Jaymes

Here's the thing... like someone upthread said, Thanksgiving, and the holidays are not dinner parties. They're not about "learning" and not about "discovering" new things. They are about returning to one's roots, comfort, tradition, fellowship, friends and family -- even if said family is a bunch of single folks that happen to find themselves far from home. It's just not the time for experimenting with new stuff and trying to improve folks. No matter how good the meal is, if you don't get your "fix" of your usual things, you leave kinda dissatisfied. For those of you that want to improve your friends' and family's palates, do that "on the side" of your regular meal. And in addition, invite them over on evenings other than a traditional holiday, when what they are in search of at your home is not to experience the new and adventuresome. Offer the traditional things that you know they need to see. And work in your dishes as side offerings. They can reach out from their comfort zone of their plate of turkey and stuffing and mac and cheese, or whatever it is, and try some new things. And then, have them over at times other than the holidays to experiment, try, learn, discover, improve. But most folks don't like showing up at what they think is going to be an easy, fun, comfortable event and instead find out that somebody else is trying to improve them.

Grandparents on both side were from various parts of the south -- Texas and Tennessee, primarily. When I was a kid, we had pecan pie and sweet potato pie exclusively. Never varied. But when I became the mommy in the kitchen, in place of the sweet potato pie, I introduced pumpkin. I knew it was traditional with Thanksgiving elsewhere in the country, and wanted my kids to get in on it. Because after all, I'm about nothing if not tradition.

I vary the starch according to mood -- rice, noodles, potatoes, dumplings. I also like corn. And we are basically southwesterners, so there's always the possibility that our turkey soup will turn into tortilla soup with the addition of salsa, chiles, lime and tortillas.

This sounds absolutely wonderful. I'd love this recipe....if you've a mind to share.

Katie's Kitchen Custom Cakes & Confections Both of these have great logo possibilities.... a double "K" on the first; a triple "C" on the second.

Caramel Corn Pralines Salsa Date Loaf Candy

And the boxes, of course. They're gorgeous.

I have been doing this for years and years, and have used every single kind of onion. Take one good-sized whole onion per person. Peel, and cut off the top and bottom. Put it on a square of aluminum foil, one onion per square. Put a nice, generous slice of butter on top, and kinda mash it a little so that it doesn't just slide off. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Seal the thing up and put it in the oven. Now, I've cooked them at everything from 200 to 400, from an hour just until done, to several hours when they get really nice and brown and caramelly. I've cooked sweet ones and yellow ones and white ones and purple ones. I throw them into the oven with a roast, or turkey, or white potatoes or sweet potatoes or nothing but the onions. I have put them outside on the grill, and nestled them down into campfires. You simply cannot screw this up, unless you just don't cook them long enough. To serve, you simply open up your packets and add a little more butter and salt and pepper to taste, if you wish. I often fix these instead of a baked potato. They are absolutely sublime.

Yep. And I had thought that these church ladies, and the church 'covered dish suppers' might be the last bastion of great southern cooking. Sorry to hear that in your case anyway, even that is now being threatened.

Hey, how about a Praline taste-off at the next Pig Pickin'? I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours. I'm in. I'll even make them there. Have you ever taken pralines in the soft ball stage and put them over good vanilla ice cream? Oh boy! Talk about your instant REALLY magic shell. It's a pretty awesome thing to do.Nope. Never thought of that. But once, years ago, when I was living in the Panama CZ, my neighbor and close friend had house guests coming. I had been raised in the southern tradition, which involves taking something to friends that had houseguests, in order to help them entertain them. I planned to take pralines to her, but the damn things just would not set up. I could tell it in the pan. They weren't even close. So I got a pretty jar and poured the stuff into it and wrapped a ribbon around, and labeled it "Praline Sauce" with instructions to pour it over pound cake, or ice cream, or whatever. Of course they absolutely loved it and wanted the recipe. I didn't fess up until after about ten years of my friend badgering me for the recipe.

Hey, how about a Praline taste-off at the next Pig Pickin'? I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours.

Oh man, excellent question. One thing I think has bitten the dust is the original Durkee's sauce. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. But I remember so many recipes that called for a "dollop of Durkee's." That's all you had to say. Never mind that Durkee's company made lots of stuff, when you said, "Durkee's" it meant their famous sauce. I know it's still available, and maybe I'm just imagining it, but it tastes different to me than it did as a kid.

Well, I do know that smaller vegetables are generally more tasty. And in the south, with all of the wonderful farmer's markets, and in my own gardens, I do prefer the smaller squash, beans, peas, etc. But for some reason, never made the leap to chickens. And I also know, from living in Alaska, that it holds true for fish as well. The larger halibut, for example, are far inferior to the smaller ones. Chickens, too, eh? Makes sense. Boy, you learn something new on eG every day.

Thank you, Mayhaw Man, for this ... Agreed. A good example would be small chickens. I used to go the grocery store and the farmer's market with my Grandmother's cook Reba and learned everything I know about picking out quality meat and produce as a result. Reba always said not to use a chicken any bigger than 2.5 pounds for frying or it just wouldn't be tasty. She was right in my opinion and it's why I rarely eat any kind of chicken anymore. You sometimes can luck out and get a small organic chicken but it's still rare. The good news is that the awareness of these issues is growing - you see a major turn towards organic gardening, organic produce and getting back to the pure, simple and unadulterated. I too agree, Mayhaw....thanks. And, cucina...several things. First of all, I didn't know that small chickens were more flavorful. Is that just for frying or for everything? In Austin they have several brands of wonderful natural chickens....there's Buddy's, and another one that I can't think of right now. But I always tried to get nice big fat ones. Wrong? And I also think you're right on the money when you say that awareness of these issues is growing. Here in Springfield, MO, where I am currently (and temporarily) living, there is a wonderful all-organic farmer's market. You have to be the farmer -- no secondary retailers are permitted -- and the city of Springfield inspects all of the farms that have stands. Everything is fresh, and I can get good peas and beans and all the rest. There is also a large Amish colony here, and they do a very lively business at the farmer's market. I was chatting with one of them and they said that just a few years ago, when they began, their business was small, and they had a lot of unsold spoilage; but now, they often sell out. Sometimes you do have to have something you care for threatened before you do something about it. Like the SFA. Bravo.

I truly can think of absolutely nothing that will keep me away this time. And I'll be happy to negotiate hotel space again, if y'all'd like.

It is good....but I don't know that I'd exactly call it a dip. You don't blend it. It's really just sorta like seasoned cottage cheese. And, how about Pickled Watermelon Rind, y'all?

And some sort of relish....chow chow, corn relish, green tomato relish, piled in the center. Or "Not Just Cottage Cheese" 1 lb cottage cheese 1 C chopped fresh spinach 1/2 C chopped green onions 1 T bleu cheese dressing 1 T Italian dressing 1 T dill weed, or basil 1 T seasoned salt additional salt, black pepper, Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste. Combine all ingredients and chill. Serve with crudites, or crackers, or stuffed into tomatoes or cucumber boats.

Just in the interest of full disclosure, following the fine example set by MM, I may have been in Missouri for about a year now, but I have also lived in Alabama and Texas. Oh, and Florida -- Orlando (pre-Disney, which back then was really Georgia), and Ft. Walton Beach. And "my people" (that's a southern expression) are all originally from east Texas and Tennessee. I come from a long line of legendary southern cooks, including my grandmother who owned several southern-style, home-cooking restaurants on the Texas-Louisiana line, way down by the Gulf. My father learned to cook in his mother's kitchens, both at home and in the restaurants, and it is he who passed it on to me. I don't know if that makes me any sort of authority. But what it DOES make me is blessed.

Oh, Lordy me.

Most folks that live in South America would tell you it's Peruvian.

Hunger?

Well, every decent recipe for cornbread dressing I've ever seen has some type of white bread crumbs in it. You need it because just as you said, without it, it's "worthless." Cornbread crumbs by themselves are just too coarse and heavy and, well, cornbready. I use 1 cup of white bread crumbs to 3 cups of cornbread crumbs. I used to set out some sort of coarse white bread, like a good French or Italian bread, wait until it got stale and use that. Now I (like all these other "busy people" we're discussing in this thread), use the Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing mix for my 1 cup of white bread. Over in the "dressing vs stuffing" thread, fifi, another good ol' southern gal, uses crumbs from her special white biscuits. You, cucina, are using approximately the same proportion of saltine crumbs. Like the teenagers say, "It's all good." And back to the topic....I think that anytime you discuss the whys and howtofores of change, there well may be disagreement. Everyone may agree that there has indeed been change, but probably not upon the reasons why, nor whether the change has been a good thing. Like most things, though, there's usually some good and some bad, but there's always a price to pay. Is the price worth it? That's an individual decision, but I agree with those that think something dear is being lost, and I'm not at all certain that it is worth the cost. Also, I think that what we refer to as "southern cooking," and hospitality, and all the rest of it is a bit different from other regions, just as andiesenji points out, because the south was so rural. And poor. And the growing season is so long. It's natural that we were still growing stuff, and picking it, and serving up "meat and three" far into the autumn months, when all our Yankee cousins were already bedded down for a long winter. Our gardens and produce really were the wealth of the south. Our traditions, that stem from poor families that really were struggling "to make ends meet" and had little else to offer each other besides food and hospitality, were our treasure. We're losing them. Of course, I am currently living in Missouri, which isn't nearly so important as Florida, but I think I've got a right to speak as well.

What white bread crumbs? You bake cornbread either in a cast iron skillet or in a long pyrex dish so it's crispy - no sugar in it and very little leavening. You crumple that all up, add milk, finely chopped onions and celery (that you've briefly heated up in a little butter), salt and pepper and a bit of thyme, turkey gravy, and then bake it up again. Only use white corn meal flour and it's best if you can find a little coarse ground to mix in with it. That's when it tastes like "Mamoo's" -!!! It's simple - but it's tasty - and I've never had better. oh yes....and DON'T forget the saltine crackers or it's worthless!!! ← So, you're using saltine crackers instead of white bread crumbs. About how many saltine crumbs per, say, 3 cups of cornbread crumbs?

Cool. I can totally see that. Do you use it in place of the white bread cumbs? Or in addition to? Oh, and thanks, EGG.

Yeah, like there's a chance in hell we're gonna let you get away with this. What is it, girl? Fess up, y'hear?