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Our Favorite Homemade Barbecue Sauce

BBQ sauce is one of those things that people are really picky about. There are so many different styles that everyone typically has their favorite, and they tend to stick to it. Our goal when working on our own bbq sauce recipe was to come up with something that most, if not many, people would really like. This is our recipe for general purpose sauce that can go on anything and can be used any way you want. It’s good for pouring on food as well as cooking into food. It’s great for dipping and makes a wonderful condiment. 

homemade bbq sauce recipe

Our Favorite Homemade Barbecue Sauce
Yields 3
A delicious, all-purpose barbecue sauce that's sure to please.
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Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
25 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
25 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 C ketchup
  2. 1 C water
  3. 2/3 C white wine vinegar
  4. 4 Tbsp light brown sugar
  5. 1 Tbsp honey
  6. 1 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper
  7. 1/2 Tbsp onion powder
  8. 1 Tbsp ground mustard
  9. 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
Notes
  1. Use your favorite vinegar in this recipe. White wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, and champagne vinegar all work well. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
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 What kind of sauce do you prefer? Tomato-based, vinegar-based, mayo-based? Tell us in the comments!

Pumpkin Pie French Toast

Pumpkin everything!! Jim and I had a Sunday morning to ourselves after the kids spent the night with the grandparents. That was so nice and relaxing, but it also gave us a chance to whip up some french toast. We don’t make french toast too often because our weekend mornings are still fairly rushed. We might have to change that now… this pumpkin pie french toast was awesome!

Pumpkin French Toast Recipe

Jim and I were talking about how there is literally a pumpkin version of just about any dessert-ish recipe. We naturally thought about what things we haven’t seen a pumpkin version of and settled on french toast. We love french toast, and having no kids for the morning gave us a little time to experiment. So off to the kitchen we went.

pumpkin pie french toast

 

The french toast itself was pretty easy. We added pumpkin and the usual pumpkin pie spices to the batter. Turns out that it cooks beautifully and tastes even better. 

Pumpkin Pie French Toast
Yields 10
Easy and delicious french toast with a pumpkin pie batter.
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Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
20 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
20 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 eggs
  2. 6 Tbsp canned pumpkin
  3. 4 Tbsp powdered sugar
  4. 2/3 Tsp cinnamon
  5. 1/2 Tsp ground ginger
  6. 1/2 Tsp ground cloves
  7. Dash nutmeg
  8. 1 Tsp vanilla extract
  9. 1/2 C milk (2%)
  10. 3 Tbsp butter
  11. 10 slices brioche bread
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients except butter and bread in a mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly
  2. Heat a nonstick pan over med-high heat
  3. Add a bit of butter to the pan and let melt
  4. Dip each piece of bread in the batter for about 2 seconds per side and then place in pan immediately
  5. Let cook for about 90 seconds on each side, or until lightly browned
  6. Continue until you've used all of the batter and bread, adding a bit of butter each time
Notes
  1. Maple whipped cream and maple syrup go well with this
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We wanted something unique to go with the french toast, so that’s where the maple whipped cream came in. It’s just a slight twist on the traditional whipped cream and goes nicely with the pumpkin spices. 

Maple Whipped Cream

Maple Whipped Cream
Yields 2
A delicious twist on traditional whipped cream. Maple syrup gives it a candy-like taste.
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Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
5 min
Total Time
10 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
5 min
Total Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 1/2 Pint heavy whipping cream
  2. 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  3. 2 Tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Chill the bowl of your stand mixer (or your mixing bowl if whipping by hand) in freezer for 5 minutes before starting
  2. Combine all ingredients in the bowl and beat on high for 1-2 minutes, depending on your desired thickness. Scrape down sides a couple of times.
  3. Keep refrigerated and use within 2 hours
Notes
  1. Replace maple syrup with 1 Tbsp vanilla extract for vanilla whipped cream.
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Charleston Red Rice

Nearly 10 years ago we visited Charleston, SC for the first time. We love Charleston and have been back many times since, but on that first trip we discovered a local dish called Red Rice at Hyman’s Seafood. Neither of us had ever heard of red rice, so we asked the waiter about it. They said that it was a tomato-y rice and sausage dish that had a bit of heat. That sounded good to us, so we ordered it and were absolutely floored. We’ve been hooked ever since. 

Charleston Red Rice Recipe

Charleston Red Rice is South Carolina low country dish similar to the sausage and rice that I grew up with as a kid, except much better. Sausage, onions, and bell pepper is a good base for any dish, but it’s fabulous with rice. We typically make a batch of red rice as a main dish, but it’s an amazing side dish as well. It’s warm and spicy and would be great for those chilly evenings coming over the next few months. 

Charleston Red Rice ingredients

How to make Charleston red rice

Charleston Red Rice
Serves 6
A local speciality in Charleston, SC. Charleston Red Rice is a sausage and rice dish with tomatoes, onions, and bell pepper.
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 15 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 15 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 C white rice
  2. 1 lb sausage links, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  3. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  4. 1 medium onion, medium dice
  5. 1 bell pepper, medium dice
  6. 3 C water, plus additional as needed
  7. 1 4oz can tomato paste
  8. 1 Tbsp brown sugar
  9. 1 Tbsp butter
  10. Cayenne pepper to taste
  11. Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat a large pot over med-high heat.
  2. Cook sausage until browned.
  3. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook until translucent (3 minutes)
  4. Add rice and butter and cook until rice is slightly browned (3 minutes)
  5. Add water and remaining ingredients, stir to incorporate thoroughly.
  6. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Let cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
  7. Add more water as needed and cook until rice is tender.
Notes
  1. This rice will be sticky when cooked, so don't expect fluffy. Also, it's common for some of the tomato to stick to the bottom of the pot and get very brown. This is normal, so as long as it's not burned you'll be OK.
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Charleston Red Rice

Red rice is one of the best local specialty dishes that I’ve found. It’s simple and delicious. What are some of your favorites?

Best Southern Sweet Tea

Hi all! Jim here, pitching in one of my most treasured recipes. 

If you know me then you know that I absolutely LOVE sweet tea (or as we call it in South Georgia, tea). I’ve had sweet tea my entire life and can’t imagine life without it. There have been several periods over my 34 years where I’ve switched to the unsweetened variety, which is just fine and I do like it, but I always come back home to the delicious original.

Best Sweet Tea Recipe

I’ve used approximately 3,804 different methods of making sweet tea over the years, but I’m going to share with you my best current recipe. It’s a bit involved, and much more complicated that how most people in the south would actually make tea for daily consumption. But connoisseurs like myself don’t mind a bit of extra work to achieve a superior product, at least that’s what I tell myself.

Loose Leaf Tea and Why It’s Better

I’m a BIG proponent of using loose leaf tea whenever possible. The difference in quality of loose leaf versus the stuff you get in tea bags is tremendous. I like to think of it like this: tea bags are filled with the dust left over after all of the loose leaf tea has been taken out of the container. My favorite teas for sweet tea are Ceylon Sonata from Adagio and Golden Monkey from Teavana. Ceylon Sonata is more traditional, like the stuff you get in tea bags, just much better quality. Golden Monkey has more of a malty, chocolatey taste and is a sophisticated twist that I really like. You can mix the two varieties 50/50 or come up with your own blend. Experiment and have fun with tea varieties… lots of really good and interesting choices out there. 

Loose leaf tea for sweet tea

Turbinado Simple Syrup

Another secret to taking your sweet tea to the next level is using simple syrup for sweetening as opposed to adding sugar to the entire batch. Simple syrup serves multiple purposes: 1) it allows everyone to sweeten the tea to their liking. 2) simple syrup converts the sugar to fructose, which is sweeter than sugar. This allows you to use less sugar in your glass. I prefer to use turbinado sugar in my simple syrup recipe because it has a richer, more complex taste.

It’s All About the Water

All water is definitely not equal. To make the best tea you will want to use the best water you can get your hands on. A good rule of thumb is to use the water that you like to drink for your tea. We live in Georgia and have very hard water, so I don’t like to use that in my tea. I prefer using bottled water, but filtered water from the fridge works in a pinch. 

Hardware Needed

I make a LOT of sweet tea, so I have all of the requisite hardware on hand. I like to use the PerfecTea maker from Teavana for steeping. It makes the process of steeping and then filtering out the tea leaves super simple. I can’t recommend the PerfecTea makers enough. Get the big size, you’ll need it. 

As for service, any pitcher will work well. I like to use a plastic pitcher when possible so I don’t have to worry about shattering due to the extreme temperature changes you get when adding hot tea to ice or vice versa. Just being on the safe side. As for what you drink iced tea out of… anything will work but you definitely get bonus points for using a mason jar.

Ultimate Sweet Tea
The best sweet tea around. Uses loose leaf tea and turbinado simple syrup.
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Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
15 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
15 min
Ingredients
  1. Turbinado Simple Syrup to taste
  2. 8 Tsp (heaping) Loose Leaf Tea
  3. 3.5 C Filtered Water
  4. 3 C Ice
Instructions
  1. Place the 8 tsp of tea in your tea brewer of choice.
  2. Bring water to a boil and pour into tea brewer.
  3. Let tea steep for 3 minutes then express into pitcher.
  4. Add remaining 1/2 C water to tea brewer (does not need to be boiling).
  5. Let tea steep again for 1 minute then express into pitcher.
  6. Add ice to pitcher and stir thoroughly.
  7. Serve over ice and sweeten with simple syrup to taste.
Notes
  1. Lemons are a great addition to the tea. Uses the simple syrup recipe attached to this post.
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Turbinado Simple Syrup
A great simple syrup recipe that can be used for sweetening any drink, particularly sweet tea!
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Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
15 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
15 min
Ingredients
  1. 2 C Turbinado Sugar
  2. 1 C Filtered Water
Instructions
  1. Combine sugar and water in a pot over high heat.
  2. Let boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure sugar is dissolved.
  3. Let cool and store in a covered container in fridge.
Notes
  1. This can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It gets sticky, so be ready for that.
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Southern Sweet Tea Recipe

Whew, that’s a lot of info. Hopefully you can digest it and make some amazing tea. Let me know how it turns out for you!