• 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 –…

  • 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…

  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bundt Cake

    Can someone please make summer stick around for a few more months?  While you’re at it, let’s just go ahead and do two months of spring, seven months of summer, two months of fall and one month of winter with lots of snow. Kthanks. I’m having weather feelings because today we bought school shoes and backpacks for the girls – they go back to school in less than two weeks.  That. Is. Not. OK. Even though I love me some fall weather, I am so not…

  • 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…

  • White Chocolate & Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

    I just looked over the top of my laptop at my husband, who’s sitting on the couch next to me, and said “I don’t have any wittiness for my blog post.”  He just looked at me funny. You guys don’t care about wittiness, do you?  You care about cupcakes.  I knew it.  You’re just using me. See?  No wittiness.  I’m not even sure I’m spelling that right.  Wittiness?  Witty-ness?  Wittyness?  My spell checker likes wittiness, so we’ll go with it. Have you ever said a…

  • Brownie Bites

    Last week I was fortunate enough to be asked to participate in the studio launch party for Melissa Rieke Photography and  Melissa & Beth at their fabulous new facility, RStudio.  I provided a smattering of desserts for the event and have been eager to share the recipes with you all.  The Whoopie Pies from my last post were one of the many items on the menu, and I’ll have another three or four coming soon.  You’ll notice that the photos in these upcoming posts are courtesy…

  • A Pantry Makeover with Organized Living™ (Part 2: After)

    (This is part two of a two-part series.  To see part one, click {here}.) This post has been so long in the making that I really can’t believe I’m actually finally typing it.  I’ve been working with the folks at Organized Living for a few months now, working out the details of this project, getting it installed and working out a giveaway for you guys, and now it’s all done – and I am in LOVE with my new pantry. In.  Love. Over the past…

  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

    There’s a thing in this world…it’s called too much peanut butter. This is not that. This is the perfect amount of peanut butter.  Which, I suppose is hard to measure because some people don’t like peanut butter.  Who are these people?  I’ve heard of them, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever met one of them.  Actually, now that I think about it, I’m not even sure that there’s a thing called too much peanut butter.  That’s probably not possible. This is what happens when…

  • French Vanilla Cupcakes

    How adorable are these?  I made these for a baby shower and just loved the way they came out.  My new jumbo cupcake pan has just opened up a whole new world of cupcakes for me and I have to say I am loving it.  I love the look of the ribbon tied around the base of the cake – and it’s much easier to do on a jumbo cake than a standard cake.  I found a coordinating pink sugar for garnish and think that these…

  • Roasted Smashed Potatoes

    Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love potatoes.  Mashed, scalloped, baked, fried – I love them all.  My guiltiest pleasure of all is a recipe my husband makes occasionally – simple, buttered potatoes – they’re just boiled potatoes smothered in butter and just barely mashed.  They are SO indulgent and soooo good.  I’d share that recipe with you, but I have a feeling I’d be kicked off the internet by the snark police.  (They’d ♥ them too, if they’d just try them.…

  • Homemade Ding Dongs

    Me and my big ideas, right?  Sometimes, there’s a reason that desserts are mass-produced in huge factories with their fancy ding-dong shaping machines and magical ding-dong dipping pools full of chocolate.  They probably even have their own version of Oompa-Loompas, perfectly injecting each one with just the right amount of marshmallow cream. I just have little old me.  And a three-year-old helper – who happens to love marshmallow cream – and ALWAYS, ALWAYS manages to drop a spoon, beater or spatula dipped in the stuff…