Friend in need!

It's 12:30 in the morning and my best friend is in hysterics! Her and her boyfriend (of 3 years) just broke up and she desperately needed someone to talk to. The second we hung up I knew that I needed to make my dear friend Annmarie a "Hate Your Boyfriend" dessert. I immediately started looking around for a recipe. I knew I wanted to make something chocolaty, because chocolate is definitely recommended in relieving the pain of a broken heart, but I didn't know what kind of chocolate item I wanted to make...until I saw it!

This glorious masterpiece came is thanks in part to Peabody and it's called "Chocolate Crunch Slice". This is the richest, most decadent "get over your boyfriend" piece of chocolate you will ever have! It's basically melted chocolate, cream, butter and Oreos! How easy is that? And since I wanted to show my compassion for my totally amazing friend I decided to put my chocolate slice in some Hesrhey Kisses molds that I've had lying around in my cupboard. These Kisses will totally knock your socks off! Peabody's recipe called for dark chocolate but I used milk chocolate, and they were still very, very rich, but oh so satisfying. (Eating these are great post break up or pre-period, but not recommended before a dentist appointment :0) ). And they're such a cinch to make, how could you not want to try them?

In giving this to my friend, I just wanted her to know how much I care about her and that she truly deserves the most scrumptious kisses everyday, so forget the dumbie that let her go and look forward to the real Mr. Right, because I know he's out there for her! So to all those girls out there looking for love, don't give up...have a kiss!

Oh my god!!

"Uum...Steph...look who it is! I think that's Bobby Flay" was the only thing my mom had to say while in Chelsea Market in NYC. And you know what...she was right!! I turned around and my mouth dropped, standing right there in front of me was Bobby Flay, a man who I watch almost on a daily basis on the Food Network. I felt like such a retard, because there I was just starting at him, as he slowly walked by me. My stare must have been recognizable, because he quickly caught on to my gawking and came over to say hi. I has no idea what to do at this point, and suddenly the only thing that came out of my mouth was, "I watch you everyday! Can I take a picture with you!!!" I know, pitiful. Typical celebrity awe that makes you say the dumbest things EVER! Not to mention that it had been snowing and raining that day, so my hair was all crapped out!!! But he kindly and luckily said yes to our photo moment! Just wish I could've talked him into letting me go up to the Food Network Kitchens with him.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Bloggers! It's hard to believe that we have headed into the year of 2008! It seems like just yesterday I was a young fifteen year old, begging my parents to let me go out with my friends to celebrate the new millennium, and now here I am, eight years later wondering where time went!

Oh, well no time to dwell on what was...because I've got a lot planned for this upcoming year. After searching through many different options of "what to be when i grow up", I think I have finally decided! My plan is to go back to school in the fall and get my Master's in Education and become a High School English teacher. Which I am so excited about!

But don't get scared! I of course will need sweet treats to get me through my time back at school, so I have also resolved to bake and blog more than I currently do. I am a frequent guest to Peabody's blog and am so jealous of here seemingly weekly posting of outrageous baked goods. So I have decided, with Peabody as my role model, to be more adventurous in my baking and blog more than twice a month :)

With that being said I wanted to share with you my special New Year's Eve treats. The first is a recipe that I found on BettyCrocker.com, which uses a packaged chocolate chip cookie dough mix. These goodies are known as Luscious Layer Bars and will totally knock your socks off!



The chocolate chip cookies are the base to the butterscotch, chocolate, coconut, pecan, white chocolate topping. Similar to Seven Layer Bars, these bars are so moist and gooey, and full of sweet, sweet flavor! When I took these bad boys out of the oven I just couldn't resist, I got a spoon and dug out the corner, revealing a melty, oozy, warmly soft morsel, which I immediately devoured!


These second little gooey I made was a mini cheesecake which I found on the Pillsbury Website. (who has time, with drinking and staying up late, to actually make recipes from scratch!) These scrumptious cheesecakes are called Black Forest Cheesecake Desert Cups, which are so easy to make.


My favorite part of the recipe is that the base of the cheesecake is actually packaged brownie mix. I'm a huge brownie fan, so I was very very satisfied when I saw that on the recipe list. The brownie is then topped with a creamy chocolate cheesecake, and covered with cherry pie filling!
Need I say more?


All it takes is one bite of this cheesecake to turn your world upside down!! Happy New Year everybody and may 2008 be the best year yet!!

Holiday Hangover!

I feel awful for leaving the blogging world hanging, but with the holidays, and my trip to New York City I was left with no time for blogging, but I'm back and ready to blog, blog, blog!

I know we're well past Christmas, but I had to post this beautiful cake I made. It's an Eggnog Layer Cake that melted my heart! I'm usually not a big fan of eggnog, but I decided to give this recipe a whirl and thank goodness I did! I have never had a moister cake in my life, thanks to whole cup of eggnog that gets mixed into the batter :) The cake is also lightened by beating egg whites and gently folding them into the cake batter.



This was also one of my most successful attempts with a butter cream frosting, usually my butter kinda curdles up, but not this time. The frosting was so smooth and creamy that it brought tears to my eyes.



And with the cake being so light and not overbearing, I unfortunately ate way more cake than necessary, but I guess that was the holidays are all about! Sorry to post this so late in the holiday season, but if you're looking for a great cake, with a unique flavor this Eggnog Layer Cake from Holiday Baking is just the thing!

Ovens ding, are you listen'?

Lots of things in the kitchen
A beautiful sight
And goodies to delight
Walking in a baking wonderland

With the leaves completely off the trees and the continuous overcast, it can only mean one thing...CHRISTMAS!! And with Christmas, and the holiday season comes lots and lots of baking. My holiday baking list this month is outrageous. There are so many recipes and goodies that I want to make that I don't even know where to begin. The good thing is that it doesn't really matter where I start, because every thing is so scrumptious that there is NO disappointment!

Starting with tradition, we always have to have chocolate chip cookies on hand. And what better way to kick off holiday baking than with a batch of warm melty chocolate chip cookies? While I was at the store buying my baking ingredients I happened along these festive chocolate chips and knew I had to have them. They were the perfect addition to my cookies!

Another tradition in my family is Peanut Butter Balls. I don't know when this tradition started but I remember as a little girl helping my mom in the kitchen make these devilish little treats. I used to eat handfuls of them...which thanks to my slowing metabolism, I can't do anymore...but a few little Peanut Butter Balls won't hurt :) Made with crunchy peanut butter and rice krispie treats, these yummies have just the right amount of crunch to them, and then are topped with a smooth milky layer of chocolate!! The last tradition in our family is chocolate covered pretzels, hey, what can I say we like our chocolate!!! And these pretzels need no explanation. Sweet, salty and crunchy, the perfect combo.

Sugar cookies are something that definitely remind me of Christmas, and I think these cutie pies are sure to become a tradition. I wanted to do Snowmen and Snowflakes for everybody to enjoy, so that people from all religious backgrounds could share in eating my little winter buddies. I remember that sugar cookies used to be so daunting for me to make, but they are quickly getting easier and easier to make. I almost feel bad eating the heads off my little snowmen, but with their light crispy texture and sweet icing who can resist? I also decided that these wintery friends needed to participate in Food Blogga's "Eat Christmas Cookies" extravaganza, here's the link for anyone interested http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/

Ginger, ginger, ginger...what is the holiday season without a little ginger? I'm a little tired of the traditional gingerbread men though, so I thought I'd make a fabulous Ginger Cookie. And fabulous it was! This cookie had just the right amount of spice and a little kick right at the end, thanks to a tiny bit of cracked black pepper mixed into the dough. To me, the perfect cookie has a crisp edge, but a moist, chewy center, and this was exactly the texture of my Ginger Cookies. I could literally eat a dozen of these warmly spiced cookies!

A new cake that I wanted to try this year was Chocolate Peppermint Cake, and boy am I glad I did. I took a basic chocolate cake recipe and kicked it up a few notches with a splash of peppermint extract. And let me tell you, the house smelled sooo good and festive that I almost turned into Mrs. Claus herself :) To top of my deliciously moist chocolate cake I made a simply vanilla buttercream, adding a tiny bit a peppermint extract and a splash of peppermint schnapps, I could've ate the frosting by itself, it was that good!!! The peppermint flavoring of the frosting matched perfectly with the chocolate cake, and neither one was overbearing, so it was a success! And to give my cake a little holiday decor I crushed up some candy canes and covered the sides of this to die for holiday cake!

Last but definitely not least is my two different brownies. The first batch was just good ole fashioned chocolate brownies with pecans. Perfect for any chocolate lover, these little babies get extra chocolaty with the addition of chocolate chips. Hey, I told you already, I like my chocolate!! I only wish I had some peppermint ice cream to scoop onto these decadent brownies! And while I can't get enough of these brownies, I must say that my White Chocolate Blondies have to be one of my all time favorite brownies! Full of White Chocolate, Butterscotch Chips and Pecans these blondies will leave you speechless. I had to pry myself away from the tray :( The secret to making my blondies moist is the addition of coconut, which you can't taste at all, but lends a great texture to the blondies. And here to display my treats is my buddy Ginga, who helped me out a lot in the kitchen these last few days! If it weren't for him I would have burned oven hands :) Thanks Ginga, I love you!

Well there you have it bloggers, the beginnings to my holiday baking. Stay tuned for more festive treats, and may you have a wonderful and happy holiday!!