Delicious Reading: Christy Jordan's 'Southern Plate'

When my kids go back to school, I am preparing for, but not yet back to, my regular schedule at the university. That means for the first week, I can be there every day to greet them when they return from school. I love having the chance to chat with them about what happened in their classes and to treat them to some milk and homemade cookies. When I am back in school, I can't meet them at the door, and I have less time for cookie-baking, but I try to make sure we sit down together at the table every night for a home-cooked meal.

Christy Jordan, a former editor-at-large of Southern Living, a contributing editor to Taste of the South and a popular blogger, understands. She encourages busy cooks to create some Southern classics, reminding them, "The great thing about classic Southern food is that it is, in its purest form, simple and inexpensive -- because Southerners in the old days were poor and tired!"

Many of us think of the labor-intensive recipes our grandmas made when we think of old-fashioned recipes, but Christy says, "While I love the old ways of doing things, I'm not one to shy away from using a mix or a shortcut, either. Sure, Grandmother didn't do it that way, but you also have to consider that cake mixes and such weren't available in my grandmother's time. She worked all day long in the cotton fields and then came in bone-tired to cook a meal for her family. Boy howdee, if she could have made it with a shortcut, I know that my wise great-granny would have."

In addition to her blog (www.southernplate.com), Christy has two books: "Southern Plate" and "Come Home to Supper." While the first book focuses on comfort food, the second was designed to help families get dinner on the table quickly and easily so they have time to gather around it together. It is packed with slow cooker recipes, one-skillet meals and other easy ideas to keep you out of the drive-thru.

I look forward to trying out her casseroles and soups as the weather turns cooler, and my whole family is already fans of these cookies I baked for the first day of school:

Dishpan Cookies

__Ingredients:__

2 cups light brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups oil

4 eggs

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups quick oats

4 cups cornflakes

__Directions:__

In a very large bowl or dishpan, cream sugars, vanilla, oil and eggs. Add flour, soda and salt. Fold in oats and cornflakes. I used my KitchenAid stand mixer and didn't have a problem, but be warned this is a stiff batter than could burn up a smaller hand-held mixer -- or make your arm really tired.

Drop by 1/4 measuring cup onto ungreased baking sheets. I used an ice cream scoop.

Christy says, "This batter might be a little dry and you may have to moosh it together with your hands to get it into a ball when you put it onto the pan," but that was not my experience. I had nice little scoops that I flattened with the back of a spatula.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 375 degrees, or until edges are lightly browned. If you want them to be chewy, bake a little less; for crispy, bake a little more.

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Brooke Clubbs is a Jackson mom of three, a freelance writer and a communications instructor.