I give up.

I am in the middle of exam hell, so I haven't posted anything (or cooked anything) in ages. The last time we cooked, we had a fish fry. That night seems like a happy but faint memory as I prepare for my Federal Courts exam on Wednesday. But procrastination is fun, and it's nice to think back to our last Sunday Supper, so here I am posting when I should be studying.

For the fish fry, Daddy brought us about a dozen fresh bass that he caught, and Drew had the pleasant task of filleting them. We soaked them in buttermilk and hot sauce, breaded them, and fried 'em up. We served our tasty fresh fish with corn on the cob, hush puppies, and cole slaw (as pictured unattractively above).

I love cole slaw because it is easy and cheap and refreshing. This is my momma's recipe, and I don't think it can be improved upon. As summer (and oppressive Mississippi humidy) approaches, you could probably use something cool and appetizing to bring to your next cook out or barbeque. So without further ado...

Cole Slaw

1 head of cabbage, chopped fine
3 or 4 carrots, shredded
1 white onion, chopped very fine
Miracle Whip
lots of salt and pepper

Combine the veggies with enough Miracle Whip to be moist but not soggy. Salt. Add pepper very liberally. Let it sit for at least an hour. Serves a bunch of people.

easy dessert

Often, Lindsey brings a cake to Sunday dinner, but sometimes, we make our own dessert. One recent Sunday, we looked at our available ingredients, grabbed a random cookbook, and settled on pudding cake.

Sounds good, right? Pudding is good, cake is good ... it's a no-brainer. Turns out, it's pretty easy, too.

One note: this cake will never get firm. Don't expect it to. We overcooked the heck out of this cake (didn't seem to hurt it) before finally looking online for a picture of pudding cake. Apparently, this dessert is supposed to be cakey on the top and gooey on the bottom.

One more note: we made this in a cake pan. The recipe gives the option of baking in custard cups or a cake pan. I think it would be prettier if you made individual custard cups because you wouldn't have to scoop the cake of the pan to serve.

Lemon Pudding Cake

(from the Church of the Incarnation's Episcopal Epicure cookbook)

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tbs butter

2 tsp lemon zest

3 eggs, separated

3 Tbs all-purpose flour

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream the sugar, butter, and lemon zest together. Add 3 egg yolks and beat well. Add the flour, lemon juice, and milk, a little at a time, beating as you go.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold egg whites into the yolk mixture. It won't be smooth. In fact, it will look kind of gross.

Pour batter into buttered custard cups or 7-inch ovenproof dish. Put a larger pan in the oven. Place the cups or dish in the pan, and add water until the water level is halfway up the sides of the cups/dish.

Close the oven and bake until set. That's 30 minutes for cups and 45 minutes for the dish.

We served our with blueberries and whipped cream (well, Cool Whip). Raspberries would probably be good, too.

a moment to boast

Well, it finally happened. I've been discovered. If you look on page 105 of Mississippi Magazine, you'll find a huge picture of Smoky Eggs Benedict, plus the recipe, plus a little picture of me and a blurb at the bottom. A blurb about me! I'm practically famous.

Why am I on page 105? Because I'm a category finalist! For that honor, I got six Mississippi Magazines in the mail (literally the day after I bought a stack of them at the store - curses!), plus prizes of cookbooks and a Mississippi-shaped cookie cutter. (Whoopee.)

I, of course, would rather be the grand prize winner. That honor, however, went to Peggy's Pound Cake, a recipe that a woman submitted in honor of her mother. (There's a very heart-warming story here.) I quickly scrutinized the recipe and offered scathing criticism, such as the fact that the recipe calls for cake mix! (I conveniently overlooked the fact that the cornbread cakes in my recipe call for cornbread from a mix, too...)

After a couple days of wallowing in sour grapes, I decided to actually try the pound cake. It's delicious. No doubt. I'm not sorry that I lost to Peggy. I mean, just look at that picture. Doesn't it look delicious? I'm not going to give the recipe here, because that doesn't seem fair and because that might violate some copyright law. So, I recommend you go out and buy a Mississippi Magazine (or come pick one up from me - I have loads of them) and cook this cake.

You should try my recipe, too.

updates are coming...

I promise. We will be posting recipes again soon. We've just been distracted by exams and buying a house and ... well, really, just that. (We've been surviving on Lean Cuisines, mac n cheese, ham sandwiches, and potato chips. Gasp!) My last exam is tomorrow, though, so I'll be able to cook something soon, and I'll post about it ASAP. Poor Kaytie still has two weeks of exams.

P.S. This picture of celery has nothing to do with this post. But it looks nice, doesn't it?