Happy Leap Day!

In honor of the day, a few of us decided to bake something and bring it to work. Imagine that!

Last weekend Bradley went to a cookout for the "young men" of his family's church and I made a pie for him to take. It was a brand new recipe I was yearning to try out. When I asked him how he liked it, he said, "I didn't get to try it, by the time I was ready for dessert everyone else had devoured it."

Now that's what I like to hear!!! But it made me curious - was it so good that they really had devoured it? Or was it so bad that the first person to try it threw it away so no one else would have to endure the agony of ingesting it? The only way to find out, was to make another.

It is quite possibly the simplest dish I have ever made, the Kitchen Aid does the work for you! I followed the recipe from here exactly - except I used a graham cracker crust.

Then, because I'm never happy just leaving well enough alone, I added a topping. It's almost like a cheesecake topping. Which lead me into another recipe idea entirely.... that I might make and post when I feel the need to gain a couple of pounds by eating just one slice.

Topping:
1/2 tub of cool whip
splash of milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 bar cream cheese, cubed

put everything but the cream cheese into the Kitchen Aid and mix with the whisk attachment until smooth. then add the cream cheese, one cube at a time letting all the lumps disappear before you add the next cube.

Spread the topping on the pie, I left about a quarter inch between the topping and the crust so the chocolate would shine through, then I sprinkled a circle of mini chocolate chips in the middle of the pie.

I call it, "Chocolate Desire Pie" and the only thing I have to show you, is a horrible camera phone picture. But I'm sure I will have another opportunity to take better pictures

A very postworthy purchase

Ever since we bought a new home I feel like my blog has turned into more than just recipes. Not that that is a bad thing. I am just discovering so many things as I decorate the house that I feel the need to share with everyone.

Saturday we made our weekly trip to Lowe's and I picked up an orchid I'd had my eye on for a while. The glass brick window in our bathroom lets in SO much light during the day that I knew a house plant would flourish there and with all the steam from our showers, an orchid would be right at home.

Once I placed it just right on the bathtub I couldn't help but take pictures of it. The colors were so pretty against each other. I think I'm going to frame the 3 close ups and hang them together somewhere.

Brunch for 2... or 9

Sometimes there is a traveling vendor who sets up in the building across the street from where I work that I affectionately call "The Book Fair", because that is what it was called when I was in school. Although this vendor has books of a more adult nature for purchase. They have a very large selection of cookbooks that I always browse through but hardly ever purchase. But the last time they came, I spotted something I had to have, The Blue Willow Inn's Bible of Southern Cooking. I have used it several times but mostly I enjoy just reading it. It tells you so much about cooking and portion sizes and menus for special occasions. It even has "southern sayings" along with their definitions.


This weekend I was reading it, trying to find something for new for breakfast and came along a recipe for "Cheesey Drop Biscuits". The ingredients were simple, but of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I added two more just to complicate things. They can easily be left out, if you prefer a more simple, by the book, kind of life.

Cheesey Drop Biscuits
recipe from "Bible of Southern Cooking"

1 cup self rising flour
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of shredded cheese

I added 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon parsley.

The directions say to, mix all the ingredients together and drop by spoonfulls onto a greased baking sheet or a baking stone (I had 9 biscuits) and bake in a 350* oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Mine did not turn very golden brown, but were done baking. I'm glad I did not wait for them to turn golden because the bottoms were perfect, any longer and they would of burned. With the addition of the garlic, they were almost like Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I've never made the copy cat recipe for those because it calls for bisquick and I hate the taste of bisquick, so it was nice to discover an alternative.