Livin' the Dream in Lima

We arrived home just in time for dinner last night... so good to see our families! And the Monical's pizza was delicious as always. My mom & I decided to tackle some baking today in preparation for Christmas. (What else is new? :-P) You'd think fifteen types of cookies would be enough. Nope, not for us. We decided on a Red Velvet Cake Roll to take to my grandma's tonight for dessert, and a couple coffee cakes for the morning. And this Creme de Menthe Cake which is a Christmas tradition. I've never made a cake roll before, so I was looking forward to a new experience. It was actually quite simple! (As long as you follow the directions.) The cake part is a red velvet sponge cake. The eggs are beaten for a good 5 minutes until they're light and fluffy; then the rest of the ingredients are added. The cake is baked in a jelly roll pan that has been greased, lined with wax paper, greased again, and flour. You don't want the cake to stick. That wo...

One of my Business Man's ultimate comfort foods is a freshly baked cinnamon roll, slathered with frosting. (And it just might be one of mine, too.)  So when I saw these cookies pop up on Pinterest, I knew I had to try them. For the sake of my Business Man, ya know. Besides being utterly cute, these cookies are fantastic. Pretty much like a cinnamon roll in cookie form. Slightly chewy in the center, crisp on the outside. Perfectly cinnamon-y. They're prepared in the traditional cinnamon roll way - roll out the dough, layer on the butter & cinnamon-sugar, roll up tight, and then slice. Just as fun as cinnamon rolls, but no scary yeast to work with. I took some in for my first period class this morning, and one of my kids claimed, "They taste just like Cinnamon Toast Crunch!" And come to think of it, they do. (And Cinnamon Toast Crunch rocks! Definitely my favorite cereal as a child. And teenager, heh.) And just because it has 'cookie...

Last weekend, my Business Man and I hosted a fiesta for some of our friends in the Bean Town. While everyone enjoyed the food, I think dessert was the biggest hit. (Surprise, surprise.) We had brownies (from a box, the horror!) topped with chocolate ganache, and fruit pizza . Fruit pizza is most definitely my "go-to" summer dessert. Since it's the official 1st day of summer, I thought I'd share the recipe! It's delicious without being too heavy or rich. And it's most definitely healthy, because you are eating fruit, right? The recipe I use is my mom's... she's been using it for years. It starts with a basic sugar cookie base, topped with a cream cheese-whipped topping, and then all the fruit your little heart desires! I usually go with strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, pineapple, and mandarin oranges. But raspberries are really good, too. Even better when you pick the fruit yourself! (Picking berries on our honeymoon last July.) ...

The non-failure recipe. Keep reading for more info. :-) So yesterday afternoon, after sufficient couch time, I decided to embark on a baking adventure. I hadn't baked in a long time! (Ok... just 4 days.) But we were having guests for dinner the next night, so I had to prepare a dessert! I had been debating between Cake Batter Rice Krispies and Better than Crack Brownies ... and I decided to go with the more indulgent of the two.  It all started out innocently enough. Basic brownie base, topped with some chopped Reese's. It was then to be topped with a Chocolate-Peanut Butter Rice Krispy mixture. Which called for 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter. Slight problem: we were almost out of peanut butter!  I tried to improvise, substituting some marshmallows and adding a little extra chocolate. Smelled good, tasted good, but as it set up it became not so good. Fail, #1. Clumpy, nasty mess. Yuck! Attempt #2 to salvage the topping consisted of trying a no-ba...

As long as I remember, I have loved to entertain. I love having people over, cooking a nice meal, and sending them home with full, happy bellies. It also gives me a chance to try out fun recipes that I wouldn't make just for me and my Business Man. My love for hosting dinners and parties all started when I was about 16 years old. I decided that I wanted to throw a fancy schmancy dinner party for all my friends, and of course I enlisted my (then would-be) Business Man's help. We prepared the most gourmet meal we could (at that age) for all our closest friends, and dined al fresco on my parents' patio. It was such a good time, that we continued on the tradition for another 5 years! If only we all lived near each other and could continue on the tradition to this day. I'm having a hard time recalling what we even served at that first dinner party... I know we had grilled steak-on-a-stick and some sort of potato. What I will never forget though, is the dessert. C...