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Bourbon + Pecan Sweets
Serving these at your Kentucky Derby party? Don’t blink! They will be gone as quickly as the horses make their way around the track. Rich + buttery + sugary + crunchy + addictive. Next thing you know, half of these have mysteriously disappeared. These sweets require very few ingredients, very little time, very little skill yet are indubitably delicious.They combine the best of both worlds: candy + bourbon. But fear not the spirits: when cooking bourbon, the alcohol evaporates, leaving you with the deliciously distinct bourbon flavor without the alcohol. If alcohol is not your thing but you like the flavor of bourbon, you can use bourbon flavored vanilla. If…
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Curried Chicken Wings + Mango Chutney-Yogurt Dipping Sauce
Does anyone out there in Bloglandia remember when chicken wings were practically free at the grocery store? I mean, back in the day. Prior to their popularity, prior to their ubiquity. Before they became the uber-staple on sports bar menus worldwide (right below the uber-staple nachos). Seriously, if you didn’t know it, once upon a time, chicken wings weren’t “a thing” on a menu. They were scoffed at. They were looked down upon. They had no street cred, per se. After all, wings are merely skin and bones. But wait…isn’t that actually part of their allure? There is the bone that is full of flavorful marrow and insulates that wing…
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Ooey Gooey Vidalia Onion Dip
Aaahhh, Vidalia onions. Those sweet colossal bulbs cultivated by Southern soil. Hailed as the paragon of all onions, they are so sweet you could bite into them like you would apples (or so I hear). Typically these horticultural gems are available Spring through Summer. I, however, pulled the onion for this recipe out of my freezer because around here we buy them 25 pounds at a time from the Boy Scouts. These onions are Georgia’s state vegetable, so famous that they even have festivals to celebrate their greatness. (FYI…the 2019 festival is April 25-29, if you’re interested in attending.) While these onions assume the lead role in this dip, the…
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Buttermilk Bleu Cheese Dressing
I CANNOT have enough bleu cheese in my life. I am a member of “The Bluer, the Better” society. My mom would make my dad’s favorite dressing for his birthday every year. It was a creamy, reddish Roquefort, and I remember stealing little nibs of cheese when she wasn’t looking. I absolutely loved it. Even her telling me the “blue” was actually mold did not temper my passion. To this day I remain an ardent devotee. * I mean, who doesn’t need a little Penicillium in their life? I like this recipe because it is less oily than so many other creamy bleu cheese dressings. Substituting sour cream and buttermilk…
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Sticky Sweet + Spicy Asian (v) Meatballs
I am a cheater. There. I said it. I’m not gonna lie—I don’t really feel too bad about it. In fact, I think you’ll want to be a cheater, too. Here’s how it happened. We found out last minute that another couple was coming to our Super Bowl Puppy Bowl Party, and I wanted to make ABSOLUTELY sure I had enough food for everyone. One of my big hang-ups is running out of food. We are a very food-oriented family, so I have nightmares about such things. I made an impromptu decision to throw some things together, and am actually proud of how good of a cheater I am! By…
