With a name like this, who couldn't love you?!

One weekend afternoon, I sat in my living room watching Paula Deen.  We all know her...a stick of butter here, 2 cups of sugar there.  Deep-fried and delicious.  I don't blame her for her weakness for fat and my will power, too, would cave if she became my personal chef.  But as I sat watching her for the umteenth time, I heard the name of a recipe that evoked desire: Gooey Butter Cake.

I put the thought out of my head right then and there.  As she poured the butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar by the cups full into her dish, I decided this was something I was better off not to try.  Then, one day by chance I saw a completely different TV program on this dessert and the envelope was sealed.  I would be eating this one day.  Soon.

Since Mom and Dad were coming to dinner last Sunday, I knew I needed dessert.  Into my mind it crept..."Gooey"..."cake"...oh no.  It's over.

On one website, I read this dessert described as "spun sugar" and "cotton candy" and "sugar off the top of the best creme brulee".  They were 100% completely right.  Don't delay.  Eat it.  Today.  If it takes knowing that four of my coworkers asked me for the recipe after bringing the leftovers in to work BEFORE you'll make it, then you've waited too long.

Recipe: Goey Butter Cake

Weekend Lunch, Repeated

Joe and I have never claimed to be extraordinarily exciting.  Matter of fact, we kind of embrace being dull and predictable.  Pizza Friday?  Yes!  No decisions to make at the end of the work week.  A beer at home on the couch while watching the DVR?  Awesome!  I didn't want to get out of my sweatpants, anyway.

So, when Saturday comes and we're deciding on lunch, if there's bread in the house there is no doubt what we're eating: Panini.  The Panini has become a delicious alternative to grabbing Chipotle (although, this tends to be our Sunday Lunch staple) and never disappoints.  No recipe needed...just sourdough bread, turkey (whatever's on sale that week), thick-cut bacon fried semi-crisp, cheese and honey-dijon mustard.  Mmmm.  That's what Saturdays were made for.

Spaetzle?

How do you even pronounce that?  Spet-zel?  Spat-sel?  I still don't know.  What I do know it that the Germans had it right when they invented this extremely messy to make but super delicious "pasta".  I was bored with the idea of making boneless chicken breasts again and was limited to the food I had in house...this included both cornmeal and ricotta - who knew you could make something delicious from that?!

Jeez-o, what a mess this made.  The recipe calls for making a simple cornmeal batter then squeezing it with a spatula through a wide-holed colander into a boiling pot of water.  I'm sure there's a German housewife somewhere making this without destroying her kitchen, but this Mid-Westerner wasn't born with whatever skill that might take.  About a thousand dirty dishes and a really gross countertop later, I created one of my new favorite side-dishes, Cornmeal Spaetzle.  Served with Garlic Chicken and German Brussel Spouts.

Recipe: Cornmeal Spaetzle, Martha Stewart Living

Pacifier Blankets

Dan and Kristen welcomed Burke James Croft into the world on January 12.  Joe and I are SO excited for this new addition to our friend circle.  I was planning to make Kristen a blanket but after hearing about the excessive number of blankets she's received, decided instead to sew these adorable little pacifier blankets.  They're made from fleece and flannel and could be used for just about anything since the tab at the top could velcro onto a car seat, pacifier...basically anything.  I think they came out just darling and they were so easy to make!  Scroll down to see the other two blankets I made for Burke.

Blanket Pattern: Simplicy Pattern 2670