The Blog
‘She Writes’ Southern Writers ‘Eat My Valentine’ Blog Tour—Day Two
Welcome, everyone. I hope you’ve already added Patricia Neely-Dorsey’s peach cobbler recipe to your Valentine’s Day menu. Today, we’re going to talk about another great southern desert and one of the richest side dishes this side of the Mason-Dixon line.
A lot of people may think that writers, other than cookbook writers, can’t cook. Au contraire. Ernest Hemingway loved to pan-fry freshly caught fish wrapped in bacon over an open fire. And William Faulkner is rumored to have been great at preparing his favorite recipe for salmon croquettes, which he got from the can of pink salmon.
Of course, Faulkner was a southerner, and we southerners have a singular relationship with food—certain kinds of food, anyway. My mother was a quintessential southern lady who loved to serve good food, but who was not particularly fond of cooking. Consequently, her favorite dishes were delicious but simple to prepare. Since I had rather write than cook, I’ve adopted Mother’s best recipes for my own. And I share them with you today. You can’t go wrong with pecan pie on any occasion. And scalloped oysters are great for holidays or for making any meal more festive.
Enjoy both with your family or special someone this Valentine’s Day, and I guarantee you’ll have a meal worth writing about.
PECAN PIE
3 whole eggs beaten
¾ cup sugar
½ cup white Karo syrup
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick melted butter
Combine all ingredients and pour over approximately ¾ cup chopped pecans in pie shell.
Bake at 300 degrees for approximately one hour.
See? Very simple, but oh, so good.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS
Makes 4 servings
Drain 1 pint oysters (reserve liquor)
Combine 6 tablespoons cream and the oyster liquor
Combine 1/2 cup melted butter and 1 cup cracker crumbs
Plan to use two layers of oysters (no more) and three layers of crumbs.
Grease a baking dish and cover it with a layer of crumbs, then proceed to build up the four other alternate layers of oysters and crumbs.
Season each layer of oysters with salt and paprika and pour half of the combined oyster liquor and cream over it. The top layer of crumbs should be dry. Dot it with butter.
Bake the oysters for 20 minutes in a hot oven (400 degrees).
Doesn’t that just make your mouth water? Don’t forget to leave a thoughtful comment below, and you’ll be entered to win the food-inspired prize donated by author/editor Zetta Brown. And tomorrow check NancyKay Wessman’s recipe for ratatouille.
Tags: Food, Recipes, Southern Writers, Valentine's Day, writing
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19 Comments
I’ve always loved southern cooking and these two recipes look wonderful. It just doesn’t get any better than pecan pie and oysters! Thanks, Sally.
I think you’ll enjoy these recipes. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the “Eat My Valentine” tour for other great southern recipes.
Two of my favorites! Cant wait to try both recipes! Thanks for sharing! I love family recipes the best!
It doesn’t get any better than Southern cooking and Sally’s recipes prove it: simple and delicious. Thank you for sharing your Mother’s recipes with all of us.
You’re quite welcome, Debbye. Mother would be happy to know other people are enjoying her recipes.
Mmmmm! I’ll pass on the osyters thank you, but the pecan pie sounds yummy.
I love how you set the picture up with the ingredients. Great idea!
These oysters don’t taste like most oysters, but I’ll admit they can be an acquired taste. Enjoy the pecan pie.
Thanks for adding these two recipes to the tour, Sally. You just can’t have a Southern collection of recipes if you don’t have recipes for peach cobbler and pecan pie! I’m not a fan of seafood so I will take your word for it. 😀
I agree with you about the southern recipe collection “must-haves.” I’m finding a lot of good recipes on this tour to add to my collection.
Can’t wait to try both recipes, especially the scalloped oysters. Will look forward to more recipes.
Thanks for stopping by, Barbara. I think you’ll like the oysters. Mother always fixed them for holidays, and we love them.
Will definitely try the pecan pie . . . I try them all . . . but my mouth is watering reading the oyster recipe. Can’t wait!
If you like oysters, and you like rich food (lots of cream and butter), I think you’ll love the oysters. Our family always has.
Thank you Sally. I just love oysters and cannot wait to try your recipe!
it’s great to hear from somebody who loves oysters. Hope you like this recipe. It was always a hit at our house for Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Next door, we had those oysters every Christmas Eve! Your mom was a treasure! Thanks for sharing these recipes!
How interesting that our families were eating the same dish on Christmas. I never knew that, but then our mothers were good friends and surely shared lots of recipes.
Great job! Love the way you introduce and connected so directly with the tour. Wish I’d thought of that! Special thanks for the mention and prompt for readers to visit my blog for February 10. These recipes sound SO Delicious. Best to you, NK
Thanks, NancyKay. I’m looking forward to trying your recipe for ratatouille.