• Hi-Hat Cupcakes

    I don’t know if I even have words for this one.  I think this is hands-down my favorite cupcake I’ve ever made.  It’s beyond amazing.  For me, it’s the perfect combination of moist chocolate cake and fluffy, gooey marshmallow frosting.  They are definitely best served cold, and I’m finding that they are practically irresistible when they come right out of the freezer.  My willpower around desserts is usually very, very high – especially considering the number of deserts that come out of my kitchen.  But these? …

  • Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Bars

    This is my version of a rain dance.  I’m going to make a whole bunch of warm, spicy, fall-flavored treats until Mother Nature gets the hint; pumpkin breads, banana breads, soups, stews, casseroles – you name it.  I’m breaking out my scarves, my afghans, and my fuzzy socks, and I’m planting Mums and decorating with gourds.  If summer wants to hang on for a couple of months, so be it – but at our house, fall is here. I’m pretty sure that won’t work, but…

  • Cinnamon Rolls

    Ahhh…cinnamon rolls.  I’m not sure that there’s anything better than a really good cinnamon roll, but in my opinion a good one is really hard to find, and a good recipe is even harder to find.  My biggest problem with most cinnamon roll recipes is that the bread part of the roll is usually bland, and the only cinnamon flavor you get comes from the filling itself.  This recipe, however, has cinnamon in the dough itself, so the bread is flavorful too.  But, if I’m…

  • Easy Cherry Turnovers

    Ok, you caught me. As you know, I’m usually a pretty big advocate for home cooking with organic and non-processed ingredients.  But sometimes, I make exceptions.  I know, you can buy these in a convenient little box, straight from your grocery store.  You can assemble, bake and eat them in under 30 minutes, but my version is just a little bit better.

  • 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…

  • Fried Pickles with Spicy Ranch

    You know when you get a craving and it just won’t go away? Yep, you guessed it.  I’ve been craving fried pickles for about six months now.  I’m not really sure why.  I don’t really crave fried foods, ever…but something about warm, battered pickles dipped in cool ranch dressing just does it for me, I guess. I’m just exuding classiness, aren’t I?

  • Slow Cooker Apple-Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oatmeal

    If there’s one meal of the day that I’m really bad at, it’s breakfast.  For one, I’m not a morning person at all.  I like to sip on my coffee for at least an hour before I eat breakfast, but on weekday mornings, that’s just not an option.  The first-grader has to eat breakfast just 20 minutes after she rolls out of bed, and she never, ever wants anything easy – she always wants pancakes, waffles, french toast…cereal is always frowned upon, as are toast,…

  • French Vanilla Cupcakes

    How adorable are these?  I made these for a baby shower and just loved the way they came out.  My new jumbo cupcake pan has just opened up a whole new world of cupcakes for me and I have to say I am loving it.  I love the look of the ribbon tied around the base of the cake – and it’s much easier to do on a jumbo cake than a standard cake.  I found a coordinating pink sugar for garnish and think that these…

  • Sugar Cream Pie

    Sugar.  Cream.  Pie. Okay you guys, help me with this.  Who was like, “I’m gonna mix up some sugar and some cream and bake it all up in a pie?”  Who thinks that way? (Ok, maybe I do.  A little bit.) Seriously, this is just what it sounds like.  Sugar and cream in a pie crust.  And it’s fantastic.  Oh, just a custard pie, right?  I know what you’re thinking.  But it’s not. There are no eggs in this pie!  It is literally baked cream.…

  • Sandwich Rolls

    I know I just posted hamburger buns a few weeks ago, but I had to post these too.  These are completely different than the hamburger buns.  They’re slightly sweet and not as dense, and would even make a really good dinner roll.  The overwhelming consensus when I served these was that the rolls were the star of the meal.  My five year old ate one plain, and my two year old kept asking for more.  I made BBQ beef sandwiches, and when I asked my husband if…

  • Neapolitan Cupcakes

      ho’s ready for dessert?  Let me just tell you that I haven’t had dessert (outside of taste-testing Iced Oatmeal Cookies and Chocolate Syrup Bundt Cake) since Christmas.  Like many of you I’m sure, we go on a bit of a detox at the first of the year to get off the holiday stuff-your-face-with-all-of-the-yum train, so our kitchen has been more spinach and less butter. It’s kind of sad, actually. But really, it’s good and it’s nice to get back into the swing of things…

  • Cream Cheese and Pepper Jelly Fillo Shells

    So, how many social events have YOU been to this month?  Weddings, showers, graduations, anniversary parties, end of school year parties – holy cow, it’s a busy time of year!  We’ve hosted a few events at our home lately, and since we’ve been pulled a million different directions, it’s nice to have some quick and easy appetizer options at my fingertips. These little Fillo cups from my friends at Athens are amazing, and have saved me in an entertaining-pinch many, many times.  Fillo (or Phyllo…