it's easy being green...

Kermit didn't know how easy he could have it with this recipe!

Grasshopper Pie

I never really celebrated St. Patrick's Day til I inherited my husband's family. They are Irish and treat this holiday as special as Christmas. We wear crazy costumes, eat Irish food, drink lots of beer, and dance Irish jigs! I contribute the dessert every year. Last years was a bit more adventurous and creative but with a 40-hour a week job, sometimes I have to take the easy route. (Hence, the pre-made pie crust)

I have never made this pie before and found a recipe from Pioneer Woman and really wanted to try it. Then reality struck that since St. Patrick's Day falls on a weekday this year, I don't have much time to tackle one of her made-from-scratch recipes. So, I set out to find a quicker version and viola! I didn't have mint extract so my cool whip is just plain old cool whip flavor. And the comments on this recipe suggest using chocolate fudge pudding in order to give it a thicker consistency. My grocery store didn't have that either, so this might end up being a little runny. We will see.

I have yet to taste it, but how could it be bad?

chocolate = good

andes mints = good

cool whip = good

Put it together and... well, you get the picture.

just a sweet, little nest of sweetness...

This was my first real job where I was "hired" to create something sweet. Usually, I just use friends birthdays to try new things and add to my blog, but this time I was actually sought after and paid (yes, with real money) to bake! I can't believe it, seems I am movin' on up... to the east side... to a deluxe apartment in the sky... okay, I will stop. But I know you are singing The Jeffersons in your head now... you're welcome.

One of my closest friends and fellow-creative-thinker, Abigail, was throwing her friend, Amanda, a baby shower. I made Abigail these red velvet cake pops for her birthday last year, which led her to think of me when she was trying to decide what to do about the cake for the shower.

She tells me that Amanda LOVES carrot cake and after seeing the amazingly cute invites Abigail designed, my creative juices started flowing. The carrot cake sandwich cookies that I have made in the past, just happen to be the best thing to come out of my oven, in my opinion at least. But how to creatively display them? It was Abigail's little birdies on the invite that inspired the idea to put them in a nest! How cute are they? For the recipe, refer back to my previous post.

To top it off, I had to include a little welcome sign.

oh baby!

A sweet friend of mine is with child and I was honored to create her shower invites...
I love them almost as much as I love Valerie!

Congrats Valerie! Can't wait to meet the little guy!

Shellie's shower pops...

We just had an awesome bridal shower for my friend Shellie. I wanted to make her something sweet to match her sweet personality but didn't have the time I wanted. So I had to be creative. That's the idea of my blog, right? Have you ever tried the Pepperidge Farms little cakes that come in a box in the freezer section? Well, I have and I LOVE them! Not bad for a "boxed" cake! So, I decided to buy a couple of those and make cake pops out of them. The cake pops that I made in the past were very time consuming because I make the cake and the frosting from scratch. Unfortunately, time wasn't on my side that weekend so I had to take a short cut. I think they turned out sooooooo yummy-licious! But here is a hint, if you decide to make them, be sure they stay refrigerated until you serve them. After the drive to Leesburg and waiting til after our meal, they were too mushy and kept falling off the stick when you bit into them. But they were pretty and still tasted great!

I made 2 different flavors. The white ones were coconut and the ones with the yellow sprinkles were lemon.

an extraordinary wedding invite for an extraordinary couple...

I have inherited so many great friends through Pete. He has so many friends that he has known since they were children and remain very close. One of which, is Marty. I can describe Marty as a giant teddy bear. He has an intimidating exterior but has such a big heart and really values his friendships. A few years ago, he met Shellie and she fit right into our group of friends as if we knew her forever! Shellie is a beautiful soul and brought so much happiness and promise into Marty's life. Not only has she made Marty's world complete, she also is a beautiful, positive presence in his daughter, Triniti's world. They are a gorgeous family and have an exciting future ahead of them!


When I heard that their theme for the wedding was "carnival" I couldn't wait to get started on the invite! I have never designed something so fun and unique for a wedding invitation before.


Here is the outcome:
(front)

(back)

reply card
(front)

(back)

By the looks of this invite, I guess you can tell this wedding is going to be unlike any other! I can't wait and I am so glad I was able to help Shellie and Marty plan their special day!

This ones for Paula!

I was met with a task recently to come up with a low-calorie, diabetic-friendly dessert. If you know me at all, you know that this is something completely out of my realm. Keeping a calorie count low for a dessert is like smoking pot and not inhaling... ask Clinton, it's pointless. But...


a good friend of mine, Paula, has always been one of my most faithful blog followers. Sometimes I think about hiring her as my promoter cause she appreciates my efforts in the kitchen so greatly and tells anyone that will listen. I think the only other person I know that brags on me as much is my own mother! Paula is very near and dear to me so when she recently fell ill, I wanted to bring her something that would cheer her up. Her daughter, Kim, suggests I make a low-calorie, diabetic-friendly dessert since her mom has always been a fan of my confections and now she is on a strict diet following her illness. You know I never turn down a challenge but I was very nervous about how this would taste being that I have no experience using such ingredients as splenda and other sugar-free items. This was the outcome:

Personally, I thought they were DISGUSTING! I actually almost threw them out and stopped at Publix to find a sugar-free dessert! Paula and Kim seemed to disagree with me whole-heartily and said they were delicious. Maybe they were compared to other desserts in the same class? Or maybe they just didn't want to hurt my feelings? Either way... I tried and I know it was appreciated.


But just in case they were being honest, I will share the recipe:
Each cookie is only 90 calories and 9 grams of carbs.


Chocolate Dunk Cookies
1 3/4 cups of flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 squares BAKER'S semi-sweet chocolate, divided
1 and 1/2 sticks of margarine, softened
1/4 cup SPLENDA brown sugar blend
(the recipe I found actually called for 1/2 cup of regular brown sugar, but I thought I should keep it as sugar-free as possible. Maybe it would've tasted better with the regular? Cause "brown sugar blend" stinks and tastes gross!)
1/2 cup SPLENDA no calorie sweetner, granulated
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tblsp of sugar-free COOL WHIP
1 tsp warm water


Heat oven to 375 degrees.
MIX flour, baking soda and salt. Chop 2 chocolate squares.
BEAT margarine, brown sugar and SPLENDA sweetner in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chopped chocolate. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets.
BAKE 11-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet for 1 minute, remove to wire racks and cool completely.
MELT remaining chocolate squares as directed on package. Stir in COOL WHIP and water. Dip half of each cookie in chocolate and let stand until firm.

If you don't like it, I warned you. But if you do, Paula was right!

Christmas Balls!

Are you guys surprised that my Christmas goodies are in the shape of balls? No? I didn't think so. Balls are just so cute, I love them! Yes, I said it. I LOVE BALLS!

Every year I make some goodies to bring over to some of my favorite people, our neighbors, Chriss and Irene. They are like family to us and we are lucky to have them living so close. Since I have started this interest in baking, they are the first to try it. Yes, even my flukes! They are so nice they wouldn't tell me if it was gross, but this latest tasty treat I whipped up was pure heaven in your mouth. There was no fluke here, just a bunch of yummyness!

I made Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls Dipped in Chocolate! YUM!

I originally wanted to make truffle balls and then form it into a tree, kinda like this:

But when I came across a suggestion by Martha Stewart in her latest magazine to mix crushed pretzels with peanut butter, confectioners sugar and butter, I had to try it. Then when I tried to attach the balls to the styrofoam tree, they wouldn't stay on the toothpick. The consistency wasn't solid enough, like a truffle would be. But it was okay because I didn't know what I was gonna use those tiny cupcake liners for that I had in my cupboard forever... viola! PERFECT! And cute. And did I say deeee-licious?

These were probably my favorite thing I have made so far! The pretzels stayed crunchy and they had the perfect mix of salty and sweet. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!