Some cooks are slow learners. Take me, for example. I go through cans of Pam like cotton candy at a carnival, trying to coerce my culinary concoctions to avoid sticking to the pots and pans. Sometimes they stick and sometimes they don’t, but even if cookies – for example- fail to cling to the baking sheet, the Pam residue leaves a sticky mess when it’s time to scrub down the dishes. Recently I … [Read more...]

Fish is probably the healthiest food we eat. Tastes good, too. I enjoy salmon, tuna, swordfish, catfish – most any fish, really. About a month ago, I had fish on my evening menu plans, but wasn’t sure what kind. When in doubt, see what looks good. What looked good to me was a fish called Silver Corvina. It was a white, fleshy fish – it looked sort of like a rockfish fillet, or maybe a speckled … [Read more...]

During the life of most every church in America, at some point the ladies of the church gather and print their special recipes in a spiral bound cookbook. I have a number of these and they are among my most treasured books - the old recipe collections from churches of my past. I have a recipe book from the Centenary United Methodist Church in Clemmons, NC. This church was founded in large part … [Read more...]

I cook for kids on occasion. Sometimes they are picky and sometimes they are not. One of the times they are not picky at all is when I fix a batch of burritos. Nothing fancy, just burritos. Recently, for a change of pace, rather than beef burritos with ground meat, I made some chicken burritos. I used chicken thighs and they were delicious. Chicken thighs, skin-on, bone in, are among the best … [Read more...]

By Sherman T. Shifflett   Any part of the deer can be used for Deer Nuggets, but I always use the back-strap. This recipe is for one loin. Marinate the loin in tomato juice over night in the refrigerator. Make sure the loin is completely covered by tomato juice. Sprinkle in a little salt and add a little vinegar. Remove the loin and cut all the white membrane off, or as much as … [Read more...]

A week or so ago, I baked three beautiful sweet potatoes in the oven. I had rubbed them with a little olive oil and kosher salt and cooked them at 350 until they were soft and tender to the touch. They would have been delicious served with a slab of country butter – if I had just remembered to serve them. But I forgot, left them in on the counter behind a pot of collards and found them when we … [Read more...]

By Nancy Prince Jackson   Merry Christmas to you and your families! I would like to share this recipe from my sister-in-law. We tried it last night and it was oh-so-easy and DELISH!   Crock Pot  Chicken & Dumplings   3 lg. chicken breasts 1 can of cream of mushroom soup 2 cans of cream of chicken coup 1 box of chicken stock Dash of salt & pepper … [Read more...]

I came across a Kraft recipe for a Mexican dish that is just plain yummy. I am not a huge fan of TexMex stuff, but this I like – and so do kids. It’s called a Layered Enchilada Bake. It takes about 25 minutes to prepare and cooks in 40 minutes -and it will feed 6 hungry hombres. You’ll need: 2 pounds of lean ground beef 1 large onion chopped 2 cups Thick ‘n Chunky salsa 2 cans black … [Read more...]

Sherman Shifflett and I were reminiscing recently about great recipes from our past, particularly foods that are special come Christmas time and he mentioned gingerbread with lemon sauce. We used to have that as a kid. A neighbor baked it and gave it to us at Christmas each year. Boy, was that good stuff! Both Sherman and I remembered eating and enjoying it. So Sherman went to work and found an … [Read more...]

Last week, I offered my opinion that the Krusteaze Vanilla Butter Sugar Cookie mix made the best sugar cookies you have ever put in your mouth. Not so, says Doris Huff. Doris, who supplies husband Bob with his sugar cookie fix, says that Betty Crocker sugar cookies are by far the best out-of-the-box sugar cookies on the market. Bob says there should be a bake-off and he will decide which is … [Read more...]