A Kentucky Tradition from the Belle: Spoon Bread

Missy Tippens

I made an old favorite from my childhood for Thanksgiving: Spoon Bread!

I imagine some of you haven't even heard of it.  The way I remember first having spoon bread was at Boone Tavern in Berea, Kentucky. Boone Tavern is on the campus of Berea College. I was reminded of it recently when I passed by Berea while attending my uncle's funeral in Frankfort.

Berea College was the South's first interracial and coeducational college. As their sign says: "Charging no tuition, Berea admits promising Appalachian student with limited economic resources. All students work in campus jobs, such as serving at the college's hotel."

Our family would visit there when I was a child, and we would eat in the hotel. I remember students being the waiters. And I remember, especially, the spoon bread!

Click here for the recipe from the Kentucky Living Magazine website.

Basically, it's just white cornmeal, milk, eggs, melted butter, salt and baking powder.

You cook the cornmeal with the milk into a thick oatmeal-like (grits-like!) consistency. Then you let it totally cool. Once cool, you add it to the eggs and melted butter, etc.

The recipe requires 15 minutes of mixing! So I made it in my stand mixer so I could let it go while I did other things.

You can see it starts out as a glue-like blob.

But it gets smoother and smoother.

Once it was finished in the mixer, I baked it in a buttered Corningware dish.

Here it is fresh out of the oven. You want to wait until the last minute to bake it because it's served hot, spooned out of the dish, with creamy butter. And you want that butter to melt!

I love this dish! I hadn't had it in many years and really enjoyed making it for Thanksgiving. I hope you'll give it a try. I think you'll love it like I do!

Missy Tippens was born and raised in Kentucky. These days, she lives outside Atlanta with her husband and daughter (and middle son for another week or so). You can find her books at www.missytippens.com.

Holiday Favorites - Revisiting Corn Pudding

This has been a busy weekend. Kids and grandbabies visiting, family dinners, church potlucks... 

A prelude to Thanksgiving, if you will. And what is Thanksgiving without our favorite side dishes.

Corn Pudding is my husband's fave, one his mother made for decades, and it's easy peasy.

Not to mention all kinds of yummy.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 - 15.5 oz can cream style corn
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 - 4 oz. can diced green chilies
• 1/2 cup corn meal
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Mix everything together in a medium size bowl.

Now I know some of you folks north of Oklahoma are thinkin', "Chilies? Cayenne?" I promise, this is not spicy. However, you're free to skip the cayenne, if you must. The green chilies aren't hot, though. Just flavorful. And we're all about flavor, right?

Pour mixture into a greased casserole, bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

It should be golden to slightly brown on the top and around the edges.

Depending on how many people I'm feeding, I usually double the recipe and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Thanksgiving Day will be rather low-key around the Obi house this year. Only four of us. We'll have turkey and everyone gets to pick a favorite side. Mine is cornbread dressing, though you may call it stuffing. Since I make it only once or twice a year, it's a treat. One I will likely feed on for days. And I can hardly wait.

What's your favorite Thanksgiving side dish? Are you hosting dinner or going to someone else's house? What's your favorite part of Thanksgiving Day? Parades? Food? People? Football games?

Three-time Carol Award finalist, Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

Corn-on-the-Cobb the Easy Way

Missy Tippens

I was going re-share this preparation method but couldn't find my old post! So instead, I'll just share a video where I learned how to do this. I love this method!




I usually put 4 ears on a microwave-safe plate and cook for about 8-10 minutes. This past week, I did two ears (that had actually already been shucked) for about 4 minutes and that worked just fine.

Of course, add butter and salt (the best part!). I've really enjoyed sprinkling my corn with Maldon Sea Salt flakes so that we get nice occasional crunch.

Hope you enjoy trying this!

www.missytippens.com

Cool Summer Lunches for a Hot Summer Day

Last Maine pictures for awhile (well until next week anyway).

It got stormy when we were ready to leave.

So we got home late Saturday and I've been in workshops for school for the last three days.

All together now - no cooking being done.

That's not entirely true, but I doubt anyone really wants recipes for hamburgers and gravy which is my dear husband's Monday staple.


But good news - this workshop I've been attending - they're giving us really good food!

I wish I'd thought to take a photo before eating yesterday, but I think the recipe is easy enough to figure out.

They had salads, including a delicious pasta salad with olives, sandwiches, and wraps. The wrap is  my focus.

Quinoa, Couscous and Corn with a bit of cilantro and dried cranberries. All wrapped together.

I didn't eat much of the wrap itself, it was nothing special. But the inside was delicious. On a brutally hot day here, the chilled couscous, corn and quinoa mix was perfect. The corn gave it a little crunch, the grains were filling, and the sprinkling of dried cranberries was just the right touch of sweetness.

My only complaint was the cilantro - too strong.

I was hoping we'd get the same lunch today so I could figure out if there was any dressing, but we got a salad instead.

I did remember to take a photo.

Quinoa, Couscous, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mint on a bed of spinach.

Refreshing and light on a hot day!

And just for fun since there is corn in the first recipe - my neighborhood "corn field" is thriving.

A sunflower hiding amidst the corn stalks.

Confession time - I'm not a huge fan of the taste of quinoa, but mixed with the couscous it was delicious.

How's your summer going?

Welcome to Happy Healthy 2017

The Healthy Writer here is gleefully welcoming all of you who are ready to start fresh after indulging over the holidays.

A little indulgence now and then is good for our spirits. It's especially good when it inspires us to want to eat healthy in the aftermath.

I saw this Santa and thought he looks like he's had a pretty rough season. I guess he could use some healthy eating too.

Okay, on to healthy food.


I don't know about you, but as I get older, I find I just can't tolerate as much of the sweetness. I used to be a bottomless receptacle for all things holiday - cookies, candy, cake, repeat.

But this year, I only spent one evening baking, I indulged in one Junior's cheesecake given to us by a friend, and I ate a chocolate bar that had been hiding in my freezer since before Thanksgiving.

Not trying to be all virtuous here - just getting old, I fear.

On Monday, Jan said:

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's all do a number on our eating habits, and every year at the beginning of January we decide that THIS is the year that we'll like our scale again. THIS is the year we will eat healthy. THIS is the year that we will learn to like healthy eating!

Let me give you an idea to try.

I was craving something colorful and nutritious last week, but I had no clear idea of what it was going to be. Then I remembered the can of black beans I'd been inspired to pick up at Whole Foods. And I had a sweet potato.

From there, I added things as I went.

Let me tell it in pictures.

First there was the sweet potato. I tried something different. I peeled it and then roasted it. So what you see here is about to be chopped up into bite-sized chunks.

I used Eden Organics Black Beans. I like them because they're packed in seaweed and contain no additional salt or preservatives. I added some Cippolini onions and my favorite freeze-dried garlic.

I wanted to add some sort of spices, but I wasn't exactly sure what.  I ended up adding the onion and garlic and then I threw in some cumin. Perfect!

Once everything had simmered a bit, I added in some frozen corn.

Stir and simmer a bit longer.

Drain thoroughly. You don't want soggy taco shells!

I had some delicious avocados, so I scooped them out.

Then it was time to add everything into the heated taco shells.

I broke this one open so you could see all the layered goodness.

A few notes:

I used one sweet potato and one can of beans because I was making it just for my daughter and myself. The rest of the ingredients can be added according to taste. I like a lot of garlic, but I only chopped up one Cippolini onion and it was enough. I didn't measure the cumin, just gave the jar a shake.

When it came time to assemble, I smashed the avocado and lined the shell with it and then alternated the chunks of roasted sweet potato and bean/corn mix.

I loved the taco shell because it added a crunchy texture. I've had similar recipes that used soft tortillas instead. They were delicious too.  If you're wondering about the green stuff, I had a bag of salad greens that were about to expire so I dry roasted them too and tossed them in. You could do that or not, not necessary though.


So, what healthy meals are you inspired to try this year?

Slow-Cooked Corn with Jalepenos

Mindy here. Do you ever watch a cooking show on television and think to yourself, "I have GOT to make that?"

Well, that was me when the Pioneer Woman made this incredible corn dish. You see, I love corn. I mean LOVE it. I don't eat it very often, though, due to the high sugar content. That means, that if I am going to splurge, I'm really going to splurge and this recipe definitely falls into that category. It also makes a lot, which makes it the perfect dish for your next potluck.

I did alter things just a bit from the original recipe (which you can find here). I made a smaller batch (still way more than 6 people could eat) and cut back on the jalapenos. So if you're not fond of spicy foods, I found the perfect balance. You get the flavor of the peppers, but not the heat.

Here's our starting point. 

Fresh corn. Yum.

I used ten cobs.

Now to get that corn off of the cob. Holding the corn vertically, simply run a large knife down the sides until you've gotten every beautiful kernel. Something that can be a messy job, so I appreciated the tip Ree shared. Use a bundt pan. Something that I, personally, think needs more uses.

Just stand the cob on end in the hole and cut away. The kernels fall into the pan. 

If you don't have a bundt pan, I suggest doing it on a large baking sheet, because it can get messy. 

Even with the bundt pan I still had kernels flying.

Look at all that beautiful corn.

Now on to the jalapenos. I used only one. I know many of you are afraid of these creatures, but fear not, because they are packed with some pretty great flavor. The key is to get rid of the seeds and the membrane. Since I wanted rings (which were kinda big, so I ended up cutting them in half later), I simply cut off each end and then used an apple corer to clean it out. 

***Important tip: When working with fresh jalapenos, be sure to wash your hands with a grease cutting dish soap. This gets rid of the oils that really hurt if you should happen to rub your eye or anywhere else on your face.***

Okay, now thinly slice that jalapeno into rings.

Put the corn and jalapenos into a large baking dish/casserole. I used a foil pan for easy cleanup. 

Here's what you'll need for the rest of the dish.

1 cup heavy cream

1 stick of unsalted butter

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Add the above to the corn/jalapenos and mix well.

Cover with foil and bake in a 250 degree oven until golden on top, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

People, if you like corn, you need to give this a try. 

Talk about comfort food. I could have made a meal on this alone. I didn't, of course, but left by myself, I could have. And as I said before, the jalapenos added a nice flavor, but no heat.

This dish will likely be accompanying me to the next covered-dish dinner I attend. 

Now it's your turn. Can you think of a recipe you saw on TV that you just had to try? Tell us about it.

Mindy Obenhaus lives in Texas with her husband and kids. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com.

Corn Maque Choux, A Cajun and Creole Summer favorite!

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I've got a recipe most of you have seen before, and probably a few have tried. But I hadn't so I decided to see what all the fuss was about corn maque choux.  We've got tons of fresh corn right now and it's DELICIOUS but the thing about growing your own corn is that it tends to get ripe in big batches. 

I needed a few recipes to use up all this corn!

 So, cut the kernels from 4-5 ears of fresh, cooked corn.
Dice half an onion
Roughly chop one bell pepper

 Sautee with 1 TB of butter and 1tsp of chopped garlic until the onion is cooked through.
Add 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 TB of sugar (really)

Cook another few minutes, mixing well
Whisk 1 egg into a 1/2 cup of whole milk
Add slowly to the hot pan, mixing as you go
Allow to cook thoroughly another 4-5 minutes.

 My kids were giving me the side eye when I added the sugar. The cayenne was fine, it was the SUGAR on the veggies that made everyone wrinkled their noses.

Then they tasted it. DELICIOUS! It was so easy and had so much flavor. A new summertime dish is added to our family menu.
                                                           
August is my favorite season for the garden. Our seedless grapes are ready! We eat them out of hand, but they also dry really well so we can enjoy golden raisins all year (especially good in rice pudding or sweet breads).
                                                   
And a random shot of the steak fries from last night. A friend mentioned French Fries and I couldn't stop thinking about them. I reallllllly don't like frying anything, especially when it's 90F, but a week later, I finally caved. So delicious, especially with seasoned salt and ketchup!

 I hope everyone has a great weekend and a wonderful week. Keep cooking and see you next time (or you can come visit me on my facebook pages here or here.).