Sometimes I think we bakers must have tried all of the versions of chocolate chip cookies that are humanly possible. I’m always amazed when I read about someone’s fresh, new idea. And then, of course, there are those times that I wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking… about recipes… about ingredients… and [...]
Category Archives: Sweet Treats
I posed a couple of questions on Twitter last night: “Who has never baked Snickerdoodles?” & “Who has never even tried a Snickerdoodle cookie?” Amazingly enough, there was a flood of responses from friends who have never tried one of these delicious little cookies and even more who have never baked them. Some claimed that [...]
My Mom used to make these delicious little bake & slice rolled chocolate-swirl cookies when I was growing up. I’m sure she got the recipe out of some sort of 70’s cheesy checkout-aisle mini magazine but it’s really a genius, wonderful recipe. Mom still makes them once a year during the holidays, hauling them on the airplane to [...]
Are you familiar with the Whoopie Pie? No one in my little corner of the world has ever heard of a whoopie pie. If I weren’t a food writer, I’m not sure I’d know what one was either.
According to Wikipedia:
A whoopie pie is a baked good made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, [...]
Most people want chocolate for Valentine’s Day. I’ll take Dulce de Leche, thank you. And cheesecake. And toffee. Heck, I’ll take Miniature Toffee Crunch Cheesecakes with Dulce de Leche.
I once dreamed of having cheesecake as my wedding cake. That didn’t happen, but if I marry my husband again… there will be cheesecake involved in the [...]
I have a deep, dark secret. I don’t really like chocolate. I’ve mentioned it in passing before, but I never get any understanding or compassion. Instead I get… “What?” “What’s wrong with you?” “How can you not like chocolate?” “It’s the best ever!” …things like that. It seems there aren’t a whole lot of folks [...]
Three weeks into the Ten in ‘10 Healthy Challenge and I’m still getting requests for people to join along. We’re up to 336 participants from 41 states & 15 countries! It seems that a lot of folks are hoping for a little support in their healthy journey, and that’s what this challenge is all about. [...]
I like to think that there will be a special calorie-free place in heaven reserved for Snickerdoodle lovers like me. There will be beaches made of cinnamon-sugar sand and surfboards made of Snickerdoodle Cookies. On a nearby magical mountain, I’ll ski down frozen layers of Snickerdoodle Ice Cream, maneuvering the mogul-like scoops with ease as [...]
One of the goals for my healthy look at 2010 is to bake nutritious things without losing the flavor and satisfaction of eating something really evil. I plan on using a lot more whole grains and very little white flour in my quest to be sporting a bikini by summer. Oat flour, a hearty whole-grain [...]
I just made these today, and I couldn’t resist sharing them with you immediately.
Have you been persuaded to buy any of those specialty bags of Hershey’s holiday kisses? I picked up a bag of the Mint Truffle flavored variety at Target the other day and found myself wondering what the heck I was going to [...]
Abigail Johnson Dodge is an expert in baking and cooking, as well as a popular food writer, instructor and media personality. Her recipes are featured regularly in various publications. Most recently, her gorgeous Peppermint Meringue Cake with Chocolate Buttercream landed the coveted spot on the cover of Bon Appetit.
The Weekend Baker, one of 6 cookbooks that [...]
This contest is now closed. Congrats to the ten winners listed below- all chosen randomly via www.random.org!
#51 Molly “I love Pioneer Woman cooks. But, if I can’t find a recipe I am specifically looking for, I usually go to allrecipes.com. I like reading the reviews.”
#66 Fran www.FrantasticFood.com “My 1st resource is my Google Reader feed [...]
Welcome to the Baker’s Dozen Ultimate Christmas Cookie Exchange! Today I’ve united with twelve incredible food bloggers to bring you a holiday cookie celebration. To see all of the participating bloggers, please visit the Baker’s Dozen home site at www.13CookieChristmas.info.
I’ve spouted off before about how I think that Christmas cookies should LOOK like Christmas cookies. [...]
There is a rather disturbing trend taking place in the world of Christmas cookies. It’s that folks are doing so-called “Christmas Cookie Baking,” that isn’t really holiday baking at all. What I mean by this is that some people bake chocolate chip cookies or snickerdoodles and such, add them to their cookie platters and call them Christmas [...]
I’m officially enamored with eggnog. This holiday season, I’ve already whipped up an eggnog bread and eggnog muffins. My husband has been eyeing an eggnog cookie recipe from a holiday cookie magazine that he’d like me to bake. My son has been begging me to make eggnog french toast. And my nephew (a chef) apparently informed my sister that my [...]
My favorite time of year for baking is Christmas. I rarely repeat a cookie recipe (always wishing to discover new things), but if I do… these are the treats I’m most likely to make again.
Click on the picture to view the recipe:
Be sure to come back tomorrow to see what I’ll be serving up first. [...]
Ever since I began writing about food, I’ve had some strange sleeping habits. I have a tough time sleeping anyways but if I wake in the middle of the night, I start thinking…and thinking…and thinking. My mind is awash with ideas for blog posts or recipe creations, and I get so excited about what I’m creating [...]
Each month, a few blogging buddies and I join forces and have a little pie party on our blogs called The Great, Big Pie Bakeoff. Everyone is welcome to participate- we keep the details for each month’s theme on our little pie website. Join us in November if you wish to bake up a pie!
This month’s theme is “Scary [...]
Welcome to The Recipe Girl’s Trick-or-TrEAT post. Today, nine favorite food, craft and lifestyle bloggers await behind nine haunted houses with an array of holiday treats created just for you. At the end of this post, you will find two of these mystery houses. To join in the holiday fun, simply click on one of [...]
Please join me on Monday, October 26, when I join forces with nine of the webs best food & lifestyle bloggers for the delightfully frightful Halloween collaboration, Trick-Or-TrEAT. Nine haunted houses have been trimmed and tricked out on your behalf. Which of your favorite bloggers awaits behind each haunted home? Whatever have the ghosts and [...]
I’m not much of a camper. My husband often takes my son on camping trips, and I happily stay behind and thank the gods for our bug-free house, cozy bed and well-stocked kitchen. I always send them off in comfort… marinate a little meat for them to throw on the grill, pack up some convenience foods [...]
While traveling through the state of Vermont last summer, we passed quite a few of those little soft serve ice cream stands that you often see on the side of the road when you’re on a family road trip. In my part of the world, these soft serve ice cream cones are known as ”Frosties” but for [...]
If you’ve ever been to San Diego, you’ll probably agree that it’s a little bit of a dreamy place… warm-ish weather all year long, palm trees gently swaying on the horizon, year-round Farmer’s Markets & herb gardens, lots of great beaches, and jaw-dropping sunsets. The down-side to living in such a beautiful place… we don’t [...]
Our community held it’s annual Fall Harvest Festival this past weekend. It’s our attempt to experience a bit of what autumn is like in most parts of the country… caramel apple-making stands, displaced hay bales, & store-bought scarecrows, all set up on a village green and packed with folks clad in summery attire and lathered with [...]
A caramel apple is a sweet treat I’ve always admired from afar. It’s the sort of thing that “looks” appealing to eat… all of that gooey caramel wrapped around a crunchy, juicy apple- sometimes even rolled in toasted nuts or, better yet, M&M’s. But it’s also the very treat that I’m unwilling to tackle eating. The idea of trying [...]
Some blogging friends and I got to chatting about pie recipes one day on Twitter. Remember the movie “Waitress?”… all the pies with the funny names that the main character would bake up as she daydreamed of a life without her deadbeat husband?
If you haven’t ever seen this movie, you simply must rent it- it’s pretty hilarious. [...]
Autumn is an awe-inspiring, beautiful season in most parts of the US. Brightly-colored leaves cover the trees, and we begin to see hints of crimson, yellow and orange dotting the landscape as winds clear the branches bare.
Apples of all kinds are begging to be plucked from their trees, and they’re plentiful and affordable in the markets [...]
Sometimes I bake things that I’m not really quite sure about. I mess with existing recipes and I develop my own, and I don’t always really know if all is going to work out. I guess that’s pretty normal for recipe development… trial and error. And then trial and error again until you meet with [...]
I made a different version of this recipe once before… wasn’t too impressed with the flavors, but I loved the idea of a raspberry/lemon biscotti. When I came upon a bounty of raspberries this summer, I found myself awake in the middle of the night thinking about this recipe again. (Everyone has that problem, right? Unable [...]
When I was little I lived in a California neighborhood with a zillion kids. With zero knowledge of the impending video game era, we entertained ourselves easily with outdoor games such as hide-and-go-seek and kick-the-can. Sometimes we just sat on the curb of the street and talked, or raced tiny paper ‘boats’ in the sprinkler [...]
I did it. I dared to mess with a master baker. I took his cookie recipe and thought I could make it better.
I browned the butter that was instructed to be melted. I added in a little bit of lemon juice too (my secret for helping to create chewy cookies). And I defiantly used my preferred [...]
My fridge has been stocked with an abundance of fresh blueberries all summer long. My favorites are the big, fat juicy ones… the ones that taste amazing when tucked into a bowl of fresh fruit with a dollop of vanilla yogurt and a sprinkle of granola. Ideally, there should be a small splash of blueberry [...]
Let’s get a few things straight:
1. I’m not a big fan of Cool Whip or any packaged, ready-to-eat foods.
2. I don’t normally take the easy way out when putting together desserts.
3. I’ve come to realize that sometimes taking the easy way out works out really, really well.
With that in mind, I’ll present to you my [...]
I’ve been making a lot of cupcakes this year, and I’ve ogled at cupcake bakeries in various cities & tried their most exotic flavors. I’ve woken up having dreamt of new cupcake recipes, scrambling for a pen and paper to write down my ideas before they’re lost. My obsession with cupcakes of late has now turned to cookie cupcakes. Yep, it’s [...]
The crunch of whole-grain cornmeal is one of those really pleasant culinary experiences for me. I’m sure that sounds odd (corny, even) to some… but I just love diving into a muffin or cornbread or a crust that has cornmeal included and biting into that grainy texture. It absolutely must be whole-grain cornmeal… the regular stuff just doesn’t [...]
Happy 4th of July Week! I’m planning on celebrating with cupcakes: Red, White & Blue Cupcakes.
I’ve wanted to make a multi-colored tie-dye sort of cupcake for quite some time, so I decided to start with the red, white & blue sort for the holiday.
They’re simple, really. Use a vanilla cake batter and divide it into [...]
Here’s another good one for the 4th of July… or if you just have some fresh berries lying around: Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars.
Believe it or not, this is a lighter fat recipe! Yay for still getting to enjoy treats when you have to diet on the 4th of July 200 calories [...]
Kid favorite straight ahead
Inspired by The Food Librarian’s Valentine Jello, I created a 4th of July version: 6 layers of Red White and Blue Finger Jello. Remember those popular little treats called Knox Blox (back in the day?) These are similar, though not quite as firm. The white layer isn’t actually a jello layer [...]
I’m excited to share a recipe that I twittered about the other day… it created quite the discussion on Twitter as well as puddles of internet drool: Kahlua Brownies with Kahlua-Browned Butter Icing.
I was saddled with the task of sending a treat along with my husband (who was headed to a Laker’s game viewing party). [...]
I’m lovin’ the abundance of fresh cherries right now. We consistently have cherries all washed and ready to eat in a big bowl in our refrigerator. Honestly I had never really been that into eating cherries before this season. Popping them into your mouth, chewing around the pit and then discreetly ’spitting’ the pit into a [...]
Dear Chocolate Lovers,
I have a cookie for you and only for you… Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies. If you don’t care for chocolate, you might as well leave now. This one is for the chocolate-obsessed only.
The batter has melted chocolate in it, chocolate chunks are mixed into the chocolate batter, and broken candy bar pieces are placed [...]
Strawberries are everywhere around here right now… fresh, juicy and plentiful. I’ve done fruit salads, galettes, muffins, breads, pies… and I’m always looking for new and creative ways to utilize them. Smitten Kitchen did this cute strawberry cake. Since I don’t wish to have a big ‘ol cake sitting around shedding its calories upon my [...]
My little one had a birthday recently, and he wished for a Boston Red Sox birthday cake. I’m not a big cake baker, but I figured I could pull it off. Armed with a picture of their logo, I set off to bake his wish. Here’s a pictoral step-by-step, with a few instructions for how [...]
My guys were headed out on a camping trip a couple of weeks ago (with a bunch of other fathers & sons), and they ordered up some cookies to take along with them. Looking forward to a solitary weekend, I happily scoured my cookies-yet-to-bake binder to find a recipe that I thought would satisfy the hungry campers. [...]
Fancy food is not for the casual eater. Too much fanciness can make a non-foodie type feel a little out of place. It’s not welcomed by the non-adventurous type. And it’s usually not appreciated by one who doesn’t really know food. Sometimes simple really is best.
I made this pound cake recently… when I was looking [...]
Cinco de Mayo will soon be here (May 5th for those non-Spanish speakers). Though it’s a Mexican holiday, here in Southern California, Cinco de Mayo celebrations are pretty widespread… mostly an excuse to eat Mexican food and partake in downing a few margaritas. We had a party last year for that very reason. These Margarita [...]
Italian-made cannoli can be counted among my all-time favorite desserts in this world. I had my fair share of them on a visit to Italy, and have enjoyed pretty decent cannoli at both Mike’s and Modern in the North End of Boston. It’s also the dessert I’ve most wanted to write about since Day 1 of [...]
I began the day yesterday with a desire to create some sort of candy bar-infused brownie. ‘Snickers‘ first came to mind. The thought of all of that caramel oozing its way through a mass of fudgy brownie sounded like a good idea to me. There was a problem though… NUTS were ruining my vision of [...]
Spring break + Cloudy, dreary day + Cutesie, unused cookie cutters =
Meyer Lemon Cut- Out Sugar Cookies
BIG BONUS in this recipe… no waiting! You do not have to chill the sugar cookie dough before you roll and cut! The dough is very easy to work with- if too sticky just add a bit more flour, [...]
I mentioned in my last post that I’m often inspired by recipes as I plow through magazines while working out at the gym. Martha had a recipe for Carrot Cheesecake in her latest issue of MS Living and that got me thinking. I do love carrot cake, and cheesecake is pretty much my all-time favorite [...]
I do my best thinking when I’m exercising. I’m proud of my ability to multi-task… working hard to whittle down my thighs while planning to make various recipes by scouring through cooking magazines at the gym. I always overplan. During a recent 45 minute workout, I mentally planned several ‘30 Minute or Less’ dinners, learned [...]
When I first began surfing food blogs back in 2007, the first recipe that caught me eye was for these delicious sandwich cookies that had caramel oozing out the sides: Alfajores. Here it is 2009, and I have finally- just now- gotten around to making them.
Our neighborhood’s Gourmet Club had a Spanish-themed Paella dinner party [...]
In my last post I professed my love for malt. I’ve got another love… anything caramel, and most specifically- Dulce de Leche. If you’re not familiar with this Latin treat, you should plan on making its acquaintance very soon. Cans of it already made can be found in Latin markets, or if you’re lucky they might [...]
I find myself a bit addicted to those malted milk balls known as ‘Whoppers.’ They really must be Whoppers. There’s a local market here that sells malted milk balls in bulk form and they just don’t taste as fabulous as the original.
In fact, I’m rather fond of all things that are malt… there’s the obvious: [...]
Yeah, it’s yet another chocolate chip cookie recipe on the internet. Like there aren’t enough already, right? But this one has peanut butter tucked in there and a couple of additional secret ingredients that make them worth trying:
Honey- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ok, the secret is out- honey is one of those secret ingredients. Don’t [...]
That title should read… “How to Make Wedding Cupcakes when You’re Not Really a Professional Cupcake Baker.” Since I’m always bringing treats to people, those people occasionally ask if they can hire me to make treats. Not really wishing to create a business of making and selling food, I typically decline- however, a [...]
Sometimes I just need a ’sugar fix.’ I don’t need the fat, and I don’t really crave the fat either. I take that back… I do crave donuts once in a while, but the thought of eating a donut and knowing how much fat is in there pretty much grosses me out at the moment. [...]
When I think of fun things to bake, cupcakes are pretty much at the top of the list. They can be decorated in so many different ways… making them a damn cute dessert. I’m completely jealous of those cupcake bloggers who seem to have endless ideas for cupcake flavors and decor. They’re a great source [...]
My mother made these treats for us every year at Christmas. They’re like an oatmeal cookie bar with a gooey chocolate layer. It’s one of those recipes that our family still makes every year during the holidays, even though it’s not at all a holiday cookie. I guess sometimes traditions just stick. They’re seriously a big-time favorite [...]
When I first saw this recipe in O Magazine, I thought…’baked‘ spicy brownies? Ok, so how else would they be cooked… fried? broiled? sauteed? microwaved?… (sounds like a Cakespy experiment waiting to happen). The full write-up explained that these treasures were adapted from a brownie found in a little pastry shop in Brooklyn called Baked. [...]
Sweets (and my love for sampling them) have been the bane of my existence. I’ve always hated that I adore them so much. And I’m insanely jealous of those people who have a natural disdain for sweets. I wonder why I couldn’t just be like them? Why did I have to inherit my Swedish side of the family’s never-ending [...]
I tend to overcommit myself. I volunteer for too many things, and when the opportunity comes around to put my amateur baking skills to good use… I volunteer for that too. This was one of those weeks… I overcommitted, and I ended up having to flake-out on a couple of things in order to save [...]
Warning! This post has absolutely nothing to do with healthy and low fat eating. It is Valentine’s week, however, and I’m one of those people who volunteered to make treats for teachers, classroom, etc. Call it torture during my time of healthy blogging, but I believe in living life as usual and just making good [...]
It seems so wrong to be posting about brownies when I’m in the middle of my healthy eating venture. But these were offered at a little party we attended for the last Charger’s playoff game (and that happened to be one day prior to the start of my venture). They didn’t serve as good luck [...]
If I could bake every day, I’d be one happy girl. It doesn’t really matter what I bake, I enjoy seeing the outcome and I love to make it pretty. I’m determined that my love of baking will not be deterred by my newfound healthy eating venture. The challenge is to learn to sample, as [...]
I find that it’s tough to think of snack ideas for my kid. I always have things like string cheese, yogurt tubes, raisins, and apples on hand… but I’m guilty of buying packaged processed pantry items for convenience too (little packs of cookies, pretzels, granola bars, etc.). I really hate that packaged stuff. I wish [...]
I confess that I’m a Vanilla Gal. When faced with the ‘chocolate or vanilla’ dilemma, it’s never a dilemma for me. Chocolate doesn’t do wonders for my skin and I can’t handle the caffeine very well. Don’t get me wrong… I buy chocolate, I blog about chocolate, and I even eat it & enjoy it… [...]
If you’re undecided about what sort of delicious dessert to make for Christmas this year, look no further. I found one for you… Red Velvet Cheesecake.
I don’t gush about recipes all that often, and I’m a horrible critic of my own creations. I usually have to ask others what they think in order to get [...]
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not really addicted to eggnog per se, but rather it must be the spices within. I’m equally enamored with things like Snickerdoodles and Cinnamon Fudge and so it must be those spices that grab me.
Since the addicting Cinnamon Fudge made a welcome appearance in my life last season, [...]
Disclaimer… there were no actual candy canes used in the making of this Candy Cane Coffee Cake. It’s just the shape people! If you don’t have opportunity to make this for the holiday season this year, you should save it for next season. It’s impressive and delicious.
Here’s the how to:
Make the dough (following the directions), [...]
Every holiday should have their own cupcake. Or every cupcake should have their own holiday. One of those. In my next life I might be a cupcake blogger. I ‘get’ why those cupcake bloggers are incredibly popular. Cupcakes are just so darned cute, and they seem to make people happy.
My happy self chose Chocolate Cupcakes [...]
My baking projects are in full swing, my Christmas shopping is complete, and my home is decorated to the hilt. Next up is wrapping gifts… something I don’t really enjoy. So I’ll continue to put that off and bake more cookies instead! Cookie #8 of this holiday baking season: Chocolate- Mint Thumbprints.
Here’s one where you [...]
When I was little, my mother used to make ‘pie dough cookies.’ She took leftover pie dough, rolled it out, spread butter and cinnamon & sugar, rolled it up, cut slices and baked. That was some good stuff. Love the memory of it too. Thanks Mom.
Cinnabon fan?Schedule time at the gym now so you can [...]
You know the stuff… pink wrapping… chocolate & toffee rolled in almonds… Almond Roca? It’s just about my favorite thing in the whole world. Dangerous stuff that roca is. I can’t have it in my house for fear of a major gorge-fest.
I tempted danger though and made my own homemade Chocolate- Almond Toffee. Surely I [...]
In need of a little peanut butter fix, I whipped these up recently from KA Cookie Companion:Magic In the Middles. They’re a chocolate cookie with peanut butter ‘magic’ in the middle.
Chocolate and peanut butter doughs are made separately.
A scoopful of chocolate dough is flattened out and wrapped around gobs of rolled pb dough.
The [...]
I’ve always loved looking at Christmas trees that have gourmet additions like strands of popcorn & cranberries. We’ve never done that sort of thing, but this year I opted to try a cookie ornament for our tree: Cinnamon- Sugar Stars.
This cinnamon-tainted dough is rolled out and stamped with stars. Use a straw to poke holes [...]
Back in the 70’s, my little friends and I regularly searched under our couch cushions to scrape up spare change. Dad was notorious for napping on the couch with pockets full of change, so we usually scored pretty well. We often took that change to the drugstore to get cheap ice cream cones… they seriously [...]
This is a good one for for chocolate-covered espresso bean lovers…Chocolate Dipped- Espresso Shortbread Cookies
The cookies themselves are a simple shortbread cut-out cookie flavored with powdered espresso. Cut them into whatever shapes you like. For dipping, it’s good to find shapes that are symmetrical, like circles, Christmas trees, hearts, diamonds, etc.
These cookies are dipped into [...]
My first experiment of the season will be a new favorite…Gingersnaps with Orange- Ginger Cream Filling
These are formed into balls, rolled in sugar…
…and flattened slightly with a glass bottom.
The baked cookies are spread with this amazing frosting.
On their own, these ginger cookies were great- soft- not the crunchy sort. The filling has a gingery [...]
Here are my 25 Christmas Cookie & Candy favorites of last season… Click picture to find the recipe.
My Top Six favorites of the favorites:(I liked all of them, but here are the tops)#1: Blackberry- Sage Thumbprints#2: Bake & Slice Chocolate Swirls#3: Sparkling Butter Toffee Cookies#4: Cinnamon Fudge#5: Macadamia Nut Butter Toffee#6: Chocolate Mint Wafers
Especially good [...]
Still looking for that perfect Thanksgiving dessert? Here’s one that I tested out in this year’s search: Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart.
From Ms. Barefoot Contessa, a spiced graham cracker crust holds a custardy, pumpkin-banana filling. This can be made into one big tart or several little ones.
Only the crust is baked. The filling is simmered in [...]
My husband was at Starbucks on a business trip recently and ordered a Mocha. When he reached into his pocket to pay, the cashier told him it was taken care of. “Really?” he asked. “By whom?” The cashier pointed to an older lady standing off to the side. My husband approached the woman and thanked [...]
As a former teacher, I’m a natural sucker for cuteness and kids. I’m the Mom that that makes sure that her son has a cute backpack/lunch box (Red Sox, of course), cute haircut (just short enough to spike, if needed), and cute clothes (collared shirts and preppy shorts to school). I’m sure my kid could [...]
Clearly, I have an addiction. I seem to be managing to find numerous recipes that contain my favorite Mexican sweet. My latest find: Dulce de Leche Pumpkin- Toffee Pie.
This recipe came along at just the right time… I’m in need of something new to bring to Thanksgiving at my In-Law’s house. Not being a huge [...]
On a recent apple-picking venture in our local mountains, I found myself coming home laden with more than just apples… apple cider, apple butter and pumpkin butter followed me home too. I found uses for the cider and apple butter within muffins and breads. But the pumpkin butter stumped me. Sure, I could have used [...]
Count me in as someone who has always been a bit skeptical on whether or not rosemary has any business being in a dessert recipe.
Last year I made a holiday cookie recipe- Rosemary Shortbread Cookies. My husband scoffed and asked me why I was incorporating backyard plants into my cookie recipes. He could never get [...]
Sugar Babies were among my favorite Halloween treats to acquire when I was a young trick-or-treater. You don’t see them around too much anymore. Stores with well-stocked candy sections will carry them, and places like video stores and movie theaters have the super-sized boxes. If you’re lucky, you may find some among your children’s Halloween [...]
Our orthodontist is offering to pay the kids around here $1 for each pound of Halloween candy they’ll fork over. My kiddo is currently frantically digging out the candy that he’s willing to part with so he can make a little cash. My advice for him is to look for the heavy stuff (but keep [...]
With only 5 days until Halloween, my little one politely requested that I make Cinnamon Werewolves, Strawberry Dracula’s and Grape Frankenstein’s this week. Here’s a bit of our conversation:………………………………………………………………………………………….
me: “Where did those ideas come from?”kiddo: “They’re cookies that this kid made in a book that I read. All of the recipes and directions are in [...]
You’ve gotta love seasonally themed- M&M’s. They can make anything festive. My favorite Oreo-Chunk Brownies are good enough on their own, but the addition of M&M’s gives them a little Halloween Pizzazz.
These brownies are baked on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet (12 x 18-inches). After an overnight chill, the foil aides in lifting the entire [...]
Are you a fan of those waxy little Halloween candies known as candy corns? My family seems to find them addicting. I’ve bought several bags of the stuff (must be Brach’s brand) for recipes this year and they keep disappearing. Here’s a cookie recipe that copies the look of this candy: Candy Corn Cookies.
This is [...]
Inspired by Bakerella’s creations, I set about to create a fall-themed cake pop: Pumpkin Cake Pops. What is a cake pop? Well, it’s cake (sort of) on a stick.
Festive little treats, aren’t they?
Here’s the how-to:
Bake up a Pumpkin-Spice Cake (or a more simple boxed cake mix). Then destroy it by processing it into crumbs. [...]
The ‘Sea of Apples’ from our family apple-picking venture is almost entirely depleted. It has been an apple-recipe-a-day around here for the past couple of weeks, and it’s been fun selecting some new and unique recipes that utilize this fall fruit favorite. My family urged me to make a pie. Can’t have a bunch o’ [...]
Whenever I come across a recipe that includes the words “dulce de leche,” I’m immediately intrigued. I’m a caramel lover, you see, and dulce de leche puts caramel to shame. It’s infinitely more decadent and creamy, and it does magical things to baked goods too.
The latest dulce recipe that captured my full- attention: Dulce de [...]
What do you do with 65 apples?
We took a fabulous drive up into the local mountains of Julian yesterday, where they celebrate apples every Fall season. It was a cloudy and drizzly sort of day… the best for picking apples in an apple orchard.
Over 20 years in San Diego and this was my first [...]
Abandon your diet, and get out the milk.
Just when you think you’ve tried them all… that you can’t possibly find a brownie more decadent than the Cappuccino Brownies, more creamy than the Mascarpone Brownies, or more all-around-fantastic than the Oreo Chunk Brownies… one comes along that produces more drool than you ever thought you could [...]
If you’re on the hunt for a fall dessert to feed a small crowd, this is it: Chocolate- Chip Pumpkin Spice Bars.
Use a fork to consume. You can see that they’re really rather more like a cakey-bar than a hold-in-your-hand-and-firmly-grasp-it bar. But you can also tell from the pic that these are incredibly moist (happily [...]
This time of year I begin dreaming of apples. Granny Smith, Pink Lady and Gala are among my favorites. On fall weekends, my family is thrilled to wake to the scent of apple waffles or cider muffins. Homemade applesauce usually finds its way into our refrigerator. And afternoons might find me experimenting with apple pie [...]
Many flavors evoke the sense of the arrival of fall, but Maple is the flavor that most does it for me. At this time of year, I long to visit a region where maple is abundant… where maple farmers are tapping maple trees for sap in order to make fresh maple syrup. Instead, I must [...]
Happy Hour is made happier with a few desserts slipped in. Here were the choices for our recent neighborhood gathering (fall flavor influences evident!)
Apple Harvest Blondies “Most Eaten”
Though not the prettiest dessert of the bunch, these were terrible popular. They tasted like an apple cake with small chunks of cream cheese melted within. Delicious!
Caramel- Pecan [...]
Do you wish to live until the ripe-old-age of Ninety Three? I’d say if you make it that far, you’ve lived a good, long life. I can only hope that I’ll be living well into my nineties, still cooking up a storm, food blogging with ninety-three-year-old wisdom, and basking in the joy of numerous grandchildren. [...]
Our good friend Jerry has a chocolate company called Jer’s Handmade Chocolates. His company has one of those really great stories about how it was founded, and it sure has been fun seeing his company grow. One of his most popular chocolates is the Pretzo Change-O, a candy that incorporates baked pretzel bits and peanut [...]
Quick! There’s still time to make this with those end-of-summer, disappearing berries!
This Layered Berry Trifle is an easy-to-throw-together dessert. You don’t have to own a trifle bowl, but if you can find some sort of pretty, tall glass bowl- that works too. The recipe layers store-bought pound cake (or homemade if you’re so inclined) [...]
There’s just no fighting those superhero-strength new germs at the beginning of a school year. 4 days into the start of school, and my little one has already come down with strep throat. The doctor sent us home with medicine and ordered two days at home resting, as well as cold, soothing things to eat. [...]
Baking different varieties of chocolate chip cookies seems to be all-the-rage these days. If someone claims to have the most superior recipe, I’ll give it a go. I’ve tried many recipes but I always come back to this one. To me, this one (with its two secret ingredients) is the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.
I’m [...]
Let me just preface this by saying that I’m not typically a Paula Deen fan. I’m sure she’s a nice lady and all, but I just don’t usually cook much like she cooks. I don’t think I could ever make fried chicken, fried onion rings or anything really fried for that matter. Eating that stuff [...]
One more week…. until school begins, that is. I’m ready. More than ready! It’s time for the kiddo to go back to school. It’s been a great summer, and we’ve had loads of invaluable family-together time, but I look forward to having some days to myself again.
We have a brand-spankin’ new school opening up this [...]
Is your house heat-drenched this summer? Are you trying to avoid using that oven because you don’t wish to add to the misery? Here’s a no-bake frozen dessert that you will have a tough time not eating.
Are you familiar with Dairy Queen? These were a popular treat from DQ: Buster Bars.
I think they’ve phased out [...]
You simply can’t go wrong with a dessert that incorporates your favorite candy bars… especially those that you consumed often (without worries of weight gain) when you were much younger but now rarely indulge (because of worries of weight gain). When’s the last time you ate a regular-sized Snicker’s Bar? Really. Perhaps I’m too weight-concious, [...]
Happy 4th of July!
These were my favorites of the Cheesecake Pops that I made for the Daring Bakers. I found the festive 4th sprinkles at a cake decorating store, and the ribbon at a craft store. If you make the cheesecake pops for the 4th, I would suggest that you dip into the chocolate deep [...]
Gingerbread in June? You betcha. This isn’t a holiday sort of cake in any sense. When I spotted this recipe in an old Bon Appetit, I tucked it away into my ‘must make soon’ file. Anything that sounds just a little strange-but-wonderful gets tucked into that file. Fresh pureed mango is incorporated into a gingery [...]
Strawberries! They’re in season and easy to locate just about everywhere right now… red, ripe, juicy and ready to be used up before they turn to mush. This oh-so-fab dessert is a little fancy, but it was an excellent choice to end our Gourmet Club’s dinner party.
Behold the Strawberry and White Chocolate Mousse Tart!… an [...]
I’m a sucker for recipes that utilize candy bars in one way or another. I’ve tried Milky Way Cake… it called for 8 full-size Milky Way bars. I swear that cake weighed about 5 pounds (it was awfully good though.) Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Cake is another keeper… just one of those recipes that always turns [...]
I made it to 100 posts. I figure that’s some sort of milestone that should be celebrated in one way or another, right?
Cake is always a good choice for celebrating. I actually brought this cake to my In-Law’s house since they were hosting a little family barbecue. And yes, it’s really called, “Chocolate Freak Out.”
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Sadly, I was not able to participate in the Daring Baker’s challenge this month. So I thought I’d post on a different kind of baker’s challenge instead. To mark the end of our Little League season this year, I created a baseball cookie for each of the kids on my son’s team.
I used this great [...]
You only turn seven once. That’s why you should get a first class ticket to Disneyworld for your seventh birthday, right? One lucky little boy who lives in my house received that gift.
Now before you call me “extravagant” and “outrageous,” it’s not really all it seems. We used air miles for the trip, and the [...]
This recipe has been tucked into my humongous cookie binder of magazine clippings for quite some time. It’s one of those recipes that I’ve thought about often, and it’s one where I felt I needed just the right opportunity to try it out. When the treat coordinator for my son’s school emailed the other day [...]
According to Salary.com, if paid… a stay-at-home Mom in San Diego, CA would earn between $102,000 and $154,000 a year for her work as a mother. Is my husband reading this? The website lists all of the jobs that a mother does- you input your zip code, and it calculates accordingly. If you’re looking for [...]
Any campers in the audience?
Who doesn’t love a good s’more?… It’s a rhetorical question, really because what kind of person wouldn’t enjoy this sticky, messy, gooey creation of the camping world? Slashfood published an article about the history of S’Mores- where they noted that although the first recipe for S’Mores was published in the Girl [...]
Cheesecake Pops have been popping up all over the internet today. They were the choice for this month’s Daring Baker’s challenge hosted by Elle from Feeding my Enthusiasms and Deborah from Taste and Tell. The recipe is from Jill O’Connor’s darling cookbook: Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. Warning: This recipe has a super-high cute factor!Although I [...]
It has been warming up again around here… and will get into the upper 90’s this weekend! Totally perfect beach weather, but I’m going to Vegas instead for a friend’s big birthday bash. Amazingly enough, Vegas (known for its intense dry heat) will only be in the 80’s. Still wonderful, pool lounging, ice cream-eating weather [...]
