I mean that I'm no Paula Deen in many ways. I have this joke in my head that if, in some alternate world, I could choose an extra set of grandparents, it would be Paula Deen and William Shatner.
I know. Perfect idea ever, right?!?
So, I'm no Paula Deen in the sense that I can't just whip up gourmet southern food on a whim. I didn't build my life from practically nothing and become famous. And I don't put butter in everything. Because, as y'all know, butter is a food group to Grandma Paula.
And while I'm no Paula Deen, I can absolutely hold my own in a kitchen. That wasn't always the case (ahem, mom...salty mashed potatoes and macaroni soup), but I can whip up a mean meal at this point in my life. At one point in time, I just had to actually fake it until made it.
I remember very vividly when Chris and I lived in our first apartment together. Chris' dad and stepmom were coming to stay with us for a couple of days. I could NOT cook at this point in my life. My skills stopped at meal helpers and ramen noodles. I decided that since they weren't crazy about us living together that I'd go all Susie Homemaker on their asses and bake cinnamon muffins (obviously, the kind you just mix with water and put in a pan). I didn't really care if anyone ATE them, I just wanted it to smell like good food when they got there.
Well, our oven was broken. The thermostat was out. And within 4 minutes my cinnamon muffins were charcoal on the outside and soupy muffin mix on the inside.
I'm pretty sure that solidified Chris' dad's opinion of me.
After we got our oven fixed, it then became a challenge. I began cooking things. Like, real things. And by the time we were married for a year or two, no one was going hungry. I even had recipes that my family would request I bring to family events! That was unheard of back in the day.
I'm going to share a couple of recipes. I got both of these recipes from the intertubes and I'll direct y'all to them as I go.
Recipe #1: Pioneer Woman's Drip Beef
I first made drip beef for the Super Bowl in 2010. And I've been making it ever since.
It really is just that good.
Photo courtesy of The Pioneer Woman
Of the 2 recipes that she lists, I make the Italian Drip Beef. I use my crockpot on low for 10 hours. And then I make 2 slight changes: I use 1.5 tablespoons of Italian seasoning and 1.5 tablespoons of Italian dressing seasoning mix. And then I just leave out the extra salt.
This recipe is a crowd pleaser. I've never fed it to anyone who didn't like it. And it makes enough to serve a decent amount of people. I'd say atleast 6 if the people are super hungry. Probably more like 8-10 if you have other things to eat too.
Recipe #2: Homemade Buttercream Icing
I came across this recipe around the time my brother did his vow renewal. That was over a year ago and I haven't bought buttercream icing since. It's so easy to make using the little shortcuts (like not sifting the powdered sugar) and once you make it a few times, you can ALMOST do it without measuring. I love the fact that I can manipulate the texture for adding color or flavor. It's very versatile and if you fancy yourself a baker, you NEED to start making your own buttercream. If you don't trust any other words I say, trust those. MAKE YOUR OWN BUTTERCREAM.
That is buttercream on those cupcakes. The cupcakes are boxed mix, but the icing? Well, the icing makes you forget about the actual cake.
You can freeze buttercream. You can eat it out of the bowl. You can flavor it vanilla or with cinnamon (as I did for my brother's vow renewal), you can make it whatever color you want. And it's delicious.
Here are some tips:
*Use salted REAL butter. Don't attempt to use margarine. Trust me. Just...trust me.
*Don't worry about sifting the powdered sugar. You can adjust the texture by adding powdered sugar or milk at the end.
*Use the shortening as she has in the recipe. This really does help the icing stand up to hotter temps. It won't melt if you're having an outdoor party.
*Be prepared to gain half a pound when you make it.
What are your favorite recipes? I love to cook and I'm always excited to try new things. Now go along with me and read about the other ToT ladies' favorite recipes! Links are to the right!
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