Lately I’ve finally gotten around to trying a few recipes I’ve had on my “must make” list for well over a decade, today is one of them. I first read about Revel bars shortly after I got married when I was reading an Amish romance. I’m pretty sure it was a Beverly Lewis one. If you’ve never checked out any of her books but enjoy reading, I think you’ll be very pleased. I love when I can read something just for the pure pleasure (not because it is required as part of my job) and come out of it with a little wisdom to add to who I am.

I don’t remember which book this was, but in the story the main character got her family out of the house so she could make these secretly as a surprise for her mother’s birthday. I remember thinking “Now those must be some kind of good.” I sure wasn’t disappointed.

The thing I like about them is that they are sweet in the center, but overall they aren’t knock-you-down sweet. Of course, with the hearty dough, they are filling as well, which is another thing I really like in my cookies and treats because you get into a lot less trouble that way.

I’m on a bit of a tight deadline this month with my book editing due soon and another big project that will be released this summer, so I’ll keep it short and sweet and give y’all the recipe

You’ll need: Vanilla (cheap is fine, if you want to spend more money for the real stuff and it’s just burning a hole in your pocket, that’s fine too), brown sugar (light or dark), sweetened condensed milk, baking soda, eggs, butter, salt, quick oats, chocolate chips, and if you want to, about a teaspoon of instant coffee granules.*

Note: I added in the instant coffee part in order to help me get my recommended daily requirement of caffeine. It was delicious and just added a hint of somethin’ somethin’ to the bars but all of the original recipes leave it out so you just do whatever is easiest for you here. The bars will be yummy either way.

Before we get started, cut two tablespoons of butter from one of the sticks and set that aside to use in the filling later.

Place remaining butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer until creamy.

Okay so I gotta tell you what I did last week. I know I said I was gonna keep this short and sweet so just skip over this part if you want .

I’ve pretty much given up on American tv. I mean, we do soooo many things well in this country but the circus has taken hold of television networks and I decided long ago not to buy a ticket to that event. So other than Downton Abbey, reruns of the Waltons, Little House, and Dr Quinn, there isn’t a whole lot out there for me and you know I like to sit down and watch something from time to time. So I’ve taken to watching Korean television. I know, that sounds really odd because if you had of told me a month ago that I would be watching television in which I had to rely on English subtitles to follow the story, I would have never believed you. (I usually find subtitles far too distracting) The thing is, Korean drama is really good and I’ve found a few other friends who love it just as much as I do. Okay, so seriously, if this is the first time I’ve seemed weird to you then you’re obviously not hanging out with me enough.

So I’ve been watching Korean television and I’ve picked up a few phrases, of course. Not my intent, but it just happens over time. I know a few Amish phrases, too, so imagine the fun I’d be at a party. Maybe I could pretend I was an Amish/Korean immigrant from the great state of Alabama.  

Anywho, where I live, although it is in Alabama, is not nearly as densely populated with Southerners as other areas of Alabama. In Huntsville, we have people from all over the world and I’d venture to say that the majority of people who live in our area are not from our area, which makes for a neat culture settled in the middle of the Heart of Dixie. I was in Sam’s the other day and was going over a series I had been watching in my head, mentally writing possible outcomes and wondering where it was going to go next (I always mentally write shows I watch, I do that with books too), and some people walked by me talking. I heard them speaking in Korean.

In my head I thought “Oh my goodness, I’m losing my mind, now English sounds like Korean to me!” I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I realized they were actually… Korean. Whew. Christy’s last remaining brain cell is still holding on!

You can watch Korean Drama on HuluPlus and I think Netflix, too. I started with a series called “Faith” which is also sometimes called “The Great Doctor”. It will take some getting used to because of cultural differences, but I’ve just really enjoyed the shows I’ve seen so far. I’m on my third series now and generally watch two or three episodes a week.

Once you got that all creamified, add in your other dough ingredients.

Like this.

Beat the tar out of that until it looks like this.

Pat 2/3 of that into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

This is really easy to pat out if you wet your hands first because that keeps it from sticking.

Now put your sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons butter, and instant coffee granules (if using those) in a microwave safe bowl.

This bowl is old as Methuselah and starting to show it.

Here is a top view of the bowl, in case you just really wanted to see it.

I did this post during our little Alabama Monsoon, where it rained for nearly a week straight. I try to do posts on sunny days so the pictures turn out better but after waiting three days to make these, I finally gave up and got to work.

Melt all of this in the microwave, for about thirty seconds at a time, stirring after each interval, until it is smooth and creamy

OR

Until you’re tired of fooling with it.

I love being able to say that. We’re not going for perfection here, we’re going for something that will taste good and it’s amazing how many recipes aren’t nearly as picky as recipes make them out to be.

Stir it up really really good if you added the coffee granules so they will dissolve in there.

Be sure you don’t use coffee, just the granules, because the water in the coffee will cause your chocolate to clot and become one big old mess.

Spread that over your crust.

Like this.

Isn’t that pretty?

Sprinkle the rest of your dough batter on top. I break off little clumps and just drop it over the chocolate until I run out.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

These travel really well and are perfect treats to send to work, school, or as gifts for friends.

Of course, you’ll need to sample a couple yourself first. ~grins~

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t.

~Erica Jong

  ]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/revel-bars-amish-romance-and-korean-tv.html/feed 100 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/12/spritz-cookies.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/12/spritz-cookies.html#comments Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:59:52 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21469 Be sure and read a special message at the bottom of this post – and if you’re on Pinterest or Facebook and could use one of those buttons above, I’d surely appreciate it!

If you have never made Spritz cookies before, you may not realize that these gorgeous little cookies, with all of their different shapes and colors, are some of the quickest and easiest Christmas cookies you can make.  You may not realize that they take half the time of cut out cookies and only use ingredients you probably have on hand already. You may not realize that changing shapes is as simple as unscrewing a ring and putting a new stencil on – in a matter of a few seconds.

The end result is a clean tasting butter cookie that will bring oohs and ahhs from other folks who may not realize that it is even possible to make cookies like this at home because they’re so used to only seeing them in grocery stores.

They will then realize that a whiz you are in the kitchen

You’ll need: Baking Powder, Milk, Egg, Vanilla Flavoring, Butter Flavoring (or almond*), All purpose flour, softened butter, and sugar.

*A lot of spritz cookie recipes call for almond flavoring so if you like almond flavoring you should definitely add it. If you are like me and really and truly dislike almond flavored things, you should skip it and add butter flavoring or another that you like in it’s place. Big fan of almonds, but not a cheerleader for the flavoring.

P.S. Speaking of things I’m not a fan of. I ate a snail in the Dominican Republic last week. Considering I’ve eaten an almond flavored cookie before, it just seemed fair. Won’t be doing that again but I had the opportunity and took it. I figure folks who eat snails just must not be good hunters. If you’ve got to settle for the slowest moving creature ya know… 

You’re also going to need a cookie press. There isn’t any way around this if you want to make Spritz cookies but I can tell you how to get one pretty cheap There are all types available in all price ranges. Personally, I would stay away from anything plastic. This one has plastic parts but the majority of it, the parts that take the pressure, are stainless and that makes it work really well. This one retails for about $25 but if you get it at Michael’s Arts and Crafts or Hobby Lobby, you can use a coupon for 40-50% off. Michael’s has their coupon available online to print or you can get it on their phone app. Hobby Lobby also has theirs available online and if you’re in the store and want to use it you can just pull up their webpage and show the cashier the coupon. I got this one at Hobby Lobby. So I used a coupon and paid a little over $12 for a new one.

I already own a cookie press of course, but I have no idea where it is. Why? Well you see, we moved a little over 3 years ago. You know how, when you move, there are always those few boxes that never get unpacked? Yup. They’re in our attic and my original cookie press along with my vintage Davy Crockett coffee mug are in those. ~sighs~  Maybe my old one will be discovered by archeologists someday. If I’m lucky, just for fun, it’ll be discovered by archeologists who make up their own history and end up in a museum somewhere, with a sign that says it was the original cookie press of Davy Crockett himself.

You’re also going to need colorful sprinkles and a funnel if you want to do a cute little technique I’m going to show you later. Funnel is optional, cute sprinkles are a must  

Place softened butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.

And beat the mess out of it until it’s well blended and fluffy.

 Add in egg, milk, and flavorings and beat again until well mixed.

Then add in flour and baking powder.

I sometimes add 1/4 teaspoon salt here as well. The original recipes don’t call for it but I find that little bit helps. It’s up to you. I add it when I think about it and don’t when I forget.

Mix that really well and you have your cookie dough!

Fill your cookie press (it will come with instructions to show you how) and fit it with your first shape stencil.

Press out until your cookie sheet is filled.

This one just has a trigger grip. I squeeze and one cookie comes out. Move it to another spot, squeeze, move it to another spot, squeeze….

It’s a pretty fast process.

Decorate cookies with colorful sprinkles before baking.

 Oh and here is what I used that funnel for.

I made these little flowers and sprinkled them with yellow sugars first. Then…

I gently placed a funnel on top of the centers and poured in red sprinkles.

When you lift up the funnel it looks like this. It is a cute touch but only took a second or two for each one.

Low Maintenance but beautiful cookies! 

Because not once have I ever looked at a recipe and said “Ya know, it looks good and all that, but I just wish it were more complicated!” 

 Enjoy your beautiful cookies!

Don’t Forget The Apples…

Last week in the Dominican Republic I was at a school and the Spanish speaking team put on a skit about the true meaning if Christmas. A translator stood behind me quietly interpreting all they said. “What do you most look forward to at Christmas?” “The apples! The apples!” Some children shouted back.

The interpreter felt the need to explain so he told me that at Christmastime there is always enough food so children really look forward to eating because they know there will be enough for everyone.

Instead of fretting over lists and wrapping gifts, for them Christmas is about having enough, and the joy of knowing that.

I thought of our kids and folks in the US and how commercialized it has become. We aren’t bad people for wanting things. The sadness is when we look forward to the things so much that we don’t appreciate the spirit and experience of Christmas, not to mention the true meaning of unconditional and sacrificial love for each of one of us.

As I look down my list of gifts now though, I see those eyes of children light up when asked what their favorite thing about Christmas is and my heart says “The apples. Don’t forget the apples.”

Take joy in having enough today.

Don’t forget the apples.

Gratefully,

Christy ]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/12/spritz-cookies.html/feed 80 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/09/chewy-brown-sugar-pear-bars.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/09/chewy-brown-sugar-pear-bars.html#comments Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:45:34 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=20389

These chewy wonderful bars taste of butter, brown sugar, and graham cracker crumbs studded with bits of ripe and juicy pear. Oh my word, are they ever good! You really should make them today because even if you don’t have pears handy, you only have to buy two of them ~grins~. Eventually, I’ll get around to showing you how to make them in this post but right now, It’s disclosure time. Today’s disclosure has to do with the fact that I spent the first quarter century of my life being an idiot and how I owe a great deal of my happiness in this era to God and Grandaddy.

~Clears throat and begins~ 

*I was a complete idiot until the age of 25, and I’ve had numerous relapses ever since. Hang on to that, we’ll get to how this ties in with the rest of my story in a minute.  

This past weekend as I was working in the kitchen my thirteen year old son came in and was talking about a trip we had taken the day before. We saw the cutest St Bernard puppy outside the Tenenssee Aquarium and Brady said “Mom, when I have a family, I’m gonna get my kids a dog like that.” My heart just swelled up so big to hear my son talking like that “When I have a family….” and in my heart I thanked God and Grandaddy, because I knew in that moment how very much I owed them both.

Flashback to almost two decades ago… As a young twenty something, I lived with my grandparents while I went to college. I didn’t start college until I was 23 and I had worked very hard to be able to manage it. In my stubborn foolishness, I got it in my head that I wasn’t going to get married at that point. Having already had enough time to become frustrated with relationships, I decided that I’d just work on me and that would be enough. I had buried the desires of my heart because I felt they were impossible to achieve – and instead focused on something solid that could be earned by studying and steady tuition payments.

One evening at supper Grandaddy mentioned something about “When you have a family” and I guffawed at him as I said “Now Grandaddy, I’ve decided that I’m just not getting married. Here I am working so hard on my degree, once I finally get that, why would I want to take on a boarder?” I used those exact words. For explanation why, see the bold sentence at the beginning of this post*. I roll my eyes at the unadulterated ignorance of my younger self daily.

Grandaddy put down his fork and lowered his voice as he spoke, a pained look of concern in his eyes. “Baby, please don’t say that. I don’t ever want you to end up alone.” He looked right through to my very soul as he spoke and coveyed an understanding that told me he had been to the place he didn’t ever want me to go.

Grandaddy met my grandmother later on in his life after having traveled a bumpy road of his own. They’d become fast friends, fell deeply in love, and eventually married as he stepped in to be stepfather to her two girls, my mother being the oldest at thirteen. He was a wonderful, kind, and generous husband to his beloved new family, even my great grandmother, who came to live with them a year later when her husband passed away.

Grandaddy settled right into the family seamlessly, grateful for being so blessed to have them all. He had been alone and he knew the value of what he now had and he cherished every moment of it.

And in doing so, he showed us just how much there was to love in having a family.

This morning I called Grandmama and as the conversation turned to Grandaddy, she said “He sure did love all of us.”

My Grandaddy passed away a few months after that conversation at the supper table and I took his words to heart. Shortly after he passed away I met my husband, who reminded me of my Grandaddy in so many ways, and one year after we were married, I named my son after the man who’d looked me in the eye asking for assurance that someday have a family of my own.

Grandmama and Grandaddy passed on a love and appreciation of family that has not skipped a single generation and yesterday as my Grandaddy’s namesake stood in the kitchen talking about someday when he has a family…I realized that I’d been able to pass it on to – with special thanks to God and Grandaddy.

 You’ll need: Baking Powder, Graham Crumbs, Dark Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Salt, Flour, Ginger, Eggs*, Butter, sugar, and pears. 

*Four eggs are pictured but you’ll only need three. I’ve been developing and tweaking this recipe for a bit and found it does much better with one less egg, but this is the picture I have so we’re going with it

For crust: Place sugar, graham crumbs for crust, and butter in a bowl and cut together with a pastry cutter or long tined fork until well blended.

Kinda like this. I usually go see if I can find something on tv while I cut butter into a mixture. I can never find anything on tv of course, so I end up just spending a few minutes cutting and staring at a channel guide and about the time I give up on finding anything worthwhile my crumbs are all ready to go and I can turn the tv back off.

Dump crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 pan.

Press down into the pan with your hands and then place in 350 oven for 10-12 minutes, or until browned.

While that is baking we need to make our filling.

Just use the same bowl to mix your filling in, no sense in dirtying up another dish.

Place your flour, brown sugar, and graham cracker crumbs for the filling in the bowl.

Cut together with a fork until it is well combined – or until you get tired of fooling with it, whichever comes first.

Add in baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger and stir again.

Add eggs and vanilla.

Stir that up until it becomes a batter.

It is going to be awfully thick but as the brown sugar starts to break down it will become much more liquified.

Peel and dice your pears and stir those in gently.

The pear juice adds a lot of liquid as well.

Pour filling over your baked  crust.

Spread to the edges. Bake this at 350 for about 25-30 minutes, or until set in the center.

Voila!

Enjoy these chewy, buttery, brown sugary bars of goodness!

“I am seeking. I am striving.

I am in it with all my heart.”

~Vincent van Gogh

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/09/chewy-brown-sugar-pear-bars.html/feed 43 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/12/fruitcake-bar-cookies.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/12/fruitcake-bar-cookies.html#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:41:42 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=17632

Stay tuned for my Favorite Holiday Gifts Guide and lots of giveaways coming up in a few days! 

We’ve never been fruitcake fans, but we do love our fruitcake cookies! Dried fruit layered with cinnamon, brown sugar, and just enough flour and butter to hold it all together until it reaches your mouth! Mama has made fruitcake cookies each year for as long as I can remember. She goes shopping for the candied fruit each year *after* Christmas, when it is on sale, and stores it in her freezer until the holidays roll around again and we all get to craving the brown sugar/fruity goodness of these yummy cookies.

Mama’s recipe is traditional and wonderful, but this year I worked up a simpler version with less fuss. I sent a platter of them to my mother’s house for her approval and she called this morning to get the recipe. She said she’s gonna make my version instead of hers this year to give herself a little break because “They taste every bit as good and sure are a lot easier!”.

So here is my easier version. No dropping dough or cookie sheets. Just pat it all into one pan, cook and let it cool and rest overnight, then cut into little bites and enjoy. Because we all have Christmases when we really want the fruitcake cookies, but a little break would be nice, too!

You’ll need: Baking Mix, Margarine, Chopped walnuts, sliced almonds, raisins, dark brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, one egg, and Candied Fruit Mix or chopped candied dried fruits of your choice.

Notes about ingredients and substitutions: 

Baking Mix – Some folks aren’t familiar with “Baking Mix”. Bisquick is a brand of baking mix and that usually strikes that note of recognition with them Bisquick is not my favorite baking mix. I prefer House Autry (which can’t be found where I live) or Pioneer Brand. I do get Bisquick if I have to make a really large quantity because it comes in larger boxes, or if I can’t find the other two that I prefer. You can also make your own homemade baking mix by using one of the gazillion recipes found on the internet

Nuts - I’m using chopped walnuts because they are so much cheaper than pecans. Feel free to use whatever nuts you have on hand.

Dried and Candied Fruit – My mother doesn’t like the fruit cake blend of candied fruit as much as I do so she uses only candied cherries in her fruit cake cookies. I love the added citrus fruits in the candied fruit mix Please tailor this to your own preferences and taste.

Brown Sugar - I’m also using dark brown sugar because I just really like dark brown sugar. You can use light if you prefer.

Margarine - You can substitute butter for margarine in this recipe but I prefer margarine in this one. These cookies have a longer shelf life and ship very well thanks to the margarine. Note: If shipping, be sure and let them sit for at least a day before cutting and package in a single layer so they have less chance of being smooshed.

Vanilla - I’m using real vanilla because someone gave it to me. For those of you purists, enjoy this picture but don’t get too comfy. You’ll see me using bargain imitation vanilla again soon enough I’ll cheerlead your personal choice all the way but we’re running on a two way street here

Melt your butter in a large mixing bowl.

Add in baking mix, brown sugar, cinnamon, egg, and vanilla.

Stir that up until well combined.

Now add in all of your nuts and dried fruit. 

And stir that up really well.

This will take some elbow grease (just a little bit) to get it all incorporated because your batter will be absolutely

filled with chunky goodness but that’s what is going to make it taste so stinking good!

Now spray an 8×8 pan really well with cooking spray.

Yes, this only makes one 8×8 pan, lol. We’re going to cut them in little squares though so it will end up with a lot.

Dump in all of your dough. 

Pat it out a bit with your hands to fill the pan.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Allow to cool completely.

Let rest overnight before cutting.

“Its a good day to have a good day!”

Thanks to LAuren for submitting this quote. Click here to read more (there are over 1400 so far!) and add your own!

Please read the post below to see why I’m calling this “original” mud hens, and then try them soon! Have a GREAT day!

Gratefully, Christy

I have spent a considerable amount of time in the kitchen lately trying to come up with a shortcut recipe for my original Mud Hens recipe from My Cookbook.

No matter what I did, I ended up a little disappointed. The “shortcuts” weren’t nearly as good as the original. I normally don’t post recipes on SouthernPlate.com that are exclusive to my cookbook but when I found myself online looking to see if anyone else had come up with a good way to shortcut Mud Hens, I immediately came across over ten websites featuring the recipe from my cookbook ~laughs~  So I decided that if they can post my original recipe, I certainly can, too!

So forget the shortcuts. This recipe is simple and easy as it is. Once you taste it, I’m sure you’ll think it is worth the effort  

You’ll need: Shortening, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, baking powder, and all purpose flour. 

You’ll also need: Chocolate Chips, Marshmallows, and Brown Sugar

Note: Use dark or light brown sugar, whatever cranks your tractor.

You don’t have to use mini chocolate chips but that is what I had on hand.

Begin by separating two of your eggs, whites in one bowl and yolks in the other.

Make sure you don’t get any of the yolk into your whites because we’re about to make an amazing brown sugar meringue and if any of those yolks get in there our meringue won’t beat up right.

Now put your butter, shortening, and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy.

Add in your 2 egg yolks and the additional whole egg and beat again. 

Like this. 

At this point you should get out a separate bowl and place your flour, baking powder, and salt in it and stir together.

You really should do that.

I’m not, I’m going to just add in my flour, baking powder, and salt into the batter.

But you should really mix them up in a separate bowl first and then dump them in.

Unless you’re not in the mood to. In that case just put them into your batter separately like I did.

Mix that up until well combined and you have your dough.

Pat into the bottom of your greased 9×13 inch dish.

If you need to you can put a little flour on your hands to help keep it from sticking, like I did. 

Top with chocolate chips and marshmallows.

Now we need to make our brown sugar meringue topping.

My mouth started watering just typing that..

Place your egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat the mess out of it until stiff peaks form.

Like this  

Add in your brown sugar…

And stir with a spoon until it’s well combined like this.

Now this contains raw eggs so you shouldn’t taste it..

~She says as she licks the spoon and sets it aside for the next photo~

Pour your meringue over the top of your marshmallows and spread it around to the edges.

Like this.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Oh how pretty!

Allow to cool completely and then cut into bars.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

“Opportunity is always knocking.

The problem is that most people have the self-doubt station in their head turned up way too loud to hear it.

~Brian Vaszily

ENTER NESTLE’S BAKE AND SHARE HOLIDAY TREAT CONTEST

I’m teaming up with Nestle to help promote their Bake and Share Holiday Treat Contest! Click here to visit their Facebook page and get details on how you can enter your recipe for a chance to win $5000! We have some AMAZING cooks in the Southern Plate Family and I’d love to see one of you win this!

No matter how much I love cooking, there is always a special thrill when I make something that I know has one of my kids or auntlings are going to get excited about. That’s why I love these cloud cookies so much . They got their name from my nephew, Austin, about eight years ago. I’ve always been a fan of meringue cookies and I whipped up a batch when Austin was over at my house and decided to stir some chocolate chips into them before baking. Austin waited patiently while they cooked and then took one bite and declared them just like clouds – with the added bonus of chocolate chips!

So if you want to be the cool aunt/mama/grandmama/daddy/uncle who knows how to bake chocolate chips into clouds…I got ya covered today!

You’ll need: Chocolate Chips, two eggs, sugar, Cream of Tartar, a bit of salt, and some sprinkles if you’d like to add a little sparkle to your clouds...I mean cookies.

Crack your eggs and separate the whites from the yolk. Add in a pinch of cream of tartar and your salt.

There are all sorts of gadgets that do this but I just use my hands. Usually, I crack the egg and just gently tilt it until the white pours off, saving the yolk in the shell. You can also pour the entire egg into your hand and spread your fingers slightly to allow just the white to slide through while the yolk remains.

Or you can get one of those gadgeterators that lets you pour the egg into it and the white comes out of little spout on the bottom.

Whichever way you go, make sure you don’t get any of the yolk (the dark orange part) in this because our meringue won’t fluff up if we have yolk in it.

Beat your egg whites until soft peaks form.

Okay so what this means is that you need to beat them on high with an electric mixer for a few minutes. They will start out getting frothy and then begin to get foamy, and eventually turn white like this. As you keep on beating, they will start to hold their shape a bit, meaning you’ll see ripples remain in them where the beater has been.

Stop your mixer and pull your beaters up. Where your beaters came out of the egg whites a point will come up.  If that droops back down again (kinda like the top of a dairy queen ice cream cone), you have soft peaks.

Add in your sugar and beat it some more, unit the sugar is well incorporated.

It will get thick and glossy like divinity.

Oh my, I need to do a post on how to make divinity, don’t I? Oooh Mama has a great recipe for it…

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Stir in your chocolate chips.

Place spoonfuls onto the greased baking sheet.

I do about a well rounded teaspoon…or whatever size I’m in the mood for

A lot of my cooking is centered around my mood. Good thing I try to pick good moods out of the bucket each morning!

Allow your clouds to cool completely and then store them in an airtight container, or just hand them to the kids in your life and watch them disappear!

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

I’m teaming up with Nestle to help promote their Bake and Share Holiday Treat Contest! Click here to visit their Facebook page and get details on how you can enter your recipe for a chance to win $5000! We have some AMAZING cooks in the Southern Plate Family and I’d love to see one of you win this!

Some people are so poor that all they have is money.

~Unknown

Thank to to Ticha for submitting this one! Add your quote to our ever growing collection or go get inspired by some others by clicking here.

And don’t worry about whether or not your quote has been submitted already. The good ones bear repeating!

If you’re on Facebook and could click that little “like” button up there I’d sure appreciate it!

Today I’m going to attempt to keep this blog post short and sweet. Well, the recipe makes it sweet but the only way we’re gonna make it short is if I’m not quite so chatty. Yeah….good luck with that one. But I have pies to bake, errands to run, and books to write so I’m gonna make an attempt. It’s the thought that counts, right?

These cookies are the ones you most likely remember from your childhood. We usually had them in chocolate form (click here to view my mama’s tutorial on how to make the chocolate ones) but I somehow ended up with an entire family who LOVES peanut butter. Anything Peanut butter. Seriously.

We go through one of the HUGE jars each and every week. They love PB&J sandwiches, peanut butter on toast, Peanut butter balls (which I try to always keep in the freezer), Peanut Butter Cookies, oh! And of course Yellow Cake with that Peanut Butter Fudge Icing. There is a cute story about that, too. When I did the 700 Club, I made seven different cakes and talked about The Seven Cakes of Christmas story from my family (You can watch all of my tv clips by visiting this page).

Well lo and behold I arrived back in Alabama that night and my whole family met me at the airport, including a very exuberant Katy Rose, who hugged me and immediately started craning her neck to look around at my luggage.

She said “Mama, where is that peanut butter cake? I know you made that one for me!” Bless her heart, she had watched me with that peanut butter cake on tv and since it was her favorite, she just knew I had made it to bring home to her! Needless to say, that child got Peanut butter cake for breakfast the next day

So what are we waiting for? Oh, yeah, we’re waiting for me to stop talking and get to the recipe, huh?

Alrighty then, do I need to tell you how good these are? Fudgey, chewy, and every kid’s favorite. I think we’re all about due for a batch today!

You’ll need: Sugar, oats, peanut butter, vanilla, butter (or margarine), and milk. 

Place your sugar, butter, and milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan. 

Stirring constantly, bring it to a boil over medium heat.

Once it reaches a full rolling boil, continue to stir and boil for one minute.

I usually boil for a minute and a half to be on the safe side. 

After it’s boiled for a minute, remove from heat and add in peanut butter and vanilla. 

Stir until smooth, creamy, and all of the peanut butter is melted. 

Like this  

Now add in your oats and stir those up really well. 

I love oats…

Like this. 

Don’t you just love seeing pictures of cooking? I think it makes us more likely to actually make a recipe because by the time we’re at the end of a post, having looked at al of the photos, we’ve already made it in our head so it doesn’t seem so daunting

That’s just my theory anyway. I love looking at the photos but I’m not too terribly into taking them, as you can tell by looking at mine. So many food bloggers take these gorgeous photos of all of their food but I’m kinda just more into cooking it, telling the story behind it, and then feeding people.

Okie Dokie, now pour that into an 8×8 pan that you’ve sprayed with cooking spray and let sit until cool.

Of course, if you want you can drop these by spoonfuls onto waxed paper like we did back in the old days. I just prefer the pan method because it is so much less work and they make cute little cookie bites when you cut them.

You can speed up the cooling process by placing your pan in the fridge.

Oh goodness, these are good!

Did you have these as a kid?

Who made them for you?

The recipe for the chocolate version of these cookies can be found by clicking here. 

If you’d like to watch some of my national tv appearances, I have a few on on my Media/PR page, click here to go there and just scroll down to see all of the videos.

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are

conscious of our treasures.”

– Thornton Wilder

Submitted by Jenny. Submit your quote by clicking here.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/09/peanut-butter-no-bake-cookie-bites.html/feed 152 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/04/pecan-chewies.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/04/pecan-chewies.html#comments Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:20:58 +0000 staceylittle http://www.southernplate.com/?p=14076

Special thanks to my friend Stacey Little of Southern Bite for providing a guest post today! I’m working on getting our forum up and running and finishing the details of the 2011 Southern Plate Basket so Stacey gave me a little extra time to get all that done. I hope you enjoy this post and I *know* you will enjoy these pecan chewies!

Gratefully, Christy

Hey folks!  It’s me again!  (Isn’t that awesome that I got asked to post again!?)  It’s like hosting Saturday Night Live… I feel like I’m important or something being asked back!  You know – a guy could develop a complex.  Hmmm.  Anyway,  it is such a pleasure and an honor to be able to share another one of my most favorite recipes with y’all.  When I first got to meet Christy, it was on her book tour in Birmingham.  I took a little “thank you” basket to her that had some Diet Dr. Peppers (of course) and these Pecan Chewies.

I be John Brown if she didn’t open those suckers up right there in the middle of Books a Million and share them with all the other folks.  It was awesome!  I included the recipe for her and she asked if I minded if she shared them on Southern Plate.  I said of course not.  Now, low and behold, I’m the one sharing them on Southern Plate!

Let me also express a little appreciation for all the Southern Plate love after my last post.  The response was overwhelming, to say the least!  It’s just so great to be among such an amazing group of folks who share my passion for food.  Y’all enjoy!

Okay, here’s what you’ll need:  2 sticks of butter (you can use margarine here, but I suggest you splurge and go for real, unsalted butter – come on, you’re worth it!), 1 cup of white granulated sugar, 1 cup of packed light brown sugar, 2 eggs that have been beaten (poor eggs), 2 cups of self rising flour, 1 cup of pecans, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

First, melt the butter and combine the butter and white and brown sugars in a large bowl.

Next, add the beaten eggs.

Gradually add the flour, stirring well.  Then add the pecans and vanilla and combine.

The batter is going to be rather thick and hard to stir, but keep going. 

Scrape the batter into a greased and floured 9X13 inch baking dish.

Spread to cover bottom of dish with fingers or a spatula dipped in water (or a little melted butter -hee hee).

Bake approximately 40 to 50 minutes being cautious not to over cook.

You want them to remain chewy, hence the name!

Treasure each other in the recognition that we do not know how long we shall have each other.

~Joshua Liebman

And now a little something fun from my son Brady (who requested I post this)

I want to thank Teresa Clifton for her kindness and for inspiring today’s post. She is one of the many positive people who have come into my life thanks to Southern Plate.

You know the expression, when life gives you lemons make lemonade?

Well, we all do that, every day. Each day we’re handed a basket of lemons and each day we go to our little lemonade stands and set up shop. Folks come by our stands throughout the day and you’re serving up your own special recipe whether you realize it to not. The cashier at the grocery store, waitress at a restaurant, your kids at the breakfast table, friends who call, people who read your facebook status. You serve them your lemonade all day long.

So it is very important to me to pay careful attention to the recipe I’m using and make sure it is a good one.  The easiest thing to do, of course, is take the lemons I’m handed and just serve them up straight, but the end result would be sourness and leave folks shuddering after an encounter with me. Instead, I take care to add sweetness to them, bringing out the wonderful flavors of the lemons. Isn’t it amazing how something so sour can taste just like sunshine if you prepare it right?

We’re all guilty of serving up our bad moods, negative attitudes, and disgruntled thoughts straight from time to time, but I try to keep in mind that other folks are drinking that in. I wouldn’t serve my kids straight, acidic lemon juice so I certainly don’t want to go splashing it about willy nilly with no thoughts as to what I’m putting out there that others can’t help ingest.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is that I fully realize and know for a fact that attitudes really are contagious, and I would much rather spread sunshine than the plague.

I haven’t always been like this though. I used to not realize the effect my mood and attitude had on others. But you know, a strange thing happens when you start to sweeten your lemonade. Not only does it taste better to others, but it tastes an awful lot better to you, too.

Here is another great thing you can do with those lemons life hands you, make my Mama’s Lemon Blossoms. With spring on it’s way, these cookies are the perfect way to have a taste of sunshine!

If you want my recipe for lemonade, it is in the Southern Plate Cookbook on page 38.

You’ll need: Lemon juice, Sugar, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt, Flour, and butter or margarine.

I have no idea where my butter ran off to when I was taking this photo but obviously it objected to being photographed for some reason or another and we gotta respect that. After all, it was it’s last wish and all because we’re fixin’ to send it to a better place

Place your softened butter or margarine in a mixing bowl with your sugar. Mix well.

Yes, I’m using real butter today. I bought a pound of it for this recipe and one more that I made so the next two posts y’all will see the real thing!

WOW, how Christy finally come around?? Has she seen the light!!?? Will she now convert to only using real butter in her recipes???

Pfft. I’ll convert when real butter costs 75 cents a box like margarine does.

Until then, y’all are just gonna have to love me as I am, glaring character flaws and all

In this low lighted bowl, place your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Stirry stirry.

Oh look, our butter and sugar have made friends!

And formed a centrifuge of sorts around the outer sides of the bowl…

Now pour in your lemon juice.

And ever so gradually and delicately add your flour mixture.

JUST KIDDING!

Thats what the original recipe said, or something to that effect. Here at Bountiful, we just dump it on in all at once!

Live dangerously with me.

Now mix that up until it is all doughified and such.

Then get it out of your bowl and moosh it into a ball and put it in a plastic bag or some other covered container to place in the fridge for an hour.

(Again, the recipe said refrigerator for an hour. I just stuck it in the freezer for about ten minutes)

~giggle~

When I make cookies I like to line my counter with waxed paper.

Sprinkle flour all over the top of that and have a little more in case you need it to keep dough from sticking.

Roll out your dough to about 1/4 inch thick, or just until you get tired of rolling it out.

Then cut out with a small cookie cutter.

I am using a 1-1/2 inch circle one and it will easily yield about three dozen cookies.

You can use a larger one if you prefer though.

No one is the boss of you in your own kitchen

Place on ungreased cookie sheets about an inch or so apart.

Bake those at 400 for about eight minutes.

I really should have taken a photo of the cookies by themselves when they got done but I forgot so close your left eye and just look at those cookies on the right side of this photo for effect.

Now, lets make us some icing for these puppies.

First of all let me tell you that Mama’s recipe said this is enough glaze for the cookies but I’m much more generous with my glaze and ended up making double. I’m going to start you out with Mama’s quantity though because it is so easy to make more if you need it.

In a bowl place a cup and a half of confectioner’s sugar.

Add three tablespoons of lemon juice. Add a few drops of yellow food coloring if you like. Stir until smooth and creamy.

Like this.

I added a little yellow food coloring (a little too much!)

Now just spoon a little glaze into the center of each cookie and smear it arund a bit.

Here they are all done. I like to leave a few with no glaze for folks who don’t want the added sweetness.

I added a lot less food coloring to my second batch of glaze

Let those dry for an hour or so and then you can stack them.

During that time you can enjoy this photo of the beautiful flowers I got for my birthday.

I didn’t even have to get married or have a baby to get them, either!

Here are our beautiful lemon blossoms, served up on an Anchor Hocking Old Colony Lace plate!

Lemon Blossoms

• 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Cup Butter or margarine, softened
• 1/3 Cup fresh or bottled lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Glaze

• 1-1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• few drops yellow food coloring (optional)

In large mixing bowl combine butter and sugar. Mix well until creamy and combined. In separate bowl stir together with a spoon flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. To the butter mixture add lemon juice and dump in flour mixture. Mix well until dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness on floured surface. Cut with small circle cutter (I used 1-1/2 inch). Place on ungreased baking sheets and bake at 400 for about 8 minutes. Remove to cool.

Combine glaze ingredients and stir with a spoon until lumps disappear. Spoon a little bit into center of each cookie and spread around with the back of a spoon. Make more glaze if needed. Allow to dry for an hour or so and then stack cookies and store in cookie jar.

If you or someone you know is an engineer (or some other form of overly-analytical, mathematical type),

you might enjoy clicking here to see what my husband did last night.

The simple truth is that we are all motivational speakers.

It is just that some of us are motivating folks to jump off a cliff.

~Sayeth Me, Christy Jordan

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2011/02/lemon-blossoms.html/feed 90 http://www.southernplate.com/2010/12/oreo-balls.html http://www.southernplate.com/2010/12/oreo-balls.html#comments Fri, 17 Dec 2010 20:01:42 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=12885

Time is flying and Christmas is nipping at our heels. I’ve had a busy week with school parties and behind the scenes Southern Plate work so in order to help me get caught up on the work involved in getting my own family ready for Christmas, my friend Jyl of The Post It Place has graciously offered to guest blog for me today. Now I just need her to follow up this blog post by bringing me some of these Oreo Balls when I see her this weekend… Thank you, Jyl! Gratefully, Christy

Jyl says: This is one of the most requested treats that has made its way out of my kitchen. Everyone that has tasted them wants more and every year I get asked hundreds of times when I am making them again. For them to be so good yet so easy is almost sinful.

To make these, you’ll need: oreos, almond bark, and cream cheese.

Christy’s Note: Jyl! You bought generic oreos. I’m s’proud I could jes cry!

~sniff~ I just love it when people are cheap. Gets me right in the heart!

Crush up your Oreo cookies very fine, filling and all.

I know it doesn’t look like I crushed up the filling in here but I promise I did.

I use a food processor for this step but if you don’t have one you will need to put your cookies in a sealable bag and hammer the heck out of them.

You will then add your softened cream cheese to the crushed cookies.

I use my hands to mush it all together until you have a dough but you can use an electric mixer if you like. Once you have it mixed really well shape a spoonful into bite-sized balls.

While all of this is happening you want to have your almond bark melting in a double boiler or whatever you have. I don’t have a double boiler so I make my own by placing a glass bowl on top of a pan with some water in the bottom pan. I keep mine on about medium heat to keep the almond bark from scorching.

Then dip each ball into the melted almond bark until it is totally coated. I use a toothpick to dunk mine and pull them out. Once you have them all dipped and they have completely set you will want to store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Mmmm, these don’t last long at all at my house so I have to make a TON! But one batch will make about 60-70 balls.

Oreo Cookie Balls- 3 Ingredient Easy!

Ingredients

• 1 package Oreos (or generic)
• 1 brick cream cheese, softened (8 ounces)
• 1 package white almond bark

Instructions

1. Crush cookies very fine either by using a food processor or by placing them in a sealed bag and crushing them with a mallet or rolling pin. Using an electric mixer, add softened cream cheese to crushed cookie mixture and mix until well blended. Scoop out and form into one inch balls and place on waxed paper until ready to dip.
2. Melt Almond bark either by using a double boiler (Christy just uses the microwave, heating for 45 seconds at a time and stirring in between until completely melted). Dip each cookie ball into almond bark and place back on waxed paper to cool completely. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. YUM!

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Blessed is the season which engages the whole world

in a conspiracy of love.
 

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