Ever since I read (listened to) the Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love, I have been dying to try Pig Candy. Well, luckily, I got to try it out first hand at the SPQ Million Queen March Weekend......it was everything I had dreamed it would be. While reading (and listening to, just because it's soooo much more entertaining hearing it all in HRH Queen Boss Jill's own voice) the Sweet Potato Queens Big Ass Cookbook and Financial Planner, I came up with the clever idea of doing a blog just like Julie Powell did with the Julia Childs recipes. So here we go.....follow my progress as I attempt to whip up each of the tried, true and tested recipes loved by the SPQ.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

3 Down, Many More To Go!

Let me just start out by saying - I rarely cook for myself, but I love to entertain and cook for others! However, my small apartment (that has gotten smaller since it became an office/apartment) does not lend itself well to entertaining. Therefore I rely on my friends with houses or larger apartments to invite me to BYOF events, in which I usually always bring my tried and tested Deviled Eggs....I mean, who doesn't love a good Deviled Egg? But ever since I read (listened to) the Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love, I have been excitedly motivated to try out some new recipes. Of course the only next logical step was to read (and listen to) the Sweet Potato Queens Big Ass Cookbook and Financial Planner.....even more recipes that have me just dying for invitations to gatherings where food is brought instead of served.
Friday morning, 8am - Usually, the only reason I would find myself in the kitchen at this hour would be to make myself a cup of tea. However, this morning was different - I was having a couple of friends over this evening for a Girl's Night and I was geared up and armed with the ingredients to make 3 recipes from the SPQ Big Ass Cookbook and Financial Planner:
Pig Candy
Atlanta Allelujah
New Allison's Mambo Margaritas
I started with the Atlanta Allelujah - an easy chocolate/peanut butter dessert, I figured I couldn't go wrong with a chocolate/peanut butter anything! I mix up the first 3 ingredients which is to then be spread in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.....it had the consistency of dough, but I spread it anyways and wondered if I was suppose to have mixed up the cake mix (a box of chocolate cake mix was one of the ingredients) before adding the other 2 ingredients....but surely it would have said that....right? As I'm mixing up the next 6 ingredients I realize I'm out of Vanilla - "WTF!...how can I be out of Vanilla? Shit, now what do I do?" It's 8:30am and my only neighbors are not home; should I get dressed and run to the store?.....Hell no! A compromise is in order......1 teaspoon of Almond goes into the mix!
Next up is the infamous Pig Candy - a pound of thick bacon cooked with dark brown sugar and pecan pieces - Mmmmm! Of course, because I have a tiny kitchen I also have a tiny stove which means my broiler pan is also tiny. I had to go 3 rounds to get all the Pig Candy cooked, by the time round 3 was over my kitchen was filled with smoke and my eyes were on fire! Thank God it was a beautiful day out, I opened up some windows and plugged in a fan to suck out the fog. My tiny broiler pan, that had never been used, is definitely broken in now.
Every good Girl's Night needs a good drink d'jour, tonight's will be New Allison's Mambo Margaritas - a can of frozen limeade, a bottle of Corona, tequila and 7-Up. Now it was mentioned in the cookbook not to use anything but 7-Up, but wouldn't you know.......there was no 7-Up! It must be a Northern thing. I had to settle for Sprite or run from store to store to store looking for 7-Up which I just didn't have the time or energy to do. (Jill, if you are reading this I know you are probably cringing right now - my sincere apologies).
Enormous tiny kitchen mess cleaned up and hours later, we gather together to consume the outcome of my morning's work. The Atlanta Allelujah is a chocolate/peanut butter brownie type wonder with a luscious, creamy topping. I don't know why I had it in my head this was going to be a cake, no wonder the bottom layer was dough like....it all makes sense now. And, the Almond substitution, as far as I could tell, did not ruin the taste of this modern day marvel. The Pig Candy didn't turn out quite like the batch I had at the SPQ Weekend - not sure what I did wrong but thinking maybe it needed to cook longer. Regardless, it was still delicious and I don't think there is any way to really screw up bacon! New Allison's Mambo Margaritas are now my favorite margaritas and I promise next time I will search high and lo to find 7-Up, although I can't imagine these margaritas could taste any better!
Lucky for me this is a holiday weekend and I have been invited to an Easter dinner on Sunday. According to several Facebook posts I've read, it seems Miss Lexie's Pineapple Casserole is THE dish to make for this occasion.........stay tuned!

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