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Snickers Cupcakes
Every time I see a Snickers candy bar, I’m reminded of a friend of mine who used to LOVE them. But that’s not why I think of her – it’s actually the memory of HOW she ate them that’s stuck with me. She used to nibble all of the chocolate off the entire bar, then eat the nut layer, then the caramel layer, and finally the nougat layer. It took her, like, 20 minutes to eat the candy bar. I’m wondering if she would like…
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Spinach & Gruyere Quiche
Every time I think of quiche, I am reminded of weekend shopping trips with my mom and sisters. We’d leave early on a Saturday morning and head to the mall or shopping centers so we could be there when they’d open, and we’d shop until after lunchtime. I can’t even imagine how much money we spent, but we hit every store in the shopping center, sometimes twice, until we were done. After our marathon trip, we’d head out to eat a late lunch at the…
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TUACA Mule and TUACA Root Beer Float
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of TUACA Vanilla Citrus Liqueur for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine. Today’s post is sponsored by TUACA®. Have you had it yet? TUACA® is “a vanilla citrus liqueur, a brandy, blended with natural sugar, fine spirits and vanilla essences.” Doesn’t that just SOUND amazing? You guys. It’s fantastic. And even better, it puts a delicious twist on one of my favorite drinks, the Moscow Mule. Paired with ginger beer and lemon juice, it’s a totally…
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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…
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Butterfly Cupcakes
This past weekend we celebrated my baby girl’s second birthday with two family parties. For me, it was a busy weekend of cleaning, cooking and keeping the girls entertained but it was all worth it. I loved just watching how happy my girls were to be surrounded by everyone who loves them. It wasn’t about the presents, the food or the decorations. Especially in the wake of the tornado destruction in Joplin, MO and Reading, KS, I found myself counting my blessings. It was a…
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Share-It Saturday: Week 7
How is it already Saturday again? Last week flew by…we had an extra event every single day of the week, so today we’re just going to relax. Well, by relax I mean catch up on laundry, try to get my house back in order and mow the lawn. Incidentally, I’ve forgotten how often you have to mow when it’s not 105 degrees and actually raining a couple of times a week. If you haven’t yet, don’t forget to enter to win a KitchenAid Artisan Mixer in the…
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Deep Dish Pizza
When I was growing up, my Mom owned a newspaper and publishing company. This was an awesome job for her because it gave her the flexibility to be home with the kids when she needed to. However, it also meant that once or twice a week she had to work later in the evening to cover city council meetings or hang out until the paper was ready to go to press. This meant that my Dad was responsible for dinner for 5 kids once or…
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Mini Peach Cobblers
While we were out and about yesterday, my husband and I both noticed that things are finally starting to turn green – the pastures are now more green than brown, the trees all have little buds on them, and daffodils and hyacinths are starting to poke out of the ground. SPRING! Spring is finally, finally, finally here. {I should note that I checked the weather earlier, and we actually have a slight chance of snow tomorrow morning, but I’m just going to pretend like that’s…
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Caramel Pecan Apple Pie
So, you really can’t go wrong with apple pie. Am I right? Even bad apple pie is usually pretty tasty. Or maybe I’ve never had bad apple pie? Aaannnd, now that I say that, I’m envisioning really bad apple pie, so I guess I could theoretically imagine an apple pie so bad that it might not be worth the calories. But this one? For Pete’s sake, it’s covered in a crumb topping. And then. THEN. That crumb topping? It’s topped with toasted pecans and caramel…
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Neapolitan Layer Cake with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
How fun is this cake? If you’ve been reading my blog, back in February I talked about my sister and her trouble making a decision for her birthday treat. She ended up choosing the Key Lime Cupcakes which turned out to be a fabulous decision because they were wonderful. This was the contender, the cake that made her decision so difficult that week. I knew I had to make this one, but needed the perfect excuse because it’s so time consuming. We celebrated Easter at…
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Blueberry Breakfast Cake
This blueberry breakfast cake is reminiscent of a shortcake, slightly sweet and bursting with fresh blueberries and undertones of crisp lemon. The crunch from the turbinado sugar lends a satisfying crackle, and reminds you that breakfast is meant to be delicious. Hi everyone! I’m back! Not that I was really gone, but I took a bit of a self-prescribed break from the blog last week. My kids were sick, I was sick, my kids were sick again – it was just a really crummy week.…
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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…