Hey Hey Hey!

It has been a long ass time since I wrote for you guys, and well I’m sorry, but not sorry because I’ve been experiencing SO MUCH off line career wise and life wise. In any event. I’m back with more updates, recipes, goodies, and cary for the masses!

The huge shift is we no longer have kids in public school. Well at least K-12 wise. All three are college students fulltime, and for me it’s a huge shift to get used to. In a lot of ways good, and others it’s more of getting used to. Not bad, just getting used to.

Also means this page will shift a bit. Still a food blog. Still a mom blog. Just more of young adult and mom solo adventures! Stick around, it shall be fun times.

It’s June, which means we are celebrating graduations, Father’s Day, and Juneteenth, but did you know it’s National Soul Food Month? Listen, I didn’t know this until I was organizing the food calendar and looking for ideas for new foods to try.

Now, at this point we’ve either tried soul food or at least know of it, but do you know the origins?

Soul food history is about African American food derived from Black enslaved people’s take, often from unwanted or unknown parts, scraps, or leftovers from American and British cuisine. Then combined with the soulful essence of West Africa for color, warmth, flavor, and preservation of Black people’s traditions.

It’s a part of my culture I hold dear. I clearly remember different foods I’ve tried and liked, and some I’m like naw, I’m not doing it. Then you have some where I hated it as a kid but now have grown into it, like northern beans. I hated them with a passion, but now with some hot sauce? I’ll fight you for a plate. Even with that been said, many memories and lessons came from cooking and talking. I learned so much of my family history when we sat and cooked these dishes.

Since 2001, folks have celebrated the different foods and pairings that make this so good in the month of June.. Now, I’ll say this, please find the right person to cook the food, because not everyone can pull it off. It’s ok, some people are better at other things besides cooking. You just don’t let them in the kitchen is all I’m saying. Have them bring paper plates to the events, or ice.

For those who have never had soul food (you haven’t lived yet), here’s some of my family’s favorites to try and see if you like them!

• Macaroni and Cheese : You just have to. I mean this is cooked every friendsgiving we have and honestly it’s made the crew very picky when I buy the cheat Macaroni and Cheese or if you go to any friends house who cook it. This dish is a great gateway dish to teach your kids to cook because you have so many ways to have two people fix the dish. The kids will feel proud and you kinda get a break.

• Potato Salad: This was a Sunday Staple when I was growing up. My grandmother would cook this with green beans and fried chicken. Sometimes it was drumsticks. Sometimes it was friend wings. As she got older it became fried thighs. In any event, this side dish goes a long way. If made right, you can feed five people, and have leftovers for 3-4 days. Now, in our house it was made with mustard, miracle whip, boiled eggs, sweet relish, onion and potatoes. I’ve had it in different ways but it’s well seasoned. You better season it…..

• Greens: Listen, If you mess these up, just be the guest at people’s get togethers. This dish is really simple depending on how you do it. Growing up, we cooked these from scratch. Removing the stems, tearing them in to pieces, washing three times(military family is picky) and cooking down with a couple potatoes, onions, broth and ham. Now, before you point out Ham isn’t kosher, my grandparents didn’t practice kosher cooking, and if you been here for a while, you know why. Now, we cheat when cooking them. We go buy the bags of mustard and collard greens in a bag. Clean those, and cook them with chicken broth, chicken thighs, onion and seasonings. There are so many greens to pick from so research, and test it out!

• Sweet Potato Pie: There is a HUGE debate on what to use. We use sweet potatoes. They are white under the skin, not orange. Those are yams. Their is a difference and when you taste them you can tell. To each their own, but if you invite a person over and say you have sweet potato pie made with yams, you should be nice to let them know. In any event, this, this was the one dish as a kid I looked forward to. The pie is so filling and sweet. Not overbearing but sweet enough. My mom baked the night before Thanksgiving. She would bake for the family. Once we moved out to California, we began to swap with other friends for deserts. You knew it was on when “Flashlight” by George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic was blaring in the kitchen. Her record was 24 pies made in one night. Now, the crew and I make them at home in an assembly line. It was a great way to teach them how to bake. We over bake to freeze some for winter break and give to friends after Friendsgiving.

• Peach cobbler: This was a staple in our house because it was so good and cheap to make. Peaches, sugar, butter or lard, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, brown sugar and salt. You can also make this in a crockpot and have later. You know I’m all about a crockpot. In any event, we made this a lot and had it with ice cream, This dish caused fights in our house as kids. If you are going to another event, you can make this the night before too! Now, I make it in the crockpot for my kids, making sure I double my recipe so everyone gets enough.

There you have it. Those are some of my favorites, and some great kid friendly options to start with. I’ll be celebrating Soul Food Month on Tuesdays this month (Tasty Tuesday), so be on the look out for more ideas/recipes!

Research these options, try them out and let me know what you liked the best!

~CSM~