Red Beans and Rice

 

An iconic symbol in the Deep South, you'll find some form of Red Beans and Rice in many homes and at most restaurants every Monday in the Deep South. Here are several ways that I personally prepare them - from super speedy for those busy days, to low and slow, homemade from scratch - my personal favorite.

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatball Bites with Burger Sauce

Party meatballs in a delicious meatball sauce.

As we speak, football season is in full swing... finally if you ask The Cajun.

Our television has barely left the SEC and NFL Networks since preseason started - and, of course, along with the season, comes the fabulous food!

Meatballs surely must be the quintessential football party food don't you think? Whether you're tailgating or homegating, it'd be rare to be at a party without a crock or three going and meatballs destined to be in at least one of them. Frankly, it's where most everybody seems to gravitate. I know my husband sure does!

 

Thick cut slices of cucumber, with sweet onion and fresh tomatoes, mixed with a mayonnaise, sour cream and fresh herb dressing for a creamy cucumber salad.

Creamy Cucumber and Tomato Salad

When the weather is warm around here, there are two things you will almost always find in my fridge - watermelon and some kind of cucumber salad - and that hasn't slowed down.

There's a dysfunction in my hypothalamus (which I'm sure is way more than you probably ever wanted to know about me), so I get overheated super easy in the summer, and those are two cooling foods that I know will help to keep my body thermostat in check.

So... in the midst of these summer-like temps, and before soup, stew, chili and gumbo weather arrives in the fall, I'm gonna slide in another one of my favorite cucumber salads that I've been munching on for the past few weeks.

 

A quick, chicken broth-based soup, made with white beans and greens, spicy andouille smoked sausage and veggies. Add pasta if you like!

Turnip Green Soup aka Swamp Soup

Hello everybody and, if you're landing here when I wrote this in September... Happy Grandparents Week! Okay, okay, I realize it's an "invented" holiday - though not really for the reasons that you probably think. It didn't actually come about because a corporation wanted to sell cards and promote the sale of flowers as rumors would suggest.

Just a quick reminder.... if you aren't interested in the chit chat, info, photos, tips, product recommendations and such on a blog, as always, you'll find the complete recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe and printable!

BBQ Sketti, a spaghetti made with leftover pulled BBQ pork, chicken or beef.

BBQ Sketti - Pulled Pork Spaghetti

How was your long holiday weekend? Although we had stormy weather, there were enough breaks here and there to sneak in some fun. I have to say it's been a pretty fab week overall really, beginning with our family reunion last weekend, a baby's first birthday, a delicious family birthday dinner for my sister at Half Shell Oyster House, a Biloxi Shuckers baseball game and a nice firework show afterward, in-between a bit of blog and magazine work, and ending with a cookout at home yesterday with the typical goodies - burgers, dogs, pulled pork, smoked sausage, baked beans and potato salad - and that we managed to get in just before the last downpour.

A layered salad made with thick cut bacon, crunchy iceberg lettuce, summer ripened fresh red tomatoes and substantial and chunky croutons finished with a homemade Ranch dressing.

BLT Salad

Pasta salads aside (which I adore), I love bringing a fresh garden salad to an event, potluck or cookout. It sort of balances out what seems to always be an overabundance of meats.

In the summer, that is most likely some kind of a cucumber salad or a layered salad, and this BLT salad falls right into that category. I mean, who doesn't love a BLT sandwich to begin with, but turn those flavors into a salad and it's really a hit!

Southern purple hull peas are cooked down with salt pork or bacon, onion and simple seasonings, then finished with a Creole-style stewed tomato.

Purple Hull Peas with Creole Stewed Tomatoes

Summer is winding down and I sure hope y'all put up some purple hulls - I sure did!

Simple process really - good rinse, pick through, toss in some boiling water, boil for about 2 minutes, drain, plunge in ice water till cool, drain and bag. I've tried several methods of putting up, and in my experience, blanching keeps them better and they retain a fresher taste for a longer period of time in your freezer. I use my FoodSaver so I don't freeze them in water, though some folks do. So good to pull out a bag of fresh purple hulls in the middle of the winter, I'm tellin' ya!

A skillet meal made from the best of summer veggies - squash, zucchini, bell pepper, green beans, Vidalia onions and tomatoes, with red potatoes and fresh garden herbs and the addition of some pan-seared fresh wild-caught Gulf shrimp.

Garden Vegetable Skillet with Shrimp

I get strange cravings, and most times, they're not at all what you'd expect in the way of a craving.

I get very strong cravings out of the blue for beef. For McDonald's french fries. Or their iced coffee. Homemade chicken noodle soup and creamy Chicken and Noodles. Egg drop soup from the local Chinese restaurant. And vegetables, in general. It was that way in my pregnancy - I didn't crave sweets, or odd combinations. I craved a meat and three dinner!

Tri-color rotini pasta is paired with some of my favorite pizza toppings, purple onion, green and red bell pepper, black olives, pepperoni, bacon, mushrooms, grape tomatoes and mozzarella and dressed with a spicy tomato dressing.

Pizza Pasta Salad

Hey, y'all should be very proud of me!! I have managed to post more than two recipes in August so far. Seems Grandma Mary needed to get her back-to-school routine going too I guess. :) Just in time too, because fall is right around the corner now, and I've still got some summer left to share yet!

I love a good pasta salad in the summer and I sure can make a meal of this one.

A vinaigrette dressed, festive southern vegetable salad twist on salsa, made with black-eyed peas, celery, pimentos, jalapeno, garlic, green onion and fresh tomato, and beloved on the church supper, potluck and entertaining circuits.

Southern Caviar - Black Eyed Pea Salad

I spent the weekend clearing away clutter and doing a bit of organizing. Seems like I had a pile of this and that, here and there and everywhere! Course, I've never been one of those folks who has had a "magazine" house, where it all looks beautiful and pristine, with the latest furniture and decorating trends, and not a thing out of place, as if nobody actually lived there, but... things are lookin' just a tad bit too lived-in around here lately.

Apparently I can either spend time with my grandbabies, review products, develop recipes, write columns, style and photograph food, blog, cook or clean... but not any one of them simultaneously, never mind several at the same time. (Y'all already know which one of these takes priority though, right? ::smile::) And to think... I used to be such a great multi-tasker, ha!