Recipe: Broccoli Salad

This is a family favorite. Partly due to the fact it contains bacon and buttermilk ranch dressing. I mean, come’on, who doesn’t love some bacon and buttermilk ranch dressing? Those two ingredients are like Peanut Butter & Jelly, Coffee and Cream, Oreos and Milk. Especially when it comes to making salads. But, I get bored with the same ol’ same ol’ summer salad. Or sum’ma – as my Aunt Nez would say.

I adore this salad. And, men don’t turn their noses up at it because it doesn’t look like a girly phoo-phoo salad because it has bacon in it. Light, creamy, crunchy, salty, and flavorful. Go on – you know you want to try it.

Broccoli Salad

3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 bunches fresh broccoli (florets only)
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
1/2 bottle real bacon bits
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix – mixed with mayonnaise as directed on the package
Dash paprika

Tear broccoli florets into bits-size pieces. Add olives, cheese, bacon bits and onion. Add dressing and stir to mix. Marinate in refrigerator for two or three hours before serving. Place on a layer of lettuce leaves and garnish with paprika.

Now, if you do want a sweeter, more girly phoo-phoo salad: Replace the olives with raisins and put sugar in the Mayo instead of ranch dressing mix. Yes, be’be’ – it is wonderful stuff!

Y’all Enjoy!

Oh! And, just so you know – I purchased this book yesterday. I’m in BIG trouble. I’ll be spending the summer cooking everything in this book and posting reviews. I swanee, she makes me homesick for my Mama’s cooking. Lawsie! Lawsie! Lawsie! Help me Rhonda.

Recipe: Lemon Pie

I don’t know why, but spring and summer just make me think of pie. Maybe it is the picnics. Or the outdoor dinner parties. Or childhood memories of family reunions and all the pies my grandmother, aunts, and cousins would make. Pie is my favorite dessert, ya know. Except for coconut. I do not like coconut in any form. It activates a gag reflex. Probably the texture. But anyway – back to pie. Pie.  Me or My! I love Pie!

I’ve posted a lot of family pie recipes. Mamaw Bussey’s Cherry Pie , Chocolate Chip Pie, Aunt Nez’s Sour Cream Apple Pie, Nanaw’s Lemon Ice Box Pie, Fresh Strawberry Pie, Lemonade Pie, Mimi’s Peach Pie and Peach Cobbler, Good Ol’ Southern Sweet Potato Pie, Pecan Pie, and Nanaw’s Chocolcate Cream Pie. Today’s Pie Recipe: Lemon Pie.

There’s just something that screams ‘SUMMER’ when I make a Lemon Pie. Maybe it is the creamy yellow filling or the tangy taste of the pie. But, gosh! IS THIS STUFF WONDERFUL. And, relatively easy to make. So grab ya some lemons from the local Wal-Marts and whip out a pie this weekend. Bring a little sunshine into your day.

Lemon Pie

4 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 eggs, separated
2 Tablespoons butter (salted butter)
1 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind – careful, just the yellow part (white part is bitter)
5 Tablespoons lemon juice (use fresh lemons)
1 baked pie shell (I’ll post the pie crust recipe below)
6 Tablespoons of sugar for meringue

Mix cornstarch, salt and 1/2 cup sugar in top of a double boiler. (You can use a glass bowl placed over a large dutch oven pot. Fill dutch oven so water touches the bottom of the bowl). Slowly stir in the water. Cook and stir constantly over boiling water until thickened. Cover and cook 10 min. Beat egg yolks slightly and mix with 1/2 cup sugar. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into eggs and then add eggs to the hot mixture in the double boiler. (You don’t want to just throw the eggs into the hot mixture before bringing the temp up, because you’ll have scrambled gook). Cook 2 minutes longer. Add butter, lemon rind, and lemon juice. Cook and pour into baked crust. Make meringue of eggs whites and 6 Tablespoons sugar. (Beat on high until stiff peaks form). Place on top of pie and bake at 350 degrees until light golden yellow color forms on meringue. Cool and serve.

Easy Pie Crust (Makes two)

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk

Sift flour and salt. Blend in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Add milk and stir until a ball can be formed. Cut ball in half. Roll out on floured pastry cloth to make a circle large enough to hang over pie pan edges. Place in pan. Fit to pan and trim edges. Press edges with fork dipped in flour or pinch with your fingers to make a scallop shaped edge. If pre-baked pie shell is required, bake at 350 degrees until light golden brown.

Y’all Enjoy!

Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce Contest Winner!

Good Morning!  Thanks to everyone who entered the contest.  I’ll have another one soon.  I promise.

Now, let’s see who won the free samples of Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce.

Lucky Number 11!

 

And, the winner is:

Congrats to Miss Deenie!

Deenie, e-mail your address to starwoodgal@live.com and I’ll send you two bottles of Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce and a pamphlet of original Country Bob’s Recipes (including the Grilled Pork Tenderloin recipe). 

Here’s a link to retail locations that carry Country Bob’s Sauces. And, here’s a link to Country Bob’s Website where they are giving out coupons for a free bottle of Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce . You just can’t beat FREE! So, sign up for a free coupon and then go by your local grocery store and pick up a bottle.

Thanks again y’all!     Happy Tuesday.