If you’ve never had a Butter Roll, you’ve been missing out on one of the most delicious simple pleasures that life has to offer!

The Southern Plate Family is plum full, brimming over actually, with brilliant people. I’m talking about you, y’all, and all of us collectively. Seriously, y’all have the best ideas! So when I mentioned my Old Fashioned Butter Roll Recipe on my facebook recently, I had a few comments and emails about how some folks make them with crescent roll dough.

I was intrigued.

I was inspired.

I was hungry.

So I took my intrigued, inspired, and hungry self into the kitchen and decided to give it a go.

My mother called every five minutes to check on the progress.

My house began to smell like it was placed two steps from the gates of Heaven.

Then I pulled them from the oven and had me a taste while they were so hot steam was coming off my fork.

Mama called and I told her “I do not say this lightly, but these are actually better than the from scratch version.”

If you’re not in your kitchen already, I’m not quite sure what is keeping you.

Unless you need the recipe or something…

 You’ll need: Milk, Crescent Roll dough, cinnamon, sugar*, vanilla, and butter (or margarine).

That is all.

Notice my choice in getting the generic crescent rolls. Y’all know my motto, right?

Nothing but the cheapest for my family!

Pretend there is vanilla in this photo just like I sometimes pretend my house is clean.

P.S. You can use Splenda as a replacement for sugar in this whole recipe if you like. A lot of folks have been on a Stevia kick lately so I gave it a go but Stevia is definitely not for me. Of course, if you have a favorite artificial sweetener and want to try that, go for it. I’ve only done it with Splenda so I can’t speak for any others from a personal account.

To start, you’re gonna need a surface to roll all this out onto.

Usually I get some waxed paper and sprinkle a little flour on it but I felt like being even easier today so I just grabbed a baking pan and sprayed it with cooking spray.

Place your dough on the greased or floured surface.

Roll it out and press the seams together so it is one big old sheet of dough.

 Spread that whole thing with softened butter or margarine.

Don’t spread all the way to the edge but leave about 1/2 an inch all around.

Sprinkle that with sugar.

Sprinkle a wee bit of cinnamon over it if you like.

You can also leave this off.

Roll that up longways and press it together a little bit with your hands.

Cut that into 10 or 12 pieces.

Just see where your knife ends up and cut. It don’t make no nevermind if you have 9, 10, or 12 slices.

Spray an 8 inch round pan (A cake pan works fine) with cooking spray.

 Place your slices in it.

Place milk and vanilla in a microwave proof measuring cup and heat his in the microwave for about a minute, or until it is very warm.

Microwaves are so stinking different that I can’t really tell you an exact time here so you’ll have to use your common sense.

Stir in your sugar to the hot milk and keep stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Pour over rolls.

Place this in a 350 degree oven and bake until rolls are golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.

I like to serve these warm as dessert at the end of a good country meal, but they are also delightful for breakfast or a coffee snack.

Just eat one.

And then another.

And you should probably have at least a third or fourth, just for quality control purposes, before serving them to your family

“Life is short, but there is always time for courtesy.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Submitted by Angela Lewis (thanks Angela!). Submit your quote by clicking here.

SO you know how from time to time you catch sight of a magazine on the racks that calls your name? I know, like every single issue of Taste of the South, right? (Which I coincidentally write for).

Well right now, RIGHT NOW there is a special issue of Taste of the South on newsstands, but you gotta go grab it quick, called SOUTHERN CAKES, Classic Cakes for Every Occasion - and boy is it a doozie! This is one of those magazines you’ll find yourself thumbing through fifty years from now.

As with all Taste of the South publications, there are recipes for every level of cook, but they’re all simply written so that even beginners can have success with each one. Today I want to share with you one that jumped out at me and after I tasted it, it’s one that I’ll be making for the grandkids someday.

Dark chocolate cupcakes, with a Rolo baked inside, topped with browned butter icing and toasted pecans…

Have you ever had browned butter icing? I hadn’t ever had it until I made it for these.

WOOOOWEEEE is that stuff good! It taste like butter that has been slightly turned into butterscotch, then with more butter added in and some sugar to top it off. 

Just on the off chance that description and this photo doesn’t get you revved up, let me show you one that my dear friends at Taste of the South Magazine gave me permission to use….

Hello! See that little puddle of caramel oozing out of the center of a dark chocolate cupcake topped with buttercream frosting and toasted pecans?

~gulp~

Exactly. So below is the recipe, please don’t trip over yourself getting to the grocery store. Remember, I know we’re all excited, but I need you to walk – don’t run – because when we all walk we all get there safely. My innner kindergarten teacher is talking here again. I’m afraid she’s just telling y’all to walk so she can get to the Rolo aisle first…

Because Inner Kindergarten teachers are sneaky like that…

You’ll need: Devil’s Food Cake Mix, Vegetable Oil, Vanilla, Eggs, Cupcake Papers, and Rolos. This is for the cupcake part.

Having a black lab mix squirrel hunting through a window is optional.

For the brown butter frosting you’re gonna need two sticks of unsalted butter and some confectioner’s sugar. 

If you only have salted butter, just go ahead and use it. The salt will be a delightful accompaniment to the sweet!

 Place your cake mix, eggs, vanilla, and oil in a mixing bowl. 

I have three eggs in here but one is hiding. Sometimes we just have to trust the unseen…

Put papers in muffin tin.

For fun, go get a piece of paper and write “TO DO LIST” at the top. Add this step as the number one thing, then cross it off.

~exhale~ See? Life is terribly easy if you know how to properly make a to do list. Make sure you leave off things like “create world peace” or “figure out who is abducting the missing socks”.

Goals like that only complicate things. 

Divide your batter among the paper lined muffin cups.

Umm, you’re gonna need two muffin pans for this. Did I mention that? No? Well I just did.

I’m all informative like that.

 Unwrap Rolos. Because biting down on gold foil paper is seldom fun for anyone…

If you haven’t had a Rolo lately, you should have one now because Rolos are the bum diggity in the world of chocolate.

My Katy Rose always wants to help out whenever I’m cooking so she stepped in to add the Rolos to the cupcakes.

Place one rolo in the center of each cupcake.

Then push it down a little with your finger.

Now the recipe says to make sure the Rolo’s are covered with cake batter so I got a butter knife and just kinda swished some batter over each one. It was easy and just took a few seconds.

Like this. Do that with all of them.

Bake your cupcakes at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Okay, I admit, I thought this cook time was a little short, so I baked mine a few minutes longer and that caused the Rolo to melt a bit much, so please follow the actual instructions on this and read about the toothpick test for doneness in the recipe below – because they were right.

Take a weird angled photo so people think you’re into food photography and all that, even though you’ve never considered “enjoying your food” to be anything beyond eating it.

Let those cool about ten minutes in the muffin pan and then remove them (keep them in the liners though!) and let them cool completely.

Now it’s time for the magic to happen! I know, I know, putting a rolo in a cupcake qualifies as pretty magical already to me, but this is even better!

Place a stick of butter in a small skillet over medium heat.

It’s gonna melt. (Just call me Captain Obvious)

Stir it every now and then and let it cook until it is browned, about ten minutes.

It’ll look like this and there will be browned bits in the bottom of it. It’s all good!

Pour that into a cup or bowl or whatever you grab first that is heat proof and refrigerate it for thirty minutes.

Take your deliciously browned butter and put it in a bowl with your other 1/2 cup of softened butter.

Add your confectioner’s sugar.

Beat the living mess out of it, scraping down sides as needed, until it is all smoothified. New word just for you. Try to work it into your vocabulary today so you can impress folks – I challenge you to use it in regards to yourself.

“Son, did you see how smoothified your Mama was in the kitchen today?”

“Baby, did you hear how smoothified my singing was in the car on the way home?”

Etc. Knock yourself out.

Southern Plate, it’s so much more than recipes. It’s cutting edge grammatical challenges! 

Okay, about the toasted pecans… I had every intention of skipping this step. I mean there is no law that says you have to follow every recipe to the letter, you know? But after I made the frosting, it got the better of me so I dipped a pecan half into it and had a taste.

SWEET BABY MULE PULLING A STEAMBOAT THAT WAS GOOD!

So I got a good cup or so of pecan pieces, scattered them on a baking sheet, and placed them in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes or so, until lightly toasted.

Ice the cupcakes with your delicious brown butter frosting and top with a few pieces of toasted pecans.

Then get ready for a cupcake unlike any you’ve ever had before!

You wanna see that other pic again? Sure ya do!

Recipe printed with permission from Taste of the South Magazine.

Look for this magazine on newsstands now (hurry and get it while it lasts!) or skip the crowds and order it online at the Hoffman Media Store by clicking here

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“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”

~ Desmond Tutu

Submitted by Jenny. Click here to submit your own.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/05/rolo-cupcakes-with-brown-butter-frosting.html/feed 43 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/cracker-pie.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/04/cracker-pie.html#comments Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:00:50 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=22964

This is a simple pie with simple ingredients and it’s easily altered to suit whatever you have on hand. I like to use a can of drained fruit cocktail but it would also be good with a can of drained pineapple. I use saltine crackers but I’ve heard of other folks using Ritz type crackers. Mama always adds a little coconut to hers and you could also add dried fruit instead of canned, without having to alter the recipe. When I got ready to make this today, I found I had everything I needed on hand, which is why old fashioned pies like this have been favorites of home cooks for as long as stoves have been in kitchens.

I’m getting ready for the folks from Taste of the South Magazine to come spend the day with me tomorrow. We have a full day of photo shoots for my column that is in each issue of the magazine and it’s always a joy to get to spend time with anyone from Hoffman Media because they’re all just as good as gold.

I do need to get some dishes washed and floors mopped, though, so lets just dive right in!

You’ll need: A deep dish pie crust, sugar, eggs, vanilla,  fruit cocktail, chopped pecans (optional), saltine crackers, and a little bit of baking powder.

Prick your crust a few times with a fork and bake it in a 325 degree oven for ten minutes, or until very lightly browned.

Crush your crackers.

I’m crushing them for their own good

Place egg whites in a mixing bowl.

Beat this with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. You’ll know this has happened when you pull your beater up out of it and a peak of beaten egg white still sticks striaght up where your beater was.

These are my stiff egg whites, with my sugar and baking powder dumped on top of them.

Mix this again with an electric mixer until the sugar is well incorporated, about one minute.

Now dump your vanilla, pecans, and cracker crumbs on top… 

Then dump your well drained fruit cocktail.

Using a spatula or big spoon or whatever you grab out of the draw first, stir all of that together really well by hand.

Pour into your baked pie crust.

Bake this at 325 for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.

 Why did I not take a photo of that? I have no idea. I’m just glad my head is screwed on or I’d surely leave home without it most days.

Like this.

Allow pie to cool completely before serving. This is wonderful as is or topped with whipped cream and a few chopped pecans.

Have a wonderful day and don’t forget to savor every moment of your life, just as you savor every bit of a piece of pie. That’s what it’s here for.

“I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth. But rather, by some means, excuse the fault I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody.”

~Benjamin Franklin

Gratefully, Christy

This cake tastes like the marriage of an all butter pound cake with a key lime pie – and oh what a beautiful marriage it is! I hope you’ll get to make this soon, it would be the perfect finishing note to any spring or summer meal.

You’ll need: All Purpose Flour, Sugar, Lime Juice, Vanilla, Buttermilk, Butter, Baking Powder, Eggs, and Salt.

If you want to do a glaze you’ll also need a little more lime juice, confectioner’s sugar, and milk. Just a weeee little bit.

Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Beat the living mess out of it until it is all fluffified.

Add in all of your eggs.

Now, most pound cake recipes call for adding your eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

You are more than welcome to do it that way but I think it’s more merciful if we let them go quickly rather than draw it out, don’t you?

Mix this up again until well blended.

I forgot to take a photo of it after this step so use your imagination.

While that is mixing up, we need to stir together the rest of our wet ingredients.

In a 2 cup measuring cup (or whatever you grab from the cabinet first), combine buttermilk, lime juice, and vanilla.

stirry, stirry!

Now to combine the dry ingredients…

In a mixing bowl, stir together your flour, baking powder, and salt.

Now you have two choices: You can go the traditional route and alternate adding a little of the wet ingredients and a little of the dry, then mix,and continue until everything is added in and all well mixed and smooth.

Or

You can dump in your wet and dry ingredients and then beat the living mess out of it like it’s that kid who called you fat on the first day of high school.

Scrape down the sides and beat some more, about 3 minutes total.

Yup. I go with the second option.

~smiles sweetly~

Voila.
Note: Your batter will not be green like this. Mine is only green because I added a few drops of food coloring to it, which is completely optional. In fact, in light of how food coloring is sometimes viewed as a controversial ingredient these days, I suggest you skip adding it unless you have a very good reason.

In this case, I did have a very good reason.

I wanted my cake to be green.

Grease a bundt or tube pan really well.

My pan is a heavier one that releases cakes really well so I’m just going to give it a good spray with cooking spray.

If you have a thinner pan or one prone to sticking, you might want to coat it with shortening and then sprinkle it with flour.

This is a thick cake batter so I kind of spoon mine into the pan and then smooth it out with the back of the spoon.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 15 minutes

Or until the cake bounces back a bit when lightly pressed in the center.

Please note: If your cake has been in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes and you go to press it lightly with your finger, expect the cake to be hot and use a little common sense when deciding how long to leave your finger on the center of said cake.

If you were a fire swallower in the circus earlier on in your life, you’ll probably be fine. If you are a first degree blood relation to Chuck Norris, no worries. Otherwise, I suggest pressing lightly and then immediately releasing – no counting to ten to show your bravado here because I’m just gonna roll my eyes and say you had that one coming if you do.

On second thought, lets just use the toothpick trick to check for doneness. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, your cake is done.

No using the toothpick as a weapon…unless you happened to grab one of those cute little sword toothpicks and then simply MUST practice fencing…

After the cake is done, let it sit in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a plate.

If your bundt cakes stick on a regular basis, you might want to look at getting a good heavy pan. I have several that I like. This one is a heavy Wilton one that I got at Michael’s with a 50% off coupon. I also have two Stoneware ones that I really like. If you find a stoneware one look for a good thick glaze to help your cakes come out intact. They are generally called “Fluted Mold” pans or such because Bundt is copyrighted by Nordic Ware just like “Crock Pot” is copyrighted by Rival brand so other “Crock Pots” are called “Slow Cookers”.

If you want to make a glaze, all you have to do is put about 1+1/2 cups of confectioner’s sugar in a measuring cup.

Add 1 tablespoon of lime juice and 1 tablespoon of milk and stir for a few minutes.

The lumps will come out and it will get all smooth, just go watch something on television and stir patiently. If it needs more liquid, add another 1/2 tablespoon or so of milk but be sure you add the milk just a little bit or so at a time because we want this to be the consistency of glue and it can get too thin really fast.

No worries though, if it gets too thin, just add more confectioner’s sugar.

The state of the world does not rest upon such trivial matters and either way it goes, you got cake!

All smooth!

Slowly pour over your cake until it is all glazified and pertified.

Allow to dry for about ten minutes, or until glaze is hard.

Slice cake and enjoy!

Grab a slice while you can!

and now…..

Sometimes folks ask me what I do with all of the desserts I make on SouthernPlate, so I thought I’d show you!

As soon as this cake got done, I photographed it…then cut it…then photographed it some more…then divided the slices up onto paper plates and covered them with foil. I kept four pieces for my family and the rest found homes in various tummies of faculty members at my kid’s school.

The greatest joy in baking comes from getting to give it away to others!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

“Take time today to appreciate someone who does something you take for granted.”

Submitted by Renee (thanks, Renee!). Click here to submit your own!

How you can help support your favorite food bloggers:

If you see a facebook group or website that posts my photos and writing onto his or her page instead of linking to SouthernPlate.com directly, they are in violation of both the Federal DMCA Act and Copyright Law. The reason why this is bad is because it costs a great deal of money to operate SouthernPlate.com and other websites where content is illegally taken from, my server bill alone is more than most people’s mortgage payment each month. When people take content that others have written and developed and put it on their sites, it makes it harder for those offering the content to pay the light bill, for services that they provide free of charge to you. Hours, sometimes days, are put into creating one post, that all the offender’s do is copy and paste in order to drive traffic to and  promote their site and/or facebook page. Once our content is stolen, we are also penalized for having duplicate content on the internet, and our recipes receive lower priority in search engines as well.

Often when this happens, it isn’t meant as a violation of a federal law and is just someone who wants to share a recipe that they really liked. But sometimes, this is done by people and even companies who repeatedly copy and paste content from those who have worked hard to develop it, willingly and knowingly.

Often, these people say “You can’t copyright recipes”.  While you can’t copyright a random list of ingredients, our writing (descriptions, introductions, instructions, etc) and photographs are copyrighted – and each post represents hours of work that these folks steal in under a minute and use as a platform to build their sites on.

However,  just about everyone reading this who shares recipes do so with no malicious intent, and bloggers realize that. This is intended for those who willingly violate federal law despite having received complaints, and having been reported, by knowingly and repeatedly stealing content from sites to place on their own.

If you see a site or facebook page with repeated complaints, a blogger who has to build new sites because their old ones are taken down, these are clues that such sites and pages are being run by repeat offenders who fully understand that what they are doing is illegal. A lot of people don’t realize that the websites we enjoy free of charge cost a great deal of money to operate. These sites and pages that run primarily off of stealing content from other sites take all food bloggers one step closer to not being able to afford to continue.

It’s easy for us to share a recipe. While photos are copyrighted, all of the bloggers I know welcome sharing photos as long as a link to the recipe is given to the recipe rather than the entire recipe reposted.

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See my examples of how to legally share a recipe and photo below:

I love Stacey Little’s Sweet Cornbread Muffins! Here is a link if y’all wanna check out the recipe! http://southernbite.com/2013/01/09/sweet-cornbread-muffins/

Made this Stuffed French Toast last night. You have to try it. So easy! Here is where I found the recipe! http://www.southernplate.com/2012/02/overnight-stuffed-french-toast.html

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Thank you so much for helping all of the bloggers who provide free sites around the web for all of us to enjoy and special thanks to all of the Southern Plate Family members who have emailed and messaged me to make me aware of this growing problem. Without all of you, there wouldn’t be a Southern Plate!

*If you are a food blogger who would like to repost the above statement, changing out your url for SouthernPlate.com, please feel free to do so. Let me know in the comments if you have and I’ll be happy to add a link to your blog below so that others can enjoy you recipes, too! Thank you!

Special thanks to the following friends from the blog world for all of their hard work and dedication in helping educate folks around the web on content theft:

The post it place                              

pinchofthissmidgeonofthat.blogspot.com

FoodiewithFamily.com                

LarksCountryHeart.com

CallMepmc.com                        

bobbiskozykitchen.blogspot.com

theCountryCook.net                    

 Cooking with K

MommysKitchen.net

DUE TO THE POPULARITY OF THIS NOTE, I HAVE MOVED IT TO IT’S OWN POST SO FOLKS CAN LINK DIRECTLY THERE IF THEY LIKE WITHOUT HAVING TO GO THROUGH A RECIPE FIRST. CLICK HERE AND THANKS!

If you’re on Facebook or Pinterest, I’d really appreciate it if you could use one of the buttons above, thank you! 

This is another one of those recipes that I’m tempted not to even show you because it is just too simple – but those are often the recipes y’all end up loving the most! I love that we have that in common.  I make this pie with Splenda for a nice light treat, but you can use sugar if you prefer. It only takes minutes to make from start to finish and its delicious on it’s own or topped with fresh berries.

The crazy thing is, with all of the elaborate and more involved desserts I make from time to time, this one remains my husband’s favorite. In the old days, I used to be able to make this and have it last a few days but now that my son and daughter have decided they love it as much as my husband does, I’m doing good if it lasts one day.

To see what was left of this pie the morning after I made it, check out the bottom of this post

You’ll need: A graham crust, Splenda (I’m using generic) or sugar, light whipped topping*, cream cheese at room temp, and fresh berries (optional).

*I’m using generic Splenda and whipped topping because it saved me a few dollars to do so. However, if you really need or want to spend extra money, feel free to use name brand. Whatever cranks yer tractor.

Not pictured is lemon juice. I sometimes add a tablespoon of bottled lemon juice to this pie, depending on if I think about it or not. It’s a wonderful addition but totally up to you and good either way!

Place cream cheese and splenda in a bowl.

Make sure your cream cheese is room temp or it won’t get creamy.

Mix that with an electric mixer until well combined.

Toss in your whipped topping.

Mix that up again until well mixed, about a minute or two.

Spread into a graham cracker crust.

Cover this and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Serve on it’s own or topped with fresh berries and more whipped topping.

 So the next day, I thought I’d have a slice of the pie. I figured there would be about half a pie left, but when I went to the fridge I found a teeny tiny sliver and sent the following text to my husband:

“Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.”

~Margaret Shepard

Submitted by Jackie, thanks so much Jackie!

To submit your quote or read almost 2000 others submitted by readers like you, please click here.

Mama and I had a wonderful time this past weekend in Nashville. To see photos from our trip (and some of the fun antiques we found), click here to visit my instagram page. If you missed my Birthday Challenge yesterday, it’s not too late to light candles! Click here to visit that post for details on how you can join us and light up the world!

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/02/splenda-cream-cheese-pie.html/feed 57 http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/1-minute-peanut-butter-syrup.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/1-minute-peanut-butter-syrup.html#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:45:07 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21893 If you’re on Pinterest of Facebook I’d really love it if you could use one of the buttons above. Thanks so much! Follow me on Pinterest by clicking here.

It’s National Peanut Butter Day! My family is made up of a bunch of peanut butter fanatics so when I realized what day it was I dropped what I was doing and rushed into the kitchen to mix up a batch of this delicious syrup so to show you how easy it is to make and some of the many uses for it.

This very versatile recipe has a simple formula: 1 part peanut butter to 2 parts syrup. The syrup I’m using in this post is Honey but you can also use maple syrup, karo syrup or even pancake syrup in it’s place.

Ready? Lets get started! Don’t blink because you’ll miss it if you do

 Place peanut butter and honey (or whatever syrup you’re using) in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Heat for 30 seconds in your microwave, stir. Heat thirty seconds more and stir until smooth and creamy. 

You’re done! 

 This is excellent over ice cream…

But it’s also amazing over pancakes.

Be sure and try it on biscuits, waffles, french toast, regular toast, and if all else fails, just eat it with a spoon!

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge.

This is a peanut butter lover’s heaven!

Surprise your family tonight with this delicious treat!

For more peanut butter recipes, including allergy options,

be sure and click here to visit my Treasure of Peanut Butter Recipes Post! 

Give me a NEW day with sunshine OR rain and you’ve still given me a NEW day,

another opportunity in which to rejoice and be thankful.

Submitted by Kim. Click here to add your quotes to our collection!

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/2013/01/sugar-free-superfruit-salad.html http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/sugar-free-superfruit-salad.html#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:19:16 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21754

The photo shows fresh fruit, but you can actually this entire salad with canned fruit, which saves a fortune when fruit is out of season and adds a lot of convenience!

I’m going to be brief today, because I’m needed to help out with some family and I figure you could use a break from my rambling anyways

This recipe is absolutely delicious and Mama and I have been enjoying it for over twenty years. A friend on a diet passed on the recipe back in the day and she called it “SuperFruit”, so that’s what we’ve always called it. We make ours sugar free and it ends up counting as a fruit in most diets, but with a lot more flavor and variety than eating a single banana or an apple.

Mama had company over the holidays and one of her guests was a diabetic. She called to ask if I had any last minute dessert suggestions and Superfruit popped into my head. It was finished off before all of the others and she ended up being asked for the recipe by everyone there.

It’s just so stinking good, so stinking easy, and if you choose your ingredients right, so stinking sugar free!

Enjoy

SuperFruit ingredients …and Thumbcat

You’ll need: A small box of instant sugar free vanilla pudding, two cans of no sugar added fruit cocktail (any kind), and another can (or two small) of some other type of no sugar added fruit. I’m using mandarin oranges but you can use peaches or pineapple if you like. The main thing is that you need the juice from the can and if you want to make htis sugaar free, it needs to be sugar free.

You don’t HAVE to make this sugar free though, if you don’t want.

Beyond this, you can also add a few pieces of fresh fruit if you like, such as a chopped apple, sliced banana, etc. Just keep in mind that the fruit you add will most likely lessen the amount of time this stays good in the fridge. If adding bananas, you want to eat this within a day or two. As it is now, this will be good for several days (if it lasts that long).

Oh, meet Thumbcat. He doesn’t make appearances too often so I felt compelled to let him be in this tutorial since this is the first time he’s shown an interest. Thumbcat was adopted from an animal shelter and had spent the first couple of months of his life isolated alone in a cage, so he isn’t as keen on people as our other critters are. He loves my son Brady, though. In case you’re wondering about his name, he is a polydactyl. This means he has thumbs on all four of his paws and I guess we’re just super creative in the name department, huh?

Drain all of the juice from your cans into the bowl.

Like this

Pour your dry pudding mix over the top of it.

Stir that up really good with a wire whisk

You can also just shake all of this up in a quart sized mason jar or even mix it up with an electric mixer if you want. This recipe can be prepared according to your mood.

If you end up with a few lumps, don’t worry about them. Once this has set for a while, you can stir the fruit up again and the lumps will go away easily.

They also taste pretty good if you get a hold of one on your spoon.

Dump in your fruit.

Stir that up good.

Cover and refrigerate several hours.

This is a Pyrex casserole in the sunflower pattern. I love how sunshiney and pretty it is, especially the lid. It is a Cinderella Casserole which means that if you look you’ll notice that it has two handles on it and one is a little larger than the other. The handles have grooves in them which help them to also be spouts for pouring. All of the Cinderella bowls are like this, too. Oh how I miss the old Pyrex! The current stuff lacks the charm and durability of it’s predecessors but fortunately we can still dig up old pieces from time to time!

DEVOUR! If you’ve never had this before, you’re gonna be surprised at how good it is!

A few years back I did a post with more diet friendly and sugar free recipes called the Lighter Side Of Southern. Click here to visit that post. 

Dolly Parton on responding to critics and people who gave her a hard time: 

“I didn’t listen to any of those people. I never do.

I simply chose to toss their negativity onto the express train that ran

in one ear and out the other.”

~Dolly Parton

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/sugar-free-superfruit-salad.html/feed 54 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/2012/12/christmas-tie-dyed-cheesecake-brownies.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/12/christmas-tie-dyed-cheesecake-brownies.html#comments Mon, 03 Dec 2012 14:13:35 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=21373 If you’re on Pinterest or Facebook, I’d love it if you could use one of the buttons above! Thank you

Aren’t these brownies gorgeous? They taste even better! The best thing about these little beauties though, is how easy they are to whip up. You can start with homemade brownie batter but I just use a boxed mix, then mix up the cream cheese batter and you’re good to go! These add a fun touch to a school party, office get together, or a great hostess gift during the holidays. They’re just so stinking pretty that you gotta love ‘em!

To make these you’ll need: A box of brownie mix (and the ingredients called for on the box to make them), one egg, a little sugar, some clear vanilla*, and a brick of cream cheese that has been softened at room temp.

You’re also going to need some gel food coloring* to give the brownies their festive red and green swirls.

*Clear vanilla can be found at the grocery store, just hunt through the flavorings section. It can also be found in the cake decorating section at Wal Mart, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels *Gel food colorings are a must to have the vibrant colors pictured here. I get mine at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby, also in the cake decorating section. They are a little over $1 each.

Mix up your brownie batter according to package directions and spread into a greased 9×13 pan.

Set aside while you make the cream cheese mixture.

In a mixing bowl, place your egg, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.

Note: You can substitute Splenda for the sugar here if you want. Some would argue that there is still sugar in the brownie batter which is, of course true, but just because you can’t bail out the whole boat doesn’t mean there isn’t some good in using your bucket to get what you can.

Beat the living mess out of it until it is smooth and creamy.

Take 2/3 of the cheesecake mixture and divide it into two bowls, leaving the rest in the mixing bowl until you need it.

Y’all just eyeball this because it’s not like a life is hanging in the balance if we don’t get exactly 1/3 of the batter in each bowl.

This is cooking, not rocket science – and believe me, having been born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, I know rocket science when I see it.

Using your gel colors (because those give us the vibrant colors we want), tint one bowl of cheesecake mixture green and the other red.

Like this

Now drop spoonful dollops of this all over your batter.

And swirl it with a butter knife. I just kind of start drawing “S”‘s into the batter until I like how it looks.

Bake this at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until set in the center.

Allow to cool completely and then cut into bars.

If you’d like to make individual brownies in muffin papers, here is how you do that…

Divide your batter evenly into a muffin tin lined with papers. Dollop a small spoon of each color on top of the batter.

Swirl that with a knife until you like how it looks.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until set in the center.

UPDATE: I’ve had a lot of interest and questions about the square muffin tin pictured here. I got this at WalMart for around $10.00 and I like it so much that I now have two of them. For the cupcake liners, I just use regular round ones. Once you put your batter in them they perfectly conform to the shape of the tin and become little squares

Look how pretty!

I’m heading to catch the first of three flights which will eventually land me in the Dominican Republic where I’ll be taking part in handing out the 100 Millionth Shoebox with Operation Christmas Child! I’ll be sharing details from my trip with you this week on a special post that I hope to update at the end of each day. Click here to visit that post and be sure you check in each morning to keep up with my updates!

Butterflies don’t know the color of their own wings,

but human eyes can see how beautiful they are.

Likewise, you don’t know how special you are, but others can see the good in you.

~Anon. Submitted by Jackie. Add your inspirational or motivational quote to our collection by clicking here.

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