Southern Style Night...

We had a 'Southern Style Night' last night with our BFF's 'G' and 'J' a/k/a the 'Ole Pirate and his First Mate! We always have a great time when we hook up with these two. We've known them for almost 9 years now, and we consider them family.

I'm gonna share a bit of our evening, The Good, The Not So Good, and the FLAT OUT UGLY! Yes, as good as our evening was, there was a FLAT OUT UGLY moment!!...Sad day.

First I'll share The Good

Besides the awesomeness of these two peeps, they put out a spread of appetizers to die for. I'm talking boiled shrimp, seasoned to perfection, rolled pickles..('J' knows I LOVE her rolled pickles), fresh veggies and dip, and chips and dip, and crackers and marinated mozzarella cheese (another known favorite) and all the fixin's for our favorite cocktails! I told you these two are awesome. And then, there was the dinner. We had a true southern style dinner. Homemade chicken and dumplings (the dumplings were made by 'J' using a recipe from the 'Ole Pirate's Momma) and boy was it ever good! There was also fresh collard greens with salt pork for seasoning (can you say HEAVEN) and deviled eggs and she even made green beans just for the 'Hubby', cuz everyone knows the only green veggie the 'Hubby' likes is green beans! I dunno how on earth I ate dinner after all those yummy appetizers, but I did, and I was stuffed beyond belief. Can you say YUMMM--EEE!!! This was followed up with a very intense and constantly lead changing game of UNO in which 'J' was finally declared the winner. (I'm demanding a rematch soon! I almost had her a few times!)

The Not so Good...

We were gonna help them kick off the summer season in style by enjoying an evening with 'G' and 'J' on their newly spruced up patio. This was the initial intent of getting together...

However...'Mother Nature' made her presence known in the form of one big long steady rain...for HOURS!!!...which totally blew that idea out the window....Shame, shame....

See...it kinda looked like this on radar...

Really though, it didn't take away from the evening and it was just an excuse for us to get together...which actually works out in OUR favor. Since we still didn't get the chance to use the patio, we'll need to go back soon in order to help initiate it for the summer!! (hint,hint--- )

Now we come to the FLAT OUT UGLY part of the evening.

The dessert.

Made by me.

From scratch.

For the very first time.

What was I thinking???? Every one knows you never make something 'new' to take somewhere...you are always supposed to make something that you KNOW is awesome, right??? What on earth was I thinking???? Grrrrrrrrr...

I consider myself a pretty okay cook/baker. I don't usually have too many 'fail' moments in the kitchen, sometimes, but not often. This one however, this one was one big FLAT..OUT..UGLY failure!! Well, I take that back, it was a failure to all of us but the 'Ole Pirate. (I personally think he must have had one too many cocktails or somethin'...)

I had decided to look for something to make special, ya know, for our special friends, something that I thought they would really enjoy. I know they both love them some chocolate and in keeping with the 'southern style' dinner, I found a recipe for Mississippi Mud Brownies over at Our Best Bites who's blog I follow regularly. I've made several of their recipes and have loved every one of them. I'm blaming the total catastrophic failure of this one completely on me. I dunno what I did wrong, but something just Did. Not. Work. Out.

I actually took pictures during the whole process, cuz I was gonna blog about this awesome dessert I made to share with our BFF's after this 'southern style' dinner we were havin'. I'll go ahead and share a few of the before and after shots with ya...but let it suffice to say that it did NOT taste anything like I thought it would... I was goin' for....ya know... gooey, chewy, fudgey, moist yummy brownie. Instead, it was just a big, dry, chewy-due-to-the-marshmallow-turning-into-a-glue-like-substance, sugary, frosted something...I refuse to call it a brownie...cuz if you tasted it, you would not even think the word..brownie. It sure was a good thing that we were overly stuffed from all those yummy appetizers and dinner enough to not really miss dessert anyway. I left it all with 'G' by the way, since he was the only one who claimed to love it! I told him if I was bringing any of it home, it was going straight into the trash...

Here's what I did...

I gathered all my ingredients like a good girl...

I mixed all the yummies according to the directions...

I even used a glass baking dish, just like Kate did. And I popped it in the oven and watched it bake, just like Kate said to. Didn't want to 'overbake' it...

I toasted those marshmallows perfectly, according to the directions...

and frosted it with creamy frosting...which did NOT have that chocolaty, fudgey taste I was soooo looking forward too...

and it LOOKED good 'nuff....

Let's just say I ain't makin' that one again anytime soon.......If only it tasted 1/2 as good as it looked...>insert 'pout' here<

I definitely learned my lesson...very-well-thank-you-very-much!. I will NEVER make anything new for the first time to take somewhere else, never, ever again!!! There will always be a test run for just the 'Hubby'. He is afterall, my bestest taste tester...cuz he's totally honest on his like or dislike of anything I make. (note: he almost always likes ...just sayin'...)

And to 'G' and 'J', thanks for an awesome evening!!! I'm truly, truly sowry 'bout the awful dessert. I'll make it up to you guys, I promise!!! Till next time...