Chow-Chow & Soul™

Download ChowChow & Soul™ Holiday Delights by Charla Draper

I’ve written a few posts about my grandmothers and some of the wonderful dishes they would make. From weekday dinners to holiday meals with all the fixins’ they were talented cooks. As far as we were concerned my maternal grandmother Gonga, was the maven of candied sweets. This was one of the dishes she made […]

The countdown to Thanksgiving is swift and can lead to menu mayhem or turkey trauma. No worries, take a deep breath and use the following tips to help avoid holiday cooking drama. 1. Turkey Still Frozen?  “Yes, they do take longer than we think to thaw.” As a turkey expert on the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, […]

Patti LaBelle’s Sweet Potato Pie is trending and there are food companies nationwide afflicted with pie envy. Back in the day we would have heard it through the grapevine, but in this era of social media with do-it-yourself video, Facebook and the Twitterverse, sales of Patti’s pie are on fire. Now there are plenty of […]

It is Throwback Thursday and two weeks before Thanksgiving so I’m dusting off my holiday planning timeline. I know the ChowChow & Soul™ family includes cooks that stretch from novice to the experienced folks, who are adept at finding their way around the kitchen. We all need to pre-plan and this time-tested guideline is a […]

Holiday cooking can take many forms, and without a doubt turkey is the superstar. It can be brined, roasted, fried, grilled, slow-cooked, smoked or spatchcocked. Last week I shared my timeline to help holiday cooks organize for the Thanksgiving meal. Today I’m talking turkey and sharing how to cook a spatchcock or butterflied bird. Spatchcock […]

Once we hit November time makes a quantum leap.  Like so many of you, I look at the calendar and realize almost two weeks have vaporized.  Here we are mid-month. Let’s get this holiday cooking party started. If you’re the host or quarterback for the holiday meal team, check the number of folks you’re planning […]