Saturday, September 4, 2010

CATFISH, HUSH PUPPIES, AND COCA COLA CAKE

I must tell y'all that I'm having somewhat of a pity party this weekend!

Husband just got back in town. He has been gone all week to our other home--DeSoto County, Mississippi...visiting old friends and playing poker at Harrah's in Tunica (of course, he got to enjoy eating great Southern food at the Paula Deen buffet there!) Boo-hiss, I was not able to go!!!

I'm also missing out on a family gathering in South Georgia with my mama's relatives...they always get together on Labor Day Weekend and "fry-up" catfish and hush puppies all weekend!

So what's a girl to do??? I cooked my own catfish and hush puppies!!! Catfish, hush puppies, french fries, corn bread, and tartar sauce...

Us Southerners LOVE our fried catfish with the de rigueur hush puppies...we consider catfish as the other white meat. 70% of the world's supply of catfish comes from the Catfish Capital of the World--Belzoni, Mississippi. Belzoni hosts a World Catfish Festival every year...of course there's a beauty pageant with the crown going to the "Catfish Queen!" Lord have mercy...

Catfish is on the menu of every small-town family restaurant in Dixie! Southerners love all kinds of catfish, but of course, we are partial to the fried catfish! The de rigueur side is hush puppies. A lot of y'all Yankees probably have never tried hush puppies. Well, they are delicious and I have included a recipe* below. How did hush puppies get their name? The story goes that after the Civil War, when people were cooking fish, they would throw the scraps of the batter from the skillet to the barking dogs and yell "hush puppies"...a Southern tradition was born!

Now, we Southerners also love our Coca Cola, which of course was invented in the South. I decided to serve Coca Cola Cake for dessert. This cake is so popular in the South that my beloved Cracker Barrel offers it on their menu! "Thank you very much Cracker Barrel people...throw two pieces of that yummy cake in a bag to go!" Love it y'all!

I made some iced cold sweet tea and served the dinner. Husband liked it all. Thank you very much! When I served the cake, he snickered and asked me "Is this homemade?" Good Lord, why does he ask me such a silly question? Do y'all hate it when people ask you if a dish you serve them is homemade? It's like if you say "No, I bought this at Publix, they might not like it then." It's not an etiquette faux pas, but it certainly gets on my nerves when people ask me if I made something. So for that reason, I love these little napkins...

*Recipe for Hush Puppies:
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tblsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups corn meal
1 sm onion, finely chopped
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk

Stir together dry ingredients. Add onion, then add the beaten egg and milk, stirring lightly. Drop a tblsp of the mixture into hot deep fat, frying only a few at a time till golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

I do hope y'all are having a fabulous Labor Day Weekend. As I mentioned above, mine will be a quiet one. I will be back on Monday with "Miss Janice's Labor Day Fashion Rules."

20 comments:

  1. Hush puppies sound delicious. And no, we don't see them around much, here in California.

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  2. I love fried catfish! Mmmm. Up here in Upstate NY we have Fish Fry restaurants. And by restaurant, I mean small shack-like building on the side of a road. They serve it all fried of course. My favorite meal (or way to bring on a heart attack) is a fish fry (it's cod) with "sauce" (a sweet chile sauce), onion rings (they hand cut and dip them) and a coffee milk shake. Oh my!

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  3. Hmm.. will need to try out that recipe ... and coke cake ... wow that sounds interesting...

    Wishing you a fabulous Labor Day week-end! And paws and licks frm Dolce to Mlle Coco.. (there is a little shout out to her on his Friday post)..HHL

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  4. Oh my! All I can say is "shut my mouth!"

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  5. Mmmm! I love good hush puppies. And I wouldn't exactly turn down a coca cola cake either. :-)

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  6. Looks good and I don't even like catfish!!! lol! I'm in love with your plates and napkins Miss Janice!!! Where do you get all of those cute plates and napkins? You always find the best ones!

    Have a great weekend!
    Jennifer

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  7. My hubby won "Mr. Catfish" when he was a little boy at a Catfish Festival back in Louisiana.

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  8. Sounds like a great supper, Miss Janice. I just might make a "co-cola" cake for Labor Day. I haven't made one in a while, and they are always a hit!

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  9. Even us yanks here in PA love fried catfish!!! and i've never been one to turn down a piece of coke cake...
    i'm in agreement on the "is it homemade" comment...as if they're not going to finish it if you say it's from a store!!!
    Made me hungry...think i'll talk hubs into going to Cracker Barrel for dinner :D

    Happy Labor Day Weekend

    ~victoria~

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  10. Love those napkins and there is a Texas sheetcake that is a lot like coca-cola cake. Yum....

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  11. Oh goodness my mouth watered looking at that post!

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  12. Desoto county?! I live in Oktibbeha county!! And I used to live in Duval county Florida! Coincidences!

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  13. I don't like catfish, but I can make a pig of myself on hush puppies and french fries. Here in Alabama we don't drink Coca Cola or eat Coca Cola cake, we drink Co-Colas and eat Co-Cola cake. I may have to go to the Cracker Barrel and get me a piece of that cake.

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  14. Hush puppies are my favorite and hard to find these days! Thank you for the recipe - will make my own!

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  15. Hi Miss Janice,
    Glad you got a taste of your traditional Labor Day, even though you could not be with family. Everything looks delicious!
    Valerie

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  16. I love hush puppies!! And I also love your too-cute napkins!

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  17. I love most types of fish, but catfish is not one of them.

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  18. Congratulation!!!!
    lets celebrate ...........
    Puppies in Georgia

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