My husband when someone raves about a dish I made ... "Well enjoy it, because she's never going to make it the same way again."

"Bake until done". Every old church cookbook on my shelf.

my sister was bellyaching about how much casseroles were piles of junk and she never made one, until i told her that her beloved peach cobbler she makes 3 times a year was nothing but a dessert casserole. i thought she might explode. it’s true, fight me! 😆

Southern cooking has one thing in common with French cooking: you can never use enough butter.

Never underestimate the power of a Southern woman with some cheese, breadcrumbs and a can of cream o' somethin' soup!

My husband ran my iron skillet through the dishwasher. We're still married but that was a real testing point for our relationship. I asked him if he would run a Porshe through a carwash. He said yes.

When I was in kindergarten, we made these little recipe cards explaining how to make a dish. I chose chicken. My mother still has it because it said "add all the ingredients and chicken, put in oven, bake until done". She raised a proper southerner.

From a 60+ year old man from swamp country in Louisiana, cooking in 100+ year old cast set of cookware handed down from my great grandmother and a box of index card recipes.. your video is right on. Coonass approved!

One of my favorite recipes is a chicken and dumplings recipe from my great-grandma. The directions are something to the effect of "an egg for each person and a half egg of water for each person, then keep adding flour until you get tired of adding flour"

As a southerner, I fully approve this message

my home ec teacher (remember those classes?!) told us, cooking is jazz, all improvisation, baking is a minuet, with precise steps to reach perfection.

The layers in the bacon grease jar are like the rings of a tree. They have a story to tell. A delicious one.

Every bit of this is true. I have examples. First: I took chicken salad to a pot luck at work. A coworker asked me for the recipe. I told her there wasn't one, I just made it. She asked if I could just write it down for her so I did. She came back to me confused b/c there were no amounts. She wanted to know how much of this and how much of that. I told her put in "some" until it was "enough". Second: I had someone pull my bacon grease out of my freezer and she was completely surprised b/c I saved bacon grease. I told her in the South, bacon grease is a food group and every self respecting south cook has a container of it. It is a must for vegetable dishes. Good job Talia!

More informative than any cooking class could ever hope to be. Might I suggest adding a Tip #6: When you get stuck, call your mama. It doesn't matter what you're trying to cook, Mama has already cooked it a million times and will know exactly where you went wrong.

5th "B" Brown Sugar - use it in your breakfast, your rib rub, candied bacon, green bean bundles, glazing a ham etc, etc etc.

As a cook, both professionally and in the home... this is so true. I started cookin' in S. Tejas and worked my way across the states, and Southern Cookin' is on a different level.

Lol. They are not even kidding. One time we ran out of ingredients to make something for church so my mom make a coffee and everyone asked her for the recipe. She couldn’t remember how she made it. She basically just threw it all together. Southern cooking is basically “happy accidents” 😂

So true 😂. I love my grandma's recipes. "Butter the size of a hen's egg", "put in a hot oven until done". I'll admit to measuring somethings when I bake, but cooking? I'm gonna wing it like granny.

I would add another B... buttermilk. You can dredge with it, use it in marinade and add to breads

Girl done wrapped up 5 decades of my cookin! Laudamercy! 😂

My mother was born and raised in the north. However, her approach to cooking is...well, let's just say she'd fit right in down south in many ways. For example, I once asked her for her chocolate chip cookie recipe. Her response: It's not really a recipe, it's more of a principle. Ask her how much of an ingredient goes in something: enough. I am similar. How much soy sauce in my Asian inspired marinade: until it smells right. Recipes are a jumping off point. I follow it the first time (sometimes making a few alterations) and then decide what needs to be adjusted, removed, or fixed. Never trust crock pots, timers etc. The only food to never check on is a soufflé (make sure to learn the correct heat and timing and follow both as you would the good Lord Jesus). Butter makes everything better. Bacon is yet further proof of a loving God. The right cracker crumbs blow breadcrumbs out of the water. Different crackers are good for different things. Buttercrisp Toasteds are great with fish. There are many kinds of mac and cheese; each kind has its own uses. There is something about cookies made by a loving grandmother, they're the best. Good ingredients make good food.

My northern born husband was amazed at how I could make a casserole out of leftovers! 😂😂

I love southern food so much. I love thinking about all the people who have gone to doctors & when they’re told “eat more dark leafy greens.” & go, “yup. Collards are that. But I just gotta add some pepper, salt, butter, & ham hock so it actually tastes like food”

I know someone who had a ton of family recipes that said to use one cup. It wasn't an actual measure. The grandma meant an actual cup that she used for cooking ..lol.

I had to laugh when you mentioned our system of measurements. I worked as a hairstylist my whole life & 20 of those years was in Northern California. We had to make out cards for each customer on what we did & any instructions, such as color mixtures, perm solutions, etc., in case a different stylist had to do their hair if I was busy or had a day off. The other stylist were SO confused with my instructions since I constantly used "our" system of measurements. Haircuts? I took off a smidgen. Hair color? I put down things like a pinch of A8 with a dash of B6. I had to actually give them all lessons in what the heck my instructions meant. Good memories! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

LOVE THIS! I'm a transplanted Southerner but I still cook the way my Grannies and Mama taught me. But you need to discuss the difference between Barbeque and a cookout. They are NOT the same. Drives me crazy

You forgot one: deep fry anything and everything. It doesn’t matter if it’s battered or not. You can deep fry it. After all, this pillar of southern cooking is what blessed us with the miracle that is the deep fried honey bun.

When I moved to the South, I started learning how to cook, and I'm so pleased to say I do almost all these things. I swap out bacon for chicken, but that's about it. At any given time, I have three to four tubs of butter in my fridge, and there are at least a couple sticks of butter in the freezer for biscuits. And the throwing stuff together is so accurate. I didn't know what to make for dinner one night, so I grabbed some canned biscuits, stuffed them with cheese, onions, and ground beef cooked in my cast iron skillet with a smattering of chili powder and soaked in Worcestershire sauce, baked until done, and then topped it with parsley and some cheese seasoning. It became my hubby and in-laws' new favorite dish. When they asked for the recipe, I scribbled some vague instructions on a notecard and gave it to them. Nothing was measured, so I guessed

There is no lie here. i am a mid 50's southern man and this is how i cook. There is butter and a container of bacon grease in my kitchen.

Biscuits and sausage gravy should be one of the food groups 😊

Grandma was a master of not having recipes. She used her Ecko mixing spoon to spoon out some flour, spoon out some Crisco, a little cold tap water, and she had the exact amount of dough for six hand pies (she baked them) and not a bit left over.

Salad : baked potatoes, bacon, sausages, grill meat, fried onion, pickles, fried or pickled mushrooms, shredded cheese, boiled eggs, mayo and little pinch of shredded greens as a decoration.

My family’s recipes have been put into a book by four generations. My mother took it upon herself to buy three identical blank cook books and rewrite every recipe in them for her three children. Now we have legible recipes from my great grandmother, grandmother and others. The original cookbook literally has things just scribble down, things have spilled on the book or have been written on an envelope then stuck on a random page. My mom has told me since I was a child “every thing is better with butter”. If your rue is not as dark as a Hershey’s chocolate bar it’s not dark enough (she is from south Louisiana). The book has room for more recipes and a comment section in the back with helpful tips and suggestions for pantry staples. It also has a sins section for things like minute rice for your jambalaya or quick rue in the oven (she said my grandmother would be turning in her grave if we made a rue in the oven instead of on the stove).

All I could do was say AMEN after this video was done. :) It was like you gave the same lecture my Mama gave me when I first moved out of the house and started cooking for myself...

1. If it feels like it's missing something, add more butter and/or garlic. 2. If a soup doesn't taste quite right, but it's well salted and well seasoned, just leave it on simmer for like 10-20 more minutes. It takes a while for the flavors to meld together.

Wise words Taila. Wise words. And all God’s people said AMEN!

My daughter and were nodding and laughing over here in Tennessee through the whole thing. For me the third treasure is bouillon. Specifically Knorr chicken which I use like salt in every savory food I cook. Everyone loves it. Try it with your taters!

I love collecting cookbooks, especially church cookbooks. The only recipes I follow are ones for baking and something by Julia Child because you have to get those things precise. And I will shout from the mountaintops about the wonders and versatility of a cast iron skillet. But when it comes to casseroles, salads or anything fried? I commune with my ancestors with that. It's just something you feel when it's just right.

This was my mother to a T, everything you said she said at one time or another. My mom could take any recipe and turn it Southern 😂 And in our household, if we ran out of onions and Dr Pepper (her fave, had to have something to drink while cooking) lawdhavemercy on your soul 😂 I still to this day always have onions, no matter what. And another thing, a Southerners spice cabinet is a sight to behold and waaaayyyy different than everyone else's 😆 I have 2 cabinets for spices personally, I don't wanna run out of anything mid dish 😂

I have store bought cookbooks that have only been open once. But, my Calling All Cooks 1&2 cookbooks are well used. They have pages falling out, little pieces of paper stuck in the top for bookmarks. I’ve taped the binder on both books. And those wonderful Church Cookbooks with the plastic binders have been worked over just as much.

As a joke years ago, I bought a kitchen teaspoon set with a smidge, a pinch and a hint. (I personally just eyeball it. I just think the spoons are funny.)

I know how to make my Great-Maw Maw’s Potato Salad that the recipe was never written down! I’m one of a few people in the family who know how to make it and I’m teaching my Nieces how so that the recipe doesn’t get lost!

I do every single one of these cooking tips. My mom never owned a cookbook or one recipe card and her cooking was legendary...no- it was heavenly. Great vid, y'all. I'm going to send this to my daughter.❤

As a Southern guy this is 100% true. Southern Tea: Minimum 2 cups of sugar "And then some more", tea, and enough HELLFIRE hot water to make a gallon of which you pour (still so hot) into a cleaned and reused plastic gallon jug. If you mouth doesn't pucker and at your eyes don't squint you didn't add enough sugar. Throw out the trash you just made, call up a real Southerner and let them help you.

The "small army" being fed in my household are my husband, my boys, and all their friends. Plus my parents, in laws, and church functions on the weekend 😂

My mom has a casserole called “hamburger casserole” and it has hamburger meat in it, onions, any kind of pasta we can find, cheese and butter. It’s heaven to have ❤🫶🤧

I'm so glad that you said, "bacon grease". About 5 years ago I said, "You know what you don't hear enough today? I cooked that in bacon grease."

Talia , darlin you nailed it , especially the holy Louisiana trinity , my moma was half German and half Scottish and she perfected Cajun French cooking for my Dad who was pure Cajun French , look out when she got Okra Gumbo right , that was some great eating , wooooo boy !!!

Vegetarian here surviving in the South and loving it. It's possible, just takes a little extra effort but totally worth it.

Talia Lin is a true Southern treasure!!! 😍

This is exactly how my grandmother cooked. Good memories. Thanks. To this day, I'm convinced, that cooking is more about experience, taste, creativity and love than fixed recipes.

Thank you Talia for the humor in it all!!! I've learned some great tips. Born and raised in the West. God bless you!!!!!!

So true. I don't really follow a recipe. As my dad always says it is not the rules just a guide. And most recipes do not have much flavor so it takes a Southerner to add that delicious punch of yum to every dish.

I love it!!!! Bacon Bacon Bacon!!!!!! ❤

Baked or broiled fish fillets, served with steamed (not boiled to mush) vegetables, Seasoned rice, corn bread muffins, and lots of softened real butter.

I would love a video on the perils of discussing ambrosia recipes. Having lived in the South, I definitely recall that being a hot topic. To marshmallow or not to marshmallow, that is the question. I personally feel they are a required ingredient, with extra potluck points if they are the mini, multi-colored marshmallows! Don't even get me started on the shredded coconut debate either!!

A pinch, a dash and cook til it's done is not just a southern thing. I learned how to make everything from my momma and that is how she cooked here in Ohio as well and my daughters learned how to cook that way from me. lol

Trained to cook by an old school southerner so well versed in southern kitchen speak. My food is legendary and relatives go out of their way to eat at my house. Plus I haven't used a recipe for 20 years. I see something that looks good and I wing it with a high success rate

You had me at bacon.

This makes me want to make a casserole 🥘

Now I'm hungry! That casserole Talia described sounds so good right now! 😋

I had an oooold home ec cookbook that defined casserole. A starch+a vegetable+a meat+a sauce. Cover with crunch crumbs and bake until done.

I can't even begin. I know a few tricks that I did not understand are southern things. I'm from Maryland and I have seemingly inherited the habit of putting any grease in a coffee can under the sink. I also learned how to dredge. Which means I am not much perhaps of a deep fryer without the help of eggs and seasoned flour. I loved this video! When my mom passed away, I was able to get her cookbook called The Joy of Cooking, and, included were old grease stained recipe cards by her mom. I also subscribe to not using recipes. I like how the lady said they are for the weak 😂. Although, I have tried to pass along some of my supposed creations. I'm having the same aha moment as the lady in this video 😂.

When I would call Mom when I first got married to ask for something like how to make chicken and dumplings, she usually started with, “Well, I don’t really have a recipe.” She did dumplings basically like biscuit dough and dropped them by spoonfuls on the boiling broth and chicken. She would say things like, “just stir it till it looks right,” “cook till the dumplings are puffy and tender.” I took them to a potluck when we lived in Chicago area and everyone wanted my recipe. I started with, “Well, I don’t really have a recipe. If I write it down I can’t guarantee it will taste the same because I don’t measure.” I knew I was grown up when my daughter called to ask how to make something and I said the same thing as my mom. My grandmother told me when I was young that to learn how to make her biscuits and macaroni and cheese I would just have to come watch her. 😂

Ambrosia Salad is good too. Sometimes called a fruit salad, but in my house it's more of a marshmellow salad!

In the south, butter is an actual blood type.

Loving the new (to me) hairstyle she's sporting ... and the southern cooking is point-on :-)

My fave Southern Thing member. Hilarious 😂. Thanks. I now am ready to cook southern 😁

I just subscribed to your channel! I just love your ability to make it so fun! Plus, my momma was southern in a past life! Her black-eyed peas with cornbread, lots of butter, and the family recipe for chowchow! Mmmmmm! I sure miss her!

It's the same with some families here down under, as I couldn't tell you the exact measurements of my grandmother's recipes. I was taught to taste everything as I go, so I know what more to add and to read the food as it cooks, adjusting as necessary. As for adding meat to everything, I've been making bacon fried cabbage for years, and the family love Bacon and Chicken mac & cheese I make.

Never once saw Grandma read a recipe. Her dishes came from her heart, not a book.

I always enjoy Miss Talia’s videos! This one is no exception. And as a southern cook, it’s so true y’all!! 😂

Long live to Talia.

😂 Nice to see the team going back to the old style of humor that made them popular. Good job team.

Loved this one, Talia, but when are we getting another installment of Talia's Kitchen? I have been cooking your Mississippi Pot Roast for a while now and I can't wait for another one of your recipes!

And here I was thinking this video would be a wise, serious, instructional video on the fine art of “Southern cooking.” 😁😊😆

I just love Talia. She has a real knack for being funny without breaking character.

OMG she just explained how I cook!!!

Talia - great video, I was chuckling throughout with the understanding that what you said is very on point hehe. Well done!

My go-to is always to make biscuits! My mom's Kentucky blackberry jam cake recipe card lists the ingredients. No directions except three words: "bake at 350"❤❤❤

Sometimes you have to be the one who starts the generational recipes. But, yes, all of this is how I learned how to cook. ❤

I’m happy that most of these were past down from my great grandmother all the way to me, but my great grandmother wasn’t southern. She was Pennsylvania Dutch. I guess there’s a lot of overlap. But seriously I burst out laughing when she mentioned the mason jar full of bacon grease. I mean what else am I supposed to fry the venison in that my dad brought home from hunting?

There you go again ,giving away our secrets ! You nailed it !! That’s exactly how my Grandmother and my Father’s sister told me back 50 years ago when I was growing up.

Those five Sothern measures are directions on the road to perfection.

There are some things you can add too much of, so if your Mamma or Granny or Ant didn't let you in the kitchen (that does happen. I was only allowed to bake cakes and cookies. Really.) then those cookbooks can be handy to learn some basics. Drop them as soon as possible and find those Blessed stained cards and have fun cooking!

Talia, you are amazing! And an amazing cook, apparently! 🙂

Talia, I totally love you. You are the only person that can make absolutely miss the South. I still cook exactly like this... I make it up as I go along, use LOTS of butter, bacon in whatever I can, and cook 'til its done

Midwesterner but can remember asking my Mom what 'oleo' was on her recipies. And lard can be included a honorable mention under bacon grease. But when married, asked my mom and my wife's two grandmothers how to cook baked popatoes, got three different answers that all ended with 'and microwave until done'. And if you go to the state fair, yes you can get fried butter and fried bacon. But fried oreos are amazing.

Someone asked me for the recipe for my Mac & Cheese. I learned how to make from my great grandmother who never used measurements to make it. When the person read the directions to add enough milk to the beat eggs so that they are a bright sunny color, she just about lost it and kept asking how much milk was that. I couldn’t tell her cause I’ve never measured it. Then when adding the pepper, you add enough pepper so that you’ll get a good somewhat even spread off it through the mixture. My Mac & cheese is not that creamy gooey stuff. It is like a loaf and it’s fabulous.

Heres a crescent roll cassert recipe. Brown and drain a couple pounds hamburger meat. Add some spaghetti sauce until its the consistency of manwich. Put that in a casserolle dish. Mix a small thing of sour cream with an equal amount of shredded mozzarella cheese and spread over meat. Open a thing of crescent rolls and lay them out flat on top. Put some melted butter and parmesean cheese on that. Cook it at the temp for and about the time of the instructions on the crescent roll can.

My Kroger sells a salad that literally has Snickers bars in it. Amazing. I just taught my kids to make slaw dressing using the big pinch, heapin spoonful, and the couple big splashes method. Came out great. :). I know Southern Indiana is not the South, but I don't think people around here know that. It's a weird mix, so many people came from the south, including my family.

My mom puts ham hocks, and bacon and a lot of other things NOT OLIVE OIL NONE in her Homemade collard greens recipe that was past to her from my grandfather and it’s so good. Like the best ever. I live in the country part of Florida

This video made my day!!! All true. Thank you gurl. Just awesome.

Banana pudding!!! My favorite!! You should do a video on the secrets of making that!

You can tell the same thing about Southerners in all countries. I, actually, come from another country but it is also the southern region. The cooking rules are the same ❤❤❤ And yes, my son put bacon and frech fries on the top of ice cream 😂

Glad to see the terminology’s evolved and that y’all ain’t just scarin’ up a mess o’ sum’n.

My dad had a German bakery in Chicago when I was growing up. Every recipe I have from him starts out with: 5 pounds butter, 20 pounds flour, a brick of fresh yeast.... etc. :D

One Southern measurement that I use is called a "slosh". As in add a slosh of milk. And then of course, there is a big slosh and a small slosh.

Thank God that's how my Grandma taught me to cook and I still do to this Day,Thanks Y'all for a Wonderful recipe for Memories❤😂‼️(one more thing there ain't no other way😂‼️)

Granny has the writing of a serial killer I SCREAMED THIS MORNING 😂😂😂