Fried okra with a light and crispy cornmeal batter is a tasty side dish for any of your favorite Southern meals. And it’s easy to make! Fried okra has become one of those trendy items that almost every restaurant features on their appetizer menu. And most of them are all the same: chunks of heavily …

Apple Tarte Tatin with Pears—easy, slow cooked, caramelized, and delicious! Add a scoop of ice cream and you have a wonderful fruit dessert that’s elegant but simple.  A classic French dish, Apple Tarte Tatin is a wonderful concoction of apples that are cooked and covered with pastry, then turned out upside down. The whole thing …

This Southern Meatloaf Recipe is a simple classic, with onions and green peppers and not much else. This is the way Mom made meatloaf! If you grew up in the rural South, this Southern Meatloaf Recipe was probably a staple in your house. As a kid, I remember thinking, “Ugh, meatloaf again,” but as an adult, …

Butternut Squash Soup with roasted butternut squash, apples, and caramelized onions in a rich, creamy, dairy-free soup. Perfect for soup season and holiday menus! One of my favorite times of the year is when the weather starts turning a little chilly in the evenings. I immediately start thinking about soups, don’t you? Maybe because the …

Cream Cheese Pound Cake is sweet, buttery, moist, and delicious—the perfect pound cake! It’s an easy go-to cake for any occasion and it’s my family’s favorite cake! Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe Remember those cookbooks that churches or various ladies’ groups put together? Not even a hard cover book, just pages held together with a …

“Mom, what’s for dinner?” Yesterday, my oldest son came home from college for the weekend. Came home so that he could go to his younger brother’s lacrosse game tonight and so that he could spend time with us, hanging out, watching basketball, eating mom’s cooking, making us laugh. And, of course, on the way home …

Croissant breakfast casserole made with orange marmalade, eggs, and cream—luscious, and super easy. Prepare ahead and bake in the morning! When Maj. General William Tecumseh Sherman left Atlanta in November 1964, he wrote to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant that he was going to “make Georgia howl.” Indeed, through the subsequent March to the Sea, the Northern …

Coq au Vin is braised chicken with mushrooms, pearl onions, and bacon in a wine sauce. Perfect for fall dinner parties! Anything that comes from Julia Child has to be good, especially if it involves wine. This chicken recipe is delicious and pretty easy although it is a little time-consuming. I cheat and use frozen pearl …

Beef Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots in a silky sauce—it’s an easy, one-pot meal and comfort food at its best! This pot roast recipes works in the oven or on the stove and makes the best pot roast that’s tender and flavorful. One of the easiest dishes for a new cook to make is …

Southerners love to entertain and sometimes a big crowd calls for overnight preparation. Breakfast casserole is perfect when you are having houseguests because you can put it together the day before and pop it in the oven while everyone is just waking up. Add some fruit and coffee and you have a complete meal. The …

Easy ribs baked low and slow in the oven with a barbecue rub. These are fall-apart tender and so easy! Your family will love these ribs! There are few things better than ribs cooked all day in the smoker, low and slow with applewood chips, until they fall off the bone and fill your palate …

Growing up on a farm in middle Georgia, my cousins and I ran wild every summer. We clambered up and down trees, spent hours wading in the creeks and generally found any excuse to stay outside until well after dark. We used to sift through the sandy bottom of Buck Creek to find the shiny, black freshwater mussels — …

Pork Chops with Sweet Cherry Peppers showcases jarred sweet cherry peppers baked with center-cut pork chops. Add some garlic and onion and you have a fabulous dish with terrific flavors. It takes a while for fall to really set in here in Georgia. We may have a few lovely days in the 70s and then …

Fried rice that you can make at home! It’s easier and better than take-out and you can add vegetables as you want! Take-out fried rice is often greasy–it is fried, after all–and tasteless. But even bad fried rice is still usually consumed by the non-discriminating palates around here. And sometimes, take-out is not available or …

Easy Chicken in Garlic Sauce with sherry and soy is fast and healthy! Hints of Asian flavor with just a little sweetness make this chicken good enough for your regular menu rotation! Chicken, chicken, chicken. Blah, blah, blah. It’s healthy but boring. My family loves fried chicken, but of course, we can’t eat fried chicken …