Hello friends!! Today, I'd like to introduce you to Annakate Tefft, my first guest blogger. Annakate is the PR/Social and Media Manager for the popular recipe club called Just A Pinch. [JAP] She is responsible for local and national outreach to media outlets as well as managing the Recipe Showcases of which I was honored to be a part of not once but, twice. Annakate manages all of JAP social media presences, from Twitter and Facebook to Pinterest and Google+. She's not only incredibly talented and very busy, but, she's a die hard foodie and blogger, too. Annakate, welcome to my Southern Kitchen!!I’m honored that Melissa asked meto share on her blog! It’s been so exciting to see Melissa’s Southern StyleKitchen develop over the last year. I’ve enjoyed seeing the amazing recipesshe’s shared (and with such frequency!) as well as how her upbeat personality that has come through on the blog, both through her words and through her blogdesign (how cute is that header?!).
But first, a little background on how this post came to be.I met Melissa through Just A Pinch Recipe Club. As many of you may know, Melissa was thewinner of the Flour Power Baking Contest through Just A Pinch with her Caramel, Chocolate and Almond Gooey Butter Cake recipe, or as onewellknownclubmember likes to refer to it, “gooey goodness.”I work for Just A Pinch, and coordinate the Recipe Showcases surrounding ourcontests. For those Showcases, we fly winners to Nashville to prepare theirrecipe in front of a live studio audience, offer up Grand Ole Opry tickets,shuttle them around in a limo all weekend and give them a $1,000 shopping spreein a kitchen store! And let me tell you, calling up the contestants to tellthem they’ve won all this is a dream! I absolutely love it. There is nothing betterthan being the bearer of fabulous news!! When we get to Showcase day, theaudience is composed of Just A Pinch members from all over country with ofcourse a large contingent from our own backyard of Tennessee. Part of the magicof these events is cooks meeting each other in person for the first time. TheRecipe Showcases are seriously SO MUCH FUN. I like to refer to these events asa big love fest! Anyway, Melissa and I first met in January during her Recipe Showcase, then she recently came back in Aprilto emcee the latest Recipe Showcase. Over those months, I’ve felt akinship with Melissa and her approach to cooking. Meeting Melissa in person waseven more fun than our initial phone call (it was right before Christmas, andshe was so thrilled to tell family over the holiday!!). She was such a joy toget to know and work with. She’s so poised, kind and accommodating, and she’sone heck of a cook!
As we got to know each other, I shared with Melissa that I’malso a blogger.I love to explore food and cooking, as Melissa does, testing recipes I find,coming up with new ones, and investigating questions I have about food. It’sbeen fun to follow Melissa through her blog and through her chatter on the sitewith other Club members to learn about her approach to cooking.
Another way I’ve connected withMelissa is through her love of cooking for her family. The way she talks abouther two little boys and the cooking she does for them and Rob is so touching. Ilook forward to a family of my own someday, and Melissa has truly been aninspiration.
Because of our food and family connections, I thought I’dshare a recipe that’s been near and dear to my family for as long as I canremember. My Grandmother Barbara was famous for her Cheesy Potato recipe. Shewould make them for birthdays, father’s days, holidays and more, pretty muchanytime we’d all gather together. My Grandmother passed away when I was 11years old. Since then, my mother, Grandma Barbara’s daughter-in-law, has sincecarried on the tradition of the Cheesy Potatoes. One recent Christmas wedecided to mix things up with a surf-and-turf spread of salmon and beef insteadof a more traditional dinner. While it was a delectable feast no doubt, when itwas all said and done, the general consensus was that Christmas just isn'tChristmas without those Cheesy Potatoes.
Even though I love to cook and absolutely love these potatoes, I've never made them before, heck I'd never even seen the recipe! I've watched my Mom make them a million times, but when she sent me the recipe I have to admit, I was suprised at it's simplicity. It only has 5 ingredients!!
Ingredients
| 8 md | potatoes |
| 1/2 lb | extra sharp cheddar cheese |
| 1 c | milk |
| 1 c | whipping cream |
| 1 tsp | dry mustard |
| salt and pepper to taste |
They were delicious, but you know what? They weren’t quitelike how I remembered them. I love when my Mom makes them, and maybe that’s whythese just didn’t live up to my memory. I’m pretty sure I did everything likeshe did, but somehow it just wasn’t the same. I told her that over the phoneafter I made them and I think it made her day. I betcha they’ll taste good ifyou make them though - it was just my association with my family that left mehanging. :) I hadn’t shared this recipe with anyone until Melissa askedme to do this post. I’m so glad it’s now out there! It’s such a tasty dish, andI’m happy to share a recipe that’s been such a fixture in my family over theyears. If I were feeling fancy, I might add bacon and green onionsto the original recipe, and maybe some nutmeg or red pepper to spice it upsome. But, for this first go, I wanted to see about making the original. Maybenext time I’ll try to spice it up and create my own tradition.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have, and I’m sothankful to Melissa for asking me to share it with all of you. Enjoy, and happycooking!!
[click the links below if you'd like to read more about the current JAP contest or to see Annakate's original recipe on JAP]
http://www.justapinch.com/contest/heirloom-recipe-contest
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/side/potatoes/grandma-barbaras-cheesy-potatoes.html?p=1
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