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Oatmeal Cake Cupcakes
Today is my Dad’s Birthday! The whole family is headed out to celebrate with an early dinner at one of his favorite restaurants. And though I know we’ll have dessert at the restaurant, I couldn’t let his birthday go by without baking for him, could I? =) Dad’s favorite cake is a recipe of his mom’s, her amazing Oatmeal Cake. That cake is awesome, it’s a spicy, coarse-crumbed cake with an ooey-gooey boiled coconut frosting. For some reason, it didn’t work as a cupcake. I tried, but it…
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Applesauce Doughnut Holes
Ok, I promise I’ll get off the fall-flavor train soon. Yeah, not really. I can’t promise that at all. I know there are some of you out there who aren’t into pumpkin, apple and cinnamon EVERYTHING, but I can’t help myself. I am very into pumpkin, apple and cinnamon everything. I’ll try to mix it up a bit. However, you should know that I still have 14 cans of pumpkin puree in my pantry, so I’m probably not going to keep my word on this…
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Creamy Skillet Mac & Cheese
My oldest daughter is learning a hard lesson this week. She’s found her independence a bit, and has used her new-found “power” to voice her opinions rather loudly and forcefully to her Dad and me. In other words, she’s a back-talking fool. We’ve noticed it more lately, the back-talking with a twinge of sassy-attitude, and it’s just gotten worse. She’s particularly offended by chores it seems, and when her Dad told her to go “pick up the office a little bit before lunch,” she did…
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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.
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Dipped Vanilla Sprinkle Cupcakes
When my husband and I finished college, we moved to the suburbs and built our first house together. We both grew up in a small town, out in the country, and I think we were ready to give “city living” a try. We built a great first house not far from the police station where my husband works and relatively close to my job. Then, my first daughter was born. She wasn’t even six months old when we realized that we wanted her to have…
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Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
There are a few things that I’m powerless against. I cannot say no to chips & salsa, guacamole, fried pickles, sweet potato fries and pumpkin spice lattes. Ooh – and nachos. It is nearly impossible for me to walk by a coffee house in the fall without ordering a pumpkin spice latte. It draws me in. They are definitely one of my favorite fall treats. I’ve seen the recipe for homemade pumpkin spice lattes all over the blogosphere and on Pinterest for years now, but…
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Pumpkin Kisses Muffins
I’ve had an extra box of spice cake mix in my pantry since last winter. I used it to make pumpkin cake balls, and it’s just been staring at me, taking up space since then. I had a vague recollection of a Pinterest recipe floating around the inter-webs that claimed to be the best ever pumpkin muffins, using just cake mix and pumpkin puree. So, I thought today would be a great time to try it out! Of course, a two-ingredient recipe wouldn’t cut it…
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Summer Sauvignon Blanc White Wine Party
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine. I am fortunate to have a small, tight-knit circle of girlfriends. Our friendship has grown over the past 15 years, starting as co-workers and continuing even after everyone has gone their separate ways to new jobs. They’re the kind of friends that get your inside jokes, but we can also go a few weeks without talking and pick up just where we left off. Good,…
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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…
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Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
I’ve never really had a real Boston Cream Pie. I’ve had the grocery store version, you know – the kind that come with a plastic casing to keep the pudding from oozing out? They always seem like they should be wonderful, but I’ve never been impressed. I have to admit that I didn’t make the pastry-cream filling for these, I just used a boxed pudding mix. I have big plans for the first time I make pastry-cream – those will be special occasion…
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Funfetti Scotcharoos
I honestly can’t remember the first time I had scotcharoos. I know it was at least a decade ago. My mother-in-law sent them home with my husband and I’m pretty sure I ate the entire box of them before my husband even realized what was going on. They’re yumzos. Scotcharoos seem to be a pretty common Midwestern potluck/picnic/party food. I’ve had them prepared a gazillion different ways, cut into different shapes, sizes, some with too much chocolate, some with not enough, etc. etc. Of course, everyone’s…
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Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake
I totally bought an electric throw blanket last weekend. I am SO dreading the cold weather that I actually took my 30-something year old tushie to Target and bought an electric blanket. It’s like I woke up and was like, “How can I be MORE like my mother today?” Sorry, Mom. I dread the winter. I love the holidays, but I dread the cold, the wind, the leaf-less trees and dormant grass. I hate always being cold. I don’t like high heating bills and the…
