Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

I’m having a little dinner party tomorrow night.  It’s a “thank you” dinner party. 

 I’ve mentioned that I work for my state’s Dept. of Children’s Services.  I was a case manager for foster care the first three years I worked for the department.  What that means is that I worked with children and families trying to put them back together if it was at all possible for them to be put back together. 

During those three years, I had some kids that absolutely stole my heart.  One of those was a young lady who ended up “aging out” of foster care.  She turned 18 while in foster care and was never able to return to her family. 

Several months ago, she contacted me after not hearing from her since she “aged out.”  She was in dire straits with no education, no job, no place to live, nothing.  She has spent those few months living in motels and such trying to get her life together.  And get it together she has!

I can’t tell you how proud I am of this little gal!  She got enrolled in GED classes and walked to those classes everyday until she completed the classes and successfully took her GED test.  She got to “graduate” earlier this month!  She has gotten not 1, but 2 jobs!  And she’s gotten all her paperwork filled out to begin college this fall.  She wants to be a nurse!  And she’ll be a fabulous nurse someday because she’s got so much compassion for her fellow human beings, it’s amazing!

So what does all this have to do with my dinner party?!  Well, we’ve helped her out a little here and there over the past few months.  And I go get her to come eat with us fairly frequently so she doesn’t have to spend her hard-earned money on food and can save it.  Along this journey the past few months, she met some other people who have been tremendous pillars of strength, support and encouragement to her.   They have picked her up and taken her places all over town.  They have paid for her motel so she can save what money she’s making.  They’ve bought clothes for her.  They’ve given her cash.  They helped her find work that would tide her over until she finally got a “real” job.  They’ve taken her to church with them.  The list could go on and on and on.

Last weekend, she asked me if I would mind hosting them at my house for dinner “to thank them for all they’ve done for me.”  Do I mind?!  My GOSH!  It thrills my little heart to death to be able to help her thank them for all they’ve done for her!  You see, she’s kind of like my daughter of the heart. 

So tomorrow night, the folks that have been helping J are coming for dinner.  She asked me to do Italian food and a spectacular dessert.  We decided on Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake. 

And that would be a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake!  I recently put one of those in the center of Tall Skinny Man’s birthday cake.  But it’s awesome by itself too!  So that’s what we’re having for dessert after our Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo, Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Shells with Italian Sausage, Lemon-Thyme Green Beans (actually hericot verts!!!!), Caesar Salad, and Mozzarella Foccacia Bread.

I thought I’d share the recipe with you today.  So here it is:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Crust:

*  2 1/2 cups Oreo Cookie crumbs

*  4 Tbsp. softened butter

Mix together and press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 10″ springform pan.  Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 15 minutes.  Allow to fully cool before adding filling.

Filling:

*  4 –  8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature

*  1 cup sugar

*  4 eggs

*  2 tsp. all-purpose flour

*  1 tsp. almond extract

*  1 cup sour cream

*  3/4 roll of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

*  4 oz. chocolate chips

*  1/2 cup chopped pecans or almonds

Whip cream cheese, sugar, eggs and flour until smooth.  Add flavoring and sour cream, beating well.  Pour half the batter into crust.  Drop cookie dough in large chunks, sprinkle chocolate chips on and add nuts.  Top with remaining batter.  Bake 1 hour.  Turn oven off and open the door a crack.  Leave in oven an additional 30 minutes before removing.  Allow to cool completely before removing springform.  Top with fresh sweetened whipped cream, additional nuts and chocolate sauce.  Store in refrigerator.

And ENJOY!  This is one of the Tall Skinny Man’s very favorites!  And one of my favorite things to make!  So we’ll be having this at my house tomorrow night to thank all those amazing folks who have been helping J out recently!  And if y’all are praying folks, would y’all pray a special blessing for these folks?  God knows who they are!  And it’s my prayer that He will absolutely bless the socks off these amazing people for what they’ve done for J!

See y’all tomorrow!

Food Network

I imagine this is going to come as no surprise to you folks.  But I’m addicted to Food Network!  I love it!  Shocker?  If it is, you’re awfully new around here!  LOL  Food Network is practically the only thing I watch.  God bless the DVR because I can record all the shows I can’t watch when they come on because of a little thing called “going to work!”  And there are several of the shows that I consider “can’t miss!”

This is probably going to come as no shock either…….I love Paula Deen.  The Tall Skinny Man loves Paula Deen.  The Ankle Biters love Paula Deen.  She is like an honorary member of our family or something!  You know what I love most about her?  She just cooks honest food.  There’s nothing pretentious about the food she makes.  There’s no shame in making basic, honest food!  And she has helped America know what we Southerners have always known!  Food does not have to be fancy and fru-fru to be GOOD! 

I also love the fact that it’s obvious that she doesn’t just love to cook, she enjoys what she cooks and she enjoys other people enjoying what she cooks!  And then there’s the fact that Paula has apparently got the concept that the first ingredient in food is love!  So I love her! 

I record all her shows.  I have her cookbooks.  I subscribe to her magazine.  LOVE me some Paula Deen!  She’s just fabulous!

So who else do I love from Food Network, you ask?  Thanks for asking!  I adore Guy Fieri!  He so totally cracks me up!  I’m not so much a fan of his cooking show as I am Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.  I LOVE that show!  If you haven’t seen it, he travels around in old muscle cars to….well, diners, drive-ins, and dives all across the country.  And he always uncovers some of the most amazing looking food!  Everytime I watch, I wish for Smell-a-vision instead of just television!  Someone invent that, QUICK!  Would ya?  And remember it was MY idea!  Anyway, I love Guy!  He’s just downright fun to watch because it’s evident he has a wicked love affair going on with food too.  I can appreciate that in a person!  Cuz I might just be a little like that myself! 

Who else?  As crazy as it sounds, I love Ina…….the Barefoot Contessa.  I didn’t at first.  She seemed way too uppity and pretentious for me in the beginning.  A little too Martha Stewart.  I just don’t dig prissy food and that’s how I perceive ole Martha.  But over time, Ina has grown on me.  Did you know she used to write energy policy for the White House or some such like!?!!?  Then kind of accidentally happened up on the food industry when she ended up buying a little market called the Barefoot Contessa? 

I record her show everyday too.  Some days I just delete because she’s doing some food that’s just a little too over-the-top for me.  But most days, I am enthralled.  She challenges me.  She cooks with ingredients that intrigue me as a small-town little Southern girl. 

I learned the term “hericot verts” from her.  Turns out that just means itty bitty baby whole green beans!  But it sounds so much niftier saying “hericot verts” than “itty bitty baby whole green beans!”  And let me tell you something, they’re DELICIOUS!  I grew up in the South where you have to kill green beans before you eat them.  I mean, you have to really make sure they’re good and dead before you eat them.  I just assumed there was some evil flesh-eating bacteria that had to be cooked out of them or something!  Cuz the green beans I grew up loving and eating were simmered for HOURS in a big pot with a ginormous lot of bacon or ham hock or fat back or something off a pig!  And hey, that’s some GOOD eatin’!  No doubt!  But until fairly recently, I had never eaten a non-dead green bean.  Now they’re a HUGE favorite for me!  All because of Ina! 

Duff……….the Ace of Cakes guy.  Oh my!  He is so freakin’ talented it makes me SICK!  I can only dream of cakes like he constructs!  I am always in awe of the amazing creations he turns out!  And honestly, his motley crew of staff just tickle me too.  They’re all so eccentric!  The ankle biters enjoy watching him and his staff create too! 

Could we talk about Food Network without talking about Rachael Ray?  What a ball of energy!  She’s like the energizer bunny!  I’m into her retro kitchen!  And I really love the fact that she wants folks to give up the idea that cooking has got to be difficult and take forever!  Because it doesn’t!  Good food doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time to produce!  So I love her!

And then there are a few who just grate my last nerve………..but we won’t talk about them………..cuz it’s all about the love today! 

So who is your favorite?  And why?  Talk me to here!  It’s getting lonesome in here all alone!  Some of you lurkers come out and play!  Pretty please with sugar on top!  Speak up!  I can’t hear you!  :o)  Dish some Food Network with me!

See you tomorrow!

Let Them Eat Cake

I promised you cake today!!!!!  And cake you shall have!  Well, sorta.  I feel compelled to warn you that licking your monitor can do serious damage to your computer and possibly result in a grievous shocking incident to your tongue.  So I HIGHLY discourage the practice of monitor licking in an attempt to taste the cakes.  Just sayin’……..But you do have many PHOTOS of cakes to enjoy!  I just wish there was a way for you to taste and smell ’em too!  Cuz I just love y’all that way and wish cake for you!

So without further ado, let’s discuss cake.  Yesterday was a bittersweet day.  My Aunt Linda retired from the Dept. of Human Services after 467 years.  Well, OK, not REALLY 467 years.  But a long, LONG time.  I honestly don’t ever remember a time of knowing my Aunt Linda and her NOT working there.  I say it was bittersweet because her office adjoins my office.  So I’m happy for her, but sad for me that she’s not going to be over on “the other side” anymore. 

Her co-workers had her a beautiful cake reception yesterday to send her off in style.  Even though I don’t work “with” them, per se, because I work for a different department for the state, I wanted to do a little something for the reception as well.  I made Linda’s favorite cake…….well, her favorite cake that I make.  And I made a chocolate/chocolate/chocolate/chocolate/with a little chocolate on top of the chocolate cake too.  Other ladies made Coconut Cake, Caramel Cake, Red Velvet Cake, Hummingbird Cake, Pineapple Cake, and Cherry Pound Cake.  The table was just beautiful! 

Gorgeous, no? 

This is the Chocolate Fudge Cake I made.  It’s 4 layers of double Dutch fudge cake with chocolate buttercream frosting in between each layer and drizzled with chocolate ganache. 

And this is after it was cut.  

Linda’s favorite cake that I make is my Strawberry White Chocolate Ganache Cake.  When I had my bakery, it was probably my most popular, most ordered cake.  This one was 4 layers of French vanilla cake (it’s usually 8 thin layers!) with strawberry orange filling in between each layer, frosted with French vanilla frosting and drizzled with white chocolate ganache.  And this is it:

This is it after it was cut.   I usually dust the top with white chocolate shavings so it looks like snow, but I forgot to bring my baggie full of shavings. 

But we got Linda all retired-up in fashion!  It was a fabulous party befitting a fabulous lady!  See?

Didn’t she look beautiful?  She always does!  She’s beautiful inside and out!  Happy Retirement Linda!  I hope you and ole Bud have many years of happy retirement together!  I love you both!

OK, friends and neighbors!  There’s your cake!  I wish you all could’ve been there!  But for now, the photos will have to get you through!  Enjoy!  And remember not to lick the screen!  It won’t be purty what happens!!!

 See you tomorrow!

Favorites……

Let’s talk about some favorites today.  My favorite brother is sick with the evil death disease I had last week.  Well, he’s actually my ONLY brother, but he’s still my favorite.  He’d be my favorite even if I had 12 brothers.  Cuz he’s just favorite-worthy that way.  And he’s sick.  Did I mention that he’s sick?  Well, he is.  And it ain’t purty.  It wasn’t purty this time last week when it was ME that was sick.  And it ain’t gettin’ any purtier.

 But I digress.  So my favorite brother has some favorite foods.  I think I’ve already mentioned his total, complete and utter love affair with Honeybun Cake.  But there are some other things that he just loves. 

A year or so ago, I was desperately searching the deepest recesses of my little pea-brain for a different side dish to prepare.  I just don’t dig the “same old-same old” all the time.  I need new and different.  So I happened to remember this dish my Moma used to make fairly frequently and I whipped it up and plopped it on the table.

Oh Lordy!  You’ve never seen such a production made over some grub!  Unk went on and on about that being the best thing he’d ever had and never having it before, blah blah blah.  I told him Moma used to make it all the time.  He said he’d never seen it or tasted it before.  I told him he smoked crack and we moved on.

So what was this delightful dish?  It’s a little something Moma called “Breaded Tomatoes.”  I don’t know if she just made the recipe up or if she read a recipe umpteen hundred years ago that turned into her Breaded Tomatoes.  All I know is I’ve never seen or heard of this dish anywhere else before.

It’s so simple it is RIDICULOUS!  And it sounds a little weird.  I know that.  But I promise the flavor will blow you away!  So let’s make Cat’s Breaded Tomatoes, shall we?

Cat’s Breaded Tomatoes

*  2 cans diced tomatoes (DO NOT DRAIN!)

*  1 small onion, diced

*  1/2 bell pepper, diced

*  1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

*  3 cloves garlic, minced

*  6 slices bread, toasted and crumbled

*  1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Toast bread and crumble it.  Any bread will do!  Add all remaining ingredients except cheese.  Stir until well-combined and the bread is soaked with juices from the tomatoes.  Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour tomatoes in dish and top with cheese.  Bake in a pre-heated 350° oven until bubbly.

And that’s Breaded Tomatoes.  It ain’t sexy food.  But it’s good, honest food that tastes incredible!  And it happens to be one of Unk’s favorites.  And today’s all about Unk since he feels like pond scum. 

Seriously, this dish is amazing alongside anything Italian.  It’s great with grilled steak or chicken.  Heck, I usually make it for Thanksgiving and Easter along with the ham and turkey!  It’s versatile enough you could eat it with so many different meals!  Or it’s hearty enough it could BE the meal!  Add a little more cheese to bulk up the protein factor and you’d have a great main dish instead of a side dish. 

I hope you enjoy this particular favorite of Unk’s and most of my family.  Aunt Dee isn’t overly fond of it, but we’ll talk about her favorites another day.  Maybe it will become a favorite at your house too!

See y’all tomorrow!  And I just might have some cake for you………

Monday Q & A: February 25, 2008

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD Monday morning, friends!  It’s good to have last week in the rear view mirror!  That is definitely one week I don’t care to ever repeat thankyouverymuch!  Whatever hit our house is as close to hell as I care to come!  WHEW! 

So let’s move on, shall we?  Let’s dish!  Some questions from this week:

Are there low-fat bleu cheese crumbles? 

Good question.  I am not knowing.  I can’t say that I’ve ever looked for any.  My instinct says “no,” but I couldn’t be certain.  I have seen fat free feta cheese before.  But never any bleu that was light.

What’s the divine strawberry yum cake you have a pic of up top?

That cake was my BFF’s birthday cake.  The top and bottom layers are strawberry cake.  The middle layer is a New York Style Cheesecake.  In between each layer is my strawberry “goo.”  I cook strawberries down with sugar until they are so thick and yummy!  And that’s strawberry “goo!”   Then it was frosted with regular strawberry frosting.   I thinned some of the “goo” down with some orange juice and drizzled it all over.  I topped the cake with white chocolate dipped strawberries. 

Where in Nashville can you find this mecca called Whole Foods?

If you go through Columbia and hit I-65, take the 440 Parkway toward Memphis.  The first exit is 21st Avenue and Green Hills.  Go toward Green Hills.  You’ll find it in a groovy little shopping village past the Green Hills Mall at 4021 Hillsboro Pike.  Be prepared to drop some cash!  It’s fabulous beyond belief, but it ain’t cheap!  You’ll find amazing things you have never even been able to wrap your head around!

What do your Mayonnaise Muffins taste like?

Basically like a very thick, sweet biscuit.  They have much the same texture as a biscuit, except sweetened.  That’s probably the best way to describe them.  Oh and DELICIOUS!  Oh, oh, and ADDICTING!  Yeah!  That’s the word I was looking for! 

How does your SIL make the Napa Cabbage Salad?

VERY WELL!  LOL  I know most of the stuff that goes in it, but I don’t have the real recipe.  I know it’s shredded Napa cabbage, toasted almonds, green onions, crushed Ramen noodles and a dressing made with some oil and vinegar  along with the seasoning packets from the Ramen noodles.   It is absolutely phenonemal!  Since I can’t eat lettuce, it is my absolute favorite salad!  I could eat the whole bowl! 

That’s all in the way of questions this week.  Thanks for all those!  And thank you all for your well-wishes during the infestation of the death disease.  I hope and pray that it doesn’t visit your homes.  It’s just evil, wicked, mean and nasty stuff!

I didn’t make any new menus this week since I didn’t end up cooking any of my menus last week.  So nothing new to share in the way of menus this week. 

I will share that I made the Buffalo Chicken Lasagna last night with the changes I mentioned I would make.  And it was AWESOME!  The whole family went wild over it!  It’s definitely a keeper!

OK, have a great week!  Cook something fabulous and report back about it!  See you tomorrow!

Beef Stroganoff

YOO HOO!  Anybody home around here?  Sorry to leave you hanging like that.  It’s been a rough few days around my house.  First I came down with the death disease, then the smallest ankle biter came down with it.  It just ain’t been a fun week around our house!  I hope you all can avoid the crud coming to your house for a visit! 

So I finally felt semi-human again yesterday after spending most of the week so sick I would have had to get better to die!  And I woke up in need of comfort food!  SERIOUS comfort food!

What would that be?  I ran through a bunch of things before finally settling on Beef Stroganoff.  Why Beef Stroganoff?  Heck if I know!  That is NOT something I typically think of when I think “comfort food.”  But somehow that ended up being the one thing that sounded good to me. 

So that’s what ended up comforting this family last night for dinner.  I don’t know if it was because I’ve been sick for days and weeks and months and years on end……..or what seemed like it anyway………or if this meal just really rocked out loud.  But the whole family went buck wild over it like they’d never had a bite to eat in their lives!  It was crazy!  I mean these folks sat at the table making grunting NOISES!

Wanna make some Beef Stroganoff? 

Beef Stroganoff

*  2 pounds stew beef

*  1 large 0nion, diced

*  3-4 garlic cloves, minced

*  salt and pepper, to taste

*  1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

*  1 jar beef gravy

*  1 can cream of mushroom soup

*  1 cup sour cream

*  cooked egg noodles

Heat 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil in a heavy pot.  Add onion to pot and begin to saute.  Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper.  Saute’ meat in oil until just browned.  Add gravy.  Fill jar halfway with water.  Rinse and add to pot.  Add garlic.  Simmer meat on very low heat 2 hours.  Add parsley, sour cream and cream of mushroom soup.  Simmer 30 more minutes.  Serve hot over cooked egg noodles.

It’s pretty sad how simple this was and how happy it made my family.  My SIL informed me today they were all in withdrawals because I hadn’t cooked in a week!  LOL  I’m glad they’re so easy to make happy! 

I served this with Mashed Potatoes, because that is truly comfort food for me, and Mixed Vegetable Casserole.  My SIL made my favorite salad, Napa Cabbage Salad.  And I made some Mayonnaise Muffins.  All in all, a very comforting meal!

Now, I’ve got cakes to finish.   I’ve been up to my eyeballs in cake since before the crack of dawn this morning!  See y’all tomorrow for Monday Q & A!  Y’all throw me some questions, would ya?

Homemade Soup—The Best Medicine

I’m still sick.  Yippee!  And now Ankle Biter #2 is too!  Double Yippee! 

I’ve been so sick this week, I think I’d have to get better to DIE.  Think hacking up a lung, throat so sore it feels like you ate shards of glass then downed a rubbing alcohol chaser, nose running, head splitting, aching all over…………get the picture?  Fun stuff, no doubt! 

My SIL called this morning to check on me.  I can’t talk.  I can’t even squeak today.  Yesterday I could squeak.  Today, it’s a whisper.  She asked if some homemade chicken noodle soup sounded good for supper.  Do bears go in the woods!?!??!  SHYEAH!  Homemade soup for supper sounds like just the ticket!

Since it’s obvious there’s going to be no Buffalo Chicken Lasagna or Chicken Enchiladas here this week, I sent the chicken next door to be made into soup. 

Turns out my little Nephrina has been sick too.  While AB2 and I seem to have some kind of upper respiratory funk, the Nephrina has apparently had some kind of vicious gastrointestinal funk leaving him praying to the porcelain god the past couple days.  God bless his little heart…..and gut.  So Unk is making soup for the sickies. 

This is not the soup we’re having for dinner, but it’s a quickie soup for when you want soup, but don’t have a lot of time.  So I thought I’d do a little copy and paste for a quickie blog entry today. 

Easy Potato Soup

*  1 pkg. frozen hashbrowns

*  1 pkg. frozen seasoning blend (mixed peppers, onions, celery and parsley)

*  4 cups chicken broth

*  garlic, to taste

*  1 cup sour cream

*  1/2 cup bacon, chopped

*  1 cup cheddar cheese

*  1 can cream of whatever soup (whatever you have in your pantry)

Cook hashbrowns and seasoning blend in chicken broth.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer about 15-20 minutes.  Top with additional cheese and sliced green onions if desired.

I make a much more involved potato soup, but if you want quick and easy, it doesn’t get much quicker and easier than this one.  And it sure fits the bill when you want something thick and hearty to eat to warm your bones.

 You know what I wish for all of you?  Someone to make you soup when you’re sick.  Cuz there’s just no better medicine than homemade soup!  Go make some for someone you love that’s feeling puny! 

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

We were supposed to have Buffalo Chicken Lasagna last night for dinner.  That’s what I put on the menu anyway.  But I woke up feeling like total, complete and utter crap yesterday morning.  YIPPEE!  It’s always fabulous to feel nasty on a holiday from work.  Especially when TSM took a vacation day so we could go have some fun.  So my “fun” was laying in the recliner under my huge down comforter shivering and sucking on a bottle of cough medicine all day long.  I sure live large on days I don’t have to go to work!   

Needless to say, there was no Buffalo Chicken Lasagna at my house last night.  We ate leftover burgers from TSM’s birthday.  But I still want to share this recipe with you.  I think it’s going to be wonderful!  I’m going to post it as I copied it.  Then I’m going to tell you about the alterations I plan to make when I no longer feel like crud and actually do make this.

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

*  12 whole wheat lasagna noodles

*  1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

*  3 cups Hunt’s Four Cheese Spaghetti Sauce

*  1 cup very mild buffalo wing sauce

*  1 1/2 cups water

*  15 oz. non-fat ricotta cheese

*  1/2 cup egg substitute

*  9 slices 2% pepperjack cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Spray skillet with non-stick cooking spray.  Cook chicken over medium high heat 4 minutes or until almost done.  Stir in sauces and water.  In a small bowl, combine ricotta cheese and egg substitute.  Spray a 9″ X 13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Spread 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of pan.  Top with 4 noodles.  Spread more sauce then spread ricotta mixture on top of sauce.  Arrange 4 noodles on top.  Keep repeating process until you end with sauce.  Cover and bake 70 minutes.  Uncover and place 9 cheese slices on top.  Bake additional 15 minutes, uncovered.  Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

 9 servings.  285 calories per serving, 4 grams fat, 5 grams fiber. 

MY NOTES:  I’m going to cook the chicken in a mixture of water and hot sauce, then shred it.  I plan to eliminate the spaghetti sauce and add a whole bottle of wing sauce to the chicken.  Then I am going to add some diced celery in with the ricotta mixture for some crunch. 

I think this sounds SOOOOO good!  If the original recipe information is correct, this would be 5 Weight Watchers points.  I will run it through the recipe builder before I actually count it as 5 points though. 

 As soon as I feel better, I’ll be making this!  Maybe tonight, maybe not depending on how I feel later in the day!  At the moment, it just ain’t looking promising for tonight either. 

But I hope all of YOU have a fabulous day!  See you tomorrow!

Monday Q & A: February 18, 2008

Well, not a single question all week long!  LOL  But loads of groovy comments!

TSM wishes to thank everyone for the birthday wishes……..well, actually I wish to thank everyone for wishing TSM a happy birthday because TSM is a bit elderly and senile at his advanced age…….he’s a whole 9 months older than me so I have to give him grief about his age every chance I get!  hehehehe  But seriously, thank you all for the birthday wishes for him throughout the past week.  Birthdays are a huge deal at our house because they were made a big deal of at MY house growing up.  Unfortunately, until TSM joined my family, there was never a big deal made of his birthday.  😦  That makes me really sad for him.  Everybody should have a big deal made out of their birthday.  Unfortunately, TSM never got that growing up and his family STILL doesn’t acknowledge his birthday.  So THANKS to all of you for helping me make his birthday more special. 

Donna, I really hope the building down the road from you is going to turn into a Whole Foods too!  It will CHANGE YOUR LIFE!  You’re a foodie like me!  You’ll LOVE it!  Truly!

Pamela and Marlene, glad you enjoyed the Baked Green Tomatoes!  They have become one of my favorite side dishes now that I can make them with no guilt!  The problem is finding green tomatoes this time of year!  That’s quite a challenge!

“Fat” Babysitter, you’re missed around here too!  Come by and see us!  I’ll cook you up something good!  OH and hey, I’ll get a chance to make you some petit fours for the jewelry show!  YEE HAW!  For everyone else reading, my “fat” babysitter, Stefanie is now selling Premier Jewelry.  If there is anything in life that I love even remotely as much as food, it’s JEWELRY!!!!!!  And Stef is brand new to Premier!  I’m having a jewelry show at my house March 17!  So those of you around here, COME!  I’ll feed you good!

My heart just sings when I see a comment so I know I’m not sitting here talking to myself!  LOL  Thanks to you ALL for stopping by!

So since today is supposed to be about questions and answers and you guys didn’t have any questions this week, I’m going to give you a few!  Report back to me, would ya????  Choose one to answer.  Choose them all!  Whatever you want to do!  Throw me a bone here! 

*  What is your absolute favorite meal EVER?

*  What is your favorite thing to cook?

*  What food do you associate with love and being loved?

*  Who is the very best cook you know?

*  Do you associate any food smells with love?  If so, what fragrance?

*  Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip for a sandwich?

*  Coke or Pepsi?

I’ll tell you mine!

*  My absolute favorite meal ever was my Moma’s Swiss Steak with Rice.  The smell of that Swiss Steak cooking drove me nuts!  Now y’all are going to think I’m crazy, but right up there with my Moma’s Swiss Steak was my Daddy’s Slaw Dawgs.  YES!  Slaw Dawgs!  Every year for my birthday, I alway asked Daddy to grill hot dogs and make his slaw.  NOBODY could make slaw like my Daddy! 

*  My favorite thing to cook is FOOD!  LOL  I don’t really have a favorite.  My favorite thing to cook is whatever will make people the happiest when I set it in front of them. 

*  I associate all food with love, honestly.  I love nothing better than feeding those that I love.  So whatever I make is filled with my love for them.  Homemade food is all about love!  My Granny’s homemade biscuits were so full of love they would make you CRY, man!  Her pie crust, ALL LOVE!  My Moma’s slow-cooked fresh green beans from the garden with tiny fresh-dug red potatoes on top…..LOVE LOVE LOVE!  My Daddy’s omelets, which he wouldn’t even eat!  Now that’s love!  To fix something for someone else that you won’t even eat!  Absolutely love!  And my Daddy’s BBQ…..NOTHING but love there!

*  I can’t pick one best cook.  I’ve told you a little bit about my Moma and my Granny and my Daddy.  My brother is a fabulous cook!  He inherited my Daddy’s way with BBQ.  Man, oh man!  My SIL is a great cook!  She makes good, old-fashioned country “grub” that will rock your face off!  My aunts!  Oh man!  My Aunt Jane made cakes that would make you fall to your knees in worship!  She could also make a roast that was the most tender, juicy, flavorful meat you would ever put in your mouth!  And her Pea Salad!  HOLY COW!  My Moma’s baby sister, Ann……the reason I can make meatloaf today!  She makes unbelievable casseroles that always amazed me growing up!  We never had many casseroles at my house.  So when Ann would show up with some chicken and broccoli concoction, I would be in HEAVEN!  My aunt Linda…….she married my Moma’s baby brother…….macaroni and cheese like you’ve never tasted before in your life!  The list really goes on and on!

*  Because food is such an important part of my life, I associate some of those fabulous smells with love because that’s one of the ways my family showed love.  When I smell dressing cooking, with that strong aroma of onion, celery and sage, it takes me back to my Granny’s kitchen.  That’s love, man!  No two ways about it.  And anything with cinnamon.  Cinnamon smells like love to me!  Hey, just ask my dog, Charlie!  No joke!  That crazy dog loves anything with cinnamon.  I learned this when I dropped a warm pumpkin cookie off the cookie sheet and Charlie scarfed it down.  Charles Edward William Harry (Hairy) Dog strongly agrees with me that cinnamon smells like love to him!

*  Miracle Whip, OF COURSE!  Mayonnaise has it’s place in certain recipes.  But for a plain old sandwich, it’s GOT to me Miracle Whip!  A sandwich just isn’t a sandwich without the tangy zip of Miracle Whip!!!!

*  PEPSI!  Today, tomorrow and always!  And that’s just how it is!

Have a great week, friends!  Share some of your food memories and loves with me!  Cuz that’s what it’s all about!  See you tomorrow!

Birthday Boy……

How ’bout some  birthday photos? 

Not the best photo, but the birthday boy was a bit hungry and not the slightest bit concerned with making sure his burger was properly photographed!  LOL  But this is the completed Bacon Cheeseburger on steriods!

And his birthday cake……….Pardon the fact that it’s leaning a bit…….That cheesecake was mighty honkin’ heavy and caused a bit of structural issues!

This would be the big goober about to take a big bite out of his birthday cake!  ***rolling eyes***   He thinks he’s amusing!

Here’s his cake all plated up with the Frangelico and Kahlua sauce and whipped cream.  I didn’t have any cuz it would’ve used up an entire month’s worth of Weight Watchers points!  LOL  But the tall skinny man deemed it fantabulous!  So that’s all that matters!   

OK, that’s enough about the birthday boy!  Personally, I feel like it’s MY birthday because would you just check out that amazing new header up there!?!??!?!  The food you see in the background is actually MY food!  My friend Laura made that for me!   MADE IT!!!  Laura is a dear, precious person!  The fact that she’s sane amazes me because she’s mom to 5 kids, including TWO sets of preschool-aged twins!!!!!  Add in fabulous web-designing on top of that!  Plus the fact that her home is IMMACULATE!!!!  Well, she’s just beyond phenomenal!  Laura, you’re the best!  Thanks from the very bottom of my heart!  And certainly from the heart of my kitchen!