Mom's Southern Cooking - A Simple Fruit Cobbler

As I continue my quest to cook like my Southern mother, last night I made a super, simple cherry cobbler. She first made this cobbler at the age of 15 when she learned the recipe in home ec! Now, when I think of mid-week desserts, I think of not eating desserts during the week because they can be too complicated to make. Not the case with last night's cobbler!

If you've seen Steel Magnolia's then you know all about this cobbler. It's a cup, a cup, a cup, kind of dessert and one you can easily remember. No need to write it down. Just remember, a cup of self-rising flour, a cup of sugar, a cup of whole milk, and a stick of unsalted butter (melted). It's that simple.

Here's what you need: Self-Rising Flour, Sugar, Unsalted Butter, Whole Milk, and the fruit of your choice. The best ones are cherry, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, or a mix of berries. 

Per my mom, mix the flour and sugar together before adding the milk. If you add the milk before mixing, the flour clumps up. I believe her!

Once the dry ingredients are mixed, add the cup of milk. Now, if you are baking, you must measure! And remember, measuring cups for the dry ingredients. A glass measuring cup for liquids. It's a must!

Melt your butter in a little under a 9 x 13 baking dish while the oven is preheating to 350. 

Swirl the melted butter around the pan to coat, and then add the butter to the batter.

Add the batter to the pan. Drain your berries, and then add them to the batter. (If using frozen fruit, make sure it's thawed before using.)

 Spread the berries around as evenly as you can.

Sprinkle a little sugar on the top of the batter, if desired. It's not a necessary step.

Bake for an hour at 350. Tent with aluminum foil if the cobbler starts to get a little brown. 

Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream! What was so great is that this went in the oven at the start of dinner, and once dishes were loaded and washed, the cobbler was out and had cooled long enough for a bite! Honestly, this is the best, and easiest way, to serve your family a little unexpected treat in the middle of the week!

Happy Eats!

A Little Mommy Time

April will mark McKinley's third birthday! I can't believe we will have a three year old running around. It sounds cliche, but where in the world did the time go? How is he three already? And, how has it been three years since I've hit the gym, performed in a show, taken a craft class or any other activity that I used to do before I had him. I don't resent him for it. I don't blame him for it. I just felt that I needed to be there 100% of the time, that I wasn't at work, in order to be the best mom to him I could be.

McKinley is going through what I can only imagine hope is a phase. If he and Joel are in a room together for a while, without me, and I come in to join McKinley will say "Go away, Mama." Or "Go back to the kitchen, Mama." Or back to whatever room I came from. He's also saying things like "Don't look at me, Mama." Or, "Don't talk, Mama." Or don't do anything around me mama. It's grating on my nerves! I've sat him down, looked him in the eye and say, "I don't like you saying these things, McKinley. Mama doesn't like anyone telling her what to do, just like you don't like us telling you what to do. I will look at you, dance in front of you, sing what I want, and I'm not going anywhere." For the record, when I do leave the room (and not at his request), he is usually following me within five minutes of my departure.

I've decided that maybe for the last almost three years I've been too available. I pick him up every day from my parents so that I can see him as soon as I get off work. I put him to bed every night, because he asks. We go to the store together on the weekends. I involve him in almost every aspect of my life. And maybe that's too much together time. So I've decided to make a change.

I am going to start taking a little more time for me. Even if it's an hour or two, I need it. And maybe he does too. So, I am working out one day a week which allows Joel to pick him one day a week. I would like to take a craft class and soon. I think learning to knit would be fun, since crocheting didn't work out so well. I would like to retake some of the Wilton cake decorating classes to refine old methods and learn new. I'm not interested in performing right now. And maybe not again. I am however, looking into taking a ballet class. I just purchased a Groupon from the Kansas City Ballet for unlimited classes for a month. I'm really excited about that!

Who knows if this will make a difference? Over the course of the past week, there have been less "Go away, Mama" and more "I want Mama to do it." Last week it was hard to even leave the room without my shadow, and in the back of mind, I rejoiced! But, I'm still going to take some time for me. Selfish or not, I think we both need it. I could really use new creative inspiration right now. And, some time on the treadmill!

Wilton Revisited - The Final Cupcake

A week ago I blogged about how I was asked to make cupcake's for a baby shower. I was thrilled! I really want to try and take my cupcake decorations up a notch this year and I decided this shower was as good a time as any. After looking through my Wilton cake decorating books, I took the courses years ago, I followed the "directions" from book two on how to make the Apple Blossom. They don't really look like an Apple Blossom, but they did end up looking like sweet little flowers.

I was leery of using them, experimenting with the cupcakes that weren't needed for the shower, and I ended up loving them! The colors were hot and pale pink and the little white flowers looked so sweet against the pale pink frosting. But, I wasn't convinced how sweet they would look against the hot pink. I played around with sanding sugars in white and pink. It did nothing for the presentation. I ended up using white beads and hot pink dusting. Loved it! And, I alternated using flowers on both shades of pink, the white beads, and dusting. I loved how they turned out!

Here are is the final result. And, the ladies of the shower were happy. A perfect ending!

 

 

Mom's Southern Cooking - Macaroni and Cheese

As a child, I never had macaroni and cheese from a box. Never. My mom always made her own and it was divine. And, as it turns out, incredibly easy to make! The first time I ever served McKinley my macaroni and cheese, he turned up his nose. And, to this day, he will not eat it. Nor will he eat my moms! He is Kraft macaroni man! Even Joel told him he didn't know what he was missing!

When I started dating my husband, I wasn't much of a cook. I literally lived off a gallon of skim milk and a box of cereal! But, he was a guy who made dinner for himself every night, super self-sufficient, so I decided I needed to do so as well. Okay, I actually only cooked when he came over and that was generally on the weekends. During the week, I still lived off the milk and cereal diet.

The first time I made the macaroni, he didn't see me use the "secret" ingredient. He simply ate the meal, compliment my cooking, and said it was definitely something he would eat again. (To this day, when trying something new, I always ask if it is something he would eat again. It's generally a yes.) So the next time I made cube steak with mac and cheese, he happened to be watching when I added the "secret" ingredient. And, his response had a hint of confusion and disgust. You see, unbeknownst to me, my mom always added a little bit of sugar as a finishing touch to her macaroni and cheese. So, when she told me the ingredients, as you will see below, she told me she added a spoonful or two of sugar. I followed suit. Joel was shocked! I told him I added the exact same thing to the dish the last time I made it and he had eaten every single bite. He hasn't complained since!

The ingredients are fairly complicated! Here's what you'll need: a box of macaroni (any version will do), sliced American cheese, and sugar!

You also need a pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, add a nice amount of salt, and then your macaroni, or for those fancy chefs out there, pasta. Cook to a little past al dente. Drain the macaroni, or pasta, and return to the pot.

I like my macaroni a little on the cheesy side so I use between four and five slices of cheese. Break up the slices into squares for easy melting. Add the cheese and stir until melted.

Once your macaroni achieves your preferred cheese consistency, add the sugar. Honestly, don't knock it until you try it, but if it's just not your thing, leave it out the next time.

And here is the complete meal! Cube steak, macaroni and cheese and those yummy triple berry muffins! 

If you give the recipe a try, let me know your thoughts! I would love to get feedback on the secret ingredient and if it was a big a hit in your home!

Mom's Southern Cooking - Cube Steak

You may or may not know that I am actually a small town Southern girl. I was born in Salem, VA and lived in a tiny town called Blountville, TN until I was nine. I had a really thick accent with incredibly long "I's", spent weekends on my great grandparents family farm complete with outhouse visits, and ate home cooked meals every night. 

My parents were raised in East Tennessee (my dad) and Southwest Virginia (my mom) and lived relatively small town lives. They shared Bristol (TN/VA) as a stomping grounds, not knowing each other until they were 18. Their mothers, my grandmothers, cooked relatively the same way. Something I like to call Southern cooking. You just cooked. You didn't follow recipes. You cooked the way your mom cooked and her mom before her. In the new year, I would like to challenge myself with cooking the way my "mom's" did. From scratch, feel, and memories. I would like to get away from cookbooks and having to measure every single detail. Just throw it in and go. (I'll still cook from a cookbook just like I did last night. I would like to cook with a little more freedom.)

I decided Monday night was a night to get "back to my roots". It was literally freezing out, minus 10 or lower with the windchill, and that kind of temperature calls for feel good food. (Not the Feel Good Food that Giada recently wrote about. Her's is more "feel better about what you're eating/putting in your body food.) Mine is the kind of food that's warm and sticks to your ribs, and waist and thighs.... What I'm trying to say is that if you are currently watching your weight, or cholesterol count, don't continue to read!

I made one of the first meals my mom walked me through when I finally decided to start cooking; cube steak with macaroni and cheese. And, it was one of the first meals I cooked for husband when we were first dating. (Story to come with the macaroni and cheese post.) Again, stop reading this if you are trying to do anything of the things listed above! Keep reading if you're into fried food!

The ingredients you need: flour, seasoned salt, black pepper, and cube steak.

You will also need plenty of vegetable oil to coat the pan. Not like a cup, but a nice amount will do! 

 Add three to four heaping spoonfuls of flour to a large, shallow bowl. Add the season salt and pepper to the flour and mix together.

Add your cube steak to the flour and coat thoroughly on both sides!

Add the flour coated steak to a very hot pan of oil. It should sizzle as soon as the steak hits! Look at that oil dance!

Cook for several minutes before flipping over. Once both sides are brown and crisp, cover the skillet and place your heat on low. This allows the meat to continue to cook, but the steam will tenderize the steaks. So good!

Once all the cube steak pieces are cooked through, barely to no pink in this dish, place cube steak on paper towels to drain. Don't allow yourself to look at the amount of oil that has escaped onto the paper towel. Just don't even look!

I generally add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce to each piece. It just adds a little big of tang. As far as sides are concerned, my mom's mac and cheese is usually a staple. She also serves coleslaw, but Joel isn't too hip on that Southern salad. Steak fries are great! I decided to whip up some triple berry muffins at the last minute and received praise as soon as Joel's plate was cleaned! 

Up next, the macaroni and cheese that caused Joel to say "What are you putting in there?" Stay tuned!

Simple Perfect Enchiladas - The Pioneer Woman

I watched a lot of Food Network while on vacation. Okay, I watch a lot of Food Network when not on vacation, but this past week took the cake! And, because of the Food Network, I found myself craving Mexican. I haven't craved Mexican since I was pregnant with McKinley. I watched the Pioneer Woman's "Mike's Day Out", "Building Pens", and "BFF". Every one of those episodes contained some version of Mexican. Even Sandra Lee made Mexican during "Spring Fiesta". I had to have it!

We had planned to go out to dinner one night, Jose Pepper's being the restaurant I chose, but neither of us were all that hungry when it came to dinner, so we had iHOP instead. If you can't have Mexican, breakfast is the next best thing, right? Last night was the night! I decided on Ree's Simple Perfect Enchilada's and boy were they good! A lot of work, but really good. Here are the deets!

You make an amazing sauce! You will use this sauce several times.

Okay, I have to ask. How in the world are the on-air chefs able to keep tears at bay when cutting onions? Seriously, I was crying buckets last night. Ree, what are your secrets?

You brown some hamburger, along with the tearful onions, and add diced chili's. I went a little light on the chili's as my hubs isn't one for a lot of spice!

 

Now, here is the tricky part. Heat some oil in the skillet, but make sure you don't have the flame up too high! I made that mistake and oil splattered everywhere! You need to heat the tortilla, not cause first degree burns on your hands when adding them to the oil!

 Grate a heaping mound of cheese.

 There are couple of things I didn't capture on camera. Like when I dunked the tortilla in the amazing enchilada sauce. Or, when I added all the ingredients into the tortilla shell, rolled them, and placed them in the baking dish. My hands were covered, dripping, and there would have been no way to capture any of this!

Bake and eat! I made some Mexican rice as our side. These enchiladas were an incredible end to a craving that plagued me for days! Get the entire recipe here

Wilton Revisited

I was asked to bake cupcakes for an upcoming baby shower and I am so excited! This is the first time I've been asked by someone not in my family, like my mom. It's a catered event, but the caterer doesn't bake, so my mom's friend called on me. Okay, okay, so it's a friend of my mom's. So what? It's a start, right?

It's a girl, so I'm baking all things girly. White and pink cupcakes with pale and hot pink frosting. (Still trying to master hot pink frosting, but I'm getting there.) And, I've decided to start playing around with royal icing and making Wilton flowers. My mom and I took the Wilton cake decorating courses, all three back to back years ago, and I want to try and do a little more with my cupcakes. Cupcakes and icing aren't enough. I need a little something more.

So, over the weekend I pulled out my Wilton II book, had my mom whip up royal icing while we were at the movies, and got all of my old tools out of storage. I was super rusty in the beginning, but toward the end I started getting the hang of it. The only thing is, these don't look exactly like the Apple Blossom photo, but it's a good start. 

What you need. A Wilton II book, a ton of little squares of wax paper, the Apple Blossom template, a nail head to place the template on, the appropriate tips for the flowers (101 and 1), a flower holder while they dry, and of course royal icing.

I kept the main flower white because the frosting will be two tones of pink. I tinted a small amount yellow for the flower centers. Also, you must keep royal icing wet. It dries out quickly so wrap them in damp paper towels when not in use.

 And here we go....

Making one petal at a time.

An Apple Blossom had a center and four dots around the flower. 

 Here are a few of the finished product.

 

I plan to keep making them so I have lots to chose from, if I decide to use them for the cupcakes. I thought either one in the center or three scattered around the top. Or, they may just be plain cupcakes with either sanding sugar or glitter sprinkles. I will post the finished product next week.