicker version that takes canned pasta sauce and jazzes it up a bit to give it homemade flavor. I've been making it that way forever, and it's a great recipe when you want a good sauce in a hurry. My husband loves it, and that's good enough for me.

 

A country skillet breakfast meal, often called Farmer's Breakfast, made with fried potatoes, onions and peppers, eggs, sausage, ham or bacon, and cheese. Makes a great breakfast burrito filling.

Country Skillet Breakfast

This is a great breakfast meal, but honestly, it's just as good for brunch, lunch or even breakfast for dinner, and makes a great filling for breakfast burritos, a popular addition to the once-a-month cooking forum I used to frequent back in the day.

I'd make a batch of breakfast burritos and wrap them up to keep in the fridge for those busy mornings, making them a great make ahead meal for those hurried school mornings, especially for teenagers who might be more prone to stopping at the corner store for sugar laden sweets on the way to school instead.

Young, tender, yellow summer squash, prepared simple and basic. Sweet Vidalia onion and bell pepper is first sauteed in bacon drippings and butter, the squash is added, and slowly smothered down.

Smothered Summer Squash and Onions

Yellow squash is plentiful in our Southern summers and this is pretty much my top favorite way to enjoy it. It's the same basic way many of our other favorite squash recipes begin anyway, from creamed squash to squash dressing and casseroles, though it sure stands pretty well all on its own too.

7-layer pasta salad includes layers of shredded lettuce, rotisserie chicken, broccoli, cooked pasta, green peas, chopped tomato and shredded cheese. It's finished with a topping of a mayonnaise-based ranch style dressing and a garnish of chopped bacon and sliced green onion.

7 Layer Pasta Salad

Layered salads are great for entertaining and holidays, from baby showers to birthdays, Christmas to barbecue season, and really versatile enough that you can pretty much theme them flavor-wise to anything from basic, to Asian, to Italian or Tex-Mex.

Fresh okra, sliced and tossed in a seasoned cornmeal mixture, and fried in a cast iron skillet.

Classic Iron Skillet Fried Okra

I ran across some of last year's okra I grew and put up, waiting in the freezer for me to use up, so I decided I better get on it and fry some up!

Okra is not hard at all to grow here in the heat of The Deep South, though you do need a nice sized area that gets plenty of sun to have enough to put up. I never manage to get more than a few pods from one stalk before they give up the ghost, but once the pods do begin to show up, they grow pretty quick and harvesting will keep them coming.