Baked in the South

  Ingredients: 1 box samoa girl scout cookies 2 pounds (4 8-oz packages) cream cheese, room temperature 1 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten 1 cup sour cream Pinch of salt Chocolate sauce Caramel Sauce Sweetened Coconut Directions: Preheat oven to 275°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top.  Top with sweetened coconut, and drizzle with chocolate sauce & caramel sauce. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire rac

  Devils' Food Samoa Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream Ingredients 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder 3/4 cup hot water 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter 2 1/4 cups sugar 4 large eggs, room temperature 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup sour cream, room temperature 1 box of Samoa Girl Scout Cookies Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixtur

  Ingredients: 1 box thin mint girl scout cookies 2 pounds (4 8-oz packages) cream cheese, room temperature 1 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten 1 cup sour cream Pinch of salt Chocolate sauce   Directions: Preheat oven to 275°F. Line 12 standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup. With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in 6 chopped cookies by hand. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before s

Ingredients: 1/4 cup chopped pecans 2 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon bourbon 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 package puff pastry thawed 1 lb brie 1 egg Directions: Heat butter in medium saucepan and add the pecans and bourbon. Toast pecans slightly and then set aside to cool.    Cut puff pastry into 3 equal strips. Cut each remaining strip into 3 squares for a total of 9. Grease muffin tin. Place a square in each muffin cup, pressing into bottom and up sides and leaving corners pointing up. Place about 1 tablespoon round of brie in the middle of each pastry. Top with the browned pecans and some sugar. Fold pastry over filling, pressing corners together to meet in center.  Brush with egg wash.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until brown.     

    Devils' Food Tagalong Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream Ingredients 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder 3/4 cup hot water 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter 2 1/4 cups sugar 4 large eggs, room temperature 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup sour cream, room temperature 1 box of Tagalong Girl Scout Cookies Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then coco

oooooo goodness!  this is the best mac & cheese!  and y'all know how much I love mac & cheese.  I recently asked my boyfriend of nine years if he knew what my favorite food was.  I thought this would be an easy question, but immediately, I knew I had ventured into dark waters.  Much to my dismay, he guessed for about ten minutes before I finally had to tell him, it's MAC & CHEESE you ding dong!  He promptly replied "I was going to say that"    Ya....Right.... Anyway, now he knows:)  So, tonight when you ask your boyfriend if he knows what your favorite food is, be prepared, because he probably doesn't have a clue... Ingredients 1/2 pound elbow macaroni 3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons flour   3 cups milk 1/2 teaspoon paprika 1 large egg 6 ounces gouda cheese, shredded 6 ounces swiss cheese, shredded 1 teaspoon kosher salt Fresh black pepper Topping: 1 cup panko bread crumbs Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large pot of boiling, salted

        I get more compliments on this salad than any other recipe I make.  Friends & family request it for every gathering.  The secret is the balsamic dressing.  In the salad dressing aisle, you can find the Good Seasoning Kit, which come with a seasoning packet and a creuet.  The measurements are right on the side, so you end up with a perfect vinaigrette everytime.  Super easy and delish! Ingredients: 2 heads of Romaine Hearts (rinsed & chopped) 1 cup cherry tomatoes 1 cup chopped cucumbers 1/2 red onion, sliced thin 1 cup feta cheese 1 cup kalamata olives shredded carrots 1 cup garlic croutons Dressing: one package of Good Seasoning Italian Dressing mix, prepared according to directions using balsamic dressing.

Ingredients 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 whole chicken, cut up Applewood chips for smoking, as needed Directions In a medium size bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Rub the seasoning over the pieces of the chicken. Place wood chips and charcoal in the smoking tray of the grill. If you don't have this option you can make a packet out of aluminum foil and punch a few holes in the top of it with a fork and place directly on the hot coals. Place the chicken on a hot grill over medium-heat meat side up. Grill over the wood chips for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Serve with Big Bob Gibson's White Barbecue Sauce  

I almost ate the whole tray.  If you like spanakopita, you will love these little bits of goodness.  They are also much easier to make than the traditional spanakopita with layers of phyllo and they taste just as good!     Ingredients:  1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed 1/2 cup crumbled feta 1/4 cup minced onion 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 teaspoon chopped dill 1 teaspoon minced garlic Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 large eggs 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3-ounces package), thawed, rolled out to a 12" square, kept chilled   Directions: Squeeze out as much liquid from the thawed spinach until dry. Mix spinach and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, beat 1 egg to blend; fold into spinach mixture. Cut puff pastry into 3 equal strips. Cut each remaining strip into 3 squares for a total of 9. Grease muffin tin.  Place a square in each muffin cup, pressing into bottom and up sides and leaving

  Holy moly!  I love this sauce.  Our family has always been a fan of Big Bob Gibson's sauces & rubs.  This recipe for white barbecue sauce is by far the best out there.  We smoke a lot of meat in the summer and this goes on everything.  I could drink it straight...He has a ton of great recipes if you like to barbecue.  We use a lot of his rubs and you can buy them right on his website.  We served this sauce over some Smoked Chicken the other night and it was delish!   Ingredients 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup water 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon sugar Directions Combine all ingredients in bowl and mix well.  Serve over smoked chicken or drink it straight...  whatever works for you:) Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen & Big Bob Gibson

  So I submitted my first round of photos to both Foodgawker and Tastespotting yesterday and have already had two pictures accepted.  My Junior League French Quarter Cheese & Laura Bush Cowboy Cookies !   Can I get a woooohooooo!   This is probably better than Christmas!  I have been dancing around my office all afternoon.  If you don't know what these two websites are, you should definitely check them out.  They are professional food photography websites and it can be very difficult to get your photos approved.  I have been diligently working to get my photography up to par, and have finally made it!  I still have a long way to go, but I am starting to get a handle on aperture, depth of field, ISO, etc.  I use Photoshop Elements for my editing, which is a huge learning process in itself.  I would recommend watching some videos on post processing, as they really help get your photos to "pop"  I will eventually do a post on my Food Photography and editing, but right

  Welcome to Part 5 of my Crockpot Freezer Cooking Series! You can find Part 1-4 here: Crockpot Freezer Cooking Part 1 Crockpot Freezer Cooking Part 2 Crockpot Freezer Cooking Part 3   Crockpot Freezer Cooking Part 4   This week's menu includes:   Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup Hoisin Ginger Beef Low Country Smothered Pork Chops Cream Cheese Chicken Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast   I print out all my recipes ahead of time and make a shopping list (you can find this below). I chopped all the vegetables and I then label each bag with directions, cook times, additional ingredients, etc.    You do not need to pre-cook anything for this week's menu.  All ingredients can go directly in the bag and then to the freezer.  Thaw, throw in the crockpot and your done!        All meals will cook fine from frozen, but be sure not to add cold/frozen meals into a hot crockpot as it can crack. Many people have concerns about putting frozen food in the crockpot, but I have never had