As It Turns Out A Blog Can Be Very Helpful

HELLO EVERYONE.

I don’t mean to alarm you, but I’m writing a blog post.

Why, you might wonder?

Well, a couple of days ago I cooked lunch for my friends Beth and KMac, and when Beth shared a video of our Tuesday lunch lineup, several people asked if I would share the recipes. Here’s the answer: OF COURSE I will. I love sharing recipes!

However, when I started to think about HOW to share the recipes, I couldn’t figure out how to make Instagram efficient for recipe sharing. Then I remembered: Oh, I have a blog. Where I can post things.

It’s like it’s 2007 all over again.

Since Beth and KMac are from Texas, I wanted to cook a big Southern lunch (or, as Mama would have said of the lunchtime meal, “dinner”), and I wanted to make everything ahead of time so I wouldn’t be standing over a hot skillet when they arrived at our house. Just running the oven in summertime is hot enough, you know?

(By the way, we had some painting done this week, so when B and KMac walked in our front door, here is the sight that greeted them.)

(“Decorative elegance” is the phrase that comes to mind.)

(But you know what? IT WAS FINE. The food was still tasty even though my living room and dining room and foyer were a collective wreck.)

The kitchen and den were out of the painting fray for the most part, so we hung out in that part of the house and ate our lunch and visited and had us a fine time. It was so great to spend an afternoon with friends I don’t get to see nearly enough. Here’s what I cooked – along with the recipes.

– Chicken and Dressing – This link will take you to a whole chicken and dressing tutorial, and it’s pretty close to what I did with a few small changes:

1) I cooked four chicken breasts on the bone in a pot with celery, lots of salt and pepper, and 1 Knorr chicken bouillon cube. The broth was DELICIOUS.
2) I made buttermilk cornbread (I like White Lily Buttermilk Cornbread Mix) in a cast iron skillet instead of a baking pan. I made three rounds of cornbread and used 2 1/2 for the dressing. It took a little while to cook three batches of cornbread – but I didn’t trust that the cornbread would cook through if I tried to double or triple the recipe all at once.
3) I sauteed my onion and celery in butter for about five minutes just to get the vegetables a little softer…I don’t like super crunchy onion or celery in chicken and dressing.
4) I maybe used 1/4 teaspoon of poultry seasoning and no sage.
5) I baked the dressing (and I had enough for 2 9×13 Pyrex pans) at 375 for about an hour and ten minutes.

– Squash Casserole –

I’ve tried all sorts of squash casseroles over the years, and this is the version we love the most. It’s my mama’s recipe – with a few additions and modifications.

12 medium-to-large yellow squash, chopped
1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped into chunks (doesn’t have to be diced)
salt and pepper (I probably do a tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper – because like a potato, squash won’t have a lick of flavor unless you salt it when you boil it)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Put all of the above ingredients in a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until squash is fork tender.

While the squash is cooking, put the following ingredients in a large mixing bowl:

4 tablespoons butter
4 oz. block cream cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

When squash is tender, pour squash and onion mixture into a colander. Use a potato masher to press out as much of the water as you can. I probably mash the squash 8-10 times.

Pour drained squash and onion into mixing bowl and stir until butter and cream cheese are melted.

Taste – and add salt and pepper as needed.

Finally, add 2 beaten eggs to the squash mixture and stir until they’re incorporated.

Pour into a greased baking dish and cook for 30 minutes on 375.

After 25 minutes, add your favorite crunchy topping: crushed saltines mixed with butter, crushed Cheez-Its (so good!), crushed Whisps – whatever you like. Then bake for 5 more minutes.

Be sure to let the casserole cool a little before you serve it. It has the lightest, creamiest texture – but you can’t appreciate the texture if it’s burning hot. :-)

– Broccoli Salad – I’ve made broccoli salad a good bit, and this one is the best. Blanching the broccoli before making the salad is a game changer.

– Baby Lima Beans – For what it’s worth, this time I didn’t use Worcestershire, and I added a couple of teaspoons of Kosher salt.

– Mamaw’s Chocolate Pudding – This was actually my Mamaw Davis’ chocolate pie filling, but it is SPECTACULAR as a simple, comforting, oh-so-chocolate-y dessert.

3/4 cup sugar
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder (I like Hershey’s)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks (that is not a typo – that would be 4 egg yolks total, and it’s best to just roll with what Mamaw thought best)
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

In a medium-sized saucepan (no heat yet), stir together first three ingredients until there are no lumps. I actually run mine through a sifter sometimes.

In a separate bowl, beat your eggs.

Fold eggs into dry mixture.

Once eggs are fully incorporated, add milk, stir until combined, and then turn on stove to a medium heat. You do not want to boil this custard…so be careful you don’t have too much heat going or the pudding will curdle. I usually start on medium and switch to medium low after five-ish minutes.

Stir or whisk mixture constantly until it starts to thicken – about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

Makes 4-6 servings, which I pour immediately into individual dessert bowls (cools quicker that way).

Press plastic wrap across the top of each bowl – down onto the surface of the pudding – so that the texture doesn’t change on the top of the pudding.

Hope y’all enjoy!