I absolutely love this time of year. Back when I was younger, Thanksgiving meant we ate the EXACT same thing, every single Thanksgiving, every single year. It never failed. My mom's menu never ever changed, as did none of the other menus here in the deep south.

Now that I am older and in more control over Thanksgiving, my mom still is the boss and head cook, but she does allow me to help her. That means trying new things and me being responsible for making those new things. I like variety and change. Of course, there are staples I just can not do with out, like cornbread dressing...but everything else can be replaced, removed, revamped, etc.

So while I may be the one bringing variety to the table, my traditional mom surprised me one holiday and made these cute individual 'sweet potato casseroles' by way of naming them 'Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes'. I have never been a fan of sweet potatoes so this was a shock that I liked these. But I have discovered, as I get older, my picky palate becomes less picky....or should I just say more matured.




You will need:
Mini Marshmallows (or make your own)
1 Sweet potato
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg/cinnamon mixed
1/2 tsp butter

In an oven bake your sweet potatoes at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cut a slit at the top of your potato and begin scooping the inside out using a spoon. Leave a thin coating of the sweet potato inside so it does not tear.

In bowl, mix the ingredients, minus the marshmallows, in a bowl. Add more sugar to taste. Mix well and scoop back into the potato.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes and then top with marshmallows. Bake for about 3 more minutes or until marshmallows brown or begin to melt. Serve warm.

This recipe makes one potato, adjust measurements by doubling, tripling, etc to make larger batches.

Thanksgiving is on my brain and I can not wait to dig into my mom's creamy and buttery cornbread dressing. Dressing is my all time favorite dish ever. I could eat it every single day. Unfortunately, I have not mastered the art of making dressing, the few times I have tried it was NOT like my mom's. I am going to pay close attention this year and take photos as she makes it. My mom is a no recipe kinda girl, so I will have to make sure I am right there to record her steps and process.

Although I cannot make dressing to save my life, I do make nice cranberry sauces. Yesterday I did a test run on a cranberry raspberry sauce. It was to die for so good. Seriously, why buy the canned stuff when making the real thing is so easy and tastes so much better.

Not only does this sauce go perfectly with holiday dressing, it is amazing on french toast. (That's how I had it yesterday and it was sooooo good)  I am stocking up on some cranberries so I can make more batches of this sauce. Everyone loved it and it is the perfect breakfast condiment.

You will need:

1 1/2 cup of cranberries
1/2 cup raspberries
1 cup of water
1 or 1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp of lemon juice

In pot , bring water to a boil.  Add in your clean cranberries and raspberries. Stir in 1/2 cup of sugar and reduce heat when it bubbles. Your cranberries will begin to pop open, add your lemon juice.  Cook on meduim heat while stirring for about 5 minutes.




Take a taste and if you need more sugar, add it in slowly while stirring.  Remove pot from heat and allow it to cool.




When I was in college, there was this amazing place that served chicken tender po boys. One had a sweet and tart plum sauce on it. It was the best sandwich I had ever had. This cranberry and raspberry sauce would be perfect on top of a fried chicken tender sandwich. Hmmmm, I might have to try that tomorrow.

A few years ago I took my mom and children to an itty bitty town called Taylor in Texas. It is her hometown and while there visiting, I went to a local bakery for breakfast and had kolaches. They were so good. Light doughy balls of goodness with rich topping. Oh yes.

Being in Mississippi, I know of not one place where I can get these soooooo after all these years (and feeling a bit better about my bread making capabilities, I gave these a shot.



Recipe adapted from A Taste Of Home Bohemian Kolaches Recipe

Cranberry Filling
1 Cup of Cranberries
1 cup water
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Sugar

Dough
1 cup warm water
4 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
4 cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks

In pot, add in cranberries, vanilla, water and sugar. Bring to a boil and stir until all cranberries have popped. Turn off heat and allow the cranberry sauce to cool.

In a bowl, add 1cup of warm water, 1 tablespoon of sugar and yeast. Mix and allow it to sit until foamy for about 10-15 minutes.

(The original recipe called for more water, but I did not need any more water or milk added once I added in the yeast mixture.)



Add in 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 cup of flour, yolks, salt, butter. I have a mixer, but I mixed by hand with a rubber spatula. Add in flour 1/2 cup at a time. The original recipe called for more milk, but I did not have to add more water or liquid. I added in the flour until a sticky ball of dough formed.

Once dough was formed,  turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 10 minutes and then place in  a bowl  greased with olive oil. Cover and let rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.

Once it has doubled, remove dough so it falls back down and place back in bowl for another hour, covered.



After that turn once again on floured surface and flatten out the dough until it is about an inch or half an inch high. Cut out your circles and place on your baking sheet.  Allow them to rise once more and then pressing in center, create a indention. I used a shot glass covered in olive oil to make the indention. Fill with your cranberry filling and bake for about 15 minutes until golden at 350 degrees.



I added a simple glaze of 2 cups of powdered sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp vanilla and 3 tsp of water.

When you think of the South, you might think acres and acres of nothingness. You might think poverty...you might think the place where everyone goes when they want to retire into a an area full of hospitality and....of course great comfort food.

One thing that is synomous with the South, we sum up in two words:  Sweet Tea.  And when we say sweet tea, we don't mean the kind you gently place two sugar cubes in while it sits into a dainty china tea cup...no we mean, iced, sweet and sugary brown. The kind that you sip slow on a lazy afternoon or enjoy at a fancy restaurant.

When it comes to tea in the South, we are picky. Boy are we picky. It has to have the right balance of tea, water and of course sweetness. We like our tea freshly brewed and placed in the fridge until it is the right kind of cold...but guess what, when we don't make it ourselves, there are definite go to grocery stores we find ourselves at with a cart full of gallons of already chilled browned goodness.

Milo's Tea is the closest I have come across that equals the Southern goodness that is my mama's sun tea.



I remember growing up and having to bring in the glass covered jug of  'sun tea' so that my mom could sweeten it and get it chilled for supper. Sun brewed meaning, she did not boil or microwave, she placed the jug full of tea into a sunny spot to brew on it's own. Milo's tea reminds me of my mama. It reminds me of goodness. It reminds me of the South.

I got the awesome priviledge to try out some of Milo's brand spanking new products. Oh lawd, when I tell you heaven is their tea and lemonade blend....I mean it. I bought several of the gallon jugs home and why no...it did not make it to see the light of the next day. Gone. My kids, family and friends gulped it down in  one seemingly  simultaneous guzzle.

The next day, I decided to try something. I got a recipe from Milo's and thought, hey, this is perfect for these hot Mississippi summer days.

Sweet tea and Lemonade granitas.

I mean, who doesn't love a great slushy drink?

With the recipe being soooooooo easy, why not try it!? I made the sweet tea and lemonade blend and the lemonade.

You will need

Milo's Tea, Tea and Lemonade, or Lemonade



Fill a casserole dish with the drink of your choice. To be creative, add a bit of chopped fruit or mint leaves. Fill the dish fingernail deep.  Place into the freezer for 45 minutes or until it begins to freeze. Take a fork or spoon and stir the mixture. Freeze again for 45 minutes and stir again.



This method is helping create the snow cone/slush texture.



Who needs shaved ice? You can do this at home with out a machine!

And then...serve! Seriously, how easy and how deliciously cool and slushy is that?!