Cook-it-up: Screen Doors and Sweet Tea

Back in July chose Martha Hall Foose's Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook as my cook-it-up book for the summer. I reviewed this book in 2012, so this time I focused on things I hadn't tried before.

I didn't make as much as I had hoped to, but the ridiculously hot summer was to blame for that rather than the excellent options included here.

• Pimento Cheese (p. 47) which I made with the suggested addition of diced pickled jalapeno was DELICIOUS! I made it for a gathering of quilting friends and everyone liked it. This will be made again and Foose was right that it is really good on toasted wheat bread. It was excellent on bagels as well.
• Three Bean Salad (p. 62) was good but had too much dressing for my taste. I solved this by adding a can of chick peas (so really it was 4-bean salad).
• Three-Day Slaw (p. 65) I liked a lot, my husband thought it was too sweet. 
• Silent Shade Cobbler (p. 206) was a bit weird looking, but yummy.

I still haven't made the Blue Cheese Pecan Bread, which I really want to. I never had both blue cheese on hand and a day I could stand to turn on the oven this past summer so it didn't get made. One of these days everything will align and I will get this made.

Up next is Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients by Ina Garten.

Cook-it-up started out as a monthly project (with link-ups from Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity) but it is working OK for me at this point with a looser schedule. I will cook from the current book for a while and when I am ready to move on to another book I will post a report on this one and my next pick. 

I'm linking this post with Weekend Cooking.