Being from Kentucky, I take a lot of crap about the stereotypical Southern food: chitlin's, casseroles and so-called "salads" that don't seem to contain vegetables. For years, I've apologized.

But after spending a few days with my Southern family over Thanksgiving, it finally dawned on me: they're delicious. And the part that appeals to the budding cook in me - they're easy.

I had a lot of fun looking over old church cookbooks, packed with recipes for things like Coca-Cola cake and strawberry sour cream salad. Not everyone is ready for those.

But try this one on for size:

Aunt Janice's Cranberry Salad
1 can whole cranberry salad
1 c. sugar
1 packet cranberry gelatin
1 c. water
1 can pineapples, diced
14 large marshmallows (thank me later)
1 c. chopped walnuts

Dissolve gelatin in water on the stove, add sugar and marshmallows. Stir vigilantly until it's all dissolved. Add pineapples, canned sauce and walnuts. Pour into a casserole dish and allow to gel. Overnight is best.

This was the best cranberry saald I'd ever had, and I'm one of those lunatics who likes the canned gel stuff.

For my part, I tried a recipe for green bean casserole, with fresh beans, beschamel sauce, sauteed mushrooms and panko-crusted onions. I got it from Alton Brown on the Food Network:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_81503,00.html.

Funny that even with the half and half in the beschamel, it still winds up being lower-calorie than the processed version, due to lack of those horrible French onion things.

The recipe calls for a cast-iron skillet, but I made do without one. I know, what kind of Southerner am I? And yes, you really need Panko bread crumbs.

The Barefoot Contessa says not to bother cooking for people you don't absolutely love. I'm beginning to understand why. The idea is that if you really love someone, you can forgive them for their dietary eccentricities or not wanting to taste things they don't think they like. We'll see.

This year, I've been given free reign to cook Christmas dinner at my mother's house. But it's not as free or as simple as it sounds. Not only does my mother not like to cook, she's not fond of messes in her kitchen. And she and my stepfather aren't big on leftovers. She also hates to buy spices she's not sure she'll use again. But in the name of creating one of those really fantastic holiday memories, I decided to make it work.

I was full of ideas. How about a green vegetable sauteed with some toasted almond slivers, a really tasty salad? Maybe we could forget the turkey altogether and have a standing rib roast, wash it down with some holiday cocktail and finish it all of with creme brulee or a croissant bread pudding?

It's like I pulled out a shot gun. No turkey?! So my husband is dealing with the bird. He likes to do it - and frankly, no matter how good I get at making other things, his turkeys are still tastier than mine.

That left me with some sides, and started making suggestions for things we could cut out in favor or new flavor combos. Who needs another crock of stuffing and mashed potatoes? Turns out: Everyone.

I decided to let my mother and husband each make one of those, and I could turn my attention to a vegetable tian, with tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, onions and gruyere. Maybe something simple with a green vegetable, some thyme popovers and an exciting dessert...But my mother had to have a pumpkin pie, and when I called my uncle to see what his favorite dish is --- turns out to be green bean casserole.

So Mom is going to have to make due with a pumpkin banana mousse tart, and Uncle John will get a from-scratch casserole with fresh green beans and panko-crusted onions. And I'm sticking to my guns on the vegetable tian and popovers. There WILL be new dishes at the table! Too bad it just means more food. But we'll stuff ourselves in the name of progress and I'll report back.

Ever had homemade egg nog? I did once. At a party in college. We were scared of it, and sipped on it politely until we could make our way one by one to the bathroom and flush it away.

Since then, I've been more than happy with the supermarket stuff, particularly with the advent of the reduced-fat variety. But during last weekend's big snow, we were pretty well in for the evening by 3 in the afternoon. Four Christmas movies in hand and Thai food on the way, we needed that special something to take that mid-December evening over the top.

So I separated four eggs, and whisked the yolks together with 1/3 cup of sugar until they turned lighter in color, and got fluffy. Then I added 4 cups skim milk, 1 cup cream and about 1/2 cup of good ol' Kentucky bourbon. That mixture went into the fridge while I cleaned the hell out of my mixing bowl and spatula. Then the egg whites got beaten with 1 tablespoon of sugar, and I folded the stiff whites in with the yolk mixture.

I left it alone for a good hour, and the whites had created a foam on the top so the whole thing tasted like a milkshake. Mmmm. And so easy.