I love to cook. It makes me smile. And this is the way we socialize. Yes we are foodies. So I wanted to share family favorites with you.

Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe

Ingredients

3 medium, firm green tomatoes
Salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk
1 egg
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Method

1 Cut unpeeled tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle slices with salt. Let tomato slices stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place in separate shallow bowls:
the flour
buttermilk and egg
bread crumbs and cornmeal
2 Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Beat the egg and the buttermilk together. Dip tomato slices in the flour, then buttermilk-egg mixture, then the cornmeal-bread crumb mix. In the skillet, fry half of the coated tomato slices at a time, for 3-5 minutes on each side or until brown. Set the cooked tomatoes on paper towels to drain. These are fantastic with good ol country gravy.

Red-Pepper Straws

2/3 cup(s) sliced marinated roasted red pepper
1 tablespoon(s) olive oil
1 1/3 cup(s) grated cheese, you can pick your favorite. I like cheddar and mozzarella.
2 cans of croissant rolls, rolled out thin.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Roll out croissant dough into a rectangle. Lay out red peppers over 1 can of dough. Sprinkle cheese over the red peppers. Take 2nd can of rolled out dough place over first sheet. Press slightly to seal.
Cut dough into 24 eight-inch-long strips. Twist each strip and transfer to 2 parchment-lined baking pans. Chill for 20 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes.

Do you take celebrating the holidays to a new level? Are you creative, spirited, and a master at cooking, decorating, and entertaining? If the answer is yes, then you could be chosen as Taste of Home’s official Ambassador of the Holidays! This is my all time favorite go to magazine for recipes!

The woman selected as “Mrs. Holiday” will receive $50,000 and a spokesperson role with Taste of Home. Once crowned, Mrs. Holiday will have the opportunity to conduct interviews, participate in cooking segments and blog, as well as make appearances across the country at retailers and some of the more than 300 Taste of Home cooking schools.

Between now and September 7^th, women age 18 and older are invited to log on to Facebook.com/TasteofHome to upload a short video and signature recipe that demonstrates how they bring the holidays to life for their family and friends. The winner will be selected from the top 100 entries that receive the most votes from the public, so every vote counts!

Mrs. Holiday candidates can submit videos for Independence Day, New Years, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Independence Day is coming up soon, and they have already had some great submissions: