In advance, forgive me.

This is going to be one of those eyeball it kind of recipes I was telling you about. But you won't care once you eat it, because it could in fact be better than sex.

Chicken Fajitas

Two bell peppers (sure why not) whatever color(s) you like, cut into strips
4-6 chicken breasts (sounds good, too. Ya know, depending on size) cut into strips
two cloves of garlic (if you're me...4)
1/2 cup of salsa
1/2 cup water
1 packet onion soup mix
A couple drizzles of olive oil

Drizzle the pan with a little bit of olive oil. Cook the bell pepper a few minutes, and then add the pressed garlic. Then continue to cook the pepper to your liking. Set the pepper aside.

Now drizzle a little more oil so that the chicken doesn't stick and cook the chicken. I add more garlic here. So just do what you like. When the chicken is fully cooked add the bell pepper back in.

Now add the salsa, water, and onion soup mix to the chicken and pepper, and stir. Let it cook a few minutes to thicken.

Add all the fixings and. OH. MY.

A quick tip.

I LOVE garlic mashed potatoes. Actually, I just love garlic. I put it in everything, including scrambled eggs. Well, I was conflicted when making garlic mashed potatoes because I only use fresh pressed garlic when cooking. Sorry, I'm a snob. While I'm snobbing it up I may as well add that I love the Pampered Chef garlic press. A-MAZ-ING. So I didn't want to use garlic powder, and I didn't want to bite into a chunk of raw garlic.

The solution?

Boil two cloves of freshly pressed garlic with the potatoes and then mash to your liking. It's like heaven!

Why did it take me so long to figure this out? Am I the last one to figure this out?

My Birthday Cake

In honor of my birthday this Sunday, and because Hillary has once again requested it, I'm posting the best Pineapple upside Down Cake recipe ever. I can't make this without thinking of my Grandpa. It was his favorite, and we had it every year.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

1/2 - 3/4 cup walnuts (optional, I don't use them because my nephew is allergic)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (20 ounces) pineapple slices, undrained
5 maraschino cherries, drained and halved
1 package yellow cake mix (I use pineapple cake mix)
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
12 oz. Cool Whip, thawed (if you like to top yours)


Preheat oven to 350. Chop nuts (if using them); set aside. Melt butter in a pan over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in brown sugar until well blended. Drain pineapple, reserving juice; set aside. Move butter/ brown sugar mixture to the bottom of a greased or non stick cake pan. Arrange pineapple slices over mixture. Place a cherry half in center of each pineapple slice. Sprinkle with nuts (once again, if you want them). Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to make1 1/3 cups liquid. In bowl, combine cake mix, liquid, eggs, and oil; whisk until well blended and smooth. Pour over fruit mixture. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Remove; cool 5 minutes. Carefully loosen edges of cake; invert onto large, heat-safe serving plate. Cool slightly. Serving warm is best in my opinion.

Hope you all love it as much as I do!!

Basic White Bread

People ask me for my recipes a lot. The problem is that I don't usually use too many recipes. I'm a lot like the women before me, I just throw things in. I eyeball it. But starting today I am going to make a conscious effort to get some of my recipes commited to paper. This recipe however is a most have for everyone. Not to mention it has been requested by my cousin, Hillary, a few times. Making homemade bread is time consuming, and the first time it is a bit intimidating, but the end result is more than worth it. This recipe is the closest thing that I have found to my Grandma Lovelace's bread. You see I got my ability to just "throw things in" from her. Her recipe went with her when she left us, as far as I know. Nothing warms the home like homemade bread, and people are more than grateful to receive it as a gift (I give it a lot). So here we go. On my maiden cooking blog voyage, I give you bread.



Basic White Bread (Country Wisdom and Know-how: Everything you Need to Know to Live off the Land)



This is for two loaves. If you're going to go to the trouble, you may as well make two loaves, but it can be cut in half.



2 cups milk

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons dry yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water

6-61/4 cups white flour



1. Heat the milk in a medium size saucepan. Add the butter, sugar, and salt. Stir until dissolved.



2. Stir the yeast into the lukewarm water in a large bowl. Make sure it's dissolved, then set aside to proof for 5 minutes.



3. Add the cooled milk mixture to the proofed yeast. Beat in the flour, 1 cup at a time, then turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead.
**I don't really use the measurement for flour. I go by the feel of the dough. You want the dough to feel just like your earlobe. The humidity of your house will vary each time you make the bread, so the measurement of flour will also.



4. Place in a greased bowl and turn the ball of dough around so it's greased on all sides. Cover. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.
**This is my process for letting bread rise. I boil water and fill a bowl with it and place it in the bottom of the oven (don't heat the oven). Then I cover the bowl containing the dough with a towel and let it rise above the bowl of water in the oven for 45min. - an hour.


5. Punch down the dough, turn it out onto the floured surface again, and knead once more, briefly.



6. Shape the dough into two loaves. Place them in two well greased, large (9 inch) loaf pans. Cover. Let rise once more.
** I do the boiling water in the bowl thing again.



7. Preheat your oven to 400 F.
**I leave the water in an oven safe bowl to bake with the bread during the winter. It makes the bread moist. The air is so dry in the winter.



8. When the loaves have doubled in size, bake for 45 minutes, then remove from the pans and allow to cool.