Nancy was sick. She had a terrible cold, and when my wife is not feeling up to snuff, she wants soup. Naturally, I made a run to Kroger’s and loaded a cart with Campbell’s Tomato and Chicken Noodle Soup, but I also saw a butternut squash in the produce section that needed a home, and I bought it as well. I knew Nancy often ordered Squash Soup when it was on a restaurant menu and I decided to make … [Read more...]

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...]