Author: Rachel Ballinger

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie

This delicious pecan pie is made with maple syrup and chopped pecans. No corn syrup! It’s the perfect combination of nuts and sweetness and sure to become a favorite.  Growing up my mom always used pancake syrup and that is delicious too. I’ve never cared 

The Best Thanksgiving Turkey

The Best Thanksgiving Turkey

The secret to making the best Thanksgiving turkey is to season it good, bake at a higher temperature, and flip it halfway through! Once you try it this way, you’ll never want to make it any other way.  Assemble your ingredients: a thawed turkey  onions 

Creamy Cranberry Salad

Creamy Cranberry Salad

This festive creamy cranberry salad is sweet enough to be a dessert! Perfect for the holiday table and easy to throw together. Just remember that it’s best if you mix up the ingredients and let them sit overnight. That gives the cranberries time to soak 

Sour Cream and Onion Mashed Potatoes

Sour Cream and Onion Mashed Potatoes

These sour cream and onion mashed potatoes are so savory that you don’t need gravy to go with them. I make them for every holiday table at our house and also often throughout the year. They are a family favorite.  It only takes a couple 

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup

This creamy butternut squash soup is one of my favorite fall meals. It’s bursting with savory autumn flavors. I serve it with thick slices of sourdough bread.  Butternut squash store great and I got this particular one from a friend’s garden awhile back. It’s extra 

Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings

This thick and creamy soup, chockfull of chicken and soft dumplings is the ultimate comfort food. Chicken and Dumplings is a classic southern recipe and I would like to bless who ever came up with it and passed it on to the rest of us! 

Autumn Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

Autumn Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

This warm and savory autumn soup made with sweet potatoes, pork sausage, and tied together with rice and chicken broth.  This soup is delicious served with some warm skillet cornbread. But if you want a fun fall meal that makes the best memories with your 

Ground Beef Breakfast Gravy

Ground Beef Breakfast Gravy

This ground beef gravy with sourdough biscuits is my family’s favorite breakfast. A hearty combo that is sure to make any day better.  I grew up eating applesauce with biscuits and gravy and now my kids do the same. I know it might sound strange 

Sourdough Biscuits

Sourdough Biscuits

These flaky sourdough biscuits are the perfect biscuits to go with gravy for a delicious breakfast. They rise so beautifully and always make me feel like an accomplished baker. Lol! Ingredients needed: Flour – all purpose flour or bread flour  Sugar Baking powder  Salt Baking 

Strawberry Jam

Strawberry Jam

My family loves this strawberry jam and it’s a sad day when it’s all gone. It takes less than an hour to make so it’s easy to make a batch or two. One batch takes about two quarts of strawberries. I have tried to make