Island Pie

I came across this recipe in a cookbook a while back (don't remember which one or I'd give credit). It's a super yummy pie. In fact my husband asks me to make this at least once a week. I confess that I use a store-bought pie crust :)

Ingredients:
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled
1 c. walnuts (I use pecans)
1 c. chocolate chips
1 9-inch pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour, eggs, and vanilla. Stir until well blended. Add the cooled butter and stir until smooth. Add the walnuts (or pecans) and chocolate chips. Pour into pie crust and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Tips:

• I prefer to use chopped pecans, but you can use halves
• I add the vanilla to the eggs and then add that mixture to the sugar and flour.
• Make sure the melted butter is cool before you add it!

Blueberry Cobbler

I'm back! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. For those who don't know, we just had our third child! Now that we've adjusted to life with our new addition, I'm finally able to get back to my blog. So, here's my favorite dessert! And it's so easy to make :)

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh blueberries

1+1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup (1 stick) melted butter

1 cup self-rising flour

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Rinse blueberries and place in a 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar. In a separate bowl mix butter, remaining 1 cup sugar, and flour to make a pastry. Spread over blueberries. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

And there it is. A super easy, incredibly delicious dessert! Enjoy :)

Fried Okra

It's still a bit early for home grown okra, but you this is a fantastic recipe to have :) I've included the traditional directions for pan frying and the directions for deep frying. I prefer deep frying b/c it's a little bit less labor intensive. It also frees me up to do something else while the okra is frying. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• okra, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 pint buttermilk
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• peanut oil

Directions

In a small bowl, soak okra in egg and buttermilk mixture for 5 to 10 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, salt, and pepper. Preheat oil to 350°F. Dredge okra in the cornmeal mixture, coating evenly. Carefully place okra in hot oil; stir continuously. Reduce heat to medium when okra first starts to brown, and cook until golden. Drain on paper towels.

Tip: An easier way to cook this is in a deep fryer. Heat oil to 350°F. Coat the okra in the cornmeal mixture. Put okra in fryer and cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Chicken Noodle Cassarole

This is a quick and easy dish. I love taking this to potluck (and it usually goes pretty quickly).

1 (16 oz.) container of sour cream
2 (10 1/4 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup
4 cooked chicken breasts, diced
1 (16 oz.) package wide egg noodles, cooked
salt and pepper
2 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed
1 stick butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix the sour cream and soup. Add the diced chicken and cooked noodles. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Place in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Top with the Ritz crackers and butter. Cook for 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

P.S. I sometime add steamed broccoli for a little variety. Feel free to add any other veggies that peak your taste buds :)

Chicken and Dressing Cassarole

This is a yummy cassarole that is perfect for potluck. It's a bit labor intensive, but well worth the effort.

1 whole chicken

½ c. (1 stick) butter

1 med. onion, chopped

1 (7 oz.) package dry dressing mix

1 (10 ¾ oz.) can cream of chicken soup

1 (10 ¾ oz.) can cream of celery soup 

Boil the chicken and set aside to cool, reserving the broth. Remove the chicken from the bones. Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. In a large skillet on med. heat melt the butter. Sauté the onion in the butter. Stir in the dressing mix. In a bowl combine the cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, and 1 c. of the reserved chicken broth. In a 3 quart casserole dish layer the ingredients in the following order: chicken, dressing mix, soup mixture, chicken, dressing mix, soup mixture. Top with the remaining dressing mix. Bake for 35 minutes.

Praline Pie

A special thanks to my mom (Trish Matthews) for sharing this recipe. It makes for an uber delicious dessert. Trust me, you can't have just one piece :)

Filling

2 graham cracker crusts

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

8 oz. Cool-Whip

1 can sweetened condensed milk

¼ c. lemon juice

Topping

1 bag coconut

1 pkg. sliced almonds

¼ c. butter

1 bottle caramel topping

In a large bowl blend on med. speed cream cheese and milk. Mix well. Add lemon and Cool-Whip. Mix. Pour into crusts.

Melt butter in med. sauce pan. Add coconut and almonds. Stir constantly until coconut browns. Spread over pie. Drizzle caramel on top. Freeze until ready to serve.

Deviled Eggs

Here's a traditional southern favorite. And as any good southern cook will tell you, it's all about the presentation. A good southern cook will have multiple deviled egg serving plates (at least one for each major holiday). While these are basic, there are several possible ways to make them. Here's my personal favorite. Enjoy...

7 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish (optional)

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Salt and pepper, for taste

Paprika, for garnishing (optional)

Halve 7 eggs lengthwise. Remove yolks and place in a small bowl.

Mash yolks with a fork and stir in mayonnaise, pickle relish, and mustard. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Fill egg whites evenly with yolk mixture. Garnish with paprika. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

P.S. You can also garnish these with sweet gherkin pickles or pimentos. Also, if you want fancy looking eggs you can pipe the filling into the whites.