This has been one of my favorite chowder/soup recipes since my mother in law first made it when I was over at their house a few years back.
After spending the summer up in the mountains on Pennsylvania where the high temperature is regularly 65-70 degrees and the lows in the 40’s I have been craving warm soups and warm wintery things… After all these are colder temps that we normally have in the winter!!
Now that we are turning the corner into Fall temperatures in most of the country I figured it would be a great time to share this new favorite of mine.
08/24
Corn Chowder with Bacon
07/29
Raspberry Almond Coffeecake with Cream Cheese filling
This is an easy, delicious coffee cake that I started making right after Tavis and I were married. I was in the full on “homemaker” mode and trying to show off my skills.
As yummy and quick as this coffee cake was to throw together, combined with my other “homemaker” concoctions I was mixing up, I had to set this recipe aside when we started to remove white flour and sugar from our diet due to… clothes starting to not fit…
Last week I had this desire to revive this oldie but goodie right after Tavis and I finished a 5 mile run…
12/23
Grandma’s Gingerbread Cookies
So this is Tavis writing… Normally my contribution to Leaving The Rut is editing some of Ashley’s pictures, taste testing, continually telling Ashey that she needs to get some “new content up” and generally being a supportive cheerleader :). Today however, I was compelled to sit down and actually make a physical contribution to “our” (mostly Ashley’s) growing blog… “Why?” you may ask, am I using my almost metaphysical powers of composition today? Especially for gingerbread cookies??? Well, simply stated… I got the look…
Ashley has had a lot of fun over the last year putting this blog together and the numbers are growing, I mean they are really growing…
11/18
Best Ever Game Day Chili
When I am in the mood for Chili, the last thing I want is a bland bowl of tomato and ground beef that someone decided to call Chili. I want slow simmered, layers of flavor, keeps you on your toes guessing what is in it until the last. delicious. bite. THAT is Chili! I have a recipe for you today that will set you well on your way to perfecting chili to exactly how you think it should be. This recipe has several “less-used” chili ingredients. They are not unheard-of but the are not usually commonplace in your grandmas chili recipe.
11/03
Dry Rub for Pork
Out of all the things that we cook on the Big Green Egg (BGE) there isn’t anything that Tavis gets more enjoyment out of than smoking a pork shoulder all. day. long.
He gets up much earlier than the usual to 6am makes sure the at the rub is perfectly applied. He painstakingly cleans out the old charcoal and makes sure that the place setter and other parts of the BGE are set up properly. He watches the temperature with the diligence of a nervous new parent who cannot leave the crib side as their baby sleeps, except he is usually sipping a beer as he watches the temperature… ok there were probably better analogies but lets move on.
10/21
Pumpkin Pie Spice Puppy Chow
In the Fall spirit, I put together my own version of Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow to share with you guys today. I don’t normally experiment with recipes… I like things that I know work… but I tried this recipe out on a few friends and they loved it so I figured I would share it with you fine folks. Here is what you will need: 6 cups Chex Cereal… I think that the cinnamon version would be best but I used the plane stuff and it was great!!
1 Bag of white chocolate chips
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 box of powder sugar
2 Tbs pumpkin pie spice
10/17
Southern green beans with bacon honey dijon dressing
For as long as I can remember my mom has made green beans the same way. It was the way her daddy made then (my Grandaddy) and the way that she tough me to make them. steamed with a little onion and a chuck of fatback (bacon or ham will do in a pinch) last year she turned me on to this recipe and with a few tweaks it has become our go-to green bean recipe… and they are addictive!!
Start off with your bacon. Cut the bacon into approx 1 inch pieces and fry over medium heat. The small pieces make it easier to cook evenly. Does anyone else have a problem with the center of the slice of bacon cooking really quick and leaving you with raw spots on the ends? I don’t usually cook my bacon in a wok but I do for this recipe because you will keep adding things to your frying pan and the wok gives you enough room to stir and toss the green beans with plenty of room
10/14
Dry Rub for Chicken
We love to cook on our Big Green Egg (BGE) and use just about any excuse to bring it out. We have only smoked chicken a half dozen time and each time we do we ale ourselves why we don’t smoke chicken more often. It has always turned out AMAZING! Our favorite dry rub, that we have developed with a little trial and error, is great on smoked chicken or grilled chicken. I haven’t tried it out anywhere else but I’m sure it will work well with most way to cook chicken. If you want a rub for pork, check out our Pork Dry Rub that I will be sharing soon.
10/10
Caribbean Rum and Coke at the Friday Afternoon Happy Hour
I never had much of a taste for Rum and Cokes… I would only have them served up at concerts and club like bars. It left me thinking they had actually served rubbing alcohol or kerosene. So when Tavis and I were dating and we were over at his parents house for a long weekend, I cringed (not visibly, only on the inside) when his mom brought rum and cokes out to the pool. Trying to make a good impression with his folks, I vowed that no matter how it tasted, I would sip away without making any weird faces.
09/30
Hearty Steakhouse Stew
I am a lover of heavy, filling soups. Ones that are easily a filling meal by themselves. I got on this kick back in college when I ordered a cup of steak stew rather than a salad at a steakhouse one time and was instantly in love.
There are two versions of this stew that I make, with and without chicken. With the rising cost of food, and everything in general being more expensive down here in Puerto Rico, I have been using only the scraps and bones from the steak for flavor, and then using a precooked rotisserie chicken for the main protein. This is another one of those meals that you can make with a $5 chicken and really stretch it to get your moneys worth.
09/15
No Bake Cookies
Two of my weaknesses are chocolate and peanut butter… but when they are combined it is more than double trouble for me. This is one of my very favorite cookie recipes but I have limited when I make them to times that I can take at least half of the batch to someone else and […]
07/06
Real Southern Fried Okra
Growing up we ate good… when I say good, I mean good southern meals that consisted of meat, veggies, and a starch (maybe 2)… and at least half of the meal was fried. Then as we neared the end of the 80’s and moved into the 90’s, as a culture we were told that all […]
06/23
Sausage Scramble Breakfast Bake
I love a big breakfast, but I don’t love cooking it every morning…. (I’m not much of a morning person by nature) This breakfast bake is really easy and perfect to make at the beginning of the week and reheat for a quick breakfast that is filling and doesn’t leave you hungry in a few […]
06/14
Easy Monkey Bread
I didn’t realize that this was an “easy” monkey bread recipe until I started reading other recipes and sow how involved they were. This takes me about 10-12 minutes from the fridge into the oven and is DELICIOUS! I made this last minutes this week to take to a bible study. I generally do not have any self-control when it comes to monkey bread so I always make sure to take it where I can share it and not bring it back home with me. 😉
2 large cans of refrigerated flakey biscuits (16oz)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cups of butter (1 and a half sticks)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
06/09
Smoked Fish Dip
I had never tried smoked fish dip until I started dating Tavis. I found out early on, he impulsively orders any fish dip he sees, on his self proclaimed pilgrimage. His goal is to talk the chef out of the recipe and create his own ultimate fish dip. When I would see fish dip on […]
