So today something cool happened. Alright, actually several cool things happened but I’m gonna focus on one here because if I took the time to write about every little detail in my life that I felt was cool or neat or served as evidence to enforce my view that the world is mostly a good place full of good people, y’all would just have to clock in each morning by 5:00 AM and hang in there with me til I ran out of wind around midnight - And Repeat next day  

So I checked in on twitter and I saw a wonderful tweet from Charlie Daniels, so I retweeted it. Then I got to working in the kitchen and cranked up some CDB while I was cooking. I tweeted about that, too. Cool thing is, I heard back  “Bet you’re cooking something good” from Charlie Daniels himself!

As a girl I used to listen to his fiddle playing, begging my dad to play Devil Went Down To Georgia over and over again. When I took up classic violin in middle school I had visions of playing like him one day. The fact that I never got much beyond The Old Gray Goose is entirely beside the point… 

I called my mother and said “Guess who just talked to me on twitter? Charlie Daniels!” 

She replied, “Really? Now you know They say he’s just the nicest man.

I held in my chuckle. We do that a lot around here, talk about “They” say this or that.

“They” is a group of people that just about everyone I know has. “They” apparently get together frequently to discuss current events, recipes, people, and raising your kids.

I’ve spent my life hearing:  They say you should (insert should here)… They say this really tastes good…and when it comes to people “They say Charlie Daniels is the nicest man”

So I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who happens to be in our group of “They”. There are all sorts of “They” groups and I’m so thankful that the “They’s” in our lives are the kind that say nice things about people. :0)

If your group of “They” is like that, They say you should let them know how much they are appreciated! 

And now, On to the Pie! 

Okay, kinda. I have something else to talk about first but I promise we’re getting a lot closer to the pie…

The famous Miss Fay's portrait is also with us in this photo!

So this past weekend, my mother and I ended up at the famous Loveless Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee with our friends Shannon Kozee and Tamera Alexander. I’m gonna talk more about Shannon in a future post. If Tamera’s name sounds familiar it is because she is a wonderful author of historic fiction. (You can check out her blog here. You can also get her latest book here, which Mama is reading now and I’m reading as my treat once I get done writing my second cookbook.)

Getting to meet her was a complete thrill for me because we’ve had some of those encounters with each other via internet that you know just can’t be coincidences. The first time I was made aware of her blog was when I got a notice that someone had blogged about me (it is an automated thing that sometimes works but most of the time doesn’t). I looked at the name and thought it sounded familiar but couldn’t quite place it. Then, a few days later, someone was giving a copy of my cookbook away on Twitter and again, her name. So this time I decided to do a little investigating and went to visit her blog. As I scrolled down I saw the cover of a book she had written – and that book was sitting beside my chair because I had just finished reading it. LIGHTBULB.

We exchanged a few emails and Tammy was always so encouraging and warm in hers. I was actually a little nervous about meeting her but she was even warmer in person! She absolutely exudes kindness and grace and is just one of those people you want to sit around and soak in for as long as possible. She also had perfect hair. ~sigh~ But I shall not covet…much.

While there, of course we had to have dessert. They had a new offering which immediately caught my attention: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pie. Oh my goodness, how I love a good oatmeal raisin cookie! I had to get it.

When it came, I was not disappointed. Mama and I split the piece and it tasted like the ideal oatmeal cookie, hot from the oven (even thought it was served cold!) because the middle was nice and gooey with the richness of oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon. I set to looking for the recipe the moment I got home.

I found one of the original postings of it on Sun Maid Raisin’s website, so I contacted Sun Maid raisins and they graciously gave me permission to share their wonderful recipe with you. I have to tell you my funny Sun Maid story though..

When I was going to New York to do the Today show a little over a year ago, I was scheduled to promote my book by making Lela’s Fried Peach Pies. The secret to Lela’s fried pies is, of course, the dried peaches. Whe you make pies with dried fruit instead of canned or even fresh, you get a much bigger punch of flavor. Well, I got a call from the food stylist in NYC to see if I could bring the dried peaches with me. It turns out, they are almost impossible to find in the big city! So I headed to the “big town” with three bags of Sun Maid dried peaches in my suitcase. I guess tha tmakes those pies “fancy” since they were made with fruit imported all the way from Alabama If you’d like to see that segment and my recipe for fried peach pies, click here, but come back because I wanna show you this pie, too!

Oooh yum, de pie! de Pie!

(that was supposed to be my impersonation of Tattoo in Fantasy Island, in case you didn’t recognize it)

To make this delicious pie, you’ll need: Raisins, Cinnamon, quick oats, corn syrup, salt, brown sugar, and a wee bit of melted butter and flour.

You’ll also need a pie shell.

The original recipe called for a graham cracker crust but I’m using my traditional mix-in-the-pan pie crust. You can click here if you’d like that recipe.

Place brown sugar, eggs, corn syrup, and melted butter in a bowl. Mix well with a large spoon.

Until it looks like this

Now add in all of your other ingredients and mix again.

So it looks like this.

See how easy that was? Easy as pie, right?

Thus the expression

Oh! I forgot to show you my bowl.

You’ve probably seen this one before but just in case it is a Pyrex Cinderella Bowl in Amish Butterprint blue.

Ain’t it purty?

Spend time with those you love. One of these days you will say either, “I wish I had,” or “I’m glad I did.”

~Zig Zigler

Thank you to Angela for submitting this one! Add your motivational or inspiring quote to our collection by clicking here. 

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/02/oatmeal-raisin-pie-and-they-say.html/feed 95 http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/signs.html http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/signs.html#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:12:49 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=18169 Pin it

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I’ve seen some of the neatest signs on Pinterest lately and as an avid sign lover myself, I thought I’d do a post sharing some of the signs I have around my house with you (You can follow me on Pinterest by clicking here if you’d like).

Most of my signs are located in our Diner or the kitchen. We don’t have an actual open-to-the-public diner or anything, but since we converted our sunroom to a fifties style diner, that is what we call it. I’ve had a lot of fun hanging memorabilia up on the walls in there!

The Story Of Our Diner

This is a photo of our Diner. I needed more room in the kitchen but adding onto the house wasn’t an option for us. We had this beautiful sunroom right off the kitchen that we weren’t using but it just doesn’t look right as a dining room to me so I came up with the diner option and got to looking online for diner booths and furniture. There are all sorts of options for second hand but none of them were able to be shipped so I finally settled on buying having my furniture made just for us – and it ended up costing much less for everything than I would have paid for a dining room suite at a furniture store.

We have a booth with a table for four, another table for four with five chairs, and a table for two with two chairs that I keep in the kitchen as a little breakfast table.

WE LOVE OUR DINER! 

I have hopes of decorating it more and would like to add little cafe curtains and such. The kids really want a neon open sign ~grins~. But all of that is just going to have to wait. We’ll get there eventually and in the meantime the journey is half the fun!

I call it the “Do Dine In”, which I think is terribly clever – and the kids just roll their eyes at me every time I try to explain how clever it is.

This is our booth where the four of us eat supper every night. We always loved sitting in booths in restaurants so getting our own was pretty cool for the kids.

We do have a terrible time keeping the cats from scratching it though. I’ve tried putting the little covers on their claws and spraying repellent on the backs of the furniture and nothing has helped. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

This is Katy Rose in her waitress costume. She loves to put this on when we have company

This is part of one wall hanging in our diner.

I’m only showing close ups of some of these so if you have any questions about particulars let me know. That 45 record is a Leslie Gore song. The skillet is the one I got at the Taste of Charleston Iron Chef Competition a few months back (It was a gift).

This post only has some of the signs hanging around my house because…well I really have too many to put into one post ~grins~

Happiness is not a destination. It is a way of life. 

I like to pick signs that have words I want my kids to remember, lessons that I feel are important. This one is crucial. I know so many people who have spent entire lives just waiting for x,y, and z to fall into place before they will be happy. I also know people who haven’t got a penny to their name and they’re living lives more full than the richest among us could ever hope for.

This sign is pretty huge, about a yard tall and over a foot wide.

I got it at Cracker Barrel a while back. Since then I’ve seen a lot of them crop up in antique malls and such for outrageous prices (well over $50.00 – I paid $20.00).

This baby came off Ebay. It is a cast iron plaque that says “On this site in 1897 nothing happened.”

~grins~ I have it hanging on the wall in the diner.

This is a cute little sign, about 5×7 in size. It was a gift from my friend, Beth.

I have no idea where she got it but it sure is cute!

This sign is over 40 inches wide and customized with our name.

The center Coca Cola medallion is a three dimensional metal disk. I got it off of Ebay for a little over $30.00

“Laugh a lot, and when you’re older, all of your wrinkles will be in the right place.”

Jyl got me this one. She and I are big advocates of wrinkles – They are one of the best ways to tell if someone has spent their life smiling or scowling.

Family Rules: Share. May Every word be full of grace. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Give Thanks. Hug Often. Obey your parents. Rejoice in this day that the Lord has made. Love one another. No whining – ever.

I got this one at Cracker Barrel this past summer.

Everything is Beautiful in it’s time. Ecclesiastes 3:11.

This is from the Dayspring line. Their merchandise can be purchased from their website and many Christian book stores.

These little fellas are tin concession stand signs.

I got them off Ebay for about ten bucks.

To enjoy the flavor of life, take BIG bites.

I think I got this one at Old Time Pottery for about $10.

It’s Never Too Late to live Happily Ever After

This applies to so many situations. I think every married couple needs this in their home.

I got this one at the Nashville Flea Market. There used to be this man who set up and made the neatest signs! I was there this past weekend and he wasn’t there anymore but he may start coming again once the weather warms up (winter months are slow for them).

MANY PEOPLE HAVE EATEN IN THIS KITCHEN AND GONE ON TO LEAD NORMAL, HEALTHY LIVES.

I picked this one up at a little gift shop in the Earlyworks Museum complex in Huntsville. It was just too cute not to come home with me!

This is a Buy Fresh Buy Local poster from Alabama that they sent me when I let them use some of my recipes on their website.

Isn’t it pretty? I just framed it in an inexpensive frame and put it up.

I love you like biscuits and gravy

This is a letterpress sign made by Yeehaw Industries that I received when I spoke at a food blog conference last year.

Those who wish to sing always find a song.

This is so so so so so true.

Also, those who wish to wish to complain, always find something to complain about. I want to be in the first category

I got this from the little sign man who used to be at the Nashville Flea Market.

This is a special sign because it was a gift from Su James. Su has been reading Southern plate just about since I started. She and her mother live in Australia. When they came over to visit the south for the first time two summers ago, I drove to Atlanta to spend the day with them (and make some banana pudding for Su to try!) and she and her mother bought me this sign in a gift shop at Stone Mountain. I think of them every time I look at it!

The most important things in life aren’t things.

If only more people realized this.

Another gift from Jyl. It’s like she knows I like signs or something…

You are my sunshine.

I hope my kids remember this sign when they grow up….

Old Time Pottery again. Their signs are really cheap there.

A rich person is not the one who has the most but the one who needs the least.

I think I got this one from a dollar store or something. I have no idea. I’ve had it quite some time though.

The letters on the wall read “The Kitchen Is The Heart Of The Home” and the sign under it says “Because Nice Matters”

This is in my kitchen.

God’s Top Ten: Put God First. Worship Him only. No bad words. Work 6, Rest 1. Obey your parents. Harm no one. Don’t cheat. Don’t take what is not yours. Tell the truth. Be happy with what you have.

Yup, these are the actual commandments paraphrased.

I got this sign at Cracker Barrel this past summer but a few days ago saw one exactly like it at a Lifeway Christian Bookstore. I’ve had a lot of people ask about this one.

This is over the doorway leading from the kitchen into the den. I’ve had this sign for at least twenty years so I have no idea where I got it.

That hook you can see on the top inner bit of the doorframe is where I hang mistletoe at Christmas

This isn’t really a sign but it’s hanging on my wall and I like it.

A set of miniature copper molds in their original display package. I hang a set of copper measuring spoons on individual nails beneath it and I use those all the time.

I’m not a decorator and I know this arrangement is a bit crowded but I’ll live.

The phone on the left is our kitchen phone – I think we still have a house phone number but I turned the ringer off when I first got it and have used it maybe twice so it’s mostly for decoration. The mug rack on the right is one that my grandfather made and finished and Grandmama cross stitched the Morton Salt center of it.

I love this saying and this particular sign was designed by a nice lady on Etsy. I bought a jpeg file of it from her and had it printed on a 16×20 canvas at Wal Mart.

To get it to go on the canvas, I had my husband add an inch and a half border all around to the original file so it wouldn’t have white space when stretched across the canvas frame. I posted a photo on Facebook and so many people asked about it that I emailed the lady who made it and asked her if she would consider setting up an easy auction for the image with the needed boarder around it but I’m afraid I never heard back from her. You can search and find the image on Etsy if you’d like, it is only $8.95 for the jpeg and you have rights to print it on whatever you like (would make great gifts) but if you decide to do it on a canvas like I did some modification will be needed.

Having a place to go is Home.

Having someone to love is Family.

Having both is a Blessing.

I think this came from Kirkland’s a few years ago.

This is a reproduction Coca Cola menu board that I picked up a few years ago at the gift shop in Lake Winnepesaukah

This is a paper potato sack that I got at a flea market two years ago for $2.00.

Now let’s head back into the Diner…

Here are a few signs over the window in the diner. Let’s get a little closer…

A beautiful metal sign from the Loveless Cafe gift shop in Nashville, TN.

Quit Your Meanness

I love this one! How many times have we wanted to tell folks this?

This is actually a bumper sticker that I mounted on cardboard and then just stuck up on the wall.

Visualize Minnie Pearl

Another bumper sticker that I mounted on cardboard and then stuck up on the wall in the diner. This one came from the Loveless Cafe Gift shop.

Flea Market Find.

This is a reproduction sign. It was original $24.00 but we got him down to $20. It’s hanging in the diner.

I got this from Ebay. I can’t speak with certainty here, but I’m pretty sure this was meant to be read by the writers at the New York Times and all those other folks who have come out of the woodwork to get five minutes of fame in exchange for saying nasty things about Paula Deen. As my mother would say “Their time is coming.”

NOTICE

Having a sense of humor is vital to survival. If you are blessed with a sense of humor, exercise it often. If you are not blessed with a sense of humor, give serious thought to acquiring one Having said that I love this! ~Giggle~

This sign came from Amazon.com. Click here to buy one if you’d like.

To see more of my kitchen itself (beyond the signs) and the rest of my house (on a day it was clean!) click here to see a tour.  

Do you have any signs around your house that have a special quote or message on them?

“Humor is the great thing, the saving thing.

The minute it crops up, all our irritation and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.”

– Mark Twain

Submitted by Jenny. Click here to submit your quote.

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Incredibly moist Dark Chocolate Cake iced with a Whipped Cappuccino Buttercream icing and served with chocolate ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup… 

We used to have this great restaurant in Huntsville called Darryl’s. Everyone loved that place. As a teenager, anytime homecoming, birthdays, or any other eating out occasion rolled around, we all went to Darryl’s. It got to be kind of funny because you’d show up with a date or a group of friends and it would turn out more like a class reunion with practically every other table filled with folks you know.

Unfortunately, Darryl’s closed a good while back. There is only one remaining in North Carolina, but I live in Alabama so I’ve spend over ten years pining away for my very favorite thing on their menu – Cappuccino Cake.

Cappuccino Cake was one of their signature desserts and they always brought out a huge wedge of it for birthdays and special events. My sister got her first job working there as a hostess and we’d never been more proud of her than when we’d come home on the rare occasion and find an entire cappuccino cake in our refrigerator! They served it cold (I think it is better that way) with a side of chocolate ice cream and generously drizzled chocolate syrup over the whole thing.

This is a deep dark chocolate cake iced with a whipped cappuccino buttercream icing. Does it get any better than this? Maybe, but not right now because right now, we’re focusing on this little side of heaven .

After pining away for over a decade, I decided it couldn’t be that difficult to duplicate the recipe so I set out to do just that. You can’t find a copy anywhere on the internet so I went by memory and a basic starting point of dark chocolate cake, coffee infused buttercream – and we have a winner. We have  grand prize winner. This puppy deserves one of those 6 foot tall trophies.

If I didn’t share this recipe I could retire and just bake Cappuccino cakes the rest of my life. But it’s not nice not to share recipes and I don’t really want to wash that many dishes. 

I hope you get to make this soon. It is definitely a showstopper cake perfect for any special occasion.

Come to think of it, today seems pretty special to me, doesn’t it to you? 

For the cake part, you’ll need: 

Chocolate Cake Mix*, milk, sour cream, eggs, dutch process cocoa powder (dark cocoa powder), and oil. 

*You can use any dark chocolate cake mix such as devil’s food, dark chocolate, or even regular chocolate if you like. You can also use your favorite chocolate cake recipe if you like but I like this one because it is dense and extremely moist.

In a mixing bowl, place all of your ingredients. 

Mix that with an electric mixer until well blended and smooth, about 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides as needed. 

Some folks have you add gradually but unless you’re just now joining this party, you know I’m really not a gradual person. 

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While that is mixing, grease two or three 8 inch round cake pans. I’m only using two. 

To grease my pans I fold up a paper towel and dip it in vegetable shortening and then smear it around real good.

Instead of flouring our pans, since this is a chocolate cake, I like to use cocoa powder. Just put a tablespoon or so in your pan and then…

 tilt your pan all around while patting it to distribute it evenly like this. 

Dump excess out into the trash or back yard. Squirrels need chocolate too. Just kidding. It may be bad for squirrels and then I’d get all sorts of squirrel rights activists boycotting my website and such, which is utterly ridiculous considering I’m practically running a squirrel wildlife refuge here at my house considering I have two of the biggest pecan trees you’ve ever seen in my yard but have gotten a grand total of two pecans in the past three years. The squirrels sure are plump though. And happy. In fact, I don’t think they could be any happier unless I started giving them chocolate…

Then you divide the batter evenly between your two baking pans.

This batter is going to be really thick and will likely remind you of jello.

Remember, never ever eat raw cake batter. 

But I don’t count licking it off the spatula as eating it. 

So many things are all about perspective…

~grins~

Bake cake layers in the oven at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Note: If you are making more than two layers, check on them after twenty minutes. Mine are thicker since I’m only doing two layers so they will need to cook longer.

Once they are finished baking, remove from oven and let sit in the cake pans for ten minutes. 

After ten minutes, turn cakes out and allow to cool completely. 

I like to let mine cool and then wrap them really well and refrigerate overnight for easier icing the next day

Time to make Cappuccino Buttercream Icing!

You’ll need: Butter, milk, instant coffee, vanilla, and powdered sugar. 

I only use instant coffee for recipes such as this so I got those neat little packets that have a sleeve you open for each cup. They were just $1.00 for a box of seven so that seemed like a pretty good deal to me and my instant coffee stays fresh for whenever I need it.

When it comes to my daily coffee, I need the hard stuff. The real stuff. I’m talking coffee so strong you’d have to put quarters on your eyelids if you wanted them to shut anytime in the next eight hours. 

Take the instant coffee and stir it into your milk until dissolved.

 This may take a minute. 

You don’t have to heat your milk first though.

Place your well softened butter in a mixing bowl. 

Important: Don’t be tempted to soften your butter in the microwave, on the stovetop, or any other trick we use to soften it when we’re in a hurry for this recipe. We really want to just leave our butter on the countertop for a few hours until it softens on it’s own for this recipe. Normally, I’m all about shortcuts but this one is important because we’re gonna have us a whipped icing in the end so bits of melted butter won’t help us achieve our purpose

.

Beat for a minute or two, until fluffy like this. 

Add in all other icing ingredients. 

and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed (like in this picture)

Now crank up that mixer again and beat this icing until it is fluffy, 5-7 minutes. 

If you haven’t tasted this icing by now, I’d sure like to know where you get your willpower from.

Time to ice the cake!

This cake is best if made ahead and refrigerated until good and cold. 

I know that is torture but just try it for me once, it’s totally worth the wait!

Serve with chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup (I used Hershey’s) and a strawberry.

Eat the strawberry last – your body might get confused and think you just finished a fruit plate

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

 “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

Proverbs 16:24

The honeycomb is one of the strongest structures designed. Strengthen those around you with uplifting speech. Everyone needs cheerful words these days. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, Choose LIFE.

~Submitted by Marilyn Miller. Click here to submit your quote.

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I love to surprise my kids after school with little treats and things that show them I was thinking of them and excited about them coming back home at the end of the day. Sometimes I pick them up and take them for surprise frozen yogurt, sometimes it’s a walk in the park, every now and then it’s Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies or Peanut butter cake….but a few days ago it was this pretty tray of apple slices, arranged just so around a big old bowl of creamy peanut butter dip. My kids love all things Peanut Butter.

I had it sitting in the center of the table with plates and two glasses of juice, just waiting on them. They walked in and I was already beaming, which caused them to beam - I love how beaming is contagious in my family!

Now I’m not one on to get persnickety on food presentation (I always say we’re cooking the food to eat, not to build a shrine to it) but I do enjoy setting a nice scene for the kids and as they turned the corner their eyes got big as dollars and my heart swelled up so big it just about burst. THAT is when it is worth the extra effort

There are two groups people in this world that make it really fun to do nice things for, children and folks older than me. It just seems both of those groups take the time to notice life more than those of us in the middle. The middle folks like to rush around with a head full of “I” ideas. “I have to go here. I have to call so-and-so. I have to work on this. I have to pick up that. I have to talk to so-and-so about how they hurt my feelings when they looked at me funny. I’ve got to get up in the morning. I’ve got to cook breakfast for these people. I’ve got to wear this. I need that…”

Children and Older folks have more sense than middle minded folks. They notice things. They don’t walk by flowers without smelling them or at least smiling at them. And when someone offers a kindness, their hearts are readily available to notice it and add in an extra pump of blood flow to their mind in a moment of joy. This makes it lots more fun to do even the smallest things for them.

I was reminded of that this morning when I ate a peppermint lifesaver. Hang in there with me, there is a point to this..

When I was five years old, My parents always said “Don’t shut the car door by yourself when you get in. Let us shut it for you.” They said this over and over so of course I was just pretty much waiting on the day when I could beat them to it and shut the car door on my own because, you know, shutting the car door by yourself must be an awful lot of fun for them to always want to save the experience for them!

So I shut it by myself one day, and broke my thumb in the process.

As it turns out, thumbs aren’t meant to be shut in car doors so there is your public service announcement for the day.

It wasn’t all bad though, because I got to ride in Mama’s lap in the front on the way to the hospital and my brother and sister still had to sit in the back ~fights the urge to call her siblings and remind them that she got to ride in the front and they didn’t~.

So we ended up at the emergency room back in the day before you had to bring a bedroll and rations to make it through the wait and I kept my coveted spot in Mama’s lap, sniffing from time to time while I looked at my odd looking thumb.

A lady sitting there with us smiled at me. I still remember that. Then she opened her purse and looked around for a minute before pulling out a roll of peppermint lifesavers and said “Would you like one?”. I lit up and nodded eagerly and she gave me that peppermint lifesaver. There was something in that tiny little gesture that, for whatever reason, just came at the right time for me and made me feel better.

I knew at that moment that everything was going to be alright because nice ladies were handing out peppermint lifesavers in the waiting room of Huntsville Hospital.

I don’t remember any of the pain of having a broken thumb. I just remember getting to sit in Mama’s lap and that peppermint lifesaver.

So this morning I was piddling around in the house and came across my husband’s “pile”. That little area where he cleans out his pockets at night and refills them again in the morning. My eyes caught sight of some peppermint lifesavers and my heart did that little jump as I smiled and took one and remembered how good that felt to have a stranger take notice of me and do something so sweet. I’m sure she has no idea that her tiny little gesture is still bringing me joy over three decades later.

Folks, you just never know. It is the smallest acts of kindness. Don’t fret over trying to make a wave, all you’ve got to do it just add your tiny drop of water…

And maybe keep some lifesavers handy.

You’ll need: Creamy Peanut Butter, Brown Sugar (dark or light, your preference), Softened Cream Cheese, and Milk

 Place cream cheese, peanut butter, and dark brown sugar in a mixing bow and mix until smooth.

Like this.

Now we wanna add in our milk to make it nice and creamy and dippable.

Silly Spellcheck is trying to tell me that “dippable” isn’t a word but we both know exactly what I mean by that so clearly, our intelligence level is just above that of the computer.

Add in the milk and mix again until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides as needed.

When you’re done it is gonna look like this.

Now at this point, this stuff is just plain good. In addition to dip, it would also be a great icing for cupcakes or cookies!

Cut the apples into wedges, removing the center and seeds.

Now there are different ways to keep your apples from turning brown, the most common is using a powder called “Fruit Fresh” or coating them in lemon juice. I try to avoid both of those because they put a really sour coating on the apples. So I use orange juice instead and it works every bit as well.

Place the apples into a bowl filled with orange juice (this keeps them from turning brown)

Take the apples out of the orange juice when ready to serve with the dip and place on a paper towel lined plate while you arrange them on your platter, this gets the extra OJ off of them.

Enjoy!

This is great served with apples, celery sticks, cookies, ginger snaps, etc. It would also be a fabulous icing to cupcakes!

“An inexhaustible good nature is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather.”

– Washington Irving

Thank you Christy Ryan for submitting this! I’m always tickled to get more quotes submitted so please click here if you’d like to visit our Give A Penny page and add your words of wisdom and wit!

A Little Video Coffee Chat about Taste of the South, National Cornbread Festival, The Book I’m Writing, and more.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2012/01/creamy-peanut-butter-fruit-dip.html/feed 55 http://www.southernplate.com/2011/10/crispy-breaded-pork-chops-with-milk-gravy-and-memes-mashed-potatoes.html http://www.southernplate.com/2011/10/crispy-breaded-pork-chops-with-milk-gravy-and-memes-mashed-potatoes.html#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:09:33 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=17220 Pin it

Goodness gracious alive, am I ever blessed. As I write this, I have a small suitcase open and waiting for a quick trip to Texas to appear on Great Day Houston. I’ll fly in, do a live tv show (I have so much fun doing tv I feel guilty about it) and then fly back to the great state of Alabama. My kids won’t hardly know I was gone! Don’t forget that I’ll be on Paula Deen’s Best dishes November 5th (Check times in your area). To stay up to date with all of the goings on, join us on Facebook and have a great Monday! 

Comfort food. Pork chops breaded in a delicious crunchy coating served with my MeMe’s ultra creamy mashed potatoes and all of it happily covered in a good coating of milk gravy.

I sure do wish you would have been here last night when we were eating this. I even had an extra pork chop set aside. But alas, we’re screens apart and truth be told my house wasn’t clean enough for company anyway, so you’ll have to make this yourself if you wanna eat it anytime soon.

Now some of you are looking at that plate and thinking to yourselves “There’s nothing green! You’re supposed to have something green!”. Calm down, it’s okay. I kicked the “supposed to” people out of my kitchen a long time ago. There are plenty of restaurants they can eat at on their way back to their house where they do everything they’re supposed to do. If you need something green, head on over and have some of my sweet and sour green beans. I could eat a vat of those every day and still want more. Besides, it’s not like we have to eat the entire food pyramid in one sitting.

If you’re still feeling guilty (Hey, I had that same homeEc teacher in high school, too!) have a salad for lunch. Then you’re good to go

To make the pork chops, you’ll need: Chops, two eggs, and a sleeve of saltine crackers.

Make sure you use the salted crackers because they really give us a great flavor here. This recipe will make four -five pork chops and you can get the thickness you prefer, adjusting cooking time accordingly. I’m using chops that are almost one inch thick so they will take a little longer to cook.

I like to use pie plates for my ingredients to get ready for this.

Crack your eggs into a pie plate or bowl and beat them up with a fork.

In another plate, place your crushed saltines – I crushed the entire sleeve.

Dip both sides of each pork chop into the beaten egg.

and then press each side of each chop into the cracker crumbs.

Place in heated oil and cook over medium heat until browned, then turn and cook to brown on other side, removing when fully cooked and center is no longer pink.

Here is a photo of them just about to come out. It is a bit blurry but so are my kids when they run in and out of the kitchen wanting to know when supper is going to be ready….

so this pic will work just fine because they’re hungry

When your pork chops are completely done, remove them from the skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate.

Now it’s time to make our milk gravy.

There are just a few simple ingredients to making milk gravy and one of them is optional.

Flour, milk, salt and pepper are a must. Bacon grease makes it even better and I’m going to use it in this post but you can leave the grease out entirely if you like, you don’t even have to use oil.

It is entirely possible to make a perfectly good milk gravy with nothing but flour, salt, pepper, and milk. My mother was shocked when I told her this and others probably will be too so lets just keep the whole “greaseless milk gravy” thing to ourselves .

If you are using bacon grease, go ahead and put it in a small skillet and place that over medium heat until melted.

I’ve been storing mine in the refrigerator so it may look a bit more solid than yours.

Now add your flour and give it a gooooood stir. 

If you’re not using grease just put your flour in a dry skillet.

Continue cooking, stirring constantly, over medium to medium low heat until your flour is browned.

Now with bacon grease added the flour is going to quickly become paste-like. Without bacon grease it will just stay dry but it will still brown in a dry skillet. Stir constantly, especially if using a dry skillet, until your flour is good and browned.

You can go ahead and add the salt and pepper before it is done browning.

or whenever you think about adding it  

This is a photo of my browned flour.

Remember, if you aren’t using bacon grease it will be dry instead of pasty but it will still brown.

Pour in milk while stirring.

Cook this over medium low, stirring constantly, until gravy is thickened.

To start with it is going to look like milk with a bunch of brown globs in it. Just hang in there and keep on stirring.

You’ll know it’s thickened when it coats the back of a spoon like this If it gets too thick, just stir in a little more milk. 

Serve pork chops with Meme’s Mashed potatoes and pour gravy over it all. YUM!

P.S. This entire meal is also excellent without the gravy if you have non-gravy lovers.

Come and get it! 

 When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

~Gilbert Chesterson

My kids and I love to do Valentine crafts so this year we made a video for you and the special kids in your life of a quick, easy, and fun Valentine cupcake topper that you can make together.

I used boxed cake mix for my cupcakes and homemade butter cream icing but you can just as easily use store bought icing, too! It’s not about making it from scratch so much as it is spending the time together and having fun as a family.

These are great for class parties or a special family dinner. What better way to celebrate having wonderful people in your life than to sit down around a dinner table? Hope you enjoy this video from Brady, Katy, and myself. My recipe for icing is below.

Click below for icing recipe and to leave a comment.

What special things do you do for your family on Valentine’s Day?

Inspire us all by letting us know!

Butter Cream Icing

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 tsp butter flavoring (can use vanilla in it’s place)
• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 2-4 Tablespoons water

In large bowl, cream butter or margarine with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add butter flavoring. Add one cup of confectioner’s sugar and 2 tablespoons water, beating well on medium speed. Add remaining sugar and beat until well blended. Scrape down sides if needed. If icing needs more water, add one tablespoon and beat again until light and fluffy. May add an additional tablespoon if necessary (close your eyes real quick and see if you can spell necessary off the top of your head. If you can, you’re a better person than I am!).

Ice cupcakes and let kids decorate! Be sure you put sprinkles on as soon as you are done icing so they will stick.

While we try to teach our children all about life,

Our children teach us what life is all about.

~Angela Schwindt

Submit your quote here.

These are my brother’s favorite cookies and consequently, the ones I remember Mama making the most growing up. Unlike many of today’s cookies, these have a good crunch to them along with a pure flavor brought about by the vanilla and making them absolutely perfect for dunking in milk. Absolutely perfect. Divine. Sublime. Wonderful. I really, really, really want you to make these and have them with a glass of milk – tonight.

Pushy little thang, aren’t I? But you see if you were here I’d make them for you and so since I can’t possibly make and deliver cookies to everyone today I’m going to have to rely on you to help me out a bit here.

Mama used to always make these and put the little balls of dough on baking sheets before transferring them to the table where the three of us sat at the ready. She’d give each of us a little bowl of M&M’s and we had a rule: We could put three M&M’s on each cookie, no more. I didn’t understand why Mama had that rule until I made these with Brady for the first time about seven years ago and didn’t enforce the rule. There was one cookie that kid had put fifteen M&M’s on! ~laughs~

So now I revert to Mama’s wisdom. I put some M&M’s in the batter and then each cookie is adorned with exactly three M&M’s on top!

Keep reading to see how to make these little beauties as well as how I get my all red M&M’s for half price!

You’ll need: Solid Vegetable Shortening, Brown Sugar (dark or light, whatever you have on hand), M&M’s, Sugar, Eggs, Self Rising Flour (See FAQ on how to make your own), and vanilla.

Folks, I need to apologize here for using name brand, pure vanilla. I promise it won’t get to be a habit. I was desperate, I was out of Vanilla, I bought what they had. ~hangs her head in shame~ I give you my solemn oath that I am still as cheap as ever and will heretoafter forevermore make it a priority not to run out of cheapie vanilla and thereby risk my integrity by purchasing the expensive stuff.

Yes, Expensive means over a dollar a bottle.

Now here is my little tip for getting red M&M’s on the cheap. I buy Christmas M&M’s for half price after the holidays.

I always store candies and such that I plan on baking with in mason jars rather than the original bags. Mason jars are reusable and keep them fresh better than the bags. Critters, if determined, an easily get into those bags, too.

Then I sort them by color..

Red ones are perfect for Valentines

and the green ones are great for the very next holiday: St. Patrick’s Day!

I put the green ones back in the jar and my kids will be ready to make our “lucky” cookies and treats next month.

A little bit about the generic shortening I’m using…

Generic shortening has come a long way in just the past few years. Used to, generic meant the shortening would never make white, white icing or be the consistency of name brand. Even this brand just two years ago was entirely different but today it works every bit as well.

Place your shortening in a mixing bowl.

Add sugars.

I always just use whatever brown sugar I have on hand whenever a recipe calls for brown sugar of any kind.

I prefer dark because of the richer flavor but either one works. Today we’re using light.

Add eggs and vanilla.

If it looks like there is a lot of vanilla in there it’s because the cap came off as i was pouring…

So there is a lot of vanilla in there! ~teehee~

Mix all that up until creamy and blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl if you need to.

Mama’s recipe says to add your flour gradually.

~arches a brow and smirks~

Raise your hand if you think I’m gonna do that…

Yeah, right.  Dump all of your flour in at once. Walk on the wild side with me.

I just love being a bad influence…

Voila. Dough.

I also love putting those two years of high school french to use because y’all can just imagine the raging demand for french in North Alabama.

Add in your M&Ms.

I add about half because you want to save some to put on the top.

Mix that up a bit more.

Spray your baking sheet with cooking spray.

Shape your dough into little balls about one inch in size.

and put a few more M&M’s on top.

Like this.

Bake for ten to twelve minutes or so…

When they are done baking they’ll look like this.

MUST serve with milk.

Yum yum yum!

AND….

DUNK!

~smiles proudly at her freckle faced little boy with the big eyes~

Here’s my proud baby! Isn’t he a cutie? I just love that boy.

~mentally hugs Brady~

Mama’s Milk Dunkin M&M Cookies

1 cup Solid Vegetable Shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

2  1/2 cups self rising flour*

1  1/2 cups M&M’s

Cream shortening, sugars, eggs, and vanilla thoroughly. Gradually add in flour and mix well (or just dump it in all at once like I do). Stir in 1/2 cup M&M’s, reserving rest to decorate the tops with.

Form dough into one inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Decorate tops with additional M&M’s (this is GREAT for kids to help with!) and bake at 375 for ten to twelve minutes or until golden brown.

Makes about five dozen.

*See FAQ for how to make your own self rising flour.

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

For another great Valentine’s cookie idea, click the picture below.

“You must not lose faith in humanity.

Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty,

the ocean does not become dirty.”

~Ghandi. How very true this is.

Submit your quote here or just visit to pick up a little inspiration and a few extra smiles for the road

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2010/02/mamas-milk-dunkin-m-m-cookies-for-valentines-old-fashioned-recipe.html/feed 98 http://www.southernplate.com/2009/03/todays-home-brew-secret-to-great-iced-coffee-without-great-expense.html http://www.southernplate.com/2009/03/todays-home-brew-secret-to-great-iced-coffee-without-great-expense.html#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:05:36 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=3077 Pin it

I love my coffee, especially when its strong and rich with a bold flavor minus the acidity which, in my mind, detracts from the flavor.

Now for those of you not from ’round here, the South is said to have four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas. Based on this, you can imagine that there are times of the year when a iced coffee is relished far more than hot.

If you’ve ever tried to make iced coffee at home, you know that its not as easy as pouring coffee over ice. You end up with a watered down version of coffee which becomes even more watered down and weak when you add milk or sugar. Still, there has to be a better option than heading out and paying someone $5 for a few minutes of divine caffeinated pleasure – and there is. ~smiles~ Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate.

I’ve been making this “home brew” for over two years now, much to the delight of myself and Mama. She recently started making her own but until then I’d brew up extra and share my “special recipe” with her as well. I can only imagine what the neighbors thought when Mama’s car pulled up to my driveway and I’d run her out a mason jar and send her on her way. Come by either of our houses at any given time and you’ll find pint sized mason jars of “the recipe” in our refrigerators ~giggle~. I feel just like one of the Baldwin sisters….

Cold brew coffee is brewed in cold water on your counter top for a period of about twelve to fifteen hours, depending on the strength you prefer. Coffee brewed using this method has significantly less acidity and far more full bodied flavor than coffee brewed with the traditional hot method.

One of the pitys of coffee for me has always been that it never tastes as decadent as it smells. Cold brew brings you closer to this flavor than any other method I have come across. Whats more, cold brew coffee made at home rivals anything bought in a coffee house at a tiny fraction of the price – I actually like my cold brew better!

This concentrate is not just for iced coffees though, you can easily use it to make hot coffee in the morning without the fuss of brewing. This is perfect for those who have problems with traditional coffee being too harsh on their stomachs. Simply mix equal parts concentrate and water (or vary proportions to taste), heat and go!

This concentrate will easily keep a month or more in your fridge with no change in flavor and you know if I’m showing you how to do it, you aren’t going to need any fancy schmancy equipment either.

You likely have all you need at home already. I prefer to grind my beans fresh but you can certainly use pre-ground coffee. However, if you’re looking to amp up your coffee experience, I strongly suggest buying beans and grinding it fresh before each brewing, be it cold brewing or hot. You’ll find the difference is extraordinary! A grinder such as this one can be picked up for around thirty dollars or so. This is my Hamilton Beach one, of course!

I use a quart sized (32 ounces) canning jar to brew my coffee in and then store it in pint sized jars. You can use a plastic pitcher or container for this as well if you prefer. I like to brew mine in glass as there isn’t the risk of tainting my coffee with another flavor this way.

• Container to brew coffee grounds in
• Strainer
• Coffee filters (largest size you can find)
• Coffee beans and grinder or pre-ground beans
• Bowl to strain coffee into

You’ll need 1 cup of ground coffee.

Place grounds in jar

Fill jar with water.

I leave about an inch of head space at the top.

Place lid on jar and give it a little shake to make sure all grounds are wet.

Now just sit the jar on your counter for at least twelve hours.

Once the time has passed (I usually brew mine at night and strain it in the morning), place your strainer over a large bowl. You can also use a collander for this if you prefer.

Line strainer with a coffee filter. These are the type for twelve cup coffee makers, the largest I could find.

Pour coffee in the filter and let it strain through a little at a time.

This is after I’ve strained about half of my concentrate. I usually go through two filters when I do this. Throw your first filter away and replace with a clean one before pouring the remainder of your concentrate. It will take some time for all of your concentrate to strain out. I usually let it sit for about half an hour before pouring the remainder so it takes me about an hour to have my concentrate all strained and ready.

Using this method, a quart sized jar yields about a pint and a half of concentrate. Now mixing it up is purely a matter of taste but I am going to show you how I make mine purely as a point of reference.

Four ounces of concentrate…

Four ounces of milk…

Skim, Whole, 2%, whatever cranks your tractor.

Fill with ice and add three packets of Splenda and I’m a happy gal!

Honestly, this beats any iced coffee I’ve ever had away from home. Its rich, flavorful, and completely decadent.

Cold Brew Coffee

• 1 Cup ground coffee
• 32 ounce container (1 quart)
• Strainer
• Large basket type coffee filters

Place ground coffee in container, fill with cold water. Cover and let sit for twelve to fifteen hours. Place strainer over large bowl and put coffee filter inside. Slowly pour over about half of the coffee and let sit until strained. Replace filter and repeat.

To make regular coffee: place equal parts coffee concentrate and water in cup and heat.

To make iced coffee: Place equal parts concentrate and milk in glass. Add ice, sweetened as desired. You may find my preference for iced coffee a bit strong for you so leave room to add some water to weaken it if need be!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This has been a very busy week at home with the kids and their activities. I hope to get caught up on emails and comments this weekend! Thank you all and have a fabulous Friday!

Gratefully,

Christy

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.

]]> http://www.southernplate.com/2009/03/todays-home-brew-secret-to-great-iced-coffee-without-great-expense.html/feed 238 http://www.southernplate.com/2009/02/cinnamon-love-knots.html http://www.southernplate.com/2009/02/cinnamon-love-knots.html#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:31:12 +0000 Christy Jordan http://www.southernplate.com/?p=2344 Pin it

Valentine’s Day is often considered a romantic holiday but I like to make it about all of the people I love in my life, most importantly my children. We do this by having a special family dinner with a Valentine’s theme. Heart shaped mini meatloaves, mashed potatoes piped onto their plates in the shape of hearts, and these rolls are always part of that menu.

My children love cinnamon love knots and its such a special treat to have a yeast roll with the surprise of cinnamony sweetness.

Of course, if the recipe is from me you know its going to be streamlined and easy for those of us with limited time in the kitchen who still want to add that special touch to our meal! Frozen roll dough make this recipe possible for anyone who doesn’t have the time to make dough from scratch.

You’ll need: Cinnamon, sugar, frozen yeast roll dough, and a stick of margarine. It doesn’t matter what brand of roll dough you get, this is what Wally World had but I have used other brands and had just as good of results (I couldn’t tell the difference).

Oh and folks….my cinnamon costs fifty cents a bottle. Seriously. Fifty cents!

Place dough balls on plate that has been sprayed with cooking spray and let thaw.

These photos are a bit off because my five month old Nikon camera went kapoot due to a defect which had been determined on previous models of the same camera, but that Nikon still continued to sell regardless of this fact ~smiles sweetly~. They are going to fix it for me (the generous little dears) but I have to mail my camera back to them and wait four to five weeks to receive it back. Hmmm, would it have been easier to fix the known defect before selling the cameras? I know, my thinking is just backwards. I got the “little lady” treatment when I called them, too. Obviously me bein’ a woman and all, I’m just not thinking clearly. Best get back to cookin’ so I don’t tax my wee little brain cells ~grins~.

Place sugar and cinnamon in bowl.

Stir until well combined. Now you know I’m gonna be disappointed in you if you don’t taste a pinch of that.

I mean, how could you (in good conscience) roll your dough in that if you aren’t really sure it tastes good!?

Once your dough is thawed, roll it out into six inch tubes.

This is a great time for your kids with play-doh skills to help

Tie those into knots.

Dip each knot into melted butter

Roll in cinnamon sugar

Repeat with all of them. Now if you want it to be even sweeter, you can dip the tubes in the butter and cinnamon/sugar before tying them into knots. That gets them covered a lot more.

I do both, depending on my mood.

Cover the rolls with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray so it won’t stick to them.

Make sure that plate they are on has cooking spray on it too!

Let them rise until doubled in size, one and a half to two hours.

See, if you roll them in the butter and sugar mixture before tying them there won’t be the bald spots on them after they have risen. I just wanted a little less sweetness this time (dieting….shhh! don’t tell!).

Once they have risen, transfer to a greased baking sheet.

I lined mine with foil because I was feelin’ lazy. ~she says in a sing-song voice~

You can also let them rise on the sheet if you want and then just take your plastic wrap off before baking.

Place these in a 350 degree oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned.

Yummilicious!

For an added treat, serve these with the cinnamon cream cheese icing recipe below!

I have always loved Valentine’s day but not because I have some grand Valentine’s memories or even expectations of doing anything special on the fourteenth. Since I have had children, I’ve spent every Valentine’s day at home where I make a special meal for them consisting of miniature heart shaped meat loaves, cinnamon love knot rolls, and french fries with ketchup squirted out into hearts on their plate.

I love Valentine’s day because ever since I was a little girl, when I start seeing hearts in pink and red appear in stores, I knew my birthday is coming. With birthdays come birthday money ~giggle and grin~ and that means guilt free shopping, which I got an early start on yesterday when I headed out to ye olde mall.  I am shuddering even now, though, as I recall what I saw there.

Folks, I hope you’re sitting down because I have to confirm something that, until yesterday, I had hoped was merely a rumor. As I was paying for my purchase at Belk’s, I turned to my left and saw day-glow pink high tops with contrasting neon yellow and black checked, super wide, shoe strings. If that wasn’t enough, next to that sat an assortment of neon ballet slippers with little bows on them (think Mootsies Tootsies). ~takes a deep breath~

Yes, my dear friends, the eighties are back.

I’ve heard it said that if you are old enough to have lived through a trend the first time it was in fashion, you are too old to indulge in it the second time. Lucky for y’all that means my can of Aqua Net shall remain retired. Man I was good at eighties hair, I mean REALLY good! I had a large stand fan I kept in my room just for my hair. I’d tease it out and stand with my head laying over on the side while spraying my “wings” in front of the fan, staying that way for several minutes while they dried.  ~sighs wistfully~.

So while I shall officially remain on the sidelines whilst the youngun’s take part in what they likely think is an original fashion trend ~eye roll~, I do want to wish them the best of luck. I hope it works out better for them than it did for us because, frankly, we all looked like idiots. See below photo for supporting evidence.

A friend from high school posted this on Facebook recently. See the wingy gal? Yup, thats me. Its a wonder I didn’t fly away when a stiff breeze came ’round…

Hmm, now where was I? Oh yeah..cookies. Y’all wanna make cookies, right? Well for goodness sakes, lets turn up the Cindi Lauper (or any other singer who wore FAR too much makeup – men included) and get crankin’!

You’ll need: Flour, Milk, Margarine, Baking Powder, Salt, Egg, and Vanilla. You can also use a drop or two of lemon oil if you have it (which I don’t but would add if I did).

Place your margarine in a bowl and add sugar.

Add baking powder

and salt

Mix until light and fluffy.

add milk

and vanilla….

A note on vanilla: I don’t know many cooks who don’t swear by a certain brand or type of vanilla. There are any number of designer brands on the market.  Some are made in timbucktoo, some are extra pure or double strength, yadda yadda yadda. I have read the cookbooks that say you simply must, must, must use pure vanilla or make your own in order to achieve baking bliss and not humiliate yourself to anyone who takes a bite of your cookies. I’ve tried that vanilla, too.

I know that technically, its better. I know that with vanilla, you technically get what you pay for. Then again, I also know that, knowing all of this, I still buy the generic bottle that costs about a dollar a pop.

Ain’t got no complaints yet.

Did you notice that I used a double negative in that last sentence? I also used “ain’t”, which I actually don’t let my kids even say. Hard to believe I was a university English honors student, huh?

Just add your egg and lets not dwell on my downward slide…

Mix all of that up well.

Add flour

The recipe says to add gradually bit when have you ever known me to do anything gradually? Just toss it in there, it’ll be fine.

Scrape down the sides and make sure it is all mixed up well.

Now it has to be chiled for about half an hour. I like to put it in zipper bags for this. That way, if I get busy on other things and end up not having time to make the cookies, I can do them the following day or just pop that bag in the freezer for another day. Cookie dough freezes very well .

After its nice and chilled, turn out onto floured surface. I always line mine with waxed paper for quicker cleanup.

Sprinkle some more flour over the top so it doesn’t stick to your rolling pin. I also get a handful of flour and run it along my rolling pin as well.

Roll it out to about 1/4″

Cut out your cookies and place on ungreased cookie sheets.

Using a straw, poke two holes in each cookie.

Sprinkle with coarse decorating sugar. I am using white sugar here but you can use whatever color you like. I just like how this adds a slight glistening while not detracting from the ribbon. Bake these at 375 for seven to eight minutes.

when they are done, while still on the cookie sheet, poke the holes again with the same straw. Let cool a few minutes and then remove from the cookie sheet to allow to cool entirely.

Cut a length of ribbon and thread through both holes.

Tie in a pretty bow .

I came up with this idea from my own sick mind when my son was in Kindergarten. I made them for every member of the school staff that year.

This is proof that I really need to learn to shut my mind down from time to time.

Now look how pretty that is!

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My Sweet Valentines

Ingredients

• 2/3 C softened margarine
• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 T milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 C plain flour

Instructions

1. In large mixing bowl, add margarine, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well blended, light, and fluffy. Add milk, vanilla, and egg. Mix again. Add in flour and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides if need be. Chill dough for half an hour, or until easy to handle.
2. On flour lined surface, turn out dough. Sprinkle with more flour. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with heart shaped cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and use a drinking straw to poke two holes in each heart. Bake at 375 for seven to eight minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Remove from oven and re-poke holes with straw. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to cool completely.
3. Cut lengths of ribbon (experiment until you get the right length to make a pretty bow) and thread through cooled cookies, tying into a bow.
4. *Note: These aren't very sweet cookies. If you want a sweeter cookie, be more generous with your coarse sugars sprinkled over the top.

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For more recipes your kids will love, visit the Southern Plate Kids Category here!

If you ever feel lost, defeated, or as if you have made a mistake so grave there is no way to recover,

“Just do the next right thing.”

~ Pastor John Dees.