• Fontina Mac & Cheese

    Any of you out there with young children know that Macaroni & Cheese is a staple of most kid’s diets from the time they have teeth.  And while I have two really good, healthy and adventurous eaters of my own, I know that given the choice, they would have Mac & Cheese for every meal.  Breakfast included. The older and wiser I get =) the more I realize that real food is always better than processed food.  Yes, the blue and yellow boxed Mac &…

  • 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…

  • Whoopie Pies

    I did a lot of baking this past week.  I think I made eight different recipes in five days.  In fact, right now I’m working on this blog post in an effort to ignore the mess I made in my kitchen.  It’s not pretty.  I even promised my family that I would host Sunday dinner this week to force myself to get it cleaned up…so far it’s not working.  Sigh. Since I had so much baking to do, I had to make sure that some…

  • Pumpkin Tiramisu

    SO MANY Thanksgiving desserts, so little time.  How can I make all of the desserts?  I’m having anxiety – I need to make them ALL!  My Pinterest boards are FULL of pumpkin and there are four days until Thanksgiving.  #igiveup You guys, we are mere days away from putting the pumpkin away for the year!  First, how the heck is that possible, and second – NOOOOOOO!  I’m not ready for mint and  white chocolate and toffee and cranberries and santa cookies yet!  I need another week –…

  • No Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake

    As the minutes start to dwindle on my four-day holiday weekend, I have to admit that I’m not ready quite yet to get back into the swing of things.  Tomorrow it’s back to work, the girls start two-nights-a-week dance class, and suddenly the first signs of fall are all around us.  Now, don’t get me wrong – I love fall, but I don’t love winter.  Fall is a bit of a double-edged sword.  Love it, but dread it because cold weather is right around the…

  • Chocolate Lava Cupcakes

    These cupcakes were the result of a little color coordination.  My little sister is expecting a baby boy so I needed a favor for her baby shower.  Our color scheme was brown and blue, so of course I needed brown and blue cupcakes!  These were good cupcakes, but next time I might switch the cake out to a firmer, taller cake so it will stand up to the filling a little better.  These were actually better after they sat overnight in the refrigerator, so if…

  • Make-Ahead Game Day Recipes

    March Madness is here! It’s my favorite holiday. Yes. Basketball tournament time is a holiday around here. Everyone fills out brackets, skips work (or takes reaaallly long lunch-breaks) on Thursday and Friday during the first two weeks, and you can’t go far without spotting someone sporting their team colors. There’s nothing worse than the disappointment when your team gets bumped, and there isn’t much better than rooting for your team as they make it deeper into the tourney. My team won a few years ago,…

  • 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. …

  • One Hour Cinnamon Rolls

    So, I’ve told you guys that I’m married to a cop before, yes? Well, I am.  Actually though, as of last week, he’s now a detective – which is kind of cool in an “I-want-to-be-a-detective-when-I-grow-up” kind of way.

  • Share-It Saturday: Week 4

    Hi everyone!  Welcome back for another Share-It Saturday on Lemon Sugar!  Before we get started, make sure you like Lemon Sugar on Facebook, and don’t miss my latest post – you can enter to win a Better Zester.  You’ve got to try one to see what all the fuss is about.  You’ll be zesting just for fun. Or is that just me? Don’t answer that.  Let’s move on to the party. Welcome, welcome!  That was my best Hunger Games voice.  Geez, I’m just oozing coolness…

  • A Playroom Makeover: Part 2

    First things first, if you haven’t read Part 1, go back and read it now. Good?  Ok. After we got all of the construction, painting and cleaning behind us, it was time to do the fun stuff – it was time to make the room look like what we’d been envisioning for almost a year now.  Because we adore everything about our new pantry, we teamed up with Organized Living to give our two little girls a bright, clean & efficient play room.  Their bedrooms…

  • Peach Pie with Buttermilk Crust

    I’ve eaten approximately 167 peaches this week.  That’s because when I go shopping for produce, and I see big, fleshy, perfectly ripe, juicy peaches, I feel the need to buy three of four bags of them.  I can’t say no.  I’ve really tried.  But then, as I’m walking away, this little voice inside my head reminds me that peaches are not a year-round thing.  If I don’t eat them now, if I don’t stuff myself full of them, then it’s going to be a long,…