Snowball Cookies

This type of cookie has so many different names. Whether you know them as Snowball cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding cookies, Crack cookies, etc. it doesn't matter! It's just a darn good cookie.
We haven't had a lot of snow this winter, so we have had to make alternatives to snow to remind us that it's winter. Whether it's having a white pom pom snowball fight in the house or making these cookies, we like to keep the idea of snow alive right now.
This cookie recipe became one of our favorite Christmas/Winter traditions a few years ago. I had never had one of these types of cookies before until I went to my sisters house one year for Christmas and they had these marvelous little bits of heaven waiting for us on the counter. I immediately asked for the recipe and have had it every winter since then in my own home. (Thanx sister!)
last year for Christmas. Pretty sure I ended up eating more then half of the batch that they had made.
The cookies are filled with pecans, rolled to perfection, and dusted heavily with powdered sugar!

Breakfast Cheesecake

This is such a busy time of year! The last thing I want to be worrying about in the morning is what I am going to feed people. This has become a traditional Christmas breakfast/brunch for us, because it can be made the night before or days in advance and still taste amazing, which makes it perfect for a busy season. It is on the sweet side, so I will usually have some hashbrowns and bacon to go along with it, but those aren't to hard to prepare.
As much as I love this recipe at Christmas time, this recipe holds a little bit of special meaning to me as well because it was the first "meal" that one of my friends brought to me when I had my first child. She brought it with a huge bowl of mixed fruit and it was the most unique and helpful meal I received. Dinner is great, but people often forget about breakfast. So the reason it holds special meaning is because I was able to eat it for several breakfasts, and even some midnight snacks while I was home with my first newly born child and in survival mode for the first time ever. Ever since then, I have made this for others who have recently had a baby.
But you don't need a special occasion to have this. 😀 This also makes for a great dessert!

Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are my families absolute favorite cookies ever. Maybe it's because they are one of the only cookies that I can actually make without massacring.
Usually I stick to making sugar cookies ONLY for Valentines day (big family tradition) but this year for our friend and neighbor gifts we decided to make these sugar cookies. This sugar cookie recipe has been in my family for a long time! Everybody in my family uses this recipe, especially to make our giant valentines day hearts, so in my humble opinion, it is the best recipe out there. 
Now there is a big debate about whether sugar cookies should be crisp or soft. I personally am a soft sugar cookie lover so I make mine thicker and cook for less time. So you will have to make them and let me know whether you are a crisp or soft lover!
*Also, I have a frosting recipe included that I always use as well*

Aebleskivers

Not sure how to say the name of these babies? That's okay, my husband calls them Eberskeebers because it sounds funnier and knows it bugs me. The correct way to say these though is able-ski-vers. Still not sure?? Just call them Pancake Puffs, it makes life more simple :)
Unfortunately, you do need a special type of pan for these babies, but Amazon saves the day if you don't have one. THIS is the style of pan that I have and have been using it for years.
These babies are delicious! If you like pancakes, then you HAVE to give them a try. They puff up to be about the size of a golf ball. At our house, we like to eat them dipped in plain old syrup but I have stuffed them before with nutella, jams, and chocolate.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Let's get a little unhealthy for a bit and talk dessert. I LOVE IT!
This cupcake recipe came together so quickly! Seriously, it didn't take that much more effort then whipping out a box from the pantry, and taste way better. These cupcakes and literally the most light and airy cupcake I have every had in my life.  Not only are they airy but they are moist as well! One important detail about these cupcakes is using hot water. When the hot water reacts with the cocoa powder that is where the magic happens and you get the perfect light chocolate flavor all while keeping the batter nice and airy and moist.
Pair with your favorite frosting recipe and these babies will be gobbled up in no time!

Kettle Corn Popcorn

One thing I love about going to the zoo down here is the heavy smell of Kettle corn in the air. It makes me salivate so much every time we go, but who wants to pay $8 for a bag of it when you know it costs less then $1 to make. Not me. So our new tradition when we visit is for me to whip up a batch and bring it in bags. I'll tell you what I don't know if it really does taste better or not but saving that much money sure does make it taste better to me :)

I never knew how simple making kettle corn was. The hardest part is making sure it doesn't burn. Which if you keep an eye and an ear on it you won't have any problems at all.

Raspberry Pretzel Dessert

I love raspberries. Seriously. As a kid we had a decent sized patch of raspberries growing in our yard and I remember going out and picking a bucket full and then coming in, pouring some cream and sugar over them and snarfing down a gigantic bowl. Heaven.
Now that I live in an area that I can't grow raspberries I don't get to eat them very often because they are so stinking expensive. But, this week they were on sale for only $.86 so I snatched me up a few packages and tried to relive my youth. Needless to say, store bought raspberries are nothing like a fresh picked one so I opted to make them into a dessert. This is a recipe that my husband had a lot growing up because he also had a big raspberry garden at his house.
By the way, I brought this to a potluck the other day and I got some good compliments on it so I figured it was a keeper and blog worthy. Enjoy.

Strawberry Pie Filling

Alright. As promised. Here is a fantastic Fresh Strawberry Pie Filling recipe. Since strawberries have been on sale all over the place I couldn't resist making a pie. It was seriously one of the best strawberry pie recipes I had ever had. This one is definitely a keeper!

Pie Crust

So a couple of days ago was "PIE DAY" (3.14) so while we were at the store and saw some beautiful strawberries I told my hubs that I would make us a fresh strawberry pie.
Anybody who knows me knows that I do NOT make pie. I have always been under the impression that it is super hard and time consuming and blah blah but then every time I make a pie I say to myself "self: why do you think this is hard? THIS IS EASY!"
Today I will share with you a recipe for a fantastic pie crust that I got from my mother in law. She makes the best pies I have ever eaten in my whole life and a lot has to do with this fantastic crust recipe. It is so flaky and perfect. Tomorrow I will share the recipe for the fantastic fresh strawberry filling to go inside!
ENJOY!

Carmelitas

I woke up this morning craving something sweet and gooey and of course am not going to allow myself to make such a thing because I have two ginormous bags of Halloween candy sitting open in my closet. Im usually not a HUGE eater of sugar, I crave the savory over the sweet, but there is just something about this time of year that gets me into sugar mode.
So long story short...instead of coming downstairs and whipping up a pan of these amazing beauties I thought I would share them with you guys so that you can make them and tell me all about how fantastic they are :)
I love these things because they combine all the best things of a good dessert...chocolate...gooey caramel...oats so you think your eating healthier....

Cranberry Almond Bread

For some reason I can't seem to get Christmas goodie cooking out of my head. Maybe it's because the weather is finally starting to cool down (90's).
I was putting up my Halloween decorations a couple days ago and the whole time I couldn't stop thinking about this bread. I make this bread every Christmas to pass out as neighbor gifts. I have been asked for this recipe quite a few times so here it is finally.
I originally had this bread at a Christmas get together with all my aunts and uncles on my dad's side of the family. I have this aunt who is the most creative and fantastic sweets maker ever. In fact most of my holiday sweets ideas have come from her. Anyway, its been a family tradition ever since to make this at Christmas time. And its a great way to use up those leftover bags of cranberries you bought to make cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving.
I think my favorite part about this bread is the icing that goes on top. The almond flavoring pairs so perfectly with the orange and cranberry flavors. MMM MMM MMM I can't wait till the Christmas season so I can make some!

Worlds Best Fudge

The other day I had to open an entire can of Sweetened Condensed Milk just to add a Tablespoon of it to a recipe that I was making. I hate to just waste ingredients! Especially one that is so divine in flavor and semi-expensive to just throw the rest away. So as I was thinking of what recipes I make that uses that yummy goodness in a can the only one that kept coming back to my mind was a recipe from my Father in Law. He makes this stuff every Christmas, in many batches and they are devoured almost immediately. This is the fudge that my husband grew up on so to him it holds special memories and good eating as well. This recipe is ridiculously simple to make and it won't take to long for it to chill so you can enjoy it pretty fast!
Thanks DAD for sharing this recipe with us, and now thanks for allowing me to share it with the world!

Mango Coconut Chia Pudding + Other Variations

Yes you read the title correct. Chia. Just like those wonderful commercials we all remember seeing while we were growing up "Cha Cha Cha Chia". I have noticed that using chia seeds is another ingredient that people are starting to branch out and try so I figured I might as well jump on the train and see why. Chia is an excellent source of omega fatty acids and full of minerals, vitamins and fiber. Aside from making pudding, you can add them to smoothies, muffins, or throw them in some cereal.
I wanted to try out this recipe that I found on my always favorite site, SkinnyTaste, because I knew that this would be a recipe that my husbands patients could eat for breakfast. Its simple and easy to put together, throw it in the fridge overnight, and BAM breakfast is ready to go whenever you need it. The chia seeds give the pudding the texture of a tapioca pudding, but the chia seeds in themselves don't really have much of a flavor. This recipe is so versatile that you could throw in any combination of fruits and eat a different variety every day of the week! 

Oldies but Goodies

You know, sometimes I feel that really good recipes get left in the dust because you only see the newer stuff on here. Today I got thinking about some of my all time favorite recipes. The reason I started this blog initially was so that I could put all my favorite recipes online and eventually turn it into a cookbook for myself to have at home so that I could get rid of all my cluttering recipe cards and cookbooks. That hasn't happened yet but someday it may. I've had requests from some people to bring out some of my favorites that you may not see often due to to many recipes being put in front of them. So I will pick my favorite oldies from most categories and have the links to click on. Thank you so much for all my friends and family who have been with me and encouraged me to keep up this blog. If you ever have any requests or suggestions I would love to hear them!

Snickerdoodles

I haven't had snickerdoodles in quite a while so I can't say if this recipe that I found online is better then the recipe I got from my mom BUT...this is a good recipe none the less. I was able to get 24 cookies out of this recipe.

Strawberry Shortcake...cake :)

I came across this recipe via Pinterest and it looked REALLY amazing. So I decided to give it a try for our anniversary this year. It was absoultely fantastic although there are things I would change for next time based on the fact that there were only 2 of us eating it. But here is the original recipe. The icing on this cake is so stinking amazing.

Chocolate Cake

This is one of my mom's recipes. She claims it is the only chocolate cake recipe that she will ever make, although, I know she will usually just use store bought mixes now ;) BUT I must admit this is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes and frosting recipes.

Cream Puffs

I LOVE CREAM PUFFS!!!! I think I could eat an entire batch of these things by myself, easily. :)
They are so versatile to. You can fill them with chicken salad, tuna salad, egg salad, OR turn them into a dessert like I like to do and fill it with different flavors of pudding.

Strawberry Soup

In my bountiful baskets this week I had gotten a bin of strawberries and I was really looking forward to making this soup. Unfortunately, I won't get to experience it as soon as I had thought, because when I went to pull them out of my fridge they were all moldy. Slightly disappointed. But I will share the recipe anyway. This recipe actually came for the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. I served it at my wedding reception and it was a hit. Its such a refreshing dessert. Enjoy!

Valentines Sugar Cookies

I kept going back and forth about whether to post this or not because some of you may not find this quite as cute and funny as I do. But I decided that I just had to. Here are some really cute (and I think hilarious) ways of decorating some heart shaped sugar cookies for valentines day. There are G rated ones, PG rated ones, and PG 13 rated ones. Now, mind you, I don't think I would decorate the PG or PG13 ones when children are around but I think you sweetie pie will find them pretty darn funny and perfect for Valentines day.