Sweetie Sweets

I am just like everyone else - I love me some donuts! I am not usually impressed with homemade donuts - they just don't compare to the Krispy Kreme Hot Nows. However, this recipe is pretty dang good, y'all. And after we devoured the plate, we started coming up with other combinations - chocolate frosting with strawberry filling, lemon frosting with lemon curd, well, you get the idea!

Homemade Frosted & Jelly-Filled Donuts

canned home-style biscuits

jelly or preserve of your choice

vanilla frosting

sprinkles

vegetable oil, for frying

Pour about 1 inch of vegetable oil into a frying pan. Heat oil until it is at a good, medium heat. Carefully drop biscuit into hot oil. When the edges get a golden color, turn biscuit. If the biscuit is becoming too brown too quickly, turn the heat down some. Drain on paper towels and let cool - enough to handle donut without burning your fingers.

Put jelly into a decorating bag (or make your own using a zip baggie with a small hole snipped off one of the corners). Gently insert tip of the bag into the donut and squeeze the jelly into the center. Do this for each donut.

Place the canned vanilla frosting into a bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds. Drop food coloring of your choice into the frosting and stir well. Take each donut and spread a generous amount of frosting over each. Quickly shake sprinkles on each iced donut.

Get a glass of milk and kick back and enjoy!

Chef Mr. Mom

Since my husband has been home for the past couple months, he has really honed his home keeping skills! I have gotten spoiled with all the laundry caught up, clean dishes, vacuumed carpets, and yard work done that I almost dread him going back to work!
I am especially proud of his culinary efforts! Sure, he can grill a mean steak, and no one (including myself) cooks toll house cookies like he does, but that was about as adventurous as he was willing to get. Until...he got bored - cooking hamburgers, spaghetti, french fries...
He has since decided to actually READ and create dinner from a recipe! I have to tell you, this is no small feat. He is learning what all those cool terms mean - al dente, whisk briskly, separate the eggs, etc. And guess what? He is really cooking! I am so proud!
This is a recipe I picked up over at The Southern Plate blog. I printed it out, and voila! Mr. Hutson made this wonderful dish yesterday with a salad and rolls. It was sincerely one of the best pasta dishes we have made at our house!

Garlic Chicken Farfalle

16 oz. Farfalle pasta

1 c. heavy whipping cream

3-4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)

2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed OR garlic salt (I do a spoonful of crushed garlic)

1 Tbsp. pepper*

1/2 c. butter

1 lb. bacon, crumpled**

1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

1 (12 oz) Lawry’s mesquite marinade with lime juice

Crock pot chicken and bottle of marinade on low for 6 hours. Pull marinated chicken out of the juices, allow to cool a little bit, and shred. Set this aside. About a half-hour before serving, boil the pasta. In a small saucepan, melt butter, add garlic, whipping cream, pepper, parmesan cheese, and crumpled bacon. Whisk together on low heat for 3-4 minutes. In a large bowl, pour over cooked, drained pasta, add chicken and stir through. Sprinkle a little bit more shredded parmesan cheese on top.

Now, we made the entire recipe and it will feed a crowd! I am pretty sure you could easily half the recipe, or just share it in it's entirety with another family. So good!

Candied Dill Pickles

Do you have one of those recipes that the minute you smell it or taste it, you are suddenly transported back to your childhood? This recipe does it for me! My Nanny kept these in the "Fridgidare" all the time. Once the pickle jar was almost empty, she started a new batch! This pickle is tart, sweet, crunchy, and just plain delish! I love to eat these with salty fried catfish or southern fried chicken. I even chop up the pickle slices to use in place of relish in potato, chicken or tuna salads. It is as much a staple in my kitchen as the mayonnaise and butter is!

Candied Dill Pickles

One large jar whole dill pickles

3 cups sugar

½ cup white vinegar

heaping tablespoon of pickling spice

cheesecloth, cut into a 3“ x 3” square

Drain off pickles into a large bowl, reserving about a half cup of pickle juice (save for later). Slice whole pickles into slices - I prefer thicker slices to thin.

Cover pickle slices with sugar and stir. Pour reserved pickle juice and half cup of vinegar over pickles. Stir thoroughly. Allow pickles to sit at room temperature for several hours, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved.

Place the heaping tablespoon of pickling spice into the center of the cheesecloth square. Tie up corners, or secure with a piece of string.

Drop pickling spice bundle into the pickle jar and return pickles and juices back into the jar as well. Secure lid and place in the refrigerator. Pickles need to “sit” for about four days, turning the jar upside down every so often to mix the juices.

After 4-5 days, pickles are ready to enjoy!

Bathroom Renovation Part Deaux

I posted photos of my hubby painting our master bathroom MONTHS ago with the promise of posting more photos. Well, believe it or not, months and months of living with a half painted bath finally came to an end this past weekend!

The boys loaded up and went hunting in Mississippi last weekend and I just made up my mind to get the bathroom closer to being done. I painted the walls, bought new bath mats and bathroom accessories (love. bed. bath. and. beyond), then hung some new artwork.

I am pleased in the direction it is going...a little mod, a little traditional. I know, those two things aren't supposed to go together in a perfect world, but I am rather eclectic and it works great for me!

I have to get new faucets and towel bars to replace the shiny gold ones I currently have - circa 1997. It seems kind of a shame, they were expensive Delta faucets and really posh back-in-the-day. But I can't stand the gold anymore! Brushed nickel is what I am going to replace the gold with.

I am going to do a project and take down my faded shiny gold vanity lights and spray them with a hammered metal spray paint. I figured if it doesn't work out, I am only out a few cans of spray paint! More to come later...

Taking up a collection...

I have so many collections of things, stuff, and whatnots. I have an obsession for finding items that go together, then displaying them in different ways. My collections are mostly antiques and kitsch-y items. Some of them are pretty, some are funky and a few of them are a bit strange! Anyway, I wanted to share a few with you. The idea is to find something that strikes you - whether it is a shape, a theme, a color, a material, or gadget. Arranged together, you can end up with some interesting vignettes around your home:
Cranberry depression glass:

Fenton Glass:

Hummel monks:

Cobalt blue bottles:

Pottery:

French-inspired vignette:

Best Christmas Cake EVAH

OK, so this is a fun recipe that someone sent me a few years back...I will have to try it some time!

Tequila Christmas Cake

1 cup water

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 cup of brown sugar

Lemon juice

4 large eggs

Nuts

1 bottle tequila

2 cups dried fruit

Sample the tequila to check quality. (I already sampled it.....several times to check the quality).

Take a large bowl, check the tequila again. To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Repeat.

Turn on the electric mixer.

Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.

At this point its best to make sure the tequila is still OK. Try another cup...just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit up off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something.

Check the tequila.

Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window.

Finish the tequila and wipe counter with the cat.

CHERRY MISTMAS!

Be still, and know that I am God.

That verse has brought me from a dark place more times than I can think. I know that even though so many things happen in our lives, really truly sad things, there is a reason for it. HIS reason. We don't know what tomorrow holds for any of us, or if we will even have a tomorrow. But God does. If you are hurting this holiday, just remember His eye is on the sparrow, which means He values us - His children - so much more than the really small things. Merry Christmas.

Whew.

Christmas tree decorated? Check. Stockings hung by the chimney with care? Check. Christmas cards addressed and stamped? Check. Holiday baking underway? Check. Christmas shopping over halfway done? Check.
I love Christmas... and all the lights and bells and shiny stuff! This has been a particularly hard year for me and I was beginning to worry about my lack of holiday spirit. However, lo and behold, my Grinch-ness disappeared over the weekend and I kicked into full Christmas countdown! Ok, so I only have two weeks to enjoy this festive time, but better late than never I say!
Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season - yeah, that sounds cliché, but it is absolutely true. Peace.

Santa Baby

Isn't she the cutest thing you have ever seen? Who wouldn't love a visit from baby Santa?!

Easy Greasy CHOCOLATE Peasy!

OK, my FABULOUS best friend Chris, who is enjoying single digit temperatures in Chicago, gave me this easy, easy recipe. He is an accomplished chef, but can throw down the basics when he needs to! My son and I made these this morning, and it was hard to stay out of them! I am making up a name for them because I don't know the real one!

Pretzel Turtles a'la Chris

Windowpane shaped pretzels
Bag of Dove Chocolate Caramels
Nuts (Pecans or your favorite - I used walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350°. On a cookie sheet, lay out pretzels. Then top each with a Dove candy. Then finish it off with a nut on the top. Cook in oven a few (maybe 3 or 4) minutes just until chocolate melts enough to stick to the pretzel. Remove from oven - I gently pressed the nut on the top to make sure it stuck as well. Cool and INDULGE.