Jaymes

There are probably well over a hundred recipes for turkey stuffing here on eG, and several threads devoted to turkey & dressing/stuffing. Do you recall anything at all about the recipe, like the main ingredients? Sausage? Cornbread? Oysters? Rice? Anything? That'd make it easier to find. But also, you can bake most any "stuffing" in a pan rather than in the turkey, although some recipes will caution you to add more moisture (like broth or wine or something) and fat (like schmaltz or butter) if you're not going to be baking it in a turkey.

I'd love to know just exactly how you made that "easiest, most thrown together Nutella pie."

Something tells me you haven't raised children. If you had spent years trying to coax reluctant kiddos to eat their veggies, you'd understand that there is no such thing as "cheating."

I used to put broccoli in my mac n' cheese. It was pretty darn good. Not AS good, mind you, as homemade rich macaroni and cheese au naturel, but it sure made it easier to get my kids to eat broccoli.

Here's the thing. Southern cooking is not exactly fat-free. I think it's one of the most delicious cuisines on the planet, but it's also pretty fattening. So what you have to do is to start by making the dishes just as they are supposed to be. But you don't eat like that every night. Maybe once a month. Then, after you understand how they're supposed to taste, you can start looking for ways to cut the calories. In the case of a good cream gravy, for example, you're basically stirring heavy cream into grease and flour. Never gonna be "fat free." But I DO often substitute evaporated milk for the cream in many southern dishes. There are strong Caribbean, African and French influences in much of southern cooking, and the French are famous for their rich sauces and gravies. Like I said, just don't eat it every night. And Brooks - your story about your family being on the "tasting committee" for Cotton Country reminded me of my favorite tip about those cookbooks. In the front of the book, there's always a list of the ladies on the cookbook committee. Make note of those names and seek them out. It's been my experience that they're usually the best cooks in town.

And use the salad bar at your store, if it has one. If a whole green pepper, or bag of carrots start rotting before you cook them, you can buy just as much chopped green peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc., as you'll need for one pot of soup, or one pan of stir-fry. This method also saves a lot of prep time when you get home.

Sounds a little like molletes, another wonderful use for bolillos.

Speaking just for myself, I also generally prefer good examples of the cheesemaker's art, unblended with something. But I'm currently working my way through a fabulous chevre infused with peppercorns and other herbs and spices and marinated in olive oil. I do think that some cheeses lend themselves better to various additives, and some don't. I agree that the thought of Stilton blended with anything doesn't sound particularly appealing. In fact, it sounds dreadful.

But they weren't talking about the cumin. They weren't each sitting around with a bowl of cumin and a spoon. They were talking about the blended flavors of the cheese with the cumin. I'd bet nobody begrudged you your enjoyment of the plain cheese, so it's hard to understand why you resent their enjoyment of the blended product. It's not like the blended cheeses are going to replace the originals, so that your favorites are under threat and you feel besieged in some way. There's plenty of room on the cheese tray for both the purists and for a tasty smoked jalapeno cheddar.

I've got Charleston Receipts, too. In fact, if I don't have every single one of those southern junior league cookbooks, it's not for want of trying. I also have two of the compilation cookbooks as well. Not sure why. An addiction, I guess. And, as Brooks says, each book is infused with the regional influences of its own particular little slice o' heaven. They're all wonderful. I honestly don't believe I could select a favorite. And then, of course, there's this. Maybe she should start there.

No mention of these wonderful southern junior league cookbooks would be complete without River Road Recipes. I may be wrong (since I haven't researched it), but I think River Road may be the first, most famous, and best-selling of all.

Just found this thread, thanks to Annecros. Mr. Bueno, what do you do with your pickled garlic? Just eat it with crackers or something?

Ah yes, southern "pickled something." I do miss those. Pickled watermelon rinds, or okra, or homemade bread & butter pickles. And the relishes - chow chow, corn. All homemade, of course, so different from the stuff in the stores. Something I took so much for granted while I was growing up. And something I never see anymore.

In our family, a favorite party snack: Chipped Beef Pinwheels 1 jar chipped beef 4 oz cream cheese, softened 1 Tbsp grated onion 1 tsp. horseradish dash of Worcestershire sauce dash of Tabasco or other hot sauce Combine all ingredients except the beef. Carefully separate the pieces of beef and smear some of the cream cheese mixture on each one. Roll up each slice of beef & cream cheese mixture. Slice crosswise to make pinwheels. Cover pinwheels and chill until firm. When firm, stand each pinwheel up on its side and spear with toothpick. This also works with thin slices of ham.

If everybody's raving about a certain place, I might likely try it. As an example, one of the best meals of my life was in a Russian restaurant right by the Russian embassy in Tokyo. But for the most part, much of my choice depends upon how long I'm in the country. If I were only going to be in Spain for one week, for example, I'd have to get a pretty good recommendation for a foreign cuisine to try it. On the other hand, I was just in Morelia, Mexico, for 6 weeks. So of course I tried other cuisines. There was a remarkable Italian restaurant that I went back to at least three times. Although when I lived in Hong Kong, I never DID understand the appeal of the many visiting Americans that wanted to try the San Francisco Steak House.

There are a lot of good southern cooks on eGullet, and a lot of interesting and informative info about the delicious foods of the American southland. I did a search for threads with "southern" in the title, and got six pages. I'd suggest you start there. Although many of the threads are not about "Southern" cooking (like the foods of southern New Jersey), many are. "Southern" threads But here's a typically southern take on a popular vegetable. Southern Summer Creamed Squash Cut up 3-5 yellow squash. Put it in a pan with a tightly fitting lid. Add about 2 TB butter, but no water. Put it on a very low flame. Stirring occasionally, allow the squash to cook in its own juice. When the squash is tender, remove the lid and turn up the heat. Stirring frequently, continue cooking until the squash is beginning to break down and become mushy. If you have to add a little extra water during this phase, do so (if the squash becomes too dry before it's completely broken down), but remember that you are trying to reduce the liquid to basically nothing at the exact same moment that the squash is ready. Add heavy cream and about 1 T sugar or to taste. Add salt & pepper to taste. You do have to 'wing it' as to how much cream to add. The squash should wind up about the consistancy of mashed potatoes, and be creamy and sweet and utterly delicious. And "Fried Corn": Basically the same thing, but you don't cook the corn as long. Cut the kernals off and put in skillet with blob of butter. Saute til corn is tender. Add cream and a little sugar and S & P to taste. You can also add onion and green pepper while you're sauteeing if you've got a hankerin' (in case you're also interested in the lingo), but the key is the butter, cream and a little sugar. And, by the way, while I'm at it, my grandmother was a legendary southern cook, and she always put just a pinch of sugar in the veggies. So next time you're simmering up a pot of green peas or beans, drop in just a pinch of sugar.

Thanks for the compliment. And for that recipe. I must say, it looks very interesting. So you keep it just sitting around on the counter? And then sprinkle it into oatmeal? Or on toast and broil? With butter? Or what? I must know more!

What is Johnny Bird's Toast Dope? As to the oatmeal, we eat a lot of it and always have several types around. Although never, ever the instant stuff. I find that regular rolled oats, even the particularly thick varieties, cook just about as quickly as the instant and they taste so much better. I put about a half-cup of the rolled oats into my bowl and add some water and put it in the microwave and cook about three minutes. I just let it sit there for about five more minutes. Then I stir it up and cook it one more minute, basically just to heat it. Then I take it out and arrange the cooked oatmeal into a volcano, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl and mounding it high. Then I poke a deep depression into the top and drop in a chunk of butter, and a spoonful of brown sugar. Then I pour cream if I'm being bad or evap milk if I'm being good into the "moat." I figure that since I used water to cook it, I need some sort of concentrated milk for things to even out. I eat it by getting a spoonful of the milk and oatmeal and then a dab of the ambrosia puddle in the middle.

Here's a coleslaw recipe I've had good luck with: Red & Green Coleslaw 1/2 head red cabbage 1/2 head green cabbage 1/2 large red onion 1 Cup dried cranberries - Crazins Dressing: 1/3 C cider vinegar 1/3 C vegetable oil 1/3 C sugar 1 tsp celery seed In a small jar, combine the dressing ingredients and shake until sugar is dissolved. Slice the vegetables very thinly and put into a large bowl. Add cranberries. Add dressing and toss well. Cover and place into fridge. Let sit for about 3 hours for flavors to combine, stirring occasionally. Drain and serve.

I noticed that quite a few 'no cc' restaurants do take checks. They've got that check-screening service that seems to keep bad checks to a minimum. I asked a local restaurant owner about it and she said that she only gets two or three bad checks a year that she doesn't get paid for and that's way less than the credit card charges she was having to pay.

The sloppy joes that my family liked best had much more of a sweet and sour tang to them than either chili or spaghetti sauce do.

Well, I just asked my father, who is 87, what he recalls. He says that as far back as he can remember (which is about the time that cold cereals, such as wheat flakes and corn flakes invented by Mr. Kellogg, and grape nuts and Post Toasties invented by Mr. Post became popular), people ate fruit on their cereal. Bananas were the easiest and most widely available. This was in the 1920's, long before a "brilliant marketing campaign." He adds that he thinks bananas and cold cereal became so popular together because, um, "it tastes good."

Speak for yerself, son.

I understand the faux pas about touching rims and plates, etc, but if it's really that big a deal how can you deal with the obvious issues of cooks and chefs touching your food (probably repeatedly) with their bare hands? Is it OK because it is out of sight/out of mind, or OK because it's their job and they are seemingly going to be more concerned with sanitation? I mean, yeah, it's kind of gross, but really, what do you think you will "catch" if you drink from a fingered glass? I mean, you ever seen the "clean" water that comes out of the dishwasher sometimes? It's scary at some restaurants. Not trying to pick on you, and I'm not trying to justify behavior of bad servers, just seems weird to me... Well, it doesn't seem "weird" to me. I sit there and watch the servers bussing other tables and they pick up all the used dirty glasses at all the other tables by sticking their hands down into the glasses. They handle used plates and silverware with bits of food clinging to them. And then they pick up the glass I'm supposed to use and set it down in front of me. Whatever you call it, it's lazy, dirty, nasty, careless, thoughtless, whatever, not to mention completely unnecessary to handle my glass by the rim. Obviously I know that the cooks in the BOH are handling the food. I can certainly hope that they wash their hands frequently. And even if they haven't, it's highly unlikely they've handled used glasses, silverware, plates, etc., from the last thirty people they've waited on. And as to what I think I might "catch" if I "drink from a fingered glass," I think that if the person that just left the table next to mine had a really bad cold and if my server picked up his glass by sticking her fingers down into it, or grabbed the used silverware and plates and picked up the napkin that the customer just blew his nose into and THEN "fingers my glass," I think I might catch a miserable snotty cold. I mean, just handle my glass down toward the bottom. Is that really too much to ask? Jeeze.

I used to have great success with a potluck picnic basket swap. Everybody brings a picnic "basket" with a complete meal for two, including paper plates, a drink, cups, cutlery, napkins, dessert. They bring them in an unmarked large brown paper bag. Then you set all the bags on a table and everyone selects one. If you get your own back, you trade with someone else. This is especially fun if, depending upon the weather and your house, you can set up tables or blankets out in your backyard and everybody actually does sit around and have a picnic.