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Momma’s Sweet Jack BBQ Sauce

Nov17

Momma’s Sweet Jack Sauce

Garrett’s Momma’s Sweet Jack Sauce
Unlike men in the house, I can’t handle a lot of “hot” foods. So Gary decided to try his hand at making a home-made mild sweet bar-b-que sauce just for me.

We had gone to a local steak house in Virginia who serve their own version of a Jack Daniels bbq sauce. It was nice, but way to hot for me. I was fairly disappointed, because it truly smelled so GOOD. That inspired Gary to make a new sauce.

It goes great on chicken, beef and everything in between!

Preparation Time: 1¼ hours
Makes a bit less than 12 oz.

Ingredients: Continue reading →

Wide Awake Jack Sauce

Nov17

Wide Awake Jack Sauce

Garrett’s Wide Awake Jack Sauce
During the last holiday season, we gave Gary a book about grilling. It has some wonderful recipes. But it also inspired the Grill Master to try his hand at making some home-made bar-b-que sauces.

I like sweet sauces, the boy child loves hot sauces. And Dad, well he’s fond of tart sauces similar to what you’d find in his home state of North Carolina. Needless to say there has been a lot of experimenting going on in our house on the weekends.

He has been working on this one for a few months now. I think he’s  finally gotten it just right. If you like hot, you’ll like this one.

It goes great on chicken, beef and everything in between!

Preparation Time: 1¼ hours
Makes a bit more than 1 quart

Ingredients: Continue reading →

Vegetable Casserole

Nov12

Vegetable Casserole

GranMa Sandy’s Vegetable Casserole
A good way to get children to eat vegetables. GranMa Sandy often made this dish for her children and they always liked this crunchy vegetable alternative.

When I’ve made this dish, everyone seems to like it much more on the next day as leftovers. I’ve taken to making this dish the day before a holiday meal and placing it in the fridge. Then cooking it for 15 to 20 minutes before serving to thoroughly heat it up.

Serves: 4 to 6 Continue reading →

Scalloped Potatoes

Nov12

Scalloped Potatoes

Vickie’s Scalloped Potatoes
One of our favorite items to set beside a great family feast. Not everyone in our family likes stuffing. So I began making a special potato dish to go along with those family holiday meals.

I’ve always loved scalloped potatoes, but it took some time for me to find a recipe I liked. And then longer to get that recipe just right.

Over time, with a little tweaks here and there, I finally settled on a hit. But after our young son decided he loved the dish too, I knew we finally had the right recipe. Not an easy task for a parent with a picky eater!

Preparation time: 90 minutes  Continue reading →

Traditional Potato Wedges

Nov3

Potato Wedges

Garrett & Vickie’s Traditional Potato Wedges
We’ve been experimenting with potato wedges for some time now. Our local deli has a recipe we absolutely adore and at least once a week, we picked up some chicken and wedges for a picnic by our favorite train station. What little boy doesn’t love watching trains and munching on chicken fingers!

By the time we started getting close to their recipe, the store was sold and the recipe changed…drastically. Now we’re going on memory, but I think we’re pretty close!

Preparation Time: 1.45 hour
45 min. prep time
1 hour fridge time

Serves: 4  Continue reading →

Cheesy Tater Wedges

Nov2

Tater Wedges

Garrett & Vickie’s Cheesy Tater Wedges
Wedges are our son’s favorite thing to have with dinner. So we’ve tried a few recipes to duplicate what we’ve found at our local deli. We haven’t quite got their version of wedges down yet. But in the process we’ve come up with some pretty good variations.

This recipe isn’t exactly the traditional version, but it’s a variation we’ve all come to love. They’re great for lunch, dinner or the back yard bbq.

Preparation Time: 1.45 hour
45 min. prep time
1 hour fridge time

Serves: 4  Continue reading →

Herb Potato Wedges

Nov2

Herb Wedges

Vickie’s Herb Potato Wedges
Do something different for dinner with those potatoes. I don’t know about your family, but mine gets tired of baked or mashed potatoes for dinner. Ideally we alternate potatoes with rice, or some other side dish. But some meals just cry out for potatoes.

That’s how we experimented with potato wedges. This recipe came about on a warm summer evening. The boy child wanted wedges, but Dad wanted Fried Potato Slices. So I compromised, and made herb potato wedges. And everyone was happy!

Preparation time: 50 minutes  Continue reading →

Fried Potatoes

Aug30

Vickie’s Fried Potatoes

Vickie’s Fried Potatoes
Guaranteed to tantalize your taste buds. One summer night, we were grilling chicken for an outdoor dinner overlooking the lake. Tired of the usual side dish, we all wanted something different. Our problem, no one wanted to go to the store after a day in the water.

We came up with an idea to cook up some potato slices. But plain potatoes just wasn’t enough. And our Fried potatoes were born.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4 to 5

Ingredients:

  • 4 large potatoes
  • 1/2 small onion cubed or diced
    – You can use McCormick’s Minced Onion instead
  • 1 tablespoons of diced sweet basil
  • 1 tablespoon of diced parsley
  • 1 teaspoon of pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 stick of margarine (not butter)

Continue reading →

Southern Potato Cakes

Aug30

Southern Potato Cakes

Mammaw’s Southern Potato Cakes
When I was young, my Mom always found ways serve leftovers that made them seem like an entirely new meal. One of my favorites was Potato Cakes. Left over mashed potatoes, fashioned into small individual cakes. They were always delicious.

I never helped make them when I was still living at home, so when I called and asked her how do you make potato cakes, she said “you just cook them in butter in a skillet”. So I fashioned the left over potatoes and fried them……yeah that didn’t work. I called back and told her about how they fell apart and she asks “well did you put flour in them?” No Mom, you didn’t tell me to do that.

You really need to go home and cook with your mom and write down the family recipes, because they didn’t seem to do that in my family. I learned how to make them by watching her and I’ve written it down to share with my son.

Preparation Time: 1 hour
Serves: Depends on how many leftover mashed potatoes you have.  We usually have enough to make 3 to 6 cakes.
Continue reading →

Potatoes Au Gratin

Aug30

Vickie’s Potatoes Au Gratin

Vickie’s Potatoes Au Gratin
A simple way to spruce up your dinner table for the holidays. This is an easy recipe to make, though it does take some time to bake. It’s well worth it.

I found this recipe in a box at my Grandmother’s house. It was a clipping from the local paper, with hand written notes next to some of the ingredients and directions. I’m pretty sure those notes were made by my Maw. In our family, we called her Maw Stoots.  I’ve made my own little tweaks to the recipe to fit my families tastes. I hope you like it.

Preparation Time: 25 Minutes
Bake time: 1 to 1.5 hours
Serves: 6  Continue reading →