Family Ties

Today's show, y'all, is all about family ties

And you've heard me talk about my Aunt Peggy. Well, here she is

She's going to make her orange-glazed ham steak along with her scrumptious sweet potato souffle

Done it again, Queenie. Good, good, good. And then I make some divine buttery spinach and mushrooms

And, y'all, my Uncle Bob is here, and he's going to be making his specialty

fresh apple cake. Abracadabra. There's going to be plenty of food, family, and a whole bunch of fun

Today is all about family ties and this pretty man standing here, y'all

This was my daddy's baby brother. And he was just always this huge personality in my life

I almost wish that we didn't have to cook because I just want to talk to you and soak up every memory that you have in that pretty little head

But we've got to get started with Uncle Bob's apple cake, y'all. Now, Uncle Bob is chopping us up three cups of green apples

Now, you can use either a Macintosh or a Granny Smith. And he's leaving the peeling on, y'all

Uncle Bob was a fancy New York model. Oh, boy. I mean, we were so proud of you

You lived a life that we could only dream of. Well, it's the other way around now, dear

I'm Paula Deen's uncle. Well, good, because years I was Bob Hires' niece

So, payback time. I know it, I know it. Y'all, Uncle Bob lived in New York

and for my graduation gift, gift, Mama and Daddy gave me a trip to New York City

While I was 18 years old, wide-eyed, thought I knew everything. I didn't know jack, y'all

And so my gift was to go up there and spend two weeks with Uncle Bob. Poor thing

You took me to the World's Fair. It was in 1965. And we were riding on that subway

thing, and Uncle Bob was pooped. So we got on the subway, and of course I was like this

Uncle Bob got on and immediately went to sleep. The train stopped, and Uncle Bob looked up, and he said

Well, where are we? We were supposed to get off back there. I said, I don't know where we are

I didn't know we were supposed to get off. So we had to go back to get to your house

But we had a wonderful, wonderful time. In fact, you know, Bobby, my youngest son, was named after you and Daddy

Yeah. Robert Earl. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so we're making a cake, y'all

Now to go with your apples, we're going to need some walnuts

So I'm using about a cup of nuts, y'all. All right, so I'm going to add two teaspoons of cinnamon

Okay. And I'm going to add one teaspoon of vanilla extract. And we're just going to toss this around with those apples

You know what? I think I'm going to add two teaspoons. I like that. I like that vanilla

Well, I've just about have the apples ready. Okay. I'm going to come over here, and I'm going to measure out our flour

I'm going to use three cups of all-purpose flour, and I'm going to run it through a sifter

Uncle Bob, now, if you want to use this as a measurer, that's a cup measurer. So that's three cups of apples going in there

Okay. I'm going to use one teaspoon of baking soda. Now, that soda, y'all, not powder, it makes a difference

and then I'm going to add a teaspoon of salt. Uncle Bob, he started out, y'all, his career

He was one of those water skiers. I was into a water ski show

I did all the over the jump and carried the girls on my back

called doubles and the clown act. And I had a good time

One day this young lady came to town and her career was just starting to take off

She had a sitcom, I think, on TV. Well, Uncle Bob was in charge of escorting her around

And this woman's name was Carol Burnett. Yep. And y'all dated for a good while, didn't you

Well, actually, a good while back then was four weeks on her vacation

All right, y'all, moving on with this cake. Now, I'm going to put our wet ingredients over here

I've got three eggs. I'm going to put in two cups of sugar

I'm going to measure one and a fourth cups of a vegetable. Now, if you'll come over here and take your mixer and kebab and cream that together

and I will take our dry mixture and add to that. And this is going to be really really thick Oh boy That looking good Isn that looking good Oh this is just about ready And then we just going to stir in all those wonderful apples that have sucked in that

cinnamon. Now while you're doing that, I'm going to come over here because we're going

to cook this in a bunt pan, y'all. And I'm going to spray our pan real good with oil

I'm glad I finally got to do something with you, Paula. And this is my favorite cake, too, dear

I know it's your favorite cake. And my favorite niece. Oh, you're so sweet

I know. You're my favorite uncle. We're just having a little love fest

Yes. All right, Uncle Bob, I'll hold the bowl. Okay. And if you'll put it all in our pan

Okay. So you just scrape that in there. Yeah. We've got our oven preheated, y'all, to 325

And we're going to bake this for about an hour and a half. Okay

I mean, it's really a dense cake. Well, I'll wait around until it's done

Absolutely. You're not going anywhere. No. We got some catching up to do

I know. So I'm thrilled about that today. All right. So in the oven that goes

Okay. Coming up, y'all, my Aunt Peggy stops by to make two of her irresistible dishes

Yum. Then our spinach gets all dressed up for this terrific meal

Doesn't that look delicious, y'all? And later, y'all, my Uncle Bob and I are gonna perfect his favorite dessert

It's beautiful. Isn't it pretty? This is my mother's sister. She's a middle sister

Not only is she beautiful, she is a fabulous cook. And her orange-glazed ham is just out of this world

And I'm going to let you start with the oranges. Okay. I want a quarter of a cup of orange juice and a chest of two oranges

Zest. Zest. Y'all, listen, Aunt Peggy is so funny. Michael and I get so tickled at her because she is so smart

and in her head she knows just what it's supposed to be. But when it comes out on that southern tongue

it can be a totally different word. She just asked me for jest, y'all

So I'm going to give her jest. Okay, so what are you going to be doing, my beautiful lady

And I'm starting to glaze a quarter of a cup of sugar. Okay. And listen, don't watch how I spill things

I won't watch. And then I'm going to add a tablespoon plus a teaspoon of cornstarch

Okay. Two tablespoons full of boiling water, and we're going to blend this together

This is going to be delicious. Okay, I've got your zest. Do you want me to just throw it in there

Please, would you just go ahead and throw it in there, and I'll put the boiling water. Okay, in goes your zest

Great. Ooh, good, you said it right. Where did this recipe come from

This recipe was in George's home when I married and went there to live

Uh-uh. And I'm sure that it either came from Mother Art or from his grandmother, Phillip's

All right, now here's your ham steaks, Peggy. And they're beautiful. Look how gorgeous these are, y'all

See how nice and thick? They look to me to be about a pound each and maybe an inch thick

Okay, so how's that? Now, we're just going to put the glaze on top of this. About high five of it, we're going to save some, too

Baste it as we go along. Okay. All right, we're going to put this in the oven for one hour at 350 degrees

All righty, let's move on. You know, Aunt Peggy makes the best sweet potato souffle, y'all

So I'm going to drain your sweet potatoes for you. Yes, please. and I'm going to bring them down to you

And we're going to start this dish. And I'm going to let you do the liquids for me

and I'm going to mash the potatoes. Okay. Okay. So those are drained good, Peggy

I'm going to mash these up. I've got three cups of sweet potatoes here

And you give me my orders. You've been telling me what to do now for 62 years

so you continue. Okay, I'm going to let you do three eggs for me. Okay

Good. So this is so simple, y'all. Paul, if you will put a stick of butter in there

Okay, you want it melted, right? Yes. Okay. And a half a cup of milk

After the milk, if you will add a tablespoon full of vanilla flavor

Okay. And then a... Do you use any particular kind of vanilla flavoring

No, but I just really always want it to be pure vanilla. Well, do you remember when Grandma was doing a lot of baking

I used to have to go get her and take her to Albany drug company and she would buy her vanilla from the

Pharmacist and she refused to use any other brand of vanilla All right into that smells delicious We will add one cup of granulated sugar Okay You know sweet potatoes are naturally sweet y

But they've got to have that extra sugar to really sweeten them up good

And then to that, we want to add a half of a teaspoon full of salt

Okey-doke. I'm just going to go like that. Mm-hmm. Yummy. And I'm going to just pour in your one stick of melted butter for you

Thank you, dear. We're going to add the eggs and sugar to the sweet potatoes, y'all

Get it all blended and then just pour it into our greased casserole dish

So now for a quick topping. We're going to do one cup of brown sugar

Here, you tell me and let me do it. And you just give me directions

Yes, one cup of brown sugar. Okay. Half a cup of flour

Cup of nuts. Cup of nuts. And of course we're using pecans, y'all

And then you've got one more ingredient for me, don't you? Yes, I've got your butter

This is a half a stick, y'all, of just chilled cubed butter

I'm going to put my hands in here. Okay, that's the way I like to do it. Sometimes that's the only way that you can get it all together

So you've about got that mixed together. And we're just going to crumble this on top of the potato souffle

Uh-huh. And we're going to bake this in a preheated oven at what temperature, Peggy

20 minutes at 400 degrees. Okay. Looks delicious. And while you're finishing that, you know, we have got this dish filled to the top

So I'm just going to get a bacon sheet. Yes. Yeah, that would be good

Just so we won't have a mess in the oven. All right, there we go

Yum. Yum. Uh. You've done it again, Queenie. Good, good, good. Coming up, y'all, I'm gonna be taking our side of spinach right on over the top

Now, this is one of those real healthy dishes. Yes. That I love, love, love

And then Aunt Peggy and I are gonna give this meal a taste

This is just perfect. Mm-hmm. It couldn't be better. And later, Uncle Bob and I mix up the sweetest topping for this lip-smacking apple cake

This is a fabulous cake, y'all. Hey, y'all. Welcome back. Today's all about family ties

I've been having a wonderful time with my Aunt Peggy, and she's going to chat with us while we're making this wonderful buttery spinach with mushrooms

And you know what? All you have to do is continue to just sit there and look pretty

That's good. Isn't she beautiful, y'all? Look at that beautiful hair. and she's almost 80

Did I tell y'all? She likes to tell my age. Well, you know what

And I tell it too because I'm proud of it. Not many people of my age

are in good shape as I am. As you should be. You are just beautiful

All right, I'm just going to slice up our baby portobello until I have about a cup

I try and eat right, exercise right, and live right. And it's hard some days

I know it is. Keeping it all together. And listen, y'all, she eats like a horse

She eats like a horse. It's just not fair. I am fortunate there that I can eat

But you realize I'm still walking two and a half miles every day. You walk two and a half miles every day

Uh-huh. Well, on a good day, I'll drive that far. I know you're not a walker

I'm not all that crazy about it. I know. All right, now, to our skillet, Peggy

I'm going to put about a tablespoon of butter. And, you know, I'm not a big user of olive oil

Oh, really? You know, I love my butter. But I do love the taste that olive oil gives dishes

So I'm going to use about half and half. Half olive oil, half butter

The flavor's going to be fabulous. And I've got my one clove of garlic

and I'm going to just run that, Peggy, through our little garlic press

And you come up with slivers? Uh-huh. There's our garlic. I'm going to add a little salt

Now, I'm going to toss in our mushrooms and then squeeze in about a teaspoon of lemon juice, y'all

I'm going to put just a little bit of fresh leeks in there. And I've just got it sitting up here in water, y'all, because it can get dirt down in these leaves

So, ooh, that one looks good and clean, though. See that? Uh-huh. Gorgeous

Mm. We're gonna wind up with a half a cup of leeks

And we're only gonna use the white part. And you can see I'm slicing it fairly thin, y'all

May I have a taste, please? Yes, you may. Thank you. Oh, it's so good

Isn't that yummy? Mm-hmm. It's delicious. I like the consistency of it

Now, that's just gonna puff up our dish a little bit as far as flavor

So while that sauteing I going to come over here Peggy and I going to grate us about a fourth of a cup of fresh Parmesan cheese Sounds wonderful Now this is one of those real healthy dishes that I love love love

And the cheese is going to give it a little richness. That's about it

All right, now I'm going to add two cups of spinach and stir that around and let it drink up that butter and that olive oil

and that garlic. All right, I'm gonna add about a tablespoon of heavy cream

and I'm gonna add a fourth of a cup of a vegetable broth

And while I'm doing this, Peggy, why don't you get our ham

and our sweet potatoes out? Oh, good. And now I'm just gonna let that reduce

just a little bit. Doesn't that look delicious, y'all. Okay. So I'm going to turn that up

Ooh, look at that ham steak. It's gorgeous. Yum, yum. Isn't it beautiful

It is gorgeous. Okay, and this is the sweet potato souffle. Mmm

So why don't you be slicing us up some ham? It smells delicious, y'all

Looks so yummy. All right, now the last ingredient I'm going to put

is a fourth of a cup of the fresh parm, Those leeks in there, Peggy, are just beautiful

All right, now I'm going to just take our spinach, and I'm going to fix our plates, if that's all right with you

Doesn't that look wonderful? Doesn't that look yummy? And you did the..

Give us a little sweet potatoes. Great. Oh! Oh, this ham looks delicious

It's just beautiful. So this is beautiful, beautiful colors. Mm. Mm. Mm

That ham is delicious. Great. I love the orange on it. Uh-huh

This is just perfect. Mm-hmm. It couldn't be better. Oh. That spinach is heavenly

This has just been wonderful, you being in the kitchen with me. This is delicious

We'll be right back in a few minutes. It's all about family ties today, y'all

Coming up, y'all, that fabulous Uncle Bob is back, And he's going to help me drizzle our dessert with a luscious glaze

That just hits the spot. It's delicious, ain't it? I'm going to be making your glaze

Okay. And you put a honey glaze on your apple cake. Yes, I do

And it's so easy, y'all. It's just one cup of powdered sugar, two tablespoons of honey

Uncle Bob, I know you were concerned about that cake getting done. It's ready

It's over there on the counter. Oh, boy. You're not going to have to wait for your cake

Oh. Wow. Two tablespoons of milk. All right, Uncle Bob, if you would just put that on the cake plate

what we'll do is just sit that in. Turn it over and let it come out

Please, to the cake gods. Abracadabra. Oh. Oh. Is it under there

There it is. It is under there. It's beautiful. Isn't it pretty

Now I'm going to get our frosting blended, then just drizzle it right over our apple cake

Mmm. Absolutely delicious. This is a fabulous cake, y'all. Cheers

Cheers. Mmm. Mmm. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Oh, boy, right. That just hits the spot

It's delicious, isn't it? I love my apple cake. And here she comes

There's Aunt Peggy and Kebab. She must have smelled this delicious dessert

And I must have some of your cake. Oh, I want you to. And I know you..

We were so busy standing up here and laughing and having a good time

I forgot all about Aunt Peggy in there. But I can remember when you were in those good-looking trunks

Oh, yeah. And you had that orange tan. And listen here, Tom has been kind to you

Oh, he's sucking in. He's sucking in. Tom has treated you quite kindly

It has. Maybe not as good as it's treated me, but I just..

But anyway, it's always a pleasure to be in your company. And listen, it is wonderful that we can be in her company

I tell you. Oh, how sweet. I'm so proud of her, Bob

I'm not quite as bad and troublesome as I used to be. No, no, thank God

Y'all, I've had such a wonderful time. I'm a very lucky woman, and I love you both so very much

Y'all have both played a big, big role in my life. And I will love y'all till the day I die

Best dishes, y'all. Go enjoy your family