Southern Style New Year Day Feast

There are some traditions that are worth carrying on from year to year, some may even call the traditions superstitions, which ever you chose to call it, the food is still wonderful.

I am old school, deep south cook. I know all the very delicious bad for me dishes and I know all the new wave be healthy dishes. January 1st. is a day to lick your greasy fingers with the old school cook in me.

The Menu :

Collards

Black eyed pea patties

Venison meatloaf

Iron skillet baked cornbread

New York style cheesecake

I will have to say that I already had everything in the stockpile. The collards I grew in my own garden and I had put it away in the deep freezer. The black eyed peas came from the dry goods stock from my pantry and the Venison is the deer Tony bagged and that is in the deep freezer. 

I am sure that everyone knows to just boil the collards till done, add salt and sweetener to taste. Optional : toss in a couple pieces of ham during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

As for the meatloaf venison, you just prepare it as you would any ground meat you use for a meatloaf.

I make the New York style cheesecake using the  recipe that is on the cream cheese package.

To the once a year new year day feast - Black eyed pea patties! I never make these but on new year day.

What you`ll need to make black eyed pea patties :

1 - can or 2 cups of cooked black eyed peas

2 - tablespoons of flour

1- egg

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup diced ham (optional)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

A dash of red pepper and salt

Oil

Pour the peas in a large bowl, slightly mash them. 

Add the flour and the egg, mix well.

Add the salt, red pepper and garlic powder, mix.

Add the onions, mix well. Optional : add diced ham.

Over medium high heat add a little oil, just enough to barely cover the bottom, add heaping spoonfuls. 

Fry till the edges are browning before flipping to the other side to brown. 

Remove from skillet into paper towels.

Now that is how to do a Southern style new year day feast!

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry

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4 Easy No Bake Sweet Treats

I know that it is just about a couple of weeks before Christmas but many of us bakers have to prepare because that is what we give, the labor of out love as gifts. For the most part you can make kids happy with candy or cookies anytime and that elderly person that has everything always enjoys sweet treats as gifts.

I really love a fast and easy way to make sweets without turning on the oven and pulling out the flour so I am going to share a few recipes I have learned along the way from many different cooks that has been in my life at one time or another.

#1 - Black and Whites

 You`ll need :

Saltine crackers

White chocolate - bark or morsels

Milk chocolate or semi sweet- bark or morsels 

Peanut Butter

Wax paper

Take two crackers and put a thin coat of peanut butter inside. Make up as many as you want. 

Melt Milk chocolate in microwave, stirring each minute till melted. 

Dip one side into the chocolate and lay on wax paper to cool.

Melt white chocolate in microwave, stirring each minute till melted.

Dip the other side in the white chocolate and lay on wax paper to cool.

Store in ziploc container.

#2 Chocolate covered peanuts and raisins

 You`ll need :

Raisins 

Roasted peanuts

Milk Chocolate or semi sweet - morsels or bark

wax paper

Line two baking dishes with wax paper. On one pour raisins and smooth them out to make a single later, do the same with the peanuts in a separate dish.

Melt Chocolate in microwave, stirring each minute till melted.

Pour over raisins and peanuts. 

Let cool completely. 

Break into pieces and store in a ziploc container.

#3 Butterscotch drops

 You`ll need :

Butterscotch morsels

1/2 cup of peanut butter

1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper.

Melt butterscotch morsels in the microwave, stirring after a minute. repeat till melted.

Add peanut butter and peanuts. Mix thoroughly . 

Drop from spoon to make little round mounds.

Chill for one hour. Store in a ziplic container.

There ya go! a few of my quick fix crowd pleasing sweet treats. 

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry

5 Ingredient No cook cheese pie - Cooking With Angie

I don`t recall the year but I know who was the first that I made this no cook cheese pie for the very first time, that would be my father who had diabetes. Its low on the sugar side so its perfect for that diabetic with a sweet tooth, well and for anyone else for that matter.

With just 5 ingredients and no cooking whatsoever this is also perfect for the children to make with or without supervision.

You Will Need : 

1 block of cream cheese

1/2 cup sweetener

1 tablespoon of vanilla flavor

1 tub of cool whip

Graham crackers 

Lay the cream cheese out on the counter to get soft, about 2 hours.

In a bowl put the block of cream cheese and whip it with a spoon till smooth.

Add vanilla and sweetener, mix well.

Add half of the cool whip and mix till blended, add the rest and hand beat till creamy.

In a pie plate or any serving dish, lay graham crackers on the bottom.

Top with the cream cheese mixture and add a few crackers for decoration.

Your are done!

If you are not fond of Vanilla replace it with lemon extract or orange extract. Add a little lemon or orange zest on tip.

Nut lover? add a handful of toasted pecan over the top.

Coconut lover? Toast a nice handful and add it to the cream cheese mixture, top with cherries.

Key lime! Use a couple spoonfuls of lime juice instead of extract, zest the top with lime.

Not worried about sugar?

How about pineapple? Drain a small can of pineapple tidbits, in a skillet add a couple spoons of brown sugar and cook till thick, drizzle over the top of the cheese pie, leaving chunks of pineapple. 

The topping are endless, just use your imagination and make this no cook cheese pie the way you want to eat it, plain or decked out!

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry

6 Ingredient Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies - Stove Top Cookies

Remember the good old days at school and you got the lunch and it had one of those homemade chocolate oatmeal cookies? Well, this is that exact cookie, okay they taste like candy and not cookies but they call them cookies.

This is a must cookie for Christmas! Everyone loves these, young and old. The Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies are a hit at Christmas parties as well and they are very inexpensive to make and only takes a few minutes of time.

The best part? well, beside they are delicious is that you only have one pot, a measuring cup and one spoon dirty!

They are so simple to make! Using only 6 ingredients.

You`ll Need :

2 cups of white sugar

1/2 cup of whole milk or canned evaporated milk

4 Tablespoon of cocoa

1 stick of butter ( 1/2 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups of oatmeal 

In a large cooking pot add the sugar,cocoa and the milk, mix well. Add the butter.

Over medium high heat, stirring often so not to scorch the sugar, bring the milk, sugar, cocoa and butter to a boil. 

Stirring constantly for 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract, mix well. Add the oatmeal, mix well.

Drop from a tablespoon onto foil or wax paper, they will set as they cool.

Allow to cool and store in an air tight container.

I am going to give these cookies I made tonight to my elderly friends, makes awesome gifts for those people who have everything.

These are so simple to make and it does not take much time, Put them into storage bags and into a pretty Christmas bag, or how about filling a new cookie jar with these and there ya go a gift that will last forever. Headed to the Christmas party? Take these in pretty boxes and no one will know that you spent little time on these wonderful and easy chocolate oatmeal cookies.

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry

Creative Ways To Use Leftover Turkey

With so many side dishes being cooked along with the turkey and stuffing you can have a lot of left overs even after you send everyone home with a plate for tomorrow.

So what do you do with the left over turkey? 

This is what you do, you let the star of that Thanksgiving table shine for a few more days, creating different meals with the turkey.

One - We all will do the turkey sandwich with mayo, lettuce and turkey, that is the easy fix for lunch. Add a sprinkle of black pepper for extra flavor.

Two - Dinner in a Bowl 

Cold dressing cut into thin slices

Chopped turkey

Cranberry sauce

In the bottom put a thin layer of the left over dressing/ stuffing.

Next layer turkey

Top with cranberry sauce.

Three  - Turkey Salad sandwiches 

1 cup chopped turkey

1/4 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup chopped celery

2 tablespoon of sweet relish

Mayo

Salt and Black pepper to taste

Mix all together adding mayo last to your taste, if you like it dry use less. Spread on any type of bread you like.

 Four  - Turkey  Salad

1 cup of chopped turkey

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup pineapple tidbits

1/4 cup of sliced grapes

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup Mayo

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Chopped lettuce

In a large bowl mix turkey, celery, pineapple and grapes. Add sour cream and mayo and mix well.

Divide the lettuce and the turkey salad into two servings, plate up and sprinkle with pecans.

Five - Turkey soup 

1 cup of chopped turkey

1 cup of sliced carrots

1 cup of diced potatoes

1/2 cup of chopped onions

1/2 cup of chopped celery

Salt, black pepper and garlic powder

Cook the potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic powder and celery in just enough water to cover them, cook  till tender, about 15 minutes on medium.

Add salt and black pepper to taste. 

Add the cooked turkey and heat for 5 more minutes. You might even want to home can the soup!

Six - Fried Turkey

This is one of the simplest ways to use left over turkey and one of my favorites.

Any size pieces of turkey

Flour

cooking oil

Garlic powder, seasoned salt and black pepper

In a large skillet heat the cooking oil over medium high heat.

In a large mixing bowl mix flour and the spices. 

Dampen the turkey just a little with water, then roll into the flour mixture, next into the hot cooking oil, brown on both sides. Lay on a paper towel to drain.

You can use that leftover potato salad and green beans for this meal.

And that is how I can do my left over Turkey. 

By Andria Perry

Photos By Andria Perry

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon .com and affiliated sites.”

Pineapple Coconut Pie (Pina Colada Pie) - Cooking With Angie

It is that time of the year once again when we bake for the holidays. Whether you are using old recipes are making up your own its a joy to bake and warm the house and the heart sharing the lovely sweet treats. To make life even better is to cook simple but delicious desserts, like this pineapple coconut pie.

A couple week ago I had a sweet tooth, and it was late and I did not want to go out for something, so I went on a scavenge hunt in the pantry and came up with this pineapple coconut pie. Pineapple and coconut just goes together! No special things to buy just normal foods in the pantry.

Now lets get to cooking!

You will need :

1/2 stick of butter

1 1/2 cup of self rising flour

1 cup of milk

2/3 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon Vanilla extract

2 - 8 ounce cans of crushed pineapple

1 - cup of coconut

Lets cook! :

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Put butter in a 9 x 13 inch cooking pan and put into the hot oven for the butter to melt while mixing the rest.

In a large mixing bowl add the sugar and flour, mix. 

Next slowly add the milk stirring each time making sure there are no lumps.

Add vanilla and mix well.

Remove the hot pan with the melted butter from the oven, carefully pour the batter into the pan with the butter.

Remove the lids from the cans of pineapple and spoon evenly over the batter, juice too. 

Cover the pineapple with the coconut by dropping it by hand over all the top, covering the entire top.

Bake at 375 degrees till the edges are golden brown, about 30 minutes.

And that is how to make my homemade pineapple coconut pie.

Have you ever created your own recipes in a pinch? To add more color and of you have them on hand, place cherries across the top, arranging so that each serving will get their own cherry. Next time I make this pineapple coconut pie it will have cherries on top!

By Andria Perry

Photos by Andria Perry

Friendship cake - 30 day cake

I cannot even remember where I learned to make this cake, nor who taught me. But I do recall my step mother bringing the starter home.  Its 35 years old.

The starter is a mixture of fruit juices and sugar, it smells like 90 proof and it will get you drunk of you drank it.

This is how to start the 30 day cakes :

You`ll need a gallon glass jug, 1 pint of the starter juice, 2 large cans of sliced peaches with juice ( I also dice them into small chunks) and two cups of sugar.

Put all the above in the glass jar and stir till sugar is dissolved. Do not put the lid all way on, leave it tilted.

Stir daily.

After 10 days has passed add a large can of pineapple tidbits with juice and 2 cups of sugar. Still till the sugar is dissolved.

Stir daily.

After 20 days add two jars of cherries ~no juice~ and 2 cups of sugar. Stir till sugar is dissolved.

Stir daily.

On the 30th. day  bake the cakes. Makes two cakes.

 Making The Cakes :



Drain the juice off of the fruit and set the fruit aside.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Grease and flour two bunt cake pans, set aside.

For each cake use :

One box of yellow cake mix - sugar free

One box of vanilla pudding mix- dry- sugar free

4 eggs

2/3 cup of vegetable oil

One cup of pecan pieces

One cup of coconut- natural no sugar added

In a large mixing bowl mix the first four ingredients, mashing out any lumps. Add the coconut and pecans.

Pour into the prepared bunt cake pans and bake for one hour at 325°F.

When done they will be golden brown. Carefully, put a plate over the cake pan and flip it over. The cake should come out nicely. Let cool completely before slicing.

Serve with coffee or milk.

Now share the juice and a slice of cake with a friend. Be sure to keep a pint for yourself and your next 30 days cakes.

Note: Since I am a diabetic I do use the sugar free products because there is already sugar in the fruits but you can also use the real mixes that are full sugar.

By Andria Perry
Photos By Andria Perry

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”