Oh, Paula, Paula, Paula. What happened? One day we're fat and happy making ooey-gooey monkey bread, the next we're being secretly photographed eating a burger on a cruise ship. Our gluttony has caught up with us.
But Paula and I go way back. Ours is a tried and true relationship, whipped together one cuppa sugar at a time. So before she switches over to whatever low-sugar, taste-like-cardboard treats, let's reflect on what we've shared.
Here are my top five recipes, for butter or worse.
5. Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes (photo above) Highlights: This fall favorite calls for a box of cake mix (less work), two sticks of butter and a package of cream cheese. If you thought you liked pumpkin pie, make this once and you'll have a new Thanksgiving Day staple.
4. Gorilla Bread Highlights: This recipe calls for one can of refrigerated biscuits (less work, again), and while there's only half of a stick of butter, I'm sure you could go ahead and throw the whole thing in. It also calls for a cup of packed brown sugar and a package of cream cheese. Once my friend and I ate this on the way to run in Palo Duro Canyon. That's the awesome thing about running -- you think you can eat whatever you want. I guess we all have that problem sometimes though.
3. Lemon Blossoms Highlights: These lemon-kissed pillows are made with a box of pudding and cake mix, then dunked in a citrus powdered-sugar glaze that accumulates in little pools on the top.They are a great springtime treat, but if spring isn't available, another season is.
2. Bill Nicholson's Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Butter Rum Sauce Highlights: I've never actually had this, but one day I'll get the gumption. On the foodnetwork.com, this recipe gets a solid five stars from 365 reviews. With two-dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts and butter rum sauce... honestly, how could it not?
1. Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding Highlights: Vanilla pudding mixed with cream cheese and sweet condensed milk, sandwiched between two layers of Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies. Six bananas and no butter make this, hands down, the most nutritious Paula Deen dessert. Ever.
