Cheddar and Gruyere Cheese Bread Ring

The recipe for my Basic Potato Bread makes four loaves of bread, but I usually make three loaves of regular bread and use the fourth to make a cheese bread ring.

Traditional Red Velvet Cake

When you think of a showstopper cake for Valentine's, Red Velvet Cake comes to mind.  It's a beloved flavor of the South.    Waldorf Astoria Cake Red Velvet cake, sometimes called a Waldorf Astoria Cake, is a wonderfully delicious cake with traditional vintage frosting. Red velvet cake is a signature dessert made famous at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City during the 1920s.  I think its popularity has made a comeback in the last few years.

Valentine's Day Trash

Valentine's Day Trash , candy coated cereal with pretzels and peanut M&Ms will wow anyone's guest.  Change out the color of the M&Ms for each holiday! I am so behind on my blog post that I am determined to catch up this week.  This trash is an all time family favorite. I make it for Christmas, Valentine's, Easter, and whene ver there is something to celebrate.

Basic Potato Bread

Basic Potato Bread , using leftover mashed potatoes will make soft fluffy white bread that slices perfect sandwich bread. There is nothing like the aroma of homemade bread coming straight from the oven. In my house there is no holding back, as soon as it comes out of the oven, the knife is ready to slice a big thick slice and immediately slather it with real butter. You have to eat it with both hands while the butter runs down the side of your face. Wow! Was I a little dramatic, or maybe more like was just telling the truth (grins). Needless to say, I don't have to tell you how much my family enjoys eating homemade bread. What I like most about this recipe is that it makes 4 loaves at a time. I use one piece of the dough to make my Cheddar Cheese Bread Ring and the other 3 pieces of dough I use to make regular loaves. This bread turned out to be a great accompaniment to a pot of Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder and Black-Eyed Pea and Kale Soup . Basic Potato Bread R

Black-Eyed Pea and Kale Soup

Along with the Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder , I decided to make a simple soup of black-eyed peas with kale to balance out the richness of the chowder. I served this Black-Eyed Pea and Kale Soup with my homemade bread, but it would be wonderful served with a cornbread muffin, and of course, any time a true Southerner has greens of any kind, you have to serve a pepper sauce to go along with it. Combining the fresh earthy taste of the kale and the heartiness of the black-eyed peas, this soup is satisfying as well as complex in texture and flavor.  This soup is so easy and quick to make, and a great addition to a rich meal!

Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder

Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder ,  rich corn chowder built on a base of chicken stock and half-and-half has carrots, corn, potatoes, and chunks of chicken for a meal in a bowl. Listening to the weather report the night before, I knew we were going to wake up to a winter wonderland.  My first thoughts were, I can make some homemade bread and this new recipe for chowder that I have been wanting to try.  This chowder is not only a delicious and filling chowder, it is just what you need on a cold wintry day. Despite the long list of ingredients, it does come together rather quickly if you peel and chop all your vegetables, and have them ready with all the remaining ingredients while you boil your chicken.  You have a perfect balance of the chicken, the creamy cheese, and the tenderness of the corn to best describe this recipe as "one big pot of extravaganza"!

Texas Style Chili Cheese Dip

Texas Style Chili Cheese Dip , few ingredients thrown together in a crockpot to make the quintessential dip for any gathering.   Chili and cheese together are the perfect combination that, when you eat it together, you have to scoop it up with a salty tortilla chip. With each bite you take, there is that taste of spicy chili, creamy cheese, and I add the heat of a slice of jalapeno. Oh my, it is so good. 

Chocolate Drizzled Cherry Delights

Chocolate Drizzled Cherry Delights  are full of cherries and chopped walnuts with a drizzle of Ghirardelli milk chocolate.  You could say this is a  WIN WIN  cookie.  I make these around Christmas, and since I didn't get to post them, I thought they would also be a great V a l e n t i n e cookie treat.

Oven Fried Chicken {Granny's Recipe}

Oven Fried Chicken is a method of cooking chicken in the oven, but taste just like fried chicken, without all the fuss it takes to fry it. Oven Baked Chicken is another recipe from my mother's dinner table. I remember coming home from college, and she would have Oven Fried Chicken on the table, one of my very favorites. My mother worked for a half-way house, Monday through Friday.   She cooked the noon meal, and when she came home in the evenings, she would often cook a recipe much quicker and easier to prepare than she cooked at noon. If you want to, you can add some rosemary, thyme, and other herbs on top while baking. It gives a delicious depth of flavor. Although My mother was such a simplistic cook and cooked with few ingredients, she always brought a lot of love to the table with her delicious dishes. Mother would have served Oven Fried Chicken with something similar as I served,  Chunky Buttered Potatoes , and Glazed Carrots . Come and join me over at P

Chunky Buttered Potatoes

How many ways can you fix potatoes? My husband is a meat and potatoes guy. He could eat potatoes every meal I think, so I am always changing up the potatoes in our house. This time I used a simple version of the typical mashed potatoes without adding in the milk. As I said in the previous post, he likes the purest form of the vegetable, and this is as close as you can get to it. Potatoes prepared this way go well with the Oven Fried Chicken and Glazed Carrots with Thyme .