It is always interesting to check out the regional differences in food and what defines food depending on where you are. LabRat has a look. So does Chris. Being that I live in a different region, I can say, without reservation, that they get quite a bit wrong.

For instance, chili has no beans. Chili with beans is called chili with beans.

Cornbread is cornbread if it has sugar in it or not (I like my cornbread with a bit of sugar but not much – of course, I also put bacon flavor in it). It’s a matter of degree. And it’s cooked in a frying pan in the oven. A johnnycake is cooked on a skillet and it is thin like a pancake.

Barbecue is meat cooked over a fire. The sauce is a regional thing.

Bonus round: Iced tea. Being in the South East, when I order tea, there should be no follow up questions. It comes sweet and with lemon.

Best part of Thanksgiving good: a sammich. One slice of dad’s honey ham. One slice of my turkey. My homemade pickles. Swiss. American. Mayo. Between some of Kevin’s beer bread:

From Home Life

Update: Next time, needs bacon.

Mmmmmm.

Kevin’s Beer Bread. Had some last night with some turkey soup. Very nice.

Politics, religion, and barbecue. No good can come from this.

Coming soon to a restaurant near you. I make these and they’re quite good. And fries need ketchup so I usually mix some sour cream, brown sugar, and honey to dip the fries in.

Makes me hungry.

Someone asked for my pickle recipe, and I answer.

From Home Life

For my pickling spice, I use the following:

2 tablespoons mustard seed
2 tablespoons coriander
2 tablespoons peppercorn
1 broken to bits cinnamon stick

In each jar, I put one to two tablespoons of this concoction depending on jar size. Then I put in a couple cloves of garlic, one cayenne pepper, and 3 to four sprigs of fresh dill. Then, fill the jar with whatever you’re pickling. Pack it as tight as you can. In the pic above, from left to right, are cucumbers, garlic and cayenne peppers (with a few serranos thrown in).

Then, bring to a boil a mixture of 3:1 water to white vinegar ratio. Add kosher salt to taste (about 3 – 6 table spoons). Once it’s boiling, fill jars up with the mixture and put the lid on it. Let them cool and place in the refrigerator. The vinegar and spices will steep the veggies. Will be ready in 3 to 7 days. Keeps for months.

Sort of mood. Junior and I made some pickles, pickled garlic and pickled peppers:

From Home Life

Noms commence in a week or so.

The kids dig watermelon. Trouble is, we can never eat a whole one before it goes bad. So, I started making watermelon popsicles. Fill your blender with watermelon and hit the juice setting. Then strain to get rid of pieces of seed. Place in a popsicle tray overnight and the kids love them.

Also, the latest creation is, and I am not making this up, cucumber popsicles. Our cucumber plants are out of control and, frankly, we can’t go through them all, even giving them to our neighbors. This is a bit more work but is delicious. Put a quarter cup of lime juice and a half cup of sugar in a pan and heat it up. While the sugar is dissolving, seed and peel 3 whole cucumbers. Put them in the blender and add your sugar and lime juice mix and hit the juice setting. Freeze in popsicle trays over night. No need to strain these.

I love them. Tam is becoming a fan. I like to follow my mom’s recipe and smash a couple up. Coat with lime juice (keeps them green). Then add a couple of tomatoes, a diced serrano pepper, garlic, cilantro, onion and a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce for some guacamole.

Various Barbecue recipes.

Here’s mine.

Three Rivers Cornmeal is still going under but apparently White Lily is the same recipe. Some folks are upset:

I have two bags of Three Rivers cornmeal left. I’m going to bronze them for bookends.

Via Shane.

Three Rivers Corn Meal going under. I use that stuff in my cornbread.

I told you I’d start more recipe blogging.

This is a post about making your own barbecue sauce. This is a recipe that started based on a concoction my brother in law J-Lo (who has been featured here before) discovered. It has since gone through several iterations. This is the current version which will no doubt change as it does often. Fire up your smoker (optional but if you’re cooking some food on it, may as well cook the sauce there too). Phase one:

8 pieces of thick cut bacon
1 large onion, finely chopped
8 teaspoons minced garlic
5 tablespoons chili powder
1 – 2 chopped cayenne peppers. Note that these can be fresh or dried. I grow my own and the plants produce a lot. So, I hang the excess peppers from a string and let them dry out in the garage. They’ll keep for a very long time.

In a skillet, fry up your bacon. Eat bacon for breakfast because if you’re smoking some meat, you probably started early. Retain the bacon fat. You can substitute a stick of butter for bacon fat but why would you? Unless you’re a vegetarian. But if you’re a vegetarian, I imagine your need for barbecue sauce is low. To the bacon fat, add the onion, garlic, and peppers. Cook until the onions become tender. Add chili powder and stir. Cook for a few minutes longer. Remove from heat and allow to cool. You’re only going to allow this to cool because getting hot stuff on you can burn. After you’re satisfied that you won’t burn yourself, pour the mixture into a food processor. Hit frappe and allow it to run until the mixture is mostly liquefied.

Transfer the liquid to a large pot and put it on the stove. To the mixture, stir in the following:

4 cups ketchup
1 cup yellow mustard
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup honey
2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons of ginger powder
1/4 cup Soy sauce
ground black pepper to taste (I like mine peppery)
Kosher salt to taste

Bring mixture to a gentle boil and reduce heat. After a few minutes on reduced heat, transfer to your smoker. And let it cook all day. I said the smoker was optional. If you do not plan on using one or don’t have one, no worries. Just keep cooking it on the stove. If you do not use a smoker, I recommend adding a bit of Liquid Smoke to add some smoky flavor. And keep it on your stove on low for an hour or so.

I like mine a bit spicy so I’ll also add some hot sauce on occasion.

You can use the sauce on any thing you’d put barbecue sauce on. Once the sauce cools, I transfer my sauce to a large and clean ketchup bottle and keep it in the fridge. It will keep for several months.

Cool cake designs

I like to cook. The wife and I have various recipes strewn about the house on paper, note cards, and carrier pigeons. And I have the oft neglected recipes category on the blog. So, I decided it’d a good idea so start typing them up to put on the old webpage so that I can 1) find them easily; 2) share with people; and 3) for the kids to find later. I’ve discovered at this point in life that my mom and dad made some really damn good food. And I occasionally want some of the old favorites. But, I don’t have the recipe. So, I call up mom and ask how to make stuff. Like her clam chowder. So, if my kids want that, they’ll have it.

Speaking of mom, I generally like to make my own salad dressing. Here’s one of my faves from Mom: Hawaiian Dressing. And, so, it seems appropriate to start this new endeavor with a new favorite of mine: Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing (quick and easy).

1 cup mayo
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Quarter cup of milk

Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Whisk until smooth.

Update: For you purists, no there’s no anchovy paste. Mostly because I don’t usually have any around.

Chris and Melody are publishing a cookbook.

The best sandwich: Muffuletta, Reuben, Patty Melt, Bacon Double Cheeseburger, or Fluffernutter?

Perhaps worthy of the list is my brother in law’s Italian Redneck Hotdog. Grill up some Italian sausage, put it on a hotdog bun with some spaghetti sauce of choice and mozzarella. But I’m leaving it off the poll because you probably haven’t had one. But you should.

Fish stew recipe.

Mongolian beef from a blog that has a great name.

Blueberry dump cake because even survivalists like dessert.

Breda tells us how to roast garlic in a crock pot. Cool. I do the same on the grill. Cut the tops, put in foil with some oil, and toss it on the grill for 20 to 30 minutes.

This weekend, me, the wife, and kids built a raised garden. Ours is 10X4. Gonna put some tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and some veggies. Any suggestions for something I might be missing? Junior wants to do watermelons.

Update: I didn’t know it was a survival garden.

Coincidentally, compost is easy to get when you share a border with a cattle farm.

I agree. Made some the other night.

It’s an internet hit. Recipe is here. A few weeks ago, me and my brother in law, J-Lo, decided to have a go at it. Here’s J-Lo getting his bacon weave on (and because I told him I’d put his picture on the internet):

From Home Life

Weave complete:

From Home Life

Almost ready:

From Home Life

All done:

From Home Life

Quite good, I have to say. Even better was the next day when I put a slice on a sandwich with some spicy mustard.

For our next artery clogging trick, we’re probably going to try the Double Bypass Burger.

Mmmm, tactical bacon.

They’re pretty smart. Interact well with humans when domesticated. Can be easily trained. Unfortunately for them, they’re made of bacon. Mmmmm, bacon.

I am remiss in mentioning that Bitter is now a food blogger. Mmmm, corned beef and cabbage.

First, bacon is not a vegetable. I’m pretty sure about that. Secondly, if it has beans in it, then it is chili with beans. Chili has no beans. I am definitely sure about that.

I like bacon. I like bourbon. Not sure I’d want to mix the two though.

First habanero of the year. I diced this one up and put it in the wife’s white chicken chili:

Mmmmm.