“It’s not soda, it’s not pop–it’s Coke, no matter what brand or flavor.”
-Bon Appétit,
Mac ‘n’ Cheese Is a Vegetable … and 21 More Reasons Why We Love the Southland

A word of advice if you show up thirsty in Mississippi – don’t ask for a pop.  Don’t ask for a soda.  Ask for a Coke.  It doesn’t matter if you really want a Sprite or a Dr. Pepper.  We’ll get to that later.

Think of it like this way: How often do you ask for a tissue to wipe your nose?  Or lip balm for your chapped lips?  No, you ask for a Kleenex and some Chap-Stick.  In the South, Coke is more than just a brand.  It’s an all encompassing term used to describe any carbonated, syrup-sweetened beverage.

Last week, cookbook author Martha Hall Foose visited my local library to do a reading from her newest book, A Southerly Course, and a book signing.  Martha’s first cookbook, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea not only won a James Beard award, but it is one of my favorite cookbooks.  In fact, on this site I’ve probably written about more recipes from that book, like Blackberry Limeade, Lady Pea Salad, and Turnip Greens, than any other cookbook I own.

You may wonder how someone does reading from a cookbook.  No, it did not involve reading recipes aloud.  Martha’s books are intertwined with lovely stories of the South.  Stories so descriptive, that if I didn’t already live here I would want to pack up my things and move here.  Something about her stories makes me want to kick off my shoes, wiggle my toes, and spend an afternoon in a hammock with a glass of lemonade.

I chose this recipe from A Southerly Course because it was marinated in Coke.  Or as Martha refers to it in her book, “Co-Cola.”  Either pronunciation is perfectly acceptable around here.

Saturday was one of those days that required pajama pants.  It was gloomy.  It was rainy.  All I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a blanket and a Harry Potter marathon with a mug of hot tea.  I certainly didn’t want to get up off my lazy behind and make dinner.

I was thankful I had this planned for dinner that night.  Just throw everything in the crockpot.  A few hours later the house smelled wonderful and it was time to eat.

As I promised yesterday, here is the freezer-friendly spinach manicotti recipe.

A couple tricks I’ve learned from making any dish that requires you to stuff the pasta:

• I add a little oil to the cooking water.  I know this is normally a no-no because I’ve heard it prevents the sauce from adhering to the pasta.  But I always had a problem with my cooked shells sticking together after I drained and cooled them.  Adding a little oil prevents this.
• I slightly undercook my pasta by about two minutes less than the shortest recommended cooking time.  This makes the pasta easier to handle, prevents tearing as you’re trying to add the filling, and prevents the pasta from getting mushy when you finish baking the finished dish in the oven.
• Filling manicotti shells is a pain in the butt.  If you do a lot of cake or cookie decorating, you may have piping bags on hand.  These work great!  However, if you don’t you can do like I do and scoop your filling into a plastic storage bag, snip a corner off, and voila!  You have a homemade piping bag.  Again, I like the Ziploc vacuum seal bags for this because they are more heavy duty and won’t tear at the seams.

I prefer homemade spaghetti sauce over store bought.  I don’t care what Ragu or Prego say on TV, they don’t taste like homemade.  However, for a dish like this where you’ve got a lot of other things going on and the sauce is not necessarily the star of the show, I will use store bought and doctor it up with some of my own ingredients.  If you look closely at the picture, you’ll notice a few chunks of meat.  I added that for the Carnivore Husband so he wouldn’t complain about being served spinach manicotti.  I always go for the big 26-ounce cans of sauce on the bottom shelf that are a couple dollars cheaper than the jars positioned at eye-level  (grocery stores are sneaky like that).

For your convenience, I’ve added freezing instructions to the notes section of the recipe.

If the thought of making a cheesecake on Valentine’s Day for your beloved intimidates you, then this recipe has all the pizzazz without all the work.  You can even simplify the recipe a step further and use refrigerated cookie dough for the crust rather than making your own from scratch.  I promise I won’t tell and no one will be the wiser.

This “pizza” is basically a big giant chocolate chip cookie smothered with sweetened mascarpone cheese and glazed, fresh strawberries.  I can think of nothing better to smother a giant cookie with.

A word of caution, make sure your beloved doesn’t have any nut allergies before serving this.  I almost killed my neighbor on Saturday night.  Okay, that is an exaggeration.  I didn’t almost kill her.  But I completely forgot she told me she was allergic to nuts and I served her up a big ol’ piece in the middle of our dominoes game.  Luckily, she figured it out after the first bite.  Crisis averted.  However, do double check or leave the nuts out altogether.  I would much rather you spend Valentine’s Day in each other’s arms than sitting by their side in the emergency room.

Wouldn’t you?