Low Country Cookie

Oh Paula Deen, Paula Deen, why do you showcase such wonderfully delicious recipes? I know Paula says that she only eats that way a few times out of the year. After all, she only films so many episodes a year but…

Alright, I went crazy over these little sweet morsels of cookie. I ate 8 of them in a day, now that might not sound too bad, what’s 8 cookies right? But these tiny babies pack a dizzying 182 calories each! Yes, each! You’ll understand the exclamation points a little more once you see the tiny size of the cookies.

I would still recommend them though. Everyone who tried one raved about them and had I known the caloric load I would not have eaten so many myself but, heck, one or just two would be just right for a dessert.

Low Country Cookie
recipe slightly adapted from PaulaDeen.com

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
1 cup sugar
12 tablespoon (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 16-ounce box graham crackers
1 cup or 3 (1/2-ounce) cans shredded coconut
1 splash vanilla extract

Topping:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Line a 13 x 9-inch pan with whole graham crackers.

Melt butter in saucepan and add sugar. Beat egg and cream together; add to butter mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add nuts, coconut, 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, and vanilla; stir to combine. Pour over the bottom layer of crackers in the pan.

Cover with another layer of whole graham crackers. Prepare topping.

Topping:

Beat all ingredients together and spread over top layer of crackers.

Chill until ready to serve and cut into as many servings as you would like. I did 48 servings.

Now I found that if you leave them on a counter in a warm kitchen they melt slightly which some people seemed to prefer.

I loved them. I’m not going to lie. Like I said above I ate 8 of them throughout the day. A staggering 1,456 calories is my total damage. I am not proud of myself. But even with that information I would make them again and make a point to not take any home or have more than two at whatever social gathering I take them to.

Each cookie (1/48) equals 182 calories.

Eggnog Fudge

My littlest brother Daniel, who isn’t so little anymore, he is the father of my niece Hailey, loves Eggnog. In fact out of the 8 of us, before spouses and baby’s came along, My Mother, Daniel and I were the only ones who even liked Eggnog and to this day I think that that is still a fact. A few years ago I began collecting Eggnog themed recipes and putting them aside to one day make for him. This is the one I chose to make for various reasons, one being that it is actually quite easy compared to the Merry Cherry Fudge and the second reason being below.

My Father-in-Law is the Fudge maker in my family, since I began dating Baby Cakes his father has been the one making and sharing fudge with everyone. His is the traditional chocolate fudge with pecans, the recipe you find on the back of the Marshmallow Fluff Jar. It is wonderfully rich and creamy and how I do enjoy it but this year I wanted to play a hand in spreading Christmas Cheer as well so I began searching for ways to do just that, enter Eggnog Fudge. Now I can kill two birds with one stone (which isn’t very Christmas-y now that I think about it, "two partridges in a pair tree…”), make some fudge and make something Eggnog for my youngest baby brother.


Eggnog Fudge
recipe from RecipeGirl.com

2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup dairy eggnog
10.5 ounces white chocolate bars, chopped into small pieces
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, plus a little more for the top of the fudge
One 7 ounce jar marshmallow creme
1 tsp rum extract

Butter a 8 or 9 inch square glass pan.

In a heavy, 3-quart saucepan combine sugar, butter and eggnog. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat or until a candy thermometer reaches 235°F, soft ball stage, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.

Using a wooden spoon, work quickly to stir in white chocolate chips and nutmeg until chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in the marshmallow creme and rum extract. Mix vigourously until well blended and then pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle a little freshly ground nutmeg on top. Let stand at room temperature until cooled. Refrigerate if you’d like to speed up the process.

When completely cool, cut into squares. Store in a covered container.



I left a taste for Baby Cakes on the spatula and he raved about it. This tastes exactly like eggnog, in fact when you’re cooking it, the exact moment during the mixing process that the rum extract is added you can smell it, it smells exactly like eggnog. I've already eaten 2 peices! I love it, you'll love it and I can't wait for everyone to try it.

5 More Days...

Merry Cherry Fudge (Homemade Gifts)

This is the first year that Baby Cakes and I have owned a house during Christmas and because of this we decided to make gifts for the extended family instead of purchasing them. So I began buying all the special magazine publications for homemade gifts, so much for saving money right? The funny thing is after dog earring so many delicious looking goodies I found “the one” in the December issue of Better Homes & Gardens Magazine. The moment I saw it I decided that this was the gift I was hand making and handing out to everyone, all 31 attendees. Only I didn’t know…

When I think fudge I think thick sweet creamy goodness and this recipe reminds me more of divinity than fudge. Once it has been brought up to soft ball temperature and then back down to the needed temperature you have to hand whip it with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes. The only problem? I am a weakling and it is really thick and hard to stir “vigorously”. Perhaps I should have waited for the hubs to be home. Oh well, you should see my guns now. lol.


Even though it isn’t necessarily fudgy, actually it has more of a grainy texture, it is very good and I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks about it. If only I could have thought of a different name to call it, something more of a candy than a fudge.

Baby Cakes loves it, but there isn't a sugar the man doesn't love, and has assured me that everyone else will love it too. Oh bless him. XOXO.

Merry Cherry Fudge aka Candied Cherry Opera Fudge
from BHG.com

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup half-and-half or light cream
1 Tbsp. light-colored corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. amaretto
1/3 cup coarsely chopped candied red cherries
Halved candied red cherries (optional)

Line a 5-3/4x3x2-inch loaf pan with foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan. Butter the foil; set aside.

Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In the saucepan combine the sugar, milk, half-and-half, corn syrup and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a boil. Clip a candy thermometer to sides of pan.

Continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, stirring occasionally, until thermometer registers 236 degrees F, soft ball stage, (about 20 minutes). Adjust heat as necessary to maintain a steady boil.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add butter, vanilla, and amaretto but do not stir. Cool, without stirring, to 170 degrees F (about 20 minutes). Remove thermometer from saucepan. Beat mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes. Add 1/3 cup cherries. Beat mixture vigorously for 1 minute more. Pour into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Let stand until firm. Use foil to lift fudge from pan; remove foil. To serve, top with additional cherries. Cut fudge into thick slices.

To make the tin gifts I simply prepped them with butter and parchment paper and when the mixture was still warm scooped some in and tapped the tin on the counter until smooth and spread out.



I highly recommend this recipe although as I said above it isn’t very fudgy but it is ohhhh so good.

Make some and share. Merry Christmas,

Cinnamon and Sunflower Seed Brittle

You know this recipe actually called for pumpkin seeds but our local grocery doesn't carry them and I am so not doing it myself. I don't have little ones and feel no need to carve a pumpkin when I have a porch full of plastic plug in jack o' lanterns already on display. I refuse. So I improvised and decided to use sunflower seeds. Check it out...

1/4 cup butter, cut into chunks, plus more for pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups honey roasted or just toasted hulled sunflower seeds

1. Lightly butter a 10- by 15-in. baking pan. In a small bowl, stir baking soda in vanilla to dissolve; set aside. In another bowl, stir together cinnamon and salt (to help the cinnamon distribute evenly when it's stirred into the sugar mixture).

2. In a 4- to 5-qt. saucepan over medium-low heat, use a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon to stir together sugar, 1/2 cup water, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup butter until butter is melted and sugar is completely dissolved (see Caramelizing Sugar below). Increase heat to medium and boil sugar mixture, stirring occasionally, until it turns a deep amber and measures 335° to 340° on a candy thermometer (see Using a Candy Thermometer below).

3. Remove sugar mixture from heat and carefully stir in vanilla and cinnamon mixtures (they will bubble up). Immediately stir in pumpkin seeds and pour into prepared pan, using spatula or wooden spoon to evenly spread and fill pan. Let brittle cool at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes.

4. Gently twist pan to release brittle (if necessary, run a heatproof spatula underneath brittle to help release it), then chop or break it into chunks. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Caramelizing sugar: Watch closely. Sugar cooks quickly once it begins to brown, so have your ingredients measured and your tools assembled before you start. Before bringing your sugar mixture to a boil, make sure you completely dissolve the sugar and melt the butter: Stir the mixture with a flexible heatproof spatula over medium-low heat, running the spatula around the inside of the saucepan a few times to thoroughly mix everything together.

Michael loves this- so do I- I packed up a whole lot of it, made 2 batches, and am taking them around to everyone. You have to try this recipe.

Boo Yum Y'all,

Zombie Food

You know I was thinking about how strange it is that I am so obsessed with Halloween. We don't have kids yet, might never have kids and yet I am so drawn to this holiday. I wonder why? Perhaps I'm a kid. GRIN! I know my husband is.

To get things started I made this Trash Mix to give to our nieces' and nephews- Christian, Brooke, Colton, Lane and Hailey (although Hailey is only days old her daddy, my baby brother, will gladly gobble this up.)

Halloween is on it's way, oh happy day! Enjoy.


1 (16-ounce) package candy corn
1 (15-ounce) package pretzel nibblers
1 (12-ounce) package caramel popcorn and peanuts
1 (15-ounce) package candy-coated chocolate pieces
1 (15-ounce) package dried pineapple
1 (6-ounce) package sweetened dried cranberries
1 (6-ounce) package worm-shaped chewy candy

Stir together all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.



Eat up,