~ Easter ~

Does your family have an Easter tradition? Do you have an Easter Egg Hunt? Does the family come over for Easter dinner? No matter what the tradition just make sure we all remember the True Meaning of Easter. It's not about the Bunny! Also, these pictures are not my works-of-art but people who definitely take pride in what they do. The Watermelon Basket is courtesy of Taste of Home. The Easter Basket Cake is courtesy of Amy Slater. Such detail ~ I am envious! Happy Easter everyone! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Fruit Filling Tip

Before long there will be fresh fruit ready for picking. It will make great preserves, jellies or fruit pies. I was reading an article recently concerning fruit filling and thought I would share this tip with you. Using 4 or 5 cups of fresh fruit (peeled if needed) combine with 3/4 cup of sugar. Now as we all know fruit is never consistent in sweetness and tartness so taste it. If it needs more sugar to your liking ... add it. Once you get it like you want it sprinkle the fruit with about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. In a separate bowl combine 1-3 tablespoons of cornstarch with any other spices you are using (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.). Once you have those ingredients mixed up toss in your fruit and cover well. Pile into your crust and bake as the recipe instructs. Now that your pie is in the oven baking get your plate and fork ready for some scrumptious eating! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Cabbage Soup ~ and ~ Sunday Dinner

I was wrong ... I did get some extra cooking in this past weekend. On Friday I made Cabbage Soup. It wasn't as "perfecto" as the last pot I made but it was pretty darn good. Then yesterday I cooked another homecooked Sunday Dinner. It consisted of Chicken and Dressing, Greenbeans, Okra, Macaroni & Cheese, and Cinnamon-Buttered Apples. For dessert I made a Chocolate Meringue Pie homemade from the crust up to the meringue. So despite the "Honey Do" list I still managed to get some cooking done. ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

~ Honey ~

I have an extra day off this weekend so this will be my last blog for the week. I wish I could say I would be using that day to do some "extra" cooking but that's not so. I've got things to get done ... you know the "Honey Do" list. I'm sure all of you men out there know exactly what I am referring to. So instead of cooking some thick juicy ribeyes on the grill ... I will be sharpening the blades on the John Deere. Enjoy your weekend everyone and do some "extra" cooking for me. ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Let's Talk ... Ice Cream

I don't know about you but anytime is a good time for "great" ice cream (summer or winter). There's nothing better than a bowl (or two) of old-fashion homemade ice cream. Remember the days when you had to churn it till you couldn't churn it any longer. Then you had to put blankets on it and wait ... and wait ... and wait. As a child you didn't think you would ever get to eat it! Now that was when ice cream was ice cream. None of this processed stuff like we get today. I've seen antique freezers like the one pictured to the left sell on ebay for $400+. I've got a new one like pictured to the right that needs to be put to good use. My opinion the key to creamy ice cream is found in the dasher. Ice cream freezers today and for the past several years have had plastic dashers (big mistake) ... needs to be metal. So what's your favorite flavor of Homemade Ice Cream? ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Wings anyone?

I am hooked on wings! They are so tender they just fall off the bone. Today on the menu we have Wings, Tots and Beans. Simple -yet- scrumptious! ~Chef Wilkinson ~

~ Sunday Dinner ~

Hope everyone is having a great Monday! Yesterday, I decided to do some Sunday cooking ... you know like Grandma used to do when the entire family would sit down to Sunday Dinner after Church. We had Slow-Cooked Sauteed Chicken Breast, Turnip Greens (from the garden), cornmeal battered and fried Okra (from the garden), Pinto Beans and Cornbread. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. It was very good if I say so myself. Grandma would be proud! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Spring Time

The calendar says Spring begins tomorrow. Soon we will all be outside mowing, pulling weeds, painting, etc. You remember all those things we couldn't wait for winter to get here so we wouldn't have to do them. I think after this long wet and cold winter we are all ready for some warm and dry weather for a while. Especially to do some grilling! I personally can't wait to get out the grill and cook up some scrumptious meals. Steaks, potatoes, pork chops, chicken, squash (yes, I even cook squash on the grill). Enjoy the nice weekend everyone! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

~ Gardening ~

Are there any gardeners out there? I used to have time to plant, tend and harvest a garden but not any more. I have had "bucket" gardens and been very successful with them. About 7 years ago I had a "traditional" garden at my Grandmother's farm. I tended it everyday - pulling weeds, tilling, watering, fertilizing. etc. I was a regular Farmer Joe. The plants and vegetables were HUGE! I don't know if I had a greenthumb or if the soil was just perfect. The plants yielded more than we could eat, can or freeze so we gave tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peas and greenbeans away. I won't go into any details but let's just say, "the garden done TOO well and someone just didn't want it there anymore". End of story! Sore subject! I have been thinking about having a "raised" garden but it is just so expensive to build it and fill it in with dirt. There is nothing better than Homegrown Vegetables. None of that store bought immitation stuff. If you've got a dinner plate of vine ripe tomatoes, cream-style corn and okra who needs anything else! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

St. Patrick's Day!

Anyone cooking a special St. Patrick's Day dish? No Corned Beef and Cabbage here. On the menu today: Sauteed Taragon Tilapia Fillets, Baked Potato with butter and sour cream, Hush Puppies and Cole Slaw. Definitely, not an Irish dish. We've also got Chicken Wings slow cooking in the oven. ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Cookbooks and Recipes

I am sure all of you Chefs out there have cookbooks and recipes galore. I am guilty of this too. I have cookbooks of every kind ... Southern cookbooks, Italian cookbooks, Desserts only cookbooks, etc. I even have my own cookbook titled, "Blue Cooler Recipes". There's a reason behind the name and one day I will blog about it. Now that I have shared with you my Potatoes Ro*Tel recipe I want to hear one of your unique Potato Recipes. Don't let me down I want to hear from you. I know all of you out there have some Potato Recipe that is worth sharing. ~Chef Wilkinson~

Latest Throw-Together

I created another Throw-Together dish the other night and thought I would share it with anyone that might want to give it a try. We'll call it ... Potatoes Ro*Tel. Wash, peel and dice 4-6 medium sized white potatoes, place them in a large skillet and brown in 3 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add salt, black pepper, onion powder, dry dill, pinch of celery seed, cayenne pepper, Cavender's Greek Seasoning and garlic to taste. Once that has cooked to your liking add some thinly sliced swiss cheese and 1/3 of a 10 oz. can of Ro*Tel Diced Tomatoes with Chilies. If you want it spicier ... add more Ro*Tel to taste. If it's a quick dish you are needing give this a try. ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

~ Chef's Day Off ~

Today I decided to take the day off from cooking but am busy planning my next great meal. I received rave reviews for both the Slow Cooked Chicken Wings, Greek Red Potato Salad and Hickory Smoked Baked Beans meal and also the Homemade Pizzas. Thanks to everyone for the comments and I was honored to be of service to each of you. ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Italian anyone?

Homemade Pizzas will be in the oven later today ... toppings will include: Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, Beef, Green Peppers, Roasted Red Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms and several varieties of cheeses with lots of sauce on a thin crust. DELIZIOSO! I'm getting hungry just typing this! We had the Homemade Vegetable Soup for lunch today and it was great! I think we have that recipe down to perfection! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Chicken Wings & More

Today on the menu is ... Slow Cooked Chicken Wings, Greek Red Potato Salad and Hickory Smoked Baked Beans. Also on the stove is a big pot of Homemade Vegetable Soup slow cooking for lunch tomorrow. Too bad we don't have smell-a-blog because the soup is smelling mouthwatering! Today for breakfast we had Country Ham that had been slow cooked in a crock pot for 10 hours. This was the first time I used that cooking method for Country Ham and I have to say it made the ham tender with lots of gravy. ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Thanks customers!

This post is to say "thank you" to those of you who ordered pies this weekend. I hope you enjoyed every bite and will order again soon. The next time I know for sure that I will be delivering to the Murfreesboro area I will put it on my blog along with the date, time, location and order deadline information. Until then ... I hope every bite was a memory back to a time when things were simplier. Always, In Good Taste! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Menu items request ...

Below are a few other menu items along with prices.

Chess Pie $11.00 * Fudge Pie $11.00 * Pumpkin Pie $11.00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chocolate Cream Pie $15.00 * Coconut Cream Pie $15.00
Banana Pudding Pie $15.00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pumpkin Bread $10.00 * Banana Bread $10.00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peach Cobbler $12.00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pulled Pork BBQ w/Homemade Rib Sauce
(1 week prep-time required)
Whole $6.00 per pound * Pulled $7.50 per pound
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dirty Rice - 3.5 lbs. - Feeds 5 $12.00
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Our Specialty ~ Fried Pies (minimum order 6)
Apple $3.00 * Peach $3.00

Time is running out to place your order for delivery to the Murfreesboro area this Saturday, March 6th @ 1:00 PM. Don't miss this rare opportunity to sample a product that is not available on a regular basis. Again, I will be offering: Chess or Fudge pies ($10 each), Peach cobbler ($12) or Peach / Apple fried pies (2 for $5 - minimum order of 6 - mix and match). This is a 1-day Special on the Fried Pies. After Saturday the price will go back to $3.00 each ... so that's like getting a fried pie for FREE. Look forward to providing you with some delicious desserts! ~Chef Wilkinson ~

Deadline is Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 7:00 PM CST to place your orders! It's supposed to be a spectacular weekend so make sure you get something spectacular for your tummy! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Taking Orders for 3/6 Delivery

For anyone out there interested I will definitely be in the Murfreesboro Area this Saturday, March 6th @ 1:00 PM ... so if you would like to place an order for Peach or Apple Fried Pies (2 for $5.00 - minimum order of 6), Chess Pie ($10.00), Fudge Pie ($10.00) or Peach Cobbler ($12.00) send me an email with your contact information stating what you are wanting and the quantity. I will get back in touch with you ASAP. Order deadline will be Friday, March 5th at 7:00 PM. Always in good taste! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~

Fried Pie requests ...

Thank You to everyone that has emailed inquiring about Fried Pies. As I have told each of you in my emails I want you to have the freshest product possible that is why I prepare them by order. If you can please give me adequate notice so that I can prepare the filling and the dough I will be honored to fill your orders. If you would like to pick them up on a Saturday please email me on Wednesday or Thursday and I will have them ready for you. IF I am going to be in the Murfreesboro area on Saturday I will be glad to meet you. So think aboout what you want ... Peach or Apple Fried Pies, Chess Pie, Fudge Pie and send me an email with your contact information and request. I looking forward to hearing from you! ~ Chef Wilkinson ~