Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

After seeing Bakerella's Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies, I have been wanting to make them. She makes something so easy look so good. So to accompany my chocolate cupcakes, I decided to make the sandwich cookies.

To make the cookies combine a red velvet cake mix (I used Duncan Hines), 2 eggs and one stick of butter. Make one inch balls and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Once cooled place a dab of cream cheese frosting between two cookies.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pkg cream cheese

1 stick of butter

1 pound of powdered sugar

tsp of vanilla

Cream together cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar.

Cupcake Ministry

A dear lady that I work with lost her husband so a group of ladies at work are pitching in and sending her some food. Because I love to bake I volunteered to bring sweets. My husband and I spent the weekend out of town so when we got home last night I whipped up a batch of these chocolate cupcakes. Because I was short on time I just used a Betty Crocker devil's food cake mix and some buttercream icing. I couldn't find my pastries bags so I just used a large ziplock bag with a corner snipped off to decorate the tops of the cupcakes.

Superbowl Cookies

After two years of marriage and three years of dating, you would think that I would know most of my husband's favorite foods. But over Christmas, the husband informed me that he loves Pumpkin bars and adores Crinkle Cookies. So tonight's Superbowl party seemed like a good time to test these crinkle cookies.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar


Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. This makes a lot of cookies. I made twenty cookies and froze the rest of the dough for later.

Cookie Ministry

I had a friend at work that lost a loved one and I wanted to show her that I was thinking about her and her family. She had family coming in from out of state so I thought some cookies would help her out. I love making sugar cookies! My favorite sugar cookie recipe includes cream cheese.

Sugar Cookies

1 pkg.Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2-1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Cream your cream cheese, butter and sugar. Add baking soda and vanilla and gradually beat in flour until the dough starts to form. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. It is very important that you do not overbake these cookies because they will become tough. Mine usually don't even have a brown edge when I take them out. Once they cool, they will keep their shape and become durable for packaging.

*I have used fat free cream cheese and they worked perfectly.

Once the cookies were cooled I iced them with pink buttercream icing and topped with chocolate sprinkles. The cookies were greatly appreciated!

Practice Run-Spinach & Mushroom Quiche

I have been asked to make quiche for a baby shower on Wednesday so when I woke up an hour early this morning, I decided it would be a good day to practice. I've never made quiche so I started with a basic mushroom and spinach recipe.

Spinach & Mushroom Quiche

1 pkg of frozen spinach
1/2 c. canned mushrooms
1/4 c. green onions
1/2 c. skimmed milk
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/4 c. mozzerella cheese
salt & pepper to taste
2 eggs

Sautee mushrooms and onions and add to egg and milk mixture. Salt & pepper to taste and add cheese. I used pre-made puff pastry for the shells and this recipe made 24 mini quiche with a little extra left. The husband was pleasantly suprised when he woke up to breakfast and we took the rest to our Sunday School class this morning.

I believe this recipe is a keeper and Wednesday I am going to try ham & cheese as well.

Golden Anniversary

This weekend, my family and I were able to celebrate my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. Because I am the family cake decorator, I took care of the cake. Although it wasn't exactly what I had planned, everyone seemed pleased with the results. I used brown royal icing, a damask stencil and golden luster dust to achieve the side design. I need a little more practice with the stencil, but overall I was pleased with the results.

My grandparents are a wonderful example of marriage. I feel blessed to be able to be a part of their lives. I am glad we were able to give them a special day to celebrate. Happy Anniversary Grammy & Pa!

The beginning...

I have been sneaking around the blogging community for some time now. I have fallen in love with not only weight loss blogs but cooking blogs as well. So when I decided to dive into the world of blogging myself, I kind of wanted to incorporate the two. In August of 2007 I joined Weight Watchers and in eight short months I was able to lose 35 pounds. That was no small feat considering my love for cooking and baking. I love to entertain and try new recipes. I have decorated cakes since I was 16 so there were always temptations at hand. So after a year of maintenance, I am working on losing that last ten pounds, juggling my crazy busy life, being the best wife I can and exploring new, healthy and fun recipes. Let the fun begin....