You will need

Ideal weather for baking; not too hot, not too humid.  Cold weather is best, in my opinion, but sometimes you just need cake.

Cake:
1 box Betty Crocker yellow cake mix, super moist
Free range organic eggs
Water (filtered)
Oil (do *not* use olive)
Butter to grease the pan

Directions for cake:
Prepare cake mix according to package directions.  I ( Read more... )

As with most of my regional specialties, this is more of a method than a true recipe, because this is a description of how to cook something I make all the time, and that contains inherent variations for seasons and times and preferences.  There are probably Kansan and Iowan and Missourian cooks who would wrestle me to the ground for doing it wrong ( Read more... )

This is from my mom. 
Her favorite vegetable is the sweet potato.  It is a flexible recipe, and you may substitute leftover baked sweet potatoes or canned (but not candied) sweet potatoes, if you like.

About half an onion, chopped.
Some fresh garlic.
A bit of butter or mild oil.
A sweet potato, chopped.
Some mild broth.  I like the vegetarian broth ( Read more... )

You will need:
A pound of boneless or deboned chicken, uncooked.  I like mine mostly thawed but not entirely, because it is easier to cut into small pieces that way.  I usually use thighs, because I like dark meat. 
A bit of butter.
Tony Chachere's seasoning salt, or Lowry's if you prefer.
A can of Italian style stewed tomatoes.
2 cups rice.  I like ( Read more... )

This is more simple effort, solid cooking.  It isn't the sort of thing most people will go "Wow!!" about, but it's wonderfully soothing and fairly healthy and of course, cheap.  It is one of the foods least likely to get overt compliments and simultaneously most likely to be eaten in one go with no leftovers by my family.

You will need:
About a ( Read more... )