Sounds weird, right? I’ve always strived for my cakes to moist and tasty, even light at times, but never CHEWY. However, leave it to Paula Deen to demonstrate Chewy Cake on her show this past weekend, and wham, I’m hooked. I wrote it down and bought the ingredients THAT DAY. But then the sun came out for a brief couple of hours and I ran outside.

So yesterday, I had a dentist appointment. (Just a cleaning. No cavities, thank you very much.) My plan was to go to the appointment, then go home (I was waiting for a package that needed signing for – again – damned XBox) and I was going to work from there for the rest of the day. But as I was sitting in the dentist chair looking out the window at a beautiful sunny (and HOT) afternoon, I was thinking, “Hmmm. Maybe I should just go to the pool after the UPS man comes, then work from home tonight.” It sounded like a great idea to me! Apparently, Mother Nature didn’t think so.

It was beautiful (and HOT, did I mention that?) when I left the dentist’s office. It was beautiful all the way home. I got home, logged into the office and worked for about an hour before the UPS man came, and as soon as he drove away. . . . not five minutes later. . . some seriously dark, lightening-filled clouds rolled in and said, “NO! You will NOT go to the pool! Get to work girlfriend!” **whimper**

It was a crazy storm!! There have been crazy storms all over the U.S. lately. I guess storm season is among us. Anyway, this storm went on for hours. It was just stalled right above us. So I finished out my workday, watched my soap, The Young and the Restless (Damn, hottie Nick went back to that slutbag, Sharon and left fiesty Phyllis), and I started baking.

I have no reason to bake other than the fact that I can’t sit still (unless I’m lounging in the sun) and I have this compulsive urge to find tasty recipes for the Hell of it. So I went back to last Sunday’s game plan before it got so rudely interrupted with sunshine – Paula Deen’s Chewy Cake. Here’s what you need:

CHEWY CAKE

1 stick butter (there’s a surprise!)
1 box brown sugar (yes, the whole box!)
2 cups self-rising flour
3 eggs
2 Tablespoons vanilla
1 cup coconut (optional)
2 cups chopped pecans (optional, or you can substitute walnuts)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional, but why would you leave them out?)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream sugar and butter really well. Sift in flour; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Then add vanilla, mix well. Stir in coconut, pecans, chocolate chips. Mixture will be stiff.

Spoon into greased 9″ x 13″ pan and bake for 30 – 35 minutes.

This is what you get!

They are EASY! (And I DO love me some easy) They ARE chewy! They ARE tasty! And they ARE different. But I like different. I’M different. It’s how I roll. And trust me, I WILL be rolling if I eat this whole pan. So I took them to the office.