Deviled Eggs

Hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful, mine sure was. I'm reminded what a great family I have. Anyway, every time I make these deviled eggs they are a big hit. (How can something that smells so sticky taste so good?) Here is the recipe:

Deviled Eggs

This is for 6 whole eggs or 12 half eggs.

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon dill relish

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

salt/pepper to taste

Boil the eggs in salted water for 20 minutes. Let cool then peel and cut in half. Put all of the yolks in a bowl and with a fork mash them up. Add all ingredients and spoon into the egg whites. Sit back and eat them till you feel like you're going to pop.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Merry Christmas y'all! I hope your holidays are wonderful. For Christmas dinner I'm bringing red velvet cupcakes. I think it's become my new favorite dessert. Here is the recipe:

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups oil

13 ounces sugar

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

3 eggs

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 1/4 teaspoon vinegar

1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, salt and cocoa into a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer combine oil, sugar and buttermilk. Add eggs, food coloring, vinegar, vanilla and water and mix well. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and mix on low, scraping down the sides often and mix just until combined. Be sure not to over mix.

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Let Cool.

Cream Cheese Icing

(This recipe makes A LOT)

1 1/2 pounds of cream cheese-room temp (3-8 oz boxes)

1 pound butter-room temp (4 sticks)

2 pounds powdered sugar-sifted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Whip the butter and cream cheese together in a mixer until creamed. Gradually add powdered sugar and scrape down sides. Add vanilla and mix until combined.

Icing can be used right away or stored in the fridge for up to a week.

Cookie Orders

Here are some photos of the cookie boxes I made for the people at work. I think they turned out cute. I got the boxes at Walmart. They are Wilton brand.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

I got an order for 9 boxes of cookies. One of the cookies I decided to make were kiss cookies. I have never made these kiss cookies before but they were easy and very nummy num!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup creamy peanut butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 package (13 ounces) Hershey's Kisses

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of a mixer, beat shortening and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add sugars and mix well. Add eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and mix until smooth. Add flour mixture to peanut butter mixture. Mix well. Roll dough into 1 inch balls (dough will be slightly dry). Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. With your finger make an indention about 1/2 inch deep in the center of the each ball. (dough will crack around edges).

Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately place a kiss in the indention of the cookie. Remove from pan to cooling rack and cool completely.

My new nephew

This has nothing to do with cooking but I had to show off my new nephew. He is so sweet. (pun intended) Noah was 6 pounds and 1 ounce.

Fake "Thin Mints"

I can't remember where I found out about these but they taste EXACTLY like the Girl Scout cookies Thin Mints. And there are only 2 ingredients! Ritz crackers and Mint flavored chocolate melts. The mint melts are available at Hobby Lobby and Michael's in the candy making section. All you have to do it melt the chocolate and dip the Ritz in and let dry then eat! My son can't get enough of these things!

Homemade Sno-balls

When I was little, I loved Hostess Sno-Balls. They were so good and gooey, so when I saw a recipe for a huge one in the Food and Family magazine I was thrilled to make it. I made two small ones instead of one big one. I wanted them to be more like the original. I used a ball pan for the two halves. It turned out really good and tasted very nummy num!

Homemade Sno-Balls

1 package devil's food cake mix

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup cold milk

2 cups thawed Cool Whip

1 cup coconut

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake batter in 2 1/2 quart OVENPROOF bowl, as directed on package; scrape side of bowl. Beat cream cheese, egg and sugar until well blended. Spoon into center of batter in bowl. Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in bowl for 10 minutes. Loosen cake from bowl with a knife. Invert onto wire rack. Remove bowl and let cake cool completely. Meanwhile, beat fry pudding mix, powdered sugar and milk in a medium bowl with a whisk about 2 minutes. Stir in Cool Whip. Refrigerate until ready to use. Place cake on plate; frost with pudding mixture. Cover with coconut. Keep refrigerated. (you can also tint your coconut pink for a more authentic looking snowball)

Homemade Frosted Animal Cookies

These little buggers were a pain in the b-hind! First the recipe was way weird so I had to convert it before I could make the cookie dough. Then when I was trying to roll out the dough to cut out the shapes, it was too sticky so I had to start over by flouring the parchment paper. After all of that it went pretty smooth. I think they look and taste just like the ones I remember when I was a kid. The shapes are kind of hard to make out but that is all part of the fun. "Is it a tiger or a dog?" Who knows. I just like to eat them!

Frosted Animal Cookies

I'm writing the recipe as it was written and in parenthesis I will write the measurements I used.

12 ounces unsalted butter (3 sticks)

8 ounces sugar (1 cup)

1 pound all purpose flour (3 1/2 cups)

1/4 ounce baking powder (1/2 tablespoon)

1/8 ounce salt (1 1/2 teaspoons)

1 3/4 ounces whole egg (2 eggs)

1 ounce milk (2 tablespoons)

1/2 ounce vanilla (1 tablespoon)

8 ounces of white chocolate (1 cup)

colored sprinkles also called nonpareils

On low speed, cream butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then add eggs, milk and vanilla. In another bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. On low speed add the flour mixture to the wet mixture in three parts, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Blend just until incorporated. Divide the dough and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Roll out dough until its 3/16 inches thick. Cut out animal shapes. Transfer to parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 300 degrees or until the cookies are golden and slightly browned on the edges approximately 6-8 minutes. (I cooked mine for about 15 minutes!)

Allow to cool. Once the cookies are cool, dip them in melted chocolate and then sprinkle with nonpareils.

TIP: It is better to use candy colors to tint chocolate because other colors are water based and the candy colors are oil based.

Potato Chip Cookies

Sounds weird right, but trust me they are good. It's that whole salty/sweet thing. Here is the recipe. I halved it.

Potato Chip Cookies

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter-soft

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups crushed potato chips (I used Lays)

3 1.2 cups sifted all purpose flour

2 packages (14 ounces each) candy melts or you can use almond bark or chocolate chips

additional potato chips-crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add potato chips; mix until combined. Add flour and stir just until combined. Scoop dough to form 1 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on prepared pans. Flatten to 1 1/4 inch thick.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from pan and cool completely. Dip part of the cooled cookie into melted chocolate and then into crushed potato chips. Allow to set.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies

Pecan Tassies (or as I like to call them-Baby Pecan Pies)

For the holidays I made an assortment of cookies. Pecan Tassies were one of the cookies I made and they are fantastic! (if I do say so myself) I'm not even a huge fan of pecan pie but these cute little guys are so good, and very easy!

Pecan Tassies

2 refrigerated pie crust (get the rolls of pie crust to make it easier to cut)

3/4 cup firmly-packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter-melted

1 egg-slightly beaten

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

1/4 cup of chopped pecans (I used slightly more)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray mini muffin pans with vegetable spray. Roll out pie crust 1/8 inch thick. Cut 2 inch circles; press into bottom and up sides of prepared pan cavities. IN small bowl combine sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and salt. Mix well. Stir in pecans. Spoon 1 teaspoonful of mixture into pie crusts. (Don't over fill) Bake 15-20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove to cooling grid and cool completely. Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Christmas Cookies

I was really happy with how the snowman's hat turned out. After using all types of different sprinkles and glitter and sugars to decorate the cookies, I had a big pile of all the leftovers that I was going to throw away. I decided to try and use it so I dipped the snowman's hat in it and it turned out so cute. So don't throw away your "trash". Use it for something else.

It's

really hard for me to decide what designs to use on Christmas cookies. I have about 100 ideas floating in my brain. I thought that some of these came out cuter than others but all and all I'm happy with them.

Almond Joy Cake

Ok I took it to work and everybody said they liked it (although they could be lying to be nice). I thought it tasted good but it is very rich and thick. I tend to like my cakes a little on the "fluffy" side so this cake wasn't my favorite. If you have every had Coca-Cola cake it reminds me of that.

The Captain where I work is always giving me recipes because he knows I love to bake. Well this is one of the recipes. His birthday is tomorrow so I made him this cake. A couple of things though....It calls for chocolate cake mix (which is what I used) but I think for it to be more like a true Almond Joy you should use coconut cake mix. I just couldn't find it at the store so I used chocolate. The recipe also says to use a 10X15 pan. I didn't listen for some stupid reason and I should have. I used a 9X13 and it wasn't big enough. I'm thinking it's going to be a really rich cake. I will let you know how it tasted.~side note, I realize that the writing on this cake is horrendous but my icing wasn't working with me.

Almond Joy Cake

1 chocolate cake mix

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

24 large marshmallows

1 (14 ounce) package of coconut

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter or 1 stick

12 ounces butter

12 ounces chocolate chips

1 (3 ounce) package sliced almonds

Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions for 10X15 inch cake pan. Bring 1 cup evaporated milk and 1 cup sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in marshmallows until melted. Add coconut. Pour mixture over warm cake. Sprinkle almonds on top of that layer. Bring 1/2 cup evaporated milk and 1 1/2 cups sugar to a boil in saucepan. Stir in butter and chocolate chips until melted. Pour over coconut layer.

Perky Peppermint Penguins by Sandra Entrican

This cute little guy was entered into the Dallas Morning News Cookie Contest in the decorated category. Of course he won! The lady who made him enters this contest every year and~surprise she wins every year. Here is the recipe if you would like to make a fun bunch of penguins for yourself.

Perky Peppermint Penguins

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and flavorings. Gradually add flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Wrap and chill dough until firm, at least one hour. Roll out dough on floured board and place on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 12-16 minutes. Cool. Frost with glaze.

Glaze

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

Enough water to make a spreading consistency.

Decorate as desired. (She made a recipe of white chocolate "plastic" or as some people call it-modeling chocolate and cut the pieces from that to decorate the penguin)

White Chocolate Plastic

9 ounces Wilton candy melts

4 ounces glucose or corn syrup

Melt chocolate and add slightly warm glucose. Mix until combined and wrap in plastic. Let set overnight. Knead dough and roll. Cut into desired shapes.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Our family had a very nice time eating and visiting with family. I made some "candy corn" place settings for the table.

Creamy Banana Pudding

I got this recipe from my best friend. This banana pudding is so good but its very rich, so a little goes a long way! Try it.

Creamy banana pudding:

1 (14 oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 (3.4 oz) box of instant vanilla pudding

2 cups (1 pint) Heavy whipping cream-whipped (you could probably use Cool Whip in a pinch)

1 box vanilla wafers

3 medium bananas-sliced and dipped in lemon juice (so they don't turn brown)

In large bowl combine sweetened condensed milk and water. Add pudding and beat well. Chill for 5 minutes. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon 1 cup pudding mixture into a 2 1/2 quart glass bowl. Top with one third each of the wafers, bananas and pudding. Repeat layers twice, ending with pudding. Chill Garnish as desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 8-10 servings

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

I think I got this recipe from Paula Dean. These little buggers are so darn good and they taste EXACTLY like cookie dough, but without the unsafe raw eggs! These are great to give to friends and co-workers. They will gobble them right up. Hope you enjoy them. I'm going to try to add a link to my Flickr page so you can see what they look like. {crossing fingers}.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cutecupcakes/2779352404/in/photostream/

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1(14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup semi-sweet choc. chips
1 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 lb choc. bark

In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer on med speed.
Add vanilla. Gradually beat in flour and add milk. Add choc. chips and pecans. Shape into tiny balls. Place on wax paper and chill 2 hours.

Melt choc. bark in microwave. Dip balls into the choc. to coat. Chill to set.

Swedish Dala Horses

Here is another entry in the Dallas Morning News Cookie Contest (decorated category). This cookie didn't win but I thought they tasted good. Here is the recipe:

Swedish Dala Horses

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs-beaten

2 tablespoons almond paste-cut into small pieces

1 teaspoon grated orange peel

2 1/2 cups flour-sifted

1/2 cup ground almonds

2 teaspoons baking powder

Royal icing

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, almond paste, and orange peel. Combine sifted flour, ground almonds and baking powder and add to wet ingredients. Stir to combine. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shape. Dala Horse cookie cutters are available online or at Scandinavian shops. Simple shapes are best for this cookie as they do spread when baking. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Frost with royal icing.

Here is the link to the origin of the Dala Horse:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalecarlian_horse

Tarragon-Sesame Crisps

Here is another cookie recipe from the Dallas Morning News Cookie Contest. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them but they are a light, nutty quarter sized cookie.

Tarragon-Sesame Crisps

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds

1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 teaspoon finely minced fresh tarragon

3/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cream together butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat in egg and add sesame seeds, pecans and fresh tarragon. Add to this a sifted mixture of flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well and drop in small mounds 3 inches apart on greased baking sheet. Bake about 9 minutes. Cool and remove from pan. Makes 4 dozen

Hawaiian Banana Nut Bread

It cracks me up that putting pineapple in anything automatically makes it "Hawaiian". When I worked in a nursery, one of the sweet mothers would bring us this banana bread and we would devour it in seconds. I had to have the recipe and I have been making it ever since.

Hawaiian Banana Nut Bread

3 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I used walnuts)

3 eggs-beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups ripe mashed bananas (I put 4 small bananas)

1 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple-drained

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine first 5 ingredients. Stir in nuts. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until moistened. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool for 10 minutes. Then eat it! It's so nummy num!

Take your pick

My husband's work is throwing a Thanksgiving pot luck tomorrow and he volunteered me to make the dessert. I was excited to make something for them, but my husband told me "Don't make it to pretty cuz it's just a bunch of guys". Well I didn't want it to be ugly so I thought of doing a pretty basic cake and amp it up with ganache dripping down and strawberries. I really hope they like it. The ganache recipe follows:

Ganache

6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup of heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

small pad of butter

Melt everything in a small saucepan and stir constantly until smooth. Let it cool for a couple of minutes before pouring it over your favorite.

The cakes above are devil's food with butter cream icing and french vanilla with chocolate icing.

My new apron

I'm so excited about my new apron! After wanting an apron and not finding one that I loved I asked my wonderful Aunt if she would make me one and she did! I bought a McCalls pattern at Hobby Lobby along with the two different types of fabric and she made it for me! I love, love, love it! I feel so retro.

Nummy num potato casserole

My in-laws had a cook out for the football game and I brought these potatoes. They were a big hit and I was asked for the recipe. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of them.

Potato Casserole

1 32 ounce package of frozen hash browns

1 small jar of Cheese Whiz (sorry I don't know the exact size)

1 cup of sour cream

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1/2 can of water

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup of butter

dried onions to taste

For the topping:

1/4 cup of butter

2 cups of corn flakes (trust me it's good!)

Mix all of the top ingredients together (except the ingredients for the topping) and put into a greased 13X9 pan. In a medium sized bowl melt butter and pour over the corn flakes until well coated then sprinkle on top of the potato mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

New York Style Cheesecake

This is a great recipe for thick New York style cheesecake. I made this once before but I put a water bath underneath it and it didn't cook in the middle. For this one I eliminated the water bath and it turned out really good.

New York Style Cheesecake

15 graham crackers(I think they mean 15 individual crackers, not a whole sheet)-crushed

2 tablespoons butter

4 (8oz) packages cream cheese-room temp.

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup milk

4 eggs

1 cup of sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 can any flavor pie filling for the topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 inch spring form pan. In medium bowl mix crumbs and butter, press into pan. In a large bowl mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Do not over beat! Blend in milk and then mix in eggs one at a time just until incorporated. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake for one hour, then turn oven off and let cake cool in oven for 5-6 hours. Don't open the oven so the heat can't escape. Chill in fridge.

Flour-less Chocolate Cookies (baker unknown)

Ok on to a post of something better looking than a foot. Another one of the cookies that was entered in the easy category of the cookie contest was the flour-less chocolate cookies. They were nummy too.

Flour-less Chocolate Cookies

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

pinch of salt

2 1/3 cups pecans (toasted and coarsely chopped )

4 egg whites (at room temperature)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the cocoa, sugar, salt and pecans in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly add the egg whites and vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, until the mixture has thickened slightly. DO NOT OVER MIX.

With a 1-ounce cookie scoop or a generous tablespoon, scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, to make cookies that are 2 inches in diameter. Space the cookies widely.

Put the cookies in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 325 degrees. Bake about 15 minutes, or until small thin cracks appear on the surface. Switch the pans halfway through baking. Pull the parchment paper with the cookies onto a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before removing cookies from the paper.

(For the easy category these cookies seem a little complicated, but that's just me)

Payback is a B!tch

Ok before you judge me for making this disgusting foot cake let me tell you the story. I have the opposite of a foot fetish. I HATE feet. They gross me out really bad! Well....I work with a bunch of men and I made the mistake of telling them I hate feet. Big mistake! Huge! Now when I come to work I have pictures of the nastiest looking feet you have ever seen plastered on my desk. I get to hear about feet and boils and all the other nasty stuff that happens to feet during lunch. And the last straw was an email I got from my boss saying that his birthday was coming up and he wanted "this" cake and he enclosed a picture that turned out to be a picture of a nasty, disgusting, horrific and revolting foot. So I thought "ok if he wants that "cake" for his birthday then that's what he's going to get". The nasty foot cake was born.

Ginger Snowflake Cookies by Nelson Prater

These thin cookies were so good and tasted a little like an oatmeal cookie. You should definitely try this recipe.

Ginger Snowflake Cookies

2/3 cup salted butter

2 cups quick-cook oats

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger, cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slowly melt butter in a saucepan. Stir together oats, sugar, flour, spices and salt. Stir in melted butter, corn syrup, milk and vanilla. Line baking sheet with foil (shiny side up). Drop by rounded TEASPOON on to foil.

Press down to flatten out pretty thin. (These will spread quite a bit-to at least 2" in diameter, so leave lots of room).

Bake 6-8 minutes or until starting to brown. (You can prepare other foil sheets with dough while these are baking).

Remove from oven, pull sheet off the pan onto wire rack to cool. Slide next foil onto pan and stick in oven and repeat. After they have completely cooled, they will be easy to peel off the foil. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

Raspberry Dream Bars by Cindy Ellison

These cookies were entered into the Dallas Morning News Cookie Contest. Not sure if they won anything but they were delicious! Here is the recipe:

Raspberry Dream Bars

1 cup butter, soft

1 1/2 cups sugar (divided use)

2 egg yolks

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1 1/4 cup raspberry preserves

4 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10 X 15 inch jellyroll pan. In a large bowl, beat together butter, 1/2 sugar, egg yolks and vanilla until well blended. Add flour and mix until blended. Add chopped pecans.

Pat dough evenly into bottom of greased pan and bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges.

Remove pan from oven but leave the oven on. Let cool for 5 minutes then spread the perseveres evenly over hot crust.

Beat egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining sugar and vanilla and beat until very stiff.

Gently spread on top of the preserves, making sure to seal the edges and corners. Return to oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting. Makes about 18 2 1/2 squares.

No Deal! :(

I'm so bummed! The Dallas Morning News Cookie Contest was today and when I first got there I thought to myself I have a chance at winning, then some of the other contestants came rolling in and my confidence just kept going down farther and farther. But the winner was a cookie that I had cancelled out completely thinking "There is no way that one is going to win". I sound like a bitter old cookie maker huh? Well here are the nominees and you be the judge. (Don't forget my little guy)

The fifth one down from the top won. I think it is supposed to be a Lord a Leaping?

A troop of cookie men

Well one of my entries for the Dallas Morning News Cookie Contest got picked. Can you guess which one? I have to bring 7 of them to Central Market on Thursday to be judged. I'm nervous and excited all in one. I entered last year and didn't win so I'm hoping that my luck is better this time. Having been through the process once I have a better understanding of how it all goes down. Wish me luck!

Tiajuana

At a Halloween party this weekend the host made what she called "Tiajuana". Don't ask what or why it's named that because I have no idea, but it tasted good. It's a little like Rotel cheese dip but with more substance. Here is the recipe...

Tiajuana

2 cans Ranch Style Beans

2 cans Rotel (drained)

1 family size can Cream of Mushroom

1 family size can Cream of Chicken

1 block of Colby Cheese

2 pounds of ground beef

While you are browning the ground beef add a sprinkle of Cumin. Once the beef is cooked add all the ingredients into a crock pot and enjoy.

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Happy Halloween everybody! It's the great pumpkin came on t.v. the other night so I was inspired to make these cupcake toppers. Not even sure which one is which, but they are all cute. Have a good one and be safe!

Day of the Dead cupcakes

My son's spanish class was giving extra credit if they brought in a day of the dead inspired food item. Knowing my love for day of the dead he signed me up to make cupcakes. I was a bit rushed (One days notice. Don't you just love teenage boys) so they aren't as well done as I would have liked, but they did the trick.

Birthday Girl with her cake....

I think she liked her cake. At least I hope she did.