Nothing says fall quite like hearty soups, stews, chili and of course, chicken and dumplings.

With the orange and golden leaves blanketing the ground, we are slowly welcoming cooler weather here in the South. I can't say that it has been cold, but we have been enjoying a slightly less sticky and warm day with a slightly cooler night.

When the weather starts changing, I live for soups and hearty meals that will warm the kids and fill them up.

Despite it not being as cool as I wanted it to be, last night we enjoyed a great dinner of Chicken and dumplings. Usually I always pair it with cornbread but we switched it up to a nice thick french loaf for dipping into the creamy soup.

You can find the recipe for how I make my chicken and dumplings here. The only thing I did differently was add half a stick of butter into the soup once it was done cooking for a little fatty goodness.  Super easy, super tasty and does not take long at all. The hardest part....cleaning up the flour you got everywhere.

When I was in college and after I became a newlywed, I never cooked greens. Not 'real' greens. I cheated and always bought the ones in the can. Then one Thanksgiving one of my friends brought over a plate of collard greens that her dad had made. I was instantly in love and from that moment on, canned greens that would not do.

Collard greens are my favorite. When cooked right, the pot liquour is amazing and you can 'sop' it up with a nice slice of cornbread.

How to Cook Collard Greens

You will need:
1 bunch for every  two people
Chicken Bouillon (1 per bunch)
1 Fresh Jalapeno (optional)
1 smoked turkey leg


In the kitchen sink, wash your leaves well. They are usually dirty so, make sure you rub them to get grit off.  After you have them clean, remove the large stem from the center and end. You only want the leafy part. Cut the leaf part into bite sized pieces.



Fill your pot with water, mix in your bouillon cube and slice in the optional pepper. My kids and I love a bit of spice, so we leave the seeds in. This is completely optional. Add in your smoked turkey leg and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook for two hours until the greens are very tender.

For the breakfast sandwich I made my homemade biscuits which can be found here and my homemade fried chicken you can find here. I cooked an egg seasoned with salt and pepper and placed it on top.



Paired with the collards and the biscuits, the chicken and egg are amazing together. We even drizzled a little honey on ours.

At the end of July, I spent some time at my cousin's house in Georgia. Her husband is an amazing Southern chef who is just magic in the kitchen. While there, he made a host of things for me to try and of course, I was eager to sample. One night, he starting cutting up frozen biscuits. Not the refrigerated kind, but the homemade buttermilk biscuit kind. I sat at the counter and watched. Next thing I knew he had thrown them in the deep fryer and was serving them up to me covered in powdered sugar.

Oh. My.

They were little crispy balls of heaven. I told him when I left, I had to try my hand at making some using my simple biscuit recipe.

I do not have any step by step photos for this recipe because, I made them in a hurry. I was setting up and making food for a vintage tailgating shoot for Town and Gown Magazine here in Starkville. I knew I wanted these bad boys in the set up but the hustle and bustle meant, no time for step by steps.

Seriously, there is no need though. I have a biscuit recipe you can find here on my blog. Instead of flattening out the dough, you cut it into circles (I use a small mason jar or glass cup) then cut it into quarters.

With a pot full of vegetable oil on medium heat, pop your biscuits in. Remove when they are golden. Place on a paper towel to drain the grease. In a bowl, place your fried biscuits in and cover them with honey. Toss to evenly coat and there ya go!

These are the perfect little treats to serve at parties with small chicken tenders on a kabob or on a tray of their own. I love these.


To see more of this vintage tailgating set up and other recipes pick up your copy of Town and Gown if you are in Northern Mississippi.  Thank you to Catina Williams for helping with this set up and Sarah Vaughn and Sarah Hinton for helping bring what I saw in my head to life so I could shoot it. I had an idea and they helped make it happen. We all worked together, bringing in items and styled what I think is gorgeous!

Also, thank you to my friend, Joseph who made these perfect rustic chalkboards for me. You can find his shop on Etsy, he takes custom orders!