A quick skillet pasta meal of thin spaghetti noodles with chicken, diced tomatoes with green chilies, the trinity with garlic, shredded cheese and cream soup, prepared stovetop.

Stovetop Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

When we talk about spaghetti, most everyone first thinks about spaghetti noodles in a tomato-based sauce that has either a ground beef base or meatballs. Delish!

But, there is a whole world of spaghetti to be had out there y'all!

Down here along the Gulf Coast, shrimp spaghetti is a top favorite, as is a Creole daube made from a roast, along with an andouille based spaghetti but, there's also veggie spaghetti, cowboy bacon spaghetti and many others to be had also.

Tiny pasta shells cooked in a nicely seasoned tomato soup and milk-based sauce and finished with shredded cheese.

Cheesy Tomato Shells

We all have a least one of those simple foods that brings back memories and this is one of mine. Another one of those sinfully simple recipes that deserves a mention especially since it makes a great Lenten meal.

When I was a young gal, I used to hang out and spend the night at my cousins' house every once in awhile. Debra was close to my age and Patty wasn't all that far behind us, and we all got along and had a good time. It was nice to get out of the house and hang with them.

Cheese Delights - Broiled Open-Faced Tomato and Cheese Sandwich

An open-faced, broiled tomato and cheese sandwich with bacon and fresh basil.

Cheese Delights

One day, when I was sharing my broiled tomatoes on the Facebook page, Cheryl, one of the readers there, was reminded of an open-faced tomato sandwich her grandmother used to make. She called them Cheese Delights.

You can find a variety of open-faced tomato and cheese sandwich recipes around the net, and while they have different preparations and some with a variation in ingredients, you'll primarily find the ingredients to contain at least:

Chile Cheese Tex-Mex Cornbread

Easy to make, this tender and moist Mexican Cornbread brings a sweet heat to those Tex-Mex and Mexican meals, soups, stews and chili dishes. 

Mexican Cornbread

I know for a southerner it's likely to sound a little sacrilegious, but we aren't super huge on cornbread down here along the Gulf Coast. 

Sure, we eat it and we enjoy it, but French bread and yeast rolls are much more prevalent down here. Because of that, we don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that there is only one way to make cornbread, and, we don't even mind, if occasionally, it's got a little sweetness to it. I know. I can hear the gasps.

A casserole of lump crab, a highly seasoned cream sauce and a mix of two shredded cheeses.

Crabmeat au Gratin

Crab au gratin is a delicious, decadent treat for sure, because, unless you are doing your own crabbing, boiling and picking, it can be a pricey dish for sure. If you've ever done any of the above though, you know the work that goes into picking crabs, and the effort required to get those nice, large lump pieces, so it's worth the price.

This dish can be used as an entrée, served with a nice garden salad and some hot French bread, or as an appetizer, served with some nice, sturdy crackers. As an entrée, I prefer to serve it in individual au gratin dishes {affil link}, though it can also be prepared in a casserole dish and spooned out onto plates. It's much more atheistically pleasing in the individual dishes. 

Perfect as an appetizer for entertaining, these fluffy, gooey, cheesy, Green Chile Cheese Squares also fit well for a brunch or buffet, and they're good at room temperature or served warm.

Green Chile Cheese Squares

These little cheesy squares are a favorite around the holidays down here. Always have been.

There are so many iterations of them now, that no two are alike either, so if mine don't look the same as your recipe, that's why. Some of them are flatter, more cheesy and gooey, others are more cakey, and yet others very souffle-like made with many eggs. Heck it's even been turned it into a casserole, so it can be served either way, as a finger food or as a side dish for those nice brunches. How many squares you get, depends completely on how you cut them!

One thing I can tell you is that they are rich and addictive, so try to share them because, you know... there's lots of cheese and well, you know all about that whole cheese thing, right? They are delicious! My preference is to eat them warm or at room temperature, though they're pretty good cold too.

Quick Chili for Chili Cheese Fries, Frito Pie and Walking Tacos

A quick skillet chili perfect for some chili cheese fries, Frito pie and walking tacos.

Quick Chili

I love a good homemade chili and I've got several recipes up on the blog. Like anybody else though, I try to keep a few cans of chili on hand too, stocking up whenever I find them on sale.

It's just mighty convenient when you're in a hurry for something like a couple chili dogs, mini-Frito pies, walking tacos or some chili cheese fries. and there are some really good brands out there these days, including both Hormel and Wolf brand, which are two of my own personal preferences.

 

The pared down version of my fabulous and famous special occasion holiday macaroni and cheese. This version is the same, super creamy, gooey and rich mac and cheese, but in a smaller version, perfect for those family and church gatherings.

Super Creamy Mac and Cheese

By popular demand, I'm bringing you this pared down version of my well-loved, Big Batch, Special Occasion, Super-Creamy Macaroni and Cheese. The one I first published on my blog in December of 2008. The one that has been pinned more than 99,000 times since. And the one that I got a happy dance from David Venable when I was on QVC with my first cookbook, not once, but both times!

Tomato pie, using simple fresh ingredients - juicy tomatoes and fresh herbs, layered in a flaky pie crust, with sweet onion and cheese. Dress the top with the traditional mayonnaise and cheese mixture, and you've got a classic southern tomato pie.

Classic Southern Tomato Pie

Yes! It really is still summer, I swear. If you don't believe me, c'mon down to the Deep South, and I'll show you what heat and humidity are like in September along the Gulf Coast. We were at the Biloxi Seafood Festival this Saturday with the grandkids, and it was as hot as it has been all summer, though we did have a nice cold front pass through Sunday.

Temps have been down in the mid-80s with low humidity for a few days and it has been just gorgeous. Only those of us who live our lives in the South understand that is considered "nice and cool."

A classic, open-faced tuna melt sandwich of tuna, celery, sweet onion and tarragon and dressed with mayonnaise, gets a spicy kick from Cajun seasoning, hot sauce and jalapeno and is served on a toasted English muffin, topped with fresh, sliced tomato and melted cheese.

Spicy Tuna Melt

Okay, so yes. It's a simple open-faced tuna melt sandwich. But a reader recently asked me for my recipe, which of course gave me a craving for one, so I made them and I'm sharing it with y'all, because that is what a blogger of food does.

Besides. It's too darned hot to cook much, or at least often, and when is the last time you had one yourself? I think it's time!

A delicious potato casserole, using both leftover vegetables and ham, baked in a creamy cheese sauce.

Ham and Potatoes au Gratin Casserole

If you have leftover ham and vegetables to use, this is a great potato casserole dish to repurpose those into a whole new and delicious meal. All you need to add is a nice side salad, some rolls and iced tea, and you've got a great meal out of those leftovers.

 

Creamy mashed potatoes, prepared in the usual manner, then tossed with cheese, baked and topped with more cheese. That's some cheesy goodness there y'all!

Cheesy Baked Mashed Potatoes

It's been a gorgeous spring March week here in south Mississippi, just gorgeous. What? You say it's winter still? Well, not in the Deep South!

We never have much of a winter to speak of down here anyway. Basically, there are one or three quick overnight freezes, just about enough to brown over everything, but the next day it's likely to be in the 70s. I noticed in my Google reader one blogger disappointed about having too much snow and the very next blog, about having no snow. What's the winter been like your way?

Puffs of tender dough filled with cheese and pepperoni, and served with a side of homemade spicy Rotel marinara sauce, are perfect little bites for entertaining or just for snacking.

Stuffed Pizza Bites

QVC host David Venable was noshing on some little stuffed pizza bites during a recent Sunday In the Kitchen with David show in late January. The show was centered around appliances and tools for making recipes that were football centric for the Super Bowl.

I already have a terrific sausage bread that can be varied to make pizza bread, but those little bites just looked so darned good that I knew I had to make them. Of course, as always, I took quite a few liberties with his recipe, but David was certainly the inspiration behind these little bite sized jewels pictured here.

A Kentucky classic from the Brown Hotel in Louisville, a Kentucky Hot Brown is an open-faced turkey sandwich, topped with a rich Mornay sauce and garnished with slices of fresh tomato and crisp bacon.

Kentucky Hot Brown

Ever had a Kentucky Hot Brown? Chances are if you've traveled to The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky you probably have, and though I've certainly been to Louisville, I've never been to The Brown Hotel, so I hadn't!

In honor of the Kentucky Derby this weekend, which frankly has been kinda lost in the shuffle of Cinco de Mayo menus and Mother's Day, I thought I'd get this posted to share what all of the hub bub is about, and so I went straight to the source to find out how.

A Kentucky Hot Brown is a sort of open-faced, hot turkey sandwich that comes with a history.  Don't you just love food with a story?

Charleston Cheese Dip, made with cream cheese, cheddar and swiss cheeses, bacon, jalapeno, green onion, and topped with panko and bacon.

Charleston Cheese Dip

I was poking around in my Trisha Yearwood's Home Cooking cookbook again and ran across this recipe for her Charleston Cheese Dip. Trisha said it was her take on a dip she had while on tour one year with a stop in Charleston.

Perfectly Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin

Perfect Potatoes au Gratin, made with thinly sliced potatoes in a cheesy dreamy cream sauce.

Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin

Hello Scalloped Potatoes, meet the best, perfectly cheesy, Potatoes au Gratin, evah.

Ya know, seriously... I am of the opinion that it'd be kinda hard to mess up a dish of potatoes au gratin no matter what you do to them - I mean c'mon now. Potatoes. Cheese. Butter. Cream. Hello. If you're making this for the holidays, you'll probably want to double the ingredients and do extra layers.

Well, I personally love Julia's way with this classic potato dish, however I decided to play with it a bit. You know. For the holidays. 

A souffle'd casserole of baked grits with cheese and sausage.

Baked Garlic Cheese Grits with Sausage

I love my stovetop version of garlic cheese grits. They are a creamy, cheesy, and perfect garlicky cradle for eggs in purgatory, shrimp and grits, or grillades and grits, or as a tasty side dish, great with scrambled or fried, dirty eggs.  Last week though, we were chatting over on the Facebook page about everybody's favorite way to make a baked, casserole-style cheese grits, like this one; souffle-like and fluffy.

A thick and creamy soup with all the goodness of a loaded baked potato - bacon, butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese and green onion.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I blame the creation of this Loaded Baked Potato soup recipe on Facebook.  Yep. One day Randy, a reader over there, posted on the wall asking for potato soup recipes so, of course, I gave him links to my Creamy Potato Soup, and my Creamy Cheesy Potato Soup with Bacon. Then, I started thinking... one of those is a shortcut soup and is creamy; the other I used the immersion blender on, so it is also creamy. I really need a chunky potato soup up here on the site.

Take all the things we love about macaroni and cheese, the creamy cheese and tender pasta, and transform it into a delicious soup.

Macaroni and Cheese Soup

As soon as I saw this Mac 'n Cheese Soup recipe in one of those freebie Cuisine at Home promo magazines that comes in the mail, I knew I wanted to try it, and I just so happened to have everything on hand that I needed except for the whole milk. Now that's the kind of recipes that I like!

A combination of seasoned dry bread crumbs and panko make for some yummy fried cheese sticks! Try them with a super easy homemade marinara sauce.

Fried Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

I have really been loving the panko breadcrumbs ever since they became more widely available in our supermarkets. 

Yes, y'all... I'm going back the future here for the future you who shows up here and says... "what?" 

Believe it or not, once upon a time, not so long before this, it was near impossible to find panko breadcrumbs in any grocery store. You really had to seek them out in a specialty food store. I know! Hard to believe isn't it, but it's true, and yes, now I'm feeling OLD!!