It's pouring outside. Did you remember your umbrella? These homemade marshmallows dipped in chocolate & sprinkles did!

Diver Sea Scallops with White Truffle Oil...Bon Appetit!

HI-HAT CUPCAKES!

Hi Hat Cupcakes...Martha Style!

Jaden was given a new helmet for his motorcyle. He likes it so much he has been wearing it for the past 3 hours! I guess you can never be too safe when baking cookies!

Nothing TASTES more like Autumn than Pumpkin Ice Cream & Pumpkin Pound Cake...together, of course! And with a big dollop of whipped cream!

One recipe...2 Goodies! Apple Crumb Bars & Muffins

Oreo Cheesecake Barss

Ingredients:
For the crust:
23 Oreo cookies
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 T. sugar
6 T. sour cream, at room temperature
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
12 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with NONSTICK foil. To make the crust, place the Oreos in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cookies are finely ground. Add in the melted butter and pulse until the cookie crumbs are moistened. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan. Press the crumbs into an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then set aside and prepare the filling while maintaining the oven temperature.

To make the filling, add the cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in the sugar until well combined. Blend in the sour cream, vanilla and salt. Beat in the egg and egg yolk. Stir in the chopped Oreos.

Pour the cheesecake batter over the prepared crust, smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the cheesecake is set around the edges but slightly wobbly in the center. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool about 1 hour to room temperature. Cover the pan and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

To cut the bars, pull the cake from the pan by lifting the foil up out of the pan. Place on a cutting board, peel away the foil, and slice into bars. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

NIKON SUGAR COOKIES!!!!

Sorry Canon fans.....This one's for a Nikon Girl!!!RECIPE TIME!
3 c flour
1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 sticks butter
1 egg
2 Tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
ELECTRIC MIX BUTTER & SUGAR. ADD EGG, MILK, VANILLA. ADD FLOUR & BAKING POWDER. PAT INTO DISK. CHILL 1 HOUR. PREHEAT OVEN TO 350. ROLL DOUGH ON FLOURED BOARD TO DESIRED THICKNESS. I MAKE THEM THICKER IF CREATING COOKIE POPS. CUT SHAPES AND INSERT OVEN SAFE COOKIE POP STICKS. BAKE 12-15 MINUTES DEPENDING ON SIZE OF COOKIE. IF SMALLER, CHECK THEM EARLIER. LET COOL ON SHEETS.
 
ROYAL ICING  
Ingredients

• 1 pound confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons meringue powder
• Scant 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. Beat ingredients in a mixer bowl on low speed until smooth, about 7 minutes. If icing is too thick, add more water; if too thin, beat 2 to 3 minutes more.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIA CHILD!!!!! XOXO

AN OLD PICTURE ....AND A TRIBUTE TO JULIA!!! XOXO

OREO 4 LAYER TRUFFLES

All you need is the microwave and you'll feel like you are in the chocolatier!Shopping list/ingredients
4T butter, divided
12 oreos-finely crushed -i used food processor-can also put in a ziploc bag and let kids whack with rolling pin! LOL
2T. raspberry jam (i eyeballed this part and didn't measure exactly)
1/2c. heavy cream, divided
6 ounces white chocolate
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
decorations (sprinkles, pearls, crushed Halloween candy leftover-whatever u like)

1. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners
2. Melt 2T butter and mix with the oreo crumbs. Press into the bottoms of 12 cupcake liners. Ad 1/4tsp. jam in the center of each bottom. Chill in fridge while doing the next step.
3. Melt in microwave: the white chocolate, 1/4c. cream, 1T. butter. Spoon on top of the jam and freeze tray 10 minutes.
4. Melt the semisweet chocolate, rest of the cream and the last T. butter in the microwave. Spoon over the white chocolate layer. Top with sprinkles or candies or both. Refrigerate an hour. Eat up!

4 layered Truffles..oreo crust, raspberry preserves, white chocolate ganache, chocolate ganache...a second picture is coming. Which do YOU like best?

CHOCOLATE BON BONS STUFFED WITH ALMOND PASTE

4 oz. bar sweet cooking chocolate
2 tbsp. milk
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3 1/2 oz. tube almond paste
Sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate in milk, stirring occasionally until smooth. In large bowl, beat 1/4 cup sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Blend in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Stir in flour and salt; mix well.Using rounded teaspoon of dough, shape into balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Make an indentation in center of each cookie. Fill each with scant 1/4 teaspoonful of the almond paste; press dough around filling to cover. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheets; roll in sugar. 4 dozen cookies.

Oreo Bliss Bars with Marshmallow Filling

Sesame Crusted Tuna Steaks with Soy Sauce, Roasted Corn on the Cob, and Jaden's Discovery That He Loves Asparagus!

OREO SCONES...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Powerhouse Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies...

1 stick soft butter
3/4c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3c. unsweetened cocoa
1 egg
1c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 bag peanut butter chips

In a mixer, beat the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Add the cocoa, egg, flour, soda. Stir in the chips. (I eyeballed the chips and added almost the whole bag-add to your liking!) This is a sturdy cookie and can also hold chocolate chips and/or nuts. Add what you like!!! Scoop large scoops (approx 4T dough each) onto parchment lined cookie sheets and bake at 350 for about 14 minutes. (watch first batch for baking time depending on cookie size/oven) Hope you love them as much as we did! (This does not make a huge batch...if you want a LOT...double the recipe!)

Take-out cookies and gift cards for the new home-owners!

USE YOUR FAVORITE SUGAR COOKIES TO BAKE HOUSE SHAPED COOKIES ON STICKS. CLICK HERE FOR MY FAVORITE RECIPE!!!

RESEARCH THE RESTAURANTS NEAR THEIR NEW HOUSE AND PURCHASE GIFT CERTIFICATES FROM SEVERAL OF THEM.

LABEL EACH COOKIE WITH THE NAME OF A CHOSE RESTAURANT AND THE PHONE NUMBER FOR TAKE OUT.

DISPLAY THE COOKIE POPS IN A HOUSE THEMED HOLDER WITH THE GIFT CERTIFICATES ATTACHED TO STICKS, TOO!!!

Homemade Applesauce For My Oldest Prince!

Crème brûlée, Anyone?

Riddle me this...If S'mores + Cookies = SMOOKIES, then what do S'mores + Bars =???

Not everything is always so smooth in the kitchen. Like the time my cookies were so crumbly and I couldn't figure out why. I reread that recipe three times. It wasn't until later that night when I opened the microwave that I knew the answer. There was the stick of butter...just sitting there... "softening." Tonight's recipe isn't much different. Caramel apple bars sounded wonderful. Jaden even unwrapped 14 ounces of caramels for me! Please don't tell him how awful this recipe turned out. It is now resting in La Garbaaaage. Shhh! Thanks! I thought a picture to celebrate a blooper could be fun too!

Happy Baby Shower! xo

CHOCOLATE FRENCH MACARON

Macaron Batter
1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar

Chocolate Filling
½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
4 ounces (120 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon (15 gr) butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350º F (180º C).

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.

Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn’t quite fine enough.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.

Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

To make the chocolate filling:

Heat the cream in a small saucepan with the corn syrup. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the pieces of butter. Let cool completely before using.

RECIPE FROM DAVID LEBOVITZ

Frozen Oreo Bars!

Over the Top Reese's Cookies!!!

ALPHABET COOKIES

Happy First Day of Kindergarten to My Nephew! xoxo

MAKE YOUR FAVORITE SUGAR COOKIES AND BAKE INTO SQUARES. DECORATE WITH ROYAL ICING AND LET HARDEN. OUTLINE A DIFFERENT LETTER ON EACH COOKIE WITH ROYAL ICING, FILL IN WITH ICING AND ADD SPRINKLES. LET DRY OVER NIGHT.

J'adore Macarons! Translation? Of course! I Love Macarons! These are delicate french cookies filled with white chocolate raspberry jam and should not be confused with macaroons. Ooh la la!

Chocolates by Jaden... Made with love for his friends! His favorite to make was the motorcycle....VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Peach Pie & Homemade Vanilla Ice cream!!! Jaden opted for the ice cream alone!

Birthday Tools

Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake