Peanut Butter Blondies

I attend a wicked fun monthly event in my city called Brews & Board Games. Last month, the host wanted to raise money for the Baltimore Child Abuse Center through a raffle, silent auction, and bake sale. I made these rich peanut butter blondies for the occasion. This recipe makes 9-12 bars and is adapted from a recipe by Gal on a Mission. Oh, and if you make this recipe and like it, consider donating a few bucks to the Baltimore Child Abuse Center!

Sweet and Spicy Mushroom Dumplings

Can we talk about the magic that are dumplings? They are like little savory pillows of happiness. I think a lot of people get intimidated when thinking about making dumplings or mandu (Korean-style dumplings), but once you get an assembly line going, you'll be ready. Not to mention, there are great dumpling wrappers that you can buy to cut down on making your own. This recipe makes about 45 dumplings and is adapted from The Woks of Life (love that blog name!). I split the 45 dumplings into steamed and fried, and I'll show you how to make both.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Croissants

This week, my coworker celebrated surviving breast cancer by hosting a "pink potluck" at work. We all wore pink and many of us brought in pink food. Choosing a recipe based on the food's color is actually not an easy thing to do, but I did it. This is an easy and delicious addition to any potluck or brunch.

Honey Nut Goat Cheese Deviled Eggs

This weekend was the Fourth Annual Deviled Egg Pageant and, of course, I competed yet again. Previously, I made Taco Deviled Eggs, Roasted Garlic Deviled Eggs, and Dill & Stone Ground Mustard Deviled Eggs. Every year, the competition gets even more cutthroat, and I wanted to step into the realm of sweet deviled eggs. I started with a recipe that I found for goat cheese deviled eggs and began to brainstorm on what would go well with goat cheese. I decided on a honey drizzle and my partner (who entered an amazing tiramisu deviled egg this year), suggested that I top that with crushed nuts. Thus, these beautiful deviled eggs were born. This recipe makes 20 deviled eggs.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

In lieu of a birthday cake this year, I baked my partner a strawberry rhubarb pie by request. I have never cooked with rhubarb before and was nervous because of the whole poisonous thing. Alas, it turned out deliciously and no one was poisoned! Success! This recipe makes one pie and was adapted from a great recipe from The Kitchn.

Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Sandwiches

These cookies are my absolute favorite. I have a good friend that makes them for every occasion (mostly because everyone that she knows practically forces her to do so), and I decided to try my hand at it for my Annual Great Cookie Exchange. This recipe makes 30 cookies and will blow your mind with how easy they are! Enjoy!

Hot Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies

I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap of 2014 this year. It's an awesome program; food bloggers all donate to Cookies For Kids' Cancer to participate and then swap cookies with other food bloggers. I started compiling a ton of awesome cookie recipes and stumbled upon this great one from The Girl Who Ate Everything (great blog title, too). These hot cocoa cookies are easy to make and extremely delicious. This recipe makes about 30 medium-sized cookies. Enjoy & happy holidays!

Glühwein

I used to live in Germany during my early teenage years and one thing that is extremely popular over there - especially during the Christmas holiday - is warm, mulled wine. I decided to make a batch for myself and some friends to enjoy and couldn't believe just how easy it was. Enjoy & Frohe Weihnachten!

Best of 90s Food: Dunkaroos

This year, the Baltimore Sun's Mobbies is asking each blogger to blog about the thing that she would like to bring back from the 90s. Being that this is a food blog, I went straight for everyone's favorite snacks from the 90s. Earlier this week, I posted a recipe for Hot Pockets, and below is a recipe for the beloved Dunkaroos. Up next will be some DIY Lunchables and Pudding Pops. Enjoy!

Apple & Honey Flatbread Pizza

L'shanah Tova! Okay, I'm a couple days late in posting a Rosh Hashanah recipe, but it's so delicious, you'll be making it year-round. Here's to a sweet new year!

Side note: I'm living in a new house
with new lighting and it's taking me time
to figure out how to take good photos. Apologies!

Boozy French Toast

This recipe is sweet and perfect for feeding a handful of hungry people during brunch. Make the recipe the night before and bake right before you need to serve it! This weekend I made two batches (one with french bread and one with challah) and they were both sweet and filling. The recipe below is adapted from smitten kitchen and makes one 9x13-inch pan's worth of delicious french toast. Enjoy!

Baked Brie Topped with Raspberry, Almond & Honey

Baked Brie is such a delicious appetizer with little prep time and a big pay-out. I love that Brie tastes just as good if you make it sweet or savory. This recipe is a great appetizer if you are serving anywhere from 5-10 people. Be sure to serve it with a baguette or crackers. Enjoy!

Low-Fat Peanut Butter Dip

I think it's safe to say that I am addicted to peanut butter. I can eat (and have eaten) peanut butter as a part of every meal of my day. I realize that this isn't a sustainable model, especially if I am trying not to gain a million pounds simply because I can't cut out Jif. I found this recipe on FitSugar and it promises to be much healthier and lower calories (40 calories)** than peanut butter, but still has the same taste. I tried it out and was pleasantly surprised. The dip doesn't have the same consistency as peanut butter, but it does taste similarly! I'd suggest eating it the same way you would peanut butter, with fruit, veggies, sandwiches, etc. (although I haven't tried eating it on anything warm yet, not sure how that would go). Enjoy!

Coconut Banana Bread

I found this recipe on Pinterest and immediately wanted to make it. Not only does it add coconut (one of my favorites!) to banana bread, but it's low-fat at only 115 calories per slice! The recipe originally comes from FitSugar and makes one loaf of delicious bread.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Last night was the annual Great Cookie Exchange at my house. I baked some chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies that were decadent and filling, to say the least. These cookies aren't too difficult to make, but have a bunch of ingredients, so make sure that you have everything you need on-hand before you start! This recipe is a alteration of one over at Kitchen Treaty and makes 18 cookies.

Holiday Butter Cookies

For my office holiday party, I volunteered to make some cookies. This can feel like a lot of pressure, since everyone has a certain idea of what holiday cookies are, and can be really picky about it. Also, a quick disclosure: I haven't been to the grocery store in a few weeks, so my cupboards aren't overflowing with baking options. I decided to go with this recipe for butter cookies because it is a simple, easy-to-make recipe and it's super-likely that you have all of the ingredients in your house already. This recipe makes a baker's dozen and was adapted from this recipe. Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Infused Rum

Infusing alcohol is super-easy because it involves a very passive recipe. Really, you just need to decide which kind of alcohol you'd like to use and which flavors you think would go well with that. I've seen a lot of standard flavors (cinnamon, apple, vanilla, etc.) and a lot of more "wild" flavors (rosemary, pickle, elderberry, etc.). Since this was my first infusion experience, I decided to stick with a standard cinnamon rum. I ended up making about six pints of rum for holiday gifts and a little leftover for myself.

Guest Post: Ange's Shortbread Cookies

My lovely friend, Melissa, wrote up this guest post that is perfect for the cold weather and the holiday season. Not only does the recipe sound good, but I have tasted it, so I can vouch for its buttery, flaky deliciousness. Remember, if you also want to guest post, please don't hesitate to contact me. Enjoy!
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I have always been a “cook” not a baker, when it comes to the time I spend in the kitchen. In fact, the idea of baking anything, especially cookies, would cause a reaction in me similar to when you say Brussels Sprouts to a four-year-old.  Ick.  It was so time-consuming and exact... ugh.  But suddenly something happened… maybe it was all of the delicious desserts seen in every magazine and tv show, maybe it was my Great Aunt’s years of scratch pies calling me home. Whatever it was, I finally started baking.  And the more I baked, the more I loved it.  And found out that baking is EASY. And the exacting nature of baking turned it into a challenge to try more and more difficult items and accomplish it and do it well.  The feeling of finishing a beautiful, complicated homemade cake could never compare to anything I put together on the stove for dinner. So, I guess I call myself a baker now and I love it! 

My friend Ange has been making this shortbread recipe for us for years. And every time she shows up with a plate of it the entire plate will be devoured in a matter of minutes, all of us picking the crumbs off the plate with our fingers when whole cookies are gone.  Shortbread is such a classic, simple, delicious taste and something I’ve never made before, so I thought I would give it a shot.  And, yep, Easy!  Turns out I’ve actually been making shortbread for a while now, I just called it crust and didn’t think about it being the same thing.

Brie Pastry Bites

This is the easiest & most delicious appetizer I've made in a long time (probably since my last brie appetizer). There are a lot of ways to make this a little more homemade than I did, but honestly, if you're going for quickness & convenience, I suggest sticking to this recipe. It makes 16 servings and is loosely based off of this recipe from Tablespoon.

Baked Brown Sugar Peaches

What a dessert this is! It's so sweet and delicious that you probably won't realize that it's only about 100 calories per peach. That means you can eat like, a million of them. This is the perfect end-of-summer dessert and I highly suggest you go pick up the last of the fresh peaches at your farmers market immediately to make this! This recipe serves one (adjust equally to serve more) and was originally found at The Kitchen is My Playground.