• Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

    There’s a thing in this world…it’s called too much peanut butter. This is not that. This is the perfect amount of peanut butter.  Which, I suppose is hard to measure because some people don’t like peanut butter.  Who are these people?  I’ve heard of them, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever met one of them.  Actually, now that I think about it, I’m not even sure that there’s a thing called too much peanut butter.  That’s probably not possible. This is what happens when…

  • Black & White Monster Cookies

    So, tonight we all got home really late because our lives are insane right now.  I was all set to pull the “rotisserie chicken and vegetables” thing for dinner when my pitifully hayfevered-up seven year old begged me for mashed potatoes and gravy to eat with her chicken.  She sounds so itchy and miserable that I couldn’t possibly say no to her, so there I was at 730pm whipping up a batch of mashed potatoes, all in the name of motherhood guilt or something. Yes,…

  • Lemon Pound Cake & A Giveaway

    On most Saturday mornings, I take my oldest to dance class.  During her class, my youngest daughter and I venture off to a nearby shopping center and take care of our weekly household shopping.  We wander around, looking at toys, books, kitchen goodies and then pick up a few necessities before heading back to the dance studio.  In this particular shopping center, there happens to be a Starbucks, which always seems like a fabulous idea on a busy Saturday morning. My youngest, who is three…

  • Chocolate Dipped Holiday Cookies

     This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NestleHolidayBaking #CollectiveBias My daughter had a couple of friends over last weekend to play for a few hours for a “BFF Gift Exchange,” and because she’s just like her mother, she wanted to decorate for her party and create a dessert table to display our cookie creations.  The girls had pizza for lunch and we made some chocolate covered cookies with fun decorations for dessert.  It’s a quick and…

  • Honey Beer Bread

    I’m kind of a beer snob.  I have a very short list of beers that I’ll even drink.  So, when I saw this recipe I wasn’t totally excited about it.  I know that beer does wonderful things for chocolate cake and batters for deep frying, but bread? For some reason though, I kept coming back to this.  After further consideration, I decided that beer would probably lend a great, malty flavor to this bread and that it was worth a try.  Turns out I was…

  • Penne with Broccoli

    Ok, so by now you know how much I love pasta.  I could go the rest of my life without eating meat again, as long as I have pasta.  And this recipe is one my favorites.  I saw it on the Food Network ages ago and my husband was the first one to make it, and I fell in love.  It’s good hot or cold, but I think I prefer it warm.  I’ve adjusted the recipe depending on what we have and I’ve never been…

  • Banana Bread Cupcakes

    Bananas wasting away in my fruit bowl + Marscapone cheese and walnuts in the fridge = DELISH concoction by yours truly.  I love banana bread, but my girls eat bananas like they’re going out of style, so we never have any left to make treats with.  This week, however, they left me with nearly a full bunch of bananas to play with.  YAY!  Furthermore, my husband has training tomorrow so he has lots of hungry guys to feed these to.  Bonus. These are wonderful muffins. …

  • Sausage & Egg Breakfast Casserole

    The list of things I’ve heard approximately nine billion times today includes:  “I’m bored.  I’m hungry.  Can we have hot chocolate now?  Can we go outside yet?  Where’s Daddy? Can we put our princess stickers on our wall yet?  Can I go to Jordan’s house tomorrow? Can I have a treat?  Will you paint my fingernails? Where are my tap shoes?” Welcome to my snow day. We got about ten inches of snow today, which means my boss was kind enough to allow us to…

  • Pumpkin Bagels & Whipped Pumpkin Cream Cheese

    Story time! Once upon a time, I bought my very first pumpkin bagel with pumpkin schmear at my local bagel shop.  I loved it so much that I went back at lunchtime and bought another one.  I tried to go back after work for another one but the bagel shop closed at 3pm so I had to wait until the next morning.  On the third day (yes, THIRD day) of this behavior, the cashier said to me, “Wow, you must really love these bagels.” I think I…

  • Restaurant Style Salsa

    You know when you go to a Mexican restaurant and they give you one of those little bottles FULL of extra salsa?  You know, so you can refill your own salsa dish?  Those are my favorites.  Because seriously, a little tiny bowl of salsa for a table full of people is just never going to be enough, it’s just not.  And then, you know when you’re at a Mexican restaurant, and your food comes out and you immediately have to ask for a box because…

  • Gnocchi with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

    As I’ve mentioned in {previous posts}, I’m not a big seafood fan.  But being desperate to not pass that on to my girls, my husband makes some kind of seafood for dinner at least once a week.  I would really hate to deprive them of the health benefits of fish, so I don’t mind that they eat without me every once in a while.  It’s usually on those nights that I get to whip up my own dishes that the rest of the family would…

  • Lemon Drop Cupcakes

    So, my sister is VERY pregnant.  She’s not due for another 9 days, but she’s done.  I can’t hardly blame her, she works on her feet all day long, and then chases a 22 month old around all night.  The girl is always on the go, and quite possibly the hardest worker I know.  Except maybe my Dad, but I suppose that’s where she gets it. Since I’m just as anxious to meet my new nephew as she is, (ok, probably not AS anxious.  But…