Cornmeal Mush

This might make me a grandma, but I am obsessed with cornmeal mush! There is just something so comforting and simple about it. It is creamy, fulfilling and and warms me up from the inside out.

I’m writing this post 5 days before Christmas so I’m in a Christmas frame of mind. I think I might even make this for Christmas breakfast this year! So whether you’re a kid from 1 to 92, this breakfast recipe is for you! It might make you feel like you are 92, but you’ll also melt for it’s warm and simple goodness. And some things are worth melting for! Thanks, Olaf, for that one!

Don’t just limit yourself to breakfast either! This recipe makes a great lunch or quick and simple dinner!

What is Cornmeal Mush?

Picture the porridge from Goldilocks and the three bears, and that is cornmeal mush! At least that’s what I always picture. Cornmeal mush is a Southern meal that combines cornmeal with water or milk. It simmers together on the stove until it is creamy and delicious. If you are familiar with Cream of Wheat, it is similar to that in consistency, but it uses corn instead of wheat. 

Ingredients for Cornmeal Mush

You only need 3 ingredients for this home cooked comfort, and it’s great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Here is all you need:

• Milk – you can use any type of milk (whole, 2%, 1%, fat free) or you can even use water if you prefer, but milk is my favorite
• Cornmeal – 
• Salt – adds flavor
• Toppings – feel free to make this dish your own with the toppings, see suggestions below.

The measurements for each ingredients can be found in the recipe card below. The recipe can also be saved or printed there.

How to Make Cornmeal Mush

It’s a very simple process that begins bringing some of the milk to a boil. Be careful to not let it burn. In a separate bowl, you combine more milk with the cornmeal and salt until it is smooth. Then you pour the milk and cornmeal mixture into the boiling milk whisking constantly. Turn the heat down to the low and stir everything together until the mush thickens.

Toppings for Cornmeal Mush

Serve the cornmeal mush with a drizzle of cream, honey, or maple syrup. You could add berries or chopped nuts or bananas. You can really add whatever toppings you love.

Is Cornmeal Mush the Same as Grits?

Grits is a type of cornmeal mush but the grind on the cornmeal is a little more coarse. Grits are often served savory with cheese and salt and pepper. Although grits can be served sweet on occasion. 

Is Cornmeal Mush Gluten Free?

Cornmeal on its own is gluten free so as long as everything add to it or on top of it is gluten free, then you are good to go! This recipe is gluten free.

Storing, Reheating and Freezing Cornmeal

Cornmeal mush will keep in the refrigerator for quite some time. I’ve stretched it for more than a week and it has still be perfect! Store it in an airtigh

French Dip Sliders [+ Video]

French dip sliders are perfect for a quick and easy family dinner or for the next big game day! These are buttery with caramelized onions and a luscious aus jus!

French dip sliders are not at all something I grew up with but occasionally when life was busy, the weather chilly and mom was tired she’d gather up simple ingredients for French dip sandwiches. Just sliced roast beef, hoagie rolls, and flavorful aus jus was all she needed to get dinner in the table for five hungry kids.

We have our own French dip recipe on the blog but knowing how mouth watering our ham and cheese sliders are, I have been itching to make a new sliders recipe. You guys, forget the ham ones, these are out of this world. The best thing I’ve made in months!

Why Make Sliders?

Not that sliders need to be justified, but just in case you wondering why you should make them, let me tell you! Sandwiches are like the best things ever! They are like a whole meal all in one perfect little package. Sliders are just mini sandwiches, so you can eat more than one and not feel guilty! The bread to meat ratio is even better than in a full sized sandwich, and they can be eaten for dinner or for an appetizer. It’s just all around winning!

How to Make French Dip Sliders?

These french dip sliders come together in three different steps…the caramelized onions, the sandwiches, and the aus jus. First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking pan.

Caramelized Onions

Let’s start with the caramelized onions so that they are ready to go when you assemble the sliders. Slice a medium yellow onion and then melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions to the butter with two sprigs of fresh time and water. Stir the onions occasionally and add salt and pepper. The onions will begin to turn golden and soften. They will cook for about 20-25 minutes.

Sandwiches

Now it is time to start assembling the sliders! These are so easy! Start by slicing your rolls in half and place them side by side in your greased 9×13 pan cut side up as shown below.

Then you want to lather the top of each roll with stone ground dijon mustard. A different kind of mustard can be used, but we really recommend a stone ground dijon mustard. It just gives it best flavor and extra texture.

Then add a layer of thinly sliced roast beef. We like to go to the deli counter and ask them for a half pound of their best roast beef. Then we just evenly layer it all over the mustard buns.

Next comes the cheese!! We love these sliders with provolone, so we pick up 9-12 slices at the deli counter when we get the roast beef. You can’t have too much

The BEST Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies + Video

It was hard work but someone had to do it. We searched for the best pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe and today we are sharing it with all of you!!

Why are pumpkin chocolate chip cookies so popular? Even if you don’t like them, you probably know someone who can’t get enough of these festive cookies. We are going to walk you through the steps for making them.

These pumpkin cookies thick and chewy, loaded with chocolate chips and perfectly spiced with those fall flavors we love!

Creating This Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

You know where this all started for us, don’t you? The grocery store. It’s not very often that I buy cookies at the grocery store because:

1. We enjoy making cookies together.
2. We love cookie dough (don’t you dare pull the egg thing on me. I know, I know).
3. I happen to think we make really good cookies, so why buy them?

None of that matters when it comes to pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. We tried so many recipes and just didn’t love them so we kept buying the big, pillowy cookies on a tray from the store. Until last year. Last year everything changed. We discovered the most melt in your mouth pumpkin cookie recipe EVER.

You see, Pinterest was bonkers about pumpkin last year. I’d say it was one of the biggest pumpkin years ever, and with all of the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipes we just had to start testing them all. And you know what, it was the one that was plastered all over Pinterest we liked the least.

We discovered that often those really high cookies were either too dense and soggy or 90% of the time way too dry. So scratch that. We needed pillowy but height was no longer a concern.

Too little or too much pumpkin led to flavorless or eating squash tasting cookies. We found that 1 cup was the perfect amount. Recipes that were doubled or even tripled didn’t come out as well so we stuck to our 3 dozen batch.

It took some time and patience, but now that we’ve discovered the secret to making truly phenomenal pumpkin cookies with gooey chocolate chips, we’ll never go back to the store-bought kind.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients

The ingredients for these pumpkin cookies are nothing out of the ordinary, but the &l

Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake is a yellow cake crust topped with a creamy pumpkin layer and the most popular pumpkin dessert at our Thanksgiving table.

This is the very first recipe I had ever made from the Food Network. Paula Deen inspired something in Cade and I and that is the only reason this blog exists.

Cade’s from the South and as super poor newlyweds we didn’t have much entertainment that didn’t cost money and since cable was free in our apartment we would watch Paula cook up delicious foods and I got to learn about Cade’s Southern side.

It was so fun to surprise him with classic southern dishes like, Fried Chicken, Southern Macaroni and Cheese, Perfect Pecan Pie and Tomato Basil Pie. But then we saw a few pumpkin recipes using pumpkin puree like, pumpkin cake, pumpkin gooey butter cake and other pumpkin dessert recipes.

We just knew Thanksgiving was going to be extra special.

Our First Thanksgiving Home as Newlyweds

Cade and I had been married for just shy of a year and we had gone home to Washington for the holidays. It felt so special to finally be a married couple enjoying the time with family. We had been thinking up pumpkin ideas for weeks.

I can’t remember why I was making pumpkin recipes, it must have been that we decided to not do pumpkin pie or something but either way this gooey butter cake ended up being what I chose and my whole family has been hooked on Paula Deen’s Gooey Butter Cake recipe ever since.

Now, I’ve waited this whole time, choosing to not post any Food Network recipes because I totally get how hard those chefs work, but after almost 12 years I decided that:

• it’s one of our favorites
• it’s already all over the web
• you want to know the recipes that people are obsessed with so you can make it a family favorite too!

What Ingredients for Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake Crust

• Egg
• Butter
• Cake Mix

Start off by making the crust with the above in

Cream of Mushroom Pasta +Video

Creamy mushroom pasta starts with buttery caramelized sauteed mushrooms and ends with that deep rich umami flavor in your mouth. It’s literally love at first bite! But it hasn’t always been that way…

As a little kid in church I learned the sweetest song, “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus”. Sometimes even now it goes floating through my mind with the simple reminder to be like Him. But lately a new version has taken over, “I’m trying to like those mushrooms….” It’s a bit of a journey for me.

Picky eaters will understand, it’s a texture thing. But truly, I’ve come a long way and this pasta is a bit of a nod to the delicious flavor a well caramelized mushroom can bring to a pasta, elevating it from simplistic to romantic.

How to Make Cream of Mushroom Pasta Video

We are going to share all the tips for making mushrooms the star of the show and not the rubbery, squeaky undesirables that they can be if they are cooked incorrectly.

Ingredients for Creamy Mushroom Pasta

I am going to include a brief description of the ingredients you will need. This is meant to be just an overview. You can find all the measurements and details in the recipe card at the end of the post.

• Mixed Mushrooms: cremini, shiitake, chanterelle and oyster or any combination
• Olive Oil and Butter: the combination of the two caramelizes the mushrooms perfectly
• Garlic: adds flavor
• Kosher Salt: adds flavor and enhances all the other ingredients
• Nutmeg: this might seem strange, but trust me, it adds the best little flavor to the mushrooms
• Pepper: adds flavor and a little heat
• White Wine: adds richness and depth of flavor
• Bucatini Pasta: you can use spaghetti, but I love the thicker noodle for this recipe
• Heavy Cream: creates the creamy sauce
• Lemon: cuts through all the heaviness and adds a bright pop of fresh flavor
• Pecorino Romano: you can use parmesan cheese instead if you can’t find it
• Pasta Water: helps thicken the sauce
• Fresh Parsley: adds a freshness to the dish

Which Mushrooms are Best for Pasta?

I love to use a variety of mushr