cake pops for cheeks

after daddy took cheeks to Starbucks for her birthday breakfast she became a huge fan of their cake pops.

her request for her school snacks was cake pops.

her request for her home snack...cake pops.

her daddy's request for after work snacks...cake pops.

needless to say cake pops are our new favorite treat around here.

~type to you soon~

strawberry muffins

when your eight year old little boy says "momma, i would like some strawberry muffins." we make strawberry muffins. he rarely asks for anything. he's just that kind of guy(smile).

HERE is the recipe we used...i would highly recommend!

~type to you soon~

penzey's...a delicious experience

spent the weekend with my stl besties...thought you might want to "meet" them...they are some of my most favorite people in the whole world.

while i was there we went to penzey's. it is a spice store that i wrote about HERE

let me tell you...it was perfection. it was in a old building in a quaint part of a st. louis suburb. hardwood floors, wood crates, organization, and the smell...oh my! before we went i had prepared mr. dc for the trip. he knew that i had cleaned out the spice cabinet before we left. here is what i purchased while we were there.

just some of the bottom rack in the above picture

i bought these spices in bags, (you will see a picture below) because if you purchased in the bag you got a larger quantity for a cheaper price. i knew i had jars at home that would hold the spices. the store had all kinds of mixed spices, dressing mixes, and rubs.

i reused some of my existing bottles and removed the label from the bag that it came in so i could have the information for the spice

that sandwich sprinkle is straight from above...

these bags show how the spices came packaged

i would love to eventually have the entire spice cabinet be a penzey's spice cabinet

in the store they had all kinds of recipe cards for the taking, highlighting certain spices or blends to use in the recipe.

penzey's also has a catalog that has so many amazing recipes. i highly recommend subscribing HERE. and if you need spices let me tell you, penzey's is the place to buy. i found the company to have extremely reasonable prices and the quality is superior! i would buy the spices in the bag if you are going to have it shipped. and if you live near a penzeys, CHECK HERE, jump in your car and go NOW! what is holding you back. it will make you hApPy:)

one more little tidbit...a dash of penzey's almond extract in your coffee is deliciously decadent...thanks for the tip nanc:)

~type to you soon~

peppermint mini cakes

made these for some friends last weekend

they were a hit...and i can't take any credit...

totally from a box...but all natural so we're calling it healthy:)

these came from world market...remember that christmas savings trip i took last month...

we will be enjoying that trip for several months to come with all the goodies that we scored

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chocolate pie

chocolate pie...served at thanksgiving...was yummy if i say so myself...
the taste while an accomplishment was not what i was most excited about...
it was the crust and the detail in the edge...first success in the area of crust...yeah!
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how i roll

here is how i do chocolate chip cookies. double the batch...sometimes triple...bake a cookie sheet full...roll the rest into a cookie sheet servings (about 2 cups of batter) into wax paper rolls. then place the rolls in a gallon size freezer bag. plop those suckers in the freezer. pull out a single cookie sheet serving whenever you like and wha-la...home made chocolate chippers anytime without the big mess in the kitchen.

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snickerpoodles

we made these on saturday. my sweet cheeks wanted her some snickerpoodles. just use your favorite sugar cookie dough recipe and shape the cookies using 4 different sized ovals. we rolled the ovals in cinnamon and sugar and flattened them a little when assembling the cookies. they were super easy and are really self explanatory by looking at the pictures. your little ones will love them. here is an online recipe. we made our own dough but i'm sure the refrigerated kind works too.

~type to you soon~

Marble Gooey Bars

photo credit: taste of home

this is for my sweet new friends i met this weekend. hope to see you soon. we will try to plan a committee get together at our house. sorry we missed you last night after, i was not feeling so great after we left. thanks again for the fun weekend!

crust:

1 package of yellow cake mix

1 stick of butter (melted)

1 large egg

filling:

1 package of cream cheese (8oz.) room temp.

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 stick of butter (melted)

3 3/4 cups of confectioners sugar

1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

preheat oven to 350

use 13 X 9 inch baking pan

crust:

combine cake mix butter and eggs in large mixing bowl. blend on low for 2 min. the batter should stick together in a ball. spread the batter over the bottom of the pan to make the crust.
filling:

for the filling you can use the bowl that you used for the crust and the beaters too. no need to clean. fluff the cream cheese by blending with the mixer. then add eggs, vanilla and melted butter and mix on medium for about a minute. add the confectioners sugar and beat on medium until sugar is incorporated.

melt the chocolate chips in either microwave or on stove. measure out one cup of the above filing and combine with the chips to make chocolate filing.

pour the white filing into the crust and spread over the entire crust. then drop spoonfuls of the chocolate over the white filing. run a butter knife over the chocolate drops to create marble effect.

bake until it is browned but the center should still jiggle ( this is one thing that is ok to jiggle:)

approx. 45-47 minutes. i think it took a little less time for me because i used a bigger pan.

keep in mind you might as well take 2 bars and place them on your rear because my dear friends this is where it will end up...but life is short...and gooey bars are soooooo good...

~type to you soon~

crispy, crunchy, yummy

last monday my favorite, favorite, favorite show premiered for the season. in celebration of the long awaited night i made some yummy treats for mr. dc (and me). mr. dc used to not like my show but now he watches it with me. i don't know if he likes the show or just the treats but either way it's nice to have him next to me. i used the carmel corn recipe that i posted HERE to make the carmel for the apples. then i just melted a few chocolate chips and drizzled the top. below is the carmel corn with a chocolate drizzle as well. so glad fall is here. and carmel apples are here. and carmel corn is here. and you are here. thanks for being here.

~type to you soon~

gigi's cupcakes

we visited gigi's when we went on a road trip to visit a friend last week. let me just say...oh my. it was a child's fantasy (and an adults too)! my cupcake is the hostess knock off in the top left corner, my zillion times better than a hostess and i love hostess. the orange ones top my list of favorite childhood treats. these cupcakes however were mounded with icing, except mine, it was drenched in chocolate ganache. YUM! i have heard of and seen so many of these little cupcakeries popping up all around. what a fun business. probably would not be too beneficial for the waist line though:) do you have a cupcake shop near you? have a great saturday.

~type to you soon~

fun desserts last week

alton brown's blueberry buckle. best blueberry dessert that i have ever eaten, by a far! find it HERE. and make it. rush home...no stop and pick up some blueberries then rush home whip it up and devour it. you may want to make a double batch because you will want one all to yourself:)

these were a result of the brownie competition. my personal favorite was the good old mini muffin brownies. i like them because there was a ton of crust. and i could eat more than one (seven) and feel ok about myself...they were mini...

the kids loved the sprinkles and whipped cream on these little guys.

~type to you soon~

brownie experiment

results will be posted later but here is the prep for the competition.

cast iron scalloped edge pan

cast iron corn bread pan

regular sized muffin pan

mini muffin pan

we have been wanting to do a brownie competition of sorts. i like crust. lots of crust. but you can't be selfish and only make brownies for yourself with a family of 5. so today is testing day.

how do you like your brownies?

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the wild beast won

yes that would be two trays that you see. hopefully they last until tomorrow. update to follow...

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a weakness of mine

these are delightful...they were first found on a homegoods clearance rack in st. louis by one of my dearest friends. she busted those puppies open and we browsed the aisle munching on the goodness of salty and sweet. it may have been one of the more enjoyable homegoods trips i have experienced.

since they are not easy to find, and they are usually not on the clearance rack, and i ravished (like a wild beast) through a package of them that i found at homegoods a few weeks ago we made some for ourselves yesterday.

let me STRONGLY recommend you making yourself some! S-T-R-O-N-G-L-Y!!!!

we used ghirardelli milk chocolate chips and they were fantastic, in fact there are none left. i am currently considering making more here in the next 5 minutes or so, no let's make that now(i have no control over myself or will power). hold on, i be back in about 20...

ok i'm back (surely i can handle finishing this post before the lack of self control takes over)

i think these will be part of our christmas gifts to our friends this year. i can just see these little lovelies nestled in a tin with some waxed paper cut with some fancy edges.

let me know if you make some of these little goodies because goodness knows i won't be able to share mine until christmas when i will have to because that's just what you do at christmas time.

~type to you soon~

yummy

i justified these being a healthier birthday treat for school because of the strawberry centered in the middle of all that luscious chocolate. that is also the justification that i used for eating 5 of them last night.

~type to you soon~

snowy bake day

out the kitchen window
on the kitchen counter

in the kitchen oven

on the cookie sheets

recipe for a snowy bake day

snow.bread.cranberry orange scones.cookies in the oven

~type to you soon~