Chunky Honeycrisp Applesauce

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 I got a bucket of hurricane Irene apple seconds.  They were all Honeycrisps. I felt like I hit a home run!

Needless to say I pounced on these jewels.  They had dings and a couple of bumps but no bruises.  Even if they had bruises I still would have bought them to make applesauce.  Homemade applesauce is one of my favorite fall treats.  It is great for breakfast, a side dish for dinner, snacks and a fabulous ingredient for applesauce cake.  I really haven't found the perfect applesauce cake, maybe you guys know of one?!

A Southern Table: Buttermilk and Lemon Buttermilk Ice Cream

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Buttermilk.  Buttermilk has always, always been around, like a trusty, reliable friend.  How can you cook without it?  Buying buttermilk in the south is a very different experience than in the northeast where I am.  Low fat and non fat buttermilk is the only types available in our local grocers.  I am good with low fat or 1% buttermilk but I am very lucky that I live in an area with small farms that provide produce, dairy, eggs, poultry and meats.  So when I run across a market that has fresh, local buttermilk, I grab it.

A Southern Table: Rhubarb Blackberry Crisp

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Pies are big in the south whether it be the classic double or single crusted pie, cobbler, or fruit crisp.  A fruit crisp is a like a pie, but much easier.  When time is an issue this is my "go to" dessert.  No pie dough to make, instead a quick mixture of butter, flour, sugar and spices is combined and sprinkled over the fruit.  I also add oats and nuts which are optional but I never leave them out.  I think the oats and nuts make the crisp topping by giving more depth of flavor and the all important crunch. Usually it bakes during dinner, so after dinner a delicious, warm fruit crisp awaits.  Break out the essential vanilla ice cream and enjoy.

Classic Banana Pudding

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I always enjoyed banana pudding.  It was a part of my upbringing.   The "classic" I grew up with was made with Jello pudding mix, vanilla wafers and bananas.  Southerners are known for shortcut cooking (using mixes and pre-made ingredients).  I am not sure why.  Maybe because it can be kinda warm (OK, it can be really hot . . . and humid) in the summer and reducing time in the kitchen is a good thing.  Summer heat is a good excuse to cook less, especially in the days before A/C.  Who knows?  I lived through an era of canned foods and box mixes and so that is how my mom cooked her banana pudding.  She had five kids, I am sure her hands were full.

Banana pudding is one of those dishes that have always existed in my life.  It was always at family reunions and made appearances at our Sunday dinners. It is one of those southern staples.  It just was.  And will continue to be, although we don't do desert as often as when I was a kid.  How did this simple, but delicious dish come to be?  I never questioned the legitimacy of this desert, ever, until now.

Chocolate Cake on a rainy day

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Sometimes nothing else will do.  I have been thinking about making a chocolate cake for months, probably years, and it is time.  I can feel it.

I don't ever make chocolate cake except when requested, say for a birthday or other occasion.  It is such an indulgence.  But the weather went from 90 degrees and humid to rainy and 65 degrees, and it consumed me.  I had to do it. Comfort food was in order and I needed some order.  Really.  Isn't that a good reason?

This recipe has been in my cake recipe file for quite some time.  I use this recipe when I need a quick, very good desert.  In my southern mind, it is perfect for a picnic or a potluck because it is a bundt style cake.  It has always gotten great reviews.  But I never paid it much mind.  People are kind when you bake for them.  I have never been a good critic of my own baking (or cooking for that matter) because I am always thinking of ways to tweak it to make it better.  My advice to others is if your audience if happy . . . be happy too.  Stop tweaking.  Maybe I should listen to myself.  But I probably won't.