My Personal Confession

The Story

I do declare, I have an addiction. For anyone that truly knows me, they’ll know I go through these spurts of pure unadulterated food addictions. They usually fade away into the next craving,  but for some odd reason I can’t seem to shake this one. From what I can remember, my food addictions started around freshman year in high school (geez, do I sound like a lard or what?). Our newest addition to the school was a cafe, serving anything from mini Coca Cola’s to warm chocolate chip cookies to every kind of candy imaginable. The new cafe was a gift sent down from God to sugar-crazed, credit card-bearing high schoolers.

At around 10 o’clock every day, the entire school took a 15 minute fruit break–keyword “fruit”– from the daily grind of high school. Whilst my friends snacked on apples and pears, I sauntered on over to the cafe to get my flavor-of-the-week fix. I scarfed down everything from Twix bars to Rice Krispie Treats to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Thank goodness for my then lightning speed metabolism–I truly don’t understand how I wasn’t completely obese in those days.

Anyway, these days my habits are perpetuated through my incessant obsession with chicken wings…especially drenched in kickin’ buffalo sauce. So in order to feed my addiction, I decided to take matters in my own hands and make slightly healthier chicken wings–too many restaurant chicken wings results in a FUPA side-effect.  My inner-fatty screamed “FRY THEM!!” but I resisted and made baked brown sugar chicken wings instead…

The Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken wings

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoon chili powder

2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup roasted red pepper, chopped

2 ounces goat cheese

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Step One: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

Step Two: In a large bowl, combine the wings, olive oil, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper.

Step Three: Place the wings onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, using metal tongs to turn at halftime.

Step Four: To make the dipping sauce, combine the roasted red pepper, goat cheese, sour cream and salt in the bowl of a food processor until emulsified…sounds delish!

Step Five: Serve wings immediately with dipping sauce.

{ TIPS }

• If you like things spicy, like I do, lighten up on the brown sugar and add more spices. It’ll still crisp up like you want, but definitely have more of a kick!
• Starting to look like a bowl of cottage cheese? No one likes cellulite…so skip on the dipping sauce. I promise, it really doesn’t need it. BUT it sure does look yummy!

{ BAKE AGAIN? }

Do I have to spell it out for you? Until my addiction has moved onto the next target, I’ll be making these again for sure.

Check out the original recipe here: Baked Brown Sugar Chicken Wings

Turn Your World Upside Down Pineapple Cake

The Story

Recently my dad celebrated his __ birthday. The old man just entered into his retirement years, so Aunt Mimi and I felt responsible for putting on a good time at the last minute. It just so happened that the UGA vs. Bama game was on that night, so it was an easy cop out for an unplanned get-together. Of course both Mimi and dad attended UGA, and I, being the odd one out (War Eagle!), had to suffer through the agonizing task of watching this game with a couple of bulldogs.

I took breathers with a slew of sips of wine (did I mention I’m a wino?) and excused myself to “check on the surprise.” Being the absolutely wonderful daughter that I am, the ten-year-old memory of my father exclaiming his love for pineapple upside down cake struck me as I was thinking of something special to do for him. After concocting a terrible lie about needing peanut M&M’s (addictions are hard), I was off to the grocery store with my Pinterest recipe in-hand and demanded dad meet me at Mimi’s. I whipped up the cake with a turn of the century hand mixer (woof), thanks to the inexperienced baker Mimi, and stuck it in the oven all while the insufferable game entertained my unsuspecting father.

Alabama won again thanks to Saban’s exchange with the devil, which finally put us at the dinner table–wine has a funny thing about it when you drink on an empty stomach! Aside from both alcohol-induced father and daughter, the three of us enjoyed an absolutely wonderful pork and apples dish made by the ultimate Chef Mimi (recipe soon to come…) For the finale, Mimi and I decked the cake with candles and sung the inevitable song to a very happy dad. Excited to try the fruity cake, dad dished it out and dug in. Lordy mercy–simple, cheap, and the best darn icing-free cake you’ll put in your mouth. Ladies and gentlemen, this one’s a keeper…

The Recipe

Ingredients

¼ cup butter or margarine

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

9 slices pineapple in juice (from 14-oz can), drained

9 maraschino cherries without stems, if desired

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup shortening

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup milk

1 egg

Directions

Step One: Heat oven to 350°F. In a 9-inch square pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter (AHHH!). Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice.

Step Two: In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer (hand mixers suck) on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

Step Three: Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.

{ TIPS }

• Use a fresh pineapple instead of canned…that hint of metal a refined palate can pick up–such as yours truly (ha!)– will ruin the cake.
• Put a dash of pineapple juice in the cake batter. It promises to give all five senses a party.

{ BAKE AGAIN? }

Ab-so-freakin-lutely. Trust me on this one guys…you’re gonna love it.

Find the original recipe here: Pineapple Upside Down Cake

The Start of a New Adventure: Feeding My Wildest Food Fantasies

What girl these days isn’t on Pinterest?  Otherwise known as the ultimate procrastination site, Pinterest inspires the modern-day woman to be any man’s dream gal. In a sense, Pinterest has lit a fire under lady bums and turned them into 21st Century Renaissance women. Under the influence of fellow pinners, we have become cooking, crafting, fit fashionistas (not to mention having every last detail to our nonexistent weddings planned out…) I’m actually surprised how well Pinterest has done considering the painful realization that most of us are good-for-nothing, broke, single fatties with last season’s wardrobe.

But I say “Nay” to negativity! The Pinterest bug has stung me, and my only remedy: finding the craftiest of crafts, the sweatiest of workouts, and most importantly the yummiest of recipes. Many of my friends admit to pinning seemingly delicious recipes with no intent to cook them whatsoever...i.e. my friends are addicted to porn–food porn, that is. But what’s the point to pin if not to cook? For those who are looking for more drool-worthy food photography, you’ve come to the right place. For those who aren’t sure if they can cook and need a little more encouragement, you’ve come to the right place too. I’m just an honest foodie looking to share the joy of cooking.

So, why not give the people what they want? Join me into where the magic happens, where I’ll post the most sinfully tantalizing homemade food porn (amateur, if you must), along with reviews and tips for trending Pinterest recipes! This ain’t your momma’s thoughts…these are mine–and if you know me, a dash of attitude makes everything taste nice. To get your juice running, here’s a bite of what’s to come…

Cajun spiced pasta tossed with chicken strips, bell peppers, red onion, english peas and scallions in a creamy light sauce