High Heels & Aprons

Big Big News!!!

2010-09-29T18:26:00.001-07:00

Hello!!

I have been neglecting my blog lately and I haven't been able to catch up on my favorite blogs either. I have a very exciting reason though....

I AM OPENING UP A BAKERY!!

I am delighted, excited and beyond ecstatic to start this new chapter in my life!

I have linked my blog up to my new site so I can easily post and share recipes, but more importantly, I will be able to catch up on all your fab blogs that I have been missing out on over the summer!

Please visit my new site Allyson Jane and take a look around... we're having a GIVEAWAY!

Also, you can become a fan of Allyson Jane on our new Faceook page here !

Apple Pie

2010-07-15T22:56:00.000-07:00

Apple pie is my favorite. Most. Favorite. Ever.

Although I generally don't care for sweets, if I am left alone with an apple pie, it might not be there the next day.

This recipe, hands down, makes the best apple pie I have ever tatsed. I wish that I could tell you that this is an old family recipe, but I actually found this on the Williams Sonoma website several years ago.

Click Here

for the recipe

If you can't find the apples listed in the recipe, I would try and use one sweet apple and one sour. Macintosh work well if you can't find the Pink Lady apples.

If you and pie crust haven't made nice yet, this post may be helpful, or this video.

Homemade Lemon Curd

2010-06-20T00:11:00.000-07:00

My neighbor Marcie is so sweet. She's so friendly, always has little fancy things for my daughter and is just so cool. Everyone should have a neighbor like Marcie.

The other day I was making some of my homemade lemon curd to fill some cupcakes. Usually I have a ton left over so I decided to give some to Marcie!

To quote her: "Allyson, your lemon curd is to die for."

Click Here

for the recipe

Lemon curd goes great on toast, as a compliment to fresh raspberries, as a cake filling.... if you like lemon, you'll find something to use it for!

Shrimp Etouffee

2010-06-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

Shrimp Etoufee... defintely one of my {go to} recipes when I am having company for dinner, but it's also a great, quick week night dinner!

As most of you know, I really try and cook with only fresh ingredients. Usually, it makes for a very affordable dinner, and you won't hear me complaining about that!

Click Here

for the recipe

Saute the onions and celery in butter, add the garlic, cook for a few, and then add the shrimp, cayenne pepper and salt.

When the shrimp are pink, mix the flour into the water and slowly add to the pan. Wait until the sauce thickens, and then cook for 6-8 minutes. Add the scallions and parsley and cook for two more minutes.

You can certainly adjust the cayenne pepper up or down depending on preference. The amount in this recipe gives just the right amount of kick without being too peppery.

I like to serve this over plain white rice, with garlic bread of course. Generally we have a salad, but opted not to tonight.

Not bad for a Monday night dinner!

Mondays

2010-06-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

How do you spend your Monday evenings?

Jake's 8th B'day

2010-06-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Happy 8th Birthday to my son Jake!

Being 8 years old, one of his favorite things are movies. Ask for a movie party and you shall receive!

My friend Shannon from SCRAP LIFT IT made these custom Movie Night invitations for me. Shannon is SO FABULOUS... I just told her my theme and she made 8 of these for me!

She has made all my kids' invites over the years, and she'll make some for you too! Email her over at luckygirl1207@hotmail.com and get your order started!

I designed Jake's entire party around her custom invitations....

These are the goodie bags I sent home with the kids. Edible image cookies! I chose three of Jake's favorite movies : Indiana Jones, Star Wars and Mall Cop. There is one of each cookie in the bags.

I wonder if these will make it all the way home?

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

This is a cake that I made for a barbeque on Memorial Day Weekend.

I doubled my standard white cake recipe, and poured it onto two cookie sheets, to make a traditional sheet cake. It's frosted and filled with homemade cream cheese frosting, and decorated with blueberries and raspberries.

Using the left over frosting, I piped stars in between the raspberry stripes. To make sure that I had 7 red stripes and 6 white stripes, I measured the width of the cake and divided by 13. Then I made 13 marks with a toothpick and added the "stars and stripes".

Ice Cream Cookies

2010-05-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

I was asked by a local photographer if I could make some goodies for her upcoming photoshoot. She's doing a "Summer Looks We Love" theme and she thought it would be cute to use some treats as props.

Her only request was to use a pretty blue color.

Kim from the TomKat Studio remarked how perfect these would go with her ice-cream shoppe party circles inspired by Gymboree!

I suppose she is absolutely right!

Littlest Pet Shop Birthday Cake and Goodies!

2010-05-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Lindsey turned 8 years old this afternoon!

Since her mom and I are friends, I offered to make Lindsey any kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, and as you can tell... she chose Littlest Pet Shop as her theme.

Her mother had decided against traditional "goodie bags" so I made 20 little kids 20 cupcakes and 20 cookies to take home with them!

I bought some 24 ounce cups and lids and used those as the to-go containers for the cupcakes. Believe it or not, this is THE BEST WAY to take a cupcake to go. There's a little lip in the bottom of the lid that keeps the cupcake from knocking around.

Yeah.... these didn't make it all the way home. The kids ate them immediately.

Cookies for an upcoming dessert table!

2010-05-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

Practicing with some cookies for an upcoming dessert table! This one will be SO cute, can't wait to share some photos!

Disco Dust makes everything better, doesn't it?

One shoe can change your life

2010-05-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

Remember this post about my girlfriend who has everything, and what do you get her for her birthday? Well to go along with the "K" that I made her, I also made this sign with one of my favorite quotes on it.

I bought the wooden sign at Michaels and painted it hot pink. Then I printed out the words in the size and font that I wanted, and I used carbon transfer paper to trace them onto the sign.

Enter trusty paint pen (Michaels also)... those are the best things ever! Since this font is very girly, it's twisty and small and tedious. For this project, I used an ultra fine point paint pen.

I used a glossy finish spray and stapled a ribbon on the back. Of course I couldn't resist bedazzling it a bit with a little sparkle on the flower.

The leopard print on the "K" will go fabulously with the pink and black on this sign.

Happy Birthday Kymmie!

K is for Kim

2010-04-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

What do you get the birthday girl that has everything?

Nothing.

You make her something! Every girl likes their initial, right?

My girlfriend Kim just turned one of the bedrooms in her home into a closet, and this will fit right in!

I can't get over how easy this was to make. I bought one of those 3D cardboard box letters at JoAnn's, some cute scrapbook paper (this one has a velvet-like texture), and some Mod Podge, which by the way, is the BEST STUFF EVER!

I covered the surface of the K with Mod Podge and smoothed the paper down. Then I flipped over the K and used a small craft knife to cut away the extra paper. I painted the sides and back with some black paint that had little flecks of glitter in it.

This letter is on the larger size at 24 inches. It will make a fabulous statement in her home. With a different scrapbook paper, this would be so sweet in your little girl's room.

Yay! I can't wait to give it to her!

Happy Birthday Rebecca!

2010-04-28T00:08:00.000-07:00

We are celebrating my friend Rebecca's 30th Birthday tomorrow at lunchtime. She is going to LOVE these cookies I made for her!

Summer

2010-04-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Wishing summer would hurry up and get here!

These cookies will do, for now.

Off Road Jeep Cake

2010-04-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

My friend's wife called me and asked us to make her husband's 30th birthday cake. She didn't really know exactly what she wanted the cake to look like and told me I could make whatever I wanted. Then she says "He REALLY likes his Jeep."

I had asked my business partner to do a quick drawing of a "Jeep" cake and a few minutes later I called her and told her that I had an idea... why don't we make a mountain scene with a road running up the cake? She said that was funny, that's exactly what she already drew!

Great minds think alike!

Dessert Table

2010-04-17T10:04:00.000-07:00

We were invited to show off our goodies at one of the largest events in our area, "Girls Night Out". 650 tickets were available and they SOLD OUT prior the event.

We've added dessert tables as one of the things we offer and here's our very first one.

Since we were there to promote our business, Girly Gatherings, we designed this table around our company logo.

Everything on this table is homemade, and although we had reserves, we could barely keep it stocked, things were selling left and right!

Some of things on the table were:

white cupcakes with lemon filling

chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling

cake bites - chocolate cake mixed with cream cheese and drizzled with pink chocolate

Parisian macarons with white chocolate ganache filling

wedding cake with a damask print

cookies handmade with our company logo iced on them

homemade marshmallow

carrot cake with orange ginger cream cheese filling

banana cake with Jack Daniels cream cheese filling

red velvet cake with white chocolate cream cheese filling

The event director emailed me the next morning and had this to say (!!)

"You guys were a huge hit last night. Everyone was talking about you. I took the banana cake back to my office and had to share it with 5 people. It was amazing! Not only did it look good it tasted incredible. Seriously one of the best cakes I have tasted. Way to go"

We had an absolute fabulous time and the entire event was a great success!

Macarons

2010-04-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

We (Girly Gatherings) have been invited as a vendor for one of the biggest events in our area and we are just beyond estatic!

More to come, but here's a sneek peek.... I baked eight dozen sugar cookies and then another 140 of these macarons this weekend. These little beauties will be sandwich'd with white chocolate ganache.

If you know anything about macarons (the DIVA of french pastries) it is an enormous feat for the home baker to get "feet" on them.

YAY!!! I got feet!

Easter Cookies

2010-04-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

We're going to Grandma's house for Easter today, and I just couldn't resist making these bunny cookies for the kids!

PS: The sparkly stuff is Disco Dust.

I HEART DISCO DUST!!

Martini Cupcakes

2010-04-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Would it be weird if I asked for an invitation to this party?

Abby's 1st Birthday Cake

2010-03-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to post about my recipes for quite some time! I started this blog in October of last year when I had all kinds of time on my hands.

My little cake business goes on hiatus from October-December each year. From about March-September we are SO busy with cakes due to wedding season and birthdays!

This cake was for a darling little girl named Abby who turned 1 this week!

True Religion Jeans Birthday Cake

2010-03-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

This cake was ordered at the last minute for a 16th birthday. Her mother couldn't think of a cake design that she wanted, but she did say that her daughter loves designer jeans.

I have to admit, I have several pairs of these jeans, so we knew exactly how to make the tag!

I hope she LOVES it!

You only turn sixteen once. Wasn't it John Mellencamp that said "Hold on to 16 as long as you can... changes come around real soon, make us women and men."

So true.

Cupcakes For A Wedding Rehearsal Dinner

2010-03-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

These were ordered for a rehearsal dinner held in a banquet room at a restaurant. The restaurant wanted to charge $10 a head for dessert. For 50 people. Clearly, I am in the wrong business!

The happy couple has chosen peacock colors for their wedding. Without making the cupcake look like a peacock, I think these turned out pretty good. :)

Busy Busy Busy!

2010-03-06T12:28:00.000-08:00

I have so much to share but too busy to do it!

Last year around this time we got two puppies, yellow labs. Their names are Max & Ruby. They're litter mates and absolutely inseparable.

Aren't they cute?

This is what my yard looked like before the puppies...

Here's Max & Ruby one year later. They are mammoth dogs. Well not mammoth, but they are BIG dogs!!

This is what my yard looks like a year later. :(

So, in order to restore our yard and keep it nice, we have started on a project. More about this later.

Made another cake last night.... this one was for a poker tourament. The cake was red velvet with white chocolate cream cheese (yummy!!) Everything on this cake is edible, including the cards. The event director said when the night was done, there was just one scrap of cake left!

The venue where the tournament was held is actually a catering company, who is interested in using us as one of their vendors! More about that later too. I am so excited!!

It's been unseasonably sunny for a few weeks so we've been outside taking advantage of it. We took the kids to the driving range....

Then this morning, I had to get some spring flowers in their pots.

Busy busy busy and lots to share, just no time to write it! Oh yeah, the hot yoga is going well, will share about this too.....

Hot Yoga

2010-02-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

So I've decided to try my hand at hot yoga. Hopefully I will end up looking like her. :)

Have you ever heard of hot yoga? They heat the temperature in the room to a lovely 105 degrees. Then they pack the room full of people, probably mat to mat, and everybody sweats their ass off. Literally.

I re-joined the gym by my house, which produced an additional monthy expense. Yay. For first-timers, you can buy 10 classes for $10, which seems quite affordable. Then I asked how much the classes would be if I wanted to continue.... $95 a month, in addition to the monthly gym membership fee. Ouch!

The hot yoga classes have a two week waiting list, can you believe that?? It's ridiculously popular and people seem to say that it's the worst 90 minutes of their lives, but they LOVE IT! I've also heard it's quite addicting.

I can't believe the amount of money that I have had to invest in this, before I even get to start! I was told that I have to buy a "special" kind of clothing that wicks away moisture, a yoga mat, a "thirsty" yoga towel to cover the mat, then I bought a yoga bag to carry everything in.

Gym Membership $29.50 per month

Yoga Classes 10 for $10 $10.00 start up

Two Yoga Shirts And Two Pairs Of Yoga Pants $202.50

Yoga Mat $19.99

Thirsty Yoga Towel $24.50

Yoga Bag $24.99

Some of these are one time expenses, but still. I have spent $311.48 hoping that I too will become addicted to this and look like the girl in the picture above.

The ongoing expense will be $124.50 per month. Of course I can cancel the classes at any time, but what a waste of start up costs if I cancel!

I've heard the classes are intense because of the heat. I've also heard that most people don't make it all the way through the classes until their third or fourth go around.

I've obviously financially committed to this, so I have to make it through! My first class starts on Tuesday, wish me luck!

Rocky Road Marshmallows

2010-02-21T22:24:00.000-08:00

I have been asked to make the dessert table at an upcoming wedding clear down in Nashville... and I am absolutely giddy with excitement!

The bride's colors are white and black. I have come up with a list of desserts that are black, white, and black and white. Now it's time to try them out!

If you've never made homemade marshmallow, you should definitely give it a try. It is so easy, it practically makes itself. Homemade marshmallow tastes NOTHING like the marshmallows in the bag. These are creamy little clouds that melt in your mouth.

I used what I had in the pantry for this one, which was milk chocolate morsels and a chopped mixed nut topping (that we use for ice cream sundaes). Melt the chocolate over a double broiler. Make sure you turn the heat off once you place the bowl over the water. The steam will melt the chocolate slowly and allow it to set and harden on the marshmallow. Some I dipped in the chocolate and rolled in nuts, and some I piped the chocolate directly on.

My husband will be saddened to know that these are going to the girls in my office instead of him.

Like he needs another treat!

Caroline's White Cake With Chocolate Frosting

2010-02-20T23:26:00.000-08:00

Caroline is six. Don't you think it's high time she should know how to bake a cake and make frosting?

She certainly thinks so.

So first thing this morning - 7AM - we put our aprons on and got to baking. She made me promise that she could do the WHOLE THING by herself. Luckily enough for me, I didn't have a single thing planned this weekend, so at 7am we went at it. Well, she did.

I tried to show her how to crack the eggs to separate them and she kept breaking the yolks. She looked me straight in the eye and said "If you just leave me alone and let me do it, they won't break." She didn't break a single one after I let her be!

Normally I don't let the kids get too dirty in the kitchen and make a big mess, but she wanted to feel what the yolks felt like. :) She said they were squishy.

Our next door neighbor Megan came over right when it was time to taste the batter. She has great timing!

Semi-sweet chocolate for the frosting, ready to go into the food processor.

I've tried several different methods of melting chocolate that are much quicker than this. Using a double broiler seems to produce a better consistency though.

My son happened to wander over when the frosting was done. He has good timing too!

Don't you just want to eat this? Click Here for the frosting recipe.

Ever wonder how people frost a chocolate cake and never seem to get any of the frosting on their cake plate? This is how: cut up four squares of parchement paper and overlap them so no part of the cake plate is exposed. When the cake is set, then pull out the parchment and voila!

Sampling her work....

Click Here

for the recipe

We made a special trip to the store to get ice cream for her. *Of course, she added sprinkles.** it's just not finished without sprinkes!

Conversation Heart cookies for Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

Off to Grandma's house for Valentine's Day (and her birthday!)

There will be no less than 10 grandkids there to celebrate, so I made some cookies for THEM... that is, unless Grandpa doesn't get to them first!

I thought I was going to be all fancy and use and ink stamper with red gel paste coloring and stamp the words on the cookies. Ummm... not so much. WAY EASIER to just use a food coloring pen to write them on!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day at School

2010-02-13T00:10:00.000-08:00

I have been making the kid's Valentines for a few years now, instead of buying them. This year was a tad overwhelming though as both kids have *30* kids in their class. That's 60 homemade Valentines that require multiple steps to make each one. Good times, I know.

Using my handy new paper trimmer, I cut some red and pink cardstock. It took five batches of Rice Krispie treats to get 30 individual hearts cut out with a heart shaped cookie cutter. Luckily, the treats are super sticky and stuck right to the paper all by themselves.

I was also tapped to make some cookies for my son's class. I am sure each kid noted how long it took me to make all these cookies, right?

I tried hard to find an idea that wasn't too girly for my son's Valentines. Obviously I didn't succeed. Let's face it, Valentine's Day in general is pretty girly.

This project was incredibly simple, just a little time consuming. I found a heart punch that I used to cut out the cardstock heart shapes. Each flower has four hearts. Then, I took a hole punch and punched a hole in the bottom of each heart. I lined up the holes and then glued them down. Dum-Dums were the suckers that I used, but Blow Pops would work too. At the last minute I added some hot glue to the Dum-Dums to make sure they didn't come loose.

How cute are these?!

Super Bowl

2010-02-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

Every year we host a Super Bowl party at our house, and last year I thought it would be really cute if we decorated the island to look a little more festive.

We bought a piece of AstroTurf at the hardware store, cut it to fit, and painted on the grid iron. It rolls up nicely and stores easily, so hopefully we should have this for many years to come. The island is in the center of our kitchen and serves as the 'buffet' for all the food. It looks SO GREAT with this grid iron on it!

These Spicy-Sweet Chicken Wings were such a hit at last year's party, that I decided to make them again this year. They have a cirtus flavor that's slightly sweet with some heat, to quote Martha Stewart.

Click Here

for the recipe

Caroline really has been after me to help decorate some cookies, so I told her she could help with the Superbowl cookies. She was so excited! I piped on the outline and she filled them in. She was quick to point out that I wrote the 8 using two circles and her teacher says that's the wrong way. *HA HA*

A few years ago I started picking up seasonal and themed serving dishes. They only make an appearance a few times a year, but I love them!

Caroline had her friend Sydney over for the afternoon and by the looks of it, I'd say they were having a pretty good time!

Olives are always a magnet for kids, aren't they? I always buy an extra can of them, just to make sure there's enough to do this:

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS!

Cherry Pie

2010-02-01T16:23:00.000-08:00

I was asked to bring a dessert, "something cherry", to a birthday party this coming weekend. Not just any birthday party... my Mother-in-Law's birthday party. Yes, this pie has to be perfect, so it required making one in advance to make sure it would be.

I have to admit cherry is not exactly my favorite thing, so I don't have any tried and true recipes under my belt.

Until now.

In my opinion, the crust on a pie is equally important as the filling itself. An icky crust makes for an icky pie. I use a standard pie crust recipe which is simply flour, cold butter, ice water, salt and sugar.

Try and handle the butter as little as possible to keep it cold. I like to cut up the butter first, then throw it in the freezer until I am ready to use it, about 5 minutes or so.

Once you mix in the butter, add the water. Depending on the humidity in your home, you will need anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup. Add the water while your food processor is still going. Stop it before the mixture forms a ball, but not until the mixutre holds itself together. It should not be crumb-y (is that a word?), but easily lifted out of the food processor.

Flatten dough into two discs, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.

The grocery stores in my area do not have fresh cherries yet, so I had to buy the frozen ones. Let them thaw for about 30 minutes, discarding any extra juice. Bring the cherries, sugar and cornstarch to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. The mixture should firm up nicely. Then stir in a tablespoon of butter along with the almond extract.

Meanwhile, roll out the first disc of dough and fit into your pie plate. I chose to make a lattice top on this pie, so I used a pastry wheel to cut decorative strips out of the second crust.

Isn't this pretty?

I made an egg wash with an egg white and a teaspoon of water and spread it over the crust. Then I sprinked two teaspoons of sugar on top.

I've made dozens of pies and tried dozens of 'treatments' on the crust. I've decided that egg white wash with sugar turns out the prettiest.

Click Here

for the recipe

Lasagne

2010-01-30T21:51:00.000-08:00

My son was having his little friend for a sleep over tonight and I actually had the foresight to ask him what he likes to eat. He said that lasagne was his "favorite thing in the world". He was in luck because we haven't had lasagne in awhile and...I happen to make a mean lasagne. It's my Dad's recipe and never disappoints!

Pretty simple ingredients: hamburger, pork sausage, tomatoes, tomato paste, a couple different cheeses and a few spices.

Brown the meats separately, and then add in the tomatoes, tomato paste and all the spices. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

I have absolutely no patience for boiling lasagne noodles and then ever so carefully pulling them out of scalding water with tongs, just to have them rip apart as I am trying to lift them out. No thanks.

I buy these oven ready ones and they go straight from the box into the dish! Just like the box says: 'cuts preparation time in half'!

Start with a layer of the noodles, then add some meat sauce, the ricotta parmesan mixture, and then a nice dose of the mozzarella. Repeat three times.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes and let stand for 15 minutes when it's finished so it will firm up.

There was only two pieces of this left when dinner was finished. My son's friend said it was the best meal he'd ever had, even better than Mcdonald's. That's a 7 yr old for ya!

Click Here

for the recipe

Fettuccine Bolognese

2010-01-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

Pictures do NOT do this dish justice! Although it looks like traditional spaghetti sauce, bolognese sauce tastes totally different, and I must say, everyone loved it! There's a little bit of everything in this dish... wine, milk, red pepper, parsley and nutmeg to name a few.

The simple ingredients were inexpensive and most of them, I already had on hand. Do use the fresh oregano over the dried. I definitely think that had an impact on the taste!

The recipe calls for chopped pancetta. I tried to chop it up with a knife... not so much. The food processor is definitely the way to go!

Start by cooking down all the vegetables for about 15 minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients. Talk about an easy dinner!

This made enough to serve four adults and two kids with a little left over. It was so flavorful, I couldn't believe it!

Click Here

for the recipe

You can even make this sauce ahead and freeze it... perfect for those busy evenings!

Suzie's Birthday Cake

2010-01-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

My friend Suzie's birthday is coming up and we are going to surprise her at her favorite restaurant. She thinks it's just going to be her and her husband for dinner...

I hope she loves this cake.

How could she not? It has a boa on it, and little sparkly gems!

Happy Birthday Suz!

Valentine's Day Art

2010-01-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

I have recently decided that I am going to start decorating my home for whatever holiday is in a given month. What brought this on? After I take down all the Christmas decorations, our home looks incredibly bare! From October through December the house is full of holiday decorations and very festive. I would love for our home to look like that all year round.

My husband would not be happy if I spent money on Valentine's decorations, so I had to put my thinking cap on and become crafty.

This is what I came up with and it cost me just $4.00! It will have a home in the center of the mantle, along with some other things.

I bought this board at the craft store for $1.00 and I had the paint on hand.

I asked my husband to make me a frame out of his pile of scrap wood pieces, then I painted it red.

I bought some candy conversation hearts in the bulk candy section of the grocery store. I used one pound's worth for $2.50. While my husband I were watching a movie, I sat and hot glued these hearts onto the board. All 318 of them.

I thought about attaching a ribbon to hang this up, but then decided that it would look best on the mantle.

I am posting this over at The Girl Creative for her link party, Just Something I Whipped Up Monday.

Pulled-Pork Tacos

2010-01-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

This is quite possibly the EASIEST dinner that I have ever made. It literally took me 2 minutes. Yes, that's right.... 2 minutes.

This dinner cooks in the crock pot for 8 hours, requires no attention AND I had everything but the roast and cilantro already on hand. I love dinners like that!

I asked the meat department at the grocery store to cut me a small (2 -3 lb) boneless pork shoulder roast. To the crock pot I added salsa, chili powder, oregano, cocoa powder and salt. Set the roast in and coat with the salsa and spice mixture.

When using a slow cooker, resist the urge to lift the lid until the dish has cooked the minimum amount of time specified in the recipe. Each peek allows heat to escape and can increase cooking time by as much as half an hour!

After 8 hours on the low setting, this is what you have. Well, I had to pull it apart with forks when it was finished, but still. How delicious does this look?

Make sure you strain most of the juice out of the meat... you will have soupy tacos if you don't!

I used the small fajita sized tortillas. Add a little bit of the pulled pork, top with some extra salsa, a few sprigs of cilantro, some fresh squeezed lime and sour cream.

Click Here

for the recipe

I served these with Mexican rice, refried beans and strawberry margaritas.

This dinner literally cooked itself! I started the slow cooker when I got up in the morning. Almost 8 hours later and 20 minutes before dinner time, I made the rice, beans and margaritas.

Zoo Animal Baby Shower Cake!

2010-01-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

This cake order came from a wonderful lady that I met at a dinner party last fall. She is throwing the mother-to-be a zoo animal themed baby shower to coordinate with the nursery decor.

How cute did this cake turn out??

Smoky Pork and Bean Soup

2010-01-02T22:51:00.000-08:00

This Smoky Pork and Bean Soup is easy, tasty and smells just wonderful as it fills your home!

I asked the meat department at my local grocery store to cut me a bone-in 3lb pork shoulder roast. If I had enough time, I would have slow cooked this roast in a crock pot the day before, so the meat would just fall off in shreds. But, no time so I seasoned the roast with Kosher salt, garlic powder and pepper. Then I baked it at 350 for about two hours.

It should turn out like this. Cut all the meat off the bone and discard the fattiest parts. (No one wants to take a bite of fat in a soup. Ewww.) Cut into bite size pieces.

While the roast is cooking, you can start the beans. You want to rinse them off first, then boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.

While the beans are soaking, prepare your ingredients. The secret to this soup is Liquid Smoke. Used sparingly in most recipes, but not this one. I used 4 Tablespoons. It gives the soup a warm, full, smoky flavor.

Deceptively filling and flavored with ham hocks, pork shoulder roast, fresh thyme, onion, bay leaves, carrots and liquid smoke, this soup has easily made its way into my recipe box permanently.

Click Here

for the recipe

Chicken Bacon Stuffed Pizza Rolls

2009-12-31T17:23:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned, we are going to my parent's home for a New Year's party. If I was arming myself with cookies for all the kids, then I thought I'd better bring a little something for the adults! These are little bites of love that are stuffed with chicken, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese and bacon. They are wrapped up in Crescent pizza dough, brushed with butter and then drizzled with parmesan cheese and a little bit of powdered ranch dressing.

So easy and so delicious! I bet they'll be gone in 10 minutes.

Click Here

for the recipe

I found these little bites of love while I was browsing the internet late one night. It comes from a site called Our Best Bites.

Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface and cut into 24 squares. Toss aside any pieces that are too thin, trust me... save yourself the trouble.

We had some left over chicken in the fridge, so I decided to make use of it. Put a little bit of chicken in the center along with some crumbled up bacon, one square of mozzarella and one square of sharp cheddar cheese. The mozzarella pieces were smaller than the cheddar as I wanted mostly a cheddar flavor.

Take two opposite corners and pinch them together.

Then pinch the other two corners together. Make sure it's closed entirely. Pizza dough is very easy to work with.

I used my mini muffin pan to cook these in. You really could use anything, a 3 quart oval dish or 9x13 rectangular dish. Spray it well with nonstick spray.

Since I am going to serve these with some ranch dressing made from a packet, I took some of the powdered ranch dressing and mixed it with some parmesan cheese. I brushed a little melted butter on top of the rolls, then sprinkled the ranch-parmesan mixture over them.

Bake these until they are brown on top at whatever temperature your pizza dough suggests. These took 18 minutes.

I can't even tell you how good these are! Easy and quick to make... fool proof appetizer sure to please everyone!

New Year's Cookies

2009-12-31T10:12:00.000-08:00

Bridgit over at Bake at 350 hosts a Flavor of the Month post, and this month is COOKIES!

So today is New Year's Eve... Happy New Year's everyone!! We're going to a party at my parent's home and all the grandkids will be there, so of course I can't show up without treats. 24 cookies should be enough for 5 kids, right? *HA HA*

I am very much looking forward to this new year coming! I have a feeling 2010 will have some big changes for my little family... (more to come later).

My New Year's Resolution is to slow down a bit and enjoy everything, especially my kids just being little.

Do you have any New Year's Resolutions?

Pear Champagne Cupcakes

2009-12-28T11:52:00.000-08:00

Pear Champagne Cupcakes with Pink Champagne frosting!

Click Here

for the recipe

These are not fluffy like cake batter cupcakes because they have the pears in them. They are incredibly moist and taste fantastic! I suppose regular cake batter cut with a little champagne and tinted pink would be fabulous too....

Do your self a favor though, grate the pears using a food processor, not a cheese grater!

Black Forest Cake

2009-12-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

We spend Christmas Eve with the same friends every year, and the hostess' favorite dessert is Black Forest cake. So of course, I make it for her and bring it along!

Click here

for the recipe

There are literally dozens of different ways to assemble a Black Forest cake...

I make two 8 inch cake rounds and then torte them so I have four layers. A simple syrup made up of sugar, water and Kirsch (cherry brandy) is brushed onto the cakes so they will absorb the cherry flavor.

The filling is canned dark cherries, in their syrup, mixed with more Kirsch and a little bit of cornstarch to thicken it up. So basically you've got a four layer chocolate cake with cherry filling dripping throughout.

Homemade chocolate frosting, a one inch layer of homemade whip cream and chocolate shavings top this beauty off!

Baked Fried Chicken

2009-12-26T22:03:00.000-08:00

This is the easiest and *tastiest* fried chicken I have ever found!

What caught my eye about this recipe, is that it DOES NOT require a cast iron pan (which I don't have). Can I share a secret? I am terrified of using cast iron because it's totally different than cooking in regular pans. I used to be afraid of pie crust and now we're friends, so maybe next year I'll make nice with the cast iron.

Most kitchens will have all the ingredients required to make this: milk, flour, salt, pepper, ground mustard, thyme, ginger, oregano, paprika and eggs.

Click here

for the recipe

I buy a whole chicken and ask the butchers to cut it into fryer pieces for me, which they are happy to do. Once I mix the spices together, I set up my "dredging station".

One at a time, dip the chicken pieces in the egg and then coat liberally with the flour and spice mixture. Carefully set them down in the heated oil and brown about 3 minutes on each side. Only brown 4-5 pieces at a time as not to crowd the pan. When they are brown, move them to a greased 9x13 dish.

**Side note** How do you know when your oil is ready? I take a pinch of the flour mixture and toss it into the oil. When it hisses back at you, it's ready.

After all the chicken is browned, bake at 350 degrees 50-60 minutes.

Whenever I make fried chicken, I always serve it with cornbread. I have been asked for my cornbread recipe more times than I can count!

Click here

for the recipe

First I heat up the oil for the chicken, as it takes awhile. Then I start on the cornbread. While that's baking, I fry up the chicken. Right when the cornbread's done, the chicken is ready to go in the oven. While the chicken in cooking, I prepare the other side dishes. This way, everything comes up at once. Tonight the menu consisted of potato salad, corn on the cob, baked beans, corn bread and apple pie for dessert.

So easy and so delicious! Often times, I double the recipe and we have friends over for dinner. You can never go wrong with this fried chicken!

Christmas Goodies

2009-12-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

How great are these handsome little men? I used some of my baker's twine to tie little 'scarves' around their necks. Very simple, yet very festive!

I made these cookies for the kids that were coming over to my house on Saturday evening.

The kids just loved to see their names on cookies! How cute are they all lined up?? Okay, we forced them to line up and smile. *HA HA HA*

I made these for Jacob's class 'Holiday Party' this week.

It just wouldn't be Christmas time without a ginger bread house!

Caroline's learning to use the piping bag at 6 years old... I didn't learn until just this year! My mother was not big on baking.

Homemade marshmallow! My first try at marshmallow and they turned out really cute, and were so yummy!

Do you have any Christmas goodies to share?

Homemade Marshmallows

2009-12-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to try and make marshmallow, but everything I have ever read about it scared me off. People seem to have the most horrible experiences with marshmallow.

Let me just say that making these marshmallows couldn't have been any easier! No problems, no horror stores, just creamy little goodies.

Click Here

for the recipe

Start by mixing the gelatin with water in the bowl of a stand mixer, and then set aside. Bring the water, corn syrup, sugar and salt to a 245 degree boil. You have to have a candy thermometer to do this... you can find them in most grocery stores or craft stores for under $5. They are an invaluable asset in my kitchen!

When your mixture reaches 245 degrees F, remove from heat and CAREFULLY pour into a pint sized measuring cup, or something else with a spout that won't melt from the hot liquid. Pour the boiling sugar mixture onto the gelatin in the bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat on medium high for 15 minutes. About 12 minutes in, add in your vanilla and any other flavorings. It should look like this when it's ready...

While the marshmallow is mixing, prepare your dish. Spray a 9x13 dish with a non stick spray like Pam. Then mix together your powdered sugar and cornstarch and liberally dust your dish.

Spray a spatula with Pam and then remove marshmallow from the mixing bowl and spread into your dish.

If the spatula gets too gooey, spray with more Pam. Try and spread out the marshmallow as evenly and flat as possible. Let marshmallow sit in the dish for about an hour until it forms a dry layer on the top. Then sprinkle a few spoonfuls of the powdered sugar mixture over it, and let it sit out over night, uncovered.

** Immediately after you are finished using a bowl or utensil that has marshmallow or boiled sugar on it, place into hot soapy water and let sit** This will make clean up a breeze.

The next morning, this is what you have! It should literally lift right out of your dish.

Using a pastry brush, dust off any remaining powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture.

I wanted to make my marshmallows shaped like Christmas trees for our Christmas party that evening. Any shape of cutter will work, hearts would be great for Valentine's Day! You could also take a pizza wheel and make them into traditional squares.

The trick to making this easier on yourself is to coat the cutter with the powdered sugar mixture after every cutout.

Take your freshly cut shape and roll any sticky edges in the powdered sugar mixture.

Brush the excess off with a pastry brush. I was able to get 11 good sized trees out of one batch.

I took the left over scraps and cut them up with kitchen scissors to make little marshmallows. We will surely use these for hot cocoa in the coming weeks! Remember to dip each piece in the powdered sugar mixture so they don't stick to each other.

The possibilities are endless with what you can do with these! I bought some red and green Candy Melts from Wilton and dipped each marshmallow in halfway. The Candy Melts chocolate dries hard in a few minutes. I used rainbow nonpareils on the green ones to look like lights, and I grabbed a candy cane off our tree, crushed it up and sprinkled it on the red ones. You could dip them in chocolate and roll them in nuts or toffee even!

These marshmallows taste nothing like the ones that come in the bag. As with anything homemade, these were WAY BETTER! They are creamy little bites of goodness! The peppermint from the candy cane was a perfect compliment to the marshmallow and very festive.

If you store these in an airtight container they won't dry out and will keep for about a month. How cute would these be as a hostess gift? You could give them with hot cocoa mix in a mug, or tie them up in a pretty little treat bag!

Our Home at Christmas Time

2009-12-20T19:11:00.000-08:00

We have a rather large front porch, and it's my favorite thing to decorate for the holidays! Lots of lights, presents and trees.

How fabulous is she?!

I guess Caroline wanted to make herself clear:

I absolutely love my little Christmas Village! I have been collecting different pieces since I got married over 8 years ago. Some pieces light up, some pieces spin around, but my favorite piece is the mountainside with the motorized sledders going down....

So there's our home at Christmas time.

There's 5 days left and my kids are just beside themselves with anticipation....

Merry Christmas everyone!

Sports Cake

2009-12-16T21:13:00.000-08:00

Kayla, who turned 17 today is all about high school sports! She's lettered in basketball, softball and soccer and wants to be an ESPN sports announcer when she gets out of college (she's going on a soccer scholarship!).

I had her stepmom send us a picture of her letterman's jacket... the logo on the jersey is an exact duplicate of the picture on the back of her jacket. Even the way her name appears on the back matches her jacket!

I learned from Kayla's stepmom, that they are both fans of our cakes!! (yay!) Kayla really wanted one of our couture cakes for her birthday, but didn't think it was in the cards. She was SO surprised when her dad and stepmom surprised her with this!

Everything on this cake is edible, except for the ribbon at the base of the cakes. The flavor is chocolate with *white chocolate cream cheese* filling.. yum!

Birthday Cookies

2009-12-15T03:41:00.000-08:00

Caroline's birthday is on December 15th which falls on a weekday this year. I try and make her birthday extra special as I don't want her to feel lost with Christmas coming right around the corner.

This is her first year in school and I decided to make her some cookies to take to class so they can celebrate her birthday with her. I picked up this crown cookie cutter when I was still pregnant with her. I knew it would come in handy someday!

I wanted to make the jewels really sparkle, so I sprinkled some Disco Dust on them right after I piped them in. Can I just say... Disco Dust is my new favorite thing! It's alot more sparkly in person than in these pictures. I don't think it photographs well. Or, it could be my camera that I really don't know how to use! *HA HA*

Caroline has nearly 30 kids in her class, so I made some cupcake cookies too. I think they turned out super cute!

Into the treat bags and tied with purple ribbons...

I sure hope you can still bring homemade treats into school. We're going to find out!

Caroline's Birthday

2009-12-12T22:01:00.000-08:00

Sweet Caroline (bah bah bah) celebrated her 6th birthday this weekend!

There's this great little place down the road that throws girly-girl parties that are just fabulous. This year's party was all about glamour. *ooohhh* *ahhhh*

When the girls arrived, they were treated to pedicures and manicures.

Next came the makeup and hair.

They must have had 40 different dresses for the girls to choose from. Of course *my daughter* chose the red one!

Then, the paparazzi arrived... look how cute they are blowing kisses for the cameras!

The girls toasted to Caroline's birthday with pizza and sparkling cider in their margarita glasses! They felt so grown up and looked so cute.

Let them eat cake!

After a few more shots from the paparazzi, then it was on to presents!

Since the girly-girl party was just for girls, we had an after party at our house for the family and our friends. We couldn't serve cake that had already been cut into, so I made these cupcakes with the rest of the cake batter.

My goal was to make them look like ice cream sundaes, complete with maraschino cherries on top. I think they look like ice cream, don't you?

Her shirt says simply: I heart fashion. So, of course she put on her tutu and black knee high boots (both presents from earlier in the day) right when we got home.

Happy Birthday baby! I hope it was a good one!

Tree Lighting Festival

2009-12-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

This was our first trip over to Leavenworth for their annual Tree Lighting Festival.

Brian and I both grew up here and neither of us had been to this event before. The picture above is from the city's website... when I showed it to the kids, they thought we were going to the North Pole!

The whole town was all decked out with Christmas trimmings. There were choirs singing and bands playing every half hour all day long. The aroma from roasting chestnuts filled the air as holiday music echoed throughout the town.

We just happened to see St. Nicholas as he arrived in a carriage... they told us that in Europe it is traditional for St. Nicholas to bring oranges, representing gold, to all the children.

This little bakery was so great! How could something called the Gingerbread Factory, not be fabulous?

The next day was more mingling around town, shopping, visiting with Santa Claus, Saint Nick and Father Christmas. We also saw the Nutcracker, Frosty the Snowman, Scrooge and the Grinch.

The kids discovered all the leaves that had fallen from the trees and made their own leaf pile to toss in the air, then jump in.

Finally, the moment we'd been waiting for all day! By this time, there was about 20,000 people standing shoulder to shoulder in the street. Right before they lit the town up, the mayor came out and made a speech, then everyone sang Silent Night. So peaceful.

Of course, once the kids went to bed, it started to snow. They woke us up at 6am screaming "Snow! Snow!" So we threw on our boots and jackets and did what any parents would do... we had a snowball fight at 6am in our pajamas! Kids really don't care if they are dressed properly or not. Snow is snow. We had a great time pelting each other while the neighborhood was still asleep.

We were on the road two hours later... Brian couldn't miss the kickoff of the Seahawks game... All in all a great weekend and a fun way to start the season! Merry Chistmas!

Yankee Pot Roast Soup

2009-11-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

There is this little hole-in-the wall soup kitchen several blocks down from my office. Since we discovered it, the girls I work with and I have gone there every single day for lunch. Every SINGLE day. One day I tried their Yankee Pot Roast soup, and it was the very best soup I had EVER tasted!

The next morning, I called them and asked if they'd share their recipe with me. His response to me was "You're out of your mind!" I suppose you don't get to ask a local fave what's in their recipes :) ! He did share with me what the secret ingredient was though.. .we'll get to that later...

Click Here

for the recipe

I could tell most of what was in the soup just by eating it... cubed pot roast, celery, onions, carrots, potatoes, thyme and pepper.

Start by browning the meat in some butter. I seasoned it liberally with onion salt, garlic powder, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

Pour off all of the fat and add in your vegetables, thyme, and some salt and pepper. Then, add the beef broth and mix everything together.

Time for the secret ingredient:

I would never have guessed or thought to add cream to a beef broth based soup. I am so glad that he decided to share their secret ingredient with me!

The cream makes the soup a tad richer than just plain beef broth, and really brings all the flavors together. This is what it will look like when all the vegetables have cooked down and it's ready to serve.

I served this with just plain french bread... it was fabulous!

Spaghetti with Tomato & Basil

2009-11-21T20:28:00.000-08:00

This dinner is so easy to make and cooks up quickly! It's a great meal for those busy evenings when you get home late and don't have alot of time to fix dinner.

As you can see, the entire meal is just a few things: tomatoes, red pepper flakes, bread, salad, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and basil.

Click Here

for the recipe

Start by boiling the water for the spaghetti. While it boils, chop up the tomatoes and tear apart the basil.

Sautee the olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes for just over a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook, boiling, for 5 minutes more. Add cooked spaghetti, toss. Add basil, toss again, transfer to serving bowl.

The entire dinner took me 15 minutes to make! The red pepper flakes give the noodles an unexpected pop. As you can see, I served this with Caesar salad and French bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I forgot to grab some wine, so ice water it was!

Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-11-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

As a child and a young adult, I have to admit Christmas was my favorite holiday. Now that I am older, I would have to say that Thanksgiving has taken the top spot as my favorite holiday of the year.. well, besides my birthday. *HA HA*

This year will be the first in seven years that I have not hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my home. I truly enjoy and look forward to making a Thanksgiving feast from scratch every year for my family and friends. Everyone arrives around 1pm and the festivities start... football, homemade appetizers, drinking wine and enjoying each other's company. Finally dinner is served at 6pm (after slaving all day in the kitchen of course).

Since I will be at my parent's home this year for Thanksgiving, I decided that I was still going to make an entire Thanksgiving dinner and then donate it to a needy family. With my sister's help, we found a family of seven that had just relocated to our area and could use some warm food. For just $89 and 12 hours out of my life, I was able to make an entire Thanksgiving feast that would feed twelve people.

This is the same menu that I serve my family year after year. The best thing about this menu is that all the recipes compliment each other, which in my opinion, is the key to a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.

Click on the links to view the recipes

Try and take advantage of everything you can do and make the night before, including setting the table, making the cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and brining the turkey.

I start by soaking the turkey overnight in a brine made of water, fresh vegetables, spices and salt. Brining the turkey will make it juicier and more tender. You will add a lot of extra flavor to the turkey as well.

I throw everything into a 5 gallon bucket, cover it with foil, and set it on the gargage floor overnight, or for at least 12 hours. This time of year our garage is the same temperature as the fridge, so it works.

Then I set the table, which I look foward to every year... I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Thanksgiving table when it's all set up.

What I like the most is how festive and ready for fall my table looks!

After you make it, the crust for the pumpkin pie needs to sit in the fridge for at least two hours before you can use it. I used to be afraid of pie crust until I watched this video on how to make it. I always assumed that pie crust should form into a ball in the food processor...not so much. Always use very cold ingredients...

When you turn out the mixture onto your surface, it should resemble coarse crumbs, just hold together when you squeeze it, yet not be sticky.

Form into two discs and place in the fridge for at least two hours to chill. I like to put leaves around the edges of my pie plate for pumpkin pie.

I filled this pie plate a little too full with pie filling, but it still turned out alright. Let the pie cool for about 2 hours, then put in the fridge overnight so it will firm up.

While your pie crust is chilling in the fridge, start the cranberry sauce. This recipe couldn't be easier! Cranberries are my absolute favorite fruit. This is the only time of year I get to eat them, so several of my recipes are laced with cranberries. Plus, they help tie all the dishes together!

Boil the sugar and water for about 5 minutes, then add the cranberries and orange zest and boil 5 minutes longer.

The cranberries will begin to burst and will look like this when it's ready.

Put in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Fresh, homemade cranberry sauce. Couldn't be easier, right? Yum!

Also while the pie crust is chilling you can start the potatoes. These are incredibly easy, just tedious as you have to peel 8 pounds of potatoes. Something I've found that makes for easier clean up is to peel them over a few paper towels. When you're done, just fold up the paper towels and throw them away. If you cut the potatoes up into quarters they will boil faster for you. You will need a very large pot for these as there's several of them.

Drain the potatoes and then place them back in the pot. Add in the cream cheese, milk, sour cream and the spices. Take your hand held electric mixer and mix until smooth. At this point, you can refrigerate them overnight. The day of, bring them to room temperature (about 4 hours) and then bake for about an hour. If you are making these the day of, mix up the mashed potatoes and then bake for about an hour.

With sour cream, cream cheese, and whole milk... these are the best potatoes ever!

On the day of, I get up very early. The first thing I do is cut up the bread to make the stuffing.

Using white bread as well as wheat bread makes for pretty stuffing.

Put all cubes onto two cookie sheets and bake at 225 degrees for 50 minutes to toast the bread and make it very crisp. Crispy bread helps withstand the chicken stock and butter you will pour on it later.

Cook the sausage and onion, add in the celery and spices. Place the bread cubes in a large stock pot, pour the sausage mixture over them and mix lightly. Add in the apples, cranberries and parsley. Drizzle with butter and chicken stock until bread cubes are softened to your liking and mix lightly again.

I enjoy my mom's traditional stuffing, but I have to say, I like this recipe the very best.

Next, I start the cornbread. This can be made first thing in the morning, cooled for a few hours, cut up and wrapped with plastic wrap to keep it from getting stale. Every time I serve this, people ask me for the recipe. Can I share a secret with you? It's the recipe on the back of the corn meal box, I just doubled the sugar and increased the baking time by 10 minutes. Perfect cornbread every time.

My husband usually barbeques our turkey every year. It gives him something to 'be in charge of' on the big day, and it frees up my oven so I can bake all the side dishes.

This year though, I decided to bake the turkey in one of those oven bags. I brushed it with a half stick of melted butter and then seasoned it with a mixture of thyme, sage, marjoram, paprika and rosemary and threw it in the bag. I also added to the bag, the left over fresh rosemary, thyme, sage and parsely
that I had purchased for the brine.

Brining the turkey will help it cook much faster, so check your turkey temperature after about 2 hours in a 350 degree oven. 180 degrees is a pretty dry turkey, so if you test the bird in the thigh and the breast, and they are both at least 165 degrees, it should be ready!

This recipe for green bean casserole is like none that I've ever found. People who don't particularly care for green bean casserole seem to like this dish alot! It does have your traditional cream of mushroom soup in it as well as french fried onions, however it also has red pepper, bacon, soy sauce, vermouth, milk and Mozzarella cheese.

When I used to think of sweet potatoes, I thought of orange mashed up potatoes covered with marshmallows and then baked. Well, those are yams. Sweet potatoes are white on the inside when you cut into them, and taste totally different than yams.

This recipe for sweet potatoes is aboslutely fabulous and smells like love when you bring it out of the oven! It's mashed sweet potatoes mixed with cream cheese, brown sugar and cinnamon. Then top with apples and cranberries. Mix together some flour, brown sugar and butter, stir in some Honey Bunches of Oats cereal and sprinke mixture over the apples and cranberries. Bake this for 40 mintues.

When you cut into this dish, it's so pretty! The cereal mixture is on top, followed by apples and cranberries, and then the white sweet potatoes. This is probably my favorite recipe out of all the side dishes that I make.

Lastly, I make the gravy. As I said before we usually barbeque our turkey, so we miss out on all the juices and fat that comes with an oven roasted turkey. I've tested out dozens of gravy recipes and this one is the best that I've found. It calls for three packets of turkey gravy, chopped up turkey giblets, chicken broth and a little bit of flour.

I like to serve my Thanksgiving dinner buffet style on my kitchen island. This way, the dinner table is not over crowded with food and people passing dishes back and forth. It seems more intimate this way and we are able to enjoy each other's conversation over the candle light from the centerpieces.

So after 8 hours, this....

turned into this.

Considering this serves 12 for Thanksgiving dinner *plus left-overs*, the family of seven that we donated this food to should be able to eat wonderful homemade food for a few days at the very least.

Chicken Enchiladas with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

2009-11-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

These chicken enchiladas are so tasty, you won't even believe it!

A few months ago, I was searching for a main dish that would go with the Margaritas I was making. I found it while browsing on the Food Network's website. It's one of Tyler Florence's recipes... its wonderful and easy to make.

See that nice little chicken there in the back? The one that's already cooked? I couldn't believe it, but the recipe actually called for a deli roasted chicken! Normally, I prefer to make everything from scratch, *but* ... it is a work night, I was running behind... and the recipe called for it. Can't beat that, right?

Click Here

for the recipe

I always pass by these in the grocery store and wonder what they are. Before I can process my thought to actually pick one up, or ask the produce clerk about them, one my kids is asking to have something, running off because they saw someone in the store they knew... etc.

Well... they are tomatillos. Also called a "Mexican green tomato," it does look like a small green tomato with a papery husk in place of skin. It doesn't taste like a tomato though, it has a tart flavor all its own. These little beauties are what make the green sauces green!

You start by roasting all the vegetables for 15 minutes, then you throw them in the food processor with a little lime juice to make a salsa.

Next, cook the onion, garlic and spices down, add some flour and the chicken broth. When it thickens, add in some of the salsa, cilantro and fold in the shredded chicken.

This is my version of an assembly line. Dip the tortillas in the remaining salsa, add some of the chicken mixture and sprinkle with cheese.

Roll them up like cigars, place them in a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

I wish you could smell a picture, because these smelled incredible! The sour cream really makes the dish though.

We ate these with Mexican rice and black refried beans.

Pot Roast and Gravy

2009-11-08T19:36:00.000-08:00

Everytime I smell pot roast cooking it reminds me of my childhood.... still today, it's real high up on the list of my favorite things to eat. This particular recipe comes from my Grandmother's kitchen. My mom, my sister and I have been making it all our lives. I'm sure it will get passed down some more, as it's the most favorite of my 8 year old son, who calls it "steak and gravy".

As you can see, there's not much to this dish, it's incredibly simple. In fact, the entire dinner cost me under $20 and it will feed 6-8 people. Maybe just 4 tonight, as my husband will be home shortly from the Seahawks game, wet, cold, and hungry. If I time this just right, we will be just sitting down to dinner when he walks through the door. Aren't I a good wife? I shouldn't flatter myself though... he cooks 6 nights out of the week!

Yes, that is coffee back there.

Coffee is my Grandmother's secret ingredient. Well I guess it's not a secret anymore! Most people look at me oddly when I tell them that I make my pot roast with coffee, as opposed to water, onion soup or beef broth. I actually can't think of anything that would suit it better!

Start by making a full pot of coffee. I prefer regular old Folgers. I've never used decaf, and the caffeine has yet to keep me up.

Next, generously season your roast. I use just salt, pepper and garlic powder.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add a few tablespoons of olive oil and brown all sides of the meat.

Next, cut up your vegetables and potatoes. I only put about half of them in at first, to help flavor the liquid and the roast.

Add your browned meat and the vegetables and potatoes to the pot. I like to add a few tablespoons of Worcherstershire sauce to the mixture also.

Pour the entire 12 cups of coffee into the pot. It should just about cover the roast and vegetables. The meat and vegetables will cook down, so if initially the coffee doesn't cover it entirely, it will. Bake at 325 degrees for about 5 hours. The smell of pot roast cooking will begin fill your home... one of my favorite smells for sure!

When the meat is about and two hours from being done, cut up the remaining potatoes, carrots and onions and add them to the pot. This way, the vegetables you are going to eat will not be soggy from roasting all afternoon.

When it's finished cooking, take a slotted spoon and remove the carrots, potatoes and onion rings. I like to separate them out and then lay them on the platter around the roast.

Reserve as much of the liquid as you'd like to make your gravy. For example, if you want to have 3 cups of gravy to serve, remove 3 cups of the liquid. Depending on the pan you used to cook the pot roast in, you may be able to make your gravy in the same one. I like to use my deep skillet to make gravy.

Take your reserved liquid and heat over medium heat until boiling. Make a two cup mixture of flour and water that is similar to the consistency of pancake mix.

When your liquid is boiling add the flour mixure a little at a time, whisking constantly over medium heat until gravy thickens.

If gravy is not thick enough, keep adding more of flour and water mixture until it gets to the right consistency. If it gets too thick, add some of the left over liquid you cooked the meat in, or water.

Be sure and salt the gravy, it will need it. Add salt a little at a time until it's just right. I also add pepper and several shakes from the Worchestershire sauce bottle.

My gravy is always lumpy.... to eliminate this little problem, I pour the finished gravy through a sieve into a bowl. The sieve will catch any bits of flour creating the lumps. This trick will ensure smooth, lump-free gravy every time!

I like to serve my pot roast with buttered white bread and a glass of cold milk (of course). If you decide to make this, I hope you enjoy it as much as my entire family has.

Chocolate Carrot Cake Bites

2009-11-07T17:40:00.000-08:00

One of my girlfriends is having a Girls Only Cocktails and Hors d'Oeuvres party this weekend. I have been looking forward to it all week long! In my fleeting spare moments, I have been trying to think of a fabulous dish that I can whip up and bring with me. Oh yeah... there's a prize for the best fall themed appetizer!

Well, my sister found it for me by accident. She was searching for my blog and stumbled across another blog that has nearly the same title as mine, and the blog address is just one letter off from mine. It's called High Heels and an Apron. Well of course, I had to go and check her out! I don't know what her name is, but she's from the south and she's a dietitian who's writing her own cookbook. Her "Cake Balls" recipe was the first thing I saw on her page.

I changed her recipe a little bit to make these Chocolate Carrot Cake Bites. What sounds better than carrot cake mixed with cream cheese and then dipped in chocolate?

Her recipe calls for boxed cake, semi-sweet chocolate and one brick of lite cream cheese. I decided to use regular cream cheese, and I doubled what her recipe called for, as one just didn't seem to be enough. It's been my experience that semi-sweet chocolate does not dry hard, and is just plain messy to handle and serve. I used the Wilton Candy Melts (available at Michaels) because that chocolate will dry hard. Instead of boxed cake, I made a carrot cake from scratch. Martha Stewart's carrot cake is my favorite. Surprise, right?

Click Here

for the recipe

The secret to any recipe that has nuts in it, is to toast them first. 375 degrees on a baking sheet for 7 minutes. Toasting the nuts releases their essential oils, bringing out their fullest flavor.

This carrot cake recipe really stands out because of the fresh grated ginger that it calls for. I always try to use fresh ingredients instead of powder spices whenever I can. It REALLY makes a difference!

One of my most favorite tools in the kitchen is my rasper. It effortlessly grates anything you want, quickly. Ginger is difficult and time consuming to grate because it's very watery. The rasper had it done in minutes.

When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately crumble it into a large mixing bowl. While it's still warm, mix in the cream cheese.

When it's all mixed up, cover and put in the refrigerator until well chilled. Take the chilled mixture out, and with a small cookie scoop, form cake into bite sized balls. Poke in your cocktail picks (or toothpicks).

Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Dip the carrot cake bites into the chocolate and put on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. When you're finished, put cookie sheets into the refrigerator to let chocolate set.

Overall a pretty easy recipe to make. I hope everyone at the party likes these. I tried one of the extras and it was EXCELLENT!

**Note** the recipe for the carrot cake will make two 8 inch rounds. You will only need one of those rounds to make 30 bite sized appetizers. I went ahead and frosted the leftover cake and we'll have it for dessert!

Kids' School Papers

2009-11-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

If your home is anything like mine, the papers that the kids bring home take it over! No one told me that there would literally be a mountain of paperwork that comes home with *each* kid. Guess how many pieces of paper the average child will bring home from one school year alone? Well, I looked it up... and it's 900 pieces. 900 pieces! Times that by two kids and that's nearly 2000 papers in just one year. Wow.

When my youngest started Kindergarten this year, in the first month alone, the papers had overwhelmed me. Not to mention, the dates that I had to remember for this and that, the homework that had to be returned the next day, plus the homework that was due the end of the week. Oh yeah, don't let me forget about the sports schedules *for two kids*, or what the school happened to be serving for lunch on any random day.

I stared at all their paperwork for a few days until I figured it out!

This entire system cost me $30! The dry-erase calendar and cork board were $5 each at Walmart and the magazine bins were $10 each at Office Depot. I used the 3M velcro to attach everything to the door.

Only school related information goes on the calendar. It's nice this way, so my regular family calendar doesn't get too cluttered. The cork board holds all the miscellaneous stuff that I need to keep track of...lunch menus, master school calendar, any sports sign up sheets, etc.

When the kids come home from school, they know to take everything out of their backpacks and put it in their own bin. They were very excited to draw some pictures to make the space their own!

This was the best thing that I've done for myself in years! All the paperwork is in ONE place, and off the counters. Now, I can go to one spot and see everything I need to.

My favorite thing about this little station? The door closes. Bye bye papers!

Macaroni & Cheese

2009-11-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

When I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner tonight, he thought for half a second, and said "Oooohhh, make mac and cheese!"

So...I broke out my trusty-can't-go-wrong Martha Stewart cookbook that my mother gave me one Christmas almost 10 years ago. This cookbook gets used so much (it's my favorite one) that most of the pages have stains on them, and several of the pages have gotten stuck together.

Click Here

for the recipe

I always read through the entire recipe before I make it. Then I measure out all the ingredients so they are handy right when I need them. As you can see, there's not too many things in this recipe.

One thing necessary for it to turn out well, is GOOD white bread. The crust on this dish is crunchy, buttery, and fabulous. I don't think it would be nearly as good if you didn't splurge on the more expensive bread.

You start by making the velvety cream sauce. Once it's thick and bubbly, remove from heat and add your spices and the cheese.

When the macaroni is ready, rinse, drain and add to the cream sauce.

Once it's mixed together well, add the remaining cheese and top with the buttered bread crumbs.

Bake for 35 minutes until bread crumbs are golden brown.

This makes enough to serve hearty portions to 10-12 people. It took me 20 minutes to get this in the oven, and 30 minutes to bake it. We ate this with caesar salad and green beans. Although a nice glass of cabernet was poured for me, I had to go and get a glass of ice cold milk!

Apple Hand Pies

2009-11-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

Caroline is becoming quite the little baker, at 5 years old!

It's Sunday afternoon... the kids are restless and bored. That's my cue to dig through the fridge and pantry to see what we can whip up together. Today, it was apple turnovers, or hand pies as I like to call them. We had everything we needed to make these already on hand...

Caroline made the entire recipe all by herself, no help from Mom, except with the oven and knife of course.

You start with the biscuits. Take them apart and set them on a baking sheet that's been sprayed with a non-stick spray (Pam). Flatten out the biscuits with your hand.

Quarter your apples, then slice them into thin pieces. You should only need one apple to make 8 hand pies.

Put two or three thin slices of apples on each biscuit. Add a 1/2 teaspoon butter, and sprinkle liberally with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Fold the biscuit over onto itself.

Take a fork and crimp the edges closed.

Caroline was so cute... she said the crimping looked like eyelashes on the pies! *HA HA HA* That's my girl!

Sprinkle crimped pies with cinnamon and sugar mixture, and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Caroline couldn't wait to hand these out to the neighbors! Unfortunately, all the hand pies were devoured before she could make the rounds. Daddy and Jake got to them first!

Apparently, the recipe was a success!

"Poisoned" Apples

2009-10-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

How fabulous are these!?

To quote someone else, "these look like something out of a Tim Burton version of Snow White!"

My best friend throws a themed Halloween bash every year. This year's them is "Story Book". These will fit in nicely...

As the Queen in Snow White said:

"But wait 'till you taste one, dearie. Like to try one? Go on. Go on, have a bite."

Creepy!

I first saw these on a website called MattBites.com. Matt is a food photographer and also writes food columns for national news papers. He posted directions on how to do this on his site, so of course I had to try it!

Click Here

for the recipe

Candied apples are candied apples, but the twigs are what set these apart. I clipped these off of a cherry tree in my back yard.

I soaked them in hot water with a little dish soap to get the dirt off. I sharpened the bottom of the sticks so it would be easier to poke them into the apples.

Helpful hint: buy the apples at a farmer's market. The apples at the grocery store have a food grade wax on them that is difficult to remove. Candy will slide right off of apples that have wax on them!

Also, the lighter colored apples work best for the ones you want to color red. The darker Red Delicious apples work best for the black color.

Mix the water, corn syrup, and sugar. Heat until the sugar has dissolved. Boil the mixture until your candy themometer reads 300 degrees. Be careful though, candy burns at 310 degrees!

If your mixure is boiling over, remove from heat and transfer to a bigger pan. This happened to me and it made a HUGE mess that was difficult to clean up. Boiled sugar that cools down, hardens quickly. You get the picture.... Luckily, my husband was right there cleaning up after me! *Luvs*

Once your mixture is the right temperature, add the food coloring, any flavored oil and stir together. Dip the apple completely in the syrup and swirl it so that it becomes coated with the melted candy. Hold the apple above the pan so the excess drips off.

I had to re-heat the mixure after each dipped apple. That part was fairly easy, just throw it back on the stove over medium heat and stir until thinned again. After I was done with the red apples, I re-heated the mixture and added the black food coloring. Adding black to red will help it appear darker.

Place the apples onto a baking sheet that's lined with foil and sprayed with a non-stick spray like Pam.

Let the apples cool completely before serving.

"This is no ordinary apple. It's a magic wishing apple.

One bite, and all your dreams will come true.

Yes, girlie. Now, make a wish, and take a bite".

- Queen from Snow White

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

2009-10-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

When I first ran across this recipe I just knew that I had to try it right away! What sounds better than meatloaf *wrapped in bacon*? My mouth was watering just thinking about it!

Click Here

for the recipe

As with any meatloaf, this was pretty simple and only dirtied a few dishes. You start with chopping up the onion, celery, garlic and the jalapeno. Add a little bit of olive oil and cook until veggies are tender.

When they're brown, throw in the salt, nutmeg and cumin. I would never have thought to add nutmeg and cumin to meatloaf....

Whisk together eggs, milk, bread crumbs and tomato sauce to form a paste. Then add in vegetables, hamburger and pork sausage.

Pat the mixture into a 9x5 inch loaf pan. My mom found this pan for me several years ago... it works wonders with meatloaf, the fat drains right to the bottom through those holes!

Cut up your bacon and lay over the top of the meatloaf. Make sure the ends are tucked under.

Bake for 75 minutes. When it's finished, let sit for 10 minutes to firm up.

Doesn't that look like a little bit of love? I substituted spicy Italian sausage for the regular pork sausage this recipe calls for. Combined with the jalapeno, it has just the right amount of kick to it! Just like my mother, I served this with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and a tall glass of milk.

Mmmm, comfort food at it's best!

Decorating For Fall

2009-10-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

Fall is by far my favorite time of year! There is a chill on the air, football season is in full swing (go Hawks!), the aroma from spiced candles fill the house... you get the picture!

But, the real reason I love fall is because I get to bring down all the orange bins that have been shoved up into the rafters in the garage. I swear, they are calling me all year long...

I usually start with the front porch. Every year I forget to write down how many hay bales I buy versus how many I actually use, same thing with the corn stalks. This year though, I finally had the forsight to write it down!

My daughter has an affinity for white things.... white rocks, white shells and she always picks out white pumpkins. Instead of carving them this year, we decided to paint them! I spent $1.50 on three different colors of paint and had one happy little girl!

The lanterns were an addition this year also. I've been seeing them in the Potterybarn catalog for some time now, and I love them! A very homey touch. I couldn't see spending $100 per lantern, so I went in search of some knock-offs. I found some at Walmart for $10 a piece! Score!!

I found the sign at a small shop down on Main Street. I told myself that I wasn't going to buy anything large this year, but I just couldn't resist. Pie Maker's Best? How PERFECT for my porch!

I picked up the broom at Walmart also... then I painted it black and green to look like a witch's broom.

I love everything on my porch, but I think my favorite item would have to be the spiders. They're just the right size. The string on them is very long, so you can hang them just about anywhere. They even have black and orange glitter on them! They are all throughout my home, even in the bathroom!

As you can see, I go a little overboard decorating for fall. I found some great Halloween fabrics and covered up a few of the pictures on the walls, added seasonal pillows to the couches, and a Yankee cranberry candle burning on the stove...

After Halloween, all the spiders, witches and jack-o-lanters will come down. What's left (hay, un-carved pumkins, candles) will stay up through Thanksgiving and keep the house festive!

Ally