-
Chocolate Chip Love Muffins
I’m one of those people who thinks Valentine’s Day is silly. Sure, I can appreciate a day that’s dedicated to making the loves in your life feel special and adored. But to me it conjures up images of people waiting in line to buy overpriced flowers, cards and chocolates with only half-hearted intent. I’ve always told my husband that flowers on a random Tuesday in August, or a card for no reason will always be more appreciated than forcing it on Valentine’s Day. Perhaps that…
-
Hi-Hat Cupcakes
I don’t know if I even have words for this one. I think this is hands-down my favorite cupcake I’ve ever made. It’s beyond amazing. For me, it’s the perfect combination of moist chocolate cake and fluffy, gooey marshmallow frosting. They are definitely best served cold, and I’m finding that they are practically irresistible when they come right out of the freezer. My willpower around desserts is usually very, very high – especially considering the number of deserts that come out of my kitchen. But these? …
-
Ranch Dressing
Those of you who know my husband and I know that we are borderline, wanna-be hippies when it comes to food and sustainability. We would eat all natural, all fresh food all the time if we could, and for the most part we try to avoid preservatives, chemical additives and processed food. That’s not to say that we don’t eat plenty of bad stuff, but we’ve definitely made a conscious decision to do the best we can for ourselves and our girls. Our beehives, chickens and expanding…
-
Peppermint Bark Cheesecake
Let’s talk about pet peeves, shall we? Specifically, let’s talk about MY pet peeves. The list is short. Okay, the list is kind of short.
-
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…
-
Quick and Easy Doughnuts
I’ve never posted this recipe, but only because it isn’t really a recipe. You don’t have to mix anything. You don’t have to knead, proof or tip-toe around rising dough. These are totally no-sweat, easy-peasy doughnuts. You buy a can of biscuits. You pour some oil into a pan. You drop the biscuits into the oil, and watch them sizzle for a couple of minutes. Then you burn your tongue because you can’t wait 2 blessed minutes for them to cool. And then, you feel guilty for…
-
Yellow Cake with Fudge Frosting
I almost titled this post something like, “Back to Basics: Yellow Cake with Fudge Frosting,” but then I thought that it’s not really back to basics here. Good yellow cake is not an easy thing to accomplish, so while it is a bit of a basic cake, it’s definitely not an easy one. I’ve made a hundred different recipes and varieties of yellow cake over the years, some great, some not so much. It’s been a good lesson in the science behind baking for me,…
-
Rigatoni with Creamy Marsala Sauce
I know, it’s surprising. Another pasta dish! This is a new one for us, but it sounded good tonight and we had all of the ingredients so we decided to try it out. This pasta is actually called “Rigatoni di Gregorio” but since I changed it a little, I’m not sure that it really qualifies as such anymore. We grilled the chicken instead of pan-frying it, and I added green olives in lieu of parsley, mostly because my girls won’t eat “green stuff” on their…
-
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…
-
Easy Creme Brulee
I won’t make you listen to any more stories about my rough week. If you remember from a recent post, my daughter starts 1st grade tomorrow. And since I don’t have a time machine or (apparently) the ability to will time to slow down, I have put on my best happy face and hopefully hold back tears until I’m out of the school parking lot. OK, one more story. But technically, this isn’t a story, it’s really just information that you need to know…
-
Butterfinger Cheesecake
This post has been sponsored by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ReinventSweet #CollectiveBias I might be a wee-bit obsessed. With cheesecake, of all things. Which, actually is a GOOOOOD thing, but really, why can’t I be obsessed with Kale? Or Flax Seed? Or Chickpeas? (I don’t know – those are the first three healthy-like things that popped into my cheesecake-obsessed head.) This cheesecake, you guys – it’s awesome. It’s easy. It goes together in no time, and you can change it…
-
Irish Beer & Whiskey Cupcakes
If you’re like me, you might find yourself avoiding the plethora of “boozy” cupcake recipes that circulate the web. Since I’m more of a wine girl, recipes cooked with beer, whiskey and other liqueurs didn’t ever really call to me. Yes, some recipes call to me. And they don’t shut-up until I make them. It’s a problem. I’m not sure why I finally broke down and made these. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I’ve come to really love St. Patrick’s Day. …
