Channeling my Inner Paula

Now I love Paula Deen and always love tuning into her show for the recipes and the reassurance that there is NO substitute for REAL BUTTER! I admit that I love her story and her determination and spirit. She is a pretty amazing woman to be sure. I have never waiting hours to eat at her place in Savannah, but have eaten at her brother's seafood place out towards Tybee Island.

I saw this recipe one day on her show and I knew I could get up and make it as I had every thing I needed. I made it her way the first time, but since then I have tweeked it a bit, but I do give total credit to the wonderful Ms. Deen! I had not made this in over a year, but pulled it out of the magic hat today to much acclaim!

Paula's Corn Casserole

1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn
1 package Jiffy cornbread mix
1 cup sour cream (fat free is fine!)
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
cracked black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350* and then combine the first 5 ingredients and mix well.
2. Pour into a 13 x 9 glass casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Bake for 45 minutes.
3. After 45 minutes, take out and top with cheese and cracked black pepper and garlic powder if desired. Return to oven for 10 more minutes
4. Remove and allow to sit for at least 5 minutes.

I added the two types of cheeses just because I thought it would be a bit more unique and tasty- and I love Pepper jack! I add the garlic powder for the same reason, but you don't have to. The cracked black pepper is put on top of the the cheese. This is one of those recipes that is very easy to put your own twists and turns on - to make it yours!

This is a Dave tested and approved recipe! PS... he loves it for breakfast too!

Summer Sweet Cocktail

It's no secret, I loves me some sweet wine! Now, don't get me wrong, I have yet to turn my nose up at any sip/taste of vino- my husband will attest that I downed all samples at a horrid little winery in eastern Pennsylvania called 'dupken schollesena" something-- but I do prefer the sweeter wines. I had never been wine tasting before the summer of 2007 and my first trip to Lake Erie with the Dave. We enjoyed the wine tasting so much more than we thought we would. So I recommend the Chautauqua County Wine Trail if you are ever in Western New York and the fine wineries in the Northeast PA area too-- great wines from Niagara to Delawares. Someday I will blog about the little ole man in his bathrobe!

But down here in the Carolinas, most of of our wineries feature the local muscadine and scuppernog grapes- and truth be told, it's a healthier grape and makes for some mighty fine wine! And it'squite sweet naturally without a lot of added sugars. However, I have found that drinking an entire glass of this sweet wine is not always the best thing to do on a hot day. I decided to 'lighten' it up and make my own wine cooler.

Muscadine Vino Cooler

1 cup of semi sweet muscadine wine
2 cups of any diet lemon lime soda
1 twist of lime


The best part? You can drink more without getting sloshed! :)
Which is exactly what I shall do on this beautiful day in the Carolinas on my Veranda!

I take on my mother on Mother's Day...

We often joke in my family that my mother can't cook. The truth is my mother prefers NOT to cook. She cooked the standard family meals when I was younger- our absolute NON favorite was salmon patties- but at some point she just stopped doing major cooking. She will cook from time to time, and when she does, it's a real treat because she is a very good cook. However, since she would 'prefer not to' cook, she is fortunate that she got me for a daughter because I love to cook. I do all the holidays and really enjoy cooking and baking for the family. However, there were dishes that I did not attempt due to my mother's aptitude for those dishes. One dish is potato salad. I know, who the hell heard of a southern cook who doesn't do potato salad? Well, I didn't! To be honest, it was easier just to have Momma make it and it was something she was willing to do and she knows she does it well!

So today, as my brother in law who abhors all 'white creamy stuff' elected not to join the Dave and I for dinner, I decided to give potato salad a whirl. First thing, I called Momma. No, she doesn't have a recipe so she just told me what she put in hers. Next, I told Dave he had to get celery and off he went. Then I got busy taking Momma's recipe and adding my twists and turns to it.

So here it is.. my recipe for Potato Salad...

4 -5 russet potatos, boiled, peeled, and cubed
1/3 cup of chopped onion
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
2 tbsp sweet pickle relish
2 stalks of celery, chopped finely
1 tsp dill seeds or dill weed
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp ground pepper

Put in a bowl and then add DUKES mayonaise - hello, have you ever tried this stuff? -- a little at a time. Start with 2 spoonfuls and begin to combine. It's better to add a little at a time than way too much of the 'white creamy stuff'. After it was mixed up, I put in the refrigerator to for an hour to chill and for the flavors to marry!

So on this Mother's Day, I made one of my mom's signature dishes! And it passed the Dave test- only he thinks it needs more pickle relish! This recipe made about 6 servings so when needing more than that, you will need to up the ingredients. Add what you like to it too... I think that's what is awesome about making it... you can do your own thing with it!