I'd like to pause for a second...

I'd like to take a minute and say how much I'd like to come back in another life as a cat...cats like mine.
The ones who are stretched out on my bed all morning sleeping in the sun.
The ones who just give me the cute face and get some yummy treat handed to them.
The ones who bat at my feet at 3 am as I'm trying to climb blindly back into bed.
Yes I'd like to be my cats in my next life.

Craving....

I'm like everyone else, and always looking for the best of the best. I LOVE potato salad! LOVE IT! So when I found this recipe in a cookbook called Cheap. Fast. Easy. I fell even harder for potato salad. If your like me, and don't really love the gritty, bland potato salad in the little tubs at the store, and you like lots of flavor..try this one. I love all the flavors and textures. Its absolutely amazing! Now the picture I'm posting doesn't do it justice. One- because it was my husband's first attempt at cooking potato salad and he cut the potatoes too small and they got cooked to death Two- because we used russet potatoes instead of the better red skinned (but it still went in our mouths just as quick) Three- your supposed to mix the egg in..I didn't want to wait for the hubby to peel 6 eggs before I got it one our plates lol. But its is to die for!

Publish Post

MM sandwiches (see other post) and potato salad

 Mrs. McDaniel's Southern Potato Salad

6 medium red skinned potatoes

1 medium-sized onion

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 1/2 t. cider vinegar

1 t. prepared mustard

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon of celery seed or celery seed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

1/4 cup sweet pickle relish, drained

1 hard boiled egg

2 large ribs of celery (about 1 cup diced)

Bring 2 quarts of lightly salted water to a boil in a covered 6 quart pot over high heat.

While the water is heating, scrub the potatoes and cut them up into 1/2" pieces.

When the water comes to a boil, add the potatoes, cover the pot, and bring the water back to a boil.

Then uncover the pot, reduce the heat to medium high, and cook at a moderate boil until the potatoes are tender, about 13-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the onion and grate it on the smallest hole of a box grater (I'm also chopped it small and added it) into a large bowl, until you have 1-2 Tablespoons of grated onion and juice.

Add the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, celery seed/salt, black pepper, and pickle relish. 

Whisk until well combined.

When the potatoes are tender, drain them well into a colander and let them cool until they are just warm,not hot. Add them to the bowl and stir till they are coated with the mayonnaise mixture.

Peel and finely chop the egg and add it to the bowl. Dice the celery and add it to the bowl. 

Stir to mix well. Refrigerate covered until ready to serve.

*I use celery seed and love it!! Its not hard to find, its just in the regular spice isle at your grocery store.

Then I also use more than one egg...I love eggs in my potato salad so I do like 4-6. And you'll really only need about 1/2 an onion and you won't even have to grate all of it.

Trying new things...

Months before Christmas came, I was working hard on learning how to cook new and exciting dishes. I was scouring cookbooks everywhere I went, but I kept coming to recipes that required 9" springform pans and non-glass loaf pans, and food processors. I've come to realize that cooking is much like my hobby of scrapbooking. There is a gadget for everything, then your go to items that you have to have (a good set of pots, spoons, a grater, knives, etc.), and then there are speciality items...to me it a zester, or a food processor. But even though they are speciality, they still come up in a lot of recipes, and would prove VERY useful. So my Christmas list ended up being alot of baking and cooking items. Loafs pans, cookbooks, springform pans, etc. Lucky for me my family was listening! Or they were looking forward to some good meals...thanks Nick lol! Either way I ended up with until now elusive 9" springform pan. But what to do? I'd never made a cheesecake, and there are a million recipes out there.

After scouring the internet, and many cookbooks, I decided on a hybrid of two cheesecakes. (Now I'm getting tricky since before I'd never do this for fear of gross failure..now I just accept that disaster may follow me into whatever I do, but I can't not do it because of fear) So here is my recipe for Caramel Brownie Cheesecake. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!

CARAMEL BROWNIE CHEESECAKE

1- 13X9 BROWNIE MIX, MIXED TO DIRECTIONS ON BOX

1-14 OZ PACKAGE OF CARAMELS (KRAFT IS BEST)

1- 5OZ CAN OF EVAPORATED MILK

2- 8OZ PACKAGES OF CREAM CHEESE, SOFTENED

1/2 CUP OF SUGAR

1 TEASPOON OF VANILLA

2 EGGS

1/2 C. FINELY CHOPPED PECANS (OPTIONAL)

1 CUP OF FUDGE TOPPING

Baked Brownie Layer

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350*. 

GREASE BOTTOM OF 9" SPRINGFORM PAN.

IN A SMALL BOWL, MIX TOGETHER BROWNIE MIX ACCORDING TO BOX DIRECTIONS.

SPREAD INTO PAN AND BAKE FOR 20-25 MINUTES (IT CAN BE A LITTLE UNDONE IN THE MIDDLE SINCE IT WILL COOK MORE)

CHILL/COOL THIS LAYER BEFORE PUTTING CARAMEL ON TOP.

MELT CARAMELS AND EVAPORATED MILK OVER LOW HEAT IN A HEAVY SAUCEPAN.

Melting Caramels

STIR OFTEN, AND HEAT UNTIL MIXTURE IS SMOOTH.

POUR 1/3 OF A CUP OF THE CARAMEL MIXTURE IN A DISH TO SAVE FOR LATER.

POUR MIXTURE OVER COOLED BROWNIE LAYER. 

SPRINKLE WITH PECANS IF DESIRED.

CHILL (ABOUT 30 MINUTES) BEFORE ADDING CHEESECAKE LAYER.

IN A LARGE BOWL, BEAT THE CREAM CHEESE, SUGAR, AND VANILLA UNTIL SMOOTH.

Cheesecake Layer Ready to Bake

ADD EGGS, ONE AT A TIME, BEATING WELL AFTER EACH ADDITION.

POUR CREAM CHEESE OVER CARAMEL LAYER. 

BAKE FOR 40 MINUTES.

CHILL IN PAN.

WHEN THOROUGHLY CHILLED, RUN A KNIFE AROUND THE EDGE, AND REMOVE RIM.

HEAT RESERVED CARAMEL AND FUDGE TOPPING AND DRIZZLE OVER PIECE.

ENJOY!!

Completed Cheesecake

*Mine did come out a bit doughy in the middle of
the brownie layer, but I increase the baking time on
my recipe written here so that shouldn't be an issue.