Jan Norris: Writer, Editor, Floridian

Jan Norris writes at all hours of the day and night. To keep up with Jan, please sign up for her once-a-day Appeteaser. We have a no-spam guarantee and you can opt out of the email Appeteaser anytime you like. Of, if you’re more of the RSS sort, you may subscribe to her feed.We Southerners [...]

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After reading about the unusual latkes that take top honors at the Morse Geriatric Center Latke Cook-off, one of my readers, Sandie Cohen of Hollywood, FL, wrote to say hers are the very best “traditional” latkes around.
She shared her recipe for these crispy potato pancakes, and tips for making them. Jan’s note: Don’t make substitutions until after [...]

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The annual Morse Geriatric Center’s Latke Cook-off produced a number of very tasty latkes from the employee teams who competed earlier this month.
Seven teams of administrators and workers at the center playfully compete in the potato-pancake frying contest for the “Golden Spatula” award — bragging rights, really, till next year.
The winning latke in the “best taste” category would [...]

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Rob Kasper’s famous eggnog recipe.

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From an anonymous cook who is making a rib roast for the first time for the holidays:
What’s the best way to roast a prime rib? Should I get the one with the ribs, or without?

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Congratulations to Valerie Haines, the principal at Freedom Shores Elementary School in Boynton Beach, for her winning cookie, Winter Delights. They took top awards at the annual Palm Beach Post Holiday Cookie Contest this year. (You can find photos of all the winners and their recipes on the Palm Beach Post’s web food page.)

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I’ve got several recipes for pecan pie, and this year, tried one from James Villas, a good old Southern cook, who was writing in Southern Food. It was fine, but I still prefer the one from my late husband’s aunt, Bebe. She’s from the Mobile area (Grand Bay, Ala.), where pecan trees used to outnumber [...]

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Snickerdoodles, snickerdoodles, snickerdoodles!!! Next to chocolate chip cookies, these have to be an all-time favorite cookie across the country. (My web master points out there’s one made with the ganga weed.)
They appeal these days because of their comfort level and kid-pleasing flavor — cinnamon and sugar. Bake them with a child — they’re SO easy! So, for [...]

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Vegetarians: Skip this post. A discussion I read about cooking in duck fat - see below - led me to remember the small jar of bacon drippings my mother always kept around — a fixture in Southern kitchens, of course. That led me to a recipe I recited last night at dinner to a seatmate for my favorite way [...]

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Another cookie contest over — hallelujah! The Palm Beach Post’s annual Holiday Cookie Contest caused about 125 cooks to fire up their ovens (some entered more than one cookie; others baked as a team to enter one) in hopes of winning a $50 prize and get their photo and recipe in the paper.

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