Throughout the years, I have had people ask me, “How did you end up deciding to make your own cookbook?” I thought it would be nice to touch on this a bit.

How did “Andrea’s Country Home Cookin’” even start?

Let me take you back to 2008/2009 when Facebook really started getting big. I was finding people I hadn’t seen since we graduated high school in 2005. I was finding friends and family states away. My Facebook grew, and I loved sharing. Probably way too much back then.

When I sometimes go back through my Facebook memories from years and years prior, I read what I wrote and think, “What in the world was I thinking!?” Who cares when you vacuumed or that you shopped at Target that day? I always shared how busy I was, just about every day. Do you want my honesty on this? I was so overweight. I felt that if people knew how clean my house was and how busy I kept, they would know I wasn’t fat from sitting or being lazy. But I also posted food. What meals would I cook for dinner? (Food for thought, this is why I got so heavy. Not because I was lazy!) This was better than being lazy in my book, because no matter how big I got, I was super active. I just ate too much! But that’s a story for another time, haha. My eating habits were DISGUSTING!

As I posted meals, people loved them and asked for recipes. Someone then suggested I should create my own cooking page on Facebook where they could find and save my recipes. That’s how Andrea’s Country Home Cookin’ came to be and was built from there. Year after year, it kept growing, until one day a recipe of mine went viral! It had millions of views and thousands and thousands of shares. Cinnamon Roll Swirl Cake. I remember it like it was yesterday. Each day, my page continued to grow. It went from 30k to 50k to 100k, and I had over 200k fans in a few weeks. It was unbelievable! It was at this time that I thought making a cookbook would be a great idea with what I had. I now had a huge following of people who loved my recipes!

Little did I know how involved shipping these cookbooks would be and how excited the fans following me would be. I sold thousands of cookbooks, literally shipped all over the world. Guys, a lot of people spent more money on shipping the cookbook to them than the price of the cookbook! It was unreal. I felt like I was in a dream. The years continued, and my page grew by a few thousand more. I then got a phone call from Jim Webb, asking me to be part of the Webb Weekly family and write my very own food column. My Facebook page was giving me such awesome opportunities. I remember the day Jim called me. I felt like I won the lottery, and it’s been a blessing ever since. I even got to record my own little cooking show with On The Pulse for close to two years. They came to my house and filmed me cooking recipes in my kitchen. I felt like the Pioneer Woman! It was incredible! They knew I had a big following on Facebook, and UPMC agreed to sponsor my videos. I was getting paid to do what I love! (Does anyone happen to know someone who works at the Food Network!? Haha! I’d owe you forever!!!)

Everything was great until one day something happened that made my belly knot up. How was this happening? Why now? Sadly, you’ll have to wait until next week to hear how this story ends. To be continued, folks!

Cinnamon Roll Swirl Cake
(Recipe in my first cookbook on page 56!)

Ingredients:
Batter:
• 3 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
Topping:
• 1 cup butter (soft to the point where it’s almost melted)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the batter except the butter. Once mixed, slowly pour in the butter. Stir in the batter. Pour into a greased 9-by-13 pan.

For the topping, mix all the ingredients until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.
Glaze:
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 5 Tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix the glaze ingredients well, then drizzle it over the cake while it’s still warm.