A modern Appalachian woman's kitchen adventures
This is one of my favorite recipes and one of the most popular dishes that I’ve ever served. For years these apple dumplings were a tradition at our homecoming gatherings. People always ask for the recipe and are shocked when I tell them the ingredients include…Mountain Dew! Believe it or not, the soda and butter…
Thanksgiving looks a little different than it did in my childhood. I’m the one hosting now—setting the table, wrangling the casseroles, and making sure the sweet tea is just right. It’s a role I’ve grown into with pride, and Broccoli Casserole has earned its permanent spot on my holiday menu. I didn’t grow up loving…
Summer lingered on here in Kentucky just as long as it could but Fall has finally nudged the door open enough to take residence. I love this time of year and I fear that due to its late arrival, Fall won’t stick around long. But weather here is crazy so who knows? As homemaking goes,…
A favorite food blog of mine is SkinnyTaste. It’s a healthy recipe blog where the owner, Gina, creates recipes that taste delicious but are low in fat and calories. One of the things that I like about her recipes is that they use whole foods, and lower the fat content through the cooking technique or…
Kentucky is definitely a basketball state but we’re not immune to some football madness either. By virtue of marrying a football fan, I’ve become accustomed to the NFL being the backdrop to our Sundays. The first year that we were married we bought season tickets for Eastern Kentucky University’s football games. I’m an EKU alum…
This is my mom’s apple pie recipe. It’s pretty simple and just perfect in my opinion. I know many people prefer the tart taste of Granny Smith apples for their apple pies but I like a sweeter apple like Red Delicious. If you go apple picking this fall, ask your apple farmer for a recommendation.…
Roadside vegetable and fruit stands were pretty common when I was growing up. It wasn’t unusual at all to see a make shift stand set up on a open spot near a highway, or even sometimes just a guy with a pickup truck parked somewhere with enough space for a car or two to pull…
It’s a cliche in Appalachian/Southern cooking that we fry everything. And while it’s true that most traditional country cooks believe in frying first and asking questions later, many times the word “fried” simply means it was prepared in a frying pan. Such is the case with Fried Cabbage. While the name conjures up images of…
My rules on cornbread are pretty simple. It must be baked in a cast iron skillet. It must be crunchy on the outside. It must not be sweet. That’s my cornbread philosophy in a nutshell. Now, I’ve had perfectly passable cornbread baked in a square pan but to me, the authentic cornbread experience is cast…
Chocolate cake filled with gooey caramel and topped off with crushed candy bar, Paul Newman cake is simply irresistible…just like its namesake! Long before we had recipe blogs or social media or even Food Network, recipes made the rounds the old fashioned way-by being handed off to friends, family, co-workers, or anyone else who might…