After my harrowing, heart attack filled Friday where my cat tried her mightiest to get me to take a flying leap, I settled in for the weekend. About 10:00pm, I sat down to watch Ghost Whisper on the DVR when my phone rang at 10:30pm. The only people that call me that late are my kids and usually then, only if something is wrong. Well, much to my surprise, it was my blog friend Mo and her cohorts in crime, Jen, Bobbie, and Deb. They were calling from Seattle where they were having a much needed girl’s night out and they wanted to include me and Momma. Wheeee!

I actually met Mo and Deb in Vegas a year ago last April. THAT was a story in and of itself. Here we all are having an absolute blast.

Anyway, they then called up Momma, who I haven’t technically met yet, but I feel as though we were born of the same family. Sisters, I’d like to say. . . if I wasn’t old enough to be her danged mother. Aside from that, she’s become a part of my family. I’ve adopted her so to speak. We had a three-way phone conversation going with the six of us all yacking at once and let me tell you. . . it was a blast! It was like we were all in the same room talking. . . and talking all at once. Kinda like the ladies on The View.

There was talk about pasties, Mike Rowe thongs, vajayjays, and even a few lessons from us Southerners on how to politely insult someone with so much charm that they don’t know what hits ‘em. You know like when there’s someone who has ungodly breath? How do you tell them? DO you tell them? That was the question. Momma and I said, “Well, HELL yeah you tell ‘em!” Cuz if you add “Bless you heart” to it, it never seems like it’s all that bad. Now if you’ve got a Southern twang, it sounds even more charming and less offensive . . . “Honey, bless yo’er heart. Here, take this breath mint. I’ve got more if you need ‘em.” See. Problem solved. It works too for people that have spinach in their teeth or lipstick on their teeth. “Darlin’, you’ve got a little somethin’ on your teeth. Bless your heart!” Now that doesn’t sound offensive, does it? Bless your heart! **said with the sweetest Southern drawl, of course**

We yacked our jaws for over two hours. It was 1:00am my time, midnight by Momma’s time and 10:00pm Seattle time and we all needed to go. I tell you though . . . we could’ve talked all night. And to think I met all these women on a blog. It blows my mind sometimes when I think about it. . . that one could foster such great friendships online.

I was trying to explain this to my mother the other day because it was something that I, too, had been thinking about, questioning myself about how I can feel such a close friendship to someone I’ve never met. With all my pondering I do about life, religion, politics, relationships, friendships, etc., I came to the conclusion that out in blogland, I’ve found that we are all really more alike than we are different. Despite our different religious preferences, political views, personal insecurities, race, gender and even relationship status, we really are more alike than we are different. And here in blogland, it’s so easy to find your own “community” where there are people linked to one another that have common interests.

Besides my boss, DeWitte, who got me started, Mo was my very first blog friend (her site is private right now, but that may change soon). I happened upon her one afternoon and laughed outloud at her story. It was like reading an Erma Bombeck book and I told her so, only to find out that Erma is her favorite author. Hence, my plummet into blogland ensued. I tend toward funny, real, blunt, honest and FOOD. Yes, food. I LOVE food.

Speaking of food. . . as much as I started this site to share my classic, Southern, eat on a budget recipes, I found that I’m too busy trying other site’s recipes cuz they look so darned good. I made these this weekend. They’re from Picky Palate. She makes some of the prettiest food. This one grabbed my attention because I love raspberries and who doesn’t like white chocolate? Mix these together and I just thought it sounded like a to-die-for combination. I was right! Check it out. This is what you need.

Raspberry White Chocolate Blondies

1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 Tbl sour cream
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)
2 Tbl sanding sugar (I used regular sugar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter, then stir in 3/4 cup white chocolate chips. Stir until melted and smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, add the sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup white chocolate chips. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and sour cream. Pour into the dry ingredients along with the melted white chocolate chip mixture. Mix until just combined.
Pour into an 8 x 8 baking dish lined with foil that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Top evenly with 1 cup raspberries. Mix the chopped nuts and sanding sugar in a small bowl until combined, then sprinkle over the top of the blondies.
Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes clean from the center.

These things are awesome! I was sticking the toothpick in to check to see if they were done and the first time I checked, they weren’t. I licked the toothpick and MOANED. They’re yummmmmy!