Grandma's Iced Georgia Squares

What are we making today, Ms. Paula

We are gonna start out with just a simple dessert. If you would get over here and sift together a cup of all-purpose flour

Yes, ma'am. A half a teaspoon of baking soda. One teaspoon of..

Cream starter. Okay, you got it. Sure. Okay, level that thing out pretty, baby

Here we go. There we go. I got it. You got this fancy measuring spoon, don't you

All right, here we go. All right, now in my bowl, I'm gonna beat together a half a cup of butter. Mm-hmm

And a quarter of a cup of sugar. And I'm just going to beat this up, David, while you're sifting that

I got it on. Now, David, how many years have you been with QVC

I've been with QVC almost 20 years now. Shut up. Yes. And you're just 22

You know what? I was a child prodigy. I was indeed. How did you get there

I was reading the newspaper. And they did a big feature article on QVC that day about how quickly they were growing

So I sent them a tape, and they invited me to do an audition. And then about two weeks later, I came for interviews

and then they offered me a contract and 20 years later, here we are cooking. No. How about it

Now, did you have to do a cold sale for them? I had to do something much like the ice you just handed me

Uh-oh. What was it? Well, no, it was a little Christmas figurine. And when I was there, they also gave me a piece of jewelry

And I was completely intimidated. I didn't know anything about jewelry. What am I going to do about this? And at one point, I looked in the camera and said

nothing says I love you like a gift of 14-karat gold. I was like who said that Who said that Where did that come from And you know what And it just came so naturally to me You are a genius You want to add that to this please Yes ma

Just slowly. Any way you do it. All right. Now, David, how is your cookbook doing

The cookbook has been extraordinary. And you wrote the forward for my book. I wrote the forward for your cookbook

and it was such a great pleasure for me to do that

All right, let's see, David. Now, we're going to cook it for about 10 to 15 minutes, y'all

Okay, sugar. 350 degrees. So you'll just spray that. Yes, ma'am. And then we're just going to take this and put that in there and pat it out

Yes, ma'am. And I'll kind of bring everybody up to speed. Yes, ma'am

All right, so I used a fourth of a cup of sugar with one stick of butter and one egg

I beat that, and then I added David's mixture of one cup of all-purpose flour

half a teaspoon of baking soda, and one teaspoon of prima tarda and a pinch of salt

Dip your fingers, David, in the flour. Yes, ma'am. Yes, so it won't stick to you

So, Paula, you remember the day that we met back in 19, I guess it was 98 or 99

Yeah. And I remember walking into the studio that night and getting my paperwork for the show

And I saw Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen. And I remember saying out loud, who's Paula Deen

And they were like. I was saying the same thing. And I said, who's Paula Deen

And they said, she's back in the prep kitchen making her food. And, oh, hello. You lick your fingers and I finish Yep So I walked in there and I didn see anybody I knew So I just said is there a Paula Deen here You popped up from behind a table covered in flour from your head to your elbows

And you walked up and said, are you David? And I said, yes, ma'am, I am

And she said, do you understand southern food? I said, I'm from North Carolina

I know grits and biscuits. She hugged me. We were both covered in flour and we went on the air that night

You remain in my heart as like a piece of history. All right, let's get that in the oven, y'all

350 degrees for about 10 or 15 minutes. Okay. And David, you know, the thing that I have been trying to do, y'all, is all about moderation

What are we going to make now? We are going to make the icing for granny squares, the Georgia granny squares. Okay

So I need for you to give me about a cup of maybe a heaping cup

Heaping cup of powdered sugar? Of powdered sugar. All right. I'm going to sift it a little bit

Right. And we're going to add a little bit of almond extract. And a little bit of this goes a long way

Yeah, a little bit goes a long way. Because it's powerful. Yes. It's like you

It's very powerful. Well, it's robust. And a little vanilla and a couple of drops of milk

Okay. That's a plenty. That looks like a couple of drops? Yes

All right. All right, now, if you'll take that spatula and just kind of run around that bowl for me

Yes, ma'am. Do some scraping for you. See if you can catch that little bit of sugar. Come on, get it

I never like to miss the sugar No I gonna sling that off because we gonna have a drap of that And I do another scrape for you Yes There we go And then you just plop it on top of our squares

Okay. And we're ready to go. All right. There you go. It's just a thin layer of icing

I got another little drop here. Oh, thank you. Another little dollop. Waste not, won't not

But you know what? I like that it's a little smoother, a little thinner because it spreads more evenly

Right. Look at that. And you know what? That looks too good to pass up. I'm going to put it on a little taste

Is it good? I'm sorry. Did you say something? No, I didn't

I'm over here busy licking the knife. The almond is so nice

It just gives you a little bit extra. See, I just love, love, love almond extract

Now, I'm going to cut us just some small squares. Okay. Look at that

Perfect. Just a little bite of something sweet for the sweet. Nothing I like more than a little sweet. Mm-mm

Mm, dig in. Okay, here we go. Tell me how you like it

It looks just like a little cake, doesn't it? Mm. Good, isn't it

Just a nice little bite of something sweet at the end of a meal. Mm-hmm

Mm-hmm. Wait, you dropped, though. Oh, did I? Mm-hmm. Oh. I had no sugar

No. Got you. Thank you. I'm good