nana's fresh homemade salsa

Hooray! It's the weekend! And I don't know if you've heard, but there's a big game on TV Sunday. I confess I'm most excited about the halftime show this year. Eeee!

We will be feasting in a big way. I'm fixin our favorites! And a sure-fire staple in our house is Nana's Salsa. It's an as-often-as-I-can-make-it recipe, not just a Super Bowl Sunday special. 

Nana's Salsa is rightly named because my mom has been making it for years. But I'm fairly certain that I've wandered away from the original recipe as I've made it over time. {Maybe I should call it Nana-ish Salsa.} I haven't strayed far. Maybe just a little. But that's what cooking is - making something your own! She still gets due credit for the recipe as I had not previously had a homemade salsa recipe. And it is good, y'all. This salsa recipe tastes like fresh restaurant-style salsa that we all eat by the vats-full.

We will lap up this fresh salsa this weekend while we watch the game. We'll probably eat it with chips like most regular Americans do. But this salsa is also good spooned over tacos, stirred in taco soup {wink}, dolloped on eggs, and wherever else you like to eat salsa. It's especially amazing stirred into your favorite processed cheese loaf, all melted and stirred together making a smooth, yummy queso. Mmmm. I'm going to defintely do that. Queso.

So enjoy! Have a good weekend! And go team!  

NANA'S FRESH HOMEMADE SALSA

{makes enough to fill a liter jar - about 3.5-4 cups I bet}

1 28oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, drained a little {I use San Marzano}

2 cans Rotel tomatoes with green chiles, drained

1/2-3/4 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

a handful of fresh chopped cilantro

2,3,4 or 7 jalapeno rings, seeded and chopped {jarred is fine}

Juice of one real lime

1 teaspoon white vinegar

3/4 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender fitted with a tight lid, and blend together til smooth. Taste as you go, adding more seasoning and heat if you desire. If you're using jarred jalapeno rings, then you can spoon a littlle juice into the salsa. I usually make mine medium-hot. 

The flavors will become stronger as the salsa refrigerates. So be aware that the heat will settle in and surprise you in a few hours when you're ready to serve it.

Store in a big glass mason jar and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

molten brownie pudding

Sam and I have been eating better and drinking gobs of water in an effort to not weigh 8 million pounds and with hopes that our hearts will not rebel against us. We are, by no stretch of the imagination, health nuts. We're just trying to be better. And we can certainly tell a difference in our britches and on the scale. 

However....

We have been eating carefully with Super Bowl Sunday in mind where we will throw it all out the window and eat our favorites and stuff our faces before we're back at it on the Monday after. And I cannot decide what we're going to eat because there are so many things I want to indulge in on our one day where we eat with reckless abandon. 

Wings? Ribs? Chocolate pie? A sheet pan of homemade lemon bars? A bowl of queso so big you could get baptized in it? 

 

{I'm eating "heart healthy" nuts as I type. So not as fun as chocolate pie. Ya know?}

While I wade through my options I keep thinking of Molten Brownie Pudding. It's divine and rich. It's wintry and warm. And it's definitely a splurge. My gosh, it's so delicious. It's one of our favorites. And the texture is a dream. This dessert is baked in a water bath {don't be scared, it's a cinch} which keeps the bottom half of the batter all gooey and molten while the top half of the batter bakes gradually from a light crispy layer with cakey-fudginess in the middle. Descending, delicious, chocolatey layers from top to bottom.

The dessert bakes in a 2" deep, 2-quart baker, and I've fed it to as many as 9-10 people. It's rich so it packs a punch in a modest serving. And of course, I spoon it into a bowl with good quality vanilla ice cream like all warm, chocolate recipes should. Yum, y'all. Yum.

-click here for printable recipe-

MOLTEN BROWNIE PUDDING

{feeds 9-10 people, depending on your people}

 inspiration

2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the dish

4 extra-large eggs at room temperature*

or 4 large eggs plus 1 large yolk

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup good cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

2 teaspoons coffee-flavored extract

 *Euna Mae's is a Great Day Farms brand ambassador

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter a 2qt. oval baker and set aside. Melt the two sticks of butter and set aside to cool while you stir up the rest of the batter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for about 7-10 minutes. The mixture should get very thick and turn light yellow. Do not shorten this step.  It's important to the texture. While the eggs/sugar are mixing, combine the cocoa powder, cinnamon, and flour in a bowl and whisk together well to combine and to remove any clumps.

When the eggs/sugar are thick and light yellow, turn the speed to low and stir in the vanilla and coffee extracts. Then slowly add the cocoa/flour mixture until just combined, followed by the melted and cooled butter. Stir until just combined; don't overmix.

Pour/spread the brownie batter into the buttered 2qt. baker, and set the baker down into a larger pan. I use an aluminum 9x13 cake pan. Carefully fill the cake pan with the hottest tap water you have until the water comes about halfway up the side of the baker. So you'll have an oval baker filled with brownie batter sitting inside a cake pan filled with water.

Bake for one hour on the nose. Remove carefully from the oven, discard the water, and allow the molten brownie batter to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving with ice cream.

easy homemade chicken noodle soup

I don't know about your family, but mine is under the weather. Three for three came home from school yesterday. How 'bout that?! Thank Heavens it's nothing serious. We're not virus or flu-stricken. We don't have a germy  "sick house"...but all three of my babies have colds and strange Winter allergies that have gone awry. So a few booty shots and lots of liquids and we're working to mend. Having shared our situation on social media yesterday, I heard that lots of y'all are suffering from much of the same. Boo on being sick. 

So having weaklings and temperatures in the teens, I naturally made soup. It's what I do. And not just any soup, but good old fashioned chicken noodle soup. Our mothers and grandmothers have appropriately and lovingly served it to us for generations, and they were on to something. Studies show that chicken noodle soup really does have health benefits in kicking colds and respiratory illness. So that's what I made for my family last night. Delicious and warm, and it just hits the spot.

Now ideally, I would've had pulled chicken in the refrigerator from this recipe here. But with sick kids and running to pick everyone up and going to appointments, I didn't. So my Honey grabbed a deli rotisserie chicken on the way home.  I did, however, have several jars of homemade chicken stock in the freezer from that same recipe that I thawed and used. It was SO nice to have stock on hand ready to go, y'all! If you haven't started making your own stock, please try it. You'll love how it deepens the flavor of your soups, stews, and sauces. And you'll have an enormous sense of pride. Silly but true. 

So here's the recipe since so many of you responded to the instagram picture of it last night! {Follow my personal instagram and the Euna Mae's instagram - see the sidebar links!} It's such an easy homemade chicken noodle soup recipe that is quick to make and has that unexplainable comforting flavor. Warmth in every bite. AND this soup recipe is one that you makes a perfect Sharing Batch! Ladle it into big wide-mouth jars and refrigerate it for 3-4 days and share it when you get the chance!

 EASY HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

{feeds 7-8 people, depending on your people}

8 cups of homemade chicken stock, store-bought if you must

1 lb homestyle extra wide noodles like Essenhaus

Meat from one whole chicken, boiled at home or deli rotisserie, pulled into pieces

5-6 carrots, sliced

2 ribs of celery, sliced {leave it out if you don't have it}

2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped OR 1 Tablespoon dried rosemary

1/2 stick of butter

3 Tablespoons flour

3 Tablespoons milk

salt/pepper to taste

Bring the stock to boil in a large heavy pot. I make mine in a 6qt. enamelled cast iron french oven. Add the sliced carrots and celery and allow to boil until tender. Add the noodles and boil about 15 minutes or according to the pasta's package directions. Reduce heat to a simmer and add pulled chicken and rosemary. I don't always use all of the chicken that I've pulled. Store the unused chicken for another dish! Taste the stock and add salt and pepper to taste. I always add quite a bit of salt and pepper. And it never seems to be enough! Taste as you go. Add a little water if it looks like you need more liquid. Be sure to season the soup if you add more water.

In a glass measuring cup or bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and whisk in the milk. Then whisk in the flour to make a slurry. Slowly pour the slurry into the soup stirring constantly to incorporate. This slurry thickens the soup liquid and deepens the flavor. So good. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, stirring and tasting til it's just right!

 

fancied taco soup

Do y'all have those things that you can remember when they came into existence? Like Gobstoppers, cordless phones, and the Blooming Onion? Well, taco soup is one of those things I can remember entering the world. It was in the early 90s when some God-inspired human being decided to dump cans of tomatoes, corn, and beans into a pot of ground beef with a packet of taco seasoning. And Taco Soup was born.

Some of y'all may not know this, but I'm a pastor's wife; and our church is built on home groups. So feeding masses of people in my home comes with the territory around here. So when I discovered taco soup, I wore. it. out. It was inexpensive. It was fast. It fed crowds and crowds. And it was one of those hearty soups that nearly everyone on the earth liked. And it caught on and spread like wildfire throughout our friends. We all made it. All the time. So not only did I fix it as often as possible, but we ate it at every other house we went to. For years. We ate it so much that my husband declared at the turning of the century that we would be a taco soup-free household from this day forward.

Well, it's been 13 years. And I decided to bring it back. 

I realized that my poor children had never really eaten it! And I knew that they'd love it. PLUS now that my kids are teenagers and their friends can drive to our house and surprise us at any given mealtime, taco soup is inexpensive, fast, feeds crowds, and pleases lots of palates. And we're still in ministry, hosting and feeding masses almost 20 years later. It was time for a reprise, don't you think? I do.

So with that, I fancied the original taco soup recipe so that it has more flavor, color, and texture with hopes of tricking my husband. {I'm also trying to think of a new name to call it to further trick him. I'm taking suggestions.}  And with the Super Bowl this weekend, this fancied taco soup would be just right for feeding your crew! Serve it with big sturdy corn chips and lots of fixins on top! But be warned: you may wear. it. out. Good stuff, y'all.

{Make a Sharing Batch!}

FANCIED TACO SOUP

{feeds about 10 people, depending on your people}

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 lb. ground hot breakfast sausage

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 can black beans, drained not rinsed

1 can light red kidney beans, drained not rinsed

1 can cannelinni beans or other white beans, drained not rinsed

1 can Rotel tomatoes with juice {tomatoes with green chiles}

1 small can chopped green chiles 

1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 teaspoon sugar

3-5 jalapeno rings, chopped {jarred or fresh} optional

In a big, heavy pot, brown the beef and sausage with the onions. Tilt the pan and scoop out about 3/4 of the grease and discard, keeping a little grease for flavor. Dump in the cans of beans, Rotel tomatoes, chopped green chiles, corn, seasonings, sugar, and chopped jalapenos. Stir together and add a cup of water or more to get the liquid how you want it. I like it a little thicker with less liquid. You may also add a small can of tomato sauce to thicken and make it more tomatoe-y if you like.

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, adding more water as you need. Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes, preferably 45-50 minutes to develop flavor. Taste as you go, adding salt and pepper, more liquid, etc.

Serve with corn chips, crackers or tortilla chips. And top with chopped tomatoes, black olives, cilantro, green onions, shredded cheese, and sour cream.

sharing batch

I've been in my kitchen the last few days writing and testing pound cake recipes. I know. Poor me. I experimented with different flavors and glazes and zests and other fun ingredients. And I found a few that I'm ca-RAZY about! Gosh, I love pound cake. Do you??!! So delicious. And it always reminds me of Euna Mae who was best known for her bundt cakes. Sigh. Sweet memories.

Naturally after making several cakes, I had a lot to share! So I sliced, packaged, and marked individual pieces of cake, loaded up my carrier, and drove them to doorsteps and mailboxes around my town with my youngest who was spending a sick/hookie day at home. We gave pound cake to neighbors, cousins, church friends, old friends, new friends, people with something to celebrate and people who had something on their hearts. And I was giddy! I love to make and share food. It's the way I show love. Hands down. And I loved that it was an opportunity to include my son in serving and treating others. We had a big time! And it was so fun to hear from people when they realized they had been visited by the Pound Cake Fairy. Did my heart good.  And it did good to theirs too.

Now I delivered pound cake yesterday for no particular reason other than I had a bunch of it on a Tuesday. But making extra food and giving it away is the norm in my kitchen. So today I'm encouraging you to get in the habit of making a Sharing Batch. Double-up on your recipe, and store it in your fridge for a few days so you are armed and ready to serve someone who has a need. And trust me, you will hear within a day or two of making your Sharing Batch that someone could use a cake, bowl of soup, or pan of enchiladas. A house fire, a car wreck, a slip on the ice, a cancer diagnosis, a death, a divorce, a move, the flu, or just Life being too much. You may also hear of special birthdays, engagements, new babies, new homes, new jobs, or other Life celebrations! Either way, you'll be prepared to show love with your Sharing Batch.

Just in case you need a little nudge...read about Stef's Sharing Batch.

I've always meant to start making my own chicken stock, but I've never gotten around to doing it until you posted your process on Euna Mae's. This Sunday I made it, put half the chicken back in with veggies and egg noodles for chicken noodle soup, and used the other half of the chicken to make a Mexican casserole last night. So, since I used an entire bag of noodles and all the broth, I clearly had a TON of soup. As I was putting it away I sort of half asked God if anyone needed soup. Monday morning, I saw on Facebook that a friend of mine who had just finished her 4th chemo treatment was extra sick this time and I was able to drop soup on her doorstep an hour later, after texting her and learning that soup is the only thing she feels well enough to eat. Today, I found out a girl in our community group has a knee injury, and since they are new to the area and their families are far away (and they have a one yr old), they have relatively little support. So, this afternoon I was able to take more soup and lots of leftover casserole by their house. We still have leftovers to eat for lunches ourselves the next few days! I always love taking meals to people, but this week has been such a neat opportunity to just share food instead of doing extra planning and shopping, like I normally have to do to take a meal. Just wanted to say thanks for the yummy and economical inspiration that has allowed me to show Jesus' love this week. It has been like loaves and fishes around here, except with boiled chicken. (smile) 

If you have an opportunity to give a Sharing Batch, take a picture and post it on Instagram and tag @eunamaes OR post it on your Facebook and tag me Amy Nelson Hannon. I'd love to use your Sharing Batch to encourage others to do the same! 

Food speaks love, y'all.  

chocolate espresso cake with vanilla bean frosting

My husband and I see eye to eye on just about everything except missed free-throws and cake. He has mercy on missed free-throws. I, on the other hand, want to charge the court and wring some necks. His favorite dessert of all time is chocolate cake from a box. I, on the other hand, loathe chocolate cake from a box...and most chocolate cakes in general. 

And since chocolate cake from a box is his very favorite (he calls it "chocolate cake with white icing"), I've been a loving wife and made it for him for Father's Day, birthdays, and other Sam-honoring events. But it has killed my soul. Sucked my joy. Because I want desperately to make a scratch cake that he likes and that I can be proud of - and Lord-willing - that I can also enjoy. 

So if you know me at all, you know that I've been on the hunt for THE chocolate cake recipe that pleases both my husband and me. Like, for years I've tried recipe after recipe after recipe. My desire is for chocolate cake that is moist, dense, and has more complex flavor. When I interview him to find out exactly what he adores about chocolate cake from a box, he says, "You know, it's cakey."  What on earth? Of course it's cakey. It's cake. {bangs head on wall}

I surprised him with this "chocolate cake with white icing" when he came home from a week in Boston finishing his doctoral work! Proud'a you, babe! And he loved it. My kids loved it. And I loved it. 

I. Loved. It.

It's rich, dense, chocolately, tender. And the vanilla bean buttercream is so milky that it's just so right with the dark espresso cake. In a weird way, it almost tastes like the most sophisticated Oreo you've ever eaten...if Oreos were sophisticated. 

We ate a few slices; and to keep ourselves from binging on it all week, we divided it and sent it home with friends. There are no beautiful pictures of it either. We were too busy eating it to worry with photographing it. I did try to grab a quick pic of my son's piece before he ate it... #photobomb #lifewithteenagers #foodbloggerprobs #keepinitreal 

So for your weekend baking...I give you cake!

CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO CAKE WITH VANILLA BEAN FROSTING

{aka "Chocolate Cake with White Icing"}

-for the cake-

2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3/4 (heaping) cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons coffee-flavored extract

1 cup whole milk, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, room temperature*

2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

*Euna Mae's is a Great Day Farms ambassador

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with baker's spray, and set aside.

Add the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a large bowl that fits in your stand mixer. Use a whisk to combine the dry ingredients. Attach the bowl of whisked together dry ingredients to your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the milk, oil, eggs, vanilla and coffee extract to the dry ingredients, and mix together on medium speed. Mix til nicely combined. Reduce the speed to low and carefully add boiling water to the batter very very slowly so it incorporates without splashing too badly. (I heat my water in the microwave in a glass measuring cup with a spout so I can pour it smoothly and easily.)  Lay a kitchen towel over the mixer or use your splash guard, and turn the speed to high, beating for 1 minute to add air into the cake batter. 

Divide cake batter between the two prepared pans and bake on center oven rack for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I always suggest setting the timer for 5 minutes less than the suggested bake time and checking the cake in 3 minute intervals until it's done. You don't want to overbake. 

Remove pans from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing them to cool completely on wire racks.

-for the frosting-

Make one recipe for Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

 Scrape in the seeds of one plump vanilla bean, adding the seeds to the frosting as it beats/creams in the mixer.

When the cakes are completely cool, completely, spread a thin layer of frosting on the top of one cake round spreading all the way to the edges. Then set the second cake round on top, and frost top and sides. Refrigerate the cake to set frosting. And serve it cold which allows the cake to cut more cleanly and gives it the best flavor.

classic vanilla buttercream frosting

Don't you just wanna stick your finger in that frosting when no one's looking? There is no-o-o-thing better than classic vanilla buttercream frosting. If you've never tried making your own frosting, listen to me, you can do it. And once you make your own, you'll cringe at the thought that you ever used (or ate) processed, convenience frosting. 

This recipe for vanilla buttercream is a cornerstone for buttercream frostings of all kinds; thus, it deserves it's very own post. Vanilla buttercream is the building block that can be modified to make coconut buttercream, strawberry buttercream, lemon buttercream, chocolate buttercream, and more. So mastering this frosting recipe sets you up for some big, happy, flavorful success for all kinds of goodies! 

Homemade buttercream frosting is also an easy secret weapon that sends boxed cake mixes over the moon. I made I-don't-know-how-many cakes for our high school coaches and a few tailgates this last fall when my son played varsity football. And I often fancied-up a good boxed cake mix by smothering it in a big, tall layer of homemade buttercream. Of course, when there's time, a homemade cake with homemade buttercream is too good to be true.  But when you're in a quick-pinch, homemade buttercream frosting covers a multitude of sins.

In this particular cake {above}, I made a coconut buttercream frosting on a strawberry coconut layered cake. Y'all. So good. I'll share it with you another time. But get ready, because Friday I'm sharing my husband's absolute very favorite chocolate espresso cake with vanilla bean buttercream. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

 

CLASSIC VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature

4 cups of confectioners' sugar

 1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

1/8 teaspoons almond extract, optional but I do love it

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar and salt until well blended. You will likely need to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl a time or two.  Add the vanilla, milk, and optional almond extract; beat until smooth, adding more milk a teaspoon at a time or more confectioners' sugar a little at a time to get the consistency you prefer for piping or spreading on cakes.

divinely delicious shrimp and grits

You know that meal that you make when you want to serve something impressive, memorable, and divinely delicious for special occasions? Well, this is mine. Shrimp and Grits. (appropriately spoken shrimp'n grits) Oh yes, there are beautiful racks of lambs and dishes that have loads of fancy ingredients that look like a magazine photo. But when it comes to delivering a dish that is pleasing to the eye, stickin' to the bone, and leaves a lasting impression - this is it. This. Is. It. 

I have served shrimp'n grits for many major life-eating events like my husband's 40th birthday party, super special weekend company, dinner parties with my fanciest friends, and even Christmas day. And y'all, I'm tellin you straight...there is moaning. There, I said it. Moaning. 

It's so good that there are mutterings of "Oh my gosh" across the table as folks take their bites.

It's so good that I caught a gal licking her bowl. 

It's so good that my well-traveled friends said it was better than any they'd had in restaurants.

It's so good that men hug my neck and their wives ask for the recipe. 

Beyond flavor, this recipe is a one-dish wonder! Ladle the shrimp and sauce over a shallow bowl of creamy grits and lay a piece of warm, buttered crusty bread right on top! No need for forks, knives, or plates...just a spoon and a bowl.  Refined southern goodness, y'all.

DIVINELY DELICIOUS SHRIMP'N GRITS

 {feeds about 7-10 people, depending on your people}

-for the shrimp and sauce-
6 slices of thick-cut hickory bacon, cut into pieces
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2  tablespoons of Creole seasoning, like Tony Chachere's
1 cup of dry white wine {or chicken stock, but it's a richer flavor with wine}
1 pound large fresh or frozen shrimp (thawed) peeled, deveined, tail-on
the juice of one lemon
2-3 tablespoons chopped scallions, green parts only
 crumbled goat cheese, optional

Before we start, there's a method to cooking this dish so it's all ready at the right time to serve hot and at its best. Be sure to have all of your peppers, onions, garlic chopped and ready to go; and also have the shrimp thawed and patted dry. You may wish to remove the tails, but I think it's pretty to leave them on. Ready?! Go!

In a large skillet/braiser/saucepan {choose one that has a lid because you'll need it later} over medium-high heat, cook bacon pieces, stirring until crisp and nicely browned. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, spoon out the bacon pieces and drain/cool on a paper towel-lined plate, reserving the bacon grease in the skillet. Turn off the burner, and sit tight.

Next, prepare the grits recipe below. Stirring and adding milk as you need to make sure they're creamy and delicious. Cover and let sit over low heat, stirring occasionally, as you prepare the shrimp sauce.

-for the grits-

10-12 oz. Mild Mexican Velveeta, cubed

1 tsp. salt

1 cup uncooked instant grits

2 cups of water

2 cups of milk

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp garlic powder (not salt!)

2-3 rings of jarred jalapeno slices and juice, optional

 In a medium-large pot, bring water, milk, butter and salt to a slow boil and whisk in grits, whisking constantly so they do not clump.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook-n-stir grits until they've expanded and gotten creamy about 7-8 minutes or so. Over low heat, stir in cheese and garlic powder. Stir until cheese is melted and grits are smooth. Stir in 1-2 tablespoons of jarred jalapeno juice if you'd like (we do!). Taste as you go! Add more milk a little at a time, stirring over low heat til the grits are creamy, creamy, creamy. 

Now that the grits are made, it's time to tend to the shrimp sauce. And when I say tend, I mean you're about to stand over your skillet/saucepan working quickly and stirring quite a bit for the next 10-12 minutes. But then you're ready to plate and serve! 

Heat the bacon grease over medium heat, and add the peppers and onions, sauteing for 5-6 minutes until they are soft. Add the chopped garlic and stir constantly for one minute to be sure it doesn't burn...and it will burn on you fast. Add the white wine and creole seasoning and stir well. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir in the shrimp, adding more wine or chicken stock for more sauce if needed, and bring to a little simmer. Cover with a tight fitting lid for 2-3 minutes to cook the shrimp. This is a good time to stir your grits and see how they're looking. Remove the lid from the shrimp sauce, and stir in lemon juice. Taste the sauce, adding more creole seasoning, more lemon, or more wine/stock if you prefer. 

Spoon a shallow bowl with your creamy jalapeno cheese grits, and ladle the shrimp and sauce on top. Then garnish with crumbled bacon, chopped green scallions, and a crumble of goat cheese if you'd like. I like to lay a rustic hunk of buttered crusty bread on the side of the bowl which is just right for moppin the last little bit of grits and sauce from the bowl.

The end.

euna mae's homemade cinnamon rolls

I have been wandering in the wilderness for years like an Israelite without hope of a cinnamon roll recipe that I just adored. Because of my fear of attempting homemade bonafide yeast bread, I tried pre-made packets that I stirred with water and somethin else. And I've tried other people's recipes but the rolls weren't those big fluffy ones that I was longing for. You know the ones the cafeteria ladies always served in elementary school that were as big as your face and took up the whole square on your divided tray? THAT'S what I've been looking for. And then it dawned on me when we were devouring a pan of Euna Mae's homemade yeast rolls....coat that dough in cinnamon, sugar, and butter then soak them with sweet sugary frosting! And that's what I did! Promised. Land.

I made three pans of the most beautiful cinnamon rolls so I could share them with a friend. I was so happy to share, and then I was sad that I shared because we ate our pan so fast that we couldn't have seconds. But then I got a text from that friend who lived through the hardest season of life ever, and the text said "Those cinnamon rolls were the best I have ever had!!" Totally thrilled my soul. Food speaks love, y'all. Don't ever forget it!

So here we go! No more wandering...

EUNA MAE'S HOMEMADE CINNAMON ROLLS

{makes about 24 rolls}

-for the dough-

1 1/2 cups whole milk  
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup sugar  
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package active dry yeast 
1/2 cup very  warm water but not hot-hot 
3 large eggs, lightly beaten* 
2 teaspoons salt {if you're using salted butter, then reduce this to 1 tsp salt} 
6 cups all-purpose flour

*Euna Mae's is a Great Day Farms brand ambassador

-for the filling-
1 stick unsalted butter, very much at room temperature so it's spreadable
3/4 to 1 cup sugar plus a little more for sprinkling in the pan
plenty of cinnamon

-for the icing-
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
 7-10 tablespoons warm milk

Preheat oven to 200 degrees to create a 'warm place' for the first rise. 

  For the dough, place 1 1/2 cups milk in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, and stir in the stick of chopped butter and the 1/2 cup of sugar; let cool.  Add yeast and 1 tsp sugar to the 1/2 cup of very warm water and whisk gently til dissolved; allow to rest for 10 minutes until it's foamy on top.
 
Note: It is critical that you use fresh yeast, not yeast that you dig out of the back of your panty from when you built your house in 2004. Yeast looses its pizazz after a few months. So be sure it's fresh so your rolls will rise!

Combine milk mixture, eggs, yeast, salt and 1/2 of the flour in a mixer with the dough attachment, and mix until smooth on low speed. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the bowl and knead by hand on a floured surface for about 5 minutes until the dough is combined and smooth, and a gentle finger-poke in the top presses in but slowly springs back a little.

Now turn the oven off.

Place the dough in a large greased bowl, cover with a light dish towel that is barely damp - and I mean barely - and let is rise in the warmed oven until it has doubled in bulk, about 60-70 minutes. It will spread and fill the bowl more than it will actually rise up. So don't be scared.  At about 30-35 minutes of the first rise, you may turn the oven back on to 200 for just a minute and turn it off really quickly to maintain a little heat in there, as it has surely cooled by this time. Resist the urge to open and close the oven door.

Remove the bowl of dough from the oven. 
Preheat oven to 200 degrees again to create a 'warm place' for the second rise.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and punch the dough a few times with a firm fist letting the air out. Sprinkle with a little flour as needed to keep it from being too sticky. Roll the dough into a long, wide rectangle. Spread the dough with the one-stick of very room temperature butter, and cover with sugar and cinnamon. Starting with the long end, roll into a log and pinch together to seal the edge; then cut into 1.5" slices.Turn the oven off.

Spray your choice of pan or pans with baking spray, then sprinkle the bottom of the pans with a little more sugar. Yum, right?! Lay the cinnamon roll slices in the pan almost touching.

 

 
Cover loosely with a light kitchen towel and return to the warmed oven for a second rise. Allow to rise at least 40 minutes or longer until they have doubled in size and are squished up next to each other. Remove the rolls from the oven.

For baking the rolls, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls uncovered for about 25 minutes, until golden brown but not terribly brown or they'll dry out. Begin checking rolls at 20 minutes and then check again every 2-3 minutes until done. 

While the rolls are baking, stir together the melted butter, powdered sugar, extracts, and tablespoons at a time of the warm milk until the icing is the desired consistency. I like a lot of icing that is drizzly enough that it'll sink down into the crevices of the rolls rather than a big thick layer of icing just on the top of the rolls. Add more powdered sugar/milk to increase the amount of icing and to get the consistency that you prefer. 

Allow rolls to sit for 2-3 minutes before icing them.