I was first introduced to pimento and cheese when Scott and I lived in North Carolina.  I was working an overtime shift at my PT job at White Barn Candle (with an adjoining Bath&Body Works) and was on a short 15minute break.  I was starving and for some reason that is escaping me now, we had food in the back.  Someone brought in pimento and cheese sandwiches and I inhaled two of them.  I thought they were really good and told Scott all about them when he came to pick me up that night.

I started making them and fiddling around with recipes.  Turns out that Scott is pimento and cheese’s number one fan.  I’m surprised that he likes them so much because there’s not really much too them.  Another surprise?  I don’t really care for them.   I guess it was just the fact that I was starving and my blood sugar was too low…

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Jalapeno poppers.  Jalapeno bites, whatever you call them they have been making the rounds at parties and gatherings for a while now.  They interested me but I also shied away from them since I tend to have a low tolerance for spicy dishes.  I’ve been slowly working to become more immune because when one has a husband who loves spicy stuff it starts getting harder to avoid it.

I finally decided to tackle bacon wrapped jalapenos.  Now, all recipes I have come across just call for some cream cheese in the jalapenos.  If you know me, then you’ll know that I consider that too plain.  Anyone can do that.  I wanted to put a twist in it.  Let’s bump this up and play around with it for a little bit and see what happens.  I went back and forth thinking about what I could do.  I wanted to keep it as simple as possible but still kick up the flavor.  Finally…

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One of my favorite type of egg dishes are deviled eggs. Growing up in western Pennsylvania, deviled eggs were a common dish that made appearances at every barbecue, football party, or general gathering of friends and family. It was a constant. And I’m not talking about the fancy-putting-on-airs deviled eggs where a piping bag was used to create a frilly filling. These were simple honest deviled eggs where an everyday spoon was used to fill them.

To me that’s how deviled eggs should remain and I guess the appropriate term that’s used nowadays is Rustic. To me, deviled eggs are not meant to look fancy but look rustic and homemade. So that it stirs up thoughts of watermelon and bbq chicken and a bucket full of drinks submerged in ice.

For some reason, living in the Midwest, deviled eggs do not seem popular here. I have yet to see them at any gathering we…

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It never fails, whenever I make mashed potatoes I always make way too much. Then I have leftovers and I wonder what I’m going to do with them. Sometimes they get eaten with the next night’s dinner but sometimes they don’t. I hate throwing out food and have since vowed to always try and do something with my leftovers.

Thankfully mashed potatoes are a dish that can be easily and quickly turned into something else. They can go the savory route or, believe it or not, the sweet route. I typically stick with the savory road myself. I love mashed potatoes. A comfort food for me that I often turn to when I need a big comfy sweatshirt and a hug.

This is a recipe I created so that I could use up the small amount of leftover mashed that was sitting in my fridge. The rest of the meal that accompanied the potatoes…

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