Here’s my mother’s video on how to make old-fashioned homemade biscuits. Wonderful video, isn’t it?

Southern Style Buttermilk Biscuits

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RT and I are visiting in mother in a small town in middle Georgia. RT owns some land here, and each day we’ve gone out in the woods and done some hiking. It has been a lot of fun. I have to say, though, that it has been so nice having his mother cook for us. Last night she made country fried steak with mashed potatoes, cornbread, cooked cabbage and rutabagas. The rutabagas didn’t tempt me at all. Ron loves them, and I let him have all he wanted. However, the rest of it was wonderful.

Today I helped Lillian get ready for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving meal. I learned one of her secrets. She asked me to make the layers for her coconut cake. I LOVE her coconut cake, and so you can imagine my surprise when she indicated a box of cake mix. Duncan Hines butter recipe golden cake mix. Yes, she used a cake mix. However, when I had followed the directions on the box, she added a quarter cup of sour cream - her secret ingredient to make a cake mix taste homemade.

Add 1/4 cup sour cream to a cake mix

The sour cream made it light - and the mix made three layers for her coconut cake. The frosting is thin - just sour cream, whipped cream, sugar and coconut. Here’s Lillian frosting the cake:

Lillian frosting the coconut cake

There was so much frosting left over, Lillian said, “Let’s make another cake!” So we did. For the second one, she switched it around a little bit and made a lemon cheese filling for the cake. Here is the final product for that endeavor:

Coconut Cake with Lemon Cheese Filling

I have to admit that I’m a sucker for my mother-in-law’s sweet potato souffle’. I’ve written about that souffle’ before - twice, as a matter of fact. So I asked Lillian if she planned on making sweet potato souffle’ for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner. She said that my niece’s aunt was going to make it. After I waxed eloquently for awhile about how it was my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal, she said that she might just make one herself, too.

She did. Fortunately for us but unfortunately for the Thanksgiving meal, the sweet potato souffle’ she made didn’t last the night. When she took it out of the oven, I asked her if I could go ahead and spoon out a little bit so it would look better for the photograph I wanted to take for this blog. And once that spoonful was taken out and put on a plate, we ended up adding it to tonight’s menu. It was right there, after all, and it looked so good, and there would be another one at Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow anyway.

My son and his wife arrived this evening to visit for a couple days, and he immediately had a couple of helpings with his dinner, and then took all that was left over with him to the barn apartment where they’re staying to eat for his breakfast tomorrow morning.

Sweet Potato Souffle

As I sit here writing this post, the turkey is in the oven, and there is that wonderful aroma permeating the house. Outside in an electric smoker, my brother-in-law Larry is smoking a couple of hams for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving meal. Earlier in the day - when I took the photograph below - there was also a small turkey breast in the smoker. The turkey breast was small enough to come out and go in the refrigerator until tomorrow. The hams are still smoking.

Hams and a turkey breast in an Electric Smoker

Here’s to Thanksgiving and all the delicious food!

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RT and I were walking in our woods yesterday and found a persimmon tree loaded with ripe fruit - with lots of fruit on the ground underneath. We decided that we wanted to use the bounty from our land to make something.

We settled on persimmon jam, and RT went back and picked a basket of the fruit this afternoon.

He washed the fruit and mashed them. Then he pushed the fruit through a strainer to get out the seeds. He ended up with about 2 cups of pulp. To that we added 3 cups of sugar and then boiled the fruit/sugar mixture for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, we prepared canning jars in boiling water. We added one package of powdered pectin to the persimmon/sugar mixture and boiled it for about a minute. Then we ladeled the mixture into the jars. It made about 3 1/2 jars of jam - 8 ounces each.

Needless to say, RT is very proud of his first efforts at canning.

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Monkey Bread is a great (and easy) breakfast bread - perfect for an early meeting. It is similar to cinnamon rolls in taste - but the presentation is different. The pieces pull apart easily which makes it great for sneaking a bite or two.

Here’s an easy recipe for Monkey Bread

MONKEY BREAD
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cans refrigerated biscuit dough
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat over to 350. Spray a small bundt pan with Pam. You can use a loaf pan or cake pan instead of the bundt pan, if you prefer.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a plastic food bag.

Separate the biscuits, and then cut each one into quarters. Place the biscuit pieces in the bag with the sugar and cinnamon. Shake to coat well. Then place the coated biscuit pieces in the pan.

Mix the brown sugar and melted butter. Pour over the biscuit pieces.

Bake for approx. 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes. Then invert onto a plate. Serve warm. You just pull apart however much you want to eat. Makes 6 servings.

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The folks at The Food Network have gone and chosen another unremarkable and unmarketable winner for the “Next Food Network Star.” Tonight Aaron McCargo, Jr. was crowned this season’s winner, and his first show will be on the air NEXT WEEK.

Aaron McCargo, Jr., Winner of “Next Food Network Star”

My guess is that his show will last only a few episodes before fading out. There was nothing unique about it. The “big, bold flavors” concept has been done and redone numerous times. His “culinary viewpoint” is same old-same old. He seems like a nice guy - and he certainly seems likeable, but I don’t see anything that sets him apart from any other everyday cook.

I’m still sad that Lisa Garza didn’t win. She was hands-down the most qualified and the most interesting contestant. In my opinion, she could have had the most success with a Food Network show. I have a feeling, though, that Lisa will go on to do great things. I would have TiVoed her show and watched it every time. I will probably watch Aaron’s show a time or two just to see how it goes, but I doubt it will hold my interest beyond that.

I’m not surprised at their choice, though. Last year’s finale was a disaster. The Food Network doesn’t have a very good record when it comes to selecting winners. The gay couple that won the first season are no longer taping shows, although reruns are still shown at times when insomniacs are the only ones watching. The second year’s winner, Guy Fieri, has been their one success story. Last year’s winner, Amy Finley, had just about the most boring cooking show I’ve ever seen. I made myself watch it twice before giving up on it.

I’m not surprised that Adam Gertler didn’t win. Adam’s show as contrived and fake. The internet caller was so perky and scripted. It was a good idea for a show, though. At least his idea was something different. Lisa’s show was something different. Aaron’s show was absolutely nothing different. I just wonder at the decision making process of the selection committee.

Congratulations, Aaron. I truly hope you prove me wrong because you seem like a really nice guy and you have such a nice looking family.

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I’m almost sad that tonight will be the finale of this season of “The Next Food Network Star.” It is one of my favorite TV shows. Tonight, it’s down to Aaron McCargo, Adam Gertler and Lisa Garza. My favorite - by far - is Lisa Garza. I predict she will win tonight. She is the only one with a unique angle to cooking - and the only one who has the personality to carry off a successful cooking show.

Lisa Garza

Lisa Garza has consistently done well throughout the show. Well, except that first week. I didn’t like her at all when the show first started, but she has now grown on me. I like her spunkiness, her “get it done” attitude. When she slipped and a bottle of sauce flew up in the air and spilled all over her face, hair and clothes. She just wiped it off and went on to give her presentation. When her partner broke a glass bottle all over the food she needed for a challenge, she just cleaned it up, amended her dish and went on without that food. And when she chops food, that knife is FLYING!

Adam Gertler and Aaron McCargo are also good - just not as good as Lisa Garza.

Adam Gertler

Aaron McCargo

Last year’s show was travesty. They brought back a woman who had already been eliminated, and then they let her win. Her show is already off the air. Her opponent, Rory (I think that was her name) had the personality to carry off a cooking show - and they gave it to the dull, already-been-kicked-off person. Very wrong.

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When I got home from a week at the beach, I looked in the refrigerator and saw the basket of apples. I’d bought them about a week before our trip, and for some reason we just hadn’t eaten as many apples as we usually do. So I had stuck the basket in the refrigerator right before we left so they wouldn’t deteriorate too badly while we were gone.

What to do with them? They weren’t bad, but they were beginning to get a tad soft and wrinkled. They were good for cooking but not good for eating raw.

Homemade Apple Butter

I decided to make apple butter out of them. There were about ten apples altogether — all of them Gala apples. I cored, peeled and cut them up and placed them in a large pot. They pretty much filled the pot. Then I poured an entire four pound package of sugar over them, stirred it well, and then covered the pot and let it sit for an hour or two. Amazing how much liquid was drawn from the apples. After a couple hours, I turned on the heat and started cooking them. I added lots of cinnamon and apple pie spice. Lots. RT had just bought some apple juice, and so I dumped probably about a cup of apple juice into the mixture - just for the flavor. There was already plenty of liquid from the apples.

I brought the mixture to a boil - stirring almost constantly - until the apples were well cooked. In order to get the right consistency, I put the hot mixture in the blender and blended it briefly. It took two batches in the blender to get it all done. Then I returned it all to the pot and cooked it for about two hours on a low simmer. I wanted it very thick. Meanwhile I prepared small jelly jars by boiling them.

Altogether I got 11 jars of apple butter out of it, and it is delicious. The consistency is more like jam than apple butter - and I like that! It’s got a little more texture than commercial apple butter. It’s delicious.

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Here’s the perfect recipe for a 4th of July Blueberry Cobbler - and it’s ridiculously easy!

1 cup sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 stick butter

2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup water
1/2 sugar

Place the blueberries, 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan and cook on medium high for a few minutes until the blueberries are tender. Set aside.

Put the stick of butter in a 9 - 13 baking dish and place in a 350 degree oven.

Meanwhile mix the sugar, flour and milk to make a thin batter. When the butter in the baking pans is melted and the pan is hot, remove it from the oven and immediately pour in the batter. Pour the blueberry mixture on top of the batter. Don’t stir - just pour the blueberry mixture throughout the batter.

Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. WONDERFUL!

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Here are some recipes that will make for a fantastic 4th of July celebration. I can guarantee that if you use this menu and these recipes, you’ll have a spectacular spread for your 4th of July celebration.

First are the salads to accompany the meal. You don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen, so here are two salads that are out of this world and will only take a few minutes to make.

Here is a wonderful corn salad. It is easy to make - and it is delicious. Best of all, you can make it the day beforehand so you’ll have more time to enjoy the 4th of July.

Meleah’s Corn Salad

For the other, I’d suggest this great Orange-Feta-Walnut-Field Greens salad. It’s another super easy but scrumptious dish. Have the ingredients on hand, and when you’re ready for the meal, just dump it all in a big bowl, and you’re ready to go. A commercial bottled vinaigrette is great to go with it.

Orange-Feta-Walnut-Field Greens Salad

Next is the drink. You, of course, need Southern sweet iced tea. Anything else is sacrilege. You can use either sugar or Splenda. I always use Splenda - and I love this iced tea made with Splenda. However, sugar would be just as good. I make a gallon of this tea at least a couple times each week.

Sweet Iced Tea

You need to slow-smoke some ribs to make an official 4th of July meal. Buy the best quality babyback ribs you can find. Rinse them well. Then make a rub of salt, pepper, paprika, seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic salt. Just add enough of everything to rub it well into all surfaces of the ribs. Taste the rub before you use it. Be careful not to overdo the salt. Add all the ingredients in a small bowl, mix well and then taste to be sure it has the flavor you want. You will need 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the rub - depending on how many ribs you’re cooking. Once I’ve rubbed down the ribs, I always wrap the ribs well with aluminum foil, place them in a large pan and cook them in the oven at a very low temp for two or three hours (about 275 - 300 degrees). Then I transfer them to the smoker and smoke them for a few hours. Cooking them in the oven for awhile guarantees they’ll be falling-off-the-bones tender. If you don’t have a smoker, you can leave them in the oven until they’re done. THEN transfer them to a grill and grill them for 15-20 minutes to get grill marks and that grilled flavor in them. Use your favorite barbecue sauce when you eat them. YUM! I LOVE smoked/grilled ribs.

If you want bread, just buy some rolls or whatever kind of bread you like - the heat & eat kind. With this meal, bread is secondary and making something from scratch would be a waste of time, in my opinion. Spend your time and efforts on the important parts.

Dessert is next. With strawberries being so plentiful this time of year, I suggest strawberry shortcake. However, don’t go for the same old strawberry shortcake. Use my special recipe for the absolute BEST strawberry shortcake you’ll ever put in your mouth.

Strawberry Shortcake with Custard

Now - wasn’t that a wonderful and delicious meal?

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I was just watching Paul Deen make “Fried Mac & Cheese” on TV. Amazing!

Make mac & cheese (any recipe, I guess) and put in in a casserole pan to set in the refrigerator. When it’s good and cold and set, cut it into squares. It looked like Paula cut it in about 2- to 3-inch squares. She then wrapped a slice of bacon around each square - securing the bacon with a wooden toothpick. She had three dipping/dredging pans set out. Dip each square in flour, then beaten eggs, and then bread crumbs. She then fried them in peanut oil. It sounds so horribly full of grease that I don’t even want to try it. However, I hear folks talking about fried mac & cheese fairly often, and since I wrote about fried mac & cheese once before, I get hits from people Googling “Fried mac & cheese” all the time. So there’s Paula Deen’s recipe in case you want to try it.

Easier still - follow THIS LINK the Food Network page with Paula Deen’s “official” recipe for fried mac and cheese.

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