Its been awhile...

and I promise to be cooking again real soon... Life has been making Paula Deen's cooking kinda on the back burner... Hopefully I will at least get a recipe or two covered this month!

Herbed Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I love pounding chicken breasts after a long day at work!  Had so-o much fun smashing chicken. That was probably my fav part of the recipe... It was a long, tedious process of spreading and wrapping the chicken. Realized I forgot the feta cheese but made it without... Was rather awesome served over rice...Only had easy bacon in the house but that didnt seem to matter either..Served over rice and even looked like I knew what I was doing!

Peanut Butter Cake

Well, I made it almost a week ago and there are still leftovers... It a dessert obsessed family like mine, thats never a good sign. It tasted weird... Thats the only way to describe it... First off I have never made a cake with Crisco before and maybe I did something wrong there...
Finally the frosting was even stranger and was basically a no-bake cookie without peanut butter or oatmeal... It made for a weird constancy to go with the strange taste... I guess if I want to eat empty calories, this is not what I would waste them on... Too bad too, cause I love peanut butter...

                                                   The cake in the oven...

                                        You were supposed to poke a few holes in the cake when u added the hot frosting on it... The finished product even looked odd... :)

Shrimp and Mushroom Casserole

First of, I have been cooking, just not really posting but hopefully today I can get caught up a little... I also have made some amazing dishes in the last few weeks that were not out of kitchen classics so it has been awhile since I have posted...

I dont really know why this dish is called a casserole besides it is baked in a casserole dish... Its more like a thick soup or thin stew. I served it over rice... It was good... I had leftovers and didnt want to make more rice to at work I heated it up and dunked Bruschetta into it...

Peach Cobbler

Now I probably should have guessed that I wouldnt be a big fan of this recipe when I found out it didnt have a cinnamon crumbly topping which is my FAVORITE thing about peach cobbler... but I made it anyway.
 It wasnt that it was bad, but it was just okay... The weird cake-ness tasted kinda like bisquick--really needed cinnamon or some kind of spice... And of course there was hot yummy peaches, but I would stick with a recipe with crumbly topping any day...

Step it up Paula!!!  Too many mediocre recipes lately!!!!

Cheeseburger Meatloaf with Sauce...

Basically it was okay... The other meatloaf was better. Now I first must admit that for some reason we are out of Seasoning Salt-- Go figure... So I went on-line to figure out how to make it... So I made it but I was missing Onion Salt-- So the fact that I needed to add more salt and pepper when it was done might have been from this point. The Cheesy Sauce was okay but also lacked any flavor besides cheese...

Another sad recipe... Filling but sad...

Glazed Honey bars

After all of these recipes I finally found one that I didnt like... I mean I know it was bound to happen but I didnt figure it would be a dessert...  IT tasted blah and had a lack-luster texture. Very disappointing!

One issue might be that due to the fact there is mayonnaise in the glaze I stored it in the fridge. And it became a rock-- once it warms up a lil it is better but still blah...

Sorry Paula, this one is NOT one of your best...

Chicken Paprika

I dont know why, but I love Chicken... I mean I could eat chicken so many different ways, that I could probably eat it everyday of the week and not get bored!

First off the recipe calls for a 4-5lb. chicken cut-up, however, I dont like dark meat, So I made it with 4 large breasts. I also didnt make the dumplings but instead used some Gnocchi that I had in the back of the cabinet and wasnt quite sure what to use it for... This recipe uses a LOT of paprika (go figure) and its a heavy smokey sauce... I liked it! I dont know if I need to make it again though... Or maybe my off-ness to it was the gnocchi...

Happy cookin!

Shrimp and Artichoke Bake/Lemon Bars/Brenda's Kahlua Brownies

No, even though I havent posted in over a week, I have not given up on my quest... Life just has a funny way of keeping me out of the kitchen...

First off I have never cooked with artichoke hearts before... But this was a rich, gooey dinner. Served over rice. Loved the contrast of the shrimp and mushrooms and artichokes... I was also highly impressed with my skills at separating egg yolks from the whites... Something I had only done once or twice in my life--but it worked out beautifully...

Lemon Bars-

Imagine that, they look like lemon bars..and they taste, like ur boring average lemon bar-- just a lil thicker... Now I did mess up making the crust not that anyone noticed... As it was in the oven I realized the recipe called for powdered sugar, not granular sugar... but they were still good... OOPS!  :)

Kahlua Brownies-

These took FOREVER to cook... Now I thought I had the right size pan but maybe there is one a lil bigger that I should have used. And while I like Kahlua, these brownies really did nothing for me... they were a thick, rich brownie..Not something to write home about... Give me a Gooey Butter cake over this any-day!  :)

BLT Soup

First off I dont know why I thought I could use easy bacon for a Paula Deen recipe but i gave it a try... One thing about this book is that I absolutely LOVE her soups!  I dont know why but today with all the cold and wind I needed a yummy, hearty soup. So I skipped all the steps with frying bacon so I didnt have bacon grease so I added more butter. I was supposed to julienne the lettuce... But John and I both werent sure what Julie-Ann really meant so I guesstamated and I think it worked!  And while I made the mayo/sour cream dressing, I dont think its really necessary for the soup... just a sweet, over-kill! Ohhh... and I loved the lil heat of the red pepper at the end each slurp!

Pineapple Cake

My tummy hurts from eating too much Paula Deen this morning... Its hard not to eat cake when u are cutting cake. I like this dessert. Very summery with the pineapple and run in it. I think it turned out way better than the chocolate pound cake I also made for today (I am leaving my wonderful job for a new experience!). Now off to serve both cakes to a buncha hungry greenhouse/garden center employees!

Chicken in Wine Sauce/Chocolate Pound Cake...

First off I totally forgot to take pictures this time... Too many other things going on I guess...

Chicken in Wine Sauce: Another quick dinner with chicken (can u see a trend? I like chicken!). I think it was wonderful and I served it over some white rice cause I debated rice or noodles and rice won out. First off I cooked it longer than said cause it reminded me of a recipe I made years ago and when I took it out and served it to my mom and siblings the chicken was still pink. I was then blamed for trying to kill everyone... Still havent heard the end of that one! Loved the layer of swiss cheese in the middle and had a lotta fun crushing the stuffing mix... Take all aggression out on dried bread!!!! I would eat this again, but over noodles... :)

Chocolate Pound Cake: First off I have to admit that I had no clue what a tube pan was... and I guess a lot of people dont cause when I typed tube pan into Google the second thing that popped up was What is a Tube pan???  Excellent! I ended up technically using a Angel Food Pan but since it was close enough only myself and my few blog readers will know the difference... I think it needs something more... I wanna add crushed bananas or chocolate chips or something... I think its not bad, but it wont make the top 10 best recipes in Kitchen Classics!

Finally: I did make a second dessert but since I havent tried it yet we will talk about it tomorrow... too late to wait for it to get cool...

Happy Cooking!!!!

'Carrot' Gooey Butter Cake

First off, I had no intention of making all the different flavors of Gooey Butter Cake... This one just kinda happened... I was craving sweets and started flipping though the amazing book that is Kitchen Classics and realized that there was nothing I could make with the ingredients on hand EXCEPT another version of Gooey Butter Cake.... It is good, but I think throwing carrots and nuts in the top and using a spiced carrot cake mix makes it somehow not as bad for u... and you lose some of the wonderful gooey messiness... Ohhh well, going to make a dessert on Thursday for leaving my job for a new one... And since Thursday is my day off, pondering a few recipes of awesomeness... Life is good!

Chicken Georgia/Mashed Potatoes with Sauteed Mushrooms/Baked Apples

3 Courses: All Paula.... Could life get any better??? Well, there were a few mishaps along the way...

Chicken Georgia will DEFINITELY be made again... While I was a little confused how shallots are found in the grocery store, and worried that they would taste like onions, that was all a minor misstep. I also slightly overcooked the chicken cause I have a deathly fear of undercooked chicken... I dont know why, but I do.  Finally I covered the chicken in 8 instead of 4 oz. of cheese, but I am a Wisconsin Girl and there is NO-O such thing as TOO much cheese... Looks pretty good!!!! And it was delicious and comforting... My mom and John thought they were a HUGE success!!!

Now first off I have to admit I have never made mashed potatoes by myself before. I had NO CLUE what a new potato was... I did warn u at the beginning of this blog that I am not a chef, far from it actually...  I also enjoyed this recipe because I was able to pick chives out of my garden. I have been growing chives for almost 10 years now and I rarely remember to use them/actually cook something where I need them! These were amazing to eat. I still have some leftovers in the fridge which will probably be a late dinner tonight...

 I know the picture really doesnt do it justice... but trust me, this mixture of all the goodness in there is beyond delectable!!!!

Baked Apples:
I believe as I fought to core apples with just a knife (and later also used a metal teaspoon) I first off decided that anyone who wanted to make this had to have no free time on their hands... Coring apples sucks!!! However, once u get passed that initial annoyance these were rather easy to make... I should have let the apples cook more than the hour and a half it said BUT I had no clue what they should look like so I figured they were done... This recipe I dont really need to make again... But it did taste like a warm caramel apple...

Happy Cooking Y'all!!!

Tomato Dill Soup/Creamy Cheddar Soup

Its is so-o soup weather... I decided to make two varieties last night. I was running very late from work and since Wednesday is usually tv night i was working on these between commercials... First off I must admit that both soups had a few 'issues' but still tasted amazing... I accidentally tossed the cheddar cheese for the Creamy Cheddar soup into the Tomato Soup... OOPS. And when I opened my bottle of 'white' wine to add to the Tomato Soup-- it was really a red... Grrrr... But Since it was only 1/2 a cup I figured why not???  =) The tomato soup was very clean tasting... and the Creamy Cheddar was rich and hearty....  With a Grilled Cheese Sandwich they were both what I was hoping for last night... And Mom ate up both of them... John ate just the Tomato, but did try both...

It may be a few days till I work on another creation... I have fresh raspberries in the house right now and thinking about a Chocolate gooey butter cake with fresh raspberries in it... Need to make a going away dessert for work!

Happy Cooking!

Gooey Butter Cake

Last night around 10pm I decided that I should attend my work party this evening... I panicked about what to make and I decided since I had previously bought everything for Gooey Butter Cake; why not?!?

First off I must warn u that the 1/2 of a bag of powdered sugar and the 2 sticks of butter made this a sweet, gooey mess... but so-o delicious... It to me was everything you want in comfort food... I made the plain Jane version but it was a HUGE success at the party... I dont want to even think about how many calories I consumed eating it though...

Confederate Bean Soup/The Lady's Cheesy Mac

First I must interject that today was a very 'off' day for me. 40 mile an hour winds at work all day kinda wiped all the happiness out of me. I just felt like I wanna curl up in a hole for a buncha hours and make it all go away.
Even stopping at the grocery store for the few ingredient I was missing was really tough...

The Confederate bean soup was just what i wanted.... I even have pictures which I can figure out how to enter into this blog u will get to see... For some odd reason the recipe only called for half of the smoked sausage but I tossed it all in... And I was scared of all that bacon grease in my soup so I kinda scooped a lot of it out... (Im sorry...) It was still fabulous and unlike anything I have ever tasted!

The Lady's Cheesy Mac: First off I need to mention that I am NOT a fan of Mac & Cheese... IDK why but everything from homemade stuff to the stuff in the blue box-they all just look blah to me... This was good, i think my mom was more impressed with it than I was... It was a nice creaminess... but unlike the amazing soup, IDK if I would create it again...

Barbecue Meatloaf

Was the best Meatloaf I have ever eaten... So rich and awesome... Complete with Potatoes and Brown Gravy and Fresh Green Beans from my Grandpa's garden.... :) I have an overflowing tummy!!!!

Was going to try one of those cream cheese brownies in a sundae but even the thought of food makes me wanna bust... or at least groan a lil... Tomorrow is another opening shift so still trying to decide what to tackle next...  After that I got quite a few closing shifts so it might be a week till I can attempt another wonderful dish!

Jessica and Paula... Day 1...

After recently purchasing Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics at my favorite Half-Priced Books... I reflected on how I wanted to taste almost every recipe it the book. Immediately my thoughts went the the movie Julie & Julia... and I thought well, What about Jessica & Paula... I hope Miss Deen doesnt get too upset cause I am bound to mess up a few things along the way...

Tonight I tackled two desserts, but kinda 3: Peanut Butter Bars and Cream Cheese Brownies. In order to made the brownies I first had to create Lady Brownies... So I am hoping this counts as 3... If not the brownies were worth making again... 

And how did it taste??? The PB Bars were a lil dry but I think I overcooked them a lil... I would eat them again but they dont look that exciting... The CC Brownies were so-o gooey and rich... I didnt want to wait for them to cool which may have made some of the gooeyness!!!  A girl with a rich giant brownie in her hand is a happy-happy woman!!!

3down, many more to go!!!!

Wish me luck and happy cooking ya'll!  (In the best southern accent a simple Midwestern girl can do!)