You ain’t never lied, Whit!  When I read Julie & Julia I was pissed!  I thought…wait a sec.  A frustrated actor who is searching for meaning in her life while working a lame, dead-end job?  What?  Is this a joke?  I’m not going to lie.  It was like the “Bitch Stole My Look” section of Fashion Police with Joan Rivers.  I was real, real jealous.  Julia obviously looked way better in the dress than I did.  But…what do ya do?  You keep lookin’ for a creative outlet.  You buddy up.  You create a blog with a friend and you move on.  So…here I am.

I’ve been a little nervous to start our little cooking/blog extravaganza.  I’ve been sorta kinda eating Kosher.  I don’t know everything.  I might make a mistake.  What if I do it wrong?  What if I upset people.  What if…what if…what if.  I’ve decided to just go with it.  If I’m not perfectly Kosh?  You’ll tell me.  We’ll all learn together.  Awesome, right?  I’ll give myself the tiniest of breaks, and so will you.  Right?  More than anything?  I’ve been trying to prepare more meals at home.  You learn to cook by cooking, not ordering Thai every night.

Deep Breath.

I’ve decided to kick off my first food post in very backwards kind of way.  I love baking.  I heart desserts.  Anybody can make a chicken.  Well, except for me.  Ha!  (maybe that’s the next thing I need to explore?)  How about I start at the end of the meal and give you a tasty dessert?  I’m obsessed with Southern Food.  I love it.  I went to a dinner at a friend’s house last night where Jambalaya was the main event.  I started diggin’ around on the internet trying to figure out a Southern dessert that wasn’t Red Velvet Cake.  I found one.  Now…it’s super dairy…which maybe shouldn’t come right after our chicken jambalaya…but…you win some…you lose some.

LOW COUNTRY COOKIES

Ingredients

Filling:

• 1 (16-ounce) box graham crackers
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup or 3 (1/2-ounce) cans shredded coconut

Topping:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 3 tablespoons milk

Directions

For the filling: Line a 13 by 9-inch pan with whole graham crackers.  Melt the butter in a saucepan and add sugar. Beat the egg and milk together; add to butter mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add the nuts, coconut, and 1 cup graham cracker crumbs. Pour over the crackers in the pan. Cover with another layer of whole graham crackers.

For the topping: Beat all the ingredients together and spread over top layer of crackers.

Chill. Cut into squares.

They’re amazing.  You’ll love them.  The whole thing takes about an hour…and I’m slow.  You can probably make them in about 30 minutes.  Also?  You can use any nut.  The recipe calls for pecans but I used walnuts because I had a bag at home.  Y’all know I ain’t tryin’ to spend all my money on a bag of pecans…they’re expensive.  Also?  Don’t get crazy.  When you’re layering your 9×13 dish?  The crackers don’t have to perfectly fit in the bottom.  Line the dish as best as you can.  They don’t have to be straight and pretty.  When you’re cooling the dessert everything comes together.  So don’t worry.  They don’t have to be pretty because they taste SO GOOD!

Shalom!