Day 652

I made this super yummy Blackberry Cheesecake for Thanksgiving, and it was a big hit!
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Hooray for the weekend!  Found a great new (to me) cupcake cookbook.  Can't wait to try some of these recipes out.  Yum!
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Happy Birthday, Becca!
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Welcome to the world, Baby Ellie!

Day 600!

Woo hoo, another milestone!  Six hundred days of blogging!

In preparation for Thanksgiving, I decided it was time to share more baking goodness with you...my 3 readers.

Here's what I've got for you: lasagna!  I made one tonight for tomorrow night's dinner (but didn't bake it yet).  I can't include a link to the recipe, because I don't like any of them enough.  I am one that appreciates a good meat to pasta to cheese ratio.  I think I've pretty much perfected it (for my taste buds at least).  If you'd like to have the details, just leave me a comment and I'll get them to you.

Basically, it includes the following yummy ingredients: italian sausage, lasagna noodles, fresh garlic, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, freshly ground salt, freshly ground pepper, freshly ground italian herbs/spices, eggs, cottage cheese, a jar of pasta sauce, and love.  Haha, of course I had to say something cheesy!

Photos are from when I made the Pioneer Woman's "Best Lasagna Ever."  I liked it, and it's what I basically use for my own version.  The only big changes are using a jar of sauce instead of making my own (I ended up with too much sauce + time to make it and simmer) and using only sausage (sausage + beef = too much meat).  Needless to say, I'm excited to eat this bad boy tomorrow night!

Day 569

I've made this Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie a few times now, and feel very comfortable recommending that you try it, too.  It's simply delicious, and you most likely already have most of the ingredients!
*I've made it without nuts and it's still really, really good.  Also, make sure you give it time to cool off before you serve it!*

Day 560

The rain we're having today provides just enough motivation to stay inside and GIT-R-DUN!  I have a pretty hefty to do list, so I'm going to get crack-a-lackin'!  (Yes, two dorky phrases in one blog post - it's true!)

Photos from Peach-Whiskey BBQ Chicken night!  Make it tonight! :)

Day 516

I stuffed my face tonight at O'Charley's with Grandpa, and it was good.  Mm, mm, good!  I also took Grandma all over town today, but that's a story for another time.

The photo is of a pineapple upside down cake I made for Grandpa last year.  It wasn't very good, so there's no recipe to share. :/

Do you ever get an email from someone right before you close your inbox down?  I love that, especially when it's good news. :)

Day 484

My speech just needs some polishing (along with my fingernails), and I need to pack up my stuff.  Otherwise, I'm ready for C&J's wedding rehearsal and actual wedding tomorrow! :)

That is a Triple Chocolate Cupcake.  I made them 2 or 3 years ago for Cierra's birthday!

Day 454

Today, I'm thankful for the opportunity to make dinner for my family.  (I'm pretty sure) God has blessed me with the ability to cook, so hopefully that rings true today!  

Here's what I'm making:

• Strawberry Bruschetta
• Salad - no recipe to this one
• Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork
• Garlic-Rosemary Roasted Baby Potatoes - using my home-grown rosemary + my new garlic press!
• Roasted Corn Salsa - in a cookbook
• Oreo crust + chocolate pudding + cool whip pie - in my head - it's easy :) 

Recipe called for pork shoulder/butt - the store had shoulder blade/Boston roast (it works the same).

After 6 hours in the crock pot (on high), the meat fell apart.  Yay!

Day 324

I'm such a chocolate lover, that I rarely make anything without it.  Well, Bakerella has this recipe on her blog about pie pops, which of course made me think about the wonderful world of pie.  I'm not super confident in my pie making skills, so I decided to give these little pie pops a whirl.  They were pretty darn tasty (especially since I went with blackberry - a family favorite), and I'll definitely make another batch soon (since I still have a bunch of pie filling in the fridge)!  

 Each 9 inch pie crust will give you 8-9 circles, which results in 4 pops, so double it up!

 I love using the Silpat, but in this instance, I ended up switching over to parchment paper for easy clean up.

 The good stuff. :)

 I used the handle off of a knife to "close" the pies.  You could use just about anything.  I need to use more egg white wash on them and bake maybe a minute or two longer next time.

 Even though they're pretty light, they were done and super tasty!

 Ooey, gooey, pie pops.

In the container, ready for consumption! :) 

Day 323

As I mentioned before, I made soup for the first time.  I'd been craving Chicken Tortilla soup for awhile (they have it at work, get me hooked, then never serve it again).  I figured it was time I tried my hand at making it myself, and here are the photos from my little experiment.  I'm calling it that since it didn't really taste anything like the kind I'm used to, and well, needs work.  It was definitely worth making and eating, but just needs more ... oomph.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know! :)

Day 273

I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's blog.  They looked pretty tasty, so I thought I'd give them a whirl for some Christmas treat boxes I made.  They were definitely a success, and so I'm going to try and make more soon!  :)

I used my new cookie dough scoop, and man, did it work well!

Dear Silpat, you rock! :)

I actually used a triple chocolate fudge cake mix (instead of devil's food) since I already had it.  Worked out really well!