Geez, I’ve been slacking on the cookbook contests. It’s been weeks since I last gave away a decent cookbook.

This time around, in honor of mid-summer, I think I’ll offer up Martha Hall Foose’s “Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook.”

I love this book because the first time I cracked it open, I was greeted by a huge picture of brown beans cooked with green beans and a big, glistening ham hock. My grandmother always used pinto beans to mix with canned green beans. It was one of my favorite country side dishes (green beans are also wonderful cooked with tiny new potatoes).

In “Screen Doors,” Foose doesn’t just stick to the old standards like fried chicken and collard greens. Her recipes for stuffed sweet onions, sweet potato dumplings, cornbread crusted white chili and root beer-glazed ham made me want to shut down this computer and go home to cook.

Below the jump, I’ll share a recipe for her Tallahatchie Tomatoes, a zesty casserole dish that she recommends as an atypical offering for Sunday brunch.

Want to win this book? Be the first person who e-mails me a picture of your tomato plants, whether they look good or not, at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com.

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If you feel as groggy as I do on this rainy Monday, perhaps you’d just like to stare longingly at this lovely piece of food porn sent in by faithful blog reader Deb.

Deb promised to make something this weekend and send me a picture of it for my Fridge Magnet Flickr page, which has lately been neglected. If you’ve got any great food pics, e-mail them to me at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com or join my Flickr group.

This is rigatoni with chicken sausage and Parmesan cheese, served with a salad of asparagus, cherry tomatoes, crispy prosciutto, fresh basil and a lemon vinaigrette. That salad makes me drool.

I passed up the barbecued chicken this weekend in favor of barbecued country-style pork ribs. I’ve lately been working on perfecting my country-style rib recipe and I think I’m there. One of my favorite things about this dish is the affordability. I fed about 10 friends on Saturday night with $15 worth of ribs, and nobody went hungry.

I’ll attach my recipe below. Someone asked for my red-skinned potato salad recipe, but I need to work on the ratios of ingredients. I’ll pin that down and post that recipe later.

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Correction: The Spinach-Artichoke Casserole should’ve included one large clove of garlic and two green onion tops, minced and sauteed in a dab of olive oil. It makes all the difference in the world.

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I’ve been so busy cooking, eating and writing that I never even noticed when the Fridge Magnet’s first birthday came and went.

March 26 was the big day. Happy birthday to the Fridge Magnet blog!

Of course, I couldn’t have made this little blog into anything without all the wonderful comments and advice from readers. We have some very talented home cooks and chefs in Southwest Virginia and I’m happy to provide at least one place for socializing and sharing.

Some days have been better than others. While I’ve had my share of groggy Monday mornings with no motivation to write fresh, daily material on this blog (hence the random recipes), we’ve also fired up some great discussions on everything from buffalo wings to top restaurants to grilled cheese sandwiches.

One thing is certain: I’ve learned a heck of a lot from you guys. I hope you’ve learned as much from me and your fellow blog readers.

In honor of the one year anniversary, I’ll share a quick, easy, delicious side dish recipe that I created last night to go with some barbecued country-style pork ribs.

Did you cook up anything noteworthy this past weekend? If so, do share.

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As long as we’re on the subject, I wanted to share a recipe I didn’t have with me at my desk yesterday when I wrote the asparagus entry.

This recipe originally came from my friend and co-worker, Natalee Waters. But like many recipes, this one traveled an unusual path. Natalee gave it to me, I gave it to my dad, I lost it and dad gave it back to me. Ha.

I first tasted this when Natalee brought it to a cookout at my house. It has a wonderful Asian flair and it’s a perfect dish for a potluck or a cookout because it can be eaten chilled or at room temperature. And it can be eaten with your fingers as described in yesterday’s blog entry.

Keep bringing on those great thoughts and recipes about this favorite veggie.

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For a few days now, we’ve been discussing the wonders and joys of a hot pan of cornbread.
Frequent blog reader Rich pointed out the age-old debate over whether cornbread should be sweet or not. I tend to think it should be a teeny bit on the sweet side, but just enough to accentuate that lovely corn flavor.
I’ve been perusing a cookbook called “The Cornbread Gospels” by Crescent Dragonwagon, which includes more than 200 cornbread recipes and a bunch of fascinating facts about one of our favorite breads.
Right now, I’ll stop and address the question that just popped into everyone’s head: Is that really the author’s name? Well, I did a little research and discovered that yes, it is her legal name. But only because she went through a hippy phase at a young age and changed it. She was actually born Ellen Zolotow.
Now, back to cornbread.

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Wednesday’s snow showers and this morning’s freezing rain have got me dreaming about a nice, big snow day.

Of course, since I’m in the newspaper business and the newspaper never sleeps, that would have to happen on a Saturday or a Sunday. But there’s always hope.

My good pal Stacy has a snow day tradition filled with play and good food. She likes to invite over a friend or two, rent movies and keep a crockpot full of meatballs and tomato sauce bubbling away in the kitchen.

Periodically, the movie gets paused and everyone pulls on the boots, jacket and gloves to run outside and play in the snow, throwing snowballs and fluttering out snow angels like little children.

The best part, however, is going back inside to load those meatballs on top of big, crusty sub rolls. A little mozzerella or provolone cheese melted on top and you’ve got a snow day treat that’ll fill your belly and fuel you for some snowman construction or sledding, as well.

In honor of Stacy’s tradition and in the hopes that we might get a play day in the snow within the next few weeks, I’m attaching my favorite recipe for homemade meatballs. They’re super easy to make and they always turn out well for me.

A few sauteed peppers and onions on top would make that sub even more irresistable. And for the vegans and healthy eaters in the crowd, stay tuned for Monday’s blog entry and news of our next cookbook winner!

What’s your favorite snow day food?

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