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So, I hear there’s a big game coming up? Something about a ball? That gets kicked? Or maybe thrown? Who can say really?

I just know that this is the time of year when people expect lots of appetizer and snack-y recipes.

I got ya covered. These Goat Cheese Bacon Balls are, admittedly, a little bit fancy for a football game, but they are fun. Also, they’re kind of tasty. I mean, it’s cheese covered in bacon. Yes, please. Pass the bacon covered cheese and back away slowly. Mama’s hungry.

Just be sure to roll these little balls very small. It’s easy to go from perfect little appetizer to big, rich, I think I’m going to barf hunks of cheese. Serve the too-big-barfy ones with crackers and you’ll be fine. True story.

lightly adapted from The Kitchn

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You know how some people substitute applesauce for oil in recipes?

I’m clearly not one of those people.

I took a perfectly good, healthful-ish banana bread recipe and I did all sorts of crazy things to it. Things that are quite possibly illegal.

I got it in my head to make a Hot Fudge and Peanut Butter Banana Bread. Sounds good, right? Then I reached for the peanut butter and my hand knocked into the jar of Fluff and sent it flying out of the cabinet.

It was a sign, you guys. Probably from Jesus himself.

I slathered my bread slices in extra peanut butter, but I think some warm hot fudge sauce would make a great topping.

You might have noticed by now that I sort of like peanut butter.

I mean, it’s not an addiction or anything. I can totally stop eating it whenever I want.

I’ve never wanted to stop eating it though. In fact, I had a spoonful of peanut butter for breakfast this morning.

When I stumbled upon this little gem of a recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything, I knew that this cheeseball would soon be mine. You see, The Girl Who Ate  Everything only seems to eat foods that I would also love to eat. We are food twins. Soul mates. Our taste buds were made for each other, but I mean that in a totally non-creepy way. I’m not planning on yanking her taste buds out of her mouth or anything. Promise!

So, uh, I made this cheeseball. Then I ate the crap out of it. The end.
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I’m going to go ahead and admit that before I started food blogging I led a pretty sheltered life. There were so many recipes, so many ingredients, so many types of food that I had never heard of. Food blogging has seriously opened up a whole new world for my family and me.

That being said, the first time I see a recipe or read about a food, I don’t always know what the heck is going on. Or, you know, how to pronounce things. Beignets, for example, are one of those foods I had never heard of and I certainly didn’t know how to pronounce the word “beignet” the first time I stumbled across them on the web.

Bay-nets, I called them. Baynets.

I am here to tell you that beignet is actually pronounced ben-yay. Duh.

Now that I know how to correctly pronounce the name of these deep fried little square pieces of heaven, I figure it’s time I share the knowledge with the world.

These are basically just square donuts with no holes. They are coated in powdered sugar and they are delicious. I halved the recipe (full recipe shown below) and there were more than enough donuts for my kids and me to eat for lunch.

Yes. I said lunch. Don’t judge me.

Not the donut recipe you were looking for? How about canned biscuit donuts, apple cider donuts, pumpkin donuts, nutella filled sugar donuts, krispy kreme copy cat donuts, or sugar donut muffins? I’m the donut queen, y’all.

recipe from Paula Deen

The fabulous Deborah, from Taste and Tell, is featuring me on her weekly blogger spotlight today. I’d love it if you all hopped over and read the interview! There is even a link to my favorite recipe on this blog. Hint – The recipe looks like this:

Want to check it out? Click here!

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Let’s pretend for just a moment that I’m sharing this recipe with you for the Superbowl or some other super important get together where there will be many people clamoring for dip.

Let’s pretend that I have never in my life made this in preparation of a night of television watching with just me, my chips, my dip, and an overly full DVR.

You see, people aren’t meant to eat a half of a pound of cream cheese all by themselves in one sitting. So, we’re pretending I didn’t do that. Got it?

I know the two words “pickle” and “dip” don’t necessarily sound like they belong together, but the thing is that this is my most favorite dip of all time. It literally takes about 2 minutes to whip up, it’s utterly fabulous at room temperature (no chilling, no baking, no worrying about the temperature), and did I mention that it’s just plain amazing?

So, go ahead and pretend that you have a house full of people, make some dip, and then pretend like you aren’t the one eating it all yourself. Imagination is good for the soul.

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Remember Wednesday? When I made those brown butter cookies? I threatened to assault you with more brown butter recipes. This is me, following through with my threat.

And, for the love of Bieber, is it brown butter or browned butter? I’m going to continue calling it brown butter until I hear otherwise.

My days are filled with two small-ish children who would be happy to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day of their lives. I like to experiment a bit more than that, and this pasta recipe is one of my recent creations. The kids both said it was “okay” but they’d rather just have their PB&J, thankyouverymuch.

That’s when I smacked them. Naughty little brats.

Okay, no I didn’t. I kinda like those two little whiners.

This pasta makes a quick and simple lunch that’s super easy to prepare for as many people as you’re looking to feed. The recipe below feeds 2 hungry adults, but feel free to adjust as needed.

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When I want cookies, I usually want them right now. There is no patience to be found. I make the dough, I eat half of it, I bake the rest, I consume the resulting cookies within minutes. That’s just how I roll.

Those New York Times cookies everyone raves about? No. No freakin’ way. I can not make cookie dough and then just let it sit in my fridge for days and days. Do I look like a grown up adult type person or something? I do? Well, I sure as heck don’t act like one when it comes to cookies.

(Before you all send me hate mail and insist that I try the NY Times recipe, I’ve tried it. Not worth the wait, in my opinion.)

I almost didn’t make this recipe because it requires browning butter and then letting the butter harden back up. Then my love of brown butter knocked me over the head and insisted that I make these cookies immediately.

I don’t usually experiment too much with chocolate chip cookies, because I already have that one recipe that is just plain perfect.  You can find my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe by clicking the link, if you’re curious.

As soon as I tasted the dough for these guys I started bragging on facebook about finding the one true chocolate chip cookie that would one day rule the world.

Then I baked the cookies and discovered that, while super delicious, they didn’t quite beat my other favorite. The raw dough, however, was out of this world amazing. I see some serious egg-less cookie dough experimenting coming up with that dough.

I thought I’d still share the recipe, because it is a fabulous cookie and I’m quite sure it will make favorite status with some of you. In fact, I plan to take the idea of browning the butter in this recipe and using it in my other favorite recipe. Brown butter is my new favorite thing, you know. Prepare to be assaulted with brown butter recipes.

Not the chocolate chip cookie recipe you were looking for? I’ve got more recipes right here and here.

recipe from the little red house

Valentine’s Day is coming. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been a big, huge fan of Valentine’s Day. I mean, yes, I love chocolate and all that, but it seems like such a throwaway holiday that I never get excited about it.

Then, I read a blog post by the fabulous Kristan (who happens to have a birthday today…hope it’s filled with lots of glitter, sparkles, and of course, every color of pink imaginable! Oh, and unicorns. It wouldn’t be a birthday without unicorns!) that if you treat Valentine’s Day like a real holiday, your husband is required to respect that and buy you lots of Valentine’s Day gifts.

Obviously, this changed my feelings.

I like gifts. Quite a lot, actually. In fact, I have a pin board devoted entirely to things that my husband should buy for me. He’s tried telling me that boys don’t “get” pinterest, but I’ve explained that I expect him to learn quickly. After all, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.

To prepare, I whipped up this Red Velvet Gooey Butter Cake. Have y’all ever had regular Gooey Butter Cake? It’s pretty fabulous. Just a regular cake on the bottom, but the topping is just plain amazing. It’s gooey and buttery. I know. You never would have guessed that from the name if I hadn’t been here to tell you! It’s very rich, decadent, and pretty much perfect for Valentine’s Day.

adapted from Paula Deen

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I’m not sure what part of the country (or really even what country) it is you’re from, but let me tell you something. Chicken & Dumplings are not just for Southerners or country grandmas to cook. They are pretty much the most delicious form of comfort food one could make. They are better than mashed potatoes and gravy. Better than macaroni and cheese. Yes, better than plain old chicken noodle soup. These things are like a magical mixture of crack and fairy dust. They’re just as addicting, too. In the past I’ve been known to use canned biscuit dough for my dumplings. No. No, no, no. This was wrong. And bad. I should be punished. Spank me? From now on I promise to make my own dumplings from scratch, because let’s face it, they are ridiculously easy and they blow the biscuit variety of dumplings right out of the water chicken stock. For those of you with southern grandmas, you know what I’m talking about. If you aren’t lucky enough to have a southern granny, you’ve maybe tasted this version of chicken and dumplings at Cracker Barrel. And, if you are unfortunate enough to have never had chicken and dumplings like this, please make it your New Year’s Resolution to give these a try. This is my new favorite dinner, y’all. It’s cheap (less than $8 for a family of four), doesn’t require a lot of hands on time, and everyone in my house loved these chicken and dumplings. I served them with a big salad and a side of roasted broccoli. All hail the chicken and dumplings.

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recipe from Back to the Cutting Board