Hello, lovelies!

Not to get all Bob Ross-ey on you, but these are happy little muffins. It’s a Paula Deen recipe (that involves only 3 Tbsp. butter, I might add) and were apparently quite a hit at The Yankee’s office. Yay!

You will need:

The Better Homes and Gardens New cook Book, copyright 1953. My mother had this book and I just adored looking though the pictures when I was a [...]]]> Isn’t that the most fabulous name? It just makes me smile. On a recent impromptu stop into an antique store I may have nearly hyperventilated at seeing this book:

The Better Homes and Gardens New cook Book, copyright 1953. My mother had this book and I just adored looking though the pictures when I was a little girl; I’ve been looking for another copy for years and years. I thought this candy page was the prettiest food I’d ever seen:

My mother thought it more appropriate for us to eat such things as oat bran and tofu. I’ll let you browse the dessert pages of One Particular Kitchen and come to your own conclusion about that.

On to the cookies in the book! This is a super easy recipe, and Kiddo had a BALL helping me out.

Gather together:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup sifted flour
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 6 oz. chocolate chips

Now make ‘em!

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cream shortening, sugars, egg and vanilla till light and fluffy. Add in dry ingredients, mixing well, then mix in chocolate chips
3. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet (or greased cookie sheet) and bake at 375 for 9-12 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack.

The recipe said this makes about 3 1/2 dozen; I got a little less than that. These are light and crispy and just fabulous. Even the Kiddo, who has been known to shun any chocolate chip cookies that “look different,” ate these right up to the tune of four in one sitting.

This recipe is from the fabulous Magee. The fabulous Magee is the mother of my fabulous friend Lissa (perhaps you’ve heard of her here? Or here?). This is her recipe for caramel corn and it is to die for. Crazy good. The Yankee doesn’t like caramel corn (should I call a neurologist?) and of course [...]]]>

This recipe is from the fabulous Magee. The fabulous Magee is the mother of my fabulous friend Lissa (perhaps you’ve heard of her here? Or here?). This is her recipe for caramel corn and it is to die for. Crazy good. The Yankee doesn’t like caramel corn (should I call a neurologist?) and of course the Kiddo doesn’t (since it’s not Cheerios), so I cut the recipe down to involve just one bag of popcorn, but I doubled the amount of caramel because hey, it’s caramel. So here’s what I used:

• 1 bag popcorn
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. white Karo syrup
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

To make the goodness:

1. Pop the popcorn and dump onto a parchment-lined baking sheet
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan with sugar and Karo syrup, then boil for five minutes without stirring
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda
4. Pour over popcorn carefully — this stuff is crazy hot and sticky; dangerous combo (just ask my pinkie finger)
5. Bake at 250F for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes (the stirring will really help evenly coat the popcorn, so don’t worry if it’s not too even to start with)
6. Slide parchment paper off cookie sheet (again, carefully) onto a rack and let cool. Store in an airtight container if any lasts that long

For the sake of reference, here are Magee’s original amounts:

• 4 bags microwave popcorn (6 quarts)
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white Karo syrup
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda

I’ve been doing a bit of desperation cooking around One Particular Kitchen.

In the initial thick of things with the flood we were trying to stay out of the way, stay home, and leave the available gas, water (oh the irony), roads and groceries for those who needed them far more than we did.

We [...]]]>

I’ve been doing a bit of desperation cooking around One Particular Kitchen.

In the initial thick of things with the flood we were trying to stay out of the way, stay home, and leave the available gas, water (oh the irony), roads and groceries for those who needed them far more than we did.

We figured since life gave us limes, we’d make margaritas. And margaritas call for chips and dip! A quick inventory of the pantry revealed no Rotel. How is that possible? I did, however, have:

• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can chiles chilpotles
• 1 lb. Velveeta

Works for me!

1. Pour can of tomatoes (undrained) into a large bowl
2. Dice chilpotles and add to bowl
3. Cut Velveeta into cubes and add to bowl
4. Now melt this either in the microwave, stirring every minute or so, or by setting the bowl over a pan of boiling water, double-boiler style
5. After it’s all melted either serve as-is or use an immersion blender (carefully! This stuff is hot) to make it totally smooth
6. Serve with chips and mucho margaritas

Before I let you go make this, a note on my fair city: the water is going down. Nashville is open for business. We’d love to see you! Amazing things are happening here. The flood? We got this. Please come visit and see why I’m so proud to live here and why there’s no other place like this in the world. We are Nashville.

It’s another LuLu Buffett recipe! This was every so slightly modified from LuLu’s Crazy Cheesy Queso Dip. I love it especially right now because the red and green peppers look all Christmasey. Aww!

Here’s what I used:

A hint: it’s these.

You know how it works. They pipe the smell of this stuff through the mall [...]]]> Let’s just run into the mall real quick. It’ll take five minutes. I need black pumps, a white shirt for your dad and…. um… a white…. um… nope, now I’m hungry. Are you hungry? What smells so good?

A hint: it’s these.

You know how it works. They pipe the smell of this stuff through the mall at the height of Christmas shopping season. And they offer free samples. You know, the first one’s free. Mm hmm. Well now you can just say no. Well, you don’t have to. You could actually buy some to eat while you’re shopping until you can come home and make more, which will have Craisins, making them even better.

I found this recipe at Buns in my Oven and went to the grocery store about an hour later. I had no idea these were so easy! Crazy good, crazy easy. Speakin’ my language.

So gather this (I roughly halved her recipe and added Craisins)

• 1 pound nuts, any kind – I used the 1.4 lb jar of mixed nuts
• 1 egg white, room temperature
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (this will not light you up. I promise)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 – 1 cup Craisins, depending on your level of love for them

Now do this:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F
2. Pour nuts (not Craisins) into a large bowl — bigger than you think you need so you have room to stir
3. In a small bowl whisk together egg white and water until frothy, then pour over nuts, stirring to coat
4. In another small bowl mix together sugars, salt, cayenne pepper and cinnamon, then sprinkle over nuts, stirring to coat
5. Spread nuts onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet; we’re going to bake for a total of 30 minutes
6. Bake for ten minutes and stir, then bake another ten minutes
7. Fold/stir in Craisins and bake another ten minutes
8. Move the sheet of parchment to a cooling rack, breaking up any giant clumps (little clumps are yummy) and allow nuts to cool completely before storing in an airtight container
9. Eat for breakfast, lunch, and supper. And snack
10. Put in Mason jars and give as tasty Christmas gifts. Try not to eat them in the car on the way to deliver them

The salsa roja recipe is popular. Ridiculously popular. But we had some company in town and I needed salsa fast — nigh onto immediately. Rick Bayless recipe to the rescue! This is quick and easy, and simple to tweak:

You’ll need:

This dip calls for exactly four ingredients:

When my alma mater is losing playing, I don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen! This is so quick [...]]]> Hi, it’s ridiculously simple week on One Particular Kitchen. Care to join me?

This dip calls for exactly four ingredients:

1. A block of cream cheese
2. A can of chili
3. An 8 oz bag of shredded cheese
4. A bag of chips

When my alma mater is losing playing, I don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen! This is so quick and easy to throw together that I can serve a crowd (recipe is easily doubled) and keep everyone full without missing a Crompton interception play.

So here’s what you do:

1. Using the foil from the package, press the cream cheese into the bottom of a pie plate or baking dish
2. Pour over the chili (I use Vietti, or leftover homemade chili)
3. Sprinkle on the cheese (I used colby jack; cheddar is also great)
4. Bake at 350F till everything is melty and bubbly. Serve with chips!

Whatever you do, please do not use reduced fat sprinkling cheese — it just doesn’t melt right, and meltiness (uh, it’s a word) is a key trait of this dish.

Now. How easy is that?

You know how it works: it’s 10:30 at night and you just. have. to. have. chocolate. cake. right. now. NOW. Nothing else will do. What’s that? No cake in the pantry? Well in three minutes there will be one in your hot little hands.

I’ve been tweaking this recipe for a while now, purely in [...]]]>

You know how it works: it’s 10:30 at night and you just. have. to. have. chocolate. cake. right. now. NOW. Nothing else will do. What’s that? No cake in the pantry? Well in three minutes there will be one in your hot little hands.

I’ve been tweaking this recipe for a while now, purely in the name of research (what??), and this is the best incarnation I’ve come up with. I do not use the egg that most recipes call for because it’s just too much; all you taste and feel is boiled egg. I use cake flour because AP flour can feel dense in this and make the cake too heavy, but obviously if you’re experiencing an Official Chocolate Emergency, use what you have.

So next time you’re dying for chocolate cake, try this:

Start by spraying the inside of a coffee mug with nonstick spray. Then put into the mug:

• 2 Tbsp. cake flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. oil

1. Stir together with a fork until well blended
2. Microwave for 60 seconds
3. Turn out onto a plate; eat it plain or top with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, or both!

Isn’t that easy?