• Cranberry Walnut Cream Cheese Muffins

    Even though I have about fifteen billion pumpkin recipes that I’m dying to try out, I thought it best to pace myself and take a break from traditional fall flavors for a few days.   Ok, honestly, I had some cranberries in my freezer that have been calling to me for weeks.  Then, I found this recipe.  Shortly after I found the recipe, they appeared in my kitchen. And while I’m being honest, I actually had really good intentions to deliver some of these to…

  • Share-It Saturday: Week 8

    Another busy week has come and gone, so today we are just going to stay home and do everything we can to not go anywhere.  The house is decorated for fall, my mums are planted and the leaves are starting to turn colors, so I think we’ll just enjoy the weather and the lazy day. That’s not to say that I won’t squeeze some baking in, and probably do my best to guilt my husband into some of those chores that neither of us wants…

  • Cookie Dough Brownies

    Right now, I’m sitting in the lobby of my daughter’s gymnastics studio, waiting for her to finish up.  In my flurry to get her fed, dressed and out the door after school, I didn’t have time to eat dinner myself.  On top of that, I’m writing a blog post about cookie dough brownies.  This is pure torture.   I’m really wishing I would have packed myself a little brownie goodie bag.   I feel like I’ve been making a lot of cakes (and cupcakes) lately,…

  • Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake

    It’s officially fall!  It’s chilly in the mornings and the sun goes down noticeably earlier, I’m wearing socks and sweatshirts and went to a football game on Friday night.  Yes, fall is definitely here.  And I love it. Now that fall is here I have a free pass to break out all of my saved pumpkin recipes without feeling the need to justify myself to everyone.  I can burn my pumpkin-spice scented candles, buy apples and cinnamon in bulk and keep pumpkin-spice lattes on tap.…

  • Share-It Saturday: Week 7

    How is it already Saturday again?  Last week flew by…we had an extra event every single day of the week, so today we’re just going to relax.  Well, by relax I mean catch up on laundry, try to get my house back in order and mow the lawn.  Incidentally, I’ve forgotten how often you have to mow when it’s not 105 degrees and actually raining a couple of times a week. If you haven’t yet, don’t forget to enter to win a KitchenAid Artisan Mixer in the…

  • Smith Island Cake

    Sometimes, I love long, time-consuming recipes that I can work on a little bit at a time over the course of a day or two.  I tend to over-book myself sometimes, so I frequently find myself baking against a deadline – which is fine and definitely keeps me on task – but occasionally, it’s nice to bake at a slow, leisurely pace. This is the perfect cake for a long day of baking.  While I could have done the whole thing in a couple of…

  • Sweet Dinner Rolls & A Giveaway!

    *note:  this giveaway is now closed. Over the last several months, we’ve drastically reduced the amount of bread that we buy at the grocery store.  Now that I’ve become comfortable making yeast breads, there just isn’t a reason to buy it anymore.  Working with yeast used to intimidate me.  I have very vivid memories of my Grandma making rolls for Sunday dinner – not only was her dough the smoothest, most supple* bread dough I’ve ever seen, but the rolls themselves were fantastically amazing.  And…

  • Share-It Saturday: Week 6

    Another fabulous week on the books, and tons of great links were submitted last week!  From the photography to the recipes to the text of the blog posts, you all are inspiring and continually pushing me to do bigger and better things in my own kitchen. Speaking of my kitchen, I have a busy day today – I’ve got several dozen cupcakes to fill and frost.  Right now I’m feeling good and ahead of the game, so cross your fingers that the day continues to…

  • Chocolate & Coconut Cream Cupcakes

    My days as a morning person are numbered.  Every year about this time, when the overnight temperature starts to drop and it’s still dark in the morning when I get out of bed – that’s about the time I that stop jumping up  eager to face the day. My girls are the same way, it seems.  My mornings are slowly shifting from wide-eyed, happy, smiling little girls to grumpy, piddling, sleepy-heads who have to be prodded along every step of the way. By the time we…

  • Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

    It’s official.  Pumpkin season is here.  I’m ready.  I always try to hold off on the fall flavors until after my birthday, which is just a few days away, but I couldn’t help it.  The time has come and now I’m all about autumn. I’ve actually made these muffins a few times before but never blogged them, but I couldn’t hold out on you anymore. These.  Are.  Fabulous. The muffins are the perfect blend of cinnamon and nutmeg, the pumpkin puree keeps them super-moist, and…

  • M&M Cupcakes

    Sometimes, the hardest part of this blog is deciding what to write about.  Lately, my life has become pretty routine – I follow the same schedule and do the same things, week after week.  It’s hard to write about interesting things when you aren’t DOING interesting things.  {Well, blog-worthy interesting things, that is!} I just mentioned that fact to my husband.  He told me that I needed to start doing something interesting, then. I glared at him and told him that I was going to…

  • Rustic Apple Tart

    I hope this post makes sense.  I’m hopped up on decongestant and coffee at the moment, so my brain is working much, much faster than my fingers. I’ve had a cold for the past few days, so I haven’t felt like doing much of anything.  I really don’t get sick very often, but when I do, I’m the biggest baby that ever lived.  When I get colds like this, I don’t want to eat anything; which I realize is not conducive to healing, so I…