Southern Blondie: February 2012

Happy National Margarita Day!

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I celebrated for everyone!

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The Story About the Strawberry Muffins

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It was the summer of 2010 when I first found my love of baking. After quitting a job that I didn't ethically believe in, I began to spend my time baking and cooking. (I also spent a lot of time at the lake, with family, with friends, and taking naps.)

During that summer I realized that baking had some kind of an affect on people. It could bring them together, put a smile on their face, and sometimes brought some joy to their day.

Yes, I realize that's a lot of responsibility to a baked good, but to me it's the truth. Bring sweets and watch the people join together.



That was the idea for Valentine's Day 2012. I had everything planned out and bought. (Except for the vanilla extract, that was a 9 p.m. Kroger run.)

The recipe was found, the ingredients were bought and my time was clear to bake Martha Stewarts Strawberry Muffins with a Strawberry Buttercream icing. That was the plan. But I've said it before and I'll say it again, you make a plan and God will laugh. He must be ROLLING at some of the things I plan in life and he changes.

After running back to the grocery store to buy some vanilla extract, I began making the cupcakes. Everything was going great ... so far. Cupcakes in the oven, next time for the icing. This is when everything completely goes array. I'm pretty sure I followed Martha's directions, but let's get real. I was probably distracted by something. Anyways, while trying to make the strawberry buttercream icing I'm pretty sure I made strawberry cottage cheese. (Still makes me shiver)

The good news? The good news is that if you just don't use icing and change the word from cupcake to muffin, no one knows the difference. So boom, for Valentine's day I made strawberry muffins for everyone I work with because there are no better people I'd rather show my deepest appreciation to for putting up with me for 40-hours a week.

Martha Stewart's Strawberry 'Muffins'
(This is also for cupcakes...)
Ingredients
  • 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cake flour, (not self-rising)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups finely chopped strawberries, plus small strawberries for garnish
Directions
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
  • Reduce speed to low. Mix any remaining wet ingredients in a bowl if needed. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
  • Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days, unless otherwise noted.

If you want to make the cupcakes then you're going to need the icing - link here. 
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How Dating is Like Cooking

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This seem to best show love and cooking. I think.

As a 20-something, single lady I pride myself on two things: one - I know how to cook; two - I know how to date. For clarification, I'm not saying that I'm that good at either, just that I generally know how to do both. 

It was about the same time when I started dating that I started caring about cooking. I've been doing them for both about 10 years now. Group dates, blind dates, homemade soup and chicken spaghetti, they are similar. How are they similar? Well...let's break down the similarities here.

You Don't Know What You Like Until You Try
You never really know what you like until you give things a shot. Example: cornbread. I use to look at cornbread like it was a punishment. Growing up my parents would always have a skillet of cornbread that I would avoid like the plague. One day (when I was starving) I gave it a shot and liked it. Now I like to make it.

The same thing with dating. I've like the bad guy, the nice guy, the funny guy, the smart guy, the hot guy with no brain, and the guy in uniform. Generally, I believe men in general are a great thing, but by dating them all, I know what combination works for me.

Trial and Error 
Every now and then you get a recipe that takes some tweaking before you can get it right. It's like baking. Add too much baking soda or vinegar and you will be starting over before the cupcakes are even out of the oven. Once you get it right ... you'll know.

That thought can also be applied to dating someone.  Sometimes you have to go on a couple of dates with someone to get the right chemistry going. Sometimes you have to know when to stop and find a new recipe (guy) to try. Again, once you get it right ... you'll know.

Anything Worth Anything Takes Time
Good, old fashioned homemade cooking takes time. If you're making homemade flour dumplings, or rolling out a homemade pie crust, it takes attention and time. It's not always easy, but it's worth it.

If you want something to last, you usually don't jump into a relationship with someone you don't know.  You've got to get to know someone, see if it works for you. And if it does, that always makes it worth it, too.

Shop for Quality, Not Quantity
There are some ingredients that you cannot skip on the quality of. Flour, butter, and canned tomatoes are things that I always pay the little extra for the better product. It can make all the difference in the world.

Same thing with men. If you know you're dating a bad guy, then it's like buying generic. It won't work. I doesn't give you the result you wanted and you end up throwing it out and having to go buy new.


So that's my breakdown. Sometimes you're going to like a recipe and sometimes you're going to break-up a guy because it's not the right chemistry. That's life my friends, that's life.
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Pan-Fried, Oven-Baked Panko Chicken

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It all started a couple of years ago when my mom made us drive around Little Rock one day looking for Panko bread crumbs. Panko bread crumbs weren't available in our small town grocery store so we had to go from store to store to find them.

I can't really remember now why we were on a scavenger hunt for them or what the purpose was, but at the time it was really important.

Now of course, panko bread crumbs are available all over and even in my parent's small town grocery store.

Last weekend I went home to see my parents on Saturday (and to get lunch money from my mom... 25 and I still get lunch money) and my dad made his pan-friend, oven baked panko chicken.

As he was cooking, I stood behind him and snapped pictures with my phone to share how to make this. It's good, folks. Real good.



Take a couple of chicken breasts (we only needed three that day) and pound them out a bit.

Add salt and pepper to both sides.


Apparently my parents are buying wheat flour now,
so add some flour to a bowl...


Next, add the salted and peppered chicken to the flour mixture and coat.


We let our chicken rest before the next process.
A happy chicken is a good chicken.


Panko time!


Panko in one bowl, a couple of eggs in another.

To the panko bowl, add some garlic powder.

And mix the eggs up.


Make sure you have around 4 tbps of oil heated in a pan.

The pan also needs to be oven safe.


Phone action shots. 

Chicken to egg.


Chicken to panko.


Shake, shake, shake!


Chicken to pan!


Do the same for all the chicken.


Now, brown one side of the chicken for about 4-6 minutes,
turn, brown the other side of the chicken for about 2-3 minutes...


And then stick the chicken in the pan into the oven at
350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Take it out, and plate.


Add a couple of sides and there you have it.

Pan-Fried, Oven Baked Panko Chicken.

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How to Know When You've Started to Grow Up

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1. You're no longer indestructible.

In the past I use to believe that nothing bad would every happen to me. The faster I drove and the more reckless I acted didn't really matter. It's not like anything bad would actually happen. Now that I'm starting to grow up, I realize that I was dumb. Bad stuff can happen. It can also happen to me.

I'm not going to say that I've completely slowed down, but I do try to wear my seat belt more...

2. Life really isn't THAT short.

It's not. It's long. It's really, really long for the most part. All of the quotes and sayings and whatnot that say, 'life is short, live it to the fullest,' I get it. But let's be honest, the average person lives like 80 years and that's A LONG TIME.

So, yes, live live to the fullest, but also enjoy it and take a nap. You've got a lot of years left.

(God willing.)

3. Staying in on a Friday night seems like a great idea.

I've had the revelation recently that being at home on a Friday night isn't the worst thing to ever happen to me. Though the busier I am, the happier I am, I'm also learning how to unwind when I need to and sometimes that means a movie, wine and staying in on a Friday night. Especially when it's cold outside.

4. You start out a sentence, 'remember when...'

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Remember when you didn't say remember when?

5. You get on to children who aren't behaving.

We have a pretty flexible work environment and sometimes those with kids will bring their kids to the office for a little while if school has been let out early or if it's summer vacation. It doesn't bother me because all of the kids are pretty well-behaved. One day, two boys were acting up and running around the office a bit, when something happened and I quickly snapped my fingers and told them to stop running.
Stop running? Really? I've become that person.

Apparently I have.
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4-Ingredient Sausage and Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers

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What better time to make jalapeno sausage and cream cheese poppers than for the super bowl? Actually, these would be good for just about any togetherness event. Or just supper in general. Or appetizers. Or because you have too many jalapenos just hanging out. 

Yesterday, I was running around all crazy like, to SAMs, Kroger, Sonic (because who can run around town without a Cherry Coke?), and so forth. 

My friend Annie was having a super bowl party which I already committed to making salsa, but at the last minute I thought to make these, too. 

Basically, because I really wanted them. 


I had around 20 jalapenos that I washed and halved on a 
baking sheet that had been sprayed with Pam. 


See. Like this. They all look so eager. 


In a pan, brown about 3 oz of hot sausage. 


8 ounces of cream cheese.

I used reduced fat. It seems like the right thing to do. 

The even better thing would have been to use the regular.


Once the sausage is cooled, add it to the cream cheese and mix.

I cannot tell a lie. I used my hand. It was easier. 

Gooey. But easy.


Looks... appetizing?


Once the sausage and cream cheese is all mixed, 
take a spoon (or your hand) and fill in the jalapenos
with the mixture. 


Top them all with shredded cheese.


Bake at 350 F degrees for about 15 minutes
or until the cheese has melted. 


And there you go. 

Now pop them in your mouth and pray that you don't
get a spicy jalapeno and not have anything to drink .

Enjoy! 

4-Ingredient Jalapeno Sausage and Cream Cheese Poppers

Ingredients:
- 20 or so whole jalapenos 
- 8 ounces of cream cheese
- 3 ounces of cooked sausage (spicy if you can handle it.)
- 1/4 of a cup of shredded cheese 

Directions: 
  1. Cook the sausage in a skillet until it has browned
  2. Wash, halve and de-seed the jalapenos
  3. Place halved jalapenos on a sprayed cookie sheet
  4. After the sausage has browned and cooled, add to the cream cheese and mix.
  5. Once it's mixed, add the mixture to fill the halved jalapenos. 
  6. Top the filled jalapenos with cheese.
  7. Place in pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. 
  8. Plate and eat! 
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