A Southern Life

chaotic daisy

I see that I forgot to add my daily lagniappe yesterday and, in fact, didn’t really write a post yesterday. Ever had one of those chaotic days when you just couldn’t get it together? Yesterday was one of those days for me. Hopefully today will be better – I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I am today from my computer that it is sitting on my dining room table while the freshly cleaned carpet in the office area is drying. The office furniture has created quite the little obstacle course as it is sitting in the dining area as well.

Today, I need to start cooking for the Mardi Gras party. I need to make the king cake the pecan praline cheesecake, the cheese olive roulades, the mini crawfish pies and the shrimp balls. I could probably do some of this tomorrow after my morning seminar.

I sound like I’m complaining but I really do love cook and I’m really glad that my carpet is clean and I’m happy to be doing the seminar and I’m really happy to be having the party. I think what I need to do is just take a break, have a cup of coffee and a slice of my delicious banana nut bread and read for about 30 minutes to let my mind kind of settle.

I’m currently reading the Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross. Just the kind of book I need right now. Thank goodness it isn’t one of Daniel Silva’s books in the Gabriel Allon series. I love those books but they are not books that would help settle my mind.

Okay, maybe I can turn chaos into calm.

Today’s Lagniappe: Brennan’s Bananas Foster
Yummy and easy to make.

* ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
* 1 cup brown sugar
* ½ teaspoon cinnamon
* ¼ cup banana liqueur
* 4 bananas, cut in half
lengthwise, then halved
* ¼ cup dark rum
* 4 scoops vanilla ice cream

Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet. Place the pan over low heat either on an alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the banana liqueur, then place the bananas in the pan. When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum. Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum. When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each portion of ice cream. Generously spoon warm sauce over the top of the ice cream and serve immediately.

Oh, it's Monday!

Ah Monday – again. Hope everybody had a restful weekend. As for me, I did cleaning and more party planning. I’ve been looking for recipes for the Mardi Gras party. I got a Mam Papaul’s king cake mix. It includes the praline filling, decorative sugars and even the baby. I’ve heard they are really good. If you can’t get one locally, you can do a Google search and get one online. I also found a praline cheesecake recipe that looks great and I want to make some white trash.

Anyway, back to Monday. I am working on a 3 hour workshop called First Steps to E-Commerce for the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center from Arkansas State University. The workshop will be on Friday the 20th at the Mountain Home ASU campus. That, of course, is the day before the Mardi Gras party. Looks like a couple of busy weeks coming up.

I’m also still working on my book. I saw an interview of  the author of The Man Plan: Drive Men Wild, Not Away recently and thought, “I need to write faster!” I am so tired of books about how to catch a man. These books give men all the power in relationships. Apparently women are supposed to read these books and talk the way they say to talk, dress the way they say to dress, act the way they say to act and they will catch the man of their dreams. Give me a break! How about finding a man that likes the way I act and dress and talk and he tries to impress me instead of always the other way around. Anyway, I’m working on the book. Sorry to get carried away.

Today’s Lagniappe: Southern Pecan Praline Cheesecake

1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps (about 24 cookies)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted and divided
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
15 Caramels, unwrapped
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Stir together gingersnaps and 1/4 cup melted butter; press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and 2 tablespoons flour at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt; beat 3 minutes. Pour batter into prepared crust. Set aside.

Stir together brown sugar, pecans, remaining 1/4 cup flour, and remaining 1/4 cup melted butter until crumbly. Sprinkle around edge of cream cheese mixture.

Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center is firm. Turn off oven. Leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill 8 hours. Drizzle caramel topping on edge of chilled cheesecake, if desired.

To make caramel topping, place caramels and whipping cream in 1-cup microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at High for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring halfway through cooking time, until melted.

Note: Commercial caramel ice-cream topping may be substituted for caramel topping.

Yield: Makes 12 servings