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Roasted Smashed Potatoes
Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love potatoes. Mashed, scalloped, baked, fried – I love them all. My guiltiest pleasure of all is a recipe my husband makes occasionally – simple, buttered potatoes – they’re just boiled potatoes smothered in butter and just barely mashed. They are SO indulgent and soooo good. I’d share that recipe with you, but I have a feeling I’d be kicked off the internet by the snark police. (They’d ♥ them too, if they’d just try them.…
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Mickey Mouse Party
My little nephew turned one year old yesterday. He’s just the cutest, cuddliest, happiest kid ever. He’s the result of my {Lemon Drop Cupcakes} from a year ago, the first time we experimented with the secret lemon-juice-theory recipe. Who knows if it worked, or if this little guy was just ready to come into the world, but I can’t imagine my life without my favorite bald-headed monster. My sister hosted a big Mickey Mouse party and we all had a great time. I thought you…
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Mint Chocolate Chip Cake
When I was growing up, our small town had an AMAZING little restaurant called the Old Ice Cream Shoppe. It was in an old house that had been remodeled into a small-ish restaurant, with little wire tables and chairs, cute local decor on the walls and counter where you’d place your order for food or ice cream. It was located just about two blocks from the elementary school, and stayed open late during the summers which made it the perfect spot for a treat after…
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Ham & Cheese Pretzel Bites
I think I have a new favorite party food. Seriously, these are amazing. As usual, my husband was my taste-tester, and his review was, “Um, yeah – I could eat like, 500 of those.” And I have to agree. If I wasn’t saving them to serve at my brother’s graduation party, we might have polished off the whole tray. I just made them again to serve at our family 4th of July bash, and they went VERY quickly. They taste like the best soft-pretzel you’ve ever…
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Hot Chocolate Cake with Homemade Marshmallows
So, my daughter’s 7th birthday is next week. First of all, it’s really just not possible that she’s turning seven years old. Not possible. Second of all, this means that I have a big family party looming on the horizon. That means my house has to be cleaned. It also means I need to plan a menu, figure out decorations and – oh yeah – do all that cooking and baking without undoing all of the cleaning and planning.
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Apple Pie
I’ve mentioned before that I was practically raised on pie. Every holiday (and sometimes just Sunday Dinner) during my childhood involved at least two pies, but more like five or six, of every variety you could possibly dream of. My favorite summertime pie is apple…mmm…warm apple pie with cold vanilla ice cream. Heaven on a plate! My mom makes the best apple pie I’ve ever had, but when I ask her how she makes it she says, “Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that.” …
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Mushroom Marsala
I’ve talked about my obsession with pasta before…I don’t think I’ve ever met a pasta I didn’t like. When I make it at home though, we usually stick to the Mac & Cheese or Spaghetti variety so I thought it was time to branch out. Giada made this Mushroom Marsala with Artichokes on one of her cooking shows last week and for some reason, it called out to me. Strange, because I usually don’t care for mushrooms at all. Nonetheless, I bought all of the…
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German Chocolate Fudge Cake
Oh, this cake. This cake. THIS CAKE. This cake made me say bad words today. See, I like to make my life extra-stressful sometimes. I’ve told you before that my Mom and Dad still have Sunday dinners at their house, and my siblings all get together and eat, play, act like we’re still kids and watch our own kids wreak havoc on my parent’s house once a week. So sometimes, I like to make dessert, especially big obnoxious desserts like this one, to share with…
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Dark Chocolate Shortbread Tart
Is it me, or does this just scream Valentine’s Day? It’s decadent and indulgent, a dark chocolate custard atop a buttery, shortbread crust. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough – how about the heaping mound of sweet whipped cream right on top? I’m pretty sure this is why we have Valentine’s Day. So we can eat things like this. Let’s just have another look, shall we? I’m a big fan of a standard graham cracker crust, and even a good chocolate wafer crust – but…
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Rigatoni with Creamy Marsala Sauce
I know, it’s surprising. Another pasta dish! This is a new one for us, but it sounded good tonight and we had all of the ingredients so we decided to try it out. This pasta is actually called “Rigatoni di Gregorio” but since I changed it a little, I’m not sure that it really qualifies as such anymore. We grilled the chicken instead of pan-frying it, and I added green olives in lieu of parsley, mostly because my girls won’t eat “green stuff” on their…
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Glazed Doughnut Muffins
I first saw this recipe on Pinterest several months ago. They claimed to taste exactly like a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut. I pinned them and forgot about them (isn’t that what usually happens on Pinterest?) but came across them again recently and haven’t been able to stop thinking about them. First of all, let me assure you that they taste absolutely NOTHING like a Krispy Kreme doughnut. They do, however, taste like a cinnamon and nutmeg infused cake doughnut. They are a wonderful morning treat,…
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German Chocolate Cupcakes
My parents are remodeling their kitchen, which to me comes with mixed emotions. It’s nice because after nearly 40 years of living in the same house, they are finally getting their dream kitchen. They added on to make it bigger, got all new cabinets, counter-tops and appliances, knocked down a wall and are updating the flooring. But, it’s kind of sad at the same time. I grew up in that kitchen. I have a lot of fond memories of that blue ceramic tile, the white…
