I have a few addictions: chocolate; coffee; shoes; and cookbooks. Considering the number I have, I really should cook from them more often. I have cooking cookbooks and baking cookbooks, and two cookbooks with nothing but chocolate recipes. I have a cookie cookbook and several bread cookbooks. I recently received another as part of my …
Desserts and Sweets
Chocolate pumpkin porter cupcakes have a full 12 ounces of pumpkin porter beer! They're complemented by cinnamon-spiced buttercream. Today's guest post is by Kim, the author behind Feed Me Seymour. I "met" Kim through a cooking-focused forum, and found out she's formerly from the Philadelphia area. I love her Harry Potter Butterbeer cupcakes, and also made …
American Beer Day is Sunday, October 27th, celebrating all kinds of American-brewed beer. To celebrate, some fellow bloggers and I are cooking and baking with beer all this week! Five days of recipes that include beer. I'm kicking things off with a cookie recipe that includes pumpkin beer. It's a soft cookie, much like a …
Pumpkin spice Rice Krispie Treats take on seasonal flavor with pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Then they're finished with a drizzle of white chocolate. Hello, Redhead Baker readers! I'm so sorry that the site was down all last week. I underestimated the difficulty of switching hosting sites. Oops... Anyway, can you believe that tomorrow is …
Hello, readers! Did you have a good Labor Day? We had dinner with my family on Saturday. Got to see the new addition on my parents' house, and their amazing new kitchen. TONS of cabinet space, TONS of counter space — seriously, they have a new kitchen island that my dad calls "the aircraft carrier." …
I have something I need to confess: I have an addiction. I am addicted to Walkers Shortbread. Walkers is a Scottish company (shortbread is a Scottish Christmas cookie). I remember when I was growing up, you could only get Walkers in the U.S. around Christmastime. Since I had family living in Scotland, and relatives were …
As I mentioned last week, it felt like the summer was getting away from me, and I hadn't really had the opportunity to take the fresh summer produce and do something with it besides snack on it. I visited the Frecon Farms stand at the local farmers' market, and bought lots of blueberries and peaches. …
The summer almost got away from me. Here it is, nearing the end, and all I had done with the delicious summer produce was snack on it. Not that that's a bad thing. But I knew that, before summer was over, I wanted to take that beautiful fruit and transform it into something else delicious. …
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend my first-ever food bloggers conference, The Big Summer Potluck. It was not what I expected. I had heard about other blogger conferences, which had sessions on search engine optimization, social media tools, and how to take better photos. This conference was not like that at all. …
I am so mad at myself. I dropped my camera a few weeks ago. The body itself is (mostly) fine, but I broke my zoom lens. Now, I know that I'm not publishing the highest-quality photos on this blog, but the quality I get with the kit lens just isn't the same. Which is a …
When I was pregnant with Liam, I joined a website for pregnant women, mostly for the chat forums. They had a separate board for each month of due dates (January 2011, February 2011, etc.). We shared a bit online, then started a private Facebook group, where we felt more comfortable sharing more private information. We …
Hostess cupcakes. Most can't picture their childhood without them. Being a Philadelphian, we were a TastyKake family, but had Hostess cupcakes on occasion. Many people were upset when the company announced the end of the Hostess product line. Metropoulos bought the Twinkie, Ding Dong and Cupcakes brands from Hostess, but there's been no announcement made …
It's recipe swap time again, hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking! This round's theme was desserts—right up my alley! Before we get to the food, I want to make sure you are aware that Google will be retiring Reader, their RSS reader. That means if you follow my, or any other, blog with Google …
Friday, March 1, was Peanut Butter Lovers' Day (not to be confused with National Peanut Butter Day, celebrated January 24th), and I had intended to share this recipe with you then. Better late than never, right? Peanut butter cookies are one of The Mister's favorites, so I knew there would be no objection on his …
I spent a day or two, perusing cupcake recipes, looking for a "knock-their-socks-off" flavor combo to bring to a baby playdate. "Why?" you ask, "It's just a baby playdate." That's just how I am. I can't just bring a dessert. I have to bring the OMG-this-is-the-best-EVER dessert. But I found myself hesitating. What if someone …
It's time again for What's Baking, a monthly baking group. This month's host is Brownies and Blondies, and the theme she chose is "Convenience from Scratch" — we had to make an item that one would normally purchase that can be used in a baking recipe. I've had a recipe pinned for quite some time …
I'm guest-posting over at The Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker! Here's a sneak peak:
Shortbread is such a versatile cookie. Basic, traditional shortbread has only four ingredients: butter, flour, sugar and salt. While delicious on its own, it can be flavored almost any way you like. While some of my favorites include vanilla bean, and coconut, I decided to flavor mine with orange zest, and drizzle it with bittersweet …
Valentine's Day is almost cruel. Thanksgiving and Christmas bring loads of rich, savory dishes and delicious desserts. You gain a few extra pounds. Then New Year comes along and you make a resolution to eat healthy, exercise and lose the weight. You start off doing well, creating new, better habits, and then BAM! Valentine's Day. …
Earlier this month, I saw on The Frugal Foodie Mama's blog that she, along with This Gal Cooks, were hosting the first ever Spiked! Recipe Challenge. Alcohol can lend great flavor to sweet and savory recipes, so the Spiked! Recipe Challenge encourages bloggers to create or adapt a recipe to include alcohol. The January challenge …
I had the opportunity to guest post over at Mom's Test Kitchen! I "met" Jaime through the Online BlogCon, and I'm helping her celebrate her birthday with a yummy snack. Here's a sneak peak of what you'll see over there: Yes, it's homemade funnel cake! I hope you'll go over and check it out, and …
Ina Garten's recipe for rich, fudgy brownies topped with salty caramel sauce will satisfy even the biggest chocolate craving.
I think, in years to come, Friday, December 14th, 2012 will be one of those days where you'll always remember where you were, and what you were doing when you heard the news. I was at my mother's house, baking cookies for her office Christmas exchange while she played with my son. My mother had …
Every year, my mother's department at work exchanges tins of edible goodies rather than gifts. Since my mother and the oven (well, pretty much the entire kitchen) don't get along well, she commissions me to bake for her. I like to change up the recipes I made each year, and for that, the 12 Weeks …
Homemade egg nog is easy to churn into egg nog ice cream, a delicious Christmas treat. It's here: Week 12 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats, hosted by Meal Planning Magic. I hope you've enjoyed the posts, and found some new treats to try this Christmas. I'm sad to see the link-up end, but to …
Last year, I had a fantastic experience with the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. Hundreds of food bloggers from around the world signed up, baked a batch of cookies, and sent one dozen to three different assigned recipients. In return, they received a dozen cookies from three different food bloggers. So when I received the …
Oh my, these Caramel Nutella Crisps are addictive! Nutella-flavored cookie dough is wrapped around a caramel candy, rolled in sugar, then baked. Go ahead and try to just eat one!
Only two weeks left of 12 weeks of Christmas treats (hosted by Meal Planning Magic)! Is Christmas really that close? Eeek, I need to start my shopping! One of the things that I look forward to every fall/winter is eating a caramel apple. In fact, one of the best wedding favors I ever received was …
My family always has at least two desserts on special occasions. We do it this way for two reasons: my brother only likes apple pie and ice cream cake; and I don't like apple pie or ice cream cake. On holidays, my mother will make or buy an apple pie, and I will make something …
My little peanut isn't exactly a peanut anymore. He turns 1 year old tomorrow (?!?). But I'll save the mushy, sentimental stuff for then. We chose to celebrate his birthday the weekend before, rather than try to cram another thing into a holiday weekend. The theme — sock monkeys — was pretty easy to chose, …
Many years ago, during my first year at culinary school, there was a brochure in the common area for a gingerbread house competition at a destination shopping center in the suburbs of Philadelphia called Peddler's Village. There are several categories (Traditional, Authentic Reproduction of a Significant Building, Unusual 3-D Gingerbread Creation, Student, and Kids Only), and …
It's Week 8 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats, hosted by Meal Planning Magic! It's still not too late to sign up! Head on over and fill out the form! Having recently entered a gingerbread house competition (check out this coming Monday's post for pictures and competition results!), I felt compelled to make something with …
It's Thursday, and time for another installment of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats, hosted by Meal Planning Magic. If you're a blogger, it's never too late to sign up! Head on over and fill out the form. One of my favorite childhood memories is making Christmas "chocolates" with my grandmother. She had dozens of plastic …
A different take on chocolate chip cookies! These delicious cookies are loaded with cranberries and white chocolate. Drizzle with melted white chocolate for an extra decadent treat. I like to kick off the holidays with a marathon cookie-baking session. I have a few stand-bys, like chocolate chip, oatmeal cookies, meringues, and ginger snaps. But each …
It's Thursday, and time for another installment of 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats, hosted by Meal Planning Magic. If you're a blogger, it's never too late to sign up! Head on over and fill out the form. Want to really impress your friends and relatives this holiday season? These marshmallows are tasty and festive. Peppermint-flavored …
Yes, two posts in one day! I couldn't decide which link-up I wanted to join more (Munchkin Meals for A Healthy Slice of Life or 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats for Meal Planning Magic), so I did a post for both. In my mind, if it's not chocolate, it's not dessert. When I'm hosting an event, planning …
Yes, you read that correctly. Christmas treats. No, you haven't been asleep for two months. Now, before you hunt me down and lynch me, hear me out. The author of another blog, Meal Planning Magic, hosts a link-up called "12 Weeks of Christmas Treats." The idea is to start early enough to give our readers …
Though I work as a graphic designer by day (well, more like by night, but that's not the point), I also have an Associate of Science degree in Pastry Arts. I worked briefly in the food service industry, icing grocery store cakes baking bread, and plating restaurant desserts. However, my daydreams of what it would be …
The What's Cooking Recipe Swap now has its own badge! You'll see this badge in all posts about the recipe swaps. If you'd like to see more posts by others who participate in the swaps, please scroll to the bottom of this post. This swap theme was dessert. I looooooooove dessert. So even though I would only …
It's blackberry season! Did you know that blackberries are related to roses? I did not, until just now, when I was searching for things to write about blakberries. I also just learned that blackberries are not true berries, according to the scientific definition (a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary, examples being grapes, avocado, …