Yum Yum YUM!

This recipe is from my mom and I'm not sure where she got it, but it's so good that it will make you cry. She makes it for people when they are sick, or when they are well, or when they have family visiting, or when they just need a REALLY GOOD DESSERT to serve.

At one point she was making it so often that the guy at the liquor store knew her by name, and if you know my mom that sentence will make you fall down laughing because a half a margarita gets that woman silly and walking sideways.

So here it is -

WHITE RUSSIAN CAKE

1 Yellow Cake Mix
1 6oz box of Instant Chocolate Pudding
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 kahlua
3/4 cup water

Mix all the ingredients together for 4 minutes. Pour into a greased Bundt pan and bake at 325 for 60 minutes. You might want to check the cake after 50 minutes and cover it with tinfoil so the top doesn't get too brown.

Then, make the glaze: (yeah baby, all that chocolately, alcoholic goodness PLUS A GLAZE!)

1/3 cup Kahlua
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Mix the glaze well with a fork. Punch holes in the top of the cake with a toothpick or bamboo skewer and pour the glaze over the cake sloooowly so it sinks in and makes the whole thing gooey and yummy.

Enjoy. And don't go finishing the vodka and Kahlua before the cake is finished baking. Save some for afterwards.

Recipe of the Week

We were invited to a 40th birthday luau on Saturday night and were asked to bring an appetizer. I googled "Hawaiian Appetizers" and got eleventy-billion recipes calling for poi, fake crab or Spam. *shudder*

Then I found it. The most delicious, mouth-watering, eat-them-all-before-you-get-to-the-party sweet and sour meatballs:

1 13 oz jar Heinz Chili Sauce
1 12 oz jar grape jelly
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple and juice
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 lb of meatballs, homemade or frozen. (Guess which ones I used.)

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan and heat slowly, stirring until smooth. Add meatballs, cover and simmer until hot. You can also put the sauce and meatballs in a crockpot and simmer.

Ohmigod these are good. Whoever decided to combine ketchup with grape jelly and call it "sauce" deserves a Nobel Prize.

Recipe of the Week

I love shrimp. I LOVE those yummy pink curled-up mouthfuls of tasty goodness. Except that one time they were jumping out of the water biting me ShutUpI'mSerious. They do that. I was floating on a raft in front of a dock on the Intracoastal Waterway and suddenly my legs were stinging. I looked down and these tiny, translucent BITEY things were hurling themselves out of the water and on to me and every time one did that it HURT. Baby shrimp. Who knew they were so vicious? So now I retaliate by eating them every chance I get.

This is my famous Shrimp & Grits recipe, which I totally poached from Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill, NC. Don't let the long list of ingredients throw you off, it's easy! And fattening. Yum.

SERVES 4

2 cups water
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken broth
3/4 cup half-and-half
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup regular grits (I use quick grits and they do fine)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3 slices bacon
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced green onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually whisk in grits; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until thickened; add cheddar cheese and next 4 ingredients; set aside but keep warm.
Cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp; remove bacon and drain on paper towels, reserve 1 tablespoon of drippings in skillet; crumble bacon and set aside.
Sprinkle shrimp with pepper and salt; dredge in flour.
Saute mushrooms in hot drippings in skillet 5 minutes, or until tender; add green onions and saute 2 minutes; add shrimp and garlic and saute 2 minutes or until shrimp are lightly brown; stir in chicken broth, lemon juice and hot sauce and cook 2 more minutes, stirring to loosen browned bits from skillet.
Divide grits into 4 large, shallow soup bowls; divide shrimp mixture into four servings and place on top of grits; top each serving with crumbled bacon and serve with lemon wedges.

Recipe of the Week

Do you ever go through spells where the idea of cooking dinner is just...beyond you. You don't want to cook anything you usually make because you are SICK TO DEATH of every single recipe you have. You don't have the energy to go through dozens of cookbooks to find something NEW AND EXCITING the whole family will eat.

With that in mind, I thought I would institute a recipe-of-the-week column to let you in on my newest and best creations. I promise I will try them first rather than letting my unsuspecting readers reader be my guinea pig.

SO - here is my very first recipe:

St. Simon’s Island Shrimp Bog
(and I don't know what the heck a bog is either)

1/2 pound slice bacon, finely diced
2 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain rice
3 1/4 cups defatted chicken broth
1 1/2 cups peeled & chopped tomatoes, with juice (I used a can of petite diced tomatoes with the juice)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp each cayenne & black pepper
2 lbs. medium-sized shrimp, cleaned
1/4 cup chopped parsley

In a large pot, fry bacon over medium heat; drain and set aside. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the fat, add the onions to the pot, then cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Add the rice, 2 1/4 cups of the broth, tomatoes with juices, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and black pepper; bring to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.

Stir in the bacon, shrimp and the remaining cup of broth; continue cooking, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in the bog with a fork, adjust seasonings and sprinkle the parsley on top.

It was so good my husband wanted to ply it with drinks and then take advantage of it in the backseat of a car.