I spent my first year after high school in a fairly well supervised school dorm. Lunch was provided to us at school, and suppers were served in a large lunch room in the second floor of the school building. Breakfast was where we had a little leeway. Each Sunday we had to give in a grocery list of items we wanted for the week's breakfast. The list was typically comprised of bread, fruit, oatmeal and cereal. Snacks, however, weren't provided by the school. Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. And as poor students, there was certainly a necessity for free snacks. So we got creative. We improvised. We discovered that the folks in charge of our grocery order didn't differentiate … [Read more...]
Mini Double Chocolate Trifles…and Exciting News!
It all started about 7, maybe 8 months ago. It was at least a month or two before this blog was even a germ of an idea in the back of my mind. I had been baking goodies and sending pictures of them off to my friends. They liked my ideas, occasionally asked for a recipe, but they really weren't getting the full picture (excuse the pun) when they were seeing things like this: Almost too embarrassing to post, but I had to show how far I've come. I suddenly realized that learning more about photography, specifically food photography, shouldn't be too hard. I work at a company that is known as the go-to place for all kinds of camera equipment. Even better, my company is known to have … [Read more...]
Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies
I firmly believe that all people in this world can be divided into two categories: 1) Those who love chocolate, and, 2) Those who don't yet love chocolate. Needless to say, I fall distinctly into the first category. I also believe that we first category dwellers are happier creatures. We live secure in our knowledge that there's a magic potion called chocolate Professor Snape's big secret, promise not to tell? that can make everything better. Well, everything except broccoli. But that doesn't really count. To you second category folks, all I can say is...I hope your epiphany moment comes soon, and you join us happy people in the magical world of chocolate cravings. Until then, don't make … [Read more...]
Chocolate Covered Oatmeal Bars
I have a confession to make. I am terrible at reading and following directions. Take instruction manuals, for example. It isn't uncommon to find the instruction manual to an electronic device I bought a year ago sitting in a drawer, still sealed in it's plastic wrap. Instruction manuals, I reason, are for people of lesser intelligence. It may sound like I am bragging mightily here, so I will make a confession too, to even things out, y'know. I don't know that I can sit and read a manual. I don't have the attention span. Or the patience. And yet I have both the attention span and the patience to apply sprinkles to a chocolate covered pretzel with a pair of tweezers, to make sure it looks … [Read more...]
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
The other day I was talking to one of my coworkers about...what else? Cookies. He was mentioning his preferences in cookie flavors, when he made a shocking statement. "I don't like chocolate. And I don't like peanut butter." I opened my mouth in shock and horror. "My wife," he continued, "always says-" and at the exact same moment as he finished his wife's statement, I was verbalizing the exact same sentiment. "What is wrong with you?!" This may be insulting to some, especially to said coworker who had such nice things to say about my blog, but I truly believe that it's difficult to be happy without chocolate. Throw in some peanut butter? That's pretty much bliss. Assuming you are among … [Read more...]
Nutella Filled Puff Pastry Pockets
I didn't have a good reason to make this dessert. Ok, in the interest of honesty, I rarely have a good reason to make any dessert. But this one seemed a whole let less logical than most. Most treats that I make are a chance for me to experiment and have some fun in the kitchen. This wasn't like that. I took one delicious ingredient, Nutella (or in my case, a non-dairy version of it) and stuffed it inside another super delicious ingredient, namely, puff pastry. It's simple math, really. How could it equal anything but delicious? And just like that I pretty much gave you my recipe. It's that very simplicity that makes me glad I made this dessert. The number one complaint that I get from … [Read more...]
Mocha Chocolate Chip Bars
I'm in love with a dessert. This dessert. I know, it shouldn't happen, especially to a gal who doesn't try her desserts, but...well, I can't help loving this recipe. For starters, it has coffee. In multiple forms. In my book, coffee=awesome. A dessert recipe with coffee? Double awesome. Then there's the matter of how absolutely quick these are to make. The first time I made these, I stuck them in the oven and looked at the clock in amazement. The entire thing had taken just minutes from start to finish! I mentally swore off every other kind of cookie besides for bars, then, because I am crazy that way, I set out to make super complicated cookies. Because making such an easy recipe was like, … [Read more...]
Chanukah Style Peanut Butter Blossoms
***Before we start – have you signed up for my email newsletters? You’ll get new recipes, cooking tips, menu suggestions, kitchen deals – and more! Click here to signup.*** Who is ready for some chanukah cookies?! I've had this idea for ages. There are many cookies that involve pressing a chocolate or some other candy into the finished cookie, and a while ago I realized that a Chanukah chocolate coin would be the ultimate item to finish off a cookie for Chanukah. I waited for ages until the local stores started their seasonal displays of Chanukah merchandise. I happily purchased a couple of pouches of these delicious coins, and settled into my chair with a stack of cookbooks to … [Read more...]
Cream Cheese Swirled Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake
Generally I only find out about Nation [insert-delicious-treat-here] Day at the end of it, as I sit down to read through the day's blog posts and I see that everyone else commemorated it with a delicious dessert and mouthwatering pictures. Luckily, that won't be the case for my favorite dessert in the world: National Bundt Cake Day. Strictly speaking, bundt cakes may not be my favorite all-time dessert, but they sure are my favorite to make: minimal design, gorgeous looks...what's not to love? Back to this most glorious of all national holidays. The banks and the postal service may not be closed, but thanks to The Food Librarian and her month-long bundt campaign, I knew about this day … [Read more...]
Nutella Crinkle Cookies…and I Survived a Blackout!
I often wonder what life would have been like had I been born a hundred and fifty years earlier. Maybe I shouldn't admit to this, but I sometimes think I would have sat in the darkness, staring at a candle, pining for an iPhone. Sure, iPhones wouldn't have existed in those, days, so I wouldn't have known what an iPhone would be, but still, I like to think I'd have wished for one. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I do love my electronics. I am happier in front of a computer than almost anywhere else, and I would pick a shiny touch screen device over a shiny piece of jewelry any day. Future husband, take note. And so, had you told me a week ago that I would survive close to 36 hours … [Read more...]