Tips for turning a ball of dough into fun cookie shapes.
Chill cookie dough to make it easier to roll, cut and transfer to baking sheets.
Roll with care. Gently flatten the cookie dough in a disk with your palms.
Dip cookie cutters in flour and use a thin-floured spatula to transfer cutouts to a cookie sheet.
Pop cookie sheet in the fridge for a few minutes so cutouts won’t lose their shape during baking
Tip of the Day-
To make bread crumbs, cut 6 slices of bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Microwave in a 3 quart casserole dish for 6 – 7 minutes, or until dry, stirring after 3 minutes. Crush in blender.
Does your recipe call for softened butter or cream cheese and you don’t have time to wait?
Butter- microwave for 1 minute on 20% power
Cream cheese- 2 – 21/2 minutes on 30% power
This cake recipe is so easy, moist and delicious.
Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
1 pkg. 3.4 ounce French Vanilla Instant Pudding
4 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 ½ tablespoon of granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoon powdered sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat the first 6 ingredients with mixer until well blended. Add brown sugar and nuts; mix well. Sprinkle sprayed pan with sugar and cinnamon. Pour batter into 3-L fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan. Bake cake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 15 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pan; invert onto wire rack. Remove pan; cool cake completely. Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar.
We love Banana fosters and we love pancakes. Put those together and you have a love affair. The first time we had these our friend Griff made them for us at the beach. This was such a treat.
Ingredients:
2 cups baking mix
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 tablespoon of vanilla
Directions:
Mix all ingredients until blended. Pour about a ¼ cup onto hot greased pan. Cook until edges are golden and pancake mix is bubbling. Turn and cook until golden brown.
Banana Fosters
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
¾ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup banana liqueur
6 bananas cut in half lengthwise, then halved
¼ cup dark rum
Ice Cream or whipped cream (optional but reccomended)
Directions:
Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a skillet. 
Place the pan over low heat on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. 
Stir in the banana liqueur, and then place the bananas in the pan.
When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum. Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, and then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum (if using a gas stove).
When the flame goes down, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each pancake. Generously spoon the warm sauce over the top of the pancakes and top with ice cream or whipped cream if you dare.
Cajun Steak and Mushrooms
This recipe makes the best gravy. Make sure you have plenty of rice and French bread. We believe, “that it is all in the gravy”.
Ingredients:
2 New York strip Steaks, room temperature
2 teaspoons Slap ya Mama, Cajun Seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup onions, sliced
¾ cup bell pepper, sliced
3 tablespoons garlic, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons Creole mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
10 ½ ounces beef consommé
Directions:
Season steaks on both sides with Cajun seasoning.
Heat the oil in a large black skillet over medium high heat. Sear each steak on each side for 3 – 4 minutes. 
Remove steaks and add the flour to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium. Cook for 4 – 5 minutes, stirring constantly, making a dark roux.
Add onions, bell pepper, garlic and mushrooms to the roux. Season vegetables with salt and pepper. 
Raise the heat to medium high heat and add the consommé.
Bring the mixture to a boil, add steaks and continue to stir the sauce until it thickens about 5 minutes (turn steaks during this process). Add Creole mustard and simmer for a few minutes.
Shrimp and Grits
Shrimp and Grits
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoon flour
3 Tablespoon butter, + 5 Tbsp butter
½ red or green bell pepper, diced small
2 stalk celery, diced small
½ cup Vidalia onion, diced small
½ pound Andouille Sausage, sliced (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cajun seasoning
½ cup plus 2 cups heavy cream
1 ½ pounds Shrimp, reserve shells for stock
3 cups shrimp stock, divided
1 cup Quick Grits
Directions:
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add flour and stir the roux until it becomes a light brown, about 10-12 minutes. Add bell pepper, celery and onion and sauté until vegetables are translucent, about 8–10 minutes. Add the andouille sausage and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Add the ½ cup cream slowly, stirring constantly. Then add about 1 cup of the shrimp stock. Let simmer. Fold shrimp into sauce and cook until the shrimp are done. Serve on top of grits.
Grits:
Bring 2 cups shrimp stock and 2 cups of cream to a boil. Slowly whisk 1 cup of grits, salt and 2 tablespoons of butter into the stock mixture. Cook 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining 3 tablespoons of butter.
Shrimp Stock:
1 tablespoon oil
Shrimp peels
1 bay leaf
1 carrot
2 celery stalks
1 onion
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups water
Heat oil, add all ingredients and cook for a few minutes. Add 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer for an hour or so.
Last night I roasted a bunch of garlic for a bouilliabaisse. When I got done I squeezed all of the garlic out and had the skins left over. I thought, I hate to throw these away because there is still a lot of goodness left in here. I threw the skins into my shrimp stock that I was making. It gave it a wonderful flavor. So next time you roast garlic throw the skins and some salt into a small pot. Add some water and simmer for about 20 minutes on low and strain. You’ll have a delicious broth.
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk
Dash Louisiana Hot Sauce
Slap ya Mama, to taste
Loaf French bread
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Mix the first 6 ingredients in a small bowl. Slice French bread. Spoon onion mixture onto bread slices. Bake for 13 – 15 minutes. Serve warm. These are super easy, yummy and inexpensive.
Let us just go on and let you know that this recipe is very tasty, hearty and a great recipe for those cold winter nights. It is very filling and our family loves it. We bet yours will too. The hamburger steak is also great on mashed potatoes, rice or grits.
Hamburger Steak on Garlic Cheese Toast
Go and get-
1 ¼ pound ground sirloin
¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons scallions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 tablespoon oil
For the Sauce-
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups onions, sliced
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups beef broth
¼ cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon salt
Cheese Toast (recipe follows)
Minced fresh parsley
Shredded parmesan cheese
For the toast-
4 slices French baguette, cut diagonally (1/2-inch thick)
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon garlic, minced
Pinch of Cajun seasoning
6 ounces gruyere cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, shredded
Let’s get it going folks-
Combine your ground sirloin, ¼ cup chopped parsley, scallions, salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Divide your meat evenly into four portions and shape each into about 1 inch thick patties. Place about 2 tablespoons flour in a shallow dish; dredge each patty in flour. Reserve you about 1 teaspoon of flour.
Get you a frying skillet and heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add your patties and fry for about 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. You are going to cook them some more so take them up as soon as the outsides are brown.
Time to make the gravy and the sisters do love them some good gravy! Add onions, mushrooms and sugar to the pan you cooked the meat in and stir it around real good. You want your mushrooms and onions to pick up all that goodness that was left behind from the patties. Sauté the onions and mushrooms for about 5 minutes or so. It should be smelling mighty fine in your kitchen by now. Stir in your garlic and tomato paste; sauté until paste begins to brown. This is going to take you about 1 minute. Sprinkle the remaining flour over the vegetables. Stir in the broth, wine and salt and give it a good stir. Get you a tasting spoon and get you a taste. You have to see if it needs anything. If it does go on and add whatever you think it needs. We are thinking all that it really needs is your lips wrapped around it. Let’s return the meat to your pan and bring the sauce to a boil. Spoon the gravy over the meat while you are cooking. Yum-my! Reduce your heat to medium-low cover, and simmer 10 minutes. While this is simmering let’s make the cheese toast. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put your bread on a lined baking sheet (makes for easy clean up). Combine butter, garlic and Cajun seasoning. Slather garlic butter on one side of each slice of bread. Combine cheeses and sprinkle evenly over butter. Oh my goodness, just know that this is going to be good. Bake until the bread is crisp and the cheese is bubbly. This should take about 10-15 minutes. Watch it closely; don’t be burning your cheese toast. Finally, it is time to eat. Put you a piece of cheese toast on your plate, put you a patty on top and then ladle the gravy, onions and mushrooms on top. Dress your plate up by sprinkling parsley and Parmesan cheese on top. Get back Jackson this is going to be delicious.
Sass! 