Christmas Cookies: Peanut Butter Blossoms

Every Christmas I make these cookies, I've been making them since 2000! You don't have to use Hershey kisses, you can use any star-shaped chocolates that are available. Please note that I doubled this recipe (because I have a lot of people to bake for!) If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you'll love these Christmas cookies.

PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS

MAKES BETWEEN 55-60 COOKIES

1 C shortening
1 1/2 C peanut butter
2/3 C granulated sugar
2/3 C packed brown sugar
2 eggs
4 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
extra granulated sugar to roll cookies in

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat shortening and peanut butter in extra large bowl until well blended. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and beat well.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat into PB mixture.

Shape dough into 1" balls, roll in granulated sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately press chocolate piece into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges.

Remove from cookie sheets to wire racks to cool.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Layer Dessert

First off, I take absolutely no credit for this recipe. Whenever my family likes a new dish or dessert I make, I ask "And where did I get this recipe from?" They all respond with "Piiiinnnnnterest!!" Yes, Pinterest, where all us foodies gather for inspiration.

When describing this to friends, I struggled to say what it was. Is it pie or cake? Um, it's both? This magical dessert features a pumpkin pie bottom, a vanilla cake layer and a vanilla-pumpkin spiced whipped topping. (The magic is how the pumpkin pie filling sinks to the bottom!)

The only thing I did to this recipe is rename it for when I want to make it again. If you want to make it, you have to visit Shawn, at I Wash You Dry, because she created it and I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this is!

This will definitely be served at Thanksgiving this year! Hope you try it!

Triple Berry Baked French Toast

If you want an easy, but elegant dish to serve for breakfast or brunch, try this baked french toast recipe. I used frozen berries and made it the night before which made it even simpler. Please note that I almost always use skim milk and I save the ends of bread loaves, freeze them until I have enough to make this recipe!

(No good photos I'm afraid, these are just from my iPhone!)

Triple Berry Baked French Toast

(made in a 13x9 pan)

Butter for greasing the pan
6 eggs
3 C milk
3/4 C maple syrup
2 tsp cinnamon + 1 Tbsp for later
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Zest of 1 lemon

Day old or left over ends of bread cut into cubes (maybe half a loaf?)
2 C fresh or frozen berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries)
6 Tbsp sugar


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the 9x13 pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Add milk, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt and lemon zest. Add bread cubes until fully coated. Stir in frozen berries and pour into prepared pan.

3. In a small bowl mix sugar and 1 Tbsp of cinnamon, sprinkle on top.

4. You can bake this right away, or refrigerate overnight. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

5. Drizzle with extra maple syrup when serving.

Adapted from Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis' recipe.

Thanks to all the bloggers who emailed me or left a comment about wanting this recipe. Enjoy!

Zucchini Brownies With Chocolate Frosting

Wow, August has been busier than I thought it would be. Fortunately I've been able to paint, bake and squeeze in a trip to Wisconsin Dells with the family between working.

Anyway, one of our neighbors gave us a huge zucchini which prompted me to make these brownies. I have to say, in general, I'm not a big brownie fan, but these are the best brownies I have ever made from scratch.

I added frosting because you could kind of see the shredded zucchini on the top, (didn't want to scare our children) so I added the frosting! Delicious!

Zucchini Brownies

(made in a 13x9 pan)

1/2  cup canola oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2  teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini

Chocolate Frosting

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4  cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 13x9 cake pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, mix oil, sugar and vanilla extract.

3. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add this mixture into large bowl that has oil mixture. Fold in zucchini, mixture will seem dry and doughy but there is enough moisture in the zucchini to make these brownies moist.

4. Spread into prepared cake pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until brownies spring back when touched.

5. Allow brownies to cool, melt cocoa and butter in a small pot set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Add this to pot of butter and cocoa and spread over cooled brownies.


This recipe was adapted from Rachel's recipe.

Fruit Pizza From Scratch

Every summer I usually make fruit pizza. Even though there are a lot of recipes out there, this one is completely from scratch (no pre-made sugar cookie mix here.) The crust is more like shortbread and is delicious!

FRUIT PIZZA

CRUST

3 sticks of butter
1 C powdered sugar
3 C flour

In an extra large bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar. Slowly add flour. Pat onto a pizza pan, stone or baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees approximately 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely.

TOPPING

8 oz light cream cheese
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl, beat all ingredients until creamy, spread on cooled crust, top with the following fruit suggestions:

Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries (any wild berry)
Grapes
Mandarin Oranges
Pineapple
Kiwi

No matter what combination of fruit you use, I'm sure you'll love this recipe! :)

Tried And True Pinterest Recipes

A lot of people have asked me if the recipes I've tried on Pinterest are any good. I have to say, some were complete flops, but a good majority of recipes were worth making. Here are my favorite Pinterest recipes (and links to the recipes) I've tried so far:

Scooter's Spaghetti (Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti)

California Sandwich (I've made this on a bagel)

Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Pink Lemonade Pie

DIY Instant Oatmeal Packets (Kind of a recipe, works great during the school year)

What have you found on Pinterest that you (or your family) really liked?

DIY Orange Julius Smoothie

Aside from homemade popsicles, I also like to make smoothies. This summer we're experimenting with more flavors and recipes. Here's one we love, using ingredients you probably already have in your home!

Orange Julius Smoothie
(makes 8 servings)

12 oz frozen orange juice concentrate
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 - 2 1/2 cups ice

DIRECTIONS

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend on the smoothie setting.

That's it! A delicious (and somewhat nutritious - thanks to the milk) cold treat to serve your kids this summer. Enjoy!

What I'm Reading

I love to read. Some books I read for work, others just for fun. Here's what I'm reading now:

Michele Stuart's 'Perfect Pies,' the DIYers Sherry and John's 'Young House Love,' and 'Barefoot Contessa Foolproof.'

Perfect Pies is really just eye candy for me because I just love looking at cookbooks with pretty food photos. I once told my sister-in-law that I photographed food better than people!

I've been following the projects of Young House Love for a few years now, their home projects can be very inspiring.

And the Barefoot Contessa? Well, her recipes never fail. So I have to read her books. :)

Those Raspberry Crumb Bars look amazing, I might have to make those for Easter!

What are you reading?

There's No Place (To Paint) Like Home

A week away from home has (hopefully) made my family appreciate their mommy-chauffeur, a house that smells of crock-potted meals and soap in the shower. (Seriously, how can you shower without soap, kids?)

(A few little stops for treats to bring home: locally made chocolates, sushi for me and a sampling of craft beers for Husband.)

As the 80's Michael Jackson and Journey serenade me in the background, it seems I have returned to domesticity, beginning with paint.

Husband and I have finally started painting our entryway. As opposed to the latte-colored paint chip I was "instagramming" (trust me, this will become a word in the dictionary, just like "googling") two weeks ago, we ended up with "Tea Leaves," an earthy, sage green color, close to the green in this palette:

Our lake house is basically beige, which translates as incredibly boring and devoid of personality. So we had to fix that. (Also any paint color will hide drool marks from an English Mastiff.) Really.

Husband is a perfectionist when it comes to painting. And rightfully so, he's quite skilled with a roller. I however, am of the let's-just-get-color-on-the-wall, school of thought. At least we can agree on color. (Except for when I wanted our last kitchen "butter" yellow and the yellow chosen was so bright it looked like we were riding in a school bus every morning. Epic fail.) We now choose paint color together.

So we are painting right now while we have a little down time between swim practices and softball.

For more inspiring color palettes, check out my "True Colors" Pinterest board.

Oktoberfest Carrot Cake

Husband has been experimenting with making beer. I've been experimenting with making desserts to pair with his beer. It's a nice little combined hobby we share.

For Husband's birthday last year we sampled a nice bottle of craft beer called Three Philosophers Beer with Godiva dark chocolate and an award-winning Raspberry BellaVitano cheese by Sartori. Amazing combination.

As we continued to investigate flavors and food pairings, I knew I needed to find a good recipe for carrot cake that supposedly would go well with Husband's IPA.

I found a "healthy" recipe for Carrot Cake from Tiffany at Nature Moms Blog and adapted it a little using ingredients I already had on hand. My biggest issue with Carrot Cake is the amount of sugar in it, so this was an interesting alternative.

As I mentioned before, I originally made this to pair with Husband's IPA which has a fruity aroma and four different kinds of hops in it. But after taste testing it, Husband says this cake will go better with his Oktoberfest beer because of the applesauce in it. (Hence, the cake's name.)

Aside from the fact that I now need to come up with a different dessert recipe to go with his IPA, what I find really intriguing is the texture of the cake itself. Very hard to explain, extremely moist, somewhat dense, not sweet at all, but the cream cheese frosting makes up for the lack of sweetness.

Oktoberfest Carrot Cake

1 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2  teaspoons baking soda
2  teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

2 cups grated carrots

2 1/2 cups applesauce

1 cup skim milk
1 cup pancake syrup*

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pkg light cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 - 2 cups confectioner's sugar (depending on how sweet you want frosting.)
1 teaspoon vanilla

*Original recipe called for real maple syrup, but I didn't have any, so I used what we

had in the fridge!

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray one 13x9 pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool before frosting it. Make frosting and spread over cake.

So maybe it didn't go with his IPA, but the pan is already almost empty. With or without beer, it tastes great! Enjoy!

Super Easy Strawberry Banana Bread

I'm on this kick to use what we have in our fridge or pantry without having to run to the store for one or two items. So call me frugal, s'okay.

Here's where the beauty of Pinterest comes in. Most of the recipes (especially if they come from a blog) are usually tried and true. So when I searched for a recipe using frozen strawberries (which we picked last summer) and a ripe banana, I found a recipe for 'Strawberry Banana Bread.'

Though this recipe was for one loaf, I doubled it to make two loaves and adapted it so I could use whole eggs instead of egg whites and increased the amount of baking soda*.

Strawberry Banana Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2  teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 medium ripe bananas (mash one and slice the other)

1/2  cup canola oil
2 eggs beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups strawberries, diced (can use frozen berries)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray two 9x5 bread loaf pans with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon and stir to combine. Mash one banana with a fork and slice the other one.

3. Add the mashed banana to the dry ingredients and stir. Add the oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and stir until just combined. Gently fold in 3/4 cup strawberries. Pour batter into prepared pan and top with 1/4 cup strawberries and banana slices, pressing them gently into the surface of the batter.

4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean (Depending on moisture content bananas and berries, cooking times may vary from 40 to 50 minutes).
Allow bread to cool before removing it from the pan.

* I read somewhere that if your cakes are turning out deflated it's because there isn't enough baking soda. The original recipe used half the amount of baking soda, so I doubled it to make sure the cake wasn't too flat.

Thanks to Averie from Averie Cooks, for her rendition. This cake is moist and not too sweet and yet our kids still like it. It's also very easy to make, hope you enjoy this recipe!

Leftover Ham & Split Pea Soup

I am so excited to use my new knives that I got for Christmas. It makes me feel like I could be on "Chopped" or "Top Chef." (Yeah, it's that good.)

Over the Christmas break, Husband made a ham. I'm not big ham fan, but I thought I'd better come up with something to do with all the leftovers. Here is one of the recipes that uses the ham bone and leftover meat and is pretty yummy, if I say so myself.

Leftover Ham & Split Pea Soup

Serves: 6; Prep & Cooking Time: 2 hours and 20 minutes

1 pkg (2 cups) dried split peas, rinsed
2 medium stalks of celery, sliced
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
Leftover ham bone (with a little ham still on it)
6 cups water
1 tsp salt*
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
Pepper to taste
2 cups of leftover ham, chopped into bite-sized pieces

*I omit the salt if the ham is particularly salty.

DIRECTIONS

1. In a Dutch oven or large pot, combine and mix all ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until peas are tender and soup thickens.

2. Remove ham bone and add cut up ham pieces.

TIP

This soup can be frozen. If soup becomes too thick, just add water.

Enjoy!

Lemon Cupcakes W/ Lemon Buttercream

Last year I made some lemon cupcakes from scratch. I wish I could say they were okay, but they were so dry, they could choke a horse. This year I wanted to improve them, because I really like lemon cupcakes! Here is the new improved version that I put together.

*Important tips: if you use salted butter, skip the salt and if you don't have a fresh lemon, you can substitute bottled lemon juice. Fresh is best, but I hate stressing out over cupcakes!

*I was going to put candied lemon zest on top of the icing, but was too lazy to do the work, if you want to try, here is the recipe. Otherwise I ended up turning it into a lemon topping that I spread on top of the cooled cupcakes before frosting them. It gave them an extra oomph of lemon flavor that worked well.

Lemon Cupcakes With Lemon Buttercream Icing

CUPCAKES

2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1  cup sugar
2  teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2  cup canola oil
1 stick (8 tablespoons) of unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1  teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

ICING

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
2  tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

*LEMON TOPPING (optional)

Zest of 2 lemons
4  tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
4  tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners.

2. To prepare the cupcakes: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Combine the oil, eggs, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon extract, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl. Add to the flour mixture and stir until smooth.

3. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden and the cupcakes are springy when gently touched. Place pan on a rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan, transfer to the rack, and let cool completely.

4. To prepare the icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a bowl and beat until smooth. Spread some of the lemon topping over each cupcake with a small spatula and frost and add sprinkles after that. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Here's that lemon zest topping spread on top of the cupcakes...

This is where I practice my piping skills...

A little crystal sugar and snowflake sprinkles...

Hope you'll try them! The cakes were moist and the frosting/icing wasn't too sweet, but with a hint of lemon. Yum-o. Husband and I are taking them to a New Year's Eve party. I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

If you were to visit the local retail stores, it would seem that Christmas has come upon us! I'm guilty of adding to that premature Christmas cheer, seeing as I've spent the last two weeks getting Christmas displays up for several of my clients.

"Do you really want Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving?" I asked.

"Yes, yes we do." *sigh*

So here's a little pre-Christmas inspiration and a look at what I've been up to!

What a wonderful Christmas Advent Calendar idea from Pinterest!

How about this rustic table centerpiece I found and has been repined 714 times!

Other than Christmas merchandising and displays, I've been dealing with a lot of cupcakes again, this time for a client's anniversary event. These cupcakes were just beautiful!

Both of the above cupcakes were made by Angela at Angel Cakes It was fun taking photos of these masterpieces!

As I was setting them up, I felt like I was on Cupcake Wars! Hurry, hurry...

But who's complaining? I was fortunate enough to taste some great cupcakes from 'Amanda Cupcake,' she made sparkly cake pops for the event and I got to try her red velvet cupcakes and her vanilla, cranberry-filled cupcake! Yum-o! (Nothing says 'holidays' like sugared cranberries!)

Other than work, (and a bad cold - cough, cough) I've been trying to share the love, but not the cold, with my family. I made them some Pumpkin Pie French Toast for breakfast this morning and Husband and I shopped for our Thanksgiving festivities today. Hello Mr. 12 lb. turkey!

And if you must know, I put up my outdoor Christmas lights. Oh well, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" ;)

I'm sure everyone is as busy as I am, so if I don't see you before Thursday, have a Happy Thanksgiving! :)

There's Always Room For Cupcakes

I keep forgetting how busy the school year is for me, maybe because Husband and I were so busy with the kids all summer! Anyway, I've got two birthday celebrations under my belt and one left to go before  Thanksgiving. Phew.

I made these super cute and delicious homemade cupcakes and frosting, adapted from this recipe I pinned on Pinterest. They're a "hoot," hehe...

The owl cupcake liners and owl toothpicks I found at TJMaxx for $6.99. Very cute for this Halloween-themed birthday party.

Remember all the preparation for our youngest daughter's birthday party? Here's her red and white cupcake. Cupcake liners were from Michael's.

Husband's birthday is up next, and I'd love to make a mini cake, something like this, only not in those colors!

To make these Ombre Mini Cakes you can find directions at  Glorious Treats.

Do you have a favorite cupcake or cake recipe? Go ahead and share the link in your comments! Thanks!

Why Moms Don't Sleep (Much)

This week I made an awesome raspberry vinaigrette, baked homemade brown sugar cupcakes (which will be frosted with a salted-caramel frosting later this week) and decided once in a while, fast food is okay. Every supper can't be a Pinterest supper, right?

Other than that...well, let's just say I've had a busy month. Someone once told me (when I was pregnant with our first child) that I would never sleep again. I do sleep, just not so much. Here's my Instagram overview:

1) Cleaned and organized my craft room (aka the laundry room) 2) Got our eldest daughter ready for Homecoming 3) Bought an iPhone, dumped my dumb phone 4) Learned more about Instagram 5) Made sure our 2 younger kids made it to soccer practices and games on time 6) Oh, they're on the swim team too... three times a week 7) Carved pumpkins, baked pumpkin seeds (an annual tradition) while listing to 'Monster Mash' 8) Baked cupcakes for two October birthdays 9) Redesigned a client's website.

Not pictured: Studying Facebook analytics for a client, merchandising a store, marketing meetings, scrubbing windows, doing laundry, huffing and puffing on a treadmill and coffee time with Husband five times a week at 5:30 am. <3

So on that note:

"It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?"

-Henry David Thoreau

It's all good.

It's A (Birthday) Movie Party!

As I sit here typing, I have a group of 8-year-old girls watching Barbie's "Princess and The Popstar" in our living room. My youngest daughter and I scoured Pinterest for party ideas and came up with a movie-birthday party theme, complete with a concession stand!

I purchased mini candy bars, individually wrapped Twizzlers, small soda cans and popped popcorn.

I had designed some "ticket" invitations that the girls had to bring in order to be admitted into the movie:

We stuck to a red and white color theme and added balloons and streamers. We also made cupcakes, of course!

On Pinterest, I found a way to make boxed cupcakes taste homemade! They actually turned out pretty well. My mom and I found this pretty (and reasonably priced) cupcake stand at Target:

I also found cute popcorn boxes at Hobby Lobby to use as goodie bags.

Hopefully she will remember this party and how fun it was planning it! :)