I think I'm going to delete this blog.

Golfing Green

Skeleton Cookies

Oh, how I love Pinterest!  I used the same gingerbread cookie recipe used here, and used store bought icing to pipe on the the skeleton bones.  Happy Haunting!

Teacher Appreciation

I was honored to make cupcakes for a local elementary school's teacher appreciation banquet. The idea came directly from Disney's Family Fun magazine. Aren't they adorable?

Baby in Pink

I had the opportunity to throw my dear friend a surprise Diaper Party for her third baby, a girl.  My girlfriend missed the chance to try my Cherry Almond Vanilla cupcakes a while back and I thought she'd really enjoy them, so I opted for that specialty again.

They were a big hit.  I mixed the frosting up a bit this time, and it turned out to be just as tasty as the previous batch, and just a tad different with a hint of maraschino cherry.  Congratulations!  I can't wait to meet that baby girl!

{the very BEST} Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

I found this recipe somewhere in the internet world a few years back.  I have been 100% addicted ever since.  It's a take on Great Harvest's Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread, and is honestly just as good as the real thing.  I often make it into muffins instead of bread just so we can share the wealth.  It bakes great either way.

the very BEST Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

2 1/2 c. white flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

3 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

16 oz. cooked or canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

1 c. oil

4 eggs, beaten lightly

2/3 c. water

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 (9x5 inch) bread pans.

Mix flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a bowl; set aside.

Mix pumpkin, eggs, water, oil, and 2/3 c. water and stir into dry ingredients.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Place batter in prepaired pans.

Bake 60-70 minutes (only 30 for the small ones) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

*The only thing I do differently is that I use a large can of the pumpkin instead of only 16 oz and I use the entire bag of chocolate chips instead of just half. You know, if you're not going to eat whole wheat bread you might as well get the most out of it that you can.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Last week my daughter participated in the children's program at church.  We decided that we better thank everyone who worked so hard to prepare such a wonderful program.  We browsed Pinterest for a while until she decided on the perfect cupcake.  She selected Chocolate Chip cupcakes.  I used a simple Devil's Food chocolate box cake mix but used my own White Almond frosting recipe. 

I also found (on Pinterest) this cute way to deliver an individual cupcake.  Too, cute, isn't it? 

Kid's Menu

I know this is not real food, but it was a great project to do with my kids so I thought I'd share.

My little girl loves to play waitress. She often grabs a little note pad and pen and says to me "Ma'am? What would like off the menu?" When she said this to me the other day I instantly thought "Hey...that would be a great craft time project to do together, plus she could learn something at the same time."

So here we go.

I gave each child a pair of safety scissors, pulled out my collection of old magazines (primarly Family Circle, Good Housekeeping and Family Fun) and handed one to each child.  I then asked the children to go through their magazines and to cut out all the pictures of food that they could find.

Once everyone had their piles of food we cleared off the table and sorted the foods into 4 categories: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks/Desserts.  We labeled a separate piece of construction paper for each category and then glued the correspondings foods to the paper.

After allowing the glue to dry we stapled the papers together to form a "book."  My itty bitty is lovin' her new menu, and I love that we were able to talk about nutrition and health in a fun and creative way.

Masi Samoa

I've tried making Masi Samoa, a Samoan coconut "cookie," on several occasions. They've always turned out alright, but I finally found a perfect recipe that doesn't make over 5 pounds of cookie.
Check out Panipopos' Kitchen for the full recipe.

These cookies are not super sweet. They're sort of bland but have a coconut flavor to them. It's worth a shot if you're a coconut lover- or if you're married to a hot Samoan.

Pumpkin, Spice & Everything Nice

I'm trying to hang on to Summer as long as possible.  The weather this week, however, has not cooperated with my "hanging on" plan.  It's been in the upper 70's which, honestly, is perfect, but that means that Fall is on its merry way.  What better way to welcome Fall (while still hanging on to Summer) than by baking with pumpkin?  My mom makes the best Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies ever.  You're lucky I'm sharing.

Mom’s Pumpkin Cookies

4 c flour

2 c oats

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 ½ c butter softened

2 c brown sugar

1 c sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 16 oz solid packed pumpkin

2 c chocolate chips

-cream butter and gradually add sugars

-then add egg and vanilla

-mix all dry ingredients together minus the oats

-add flour mix alternating with pumpkin

-add oats

-add chocolate chips

Bake 350 for 17-20 min

Grandma Johnson's Scones

I absolutely love breakfast foods (except eggs). My little sister once made these with a friend and then passed the recipe on to me.   I don't make them often, but they are a nice mix up for breakfast.  I have no idea who Grandma Johnson is, but she sure does make a mean scone!

Grandma Johnson's Scones
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup raisins (optional)*

Directions
In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt.
Cut in the butter.**
Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened.
Mix in the raisins.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly.
Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round.
Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.***
Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

* Per my sister's suggestion, I replaced the raisens with frozen blueberries.  You could really use anything that satisfies your taste buds.
**  Freeze the butter and grate it into the mixture with a cheese grater.  This helps to "cut in."
***  I like the idea of a round scone better than a triangle (who knows why?).  I use a circle cookie cutter or the mouth of a glass to form circles (and my 4 year old daughter loves to turn them into hearts with her own cookie cutter).

Fudge Mint Brownies

My sister introduced me to Pinterest a few months ago. The first time I logged in their servers were having some problems and I told my sister "This Pinterest is so dumb." She told me that just because I didn't understand how it worked didn't mean that it was dumb. Glad she shoved that in my face because I LOVE Pinterest now.

Thank you, Glorious Treats (via Pinterest), for your Fudge Mint Brownies!

Scooby Snacks

Remember that thing I ordered on ebay? Well, it arrived! And much sooner than I had anticipated. They day I received it in the mail I had to go borrow some molasses from my good neighbor to get the show on the road. I was that excited.

You see, my children are very much into Scooby Doo right now and they often ask me if I have any Scooby Snacks.  One day I figured out that I could just whip up my own Scobby Snacks and they'd think it was pretty much the coolest thing ever.  And let me tell you, they do!  They've been asking for Scooby Snacks all day.  Even the hubster asked for them- in a Scooby voice- and that alone just about made my day.

Scooby Snacks (aka My Mom's Gingerbread Cookies)

MIX:
 1 cup sugar
 1cup molasses
 3/4 cup oil
 1/2 cup hot water

ADD: 2 eggs and beat

MIX: 1 teasp baking soda
  1 teasp cinnamon
  1 rounded teasp ginger
  1/2 teasp salt
  7 cups flour

BAKE:  350 for 10 min.

Hint:  measure the oil first and then the molasses and the molasses will slide right  out of cup leaving it quite clean, then measure the hot water, with same cup.

Hehehe

I just purchased something on ebay that I can not wait for!  It's supposed to arrive next week and I'm going to have too much fun with it.  Stay tuned.

Dive In

Love me a cute, simple cupcake. These were made to go along with the Squirt! cupcakes as "water."

Squirt!

Thank you!, Pineterest! Aren't these adorable? I stole the idea from Pinterest for my niece's first birthday party. They were a little more time consuming than I had planned, but worth it in the end. 

Happy Birthday, Jadie Face!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

I found this recipe on My Yellow Umbrella via Pinterest.  Holy shniekies! is it ever good!  It's essentially a layer of cream cheese sandwiched between buttery crescent rolls and topped with sugar and cinnamon.

Yeah, yeah, I know I said I wasn't making any more treats until I lose the baby weight.  I had a good excuse this time.  Hubby asked me to make them so he could take them to visit a family.  I just kept the leftovers. :)

Pani Popo: Cheater's Choice

My husband isn't big on sweets, but he does love his Samoan Pani Popo. Pani Popo is a dessert dish in his native Samoa and as we were hosting a Samoan dinner last night I prepared this for dessert.

As I'm far from a slave to my kitchen I made Pani Popo in my Cheater's Choice style.  Normally you would prepare a batch of white bread dough and roll into 12 rolls.  Being the cheater that I am, I purchased frozen Rhode's Rolls.

Pani Popo

12 rolls (frozen or homemade)

1 can coconut milk

1 cup sugar

Lay 12 rolls to rise in greased 9x13 pan.

Just before baking, combine coconut milk and sugar.

Pour mixture over raw dough.

Bake 15-20 minutes at 350, until top of rolls are golden brown.

Serve up and enjoy this Samoan treat.

Treat Hiatus

I'm going on a treat hiatus until I lose the rest of my "baby" weight.  6 pounds.  I hope I won't be gone too long.

Gold Medal Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few nights ago our friends brought us a big plate of chocolate chip cookies.  They were perfect; soft, chewy, round and delicious.  I ate six for breakfast the next morning.  No joke.  When I asked my friend for the recipe I just about died laughing inside.  You know that episode of Friends where Monica is trying to write the recipe for Phoebe's grandma's chocolate chip cookies?  That's what our conversation reminded me of.  The recipe for these cookies is straight off the back of the Gold Medal All-Purpose Flour bag. (I omitted the nuts.)

I baked some of the dough in the mini-muffin pan so my mini-me and I could have a tea party treat.  I highly suggest this, as with a dollop of ice-cream on top this makes a perfect mommy/daughter treat, especially when served up on her very own tea plate.  (It also makes a great treat while watching Project Runway with a BFF.)

Gold Medal Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 c butter or margarine, softened
1 egg, room temperature
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 bag (12 oz) choclate chips (2 cups)

1.  Heat over to 375.  In large bowl, mix sugars, butter and egg.  Sitr in flour, baking soda and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips.
2.  On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until ight brown (centers will be soft).  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Happy Birthday, Brittany!

Happy 28th Birthday to my dear friend, Brittany!

My days just wouldn't be the same without you.

Strawberry Trifle: Cheater's Choice

I love Summer for so many reasons! One of my favorite things of Summer is all of the light, fruity desserts. Nothing beats a fresh fruit trifle on a warm summer evening.

This is another Cheater's Choice. It's really simple to throw together and is a great take-along to a group BBQ or family dinner.

Strawberry Trifle: Cheater's Choice
1 yellow cake mix box
1 tub strawberries
3/4 c sugar
1 8oz container whipped topping

Bake cake according to directions.  Let cool.  Cut into 1 inch cubes.
Slice strawberries.  Stir in sugar.  Chill in refridgerator for 2 hours.

In glass bowl layers cake cubs, strawberries, whipped topping.  Repeat.

Chill 2 hours before serving.

That's Amore!

These were custom baked and decorated for a bridal shower.  One of the wedding color is purple. 
And that's amore!

Candy Filled Brownie Bites

This recipe came from Aly over at Some Kind of Delicious.  I've been wanting to make these go-to treats for months now and finally got around to it this morning. 

Check Aly out.  She has tons of tasty treats and delicious meals.

Boston Cream Pies: Cheater's Choice

I was looking through my cupcake book the other day and decided that I wanted to try out making cupcake style Boston Cream Pie. I soon figured out that I didn't have enough time to make everything from scratch so I figured out my own cheater's way of doing it. So simple and satisfying.

Bostom Cream Pies: Cheater's Choice
1 box vanilla cake mix
1 box vanilla instant pudding
6 oz chocolate chip pieces

Prepare cake mix into 24 cupcakes
Prepare vanilla instant pudding
After cupcakes are cooled, cut in half with serrated knife
Spoon 1 Tbsp pudding onto each bottom half
Top with top half of cupcake
Melt chocolate chips and spoon onto top of cupcakes
Chill

See...simple!

Cowboy Cookies

My friend, Leslie, first introduced me to these at her son's birthday party (I believe her neighbor, Amber, made them). I won't admit to how many I ate that day. I finally snagged the recipe from her and got around to making them today.  I don't know why they're called Cowboy Cookies, but saddle up, baby, because your taste buds are in for a ride!

Cowboy Cookies
1 cup shortening (recommended: Crisco)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups rolled oats
1 (6-ounce) package chocolate chips
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
 
Add all wet ingredients first and then sift in dry ingredients.   Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

*Amber says the secret to these is to mix everything by hand.

Citrus Splash

Hot this Summer? Cool yourself down with a simple Splash of Citrus. 

Citrus Splash
Mandarine oranges
Pineapple tidbits
Vanilla yogurt

Pour vanilla yogurt in bottom of glass
Layer with mandarine oranges
Then pineapple
Repeat

Oreo Mud Cake

I created this simple treat straight from my own little brain (doesn't happen all that often).  Once, when I was still living in Hawaii, I made a vanilla-banana-butterfinger cake (I should make that again!) for a friend's birthday.  Everyone was a bit weary to try it at first but it ended up being really good.  This reminds me of that- just a few simple things thrown together.  Makes a simple, delicious, cool Summer treat.

Oreo Mud Cake

1 box chocolate-fudge cake mix

1 box chocolate instant pudding

1 12 oz tub whipped topping

2 sleeves Oreo cookies

Bake cake mix as directed.  Cool.  Cut into small cubes.

Prepare chocolate pudding as directed.

Crush Oreo cookies.

Generously scatter cake cubes in bottom of 9x13 pan

Cover cubes with chocolate pudding

Layer whipped topping on top of pudding

Top with crumbled Oreo cookies

Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Peanut Butter Squares

These homemade Peanut Butter Squares have been a family favorite for as long as I can remember. I don't really even know where the recipe came from, but it's always been around.  It's quick, easy, and super addicting.  Use caution; you'll want to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Homemade Peanut Butter Squares
1 package + 2 whole crackers from another package of graham cracker crumbs crushed
2 cubes margarine melted
1 cup peanut butter
1 box powdered sugar
6 oz chocolate chips

Combine crushed graham crackers, margarine and peanut butter
And powdered sugar
Press in 9x13 pan
Melt chocolate chips and pour over peanut butter mixture
Cool in fridge

A Very Berry Birthday

This morning we had my daughter's "friend" birthday party. She opted for the Strawberry Shortcake theme again and I was pleased to find cupcake toppers that fit the bill!

These cupcakes were made from scratch and are vanilla very berry.  Inside you'll bite into a sweet mix of strawberries, rasberries and bluberries.  After baking a homemade jelly type sauce is piped into the middle and then covered with creamy butter frosting.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Rainbow Jello Slices

Apparently I have a fetish for fun foods.  I saw these on pinterest and had to try them.  Good thing I had a birthday party to use them at.  These were so much fun! They are just a tad time consuming to make (if you make 6 different colors) but well worth it for the kids.

All have you have to do is:

1.  Cut oranges in half

2.  Remove fruit down to the peel

3.  Fill with jello

4.  Let set as jello recipe calls for

5.  Slice into normal size orange slices

The kids LOVE to eat them.

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

It's no secret that kids (especially my kids!) love fruit.  I saw these online and thought it was a great treat for my girl's birthday party.  No recipe needed.  Enjoy!

Saturday Morning: Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

This morning I was watching our friend's 2 children while my hubby and their dad helped a family move. What better way to keep kids entertained than to let them bake? I've had a box of carrot cake mix sitting in the pantry so we skipped the "from scratch" and just used the box. We did make our own icing, though.

Happy 4th Birthday!

My sister made the cutest Strawberry Shortcake birthday cake for her daughter's birthday. As soon as my little girl saw it she fell in love and wanted one just like it for her own 4th birthday.

I varied from my sister's just a bit, but kept the same gist.  My daughter absolutely loved it.  I can't believe she's already FOUR!

Happy Father's Day!

FYI: Brownie mix also works in the waffle iron.

Little Gracie's

Poor little Gracie broke her arm.

And although I'm not State Farm,

I'm pretty sure these cheered her up.

At the very least I got a smile.

I used the recipe for "homemade oreos" and just left them separate instead of sandwiching them together.  They're purple because little Gracie deserves something cute.

 

Recipe:

1 cake mix

2 eggs

1/2 c oil

 

*Mix it all together, shape into small balls and bake at 375 for 8 minutes.