Corn Bread

Raise of hands, who hates dry corn bread?  But because of your love for corn bread, you'll eat it anyway?

Yep.  Us too.

No more!  In our infinite quest to better what we've been given (Jiffy, we still love you) here is a corn bread recipe that won't disappoint!

Corn Bread

2 boxes Jiffy Corn Bread Mix
1 – 8.5 oz can of creamed corn
½ – 15 oz can corn, drained
1 c sour cream
3 eggs
½ c oil
2 tbsp Heavy Cream
Honey

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat eggs and oil together.  
3. Mix in other ingredients.  
4. Stir until JUST incorporated.  
5. Bake in a greased 9x13” glass pan or cast iron skillet at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.  
6. Drizzle with honey after removing from oven.

(These would be great as muffins, but not sure how long to cook them.  We've been too chicken to let an amazing batch go to waste on a "test".)

Baked Fish a la La

Today I learned that Nicole isn't the only reason our cookbook will be named "Cooking Mishaps".

I am a recipe follower.  I am not a recipe creator.  Travis (my husband) can create...a little of this and a little of that...and come up with the most delicious dishes.  Several will be featured in our cookbook (thanks, honey!)  Me, on the other hand.  I can cook ANYTHING and it will be amazing.  As long as I have a recipe.

So the other night, I decided I wanted to make fish.  Travis caught some great pike and it was calling my name.  I searched on Pinterest for a good recipe and found this:

Baked Fish

4 Haddock (Halibut, Tilapia, Pike, or any white, flaky, mild fish) fillets (6-8 oz ea)

For the sauce [I think it was supposed to be a marinade, but I didn't have time for that nonsense]:
3/4 c soy sauce
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar or sherry [I used the vinegar]
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger [I used powdered]
2 tbsp brown sugar
6 cloves crushed garlic [I used minced from a jar]
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper
3 tbsp sesame oil for rubbing on fish [I didn't use that much, maybe a teaspoon per fillet]
[Lemon Juice]
[Crushed red pepper flakes]

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Line glass pan with tin foil.  
3. Rub fillets with sesame oil and season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes (on both sides).
4. Mix all other ingredients in small bowl. 
5. Pour over fish.  
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until fish is completely white and flaky.

For the first time in my life - I read the list once and decided to make up my own recipe.  I put in parenthesis the changes I made and I have no idea what amounts of each ingredient I used.  I don't even think I could duplicate it. Which is one of the main reasons I don't love the "let's try this" approach.  It's SO good yet not replicable.

I can't believe how good it was.  And I was pretty proud of myself.

And then.

I was humbled.

In my glory, I forgot to turn the burner on the top of my stove off (for the side dish) and then I set the oven mitt on it.  Dang flat top stove that should never pair as a counter top!

Moral of the story?  Follow the recipe.

"Cheesy...Mormon...Funeral...Country Comin'...Party...Potluck...Potato...

...how-many-other-names-are-there-for-this" Casserole?

Add them below in the comments...yours may be added to our final title for the cookbook!

And how many variations have you eaten of this dish?  Us?  A bazillion.  But here is the recipe we love best.  You can substitute any kind of potato, kind of cheese, "cream of crap" soup and any kind of onion you want.  But try to keep the amounts the same and whatever you do...don't skip the delicious topping.

Potato Casserole

1 bag of frozen Southern Style Hash Browns (they are the square hash browns, not the shredded)
1 lb bag of Kraft Sharp Cheddar Shredded Cheese
16 oz sour cream
1 can of cream of chicken soup (I can't wait to try making my own cream of chicken soup so I don't have to call it cream of crap anymore)
1 T onion flakes (we use Onion Onion from Tastefully Simple)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together until well incorporated and spread into a 9"x13" glass pan.

For topping:

1 cube of melted butter
1 small box of corn flakes

1. Crush flakes into a large zip top bag.
2. Add melting butter into bag and seal.
3. Shake and mix bag until flakes are coated in butter.
4. Spread on top of casserole.  It will be a really thick topping...but trust me.  It's the first to go!

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until edges are golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Update 11/18/13
Giving credit where credit's due (where possible):
Country Comin' - Kristie Osborn
Party...Potluck - Abby McGill

Sweet Tea

Hello, My name is Laura Jones, and I'm an addict.

I can not think of anything better than sweet tea...like the good stuff from the South.  McCalister's Deli has the best I have ever found.  When my friend Christina and I went to Destin, FL for a winter escape to the beach, the only thing in our fridge was 2 gallons of McCalister's sweet tea.

Now that my travel is on hiatus for a while, I decided to try making my own.  Oh Em Gee.  I enlisted the help on technique from my new friend, Elizabeth, who is from Louisiana... prime sweet tea land.

So, my friends, I give to you the yummiest, easiest, you-will-drink-a-gallon-in-a-day sweet tea recipe:

Sweet As La Tea

2 family sized Luzianne tea bags
1 cup of sugar
1 gallon of water

1. Put tea bags into gallon pitcher.  
2. Boil a quart of water and pour over tea bags.  
3. Let sit for 10 minutes.  
4. Remove tea bags.  
5. Add cup of sugar and stir until sugar melted.  
6. Add more water (from the tap, doesn't need to be boiled) until you reach a gallon.  
7. Refrigerate overnight.
8. Hide from your sweetheart so you don't have to share.  LOL

LOL

Summer Berry Salad

This could also be called "Blogging Mishaps"

I typed up the Summer Berry Salad entry.  Thought of something to change in my lasagna post and somehow the whole lasagna post replaced my salad post.  WTH??  

So, here we go again:

When Nicole and I sat down to plan out our cookbook, we noticed our "Soups and Salads" section was not very big.  So we went searching for some salad recipes (Pinterest, anyone?)  This is what we came up with and it's our most requested recipe right now.

Summer Berry Salad

Fresh baby spinach 

Blue Cheese crumbles

Sliced Strawberries

Candied Pecans (recipe to follow)
Berry Vinaigrette (recipe to follow)

1. Mix first four ingredients in large bowl.  Amounts vary due to your liking.  Want a large salad to feed 20 at a BBQ like we did?  Or maybe you just want a single serving.  Use whatever amounts you like. 
2. Add vinaigrette just before serving.  

Candied Pecans

10 oz bag of pecan halves
2 tbsp water
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (foil will work also).
3. Place pecans in medium sized bowl.
4. Stir in water until all pecans are coated.
5. Add sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, stir completely.
6. Pour pecan mixture onto prepared cooking sheet...make sure pecans are flat and in one layer.
7. Bake for 1 hour.
8. Turn heat to 350 degrees and bake for 15 more minutes - be sure to watch carefully so you don't burn them.
9. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Berry Vinaigrette

3 tbsp red onion, chopped

3 tbsp raspberry jam (or strawberry, mixed berry, boysenberry…any berry jam will do...we used our homemade triple berry jam with strawberries, raspberries and blackberries)

1/4 c sugar

1/2 c + 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp honey mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 tbsp poppy seeds 

1. Chop red onion into fine dices. Place 3 tablespoons worth into a blender, or if you have an immersion blender toss them into a tall jar. 
2. Add 3 tablespoons jam, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey mustard and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Blend it until it’s well combined. 
3. Add 1/2 cup oil to the mixture, just a little bit at a time, blending after each portion is added. If you add all of the oil at once the dressing will be really thin and runny. Just add about 2 tablespoons at a time and all will be well. 
4. Add 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds to the dressing and stir it in with a spoon. Don’t blend the poppy seeds in, just give them a nice stir.  
5. Store leftovers in the refrigerator. 

A big thank you to my sweetie, Travis, for thinking of using candied pecans.  Beyond delicious!!

Quote Of The Whenever

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” 

― Julia Child, My Life in France