Satisfy your appetite with comfort food

Sometimes you just feel like cooking what you enjoyed eating growing up. Mothers can always cook the best food, and you never forget what it was like when she was prepping and cooking. The smell of the food on the platter and the taste are something you will never forget.

One of those dishes for me was fried chicken. I never can cook it like mother and my sister, it was so good – but maybe you can.

Classic Fried Chicken

1 1/4 cups of buttermilk

2 tablespoons of hot sauce

2 tablespoons of salt

2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons of ground black pepper

4 cups of vegetable oil

First, in a large bowl stir together buttermilk and hot sauce and add chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or up to 24 hours.

Next, in a shallow dish whisk together flour, pepper and salt. Dredge chicken in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Place on a rack, and let stand for 15 minutes.

In a large cast-iron skillet, add vegetable oil and cover until deep fry thermometer registers 365 degree. Place half of chicken skin down in skillet and cook five to eight minutes. Uncover and turn chicken. Fry until a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees, about six to eight minutes. Let drain on a paper towel; repeat with remaining chicken.

Squash Casserole

10 cups of sliced yellow squash, about three pounds

1 1/2 cups of chopped yellow onion

3 cups of water

2 cups of chicken broth

10.5 ounce can of mushroom soup

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 cup of sour cream

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter melted

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt

¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon of garlic powder

1 1/2 cups of lightly crushed buttery round crackers, divided

First preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10-inch iron skillet or a casserole dish with cooking spray.

Next, in a large Dutch oven, bring squash, onion, three cups of water and broth to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until squash is tender, about seven minutes. Drain well.

In a large bowl, stir together soup, 1/2 cup cheese, sour cream, melted butter, egg, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Gently fold in squash mixture until combined.

Spoon half of squash mixture into prepared skillet. Sprinkle with half of crushed crackers and top with remaining squash mixture, remaining crushed crackers and remaining ½ cup cheese.

Last bake until cheese is melted, about 25 minutes.

Oatmeal-Toffee Skillet Cookie

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups firmly-packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

¾ cup toffee bits

½ cup roughly-chopped toffee bars

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray skillet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy, three to four minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Reduce speed to low, gradually adding in flour and butter. Beat until combined. Stir in oats and toffee bits.

Press dough into bottom of prepared skillet and sprinkle with chopped toffee bars.

Bake until golden brown, 35-40 minutes, loosely covering with foil to prevent excess browning.