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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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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…
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Zucchini Walnut Bread
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned our vegetable garden here before – we’ve lived in our house for just over three years now, and we had zero luck with our garden until this year. We decided, finally, to try raised beds and we’ve had some fantastic results this time around! I think raising the beds provides better drainage, and allowed us to start our beds earlier because the ground wasn’t as wet. We have six raised beds right now, but I have big plans to double…
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Devil’s Fudge Cupcakes
These cupcakes have possibly the longest name ever. They are actually Devil’s Fudge Cupcakes, filled with Whipped Chocolate Ganache and frosted with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream. Holy Cow. They’re deserving of the long title. They earned it. They’re magnificent. The cupcake is moist and has a really wonderful chocolate flavor. The whipped ganache is light but rich, and pairs really nicely with the white chocolate cream cheese buttercream. Yes, you read that correctly. White Chocolate. Cream Cheese. Butter. What could possibly be wrong with…
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Ham & Cheese Sliders
This quick and easy party food has become one of my most-requested dishes lately. Which is completely fine by me, because there’s nothing better than a party food that goes together in no time, makes virtually no mess and can be made in advance. And, they’re fabulous. This picture does not do these sandwiches justice because I had to photograph them before they were finished so I wasn’t taking pictures of my food during the party=). They are gooey, melty, buttery little bites of yumminess. …
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Homemade Vanilla Extract
If you’ve spent much time at all in the kitchen, you understand how essential good-quality vanilla is to the outcome of your desserts. The problem is, REALLY good vanilla is also REALLY expensive. Even the grocery-store options are relatively expensive, and they don’t even compare to the good stuff. To buy a bottle of top-quality vanilla, you’re going to spend nearly $20, and if you do a lot of baking, that’s quite an investment! So, as you can imagine, I was overjoyed to find this…
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Blueberry Muffins with Maple Butter
Isn’t it funny how food can take you back in time? My freshman year in college, my husband and I still lived at home with our parents and traveled back and forth to the neighboring town to attend classes together every morning. (Yes, we were super cool.) On our way to class, we frequently stopped at our local convenience store/gas station and grabbed something to eat and drink for breakfast. I used to get a blueberry muffin and chocolate milk, warming the muffin up in the microwave and trying…
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Mini Doughnuts with Honey Vanilla Glaze
When it comes to doughnuts, I might be the pickiest person out there. I don’t like Krispy Kreme, grocery store, convenience store, pre-packaged or even most bakery doughnuts. To be a good doughnut, they have to be fried, glazed doughnuts. You know, the old fashioned kind with the light batter and the flaky glaze that gets all over everything when you eat them. The kind I like are super hard to find…there are only a handful of doughnut shops that I’ve ever found that still make them…
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Just Cherry Pie
It’s just really been a strange week. We were supposed to be in Mexico, celebrating not only our anniversary but my husband’s birthday as well. Because we were planning to lay on the beach and drink fruity drinks to celebrate, I didn’t plan the usual birthday celebration with dinner, guests, dessert and gifts. I feel bad that my hubs kind of got the short end of the birthday stick this year, but promised him that we’ll celebrate his birthday on our rescheduled trip. So, in…
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Coconut Streusel Muffins
If you follow my Facebook page, you know that I had a pretty rough week last week. Among other things, my husband and I have been planning a trip to Mexico for ages to celebrate several events…his birthday, our five year wedding anniversary (18 months late, but who’s counting?) and most importantly, 20 years together. We’ve been together since we were in junior high, so this is really quite the milestone for us. Well, a VERY long story short, we were turned away at the check-in…
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Homemade Hamburger Buns
Yes, I realize you can buy hamburger buns at the grocery store for, like, 79 cents. Yes, I realize that this takes far more effort and time than picking up a bag of easy, quick, cheap and adequately-tasty hamburger buns off the store shelves. But. These are worth it. Yes, store-bought hamburger buns are just fine. But why spend all of that time making the perfect burger just to eat it on a tiny, flimsy mass-produced bun? I promise that your effort will make your hamburgers taste even…
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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.” …
