I’m going to start out by saying that I have a problem. I have a problem with food. I can’t stop thinking about food, dreaming about food, or pinteresting about food. I’m sure that this is obvious to you, since I have created a blog about food, but in my mind it’s a never ending battle with not turning my obsession with food into a health hazard.
Normally I have a pretty strong handle on self control when it comes to indulging in treats, but on rare occasions I slip up and over-indulge. Unfortunately for me, the season of fall is a landmine consisting of holidays and football games, both of which I consider as rare, special occasions with the Florida versus Georgia game being the grand-daddy of all occasions.
It was on this very special and sacred holiday of Florida/Georgia last weekend that I found myself giving in to my weaknesses by over doing it. I take to heart every redneck with a mullet’s saying of “business up front and party in the back” by making my weekdays the front and my weekends the back. As long as I’m good during the week, I reward myself for good behavior by being bad on the weekends. I won’t go into the gory details of my gluttony but there are 7 very scary things that I cannot say no to and last weekend during Florida/Georgia, I said yes please and can I have another, and another, and another…… to every single one.
Hello, I’m a sinner.
These are Emily’s 7 Deadly Weaknesses: Gluttony
This list can also be viewed as “A Few of Emily’s Favorite Things”, but since its not as awesome as Oprah’s, I had to change the title- I hold pumpkin above all things. I had Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale on Thursday meaning that I couldn’t even get to the weekend to self indulge. I also made pumpkin bars topped with cinnamon and vanilla cream cheese frosting (recipe below) which is probably the best thing since slice bread. We had such little room in the fridge, because all of our beer that I had to get creative with refrigerating it to keep it moist.
- Chickfila Chicken Nuggets. Its not amateur hour when it comes to the Crabtree’s tailgate and a Chickfila platter is always a #1 must have. For some reason my mom thinks getting a large tray (that serves 25 people) is needed for 11 people on the boat (yes, that’s right we roll up on the boat which is point #2 of why the Crabtree’s tailgate is not amateur hour). Top the tray off with barbeque sauce and the heavenly Chickfila sauce and we are one a way to being members of the clean tray club.
- Hot Wing Chick Dip with Fritos. This is my favorite dip and I’m sad to say that I can share with my readers that it is great both hot and cold since I devoured it in the morning when it was still hot and after the game when it was cold. (I’ll post the recipe later on, but since I didn’t make it myself, I don’t think it would be fair to post it. Thankfully I tend to use even the smallest of parties as a reason to make this dip for)
- Yobe Frozen Yogurt with all the fixings. I like to wipe away any nutritional value the frozen yogurt offers by getting it chocolate flavored and adding cookie dough, crushed oreos, sprinkles, and graham cracker. I think I got everything, but who knows, because put me at a buffet and things go missing quickly.
- Chocolate Chip Cookies made from scratch. If you haven’t started to see a theme of my 7 Deadly Weaknesses then you aren’t observant, because sweets ARE my ultimate weakness. I love the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, but there is a trick that makes the cookies even better. ADD MORE SALT. The only thing better than sweets are a mix of sweet and salty.
- Beer, beer, and more beer. Being out of college and farway from the fraternity trash cans filled with Natty Lights, I have learned to love more high quality (and expensive I might add) beers. While buying it myself instead of fishing it out of the trash can of ice is a bummer, I think that a quality beer is worth the price. As for gluttony, while there may be more calories in nice beers, at least they then to high higher alcohol levels.
- M & M’s. My favorite candy, ever. Milk Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Pretzel, Dark Chocolate, Peanuts, Almonds, Crispies (discontinued but they still melt my heart and not in my hands). While I prefer baked goods any day, M&M’s have always been my favorite candy. So when a huge Tupperwar container magically appears on our boat filled to the brim with chocolaty goodness I grab handfuls at a time.
Now that I’ve made myself hungry, here is the Pumpkin Bar and Cinnamon and Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting recipes:
Pumpkin Bars
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 15-ounce can pumpkin
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add the flour ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars. Top with cinnamon and vanilla cream cheese frosting.
Cinnamon and Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- 4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
- 16 ounces, weight powdered sugar
Directions
- Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla, almond extract, and cinnamon until fully combined. Gradually mix in powdered sugar until completely smooth.
Notes and Variations
- For cupcakes put slit in middle of cupcake and pipe icing in slit for filling and then top cupcakes with remaining cupcakes.
Simply Southern Kitchen 