Living a Real Life in an Artificial World
Blondies are brownies without the chocolate. I know, I know -- why would you ever want brownies without the chocolate?! But trust me, these babies are delicious in their own right! They are a buttery, sugary mess of a treat. You can play these up by adding M&Ms, butterscotch chips or cinnamon to the top before baking or just leave them plain Jane. Blondies Print Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 50 mins Total time: 1 hour Serves: 16 … [Read more...]
Happy Valentine's Day! Aside from making a bunch of pink, red, and heart shaped food, we don't have plans for today. We try to focus Valentine's Day on the kids and as long as I have lots of hearts and glitter, they are happy! If you are in need of a quick and easy last minute treat, these cupcakes will fit the bill. Last week, about an hour before dinner, I decided I wanted cupcakes for dessert. I had pinned this recipe for a chocolate cake and decided to try it as cupcakes. All it … [Read more...]
I'm so excited to be a part of the Show Some Love Blog Hop hosted by One Tough Mother! If you've missed any of the 10 previous posts, scroll down the end of this post and click away. There is some serious Valentine inspiration going on with these ladies on the hop. Today, I am sharing my all time favorite treat to make for Valentine's Day: Homemade Truffles. Chocolates are the epitome of Valentine's Day and there is absolutely NO NEED to go out and buy them when they are so simple to … [Read more...]
I love chocolate and mint together. It's one of those combinations I just can't get enough of. This recipe is from a friend of mine. She makes this dessert for an annual Christmas gathering we both attend. This year, however, she was going to be out of town for the gathering! I asked for the recipe and she kindly obliged. There are several steps to the recipe, but none of them are hard and it's totally worth the effort. Just make sure to plan ahead. Grasshopper … [Read more...]
Making marshmallows has been on my to do list since I first saw them in a Martha Stewart magazine several years ago. I never paid too much attention to the recipe, just noticing it was on the long side, which to me means it takes a lot of time and energy. Then last week a friend posted a recipe on her Facebook page and commented that she would have made marshmallows a long time ago if she'd known how easy they are. Well, that was it for me! Marshmallows jumped to the top of the list … [Read more...]
My sister and I hosted a cookie exchange last week. It's an annual tradition that we've been participating in or hosting for at least 5 years. We have a great time, but I have to admit... I really hate baking cookies. I'm terrible at cookies. Give me yeast any day, but cookies and I are just not friends. I made these thin mint type cookies, but they took me three days and were a major pain! And they weren't even that good when it was all over. I definitely need to … [Read more...]
We're heading in to that time of year when all the "special" cookies and candies are made. I rarely make good old chocolate chip! But I needed a sweet snack to take on a road trip a few weeks ago and these are so easy that I could fit them in between laundry and packing. I've tried so many chocolate chip cookie recipes and not one of them came even close to my idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. But this recipe is IT. You will never need another chocolate chip cookie recipe ever … [Read more...]
I had never made a cinnamon roll in my life until just after I got married. Up until then cinnamon rolls that came out of my oven came out of a tube. I had picked up a frugal living book at the thrift shop and one of the author's main points was to save money by cooking from scratch. One of the recipes she included in the book was for cinnamon rolls. I have never looked at a tube of cinnamon rolls again. I have tried several recipes for cinnamon rolls and they are all good, but this one … [Read more...]
When I was a little girl there was a Woolworths store in the next town north of where we lived. Inside the Woolworth' store was a lunch counter. I can't remember if they served food, but they did serve hot fudge sundaes. We rarely went to the Woolworth's store but one day for some reason my mom and I went and had hot fudge sundaes. That sundae was so good that I still remember it today, some 30 years later. I've never had hot fudge sauce quite as good as Woolworths. Until now. This … [Read more...]
I made this cheesecake for Thanksgiving in 2010 and it was a huge success! So much so that I'm sure we'll be eating pumpkin cheesecake every year from now on. I make the cheesecake a week or two before Thanksgiving and then freeze it right in the pan (so use a pan you don't need!). Because I like to make the cheesecake in advance, I choose to use a 9" cake pan instead of a spring form pan. The first piece can be tricky to get out whole, but after that, it's a cinch! In order to get a … [Read more...]
