• Pumpkin BTS Cake

    So, I don’t really care what you call this cake.  Anytime you combine pumpkin, homemade whipped cream and caramel sauce?  Uh-MAZE-balls.  My last BTS cake has driven almost 120,000 visitors to Lemon Sugar, and is among one of my most requested desserts in my inner circle. Inner circle?  That means my family.  I don’t know why I called them my inner circle.  I’m clearly not Miley Cyrus.  I don’t have an “inner circle.” But if I did, I would totally feed them BTS cake. If…

  • No-fail Homemade Hamburger Buns

    On Mother’s Day, back in May, we also celebrated my Dad’s birthday at the same time.  My family all gathered at my parent’s house, and we had a lovely cookout, complete with hamburgers, hot dogs, brats and lots of yummy sides (which is my favorite part).  My brother stopped and bought hamburger and hot dog buns (that was his “job”) and we enjoyed the day. Now, fast-forward almost a month.  Last week, we found ourselves rushed for dinner so my husband just threw some hamburgers…

  • Pumpkin Nutella Swirl Cake

    Hi everyone!  I soooooooo miss you guys!  My life is in perpetual “just-get-by” mode and right now I’m feeling lucky to get all four of us out the door in the morning fully clothed, fed and headed in the right direction so I’m calling that a win.  Life is nutsos. That being said, I love my new job and I’m hoping that soon we can figure out our new normal around here.  I think we’re getting better at it every day, so in a few…

  • Caramel Pecan Brownies

    Chocolate.  Caramel.  Pecans.   Oh, yes.  See how they look all gooey and fudgy?  That’s because they ARE gooey and fudgy.  Don’t make these unless you have a large glass of cold milk nearby…you’ll need it.  These are one of those treats that make you talk with your mouth full – you know, when you take a bite of something amazing and you automatically forget all about manners and mumble a garbled, “oh my gawd,” or “oh, wow…”  Or is that just me?  It’s probably just…

  • Neapolitan Layer Cake with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

    How fun is this cake?  If you’ve been reading my blog, back in February I talked about my sister and her trouble making a decision for her birthday treat.  She ended up choosing the Key Lime Cupcakes which turned out to be a fabulous decision because they were wonderful.  This was the contender, the cake that made her decision so difficult that week.  I knew I had to make this one, but needed the perfect excuse because it’s so time consuming.  We celebrated Easter at…

  • Um…about those cupcakes…

    Those (Lemon Drop Cupcakes)? Apparently, they work.  Less than 12 hours after eating two of them, my sister was in labor! Welcome to the world, Baby Evan!  And many, many congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law.  I’m a proud sister and a proud aunt today!

  • Share-It Saturday: Week 5

    Is it just me or did that week fly by?  I guess it was a short week with the holiday on Monday, but even still I feel like I was just sorting through last week’s Share-It Saturday submissions – which, by the way were fantastic!  As always it was difficult to choose my favorites, and this week, the sweet treats won. With fall right around the corner, I was immediately drawn to the Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts from What’s Cooking In The Burbs.  Have you…

  • Mini Pumpkin Loaves

    I definitely love a good pumpkin recipe – and not just in the fall.  I could eat them year-round.  I’m not a huge PSL fan – so I usually indulge in one Pumpkin Spice Latte a year – but they are just a bit sweet for me.  But, a grande drip with a slice of pumpkin bread?  Sign. Me. Up. The great thing about this recipe is that it is SUPER EASY.  I’ve updated the method a little bit to combine wet and dry ingredients,…

  • Tuna & Noodles from Scratch

    So, I don’t eat seafood.  I’ve tried.  I’ve really, really tried.  There are a few swimming-things that I’ve taste-tested over the years that I didn’t absolutely detest, but I’d never order them for myself.  Well, maybe, possibly a crab cake.  But honestly, I’ll only eat it if my husband orders it – if it’s up to me, I can always find a more appetizing appetizer on the menu. I have done everything I can to ensure that my girls don’t have the same aversions to…

  • Black Tie Cupcakes

    This cupcake was a creation of mine that was born out of the need to clean out my pantry.  I had several almost-empty boxes, bags and bottles of pantry items, and their replacements were crowding things.  So, what to do but make some goodies?  I didn’t really have an excuse for these except that Mom made Sunday dinner and my brother and his girlfriend were going to be there – which means more people to eat and fewer leftovers!    I knew I needed to…

  • Samoa Sheet Cake

    So, first – let me tell you about my weekend.  Then we’ll get to this DELICIOUS Samoa Cake recipe. I took a couple of extra days off before the long Memorial Day weekend, mostly to prepare for my daughter’s birthday party and get the girls to and from dance recital and rehearsal, which this year fell on Thursday and Friday evening.  NBD.  Right? Yeah. So Thursday brought some (SCARY) severe weather to my part of the world, and of course that only happens when my…

  • Taking a Moment for Myself

    Today’s post is a little bit off topic – I’m not going to share a recipe but instead am taking an opportunity to slow things down.  You all know by now that I am a bit of a worker-bee…I am at my best when I’m busy, when I have a project, when I have a to-do list.  I don’t like to be idle.  I do my best work under a deadline, and I crave the intensity and activity that a busy, planned-out day brings.  …