Sitting at my desk, I go through blog posts from my early days of hosting a website.  I stumbled upon a fabulous Brownie recipe from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Beaufort, NC.  I originally published the recipe in 2011 and felt it would be great to repost for 2025.  The brownies are great to take to summer picnics. 

North Carolina's historic Ann Street is one of my favorite streets in Beaufort.  It runs parallel to Front Street which is located on the waterfront.  Ann Street is home to most of the churches in the town and is the most stately residential street in the historic town with rows of beautiful trees.  St. Paul's Episcopal Church hosts a great luncheon during the town's Old Homes and Garden Tour in June.

http://www.stpaulsbeaufort.com/

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St. Paul's Episcopal Church used to host a  luncheon during the town's Old Homes and Garden Tour in June.  On one of my past trips to Beaufort, I purchased the church's cookbook, "Let Us Keep the Feast in Historic Beaufort."  It is a favorite cookbook of mine, and yes, it drives my husband nuts, but I still keep a lot of vintage cookbooks. 

 

1. Cucumber-Feta Salad with  Chickpeas and Basil

I made Jessica Seinfeld's Cucumber-Feta Salad with Chickpeas and Basil as a side dish for my family the other night, serving it with baked chicken. However, chickpeas are a protein source (about 14.5 grams of protein per cup), and they could be served as a main meal. This salad is made in a snap and would be a great accompaniment to almost any meat.

2. Steak Salad with Snap Peas

I like this Steak Salad with Snap Peas recipe from Martha Stewart because the ingredients are simple. My kids love steak, snap peas, and raw carrots, but give them a cooked carrot, and they will not eat one bite. Salads like this make it easy for moms to prepare a whole meal that can serve everyone, even if deconstructed to suit everyone's tastes.

3. Asian Rotisserie Chicken Salad

Getting a rotisserie chicken at your local market is a quick and easy solution for dinner. If you are like me and want more veggies in a meal. I think this Asian Rotisserie Chicken Salad, again from Martha Stewart, is a chicken dinner winner. The cashews and red cabbage give it the perfect crunch in every bite. I also do Rotisserie chicken on Caesar Salad for qu

4. The Antipasti Pasta Salad
My children constantly eat pasta. It is their preferred carb. They also grab salami from the fridge for a snack. This Antipasti Pasta Salad made me realize it's okay to put salami, pasta, and mozzarella on a plate and call it dinner in warmer weather. But, as an adult, I need a little more pizazz for dinner, so this salad is perfect. If you prepare this salad, add more olive oil and a few splashes of reserved pasta water. I may omit the pasta for Zucchini Noodles.

5. The Fajita Steak Salad 

This Fajita Steak Salad is another twist for a Mexican night at home. It's quick and easy, and if the kids say no to a salad, just put their ingredients in a flour or corn tortilla. Add black beans, corn, and avocado to this salad. Use a bottled ranch or blue cheese dressing to make things really simple. I'm a big fan of the Little Black Dressing Company,. Jarred salsa would work well, too. Or use both for even more flavor. Another nice thing about this salad as a main meal is that each salad can be customized according to one's likes. Treat it like a salad bar, and let everyone make their own.

Updated June 2024:  I am still a big fan of baked beans but no one in my household likes this side dish but me, so I always need an occasion to make baked beans.  I went through my archives and found this recipe I originally published in 2016. Summer is perfect for baked beans with hotdogs, burgers, or grilled protein. Baked beans are an American tradition dating back to the 17th century. Colonist adopted the dish from Native Americans, and the beans were cooked for hours over a fire with a complex sauce.

I originally made this recipe for a family reunion around ten years ago, and was assigned to make baked beans for the event. This was when the family matriarchs assigned food they grew up eating and wanted for this reunion.  

Honestly, I grew up eating my baked beans out of a can. It was a dish that my family rarely consumed. No one in my family ever baked beans. I researched hundreds of recipes for this reunion, and many recipes were too complicated and time-consuming for a brand-new mother who was far from a professional chef. 

I was in a pickle because the one thing I was not going to do was show up with just a bunch of baked beans from a can purchased at my local grocer. Also, this was when deli-prepared foods were not as common as they now are in 2024. 

The recipe I used for this event was simple and easy. You can start with BBQ baked beans, but I started with regular baked beans (nothing special about them) and added my own BBQ sauce. Add red onion, brown sugar, and bacon, and bake for 40 minutes or longer. Check often to make sure the beans don't burn. 

Southern Baked Beans with a HomemadeTwist 

4 cans of  Organic Baked Beans
3 strips of uncured bacon cut into pieces
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of vinegar-based BBQ sauce or BBQ sauce of your choice.
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Stir and serve.

The baked beans were a hit. Of course, children always say the most truthful, candid things. One of my little cousins, who was in third grade at the time, said, "I love the baked beans because I love beans from a can." 

Dang, she was on to me with my canned beans!!! This recipe does taste better than just opening a can of beans. I like to say, "It dresses it up a little."