-
Tiny Chocolate Tortes
Ok, so I have a confession to make. While cleaning up after hosting brunch this morning for Mother’s Day, I may have picked up one of these babies with my bare hands, plopped a big helping of fresh whipped cream on top and shoved almost the whole thing in my mouth. It took less than ten seconds, but it was undoubtedly ten of the best seconds of my life. These are fantastic. You should probably drop everything you’re doing and go make these, right now.…
-
Stout Cake with Irish Cream Frosting
As a food blogger, I feel like – when it comes to all things culinary – I’m pretty much up to date with all of the trends. I spend a lot of time browsing food blogs, foodie websites, and have more food magazines in my mailbox every month than anything else. So, when I saw {this post} from I Am Baker a several months ago, I was completely stunned. It was one of those “Why didn’t I think of that???” moments. I’ve been putting roses on…
-
Cream Cheese and Pepper Jelly Fillo Shells
So, how many social events have YOU been to this month? Weddings, showers, graduations, anniversary parties, end of school year parties – holy cow, it’s a busy time of year! We’ve hosted a few events at our home lately, and since we’ve been pulled a million different directions, it’s nice to have some quick and easy appetizer options at my fingertips. These little Fillo cups from my friends at Athens are amazing, and have saved me in an entertaining-pinch many, many times. Fillo (or Phyllo…
-
Eggnog Cupcakes
When I was growing up, we were fortunate to be able to ride the school bus to our house in the country, where my Mom was usually waiting for us with an after-school snack prepared. One of my favorite treats was homemade eggnog. Mom used to make it in the blender, using farm-fresh eggs, lots of sugar, and I’m sure it was made with either pure cream or half and half…not the healthiest snack but definitely one of my favorites. Now that I’m older, the…
-
Easy Hot Fudge Sauce
A lot of memories from my childhood are centered around food. I think that’s normal for a lot of people (right?) but I’d go so far as to say that 90% of my memories contain food somehow. Perhaps that’s because I’m the oldest of five kids, so mealtimes were always massive undertakings, but nonetheless, food conjures up a lot of nostalgia. For instance, my parents used to load all five kids into the minivan once a month for a trip to the grocery store. We’d…
-
Chocolate Macarons with Espresso Ganache Filling
Welcome to my most intimidating moment in the kitchen, the macaron. I’ve been reading about these little puppies forever in foodie-land, and was SO discouraged by the directions that I put it off. But, you know what? They aren’t that hard. In fact, I’d go so far as to say they’re pretty darn easy – you just have to follow the directions. I would recommend a digital scale for these to measure the ingredients, although I just saw someone make them on the Food Network that…
-
Fried Ice Cream Boats & A Football Party
YOU GUYS! How CUTE are these little fried ice cream boats? Even though it’s exactly zero degrees outside right now, these were still a welcome treat at our family gathering this weekend! It’s been a good sports year in Kansas City. Our beloved Royals (finally) won the World Series, and the Chiefs (finally) won a playoff game. My family decided to gather to celebrate the big football game, so I thought I’d share some of our quick and easy party tips with you. Ice cream…
-
Dark Chocolate Shortbread Tart
Is it me, or does this just scream Valentine’s Day? It’s decadent and indulgent, a dark chocolate custard atop a buttery, shortbread crust. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough – how about the heaping mound of sweet whipped cream right on top? I’m pretty sure this is why we have Valentine’s Day. So we can eat things like this. Let’s just have another look, shall we? I’m a big fan of a standard graham cracker crust, and even a good chocolate wafer crust – but…
-
Ham & Cheese Pretzel Bites
I think I have a new favorite party food. Seriously, these are amazing. As usual, my husband was my taste-tester, and his review was, “Um, yeah – I could eat like, 500 of those.” And I have to agree. If I wasn’t saving them to serve at my brother’s graduation party, we might have polished off the whole tray. I just made them again to serve at our family 4th of July bash, and they went VERY quickly. They taste like the best soft-pretzel you’ve ever…
-
Cookies ‘n Cream Cupcakes
This was another fun cupcake that I made for a surprise birthday party this week, which is actually somewhat fitting because these cookies have a surprise in the bottom of them, half of an Oreo cookie! I’ve made these once before and they were a big hit, so I’m really hoping they go over well at the party. But really, how could they not? These are a white cake with chunks of cookie baked in the batter, and topped with a cream cheese buttercream. The…
-
Easter Candy Cookies
My girls have been begging me to make chocolate chip cookies for a few weeks now, but my dessert menu has taken me in other directions. With Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and now Easter, it always seems like there’s been something else to make. Then, when browsing my Pinterest boards, I found these cookies that I’ve wanted to make for a LONG time, so I decided I’d made them wait long enough. Easter candy cookies! Basically, they’re really big, chewy, fat chocolate chip cookies…
-
Cherry Almond Sour Cream Cake
Today has been a bit traumatic for me. I cleaned out the sippy-cup drawer. I threw them all away. My nearly-four-year-old has stopped using them, so into the trash they went.
