• Chocolate Covered Strawberry Ice Cream

    So, relevant but irrelevant:  last week I cleaned out my refrigerator.  Like, REALLY cleaned it out.  I took everything out, scrubbed it, sanitized it, threw away, organized, and made everything pretty and bright.  In my cleaning frenzy, I uncovered four pounds of strawberries that we purchased the weekend before at the Farmer’s Market.  The strawberries were clinging to life, on the edge of questionable, so I chopped them up and was racking my brain for strawberry recipes. I made a strawberry cake (that recipe is…

  • Fall Roundup

    My head is literally swimming with pumpkin and apple recipes.  I actually made a list of all of the fall baking I wanted to get up on Lemon Sugar before autumn slips away, and it’s kind of ridiculous.  There are 42 items. How in the world will I ever narrow that down?  I won’t.  You all are going to gain 75 pounds before Thanksgiving.  I apologize.  Really. It’s funny, because I keep rationalizing to myself that pumpkin is a healthy baking alternative, so these recipes aren’t…

  • Banana Dream Cake

    When it’s named the Banana Dream Cake, it better be good.  I’m just going to cut the suspense here and tell you that it is, in fact, a dream cake.  It’s dreamy, it’s banana-y, and it’s all covered in tangy-sweet-creamy-omgoshsogood cream cheese frosting. Dream Cake, for sure.  The brilliant Jessica over at The Novice Chef has done it again. I made this cake for our normal Sunday dinner a couple of weeks ago, and my brother is already requesting an encore for his birthday dinner…

  • Pumpkin Pound Cake

    So, let me preface this by saying that I miss ya’ll!  Life has been insane around here lately, and I haven’t had time to be in the kitchen, or even much time at all to chat with everyone on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and via e-mail.  My work schedule has changed, so getting the family into a new routine has been taking its toll on me this week.  Thank you all for asking about me and for all of the notes looking for new recipes!…

  • Beer & Pretzel Cupcakes

    After a pretty darn stressful week (few weeks, actually), I had a pretty amazing day.  My parents kept the girls for us this morning, and the hubs and I spent a few hours together, just the two of us.  We had some fun in downtown KC, and grabbed a quiet lunch.  It was nice to have some adult time.  Some QUIET adult time. After a quiet morning, we came home and just kind of hung out.  The girls went swimming, I took a nap (A…

  • Strawberries & Cream Cake

    This cake makes me think spring thoughts.  Warm, breezy, budding-tree, blooming flower, happy spring thoughts.  And even though we are still a couple of weeks away from St. Patrick’s Day (and post-season college basketball – the official start of springtime for me), I’m ready.  I’m over winter, I’m over cold weather, and I’m over cooped-up kids.  So, Strawberries & Cream Cake?  Do. Your. Thang. I don’t mean to complain – I do appreciate the changing seasons – but dude.  I’m done with it.  I’m craving…

  • Chocolate Chip Graham Cracker Bars

    You can actually SEE how delicious these are.  You can see the powdery sugar stuck to the gooey, chocolaty graham cracker cookie.  You can SEE it, can’t you? And yup – they taste just as good as they look.  Maybe better. I broke all of the July-in-Kansas rules today and turned my oven on.  Yes, I turned my oven on even though it was exactly 900 degrees outside today.  And with the heat-index, it felt like 950 degrees.  But I just had to make these…

  • Share-It Saturday: Week 2

    We had a great turnout last week for our first weekly link-up here at Lemon Sugar.  With over 40 fabulous recipes to choose from, I really had my work cut out for me in choosing our featured bloggers for this week!    Thank you to everyone who contributed, and I look forward to what you have to share with us today. So, without further delay, here are three of my favorites from last week.  Alaska From Scratch brings us Nutella Yogurt Fruit Dip.  How AMAZING does…

  • Cherry Cordial Cupcakes

    I think this might be the last Valentine’s Day treat on the blog this year.  I think I’m ready for the next holiday. Okay.  Actually, I’m really just saying that to convince myself that I’m over the treats because I’m starting my second juice fast in a couple of days.

  • Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Bars

    This is my version of a rain dance.  I’m going to make a whole bunch of warm, spicy, fall-flavored treats until Mother Nature gets the hint; pumpkin breads, banana breads, soups, stews, casseroles – you name it.  I’m breaking out my scarves, my afghans, and my fuzzy socks, and I’m planting Mums and decorating with gourds.  If summer wants to hang on for a couple of months, so be it – but at our house, fall is here. I’m pretty sure that won’t work, but…

  • Black Forest Pound Cake

    You know what a grown-up dessert is, don’t you?  My desserts get that label simply when my kids won’t eat them – usually because they aren’t sweet enough, or they have nuts or unfamiliar ingredients.  (Or booze, but that’s captain obvious, right?) This one is a grown-up dessert.  The chocolate is dark, it’s rich but light, and the sweetness comes from the whipped cream and cherry sauce. My kids did the “we’re gonna act like we like this so we don’t hurt your feelings” face…

  • Maple Pecan Muffins

    In my never-ending quest for simplicity in my weekday mornings, I always turn to easy, make-ahead meals.  Because, really – who has time to do all of the dressing, teeth-brushing, hair-brushing, backpack-packing and grumpy-kid quelling IN ADDITION TO whipping up a fancy breakfast? Not me.  It doesn’t even matter if we wake up earlier.  It’s like my five-year-old knows precisely how long she needs to brush her teeth to make it take up exactly 99% of my morning.  She’s all, “Oh, we have 45 minutes before…