Caramel Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

Hello, everyone!  It's the first Thursday of the month, and we all know what that means!  It's cookie of the month time!!  Honestly, I haven't been this excited about a cookie of the month in awhile.  These cookies are amazing, perfect for this time of the year, and, honestly, so simple to make.  They look so fancy, but take very little effort.  Isn't that the best kind of recipe!?  I think so!  

Apple Gillete

Good morning, everyone!  Today is Thursday, and let me tell you, it has been one crazy week!  However, who doesn't want an apple pie, that's easier?  Even better, you don't have to use apples!  You can use aaannnnyyyy fruit that bakes well!  Peaches?  Sure!  Plums?  Absolutely!  

Monster Eye Cake

Good morning, everyone!  Happy Tuesday!!  Today's post is going to be pretty brief; we're winding up for the Holiday season, and with all of the fun that comes with that, that also brings the school projects home.
As I write this, I should be cutting out leaves and two large cardboard waves.  Be jealous of my evening.  

Pork Chops With Lingonberry Sauce

Good morning, everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I've mentioned before, how much I enjoy seasonally themed food, and this may not seem like it's very Halloween-y, but you could sell this as "pork chops in blloooddddd".  If you wanted to.  I seem to be the only one that enjoys this themed food, so I just kept that gem to myself while serving this to my family.
I tell myself that as my daughter gets a little bit older, she'll get as big a kick out of it as I do!

Easy Ice Cream Cake

Hello, everyone!  A couple of weeks ago it was my husbands birthday, and as I have mentioned several times before, he's not much of a sweets eater.  So, this poses a problem for me, since I love to celebrate birthdays with cakes or cookies, or whatever the person likes....last year, I made my husband some rice krispies treats.  Those, he'll eat.  

Haunted Double Chocolate Cookies

Good morning, everyone!  It's not only the first of the month, but it's also the first Thursday of the month, so, as always, that means it's the cookie-of-the-month time!  I'm hugely into themed food, and with the Halloween coming up, followed by all of the fun holidays...well, we'll be seeing some themed food coming up here pretty soon!
Well, as soon as today!  These aren't really "Halloween themed" per say (nor are they really haunted.  I didn't think that needed to be said, but....just throwin that out there for you), but they're double chocolate, and that's always a good thing!

Fun Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hello, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  Not just Thursday, but the first Thursday of the month, so you know what that means!  It's the cookie of the month!  This month, we're making fun chocolate chip cookies!  

Homemade Cheese Tortellini

Good morning, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  Today we're going to go over how to make homemade tortellini!  

As I have stated before, I love making pasta at home, people seem so impressed, even though it really isn't that difficult, or expensive to do!  What's better than that?

Tilapia in Parchment Paper

Hello, everyone!!  Happy Tuesday!  As you're reading this, I'm on a little bit of a vacation, just for a few days, but I thought I would leave you with one of my favorite fish recipes.  It looks pretty impressive, and it really couldn't be much easier.
I put the entire thing together while my husband was putting our daughter to bed the other night.  It took about 15 minutes to assemble, and another 20 or so to cook!

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Good morning, everyone!  How does a nice, hot breakfast sound?  Strawberries are definitely the favorite fruit of this house, so I always have a container (or two!) in the fridge!  I have to find different ways to use them, although just eating them straight is always a popular option!

4th of July Pinwheel Cookies

Hello, everyone!  Happy first Thursday of the month!  You know what that means...it's cookie of the month time!  Today, I have a variation of one of my favorite Christmas cookies (you can find that here)!

What says 4th of July like, of course, the red, white, and blue colors??  Not much else...maybe grilling and parades...I'll see if I can think about doing a hot dog cookie, or something along those lines for next year.
...maybe not.  A hot dog cookie doesn't sound very good!

Frosted Lemonade

 Hi everyone!  Happy (hot!) Thursday!  For today, I figured I'd give us a nice, frosty beverage, to help us beat the summer heat!
There is a fast food restaurant that advertises Frosted Lemonade, for the summer only, and I got one the other day.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about it....dairy and lemonade?  How could that possibly be good?
Oh, how wrong was I?
Very.

Watermelon Cookies

Hi, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I'm sorry that this is a little bit later today than usual; my daughter has had a cold going on for awhile, and thought it would be a good idea to share it with me!  Sharing is caring, right?

For this month's cookie of the month, I figured we'd kick off the summer with a cute little watermelon cookie.  This is just a sugar cookie that looks like a watermelon slice, it isn't flavored like watermelon (although that would be awesome!).

Tie Dye Birthday Cupcakes

Hello again, everyone!  It's Tuesday again, and as some of you know, my daughter's 4th birthday was this past Sunday, and her birthday celebration at school is tomorrow, so, I made up some surprise tie dye cupcakes that I think the kids are going to love!

These cupcakes are made using a white cake mix, because I just didn't feel like making a batter from scratch, and cake mixes come together so quickly!

Cucumber feta cheese bites

Hello, everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  We're back from our amazing vacation to Alaska, and I'm trying, slowly, to get back into the swing of things.  

So I figured I'd start back with a really lovely little snack/side dish, that, as a bonus, doesn't require any heat (with the summer approaching/already here, anything that I don't need to turn on the stove with is appreciated).  

It has a cucumber, so I'm calling it healthy, even though it is almost 50/50% cucumber/feta cheese!  

Guinness Beef Stew

Hello, everyone!  It looks like we're in the countdown to St.Patrick's day, and the internet being filled with green foods and beer.  There's nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to do something slightly more authentic.  This beef stew is really lovely, with the soft potatoes, tender meat and the slightly biter flavor of the Guinness, it is in pretty steady rotation in our house!

Chocolate surprise cake

Hello, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I'm not sure if you were are, but this weekend is Valentine's Day!  Surprise cakes are all the rage right now, and the best part is, they're exceptionally easy to do!  This is a lovely chocolate cake with a perfect little heart in the middle; this can be done with any shape, and any flavor, of course; however, with the upcoming holiday, I figured a heart would be the best way to go.

Nutella Truffles

I really enjoy making candies and little confections, but there are a couple of times per year where this love really shines - Valentine's Day, and the Holidays.  I love to play in the kitchen, and give homemade gifts, so I try to make something really special if I'm going to give it as a gift.  As much as I enjoy doing this, though, there are just some times where your pantry is running low, you don't want to break out the candy thermometer, or you just don't feel like destroying your kitchen trying to put together something impressive.  Believe me, I've been there.

Croquembouche

For years and years, I have wanted to try to make a croquembouche (a fancy, French term for a cream puff tower), but I always talked myself out of it, saying that they were just too big to make, and no reason special enough to go through the effort of making one.
Well, this year, I decided that I wasn't going to talk myself out of it anymore!  I was, however, going to scale it way back, and do a very small tower, so that I wouldn't be wasting anything.

Hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows

Hello everyone!  I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but the cold weather has officially come to stay here, and I couldn't love it more!  I love the whole snuggle under a blanket on the couch with a dog (or two...or three...or, in our case, five...), with a hot cup of either tea or hot chocolate.  While there's nothing wrong with the powder mix, they tend to be a little bit grainy and gritty, and just a little bit flat.  Which can be disappointing, especially when you are wanting hot chocolate for a special occasion, like Christmas morning, a winter party, maybe a kids sleepover or something along those lines.