Salted Caramel

When I think about summer, the usual suspects come to mind.  Campfires, swimming, barbecues, long days, riding bikes and ice cream.

The last one is important.

Actually, I eat ice cream all year and I love it whether it's 100˚ outside or if it's 30˚.  Even though I'm not very discriminate when it comes to my ice cream consumption, I would say that I up my intake pretty significantly once the temps reach about 70˚.

Well, here in Utah, where we apparently don't have winter anymore, it's been 70˚ for over a month already.  Time to make a permanent spot for my ice cream maker in the freezer and start whipping up another batch of this salted caramel for safe keeping.

Lemon Meringue Pie

There are some things in life that are worth taking your time with.  Other things may be fine to rush through and 'just get it done,' but others require a little more care and thought put into them.

For me, it's the difference between dinner and dessert.

When I make dinner, it had better be fast and easy and taste good.  It doesn't have to look perfect.  It doesn't have to be photographed (usually) and posted on Instagram.  It just has to give me energy to get through the rest of the night and into the morning.

Dessert, on the other hand, takes some more time.  I like dessert to look good and taste good and have the love worked right into the crust.  I like it to be presented in a pretty dish or on a nice plate and I like to look forward to it all day.

Dessert's not really practical.  You don't technically need dessert - not like you need dinner.  But dessert is what you look forward to.  So maybe you do need it after all.

Making your own lemon meringue pie is exactly the type of exercise in indulgence, patience and meticulousness needed to lift your spirits.  Waiting for the pie crust to cool, stirring the lemon custard until it's thick and glossy, watching the meringues brown through the oven window - it's what makes it special.

Next time you're looking for a special dessert for a special occasion or a special person or a totally un-special weeknight, I think this might just be the thing you're looking for.

Applesauce Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

Have you ever gotten those plastic tubs full of caramel that they sell in the grocery story by the apples?  The "Caramel Apple Dip."

That's the type of thing that I would pick up and I would eat the entire container of caramel spread out over a single apple.  Every teeny tiny bite of apple was literally dripping with caramel.  In my mind, it was a pretty healthy little snack.  It has an apple in it!  What's healthier than an apple?

These cupcakes are basically that after school snack in an even less healthy form.

Plus, the caramel is salted so you won't get that itchy tooth thing from it being so sweet.  (Oh, is that just something that happens to my family?  Must be genetic.)

Caramel and apple and spices and sweet and salty.  It's all good stuff.

Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies

One night, Austin was making bacon for some reason (as if you need a reason) and I was eating an apple with peanut butter when I had the genius (if I do say so myself) idea of dipping a strip of bacon into the peanut butter.

It was as good as it sounds.

We tend to make our cookies with a little extra sea salt on top to balance out the sweetness, so adding the salty bacon to these peanut butter cookies made all the sense in the world.

If you're thinking that maybe it doesn't actually make sense to combine the two, first of all, you're wrong, and secondly just give it a shot.  You may just be pleasantly surprised by how well the two flavors meld.

Because of the meat product, I would recommend storing them in the fridge and eating within about a week...if they last that long.  Otherwise, freeze them for later.

In Celebration of Pi Day

Tomorrow is Pi Day, guys!  Do you know what that means?  Well, really it means nothing, but we can celebrate it anyway and if celebrating a holiday means eating a bunch of pie, then I'm in.

My mom and sister planned our Pi Day celebration this year so we'll be having chicken pot pie, banana cream pie and whatever I decide to bring to the shindig.  I'm still waffling between pizza and poptarts (they're both pies too!).

Sometimes I think we just need an excuse to invite friends over, stuff our pieholes and have a good time.  So here's your excuse.  Actually here are 10 excuses:

Mocha Trifle

There's pretty much no food group I love more than cake.  Yes, in my head, cake is a food group.

For good reason too.  There are so many different flavors and really I think Michelle Obama and the FDA would agree with me on my recommendation of 1-2 servings a day.

I don't get all uppity about my cake either.  I pretty much like every type and in every situation.  I like it in cupcake, ice cream, cheese, sheet and layered form.  I especially love cake in a bowl.

A cake where you can see all of the pretty layers stacked on one another from the side of the bowl.  A cake where you scoop it out with a spoon and don't have to worry about pulling out the perfect slice.  That type of cake is perfect.

If you've never made a cake in a bowl (aka a trifle), now's the time! No stress about having it come out perfect.  No worrying about frosting it perfectly.  Mmm, it's just...perfect.  And if you have to start somewhere, you might as well start with a trifle that everyone will love and will definitely turn out well.  This mocha trifle is the one you're looking for.

Banana Cream Pie Milkshake

Back in November, we headed South after work one Friday night.  We drove for 6 hours through the flat, empty, sagebrush-filled land of central Utah and made it to the desert in time to set up our tent under the moonlight, then promptly fall asleep.

We climbed some rocks, we slept on the ground and then there was also that one moment where I had a panic attack at the top of a climb because suddenly it was just too hot.

Sometimes this happens to me and usually it's because it's hot and I'm tired and thirsty and mostly I think it's because I don't have enough calories.

It's embarrassing.

If I was smart, I would figure out how to always have a milkshake on hand.  That would solve the hot, thirsty and calorie-depletion problems.  Still working on it though.

End of that particular panic attack did end in a milkshake though.  One of the best milkshakes I've ever had.  It was at this little 'diner' in a strip mall and we were the youngest people in there by over 40 years, but when they said they'd put Nilla Wafers, bananas and whipped cream in my milkshake, I was sold.

Since it's a 6 hour drive through that sage brush, I figured I'd need to just make my own at home though.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Topping

For the past 2 and a half years, I've had a helper with these recipes on the blog.  Sometimes she's really good.  She stays out of the way and does what I ask her to do.  Other times, not so much.

Her favorite ingredient is peanut butter so when it makes an appearance in a recipe, she gets pretty pumped about it and then her helpfulness really goes downhill.

After rereading the description, I'm starting to think I should get a new assistant.  But since she's my four-legged, furry friend I think I'll keep her.  Sometimes it's nice to have someone else helping out even if she does sometimes get in the way.  It's also nice to know that I'll always have someone that will like what I make. :)

I have a hunch your dog won't be the only one that likes this peanut butter ice cream topping though.*

Since I'm pretty much in an exclusive relationship with vanilla ice cream, I only tried it on that, but I'd imagine that pouring some of this warm, sweet, peanut buttery sauce over some chocolate ice cream would be divine.  I mean, chocolate and peanut butter.  That's a thing for a reason.

Coconut Pecan Ice Cream Topping

This past weekend, we celebrated my dad's birthday, but we didn't get to have my dad's favorite birthday cake (German Chocolate).  Because of allergies and preferences, foods with coconut and nuts seem to be hard to get everyone to agree on.

I still think if it's your birthday, you get to decide no matter what.  But I was assured that we would have German Chocolate Cake another time and I will get an invite.

At least, we did get to have a pretty delicious replacement dessert (not to toot my own horn or anything).

Still, I can't wait until my mom makes my dad's real favorite cake.  I can't quite decide if the cake is my favorite part or if drizzling warm leftover coconut pecan frosting on top of vanilla ice cream the next day is my favorite.  It's probably a tie.  The kind of tie where there's no disappointment.  

Hot Fudge Sauce

Do you like to go out for ice cream?  Any type really.  Banana splits, hot fudge sundaes, cones, cups, milkshakes, malts...  Of course you do.  Who doesn't?  Even highly lactose-intolerant, Austin, can't resist an Oreo Blizzard.

I used to actually drive out of my way about 20 minutes to get 'the really good soft-serve' from a gas station in the next town over when I was in high school.  And I will always pick the burger joint that serves vanilla shakes over the burger joint that does not.

But a few years ago, a really sad and really disgusting thing happened when I was waiting in line for my ice cream at a popular (unnamed) chain.

I was waiting for my food as I watched the girl working behind the counter being paid minimum wage and wearing an ill-fitting hat, drop a customer's ice cream on the dirty counter.  As I'm sure you've guessed, she did not throw it out, clean up the counter and start new.  She picked up the ice cream and put it back in the cup...with her bare hand!

Ever since then, I've been just a little more appreciative of my dessert prepared at home.

So, it's a good thing that you can make your own hot fudge sauce on your own (clean?) stove.  You can scoop it with your own spoons.  Heat it with your own microwave.  And if you so choose, you can touch it with your own bare hands, and that's fine.  Sticky but fine.

Oh, and by the way, it tastes about 4 million times better than anything you're going to find at a drive-up or in a grocery store.

Giant Chocolate Chunk and Chip Cookies

I only like chocolate chip cookies when they're fresh out of the oven.  After they've cooled down and hardened, I pretty much don't eat them.  (Of course, sometimes I'll munch on one despite their imperfect state...I'm not a monster!)

This doesn't mean that I don't eat a lot of cookies, this just means I binge when they're still warm and gooey.

So this recipe from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery is pretty much perfect for me.

The first reason being that they are delicious and soft and melty and just generally perfect.  The dark chocolate chunks balance out the (sometimes overly) sweet cookie dough and they melt down and ooze out while the chocolate chips maintain their shape a little better.  Texture heaven.

The second reason is that it only makes 6 cookies.  6 GIANT cookies!  I can definitely eat 6 fresh, chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven.*

*I'm kidding - each of these cookies is about the equivalent of 6 regular cookies.

Marshmallow Filled Banana Cupcakes

Not too long ago, I had a dream of opening up a bakery.  It was back before cupcake shops were on every corner and long before they were a thing of the past.

My bakery was going to only have filled cupcakes.  It was probably the best cupcake shop you've ever been too and it definitely had the tastiest cupcakes you've ever tried.

Also, they were filled.  I mean, they were filled!

So yeah.  That didn't happen.  Part of the problem was that Austin and I were never settled in one place long enough to put down entrepreneurial roots.  The other part of the problem was lack of confidence.  Risk.  Money.  Drive.

All of those things that typically get in the way of pursuing a dream.

Whoa, this blog post got kind of mopey all of the sudden and I did not mean for it to!  So, maybe down the road, I will open a bakery and even though it won't be limited to just cupcakes, it will probably have these on the menu.

I mean my mother-in-law said they were, "the best cupcakes. Ever."  Seems deserving of a spot on the menu to me.

Austin's Rice Pudding

I recently read Amy Poehler’s book, “Yes, Please,” and I hated it. I don’t usually hate books either.

I honestly can’t pick out one single thing that I liked about the book.  I can pick out something I didn’t like though.  I didn’t like that she complained for a large portion of the book about how she didn’t want to write the book.  Personally, I think she would have done us all a favor, if she listened to her gut and stopped there.

That’s why I’m determined not to write here about how hard it can be to write.  Just know that it can be hard.  But also know that I love to do it and I am grateful to be able to do it. 

Also, I like to read books that are worthwhile and so far in 2015 I’m 0 for 2.  I rarely give books 1 star reviews (in Goodreads), but that’s 2 in a row!

The only other thing that gets to me quite as much as a bad book is when I have a kitchen fail.  That’s when I have to let Austin take over.  That’s when he makes delicious rice pudding for dessert with the leftover rice from his ‘biking snacks.’  I do the dishes…maybe ;) and all is right in the world again.

Frosted Banana Cookies

I love bananas.  I really do.  I love them so much that I usually get over-ambitious and buy way too many at a time.  By 'too many,' I mean more than 3.

Apparently, I can eat 3 bananas before they go bad, but more than that and the brown dots begin to grow and multiply.  No big deal, right?  That's what banana bread is for.  And you're right.  But sometimes you already have banana bread because you really went crazy and bought Costco bananas!

You could make more bread and freeze it.  You could even freeze the peeled bananas and use them next time you want bread.

Or you could make cookies.

When I have a choice between bread or cookies, I always choose both.  Always.

7 Christmas Cookie Recipes

When we were little and would go up to the farm every year for Christmas, everyone brought cookies.  There were way too many to ever fit in the fridges or even on the counter and tabletops, so they all stayed outside on the screened-in porch.

You had to go brave the cold in your socks to get one.  We were pretty brave though.  We would eat every single caramel cup before Christmas day.  

My parents, grandparents, great-grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins and sisters all knew that I was making frequent trips to that side of the house, but even still, I was pretty sneaky, so I don't think anyone really knows just how many I ate.

I still love Christmas cookies but now I don't have to sneak them.  Takes some of the fun out of it to be totally honest with you.  Maybe I'll recapture some of that childhood Christmas magic if I start stuffing cookies in my pockets this year!

1. Vanilla Bean Snickerdoodles

2. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

3. Lemon Glazed Ginger Cookies

4. Pecan Fingers

5. Molasses Cookies

6. Frosted Sugar Cookies

7. Chocolate Chip Meringues

Mocha Yule Log

It seems like I just can't get away from people that 'don't like pie.'  And I don't get it.  And really, I don't like that kind of talk towards pie.

To me, it's kind of like saying, 'I don't like vegetables,' or any other major food group.  I mean, have you tried all the types?

And don't tell me you don't like crust, because there are lots of types of crust.  Also, what part is it that offends your tastebuds?  The flakey, buttery, slightly sweet delicious part?

Every Thanksgiving we have the 'pie debate' and every year I come away baffled.  My confusion only heightens when people compare pie to cake.  They are totally different!  You cannot compare the two.  You just can't.

If you don't like cake either, you better just leave now.

I make a yule log every year and it's good.  Not to brag or anything, but it's really good.  The only problem is that it doesn't always turn out.  I can't quite figure out why it cracks some years and others it's fine, but that's what happens.  So then I have to turn it into a trifle.  Also delicious.

This year, I thought I'd try out a new recipe to see if it would roll into that perfect shape better and still taste amazing - and well, it did.  (I swear, I'm really a pretty humble person.)