Piper’s Carrot Salad

Posted on by December 28, 2025

12/27/2025 – Piper Hughes, our granddaughter, developed her first recipe and it was deemed a great success. We are proud to publish it here.

Ingredients
  • Carrots
  • Lime
  • Rice vinegar
  • Dark soy sauce
  • Sesame seeds
  • Sesame oil
  • Salt (for the carrots before the dressing goes on)
  • Green onions
  • Chili oil/ any spice sauce
Directions
  1. Assemble the necessary amount of each ingredient. “Necessary” is defined as the amount that “looks” right.
  2. Mix thoroughly but gently.
  3. Serve.

Easy Apple Slaw

Posted on by December 27, 2025

12/27/2025 – Mary used apples from a holiday basket from the Creel’s and fresh cabbage and loosely followed the recipe here. The dressing was very “zesty” and the overall mixture had a slightly sweet, citrus tone. It made a very good salad.

Ingredients
  • 1/2 small head of cabbage, chopped
  • 1 unpeeled tart red apple, cored and chopped
  • 1 unpeeled Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
  • 3 small (6-8″ long) carrots, grated
  • 2 stalks of celery, chopped
  • 1/2 of a small red onion, finely chopped
  • ~1 cup salad toppings with nuts
  • ~1+ cups – Cranraisens
  • Dressing/Sauce whixed in the citrus juicer
    • lemon juice from two small lemons
    • Juice of 1 small, very juicy blood orange
    • “Enough” mayonnaise; i.e., 3 scoops with the pink spatula
    • Lemon zest
    • Orange zest
    • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Combine cabbage, red apple, green apple, carrot, etc. in a large bowl.
  2. Mix dressing ingredients and pour dressing over cabbage mixture.

Neiman Marcus Chicken Casserole ToTry

Posted on by December 23, 2025

This cook was inspired by the Neiman Marcus chicken casserole recipe from Allrecipes, a casserole version of the famous department store’s cafe dish. Saucy chicken, bacon, Cheddar, and almonds are baked with a buttery cracker topping in this quick-prep dinner.

Ingredients
  • 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
  • 1 (10.5 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup sliced green onions
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Chrystal Hot sauce
  • 1 sleeve buttery crackers, such as Ritz® crackers, crushed
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
  2. Place chicken, chicken soup, sour cream, cheese, green onions, almonds, bacon, and hot sauce into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.  Pour mixture into the prepared dish. 
  3. Stir crushed crackers and butter together until combined; spread mixture evenly over casserole.  
  4. Bake in the preheated oven until browned and bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup like Billy Parisi

Posted on by December 9, 2025

12/7/2025 – Mary made this soup that loosely follows Chef Billy Parisis’s recipe. It was great and to some extent better than the very similar recipe at this site; likely due to the addition of the ham.

Ingredients 

  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 0.5 peeled and small diced, medium yellow onion
  • 3 stalks of celery, chopped small
  • 2 medium carrots, shredded
  • 4 finely minced cloves of garlic
  • ~3 heaping tbsp of all-purpose flour
  • 6 cups trimmed fresh broccoli heads including peeled/chopped stems. Abt five 5″-wide heads.
  • 2 quarts of Ina’s homemade chicken broth from our freezer
  • 2 cups of half-n-half
  • 8 oz. bag of shredded cheddar cheese
  • 3 cups small-chopped ham
  • Kosher salt and fresh cracked white pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Add the butter to a large pot over medium heat. Once melted, add in the onions and garlic and cook until lightly browned and translucent, which takes about 8 to 10 minutes while frequently stirring.
  2. Next, stir in the flour until combined in to make a roux.
  3. Add in the chicken stock and bring to a boil
  4. Add the broccoli and shredded carrots and simmer until al dente, or slightly crunchy.
  5. Using the emersion blender pulse the soup until it becomes slightly chunky.
  6. At this point ensure the soup is thick. If it’s not, make a separate roux or flour slurry and whisk it in.
  7. Pour in the half-n-half and stir in over low heat.
  8. Mix in the cheddar cheese until combined and melted in.
  9. Finish by seasoning with salt, white pepper.
  10. Serve with extra shredded cheese.

Cajun Dirty Rice with the Turkey offal parts

Posted on by November 28, 2025

From Perplexity on 11/28/2025.

How can I make cajun dirty rice with the turkey offal parts from my thanksgiving turkey?

You can make a very good Cajun-style dirty rice by treating the turkey heart, gizzard, liver (and even a bit of neck meat) just like chicken giblets in traditional recipes, then folding them into seasoned rice with the Cajun “holy trinity” of onion, bell pepper, and celery.[1][2][3]

Basic approach

  1. Cook the offal first
    1. Put turkey gizzard, heart, and neck in a small pot, cover with water, add 1–2 teaspoons salt, and simmer until tender, about 30–45 minutes for turkey (gizzard will take the longest). Save at least 1–2 cups of that cooking liquid as “stock.”[2][1]
  2. Finely chop or grind the meats
    1. When the gizzard/heart are tender, cool them enough to handle, trim any tough gristle from the gizzard, then chop everything very fine or pulse in a food processor until it looks like ground meat. Do the same with the liver, but just a few pulses so it is minced, almost a paste.[3][2][1]
    1. If you want more bulk, you can mix in some ground pork, sausage, or ground beef, but the turkey giblets alone will work.[4][3][1]
  3. Cook the rice separately
    1. Cook long?grain white rice in lightly salted water or broth; 2 cups raw rice gives about what you’d need for a family?size skillet of dirty rice. Let the rice cool a bit; many Cajun cooks prefer using rice that is room temperature so it does not get mushy when stirred into the meat mixture.[3][1]

Making the “dirty” base

  • Brown the meat and liver
    • In a heavy skillet or Dutch oven, heat 2–3 tablespoons oil, lard, or turkey fat over medium?high.
    • Add the chopped gizzard/heart/neck meat first and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown and get a bit of crust on the bottom; this adds flavor.[2][1]
    • Add the minced liver and keep cooking until everything is well browned; if you’re using extra ground meat or sausage, brown that with the giblets.[4][1][2]
  • Add the Cajun vegetables and seasonings
    • Stir in finely chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery (roughly 1 cup onion, ½–1 cup bell pepper, ½ cup celery for a pound or so of meat).[1][4][3]
    • Cook until the vegetables soften and start to get some color. Then add minced garlic, a bay leaf or two, black pepper, cayenne or other hot pepper, dried thyme or oregano, and a splash of Worcestershire sauce plus Cajun or Creole seasoning blend (like Tony Chachere’s) to taste.[4][3][1]
    • Pour in about 1–1½ cups of the reserved giblet cooking liquid and let it simmer a few minutes so everything comes together.[2][1]

Finishing the dirty rice

  • Fold in the rice
    • Turn the heat to low, remove the bay leaves, and gently stir the cooked rice into the meat mixture until every grain is coated and the “dirty” color is even. Add more giblet stock if it seems dry; it should be moist but not soupy.[1][4]
    • Taste and adjust salt, pepper, and heat. Finish with sliced green onions and a little chopped parsley if you have it.[4][1]
  • Turkey?specific tips
    • Turkey gizzards and hearts are larger and tougher than chicken, so don’t rush the simmering step; they should be fully tender before chopping. If they are still chewy, keep simmering and top up with water as needed.[2][1]
    • If you find the turkey liver flavor strong, use only part of it and freeze the rest; adding a little extra sausage or ground meat will mellow it out.[4][2]

This method will give you a very traditional-tasting Cajun dirty rice that puts all the turkey “extras” to work instead of wasting them.[3][1][2]

  1. https://kennethtemple.com/dirty-rice/              
  2. https://honest-food.net/dirty-rice-recipe/         
  3. https://beyondgumbo.com/2022/05/15/authentic-cajun-dirty-rice/      
  4. https://cookinginthekeys.com/quick-and-easy-dirty-rice-recipe/      
  5. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskCulinary/comments/9wmbos/what_can_i_do_with_turkey_giblets_other_than_gravy/
  6. https://www.reddit.com/r/cajunfood/comments/1gdjhav/dirty_rice/
  7. https://whiffletreefarmva.com/blog/jj
  8. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1804899576297178/posts/3543231089130676/
  9. https://www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/1kjg1eo/what_to_do_with_chicken_giblets/
  10. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25721/southern-dirty-rice/

Chicken and Mushrooms with Orzo

Posted on by November 21, 2025

11/20/2025 — This was very good and Mary brought it together easily. It ws inspired by the recipe here. The quantities of dried spices he used are listed below but Mary just added what felt right. She measured most of the liquids.

Ingredients

  • 4 whole chicken thighs
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt, divided
  • 3 tsp black pepper, divided
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup white onion, chopped
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 8 oz fresh portabello mushrooms
  • 1 1/2 cups cup orzo pasta
  • 1 tbsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground thyme
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream [she used Half-&-Half]
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Trim the excess skin from the chicken thighs. Dry Brine 1 hour in advance
  3. Season both sides of the chicken with 1/4 tsp sea salt, 2 tsp black pepper, paprika, and onion powder.
  4. Sear the skin side of the chicken for 5 minutes, then the backside for 3 minutes, and remove from heat.
  5. Remove any excess grease from pan. Add the butter, chopped onions, minced garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add the orzo pasta and stir for 1 minute.
  6. Add the oregano, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp sea salt, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and ground thyme.
  7. Pour in the chicken stock, white wine, and Worcestershire sauce. Combine together. Place chicken thighs back into the skillet and cover. 
  8. Bake the skillet in the oven for 15 minutes.
  9. Remove chicken thighs from pan. Add whipping cream and parmesan cheese and stir. Place chicken thighs on top of the mushroom orzo pasta. Serve.

Hamburger Seasoning

Posted on by November 14, 2025

11/7/2025 – This seasoning blend for the ground meat was good but surely can be better so watch for new blends in this post. We blended the ingredients then added to one pound of low fat ground meat and made 4 patties in the press.

1 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp of smoked paprika
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 tsp of table salt
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp thyme
Big pinch Cayenne pepper

Broke up the ground meat into smallish pieces and sprinkled the blend on as turned them over. Rubbed it in lightly to not mash the meat too much. Made patties in the press and froze them individually on a cookie sheet. Once frozen put them into a ziplock bag with the wax circle from the press still on the bottom so they would stay separate.

Next time increase the salt, cumin and cayenne.

Chorizo – Homemade First Time

Posted on by October 22, 2025

10/21/2025 – This turned out good and we will make it again. I mistakenly bought a 1 lb. tube of breakfast sausage WITH SAGE for the CU SS Breakfast casserole last Sunday. So, was sent to get the right thing. [I still screwed up and got mild italian but that is another story in another post.] So, the question is how to use the sage flavored sausage. ChatGPT’s advice ranged from adding other seasoning to mask the sage or add AVC and other things that did not sound to interesting. They also suggest adding chorizo seasoning and that includes strong spice and ACV. So, used two recipes to ID the spices and added the list below to the 1 lb. of pork sausage. It mellowed in the refer for a day and then we brown it in a large CI skillet and had it on soft corn tacos. It was very good. Mary thought it was a bit spicy.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground pork of breakfast sage with sage. Plan to not use sage flavored meat in the next cook
  • ~1/3 tablespoon cayenne
  • 1/2 tablespoon Chipotle powder
  • 1 tablespoon garlic granulated
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 2/3 teaspoon oregano [I think I forgot to add this]
  • 2/3 teaspoon coriander – I added a fat pinch. Don’t recall why I did not use the full amount.
  • 1/2 teaspoon Mexican cinnamon Did not use it but should try it next time
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground clove Did not use it but should try it next time
  • 2 tablespoons ACV
  • Salt and pepper to taste (1 teaspoon each) Did not use and did not miss it but maybe try it next time.

Directions

Added the spices on top of the spreadout sausage and cut them in with a fork. Once it was somewhat mixed in used my hands to blend it.

Breakfast Casserole

Posted on by October 20, 2025

10/19/2025 – Inspired by the recipe at Southern Living by Katie Rosenhouse, updated on July 29, 2025. Took it to the Fellowship SS class after precooking the day before at 350° about 45 minutes. See extensive notes below for what happened and what we want to try next time as this dish has potential. Mary also said after the stress of this cook that next time she wants to try a “tater-tot” version.

Ingredients
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 (1-lb.) pork breakfast sausage roll. Tom bought mild italian by mistake at Publix but it was still good.
  • 1 (8-oz.) green bell pepper, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 12 ex-large eggs at room temperature
  • 2 cups half-and-half
  • 1 tsp. onion powder – Next time use fresh yellow onion.
  • 2 tsp. garlic salt, divided
  • 1 tsp. black pepper, divided
  • 8 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups) at room temperature
  • 8 oz. pepper Jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups) at room temperature
  • 24 oz. frozen shredded hash browns (about 10 cups, from 1 [30-oz.] bag)
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions (1 large scallion). Top Dressing at serving.
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 13×9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add sausage, and cook, stirring often to crumble, until browned, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
  3. Do not wipe skillet clean.
  4. Cook bell pepper: Add bell pepper to skillet, and cook over medium, stirring often, until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to plate with sausage.
  5. Make egg mixture: Whisk together eggs, half-and-half, onion powder, 1 teaspoon of the garlic salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper in a bowl until fully combined; stir in sausage, bell pepper, Cheddar cheese, and pepper Jack cheese.
  6. Pour egg mixture over hashbrowns: Toss hashbrowns with remaining 1 teaspoon garlic salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in prepared baking dish; spread in an even layer. Pour egg mixture over hashbrowns. Press to fully submerge hash browns in an even layer.
  7. Bake breakfast casserole: Bake in preheated oven until eggs are set in center and hash browns are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with scallions.
The saga of getting it done enough and how well it was recieved.

When pulled Saturday evening before it went the full time there was a small center area (~4″ dia.) was still liquid/soft. The idea was to finish cooking the next morning so we would be taking a freshly baked dish.

Stored in the refrigerator overnight. At 6:30 AM removed to warm up for one hour on the counter and it got to about 55° IT before putting it into the preheated convection oven set to 300°. About 20-min later, inserted the oven’s temp probe set to turn off at an IT of 160° per what Tom found on the internet (165°) for a casserole with these ingredients. When the probe was inserted it read 100°.

The IT did not rise but a few degrees initially so turned the oven up to 375°… then 400°. Still little IT rise and the time to leave was getting very close. Mary cut it into squares and I dug one out with the spatula. It was firm near the pans edge but a bit runny along the inside edge. Arrived at SS barely on time. It was still a little runny in the center.

BUT, of all the dishes and treats, it was the one that was almost completely eatened.

NEXT Time:
  • Allow more time for ingredients to come to room temperature.
  • Brown the Hash Browns to remove moisture and add color and taste. Add more S&P.
  • Do this to avoid starting with a pan of cold ingredients.
    • Remove eggs from refrigerator at least an hour early so they are room temp.
    • Brown the meat/bellpepper/onion and the hash browns (in seperate pans, of course) at the same time, while whisking the room temperature eggs.
    • Combine the room temperature eggs, warm meat misture and warm hash browns with everything else and bake.
    • Consider partially preheating the heavy glass casserole dish.
  • Ignore the USAD min IT of 165° as I had found on the internet. I bet that temp is due to the dish have pork and 165° was the recommended temp years ago when pork was not as well cared for as today. Just cook until the center is set and top is brown.
  • If planning to reheat then fully cook the night before.

Blackeye Peas & Okra: Our 2025 Recipe

Posted on by September 1, 2025

8/31/2025 – This cook turned out great and was our creation as we went. It began with the idea of using a lot of the okra we have this year from the garden.

  1. Boiled a ham bone for about an hour until the knuckle could be broken open and meat scraped off the bones. Left the bones in until the okra was added.
  2. Added a quarter of a large yellow onion cut into large slivers.
  3. Washed one pound of peas and added them.
  4. Added 4-5 shakes from the SS dispenser (maybe 1 scant Tbsp) of fresh ground black pepper and 2 large pinches of our cayenne pepper flakes with seeds.
  5. Brought the pot back to a slow boil then covered loosely and turned down to simmer about an hour.
  6. When the peas were beginning to soften–almost crunches when bitten—added 25 1.5-inch long okra pods that were whole with the stem end removed but not open to the seed area
  7. Added about an 8-inch long, 1″ diameter, Conecuh Cajun Sausage cut in half long ways then cut into 1/8-1/4 inch thick half moons.
  8. Adjusted the water and simmered until the peas were tender.
  9. Served over Jasmine rice.