Comfort Food

My husband thinks we are the only couple who wake up in the morning and start talking about what's for dinner.  I am going to say it WE LOVE FOOD and we like to cook for our friends.  So last Sunday we woke up and decided we were going to make some good, stick to your ribs comfort food and of course fried chicken was what we wanted.  It has been a long time since I fried chicken and I am pretty sure my grandma made it, there wasn't a recipe in her book, so we improvised (and the internet helps ALOT!).  I made sure that my sister and I did our workout that day so I wouldn't feel guilty about eating a big meal.  The other cast of characters on the menu were loaded mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, fruit salad and biscuits (not homemade, I have not perfected the biscuit yet, we, the biscuit and I have a love/hate relationship, I just can't figure it out) and for dessert, Devil Dog's (this is something from the Pioneer Woman's website, but my grandma has the same recipe's in her book).

So here we go into the land of comfort food....

I decided I needed to get my cake going first, so I whipped up my grandma's chocolate sheet cake, but did not make the icing that usually goes on the cake, because I am going to cut the cake into circles and put frosting on top.  I am going to say it many times in my life, but this is the BEST cake in the whole world, I always requested it for my birthday's growing up.

This is me whipping it up and still in my work out clothes, but dontcha love the apron (what goes thru my mind right now is "I'm sexy and I know it").  Anyways, back to the cake, got it in the oven:

So, now the cake is baking, we get the chicken out and soak it in buttermilk and some Sriracha chili sauce, we wanted to add a little kick to our chicken:

Now, I need to get my fruit salad put together and in the fridge so it will be nice and cold, I used fresh pineapple, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries:









Doesn't that look good!

Next up, the loaded mashed potatoes.  I boiled red potatoes, smashed them with cream cheese and sour cream and added, wait for it.....

Yes, that is BACON and CHEESE, we also added some green onion to the mix, I have to say that the potatoes tasted as good as they look.

My husband, Tom, was in charge of frying the chicken (which he did outside in the back yard, we built an outdoor kitchen a few years ago and it sure is nice when you have to fry things that make the house smell).  I can't really tell you what was in the coating for the chicken (mainly because I don't remember the things we thru in there), there was flour, salt and pepper and a few other spices.

So while Tom is frying chicken, I got busy on my dessert, Devil Dog's.  I saw this on Pioneer Woman's website and thought they looked yummy and pretty simple.  My cake was nice and cool, so I cut out the circles.  I am making the frosting for the cake, you have to beat the frosting for about 10 mintues, I love my KitchenAid mixer.  The frosting is a crazy concoction of flour, milk, butter, granulated sugar and vanilla.  Now, time to put these Dog's together:

I used my little decorating tool and piped on the frosting and topped them with a cherry, don't they look yummy!

Dinner is ready! 

This was a fun meal to put together, Tom and I work pretty good together in the kitchen, I just wish he did dishes...



Yes, people, my husband does the dishes, isn't he dreamy!