• Bars,  Brownies,  Dessert,  Holiday,  Valentine's Day

    I Love You Brownies

    Brownies have to be one of my all-time favorite deserts.  I mean, for one thing, they’re chocolate.  They’re sweet, soft, and are just begging for a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a tall glass of cold milk.  There’s just not much better than that. Unless you’re one of those people who don’t like chocolate.  If that’s the case, I can’t imagine how you landed on my little blog – but anyway, have you had your head checked lately?  You don’t like chocolate?   Are…

  • Christmas,  Cookies,  Cupcakes,  Dessert,  Holiday

    Snowball Cupcakes

    We have had some FANTASTIC weather around here for the first part of December – 70 degree temperature-sunshiny-beautiful weather, and I love it.  The girls are still playing outside, we were able to decorate the outside of our house for Christmas without getting frostbite, and I’ve yet to really break out my winter coat.  In December.  Unreal.

  • Blog,  Christmas,  Cookies,  Dessert,  Holiday,  Quick

    Almond Snowball Cookies

    I’m back!  It’s been a long couple of weeks, starting with my daughter’s 7th birthday party, then Thanksgiving, then a week of refreshing the look here at Lemon Sugar.  Throw in a couple of cases of bronchitis and let’s just say I haven’t had much time to spend in the kitchen.

  • Cookies,  Dessert,  Holiday,  Pastry,  Thanksiving

    Apple Pie Cookies

    Seriously.  What is not to love here?  I had some leftover pie crust from my {Spinach & Gruyere Quiche} and lots of apples in my fruit bowl, so these happened.  I am so, so glad that these happened.  They happened at the end of a yucky, stressful day and made the world all sunshine-y and apple pie-y again.  Perfect.

  • Cake,  Candy,  Dessert,  Holiday

    Hot Chocolate Cake with Homemade Marshmallows

    So, my daughter’s 7th birthday is next week.  First of all, it’s really just not possible that she’s turning seven years old.  Not possible.  Second of all, this means that I have a big family party looming on the horizon. That means my house has to be cleaned.  It also means I need to plan a menu, figure out decorations and – oh yeah – do all that cooking and baking without undoing all of the cleaning and planning.

  • Cupcakes,  Dessert,  Halloween,  Holiday,  Kids

    Double Chocolate Cupcakes

    While I know Halloween is today and most everyone already has their holiday baking out of the way, I’m sure that there are still some parties coming up this weekend.  So, those of you who are still looking for some last minute inspiration, I hope this post will help you out. The great thing about cupcakes is really how versatile they are.  They can be elegant, fun and kid-friendly, boozy and adult-friendly, celebratory or just plain simple.  By dressing up a simple chocolate cupcake with…

  • Cookies,  Dessert,  Halloween,  Holiday,  Kids,  Peanut Butter,  Popular

    Peanut Butter Monster Cookies

    Pssst.  I have a secret to tell you.  You have to pinky-promise that you won’t tell anyone. Promise? I don’t really like Halloween.  I actually kind of dislike it.  It’s my least favorite holiday.   Don’t get me wrong; I love fall, I love Thanksgiving, I love leaves, scarecrows, dried corn stalks, pumpkins, hay bales…but that’s where I draw the line.  I don’t love costumes, costume parties, normal food disguised as disgusting food…(have you seen the spaghetti-hot dog worm thing on Pinterest?  Gross.) I’m not…

  • Cake,  Dessert,  Halloween,  Holiday

    Boo-tiful Ghost Cake

    I’m a scaredy-cat, generally speaking.  Well, not generally speaking, specifically speaking.  I can fake my way through a lot of scary situations, but deep down, I’m a bona-fide scaredy-cat. I could list all of the things that I’m scared of, but that would be the longest blog post ever. Unfortunately, and against my best intentions, I’m afraid I’ve passed some of my tendencies toward irrational fears along to my girls.  My youngest is afraid of “creepy things.”  And with Halloween right around the corner, everything…

  • Bread,  Holiday,  Pastry,  Side Dishes

    Homemade Crescent Rolls

    I come from a family of nappers.  Well, I should rephrase that a bit.  My Mom and sisters could win a napping competition against the best nappers in the whole wide universe.  I guess I wouldn’t call my Dad a napper, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brothers nap.  But whatever.  I come from half a family of nappers.   I, though, am not a napper.  Napping makes me feel worse than if I didn’t take a nap at all.  I know there…

  • Cupcakes,  Dessert,  Holiday,  Personal

    Red Velvet Cupcakes

    I’ve been struggling with this post since I started this blog.  Why, you may ask?  This is just a basic red velvet cupcake, no?  No.  This cupcake is special. You see, a little over two years ago, my very tight-knit extended family lost one of our own.  My dear cousin Molly passed away suddenly.  She was a year younger than me,  a triplet, an aunt, a sister and a daughter.  And smart.  Beautiful.  Young, kind, and soft-spoken.  Molly collapsed immediately after finishing a half-marathon and didn’t…

  • Candy,  Easter,  Holiday,  Kids

    Homemade Marshmallow Peeps

    You’ve had Peeps candies, right?  Is there anyone out there who hasn’t?  I used to absolutely despise them when I was a kid.  My mom loved them,so it was without fail that we always had a package or two (or five) in our Easter baskets – to me, they had a funky food-coloring taste and were always a little too squishy.  Blech. But then, at some point, we (my siblings and I) discovered two things.  One, that stale Peeps are way better than fresh Peeps.  They get…