• Loaded Baked Potato Quiche

    So, we probably need to address my love for potatoes. I’m kind of obsessed.  Mashed Potatoes are probably my favorite food.  A baked potato topped with cottage cheese and pepper is my favorite go-to lunch.  I always have a ten pound bag of them in my pantry.  When I’ve had a bad day, my husband will cheer me up with his amazing smashed, buttered potatoes.  (Holy cow, delish.) So, when I saw a mini baked potato quiche at my local grocery store deli, I knew,…

  • 12 Hour Adventure with Caribou Coffee

    I’m so excited about today’s post!  If you follow me on Instagram, you probably noticed that I’ve been on a fun vacation over the past few days.  What makes this even more exciting is that I’ve teamed up with my friends over at Caribou Coffee to bring you a look into my 12-hour adventure.  (Okay, we actually had about FOUR 12-hour adventures over the past week, but believe me, Caribou Coffee was along for the ride each time. My family and I packed up the car for…

  • Pink Velvet Cupcakes

    This is my second attempt at pink velvet cupcakes.  The first was bad, so very bad.  I don’t understand, because that particular recipe gets rave reviews everywhere, but to me it tasted like a blueberry muffin, sans blueberries.  It was just kind of blah.  They were like little, pink, blueberry-less muffins.  Kind of sad little things. So after going back to the drawing board and searching for an ingredient list with more flavors, I settled on this one from a Taste of Home cookbook.  I…

  • Meyer Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake

    I’m back!  I didn’t really go anywhere, but life just got busy.  I am definitely a creature of habit and need my routine to keep me in check – so four snow days, a bridal shower, a gymnastics meet, a sick kiddo (who is scheduled for tubes in her ears on Friday – insert Momma-panic attack here) – and a stressful few weeks at work really have me out-of-sorts. Normally, I bake when things get stressful, but dang-it, I just haven’t had time!  I think…

  • 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!…

  • Strawberry Cupcakes with Ice Cream Buttercream

    Hold.  The.  Phone. Did I really just make ICE CREAM BUTTERCREAM? Um, yes.  Yes I did.  And know what it tastes like on top of a strawberry cupcake?  Yep, just like you think it would taste, only better.  Kind of like strawberry ice cream, but without the brain-freeze. And, it’s only four ingredients, and it’s E.A.S.Y. So, strawberry cupcakes, buttercream that tastes EXACTLY like ice-cream, and no brain freeze. Best cupcake ever, right? I’ve been on a bit of a strawberry cupcake kick lately –…

  • Is It Summer Yet?

    Sometimes, when it rains, it pours.  Sometimes, when it pours, it doesn’t stop.  Even if you’re hosting a barbecue for your family.  Even when the linens are pressed, groceries are bought, cupcakes are made and the twinkle lights are hung. We have had an unseasonably warm spring in my part of the world.  Our trees bloomed early, tulips and daffodils poked out of the ground weeks ahead of schedule and people are just itching to get their gardens started.  Mother Nature, though – she’s got…

  • Apple Frangipane Tart

    I’m so fancy. Ok, not really.  Not at all, actually.  But if I was, this is tart that would prove it. Guys, this tart is amazing.  Apples, almond filling, shortbread crust.  So, so good.  The apples are juicy and sweet, the frangipane apple custard is firm and creamy, and the crust is thick and soft.  I’m not sure how it gets any better. Frangipane is a baked almond cream.  It’s much like a custard – maybe a bit more firm, but it has that lovely…

  • Charleston Cheese Dip

    Yay, dip!  I LOVE me a good dip.  Like the guacamole homer I am, I get WAY excited when I see a good seven-layer dip at a party (my sister-in-law makes a GREAT one, I’ll have to share it soon) but I’m all about trying new dip concoctions, too. Except, never put shrimp in my dip.  Just don’t, k?  I’m weird about shrimp. And now dip looks and sounds funny, ’cause I’ve written it way too many times. Dip, dip, dip. This dip, though –…

  • Cookie Dough Brownie Cake | www.lemon-sugar.com

    Cookie Dough Brownie Cake

    You know when you make an awesome dessert, take it to your Mom’s house for Sunday dinner, and only eat a tiny piece because you’re too full from dinner to eat more?   And then you find yourself sitting on the couch at 9pm wishing you brought a piece home with you? I’m there. I ALWAYS do that.  I’m all like, “Nah, I don’t need a big piece of cake, I’m good with one little bite.”  And then at 9pm I’m trying to figure out…

  • Chocolate & Coconut Cream Cupcakes

    My days as a morning person are numbered.  Every year about this time, when the overnight temperature starts to drop and it’s still dark in the morning when I get out of bed – that’s about the time I that stop jumping up  eager to face the day. My girls are the same way, it seems.  My mornings are slowly shifting from wide-eyed, happy, smiling little girls to grumpy, piddling, sleepy-heads who have to be prodded along every step of the way. By the time we…

  • Tropical Kahlua & Cream

    It’s hot outside.  And not just summer-in-the-Midwest-is-always-hot-and-humid-so-deal-with-it-hot, it’s REALLY hot.  It’s so hot that just walking outside will take your breath away, getting in a car with leather seats will literally burn your legs, and swimming pool water feels like bath water.  Blech. Needless to say, I have no desire to turn my oven on lately.  In fact, we don’t want to do much of anything lately.  I feel bad for those folks who have to work outside in this – it seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Since I…