One of my favorite parts of going home again is not only the traditional Southern cuisine, such as country ham and biscuits and gravy, but having my family cook some of my favorites, such as Spaghetti and Meatballs. Having spaghetti and meatballs at Dad’s house means perfectly portioned meatballs by Dad, and yummy cheesy bread by his wife Mary (who also makes the spaghetti sauce and spaghetti for the Spaghetti and Meatballs).

The bread is, in one word, addictive. It’s a sandwich roll, buttered, garlicked (garlic powder), and a liberal amount of mozzarella cheese is added between the slices. They’re baked until the cheese and butter is melted, and the bread is a bit crunchy on the edges. The result is something that is in no way, shape, or form good for you, but you don’t care, because it is so damn tasty. And it’s a splurge that I get once or twice a year, so there’s no way I’m giving it up anytime soon.

Filed under:
Comfort food, miscellany, Vegetarian by Courtney

Most Sunday breakfasts are some version of a pork gravy. Biscuits and ham or biscuits and sausage gravy, either way to make it a proper Sunday breakfast you need a little something extra on the side. And that something extra should be fried apples.

They’re similar to the apples you toss into a pie crust, only you cook them on the stove and there is no crust. They come out gooey and candy-like, a perfect treat for your Sunday morning. Or evening — they are also great with pork chops for dinner. (more…)

Filed under:
Breakfast, Comfort food, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Side Dish, Southern, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

Remember the days of Food Network actually having shows with cooking? Ahhh, barely. Thinking of that is almost as nostalgic as the show this recipe came from. Tyler Florence had decided to create an ultimate rainy day menu, which consisted of chicken soup, grilled cheese, and brownies. All with a gourmet twist of course.

With our rainy weekend and cooler days, I decided to make a grilled cheese panino, layering fresh mozzarella, pesto, and tomatoes on Acme’s Herb Slab, then weighting it down to grill until the cheese was nice and oozy. (more…)

Filed under:
Comfort food, Italian, Lunch, Vegetarian by Courtney

Over a week ago I got back from Tennessee and promised you a Southern breakfast favorite, at least in my house, stickies. The old hard drive bit the dust, I went into a period of mourning, but I’ve finally snapped out of it and decided to get back on the horse, so to speak.

When I was a kid, I would get so excited by these. They’re not all that extravagant — just a way to use up all of your scrap biscuit dough, so they’re rather frugal. (more…)

Filed under:
Breakfast, Comfort food by Courtney

Sometimes a girl just feels the need for some comfort food. Sweet comfort food. While it might be disastrous for my waist line to keep chocolate chips in the house, I’m pretty sure it helps my mental state.

After a few times making these cookies, I think I finally settled upon the perfect balance of wheat flour and white flour to make a sturdy, fat cookie that is the right amount of melt-in-your-mouth. The dough comes out nice and stiff, so you can easily grab a palmful of it, plunk it on the cookie sheet, and have 12 of these fellas in no time. (more…)

Filed under:
Comfort food, Dessert, Vegetarian by Courtney