Salt & Lime Tortilla Chips with Strawberry Avocado Salsa
I’ve got bad habits. So do you. But this is about me, as things almost always are. See, there’s one bad habit. Here’s a few more: I stack the recycling on the bench in the garage until cereal boxes, empty bean tins and maple syrup jugs are toppling over onto the floor rather than taking them out to the recycling can on the side of the house. Hey, it’s raining. I flip over the towels in the guest bathroom instead of washing them. It’s... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Chocolate Chip Zee Bars
There are lots of things I don’t get. Of course, that’s just a nice way of saying, here are some things I am going to complain about before I give you a recipe. We could be here awhile. But we won’t be, because incessant complaining is one thing I don’t get. It’s a cruel joke of fate that I could teach a master class on it, though. Such a wasted gift. #1 Thing I Don’t Get: Sweaters for Dogs Or rain slickers. Or any sort of outerwear. ... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Baked Hush Puppy Bites
Kids can be so literal. As in Lulu. This morning. Waiting for the hush puppies to come out of the oven. I don’t have the heart to explain it to her. Lulu’s not the only one unfamiliar with hush puppies. We went out to dinner with friends Saturday night to a great Southern food restaurant, Screen Door, where everyone ordered up Hurricanes, grits and collard greens. Yet, only half of our table knew what hush puppies were. (It was the girls. ... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Bliss Salad
A few helpful hints for you today: If you are going to one of Loving Hut’s many locations, call and make sure they are open on Sunday before dragging someone else across town just so you can eat a highly addictive Heavenly Salad. Someone else will be very, very angry. If you have a dirty, dingy wedding ring, you can clean it at home by using a little toothpaste and baking soda and someone else’s toothbrush. If you are so inclined. If you are... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
I don’t even know what a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is. But Lauren does. And she emailed me and asked me to make one. Today seemed like as good a day as any. Do you ever wake up and the sun feels like it is shining directly on you? And there’s no specific reason, but you just feel happy to just be alive? I live for days like today. It was day six for me without coffee. No one died. Praise God! My child told me that she hates the cat... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Tater Tot Casserole
I’m not one to get worked up over details. That’s such a lie. I once had a Level 6 meltdown because Pea Daddy brought home chunky peanut butter instead of creamy. But I was the one who was going to have to serve Gigi a chunky sandwich. And it wasn’t just chunky, it was Super Chunky. She was Super Pissed. Still, I don’t get worked up over details when it comes to other people’s recipe requests. Need I remind you of Nour’s recipe... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Spicy Black Bean Dip
This is not just a recipea makeover. This, my friends, is a story of persistence, of a deep unwavering love and a story of friendship. I’m writing the screenplay as we speak. I hope Ryan Reynolds is free and willing to work with a first time director on a very short film about bean dip. I shall call it Sarah and Sarah. (I haven’t quite figured out how Ryan works into that yet.) Sarah first wrote to me about bean dip in early November 2010. ... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Vanilla Bean Mini-Scones
My good friend Angela and I have known each other for almost fifteen years now. I fatefully walked into her salon on her first day of work there. She was fresh out of beauty school and I was begging for help, because I, as a flat broke college student, had let a really clumsy, nervous man at the mall dye my hair dark brown. Take it from me, never get your hair done at the place next to an Orange Julius. Especially if the place next to an Orange... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Tamale Pie
I can be a real jerk. (Stop nodding your head, Pea Daddy.) The thing is, for better or worse, if you are even moderately good at what you do, you can get away with being a jerk. Case in point, when reader Nour submitted her Wannabe Recipea request for a Shepherd’s Pie makeover, I did the really obnoxious thing of writing her back and saying, “Have you ever had Tamale Pie?” Tamale Pie is not Shepherd’s Pie. But if Kobe was supposed to shoot... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Chocolate Lava Cake
This Wannabe Recipea thing is turning out to have been a wonderful idea. If only it had been mine. You see, were it not for Scott’s request, I might never have made Mmmm Sauce. I know. Don’t even think such dark, horrible thoughts. And then came reader Kendall’s request for Chocolate Lava Cake. You’ve had Lava Cake, with its cakey, almost chewy edges and its hot liquid fudge center? I know. Without her, I might never have made this. ... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Mmmm Sauce
At first glance, you’d think I have nothing in common with our friend, Scott. And that’s just how I like it. He wears Nike and I’m loyal to Adidas. He likes Alternative Rock and I can’t even load songs on my iPhone. He enjoys spending nine innings at the ball park, whereas I finish my bag of kettle corn and I’m out. It’s the perfect friendship. Scott can keep right on taking Pea Daddy to the Nike store, Slash concert and Mariners’ games,... Read More
