• Expand-o-File Finds,  Weeknight Wonders

    Spicy Thai Noodles

    So I’m kind of good at just throwing something together and it being pretty darn yummy. I’m not sure if it comes from my love of Food Network and watching how the chefs blend flavors for their amazing dishes or if it is an offshoot that stems from my other super power of  being able to mix and match exactly any color with paint. I’d like to credit imagination and just being willing to experiment. I’ve had plenty of misses, to be sure, but those are few and far between. This dish was one of those throw something together and hope for the best kind of meals and it did…

  • Restaurant Remakes,  Weeknight Wonders

    Cornish Pasties: The Delightful Hand Pie

      One of my favorite things about traveling is experiencing all the different food offerings available in new locations. Our family has a rule that when we travel we cannot eat anywhere we have at home. Luckily, our small town has modest offerings so this isn’t usually much of a challenge. On my first trip to London, I was pleasantly surprised at the multi-cultural mecca of food that awaited me and let me tell you, I dove right in. Luckily, I was travelling with like-minded friends and usually we would all order something different and then share our meals family style. Aside from the traditional and delicious English offerings of…

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  • Family Treasures,  Sage Advice From Nanny,  Southern Favorites,  Special Occasions

    Happy Birthday, Nanny

    Every year for my birthday my Nanny would call me and sing to me- usually early in  morning before I was all the way awake- and we would laugh and chat for at least an hour. Then in September, her birthday would come and I would return the sentiment... it was tradition. Until this year. This year, I didn't get a birthday call from Nanny, and I missed it. Today is Nanny's 85th birthday- and I actually picked up the phone and dialed the number before it hit me. I laid in bed and cried for a while, then heard her get on to me for wallowing. She told me…

  • Family Treasures,  Southern Favorites,  Sweet Tooth

    Biscuits and jelly…

    So my grandmother passed away in November. It still hurts to breathe some days- but I do it anyway. When we cleaned out her house, I collected a few sentimental items mostly related to cooking because she loved to cook and I sincerely believe that I inherited that from her. Many of my favorite childhood memories include her and (me) in the kitchen or have food attached to them somehow. As mentioned in previous posts, we found several quarts of frozen muscadines in her freezer and I brought them home to my freezer. I knew when I found them she’d been saving them to make more of that yummy jelly and probably give…

  • Family Treasures,  Sage Advice From Nanny,  Sweet Tooth

    Jelly legs…

    One of the things my Nanny was really good at was making jelly. She grew up on a farm in Oklahoma so gardening- and by default- canning became second nature at a young age. One of the best memories I have of her canning abilities came in the form of  muscadine jelly. When we would visit, she’d make scrambled eggs, biscuits and bacon and offer up a jar of this yummy sweet/tart jelly to slather onto her angel biscuits, which I did as often as I could. Occasionally she’d give a jar away at Christmas as a stocking stuffer and I always hoarded mine until I couldn’t hold out any…

  • Expand-o-File Finds,  Weeknight Wonders

    Throwback Thursday… Honey Lime Chicken circa 1991

      So last Thursday, I dove into Nanny’s mystery file and happened upon a chicken recipe from 1991. And I bet you’re wondering how exactly I know it is from 1991? Well. My super sleuth Sherlock deduction skills note that it seems to be cut from a newspaper- and on the back of the recipe there are grocery ads- you know the Wednesday insert type of ads that have coupons? Well, this just happens to have a coupon that expired September 21, 1991.  While I’d love to give credit to the original author of this recipe, Nanny left out all the details when she clipped this little gem from the…

  • Family Treasures

    Nanny’s Recipe Hoarding Legacy

    I’m a wife, mother, friend, literature nerd, photographer, and crafty domestic queen of my domain. I love, in no particular order (that’s a lie- there’s an order…) babies, kittens, food, good company, laughter, and sunshine. I am a procrastinator, often suffer from insomnia and writer’s block, and burn grilled cheese sandwiches every. single. time. I try to cook them- because I also get distracted easily (ooh look shiny sparkles!), which is why I just don’t cook those a whole lot anymore. My kids, in spite of my love for cooking and trying new recipes, love boxed macaroni and cheese and frozen pizza. Oh well- I chalk this up to parenting failure…