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!  

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.  

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!

Honey Pecan Chicken

Hello, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  Today we're doing one of my favorite recipes for supper.  Honey.  Pecan.  Chicken.  Yep.  Just let that settle into your brain here for a minute.  Even better, is that it is so deceptively easy to make, that it would be amazing to entertain with!

Blueberry Sour Cream Pancakes

Hello, everyone!  It's Thursday again, so I figured I'd do a simple, yet impressive weekend breakfast.  Pancakes really are a crowd pleaser, but people rarely make them from scratch, of which I'm guilty, too.  While it's easy to just grab the big yellow box of pancake mix, it is just as easy to mix these up from scratch.

Fish 'n Chips

Hello, everyone!  It's Thursday again, and I hope yours is treating you well!  Today we're covering another fish favorite in this house.  Fish 'n chips.  So easy to make, so easy to mess up.  Although, even the worst batch of fish 'n chips can be saved, for me, by malt vinegar.  

As a matter of fact, during our vacation to Alaska, we had fish 'n chips a few times, on varying scales of "goodness".  The ones that ranked lower for me, I bathed in malt vinegar, and went on my happy way.
My husband isn't sure how I can eat fish 'n chips swimming in malt vinegar, but I adore that stuff.

...I feel myself getting a little bit off topic here...

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!

Individual Cherry Cheesecakes

Happy Tuesday (and St.Patrick's Day), everyone!  As you probably don't know, tomorrow is my birthday, so, instead of doing a traditional green something or other for St.Patrick's Day, I figured I would do up a birthday cake of sorts, for myself.
I would love to do a standard birthday cake, but my husband isn't a big cake person, and I don't need a whole cake staring at myself all day!  That just wouldn't do!  

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!

Roasted garlic, Ricotta Cheese and Spinach Ravioli

Hello, everyone, happy Tuesday!  A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I were wondering around one of my favorite stores, Sur La Table, and as we were talking with the clerk (after we had finished checking out), I mentioned that I'd been looking more into a ravioli mold.  

I love the idea of making ravioli, and I'd tried once before.  Once.  It didn't go well.  I'm not sure if I didn't get all of the air out, or maybe I didn't seal the ravioli well enough...I'm not sure, but it put me off trying to make them again, when the little beauties exploded as they were cooking.

Mint and Chocolate Macarons

Hello, everyone!  Welcome to Thursday!  Is it just me or has this week gone by equally slowly and fast?  It's weird how that works.  

Anyhoo, French macarons have been exploding lately - you can't turn your head without seeing one.  Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but not by far.  My husband and I were out doing some shopping the other day, and not only did we see an adorable kids apron with macarons on them (which, of course, we had to get for our daughter), but I noticed macarons in two other stores, on clothing prints!  I guess if you can't make them, you can at least wear them.

But, don't worry about that, because they are surprisingly easy to make!

Chocolate avocado mousse

Hello, everyone!  I went to the store the other day, and on the rack where they keep produce that is coming up to its "sell by' date, they had two large avocados marked down to $1.  At first, I walked past them; I'm not a huge fan of avocados.  If they're on a sandwich, I can make my peace with them, but in general, I'm not going to go out of my way to buy them.  

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

Hello, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I don't know about where you are, but it is snowing here, and the whole state has lost their minds!  I'm in the South, so we get one, mayyybbbeee two snow days per year, and when we do get snow, everyone panics and buys up all of the milk and bread in the grocery store.

This always baffles me.  Between tonight and tomorrow morning, we're supposed to get between 6-8 inches, and while that is a lot (for us, anyway), it will all be gone in a day or so.  It's not like we're going to be snowed in for days and days.
There have been a couple of times where I've gone to the store, in actual need of milk - I have a kid, we go through a lot of milk, only to either go to multiple store, or debate between getting her buttermilk or a bunch of the single serving containers to hold her over.
Not to mention that I love milk, too, but these are some desperate times!

Nutella Strawberry Shortcake

It's Thursday again!  Hello, everyone!  Is it just me, or does 2015 already seem to be flying by?  My husband and I were going over our calendar, and by the time the dust settles around here, it's going to be June, we (for now) have a seemingly slow summer, then the holidays are here again, and it's 2016!  All you seem to hear while you're growing up, "Time flies as you get older!  Just you wait!"   And, of course, as you get older, you want it to fly by...you can't wait to do everything adults do; they make it look so fun.
Now that I'm a full fledged adult (when did that happen?!), I like to look back over my favorite foods as a kid, and try to get some of that time back, even as it whizzes past me at lightening speed.

Iced Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Hello, everyone!  Happy cookie-of-the-month day!  Today we have a cookie that is perfect for February, but once you have the technique down, this can be applied to any time of the year.

Sugar cookies get a reputation for being a very simple cookie, but they are absolutely perfect for decorating and frosting. 

Vegan Papaya, Mango, and Lime Sorbet

Hello, everyone!  As I have stated in the past, I love all kinds of frozen treats, ice creams, sorbets, sherbets, you name it, I love it.  As a matter of fact, when my husband goes to the store to grab some of said tasty treat, he'll ask me what flavor I'd like, and I always say, "My favorite!"  Which, of course, means, if it's frozen, I love it!

Another one of my favorite things to do, is to go to the grocery store, and look at what fruits have been marked down for a quick sale, because it is on the cusp of getting to its "sale-by" date.  I have gotten so many amazing deals on produce doing this, and have made lots of lovely dishes (I have used several fruits in these posts: traditional apple pie, banana bread, mushroom risotto,brown sugar, peach ice cream and my roasted chicken, just to name a few!) by getting fruits and veggies that need to be used quickly!

Chicken Gyros

Hello, everyone!  This is going to be a continuation of my last blog post, so today, we are going to cover the chicken, olive topping, and the homemade tzatziki sauce and assembling these bad boys!  I'm going to basically jump right into this post, and pick up from Tuesdays post, about the homemade pita bread.

Banana Nutella crepes

Hello, everyone!!  I'm so excited for this post; I love breakfast, but my family isn't big on breakfasts on the weekend, and that's sad.  I covered this a little bit in my overnight cinnamon rolls post, but, basically, when I come down on weekend mornings, I'll ask my husband what he wants for breakfast, and I always, always get, "Nothing." for an answer.