Fruit Cake

Fruit Cake - Unbaked

1 pound graham crackers
1 Cup pecans (toasted)
8 oz. seedless raisins
8 oz. candid mixed fruit
1 pound dried figs
1/2 Cup maraschino cherries
1 pint whipping cream
1 teaspoon rum flavor
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make crumbs of graham crackers. I place all of the fruit, marshmallows and nuts in food processor and cut to where the cherries are about 1/4 there size, but not too fine. Now add the vanilla and rum flavor. Then fold the fruit and cracker crumbs in. Whip the cream until it stands up good then fold it together. Now fold in the whipped cream.

I take a 5X4X9 loaf pan and line with aluminum foil that is large enough to seal it. When packed, I would use the back of a tablespoon to smooth the top.

You can lay a cloth on top with some rum on it and seal and place in the fridge for 24+ hours. When I serve, I slice about 1/4 inch thick and cut that piece in half. Then place a heaping tablespoon of whipped cream on one half then place the other slice on top with a heaping teaspoon of whipped cream in the center. Dust lightly with powdered sugar and sprinkles.

In Remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day

In Remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day

To me this was our worst day ever. I can remember where I was sitting when I heard that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Our Sunday school teacher lived next to our church and came over and told our minister. At that time, I’d never dreamed that I would ever see Pearl Harbor. But I visited it many, many times as I passed through Hawaii. I say GOD BLESS all of our service people and other protectors that have given their ALL for us to be free!!!

Whatever we do, we need to protect our 2nd Amendment!!!

______

Christmas will be here! Before we know it! I suggest that anyone that wants to have a full dinner to use our Thanksgiving menu. I spent most of last week putting up (some) of our Christmas lights. I really cut back on them this year because we really do not know what to expect. Betty goes in for heart surgery on the 12th of December to repair her aorta. But we still have 3 Christmas parties planned. We always have country parties with plenty of food and country music, to not overrun others Christmas dinner plans last year we served (petros), chili and chips. This year we are going to serve lasagna, fresh cut salads, garlic bread, plain bread and sweets. What I will do is to make it and fridge the lasagna and breads. While they are heating I will cut the salad that I have already trimmed and washed. I will get all this done ahead so we will not be worn out.

Here is the lasagna recipe that I will be using:

Lasagna

1 lb box lasagna noodles
1 ½ lb. ground chuck. (Not extra lean)
1 - 20 oz. can chopped tomatoes
3 - 6 oz cans tomato paste
1 - 6 oz can tomato sauce
1 can beef broth
2 large onions chopped
4 sticks of celery chopped
2 green peppers chopped
1 lb shredded sharp cheddar
1 lb shredded Italian 6 chesses
granulated garlic (to suit yourself)
Italian seasoning (to suit yourself)
2 lb cottage cheese
1 shaker can of parmesan cheese
corn starch
black pepper (to suit yourself)

(NOTE) Some will use 1 cup chopped mushrooms, but I don’t. But if you do, sauté them by themselves so you can pour off the juice.

You can make your sauce the day before. I start by sautéing the celery and peppers first (Don’t brown ) just tender. When they start to get soft, add the onions. When the onions are clear, set aside.

Now the meat. Add a little vegetable oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper to start so it won’t stick, because if it does it will be bitter and hard. SLOW cook to where they turn gray. Do not make them brown. Pour off all the grease that you can. If it still has a lot run hot water over it and drain.

LOW AND SLOW

In a deep skillet add the meat, onions, celery, peppers, mushies if you use, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste.

Add the Italian seasoning. It will take a bunch BUT don’t get in a hurry. Maybe 2 Tablespoons. Now add the salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 30 minutes, then taste, add seasoning simmer 30 minutes. Take a look. You don’t want it dry and coarse. Add beef broth if needed and use corn starch so it will cover a spoon real good. That’s all there is to it.

In a deep pot, bring water to a rolling boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Drop noodles in one at a time and cook like it says. When done run cold water over them and separate.

Mix sharp cheddar and Italian 6 cheeses together real well.

In a 9x13x2 baking dish, in the bottom, lay a layer of noodles. Then a layer of meat sauce, 6 cheese, sharp cheddar and cottage cheese, noodles again, meat sauce, 6 cheese, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese. Do this until U run out of room. On top put 6 cheese and sharp cheddar. Place in oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the cheese starts to bubble!! Again don’t brown it.

Serve HOT!!

Have Hot sauce and parmesan grated cheese as a condiment. BUT!! Garlic bread and a green salad is a must!!!

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

This one is not old fashion but you need to try it.

What you’ll need:

1 box devil food cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 cans milk chocolate frosting
1/2 cup sour cream
a 9 x 11 x 2 cake pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cake pan lightly and dust with flour.

Mix eggs, buttermilk and oil. Add cake mix and mix well then add 1 cup sour cream and mix for at least 1 minute. Add some water if needed.

Pour into your pan and level by tilting and shaking and bake. Check after 25 minutes and when you tap on top it should spring back (DON’T OVER BAKE) I leave mine in the pan and let it cool then ice heavy with light and fluffy chocolate icing.

Take two cans of milk chocolate frosting and 1/2 cup sour cream. Mix together until light and fluffy.

Apple pie

Apple pie

Always use fresh apples when you can.

2 Cups apples
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 stick real butter
3/4 cups All Purpose flour
2/3 cups sugar

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Place crust in a 9 in pie pan. Mix 1/2 of the sugar and cinnamon. Lay flat the sliced apples in the crust. Sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon. Mix the other 1/2 sugar and the flour, then add butter and cut in and sprinkle on the apples.

Bake at 400 for about 40 minutes. It should be light brown. Serve hot or cold.

I would reheat and serve with a slice of cheese, real whipped cream, cool whip, or ice cream.

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

What you need:

1- 9in. pie shell in a 9 in. pie plate
You can make your own but I now take the easy way out and get them at the grocery.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. I take the top rack out, and put pie on middle shelf.

1 and 1/3 cup canned dry packed pumpkin
1 and 1/2 cup milk (I use skim)
3 Large Eggs
1 cup of sugar or Splenda, I use it because I am diabetic
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 tsp cinnamon (level)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves

Dump everything in a bowl and mix with a wire whip. Next pour into your shell and put into oven. Bake for 35 minutes. Check if the crust is getting brown. Make hole in a piece of aluminum foil so it will cover about 1 and 1/2 inches on the outside, and lay on pie.

Now if you are lucky enough to have a pie shield, now is the time to use it because a burned crust will ruin the best pie. Finish baking for about 20 minutes, check the center. It should be firm.

Yeast Rolls

Yeast Rolls

FOR 4 dz. (For 2 dz.)

1 oz Quick active dry yeast (1/2 oz)

1/4 cup melted butter (1 Tbsp & 2 tsp)

3/4 cup sugar (5 Tbsp & 2 tsp)

1 1/2 cup warm water (110) (3/4 cup)

1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp)

6 1/4 cup plain flour (3 cup + 1 Tbsp & 2 tsp)


I use a kitchen aid artisan with a dough hook. I run hot water in bowl to warm. Then I add 1/2 of water to yeast and mix let sit until foamy.

Mix the butter, sugar, salt, and the rest of your water then add yeast and about 1/2 of the flour. When it is mixed well, start adding the rest of the flour a little at a time until all is used then mix until it pulls away from the bowl. Remove hook and spray lightly with vegetable oil.

Cover with towel and let rise until it doubles in size. Then knock down and place in the fridge until cool. I roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick and cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter and roll them into a ball and put on a cooking sheet about 1 inch apart. I do this so they will all be the same size. Brush with melted butter. Cover and let rise to double the size. Then place into a 360 degree Fahrenheit pre-heated oven until golden brown. I then brush again with butter.

Cole Slaw

Easy Cole Slaw

Grind whatever amount you want of green cabbage and a little amount of carrot that you want. Get a bottle of Kraft Slaw Dressing. Add the amount you want .Add a little black pepper. But do not salt it because it will drain the water out of it and make a mess! Salt it on your plate.

Sweet Tater Casserole

Sweet Tater Casserole

What You’ll Need

4 cups baked and mashed sweet taters
1 cup of pineapple tidbits
1 cup golden raisins (soaked)
1 cup of miniature marshmallows
1/2 stick of real butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup fresh graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup of pecans
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In your mixing bowl, put potatoes, pineapple tidbits, raisins, and marshmallows.

Add nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

Fold together and pour into a 9 in x 13 in x 2 in baking dish.

Place the pecans evenly over the top.

Mix brown sugar and cracker crumbs and sprinkle over the top.

Bake in the oven until it starts to brown.

Glazed Carrots, Sweet Peas & Green Beans

Glazed Carrots

I enjoy eating carrots raw, boiled with butter, salt and pepper

But I really like them glazed, or candied - It’s the same.

You will need:

Carrots
butter
brown sugar
a sauce pan to boil in
heavy skillet to glaze in
a bowl to melt your butter in

I peal mine and boil until they are just about tender then pour off all the water that you can. I then stir them over medium heat until all the water is gone then I pour enough melted butter over them to coat then sprinkle heavy with brown sugar and place them into the skillet. Do not stir and break them up. I set mine to one side and caramelize the butter and brown sugar. I then splash it over the carrots and remove from heat and place them in the serving dish and pour the syrup over them.

Sweet Peas

I like to use the silver label Le Sure tiny and all I do again is pour them into a serving dish and run for 3 minutes in the microwave, and then add the butter and pepper. Heat again before serving and check for salt.

Green beans

I use Kentucky Wonder from Allan Canning Company. They call them Italian style.

They are a soft flat bean. I think they are the best. This is what I do first

I use salt pork or bacon and cut into small pieces. For 2- 15 oz cans I would use 2 thick pieces of salt pork or 3 pieces of bacon. I fry them in the pot I am going to cook the beans in until all the grease is rendered out and now add a small chopped onion and cook until clear. Now add your beans, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

I would now pour off most of the water and let them cook until most of the water is gone. I think that the worst food in the world is a green bean that is swimming or one that squeaks when you bite it!!! Taste and see if you want to add any salt.

Cream style frozen corn

For many years, I would freeze my own corn, but I have out grown that. I now use the frozen kind that comes in a package that looks like an ear of corn.

I even cheat more and use the microwave because it is so easy and quick.

Using a baking dish I slit the package and pull off the wrapper and place it in the microwave just long enough to thaw good and add real butter and pepper.

Cook for 3 min and stir, and do it again then do it again. Now taste and see if you need any salt. You can wait until ready to serve and heat again.

Turkey Gravy

It is a must that you have mashed taters with this gravy.

I take the neck, liver, gizzard and heart. Add a little salt and pepper and plenty of water to make broth. Bring to a boil and cut back to a simmer. When tender remove the meat and let it cool. When the broth is cool enough, put into a ziplock bag and place in the fridge with the zipper side up.

When cool enough for the fat to set up, cut the bottom corner of ziplock off and it will drain out. The sides will suck in and trap all the fat.

I bake the turkey in double heavy duty aluminum foil so I can save all of the drippings. I add this to a skillet. If you want more gravy add some broth. Then make a slurry out of corn starch and cool broth.

Bring to a boil and add a little of the slurry stirring all the time.

It must boil to see how thick it will be. You don’t want it to be very thick. Keep doing this till you are satisfied, so it will coat the back of a spoon. Taste, salt and pepper to suit you.

Then pick all the meat off the neck take it and the liver, gizzard, and heart, chop very fine and add to part of your gravy to make giblet gravy.

Old Timey Cornbread Dressing

Cornbread Dressing from Way Back

You can make it a day ahead!

What You’ll Need:

1 - 8 in. pone of cornbread
3 stale biscuits (I would not use canned biscuits. They won’t crumble well)
(The following are optional. You do not have to have them)
2 cups medium chopped onions
3 cups medium chopped celery
1 cup medium chopped bell peppers
1 tablespoon sage
2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons butter

1) Heat broth to about 300 degrees.
2) Crumble cornbread and biscuits in a mixing bowl, add sage and pepper.
3) Add your butter to your pan with heat on med-high then add your veggies and start to stir (don’t let it brown). If you need to add a little water and cook till they are soft don’t leave much water in them. Pour into bread mix and mix well then add the hot broth a little at a time (you don’t won’t it sloppy or dry. I can’t tell you how much to use because it depends on how dry your bread mix is.)
4) Let it sit about 10 minutes to see if you need to add any more broth.
5) Then place in an ovenware dish. (Note: it is ready to eat now.)

6) Take one egg and a little water, mix. Brush over the top, put it in a 350 oven and watch till it browns. You can check the temp. If it is 300 turn on your broiler and brown. Watch it, do not burn!

Country Baked Ham

Country Baked Ham (approx. 12lbs)
I now use what they call a smoked ham. It is precooked and that makes it quick and easy, and you can do it days before. You can warm it up that morning, or serve cold. Ha! That’s the GOOD part.

What you’ll need:

1 smoked ham, you know what size you want.
1/2 cup of real molasses (I use muddy pond brand & most Kroger stores have it)
4 heaping tablespoons of prepared mustard
1 heaping tablespoon of black pepper
1 heaping teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon (level) ground cloves

1) Mix it all together in a soup bowl.
2) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
3) Lay it down with round side up and cut about 1/4 inch deep on an angle about 1 ½ inches apart in 2 directions to make a diamond. Now rub the spices in good. Be sure that it is in all of the cracks. I now make a cross out of heavy duty aluminum foil and seal GOOD with both pieces of foil. Put it on a cookie sheet and into the oven for 30 minutes then roll it over a couple of times. Put it back in for 30 minutes. Turn your oven off and the broiler on. Then unwrap the top 1/2 and save that juice. I will place 7 slices of pineapple, 3 on top & 2 on each side, and use toothpicks. Add 1 big red cherry in the center of each. Place under the broiler and WATCH CLOSELY as soon as it starts to brown get it out!!! Let it sit for at least 15 minutes before you slice.

Thin slices of ham are much better than thick ones!!

The Best Bird

Let’s start with our turkey. If you get a frozen one it will take a while to thaw it out. (NOTE: DO NOT USE HOT WATER OR ANY FORM OF HEAT TO THAW WITH, AS THIS CAN LEAD TO BACTERIAL SPREAD) I prefer to place it in the fridge for 2 or 3 days. DO NOT UNWRAP until it has thawed. The time it takes will depend on the size of your bird.

Remove from wrapper, then remove the giblets from the front and rear of the bird. That will be a neck, gizzard, heart, and liver. Place those a saucepan, cover with plenty of water, add salt, pepper, and a 1/4 teaspoon of ground sage and boil until tender. Set aside to cool.
Now wash your turkey and pat dry, then sit on a platter and rub with butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Now take a heaping tablespoon of rubbed sage, 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper and mix. Now place about 1/4 of it in the craw cavity and 3/4 inside the bird and rub around.
Now make a cross of heavy duty aluminum foil make sure that it will be long enough cover the entire turkey. Wrap, seal, and place on a cookie sheet. Keep in the fridge until ready to bake. When baking use 350 degree F oven, and bake for 20 minutes per pound. (IT WILL BE DONE!!)

Be very careful, for it will be very hot. Now place it over the edge of your sink so you can drain all of the juices into a sauce pan to use for gravy. Now wrap it back up in the aluminum foil, and cover with a bath towel.

Remove all the giblets from the broth and add the juices. What I would do is to heat the liquid and make a slurry with some corn starch and cold water. As soon as they boil, add a little cornstarch at a time and bring to a boil after you add the starch. You want turkey gravy about as thick as heavy cream. When finished, salt and pepper to taste. If you want to make some giblet gravy pull the meat off the neck, gizzard, heart and liver and fine chop, then take what gravy you want to be giblet and add the giblets.

What I always want is to have my house smelling like turkey and pie. I have two ovens, one regular size and one small. I put an apple pie in 50 minutes before our guest arrive. I want my turkey out one hour before they get here.

Remember: 20 minutes per pound and one hour to let it rest

If you are having a noontime meal, you will need to be up by 5 to get it out by noon. I don’t do that. I have mine at 6 p.m., so I have all day to get it done.

Sweet Tater Pie

You may think that we are starting this backwards. But you may want to try this and see if you like it. Remember the last thing they eat is the one they will most likely remember.

This is a true southern dish because we had sweet taters all the time. They kept good. This is the one that I am making today.

Sweet Tater Pie

The first thing to do is to bake your taters. I do this by washing them good, and letting them dry. Then rub them good with hog lard, and place them on a sheet pan. I will put them on the top shelf and bake until soft. The time will depend on how big they are. I will bake them the day before, and let them sit out (do not refrigerate).

What you need:

1- 9in. pie shell in a 9 in. pie plate
You can make your own but I now take the easy way out and get them at the grocery.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. I take the top rack out, and put pie on middle shelf.

1 and 1/3 cup baked sweet taters (packed)
1 and 1/2 cup milk (I use skim)
3 Large Eggs
1 cup of sugar or Splenda, I use it because I am diabetic
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 tsp cinnamon (level)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves

Some will use more spices than I do. You can taste it before it is baked. I do not want to overdo it, so that all you taste is the spices and you can’t tell the difference between sweet taters and pumpkin.

Dump everything in a bowl and mix with a wire whip. Next pour into your shell and put into oven. Bake for 35 minutes. Check if the crust is getting brown. Make hole in a piece of aluminum foil so it will cover about 1 and 1/2 inches on the outside, and lay on pie.

Now if you are lucky enough to have a pie shield, now is the time to use it because a burned crust will ruin the best pie. Finish baking for about 20 minutes, check the center. It should be firm.

NOTE: You can make a pumpkin pie the same way. I like to use canned pumpkin because it does not have the juice as home cooked does. You can make pumpkin or sweet tater pudding by leaving out the crust. A gob of real whipped cream won’t hurt it a bit.

May the good Lord bless you and Yours!

Do you really want to know how to Bar-B-Q?

If so lets start with this:

What kind of a cooker (smoker) do you have? What kind would you need?

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Dave Franks

Fried Green 'Maters & How to can them!

This one goes so far back that I can’t even tell you when it started and I’m 79. My grandma said that her grandma did it this way. That is back to the Civil War days.

You will need

Pan hot grease (I would use lard but you can use shortening)
I would use a cast iron skillet (you use whatever you have )

Green tomatoes, sliced about 3/8 in thick (they can be turning pink)
1 part whole egg, ½ part water, mixed
salt –n- pepper
½ cup Self Rising flour
1 cup corn meal mix

1) Heat grease until when you drop a bit of ‘mater in it sizzles.

2) Salt-n-pepper the ‘maters, then roll in flour. Now dip in egg wash, then into the corn meal, and into the hot grease. Fry very quick, till a golden brown.

3) Remove and place on a paper towel to blot off any grease. Then lightly salt.

Here is another goodie

Canning Green Tomatoes to Fry

1) Have jars clean with new tops

2) In a sauce pan, add water by the cup and add ½ teaspoon salt for each cup of water. Bring to a boil

3) Take green tomatoes, slice them 3/8 in thick and drop in boiling water till they start to turn grey. Remove and place in the jars.

4) Then pour full of the boiling salt water. Now seal. They will be good in the winter.

Corn Pone

Let’s make some cornbread!

Ingredients

You will need a 6”cast iron skillet
1 cup white corn meal mix
½ cup Buttermilk
1 tbsp Vegetable oil
2 heaping tbsp of Self Rising flour
¼ cup water

1) Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray your skillet with PAM.

2) Then mix white corn meal mix, vegetable oil, flour, buttermilk, and water. You may need to add a little more liquid.

3) You want it to pour out of your mixing bowl in to your skillet and level it up by shaking it.

4) Put it in your oven. I won’t say how long because each oven is different, but start checking after 20 minutes. Cook until it is good and brown. Then put a plate on top and flip it over.

Serve it with the bottom up. It looks better. It is a must to have PLENTY of butter!!!

Vegetable Soup

1 or 2 ham hocks
1 quart of tomatoes (fresh chopped)
1 cup of cooked white beans
½ cup diced celery
1 med. onion
1 ½ cups chopped cabbage
2 cups diced potatoes
3 med. carrots, diced
2 ears of corn, cut off
salt and pepper


1) Cover ham hocks with water and boil for about 1 hour.

2) Add onions, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, celery, cabbage and carrots. Cook until tender, then add cooked beans, salt, and pepper to taste.

Dave’s Mandated Side Item: “Now a pone of cornbread and a gob of real butter is a must.” So we will add a recipe for it.

Intro

Hello friends and neighbors!

Welcome to my new blog for Foods of the Southland! You'll be delighted to know that this improvement will help you all by allowing you to send the newsletter, our updates and recipes, and everything else we intend to post (even videos!) without the possibility of them deleting it as spam! You can just send them the link to this blog! After all, you know I don't cook with SPAM!

As a matter of fact, to start out this new adventure and in the next few days, I'm going to post a recipe that none of you have EVER seen before!! So stay tuned!!

The best is yet to come!!

But first -- I must introduce myself -- So I wrote a little something for all of you:

I am David (Dave) Franks, Author, Pit Master and Flunky!!!

This is my first time at bloggin’. For all of you that have been getting our newsletter, a lot of this will be sour grapes. But the new ones might get something out of it. I was born in Whitehaven, Tennessee. That is now part of Memphis. I went to Whitehaven School; the grammar and high schools were all together. My Grandmother was the first teacher hired there. My Grandfather was the first doctor there, and my great uncle was the first dentist. I started cooking (helping) when I was 4 or 5. The biggest thing that I did was bring in the wood, keep the fire going, and the stirring. We raised, canned, dried and cured a lot of meat by using sugar, salt, red pepper, black pepper and smoking. We would sit around the fire and listen to the battery radio and shell corn to take to the grist mill the next day on the back of our mule to make meal. We would take butter and eggs to the country store and they would credit us for them. Then, when we needed some things, they would debit our account.

When I was growing up, there were only three Bar-B-Q joints in the Memphis area that I can remember. The one in Memphis is where I got my eating sauce recipe from, the one down at Bullfrog Corner, Mississippi is where my basting sauce recipe came from. I learned how to Bar-B-Q at J.C. Harbin's while working for him because he was our sponsor for the Doc Hollom River race. We would swim 5 or 10 miles down the Mississippi river. As most of you know, I have a cookbook out, Foods of the Southland, with over 250 good Southern recipes.

We are putting our Lil' Red Barn Bar-B-Q sauce on the market real soon. We plan on getting into competitive Bar-B-Q’ing next year. I am building a new pair of smokers that are trailer mounted and enclosed in a Lil' Red Barn.

If anyone would like a good old southern recipe, just let me know. If I don’t have it, I can get them. Something that I forgot to mention was that I now live in Maynardville, Tennessee. Just in case someone does not know where that is, well it is about 12 miles northeast of Knoxville, TN. The University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge, and Gatlinburg are all within a stones throw of our house. Maynardville is located in Union County, and was the home of Roy Acuff, Carl Smith, and my wife, Betty, and me! Ha!

I try to do a lot of cookouts (just for fun, not for hire). And being that the gardens and a lot of fresh veggies are plentiful, let’s talk about cooking them. Let’s start with fried green matoes. (You will be getting some Hillbilly now and then). We may not talk good, but we sho’ do eat good.