Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars

Anybody else feeling like winter should have been over about a month ago??  Unfortunately, where I live it's pretty much winter until May.  Seriously.  Sometimes it's still snowing.  I cry about it daily.

During this last stretch of winter I like to bake a bunch of springtime/summertime treats and pretend we don't have three more months of winter ahead of us.

These lemon bars are great because they aren't too tart and never taste metallic.  The crumb topping goes perfectly with the creamy lemon filling, and a big glass of milk.  I've made these lemon bars 4 or 5 times and probably will never look for another recipe.  They really are that good.



PS- Don't use a foil-lined pan to make these.  Once refrigerated they cut and remove pretty easily just using a small metal spatula, so you won't even need it.

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White Chocolate Raspberry Scones

I want you to know I like you.  Like really I do. I so appreciate everyone who reads and follows and leaves sweet comments or lets me know they've tried my recipe.  It feels good to be able to share something I am so passionate about.

I love these white chocolate raspberry scones and hope you can consider them a big (super late!) Valentine's THANK YOU from me for being part of my life.

(Yes, they turn out looking like freaky alien brains, but hopefully you can overlook this because they are super delicious and only taste a TINY bit like freaky alien brain.)

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Gram Gram's Juice Can Ice Cream Sandwiches

My sweet grandmother passed away last week.  She was one heck of a lady who outran bears, saved someone's life using the Heimlich, and gave away roses from her garden to anyone passing by.  Not only was she spunky and sweet and tough as nails, she was an award winning candy maker and might've had a sweet tooth to rival mine.

When we lived in Europe I used to spend summers at her condo with my dad.  We watched Matlock and fed the geese, and made these ice cream sandwiches together.  I will always cherish those memories.

We made these a few days ago in honor of her.  I think she would have approved.


You can use any cookie/ice cream combo you want.  We used Chocolate Cherry M&M cookies and artisan vanilla bean ice cream (all other vanilla ice creams are dead to me).  You can even use store-bought cookies if you want.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

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Cinnamon Scones

Normally I quite like where I live. But I have two major pet peeves that get me all fired up about Utah.

Number one- pictures of Jesus with blue eyes.

*NEWSFLASH*   Jesus was Jewish.

Number two- the use of the word "scone" referring to Indian fry bread.

It's really disappointing to go to a place called SCONECUTTERS and find out that all they sell is Navajo tacos. Really, I think I might be emotionally scarred from that experience.  I know this is a difficult concept, but scones are supposed to be sweet little British biscuits that are usually triangular and served with tea.

I'm sorry, I just die a little inside every time I hear Indian fry bread referred to as a "scone".

Anyway.  These English scones are delicious and rich and triangular.  You could probably make them half this size.  Also they don't turn out a freaky deeky yellow color, I just added that effect to see if I could make them look jaundiced.

Maybe they need a bili-bed.


Hahaaaa.


It's ok if you don't get my joke... Let's just move right along to the recipe so things don't get awkward, shall we?

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Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Cups

I thought I took step-by-step pictures while making these cups, but of course now they are nowhere to be found.  If the directions make them seem complicated, you should know they aren't at all.  The point is basically to throw melted chocolate and a bunch of yummy mix-ins into a silicone cupcake mold, allow to set, and pop out to enjoy. Feel free to experiment with any combinations you want.  Also if you can't find the caramel bits you can just cut regular caramels into fourths and use them like bits.

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Red Hot Cupcakes and Frosting

If you have been wondering where I am you should know that my laptop charger died.  (I realize I have already used that excuse once this year, but really, I should probably be a professional charger exterminator or something because I do a really good job.)

I have currently taken my husband's laptop hostage for the night so I can post some of my Valentine's treats far enough in advance that you can actually make them if you want to.

Anyways, this charger drama cause a real rift in our marriage.  I was all "Whyy do you have to be in *marketing*... why couldn't you work at the Toshiba parts assembly plant! Seriously!  Why do these things always happen to me!"

So then for awhile I'm really mad at him for not being a charger repairman.

But then he says he'll go get me a slice of pie to make me feel better. (Obviously he knows the way to my heart.) And he returns with not one slice of pie, but two WHOLE pies, (which is like 8 slices of pies, or 16 if you have portion control), so then I pretty much forgive him for not being a Toshiba repairman, because first of all, who does that? and second of all, he buys me pie so he pretty much rocks.

I think these cupcakes are a pretty great way of saying "I forgive you for not being a Toshiba repairman and you're a pretty awesome pie-bringer."

Which is always a great thing to express to people, don't ya think?


These are really yummy. I was so-so on the frosting, because I have aversions to buttercream.  But the red hots in the cake... mmmm so good.  Don't be afraid of them if you don't like feeling like your mouth is on fire.  These have a great cinnamon flavor but are not really "hot" per se.  You don't need to have a glass of water handy to chase it with, I promise. My 2 year old didn't even notice, and he's kind of a wuss.

Have a great week! 

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Graham Streusel Coffee Cake

I am a fan of coffee cakes.  To me they are just an acceptable way to eat cake to eat for breakfast, so what's not to love?  This is even more true for this recipe, because it uses a spice cake mix as the base.  Just ignore the fact that you're adding even more butter and sugar to it and calling it breakfast.  Your tummy with thank you.  (But in spirit of full disclosure, your thighs probably won't.)

I think it's pretty obvious from the ingredient list that this is a sweet coffee cake, so if you can't handle sugar in the morning, you can feel free to eat it for snack or dessert instead.  

I on the other hand do not function properly without massive amounts of sugar, so I have no problem having a slice for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and afternoon snack.  And maybe a teeeensy slice for midnight snack.  

This is because I am actually an alien and my blood has been replaced by extraterrestrials with pure glucose.  

Which, of course, I need to keep regenerating by constantly consuming sugar.

duh.

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Chocolate-Dipped Heart Marshmallows

February is a great month for me.  I get to put up pink girly stuff all over the house and my husband can't really complain about it.  (He is super manly and thinks master bedrooms should be decorated with "gender neutral" colors... whatevs that means... I think fuschia pillows totally qualify.)  Also, we have two boys so I never get to do the girly thing there.  So, I like to start the Valentine's celebrating as early as possible.

(Wait till my husband finds out I'm making this and hanging it on our front door for a month. I'll be sure to take a picture of his face and put a caption on it that says "The cat peed WHERE? " before slapping it on pinterest.)

Anyways- back to girly Valentines things like these mallows. You can make them in any shape you want using teensy tiny cookie cutters.  Fondant cookie cutters work great for this (look in the cake decorating section).  My hobby lobby also has some small holiday themed sets by the modeling clay.

(Bizzar-o, I know... Doesn't anybody have the guts to tell the Hob Lob that modeling clay is inedible?  Suddenly the fact that I use the same coupon every single day and never get questioned or imprisoned makes soo much sense.)


PS- I finally finished my Chocolate Dipping Tips tab. Check it out and let me know what you think.  A video might be coming someday.  I just have to check with Reese  first to see if she could play the part of me while I whisper instructions from the sidelines.

(And by Reese, yes, I mean Witherspoon.  She's not quite as hot as me, but I guess she'll do.)

Have a happy Tuesday!

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Chicken Enchiladas (Great freezer meal!)

I don't usually post dinner recipes, especially ones without pictures.  But, I feel like I am always typing this up for someone, so it might as well be shared here!  This is my go-to  "freezer meal" to make for others.  We almost always get asked for the recipe, so I think that means people like it as much as our family does.

I usually use just one can of mild chiles, because you never know what other people's kids will like/dislike. This makes a pretty mild casserole.  If you are making this for your family and don't mind the heat, feel free to up the chilies to two cans, or to use medium or hot chilies.

This recipe will make TWO foil pans of enchiladas  (about 6 medium sized enchiladas each).  If you are making this for your family, you can either half this recipe, or just make an extra pan to freeze for later!  I usually grill 3 XL chicken breasts the day before making this and chop them up and keep them in the fridge until I'm ready to assemble the enchiladas.  You could also use a rotisserie chicken if you're short on time.

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Valentine's Candy Skewers

Candy skewers are one of my faves. The jist is that you throw a bunch of candy on a stick and call it good.  Taffy skewers are particularly cute for showers and parties with color themes.  Kids LOVE them.  (And not just kids... I'll eat pretty much anything off a stick.)

And guess what.  There's no recipe.  You get a bamboo skewer... slide a bunch of candy on.  Serve.  I usually buy my candy from the bins at Winco.  (LOVE going through the checkout line with like fifteen bags of candy with only 3 candies per bag.  It makes my day.  I'm pretty sure I am the definition of hell for WinCo employees.)  I don't really love it.  It actually kind of makes me cringe, but I DO love feeling like I'm buying all this stuff and then the bill coming to  a dollar and thirteen cents. 

I love these for Valentine's day, especially if you have a school district that lets you bring homemade treats to school... Do those still exist? Cause I'm willing to move.

In other news, I spent alll night last night working on a new Recipe Index tab.  (See it up there?)  I wanted to make it easier for you to browse my recipes.  I have it organized by categories, and then holidays, and even seasons of the year  (apologies for the OCD freakness).  I really hope this will make your life and my life easier! (Plus it was a really good excuse to watch six episodes of Psych in a row.)

Have a great weekend!

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