All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel
Pumpkin Cake Mix Sandwich Cookies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling- The perfect fall cookie treat that you can whip up in around hour. Fun and yummy!
So I was on the news last night!!
It really was so weird that I got to see myself on TV. But it was really cool too.
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We are going on our cruise tomorrow!!!!!!!
I am ridiculously excited. I’ve researched the ship and ports we are going to, I’ve joined FB groups to get get tips, and I’ve made lists, and I’ve packed and packed again. And I know I will still forget something! ha!
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I am loving winter in Florida.
It’s a joke to call it winter. It’s been amazing out. We had one cold weekend so far and you would have thought the end of the world was coming. People reacted to at the grocery store the same way that people in Boston reacted to snow storms. Everyone at the grocery store was all bundled up and talking about how cold it was. I was standing there in a sweat shirt like “yo, you have no idea…” It was like 45 out. ha!
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Your average cheese ball has met its match with this sweet one. This S’mores Cheesecake Dessert Cheese Ball is a very yummy & fun dessert for a party.
OMG GUYS, IT’S S’MORES WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You better be ready!
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It’s Fall!!!
It is starting to feel like Fall and I love it.
Yes, I love Summer but I really do love Fall. The crisp smelling air in the mornings start the day off on the right note. I love the smells of fall from the apples to the fallen leaves to the pumpkin pie. Shoot, even pumpkin spice lattes smell amazing.
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Years ago, while I was staying at a resort in the Caribbean, I grabbed a late night snack at the hotel’s on-site Dunkin’ Donuts. Tired from the glorious day of sun, I stumbled in there for a coolata.
And then I saw it.
I saw the most amazing thing ever.
A doughnut filled with guava jelly.
Okay, so it was just a Dunkin’ Donuts’ doughnut, so it wasn’t the best doughnut ever, but I was hooked on this guava filled doughnut. It was fun and tropical. It was the perfect late night snack that night.
The thing is that I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I used to always look for guava filled doughnuts but I never saw them here, so I just figure it was something special for the Caribbean locations. Lucky them!
Well, I was recently stumbled upon guava paste while I was grocery shopping. It was in a weird shaped can, which is exactly why it caught my eye. I had no idea what to do with it but I impulsively tossed it in the cart.
I’m glad I did as I quickly discovered that guava paste is really versatile. It can be eaten on just crackers or used as a filling for empanadas or swirled into cheesecake or even used as a glaze on pork tenderloin. Awesome!!
It pairs really well with cheese so I decided to play on the idea of traditional Pastelitos, which are pastries often filled with guava and cream cheese, when I made these puffles.
Now is the time to find some guava paste so you can make your own Guava and Cream Cheese Stuffed Puffle Waffles. Love!!
Makes 8 puffles
Ingredients
Process
Inspired by Epicurious
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I hope you are enjoying all my Waffle Wednesday recipes and enjoyed this month of fun puffle recipes. Be sure to give them a try. xoxo
OMG!!! My last pie of The Year of Pies!
I love a good challenge so I really loved making a pie for every Friday. Pie Day Friday!
Anyway, let’s do a fun little recap…
Handmade Pie Crusts are the real deal! And I think that Ina Garten’s recipe is awesome! I used it for the Cranberry Apple Pie and Fruitcake Pie. I swear it’s the vegetable shortening in the dough. #win
No Bake Cookie Crusts are awesome for pudding pies.
I gave away a lot of pie. A LOT.
As much as I made a lot of pies I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface on making pies. I want to to get better at making lattice topped pies,
Price’s favorite pie was the Caramel Pie.
I loved all the pies for different reasons. My favorite chocolate pie: Thin Mint Cookie Pie. My favorite chess pie: Lemon Chess Pie. My favorite fruit pie: Streusel Topped Peach Pie. My favorite pie inspired recipe Overnight Apple Pie Breakfast Pudding. My favorite savory pie: Supreme Pizza Pot Pie.
And twist my arm favorite is the Reese’s Cup Marshmallow Peanut Butter Cookie Pie. OMG so good!!!
This No-Bake Eggnog Pudding Pie was another great pie. It actually feels good to end the year with this pie. It is a pie that is guaranteed to make holiday lovers happy. It’s so holiday.
Sure, I could have done something complicated to show off all the sweet skillz I learned but I’m already in confident in what I learned this past year. Plus, it’s the busy holiday season so let’s stick with something easy!
A quick graham cracker crumb crust and a just as easy eggnog flavored pudding based filling. Perfectly!
As eggnog is very rich, this pie is very rich. Normally I would cut a pie into 8 slices but I would actually cut this into 12 slices. I know, smaller slices. Ghastly! But trust me on this on. It’s delightfully rich so just pace yourself.
I really hope that you enjoyed The Year of Pie as much as I did! It was a blast to try something to challenge myself.
Makes a 9″ deep dish pie, 12 slices
Ingredients
For the Crust
For the Filling & Topping
Process
I have a project under construction that is in Miami that I needed to visit so I just ‘dragged’ Price and Autumn along with me this past weekend. Friday was a work day for me and the weather was down right crummy, but the weekend was beautiful so the trip was totally worth it.
Since I was working, Price and Autumn hung around the hotel in the morning and then they went to the Miami Children’s Museum in the afternoon. It was so cute to see their pics pop up on my phone while I was taking pics of stone tiles. Let me tell you, it’s a wee bit stressful to have to select pallets of stone tiles when each tile is about $120 each!! Anyway, Price suggests taking kids to the museum, it’s pretty cool.
After my site review, construction meeting, and nerve wrecking tile selection, the fun began for the weekend!! The weather got better and better so we got to enjoy the pool on Saturday. We took dips in the pool and splashed around with Autumn. And then while she took her afternoon nap in the room I snuck away for some solo lounge time!
I was initially really bummed that we didn’t go to Miami Beach but once we figured out the logics of getting from the hotel Downtown to the beach associated with the hotel (25 mins each way for a cab/1 hr each way on public transportation) and the cost (~$50 round trip for cabs & $15 per chair & umbrella), it was very clear that we made the right decision to stay at the hotel.
Plus, it gave us a chance to hang out on the hammocks, we couldn’t have done at the beach. I put Autumn in one and at first she was spooked but then she relaxed and settled in. Within just a few minutes her eyes began to flutter so I hopped in a different one and Price brought her to me and we snuggled while she (we) slept for about an hour. Pure bliss I tell you!!
Speaking of bliss… these cookies!
I’ve been recently making chocolate chip cookies with cream cheese since I had a 1/2 of an 8 oz block left over that was begging for me to use it in something. I was craving chocolate chip cookies and when I went to grab the butter out of the fridge I saw the cream cheese and figure ‘hey, why not!?’ I had made a 1/2 batch of cookies then since I knew I would have inhaled them all so the proportion worked out perfectly. Since then I’ve scaled back up to a full batch of cookies and a full 8 oz block of cream cheese.
The cream cheese just adds a bit of tang to the cookie, which goes well with the semi sweet chocolate chips. And since you don’t completely mix it in you get some streaks of it in the cookie which changes up the texture, but in a really good way. They are still super soft and not dense so they hold up their fluffy texture well, making them pillowy. I suggest eating them hot from the oven- well that holds true with any cookie, no? But they will last up to 2 days in an air-tight contianer.
PS- Sprinkle a tiny bit of sea salt on the top right before baking and it will knock your socks off.
Makes 32 Cookies
Ingredients
Process
We are currently in Miami!!!
I extended a work trip and dragged Price and Autumn along with me. Totally dragged them along. So while I am working today they get to hang around the pool at the hotel. So tough!
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On Sunday night Price, Autumn, and I headed down to Rhode Island to Lincoln Woods State Park to meet our wedding photographer, Lefebvre Photo, for our engagement photo session.
In practice of late, I was not prepared at all. #ugh #storyofmylife
We went out to Kohl’s in the morning to get some coordinating clothes, mainly plaid shirts and a dress for me to wear. Of course, I couldn’t find anything to wear. I don’t mean I couldn’t find anything that I liked since I basically LOVE all of Lauren Conrad’s current line. I mean, I couldn’t find anything I wanted to wear for the photos. Of course!!! So mini meltdown later, I rushed out to Gap Factory Store and Old Navy after lunch and threw together a $6 white tank top, with a $12 (originally $45!) sweater, some jean capris and sperry’s. And wished I had a Xanax.
Thankfully, the photo session was fun since I was a ball of nerves. The location was amazing with shafts of golden light shining through the trees. The leaves were a lovely mix of greens, oranges, and yellows above us and below our feet. Our photographer was great with setting up shots and getting us to joke around when deep down I wanted to throw up from nerves and just the thought of how corny all of it was. I went to college and worked with Danielle years ago so it definitely helped keep me semi calm as we recounted the worse boss in the history of bosses. Plus, we got to talk about our babies as her daughter is just 2 weeks older than Autumn. Besides Danielle’s wedding and engagement photography she also takes newborn and baby photos so incorporating Autumn into our photos was really easy. I’m looking forward to getting our photos in a few weeks. I’ll be sure to share them when I get them 🙂
Anyway, these bars are so delightful! They are the perfect combination of flavors. I think peanut butter and banana are best friends, better than peanut butter and jelly. Yep, I said it!!! Jelly is great but too sweet at times, and you can’t dip jelly into a jar of peanut butter, like how you can with a banana… wait, you don’t do that? Err, me neither…
These Peanut Butter Banana Bars are one of the best ways to use up past their prime bananas. I swear we always have past their prime bananas. I’d assume I should buy less bananas but when I do it’s the week Autumn has decided she wants 2x as many as usual and then I need to get more anyway. It’s like that when we buy milk… if I buy a 1/2 gallon for a month and we run out every week I’ll then buy a gallon and we will only drink a glass before it goes bad. #thestruggle
I loved the texture of these bars that the banana and the oats give it. The oats make it feel like fall. I[‘m sure that doesn’t make any sense but it totally feels like a fall treat. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it all throughout the year but if you have it I’m sure you’ll think “Man, I gotta make these again this fall.”
Seriously, this frosting.
You can skip the frosting but then we wouldn’t be friends as the frosting adds to much to the bars to enhance the flavors and texture. I just love biting into the bar and getting my teeth through the frosting first before getting to the fluffy bar. Plus, frosting always wins.
Makes 16 servings
Ingredients
For the Bars
For the Frosting
Process
Bars Sourced from Bake or Break, frosting from I am a Honey Bee
You guys, Labor Day is just a few days away. I can’t even…
How is the unofficial end of summer here already? It’s like a slap to the face I tell you! I just don’t want to believe that the days are getting shorter (you know what I mean), it’s already getting cooler in the mornings, and before I know it I’ll be muttering swears under my breathe as I shovel snow off the walkway in front of our house. Or my favorite, mop up melted snow water that sneaks away from the mat at the front door in hopes that the bamboo floors don’t get water damage there. Seriously, thanks previous owner- it was super smart to put a sensitive wood right at the door in a climate where is snows for like 8 months of the year. dumb. And that’s just the beginning of the crap they didn’t or did do.
Since September is just about here I am making this ‘The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford Pie’ because it’s Price’s favorite pie and his birthday is coming. So let’s pretend this is an early birthday pie. Or is it a late birthday dessert since I never made him the German Chocolate Cake brownies that I owe him for his 2013 birthday. I am the worst.
Speaking of being the worst, I can barely remember to do my time sheet every week before the system closes on Saturday at midnight. And yes we get reminder emails that I just delete because I’m dumb. That means I have to do it manually in excel on Monday mornings, which is bad because it creates more work for a coworkers as he then needs to enter it in the system in some sort of back way sort of way. And when I said Monday mornings I really meant Wednesday morning, which is exactly what happened this week since I was traveling on Tuesday… ugh. how am I not fired yet? So I bought him a breakfast burrito and left a note at his desk asking him not to hate me. Hello, tangent…
Anyway, this pie is great. I had never heard of it before Price asked for it years ago. I did manage to make it for him in a somewhat of a timely manner then. ha! So you should do yourself a favor and make this asap since it’s the bee’s knees.
It’s super quick to make since it uses the good stuff like Cool Whip and instant pudding mix, however it takes several hours to set up. Sooooo plan accordingly. And be sure to tell people that you are not make it for right just now. My mom is visiting and was kinda disappointed to learn that she would have to wait for it. So she just stole some of the cream cheese & Cool Whip layer and went back to watching TV and reading. #multitasking
The first piece kinda has to be scarified since it just doesn’t come out of the pan that nicely so that is the one you get to set aside for a midnight snack. Or you can eat it for breakfast, like what Price did. Now that is not the worst.
Ingredients
Process
Sourced from All Recipes
Hey today is my payday!
Woohoo! Time to pay some bills! Ugh.
Well, it’s your payday as well. I created a PayDay Pie just for you.
Price really likes PayDay bars. I do not. There is no chocolate. So I insist they are a waste of a candy bar. He can eat all the PayDay bars he wants out of Autumn’s Halloween bag when she is still of the age that we get first pass at the goodies. I’ll take the Snickers Thank.You.Very.Much.
So here is a simple pie that you can whip up while trying to pack for a long weekend. Take cans out of the slow cooker – pack bathing suits & sunblock & a hat Autumn will refuse to wear – process the cookies to make the crust – did I pack socks already? – pulse the melted butter into the crumbs – ah, yes, I did pack socks -create the crust and put it into the fridge- wipe down the counters and load the dishwasher – whip together the caramel and cream cheese – pack up the dogs stuff – fill the pie.
While the caramel is super easy to make just be aware you can still burn it. Well, at least over cook it. Just be aware of how your slow cooker runs and you should be set. If your slow cooker is on the low side then cook the caramel for 8-10 hrs. Or if it runs hotter, like mine, then stick closer to the 6-8 hrs.
The cream cheese helps cut some of the sweetness from the caramel, and makes it extra dreamy & creamy. If you want add some vanilla extract. I just believe it can never hurt.
Just like it can never hurt to have a big glass of wine while sitting under a tree. I’ll totally be doing that this weekend while we visit Price’s mom in Maine. And of course trying to keep a hat on Autumn’s head since she hates them. HATES.
But you won’t hate this pie. Nope, not one bit.
Makes a 9″ pie
Ingredients
Process
Process for creating the pie filling was adapted from Beantown Baker