Sweet Potato Spoon Bread with Caramel Pecan Topping

If you don’t know what it is, spoon bread is a southern-style corn muffin soufflé. But that description doesn’t do it justice. It’s a warm fluffy mouthful of buttery cornbread happiness, and I guess you could say it’s one of my favorite things. My grandmother made it frequently as I was growing up for summer barbecues. When she passed away and I got the recipe, I was thrilled. I, however, make it year round because I love it too much to save it just for summer. Since I make the food around this here place, I get to make whenever I want. (Yes. I did stick my tongue out like a six-year-old.)

When I saw this recipe for Sweet Potato Spoon Bread in the November issue of Country Living Magazine, I knew I had to try it. It’s not your typical “Summer” spoon bread. It’s spoon bread for the Fall. Can I get an amen?

Plus, I love sweet potatoes and sweet potatoes are good for you. Of course, any health benefits are offset by the whole milk, brown sugar and the caramel pecan topping. But you can at least somewhat convince yourself that the bite of heaven in your mouth is actually doing your body some good…sort of. At least the orange juice has Vitamin C?

I have yet to try it in a casserole versus individual ramekins but if it works, it would be a great addition to your Thanksgiving table. Yep. I said it. The “T” word. It’s only 5 weeks away y’all!

Farro with Wild Mushrooms and Herbs

The culinary world is kinda crazy.

As with a lot of things in life, there are one-hit wonders and crazy trends, and once we find the latest and greatest everyone jumps on the bandwagon. Coconut water anyone?

One thing that makes me laugh is how restaurants, producers, chefs, retailers, etc. can take something that is by no means new and make it sound like this incredibly amazing discovery. Quinoa falls into this category. The Incans cultivated quinoa for thousands of years. It’s not new, it’s just new to us.

It is the same with farro. This ancient grain is a form of wheat, and it fed the Roman empire for centuries. A year ago most people didn’t know what it was. Now it’s everywhere. You find it in salads and soups. It’s served as a savory side dish. You name it and I am sure you can use farro in it, with it or on it.

Personally, I love farro. I especially like the nutty flavor with roasted meats. And now that the season is changing, I find myself choosing farro as an easy-to-make side for most roasted meats. It’s a great substitute for plain old rice. In my opinion, it’s best to keep it simple so that the hearty flavor comes through. Sure there are tasty farro salads with mango and other exotic combinations, but sometimes less is more. Below is the first recipe I used to make farro. I occasionally leave out the mushrooms, and it still tastes good. I’ve tried others since, but this is the recipe I always come back to.

So if you wanna try something new with dinner tonight, I would recommend a little farro. Jump on board this bandwagon…you’ll be glad you did.
Enjoy! Read more…

Winter Squash Casserole

Butternut squash I love squash.

Always have –– even as a kid. I am pretty much the only one who eats it in my house, though. Occasionally I can coax one of my kids to take a bite. But it’s rare, and usually because it came out of our garden. They are more receptive to eating what we grow ourselves. My husband, however, threatened to have lawyers on the phone if I ever grow another zucchini.

I happily eat all varieties, but my favorites are the winter squashes. Since zucchini was obviously not an option when I planted my garden this past spring, I was really excited about my Butternut and Dumpling squash plants. I was really looking forward to that caramel taste of roasted squash and the creamy texture of some squash soup.

Alas, my dreams were short lived. Moles attacked my planters and ate right through the bottom of them. I came out one morning to find dirt mounds next to where my squash plants should have been. Rotten little buggers!

There is new hope however. When I was in the garden over the weekend, I noticed that there were little squash plants starting to randomly pop up all over. One even had a tiny squash on it. The moles have apparently been spreading the seeds. (How nice of them.) The scene is reminiscent of one of my daughter’s favorite books “Too Many Pumpkins” by Linda White. (It’s a great kids book for October and Halloween!)

The good news is that I might actually get to make some of my favorite squash recipes using squash that came from my own garden (or rather, the moles’ garden). One of my all time top dishes is listed below. I do prefer to use the pecans instead of the pumpkin seeds. To me they make it taste more like fall. Enjoy!

Giving Thanks

This week there will be a lot of people standing in line to get a turkey. While this phenomenon is not unique to Piedmont Grocery, it is always fun to catch up with long time customers and watch their kids grow up before our eyes and listen to neighbors greet each other while standing in line. It’s very Norman Rockwell and it’s what I love about being a neighborhood grocery store.

True, the scene is not always as serene as we would like; the stress of our busiest day of the year can get to the best of us. (If you have ever been in our parking lot the week before Thanksgiving you know what I mean.) But amidst the dwindling piles of cranberries, pies, potatoes and Parker House rolls, there is an underlying sense of community that makes me thankful to work where I do, with the people I do and for the customers I do.

To all of our customers, employees, friends and family I wish you all a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!