A vegetable skillet meal, made from fresh summer squash, sweet Vidalia onion, with fresh okra and tomato.

Summer Veggie Skillet - Squash and Okra with Onion and Tomato

This is one of my favorite summertime skillet vegetable dishes - just simply squash and sweet onions, sauteed in a little bit of bacon drippings and butter, and stewed down with sliced okra, fresh tomatoes and finished with some garden parsley and basil. Quick and easy to make, I can make a meal of this entire pan on these hot summer days!

Ways to Use Those Garden Cucumbers

When the garden cucumbers start flowing, here's a collection of recipes for salads and more, to enjoy them!

This year, for the first time since we moved, I planted a small square foot style, raised bed garden right outside my backdoor patio. In that, I planted an heirloom tomato, some herbs, two pepper plants and two cucumber plants that just exploded, so I've been picking two to three cucumbers a day for several weeks now. The only thing I did was to feed it Jobe's organic fertilizer for vegetables. The cucumber salads have certainly been flowing here lately, and I just love having different variations to make.

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven and My Thoughts on Low Carb Dieting

 

Perfect bacon, cooked all at once in the oven!

How to Cook Bacon in the Oven

Oven bacon is the easiest way to cook a lot of bacon at once, but first, I want to address a subject that interestingly several long time readers have contacted me about recently, and that is to ask what I think about this new low carb trend among some southern food bloggers, to which I respond, "there's a trend??"

Between family, grandchildren and work, I don't get out much across the interwebs so I wasn't aware of this, but y'all tell me there has been, and seriously, I'm not at all surprised to see some southern food bloggers taking the low carb path. Here's why.

 

Brabant Potatoes, known as Louisiana fries, are made from peeled and cubed potatoes, first blanched, then deep fried and tossed with a rich, butter garlic sauce. A delicious side for fish, or any main dish!

Brabant Potatoes - Louisiana Fries

While still served in high end restaurants around here on the Gulf Coast, I'm afraid that Brabant Potatoes, a Louisiana style, cubed, fried potato side, has mostly fallen out of favor with home cooks in recent years - probably due to their multiple steps.

Although folks seem to be making their way back to home cooking - and often, lamenting the fact that they didn't pay more attention to their grandmother in the kitchen - I'm afraid that in this hurry up, busy world we live in, we've mostly become more of an eat out and fast food nation.

Cold Green Bean Salad - fresh green beans, blanched then shocked in cold water to retain crispness, dressed with a seasoned vinaigrette and finished with sliced cherry tomatoes.

Cold Green Bean Salad

I have a confession to make. I have been cheating on y'all!

Well, not like that... but, when it comes to posting new stuff, things were a bit slow last month. Although I have written quite a few new recipes lately (that I've yet to write up, including this one), I have primarily been using my usual, regular, repeat recipes that y'all have also already been using for years too now. I've also been using my Traeger grill and my pressure cooker quite a bit too.

Meatballs and Marinara

 

Meatballs, tossed in a quick, homemade marinara sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese and served over rotini pasta. Add a side salad and some crusty bread for a fantastic meal!

Meatballs and Marinara

The Cajun loves meatballs. I swear his eyes literally light up when I say we're having meatballs for supper, without him knowing a thing about how we're having them. Just the word meatballs makes him happy!

Of course, I'm pretty sure he could also finish off a full 3 pounds of them in one sitting, if I let him. He is definitely your quintessential meat and potatoes man, so I do try to "fill in" with things like sauce, maybe some pasta, a little bread and a salad.

Catfish fillets, dredged in blackening seasonings and cooked in a hot cast iron skillet, served over Cajun Rice Pilaf and finished with an etouffee sauce with crawfish.

Blackened Catfish with Crawfish Etouffee

Southerners have been blackening foods since Paul Prudhomme came up with this method many years ago. Heavy seasonings seared into a piece of protein is heaven on a plate, and most of us in the Deep South have eaten it in some form or another in our lives.

It started with redfish, and seafood is most common here along the Gulf Coast of course, with catfish certainly taking a top spot on the list. These are the gorgeous filets I used this round.

A cross between gumbo and jambalaya, this quick and easy skillet meal packs a burst of gumbo flavor, but without the usual lengthy time commitment - great for busy weeknights.

Skillet Gumbolaya

This is a great skillet meal that's a bit of a cross between gumbo and jambalaya. It's another one of those quickie dishes that I'm making while I work my way through getting whatever gardening and planting I want done before summer heat sets in.

Honestly though, I'm not quite sure which is worse... spring allergies or summer heat!

I got a high allergy alert on my Weather Channel app a little earlier, and just the thought of it made me cough! We've got a little rain moving in tonight and tomorrow, so I may get a break on the allergens and a little time to catch up on blogging and writing duties, speaking of which...

Meat and Potatoes Casserole, a baked dish, layered with potatoes, seasoned ground beef, cream soup sauce and topped with shredded cheese.

Meat and Potatoes Casserole

I've been super busy the past few weeks, trying to get my spring gardening in before the heat sets into south Mississippi. It comes pretty quick, and seems quicker as I get older, and once it does, it makes it impossible for me to do much in the way of gardening. I just can't tolerate the heat anymore.

You may recall that we moved a few years ago, and although this house had so many features we loved, gardens and flowers were not one of them. Previous owners had either not had an interest in planting or had failed due to the east/west exposure. All the post-Katrina planting I did at the old house, which frankly was an awfully good selling point and one of the reasons the new buyers fell in love with the place, I'm having to completely start from scratch with at this house.

One of my Freedom hedge roses - I planted 4 more of them this spring!

The Masters, held in Augusta Georgia every April, is steeped in tradition, and the food served there is an important element. If you're not lucky enough to be a patron, set the mood for your own home viewing with some of my traditional, Master-worthy recipes.

Food for The Masters

We get a lot of golfers down here along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and we even have some popular tournaments - in fact, the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic once held in Biloxi had a nice million-dollar purse and was pretty serious stuff.

Unfortunately, the tournament was discontinued following the 2022 event due to the withdrawal of the title sponsor, however, there have been other events held in Biloxi since and I suspect those will continue.

The Masters, held annually in the first week of April, is really the one to watch though, and it is firmly centered in traditions, including the classic foods that are served there. One of four major professional golf championships, it is always held in the first full week of April, and unlike others, always at the same location at the Augusta National Golf Club, a private club located in Augusta, Georgia.