Sugar Cookie Truffles

Posted on March 6, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Hey Sweetie! Yes, you. I’m speaking to you. Proudly serving, Sugar Cookie Truffles!

Petite, bite-sized balls of sugar cookie perfection. Seriously 🙂

I love those soft sugar cookies you buy at the store in a plastic container that have fluffy frosting on them. I can eat a whole container of them if I’m left alone. So no wonder I absolutely adore these truffles made from baked sugar cookies!

So check them out. You just may ~~will~~ fall in love too 🙂

Plus, they are super duper easy to make since you used refrigerated sugar cookie dough!

Bake sugar cookies as instructed on the package. Stir in cream cheese and form in to small balls.

Roll the balls out in your hands until smooth and place on waxed paper lined baking sheet.

Melt the white chocolate coating and then dip the balls to coat fully. Sprinkle with colorful decorations.

Sugar Cookie Truffles

1 16 oz. package of sugar cookie dough

2 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

White chocolate for melting and dipping.

Colorful sprinkles for decorating

Bake sugar cookies as instructed on the package. Cool cookies completely. Place cookies in a food processor and pulse until cookies are all crumbled up. Add in cream cheese and thoroughly mix. Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 min.

Form small balls with cookie scoop and roll around in your hands to fully form a smooth ball. Place on waxed paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate sheet of balls for 30 min.

Melt white chocolate. (I used the stovetop). Dip each ball in white chocolate, coating fully and place back on wax paper lined sheet. Sprinkle on the decorations after each one, before the chocolate hardens.

Allow to harden and then serve. Enjoy! Store in refrigerator.

Original recipe found here.

Sweet and rick sugar cookie goodness!

Don’t you wanna take a bite ~~or two, three,~~ out of that!!!

Such a soft and creamy center!

And I’ve got a tray full to share with all my co-workers. Aren’t they the lucky ones?! Ha!

They look like a bunch of Easter eggs!

That’s right. Sugar Cookie Truffles, YUM! Yum is an understatement.

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Are you a sugar cookie lover?

Do you prefer yours baked soft or hard?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Dessert, Sugar cookie, Truffle | 48 Comments

Rainbow Bright Be Gone

Posted on March 2, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

You know what sucks? ~~(Sorry for being so blunt.)~~

It sucks that I have 81 scrub tops and pants that I am no longer allowed to wear to work. ~~(Yes I did really count them.)~~

As of today, all RN’s at the hospital I work at have to wear navy blue pants and navy blue or white scrub tops. I have never had a dress code before in all 13 years of my nursing career. Never. I have been allowed to wear my rainbow assortment of tops and pants at will. In fact, I’ve kind of been know as the colorful one at work. You know the girl who always matches her top to her pants to her shoes to her watch to her earrings to her socks etc. You get the point. I had individuality! Coworkers, patients and families always commented on my “look.” And I thought my bright colors somewhat had an affect on the patients as to cheer them up. You know how bright colors are cheerful. But somewhere up in the hierarchy of hospital administration they have chosen to make everyone go buy new uniforms and adhere to a dress code.

Navy blue is not even close to being one of my favorite colors-blek 😦

White tops are not friendly as you can see thru any piece of white material. Undershirts are a must.

I need to borrow a BEDAZZLER, anyone have one?

I need to funk up my navy blue uniforms with some pizzazz. Any ideas?

No fear though, because as of now we can still wear any shoe color that we want. And I have many banging bright shoes to wear that will add a lil touch of color to my uniforms! Still happy about that.

So this array of colorful uniforms that I own will be put away for the time being. Bye bye beautiful brights.

The rainbow of scrubs collection of mine. Rainbow be gone. Rainbow be boxed up and put away until I get another job someday.

The row of soles. I clearly like to see all my options at once. It’s easier that way.

I just love all my colorful tennis shoes! They are bright, they stand out and I like it.

Shoes, shoes and more tennis shoes. More colors, more styles, more soles.

To say I have enough shoes is an understatement. I have way more than I need. But you know, I girl’s gotta have CHOICES! And these are just my tennis shoes. You don’t want to see the rest of my collection.

More fun sneakers! I told you have them in just about every color!

More shoes. Yep, I’ve ran 4 half marathons in those New Balance shoes on the right hand side. Can’t tell can ya? I should gold plate them.

Yep, I’m mad about the whole switching from whatever we want to wear to being told I must wear navy blue and white scrubs.

I own nothing navy blue (except jeans). I mean nothing. I don’t wear this color. And now I am told I have to. What happened to letting us have our own individuality and style while at work. I have enough blue and white scrubs now to last me forever. But I would be willing to give them up anytime to have my beloved bright and colorful uniforms back. Now every single one of us nurses look alike. My patients used to be able to say “my nurse is the one in the orange” or yellow or whatever I was wearing that day. But now they are supposed to know who their nurse is because we are all wearing the same color?

The material of the Grey’s Anatomy scrubs is so soft, like wearing flannel pj’s to work! And since I work in a cardiac unit, I love the heart rhythm stitching along the neckline of this top.

Love this top with the ruffles! Even the cap sleeves are ruffled 🙂

This navy blue top has a rounded neck and ruching along the shoulders. Minor details to spark up a ho-hum navy top.

I also bought some white scrub tops to wear with my navy blue pants. We can wear white or navy on top. This white top has a square neck and the material is patterned, making it not so boring!

The detail along this rounded neckline is different. It adds a little spice to an ordinary white scrub top.

I think the embroidery in this white top is pretty, plus the neckline is something other than the traditional uniform v-neck.

And this white top with lace detail. I hope it doesn’t “age” me and make me look like a grandma though.

I love animal prints. You know that. You’ve seen the background on my blog. I’m loving this leopard white top (of course I will wear something underneath it as it is burnout).

So along with my navy blue and white uniforms I can and will continue to wear all of my colorful tennis shoes. Orange, yellow, pink, purple, green, red and black will still be seen skating around the hallways of the hospital. I say skating because most days I feel like I have roller skates on because I am walking so fast from here to there and back taking care of my patients. I need to wear a pedometer. I am sure you all would be surprised to see how many miles I walk in a day at work!

Me and bright colors get along really well and for now, that cannot be changed!

To see more of how I love the color orange click here.

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Do you have to wear a uniform to work?

Do you wish you had to wear a uniform to work so you wouldn’t spend so much time obsessing about what to wear and spend a lot of $ on dressy work clothes?

Posted in Fabulousity | Tagged nurse, shoes | 41 Comments

Wake Me Up Breakfast Cups

Posted on February 27, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

This meal-in-a-pan breakfast is great for busy mornings!

And really, you could eat these on-the-go, with your hands! No silverware required. Your dishwasher is smiling:)

The name of these cups reminds me of Wham’s song from the 80’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”.

Aren’t you singing that song in your head now?! Your welcome.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In fact, it may be the most delicious too!

Don’t you just love breakfast and think about it when you go to bed at night?!

What you will need~

Whisking the eggs up~

Go go green onion~

The mix: southwest hash browns, turkey sausage, green onions and feta cheese~

Beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper together and then pour evenly over the 6 hash brown base cups~

Wake Me Up Breakfast Cups

2 cups. shredded hash browns thawed (I used southwest hash browns)
3/4 cup turkey sausage cooked (I used Morningstar Farms brand, pre-cooked)
1/2 c. feta cheese (I used fat-free)
1/4 c. chopped onion (I used green onions)
3 eggs
1/3 c. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 6 large muffin pan spots with nonstick cooking spray.

Divide hash browns out in to muffin cups. Sprinkle with turkey sausage, onions and feta cheese. Give each cup a little stir to mix.

In medium bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper together. Pour evenly over the 6 hash brown bases.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden and set in the center. Makes 6 breakfast cups.

If you have any leftover veggies, you could also add those in the mix, just may need to make more than 6.

Enjoy~!

I love the crisped brown edges of this breakfast cup!

Love the savory flavor of hash browns, eggs, onions and turkey sausage!

You could even make a batch of these, refrigerate them and when you need a quick breakfast during the week, these lil things can be grab-and-go. Just pop in the microwave to warm up, grab and go!

If I were you, I’d definitely get out of bed for these breakfast cups, totally worth it!

So go make these. You DO NOT even need a fork to eat, just your fingers!

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What is your favorite meal of the day: Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner?

Do you say Dinner or Supper and why?

Do you ever combine meals and have Brunch or Linner?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged breakfast, eggs | 47 Comments

P+S, I Love You

Posted on February 25, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

PASTA and SPINACH, I Love You!

I love pasta. I love sauce on my pasta. And I love spinach in my pasta sauce. Spinach is so versatile. Who knew.

This is a great change from the usual red tomato sauce. A creamy blend of garlic, spinach and ricotta, that is easy to make, tasty and filling!

This dish is perfect for a quick evening meal. I think it may have taken me 10-15 minutes to make this. Perfect for my growling tummy.

I used the Southwestern Blend of Pappardelle’s pasta. It included the flavors of blue corn, red southwestern chile, green jalapeno and yellow maize. I got this at our local farmers marker this past fall. Plus some fresh spinach, parsley, ricotta and minced garlic.

I sautéed the spinach in a drizzle of olive oil stove top.

And then I added in the minced garlic, ricotta and some skim milk to make a sauce for my steaming hot pasta~

Add the sauce to the pasta and VOILA!

P+S, I Love You Pasta Sauce

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup ricotta cheese (I used low-fat)

1 tsp. Olive Oil

2 tsp. minced garlic (I used dried minced garlic)

2 Tbsp. milk

Garlic salt and black pepper, optional

Sautee spinach stove top in the olive oil over medium heat until slightly wilted. Add in the garlic, ricotta and milk. Stir and heat thoroughly. Serve over the pasta shape of your choice. You made add in onion salt and pepper to the sauce if you desire.

Then you top it with loads of parmesan cheese and a side of garlic bread~

G, double O, D – GOOD!!!

This was a delicious dinner in The Scene From Me household. Two thumbs up! Well 4, really.

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Do you like flavored pasta like I had here?

I’ve heard there is chocolate pasta. Has anyone ever tried that?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged dinner, Pasta | 55 Comments

Grape Nut Cookies

Posted on February 23, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Recently I bought a box of Grape-Nuts cereal. Well, I actually bought the store brand called Nutty Nuggets, but so what.

I bought them so I could make this lemon pudding cake. And I still had a lot left. So I wanted to make something else with the Grape-Nuts I still had.

Enter in Grape-Nut cookies! Ta-dah!

Grape-Nuts have a naturally sweet nutty whole grain flavor and doesn’t that sound like it would be good in a cookie?

Score! These cookies are great, especially warm out of the oven when they are really soft. I won’t tell you how many I ate like that 🙂

For substitutions in the recipe below, I used whole wheat flour, Spenda sugar blend and Splenda brown sugar blend.

I recently started using this cookie scoop that’s been in my utinsel drawer for years and I love it.

Why did I not use this before? It makes scooping out cookies so easy.

Grape-Nut Cookies

1/2 c. softened butter
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. honey
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 c. rolled oats
1 c. flour
1 c. Grape-Nuts cereal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add in honey, eggs and vanilla; mix well.

Add baking soda, salt, rolled oats, flour and Grape-Nuts. Combine until just mixed.

Drop rounded tablespoons full of dough, 2 inches apart onto lined or greased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool 2-3 minutes; remove from baking sheets. Cool completely on wire racks.

Enjoy~

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies. Recipe from POST.

~~When I made this recipe I halved it. And I used Splenda blend for brown sugar and white sugar. They turned out delicious as you can see!~~

Perfectly browned on the bottom Grape-Nut cookies!

Chewy and nutty. Full of flavor!

Whole wheat and barley, crunchy and chewy, vanilla kissed cookies for your mouth’s pleasure!

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Do you have a favorite cookie recipe that includes cereal?

What’s your favorite breakfast cereal? Or are there too many to list?!

One of my favorite cereals is Kashi GoLean Crisp Toasted Berry Crumble.

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Cookie, Grape Nuts | 33 Comments

Doughnut Style French Toast

Posted on February 20, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Doughnuts. We all know I love doughnuts from this post. I really love donuts/doughnuts ~~whatever~~.

I love bread and pastries in general, ~~carbaholic~~. So it’s no surprise that I love french toast too 🙂

Wake up and get a whiff of this recipe! Doughnut style french toast!

Eggy bread with cinnamon and vanilla and then drenched in cinnamon and sugar!

A traditional breakfast food, but I say you can eat this any time of the day!

Beat two eggs with vanilla in a wide shallow dish. Cut your bread in half and soak it in the eggy mixture.

Heat the butter and oil in a skillet and cook the eggy bread until golden on both sides.

Mmm, can’t you smell it now!

So you are asking what makes this french toast light a doughnut?

Well after it’s done browning in the skillet you completely cover the pieces in cinnamon and sugar, just like a cinnamon and sugar coated doughnut!

Doughnut Style French Toast

2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 slices of wheat bread, cut in half
1/2 Tbsp. butter, plus a drop of oil, for cooking
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla in a wide shallow bowl or tupperware.

Soak the bread halves in the eggy mixture for 5 minutes a side.

Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan/skillet, cook the egg-soaked bread until golden and browned in parts on both sides.

Put the cinnamon and sugar into a tupperware (big enough for the bread slices) and mix. Add the pieces of french toast one at a time and completely coat the cooked bread until coated like a sugared doughnut!

Serve warm. May drizzle with syrup.

I changed the recipe up from this original one.

SWEET GOODNESS!

Drizzle with a little syrup and VOILA! A party in my mouth!

This would also be great made with cinnamon bread!~

Do you think I ate the last bite? ~~Are you crazy?!~~

A very decadent way of making a traditional breakfast dish~ I’ll definitely be making this again soon~

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Do you ever branch out and make things like this for breakfast?

What is one of your breakfast indulgences?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged breakfast, Donut, Doughnut, french toast | 45 Comments

Baked Tortilla Chips-n-Hummus~Snack Time

Posted on February 18, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Here’s how the story goes…

One fine, rare day I was allowed to go home from work early. By early, I mean 3 hours early. When you work 12 hour shift, that’s a big deal! It took me twice as long to get home with all the new fallen fresh snow, but that’s besides the point.

I got home mid to late afternoon and I was hungry. I knew I had a fresh container of hummus in the fridge, I just needed something to dip in to it.

Bam! In comes the idea to bake some tortilla shells into crispy tortilla chips.

I cut up these Ole high fiber wheat tortillas into small bite-size wedges~

I baked the tortillas in a 350 degree oven for between 20-25 minutes until lightly browned~

Bite-sized wedges for easy eat-ability!

The warm crispness of wheat tortilla chips = so good!

I love this versatile and bold flavor of hummus~

Though I am eating it in the most common way, as a dip, there are so many other ways to eat hummus~

I can’t wait to try it as a salad topper~

Yummy red pepper hummus and crispy baked tortilla chips!

I’ve got some chips leftover and perhaps I need to make more of this Santa Salsa to dip them in!

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Have you ever roasted chickpeas? I did and they were so scrumptious!

See the recipe here for Crisped Parmesan Chickpeas.

What is one of your favorite savory snacks?

Have you ever tried pizza flavored hummus? It is so good!

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged baked tortilla chips, Hummus | 38 Comments

Grape Nut Pudding ~ With A Twist Of Lemon

Posted on February 16, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Do you like Grape Nuts cereal? I love cereal, all kinds, Grape Nuts being one of them.

Have you ever baked with Grape Nuts?

A delicious blend of whole wheat and barley, 100% natural. Plus packed with tons of fiber.

This pudding cake is enjoyed in my family by 3 generations. My Grandma started making this dessert years ago and while I do not have her recipe, I’ve tried to find one similar.

I love this pudding cake straight out of the oven when it’s warm and saucy on the bottom. However it is good out of the fridge the next day too.

Let the lemon pudding cake baking bonanza begin!

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Ingredients. I used Splenda sugar blend and whole wheat flour as substitutions for regular sugar and flour.

The pudding mixture in one bowl and the egg white beaten in another bowl~

Beating the egg whites~

Beat the egg whites until light and fluffy~

The pudding cake is baked in a pan of hot water. I don’t know why!

And it comes out of the oven set and lightly browned on top~

The cake bakes in to two separate layers. A Grape Nut spiked cake on top and a lemony pudding layer on bottom~

Grape Nuts Pudding

1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
2 eggs, separated
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. Grape Nuts cereal
1 c. milk

Cream butter with sugar and lemon rind. Add egg yolks, beat until light and fluffy. Blend in lemon juice, flour, cereal and milk. Beat egg whites until they form peaks, fold into pudding mixture. Pour into greased 1 quart baking dish. Set dish in pan of hot water. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The baked pudding will have 2 layers. Serve warm or chilled.

Recipe from Cooks.com

I used Splenda sugar blend and whole wheat flour in mine.

Grape Nuts cake mounds with lemony pudding on top~

A warm, two layer pudding cake with creamy lemon sauce on the bottom~

If you think you will like this pudding, check out another luscious lemon pudding cake that I made here.

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When asked if you want lemon in your water, do you say yes or no?

If you could have a lemon tree in your back yard, would you?

Have you ever lightened your hair with lemon juice?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Cake, Grape Nuts, Lemon, Pudding | 44 Comments

Cupids Chocolate Lava Cakes

Posted on February 13, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

I heart chocolate. That is no lie. And I am sure most all of you can say the same thing 🙂 I mean it’s CHOCOLATE, come on!

For all you chocolate lovers out there, I present to you a heaping helping of chocolate bliss!

Fudgy filled chocolaty heart shaped cakes for you and your cupid 🙂

This chocolate lava cake is without a doubt irresistible.

The centers of these moist, delectable treats are oozing with sweetness.

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Heart shaped ramekins, dusted with granulated sugar~

Chocolate + butter = a fabulous start to lava cake batter~

Add the eggs and mix up the batter and pour into ramekins~

I baked these in little heart shaped ramekins and when they were removed, they had this heart imprinted on them!

Look at that moist, gooey and smooth center~

It is definitely mouth hug worthy!

Cupid’s Chocolate Lava Cakes

1/2 c. butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 c. confectioners sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
confectioners sugar for dusting after baking

Directions

Grease the bottom and sides of four 6-oz. ramekins; sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon sugar. Place ramekins on a baking sheet; set aside.
In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate; stir until smooth. Stir in confectioners’ sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, egg yolks, instant and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt; spoon batter into prepared ramekins.
Bake at 400° for about 12 minutes and cake sides are set and centers are soft.
Remove ramekins to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully run a small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert warm cakes onto serving plates. Lift ramekins off cakes. Serve warm. Yield: 4 servings.

Serve topped with whipped cream and dust with confectioners sugar if desired~

Enjoy~

XOXO~~Mouth hugs and kisses around this chocolate!

Once you dig in to this, you will find a soft and sweet surprise in the middle!

Nosh on that friends!

Don’t you want to give that bite a great big mouth hug?!

Tempting isn’t it 🙂 You’re welcome!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

And to the ones who discovered chocolate: Ever Grateful, Ever Thankful.

Are you ready to drench your mouth in chocolate?!

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What are you making for Valentine’s Day dessert?

Or is someone “else” making you dessert on Valentine’s Day?

Are you going out or staying in?

Friday night we went out to dinner with friends and had a wonderful meal. Saturday we went to see “Just Roll With It” with Adam Sandler and Jen Aniston. It was HILARIOUS! It was good to laugh that much 🙂 And tonight we have dinner reservations with 4 more friends to enjoy an Italian meal at a new restaurant we haven’t been to. Happy Valentine’s to you!

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Baking and Confections, chocolate, lava cakes | 56 Comments

Nutella Mallow Hearts

Posted on February 11, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Looking for that irresistible, sticky, gooey, melt in your mouth, can’t eat only one Rice Krispie treat recipe ? Here it is!

These Nutella Mallow treats will definitely tingle your taste buds with sweetness, crunch and decadence!

This recipe is for anyone who likes a variety of Rice Krispie treats, with a “SceneFromMe” twist!

A snap, krackle, pop treat! Sure to set your Valentine’s weekend off on a high note by sending your taste buds a craving!

Nutella – Rice Krispies (aka rice bubbles) – Marshmallows. A winning combination!

Nutella and Rice Krispies are good by themselves. Then you add in marshmallow and it makes them twice as good!

I wanted to use this heart shaped pan to make my Nutella Mallow’s heart shaped for Valentine’s Day!

And look at these fun new Hershey Drops! They are like big ole flattened Kisses with a candy shell, YUM!

What’s a girl to do with an empty Nutella container? I should have made OIAJ! I will just go buy some more!

I heart Nutella 🙂

Nutella Mallow Hearts

3/4 c. Nutella
3c. Rice Krispies
1 c. marshmallows
1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

In large microwaveable bowl, melt chocolate chips and Nutella. Stir in Rice Krispies. Allow to set for 15 min. to cool off. Then stir in marshmallows. Pour mixture in to 8×8 pan or shaped pans of your choice and allow to set before removing from pan to eat.

I added the Hershey milk chocolate drops to the top of the hearts I made. You could also add a mini marshmallow or Valentine candy of your choice.

Enjoy~

Take the plunge and dig in. Take a big bite, then another, then another. You won’t want to stop. Trust me.

Who doesn’t love Nutella. World Nutella day was 1 week ago and I saw many wonderful Nutella recipes plastered all over the blog world.

These are a new twist on the classic puffed rice cereal treats!

These are super easy treats that your whole family will love!

The possibilities with Rice Krispies and marshmallows are endless!

I know your mouth is talking to you right now. Your mouth, your belly, your brain is telling you to get in the kitchen and make these treats, ASAP! They ARE that good!

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! XOXO

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Are you celebrating Valentine’s Day this weekend or on Monday?

What are your Valentine’s Day celebration plans?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged marshmallow, Nutella | 55 Comments

Cherry Almond Angel Cupcakes For Your Valentine!

Posted on February 9, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

A’ight, stop whatcha doin’
‘Cause I’m about to ruin
The image and the style that ya used to.
I bake sweets,
But yo, I’m makin’ treats, see
So yo world I hope you’re ready for me.
Now gather ’round
I’m the new blogger in town
And my sites laid down by The Scene From Me.
So just let me introduce myself
My name is Amy, pronounced with a way-me.
Yo readers, oh how I like to please thee.

Aren’t you just singing Digital Undergrounds, The Humpty Dance, in your head right now? Your welcome 🙂

Thank you to Kristy for asking me to contribute to her Seven days of Sweets for your Sweetheart series! To see my guest post on Kristy’s blog Sweet Treats and More click here. She is doing Seven Days of Sweets for your Sweetheart leading up to Valentine’s Day and my recipe for Cherry Almond Angel Cupcakes was featured yesterday.

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Sometimes you just don’t need a whole big cake. Please allow me to introduce you to these indulgent looking angel food cupcakes filled with the flavors of cherry and almond 🙂

Cupcake liners make removing the cupcakes from the pan much easier! And I broke out my Kitchen Aid stand mixer for this duty. With the addition of cherry extract to the cupcakes and frosting, it adds a wonderful zing to their taste!

Add some fun and colorful sprinkles to the batter 🙂

Angel food cake mix, red food coloring and sprinkles. It worked well to use my cookie scoop to get the batter cleanly in to the cups. And with they come out of the oven, lightly browned on top = done!

Fat free frosting? Whoop whoop! Yes it is !

Sweet, creamy and fluffy!

With a little added cherry and almond extract, plus red food coloring, this is sure to please your tastebuds and have them begging for more!

I broke out my “fun gun” to add the swirly cherry icing to the top of the cupcakes!

Cherry Almond Angel Cupcakes

3/4 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup flour
5 large egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cherry extract
1 tsp. almond extract
2 Tbsp. colored sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350F. Place muffin cup liners in a muffin pan. In a small bowl, sift together cake flour and 1/4 cup superfine sugar.
In a large bowl, beat room-temperature egg whites until foamy, then add in cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add in the remaining 1/2 cup of superfine sugar while the mixer is on high speed, beating the egg whites to form stiff peaks. Blend in cherry and almond extracts.
Fold in flour mixture, adding it in two or three additions.
Divide evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full.
Bake for 16-18 minutes, until tops are golden brown and the cakes spring back when lightly touched.
Cool on a wire rack

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Fluffy Frosting

And to top these delightful cupcakes, I used Betty Crocker Homestyle Fluffy White Frosting Mix.

1 pkg. Fluffy White Frosting Mix
1/2 c. boiling water
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. cherry extract

Empty packet in to large mixing bowl with 1/2 c. boiling water and beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 5 to 7 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally, until stiff peaks form. Add in extracts and mix thoroughly.

Frost cooled cupcakes. Use colored sugar crystals to decorate along with almond slices and that all important cherry on top!

And I spiffed up the tops of these lil cupcakes with fat free frosting, almond slices, sugar crystals and a maraschino cherry!

Perfect. With a cherry on top! Gotta love that 🙂

These cupcakes look like lil sundaes with whipped cream and a cherry on top!

Hey Sweetie, XOXO, Gossip Girl.

Do you feel like you are in an ice cream store?

The icing and the cupcakes are fat free. Wow!

See the funfetti sprinkles I added in to the cake batter? Love sprinkles!

So light and fluffy, they aren’t as filling as other cakes. So yes, that does mean you can have 2 or 3 4 or 5 for your Valentine’s Day breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert!

I am sure your Valentine would feel extra special having this scrumptious light treat on their plate!

This recipe was featured on Makes & Takes Spotlight also. See here.

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Do you prefer to have a home cooked meal on Valentine’s Day or go out and have the restaurant do the work for you?

Do you make heart shaped food for your Valentine on Valentine’s Day?

I remember when I was first married I made my husband a heart shaped pizza and cut out the letters to form the words “I Love You” out of Velveeta cheese squares to top the pizza with. It was cute!

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Baking and Confections, cupcakes | 90 Comments

Where I Bake and Cook

Posted on February 6, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

So you’ve see the many delicious treats and meals that I’ve cranked out of my kitchen and now I thought it would be fun to show you where I do all that work at!

My kitchen! The heartbeat of the home!

My husband and I were lucky enough to be able to design and have our home built 3 years ago. It was a fun process to figure out how we wanted to design our kitchen, from the cabinet colors, granite colors, cabinet handles, drawer layout, crown molding, flooring, wall color, light fixtures and appliance selection. And I love the final result as to how it all came together. I had a vision and my vision of my kitchen worked out! I love the clean lines of it and the unclutteredness. I find it a very cheerful place to be!

The island cabinets are black and all the other cabinets are expresso color.

The granite on the island is silver and grey. The granite counters on the perimeter are black.

The sitting area in our kitchen~

The kitchen sink full of dirty dishes from my cooking spree last night for our poker party.

One of four utensil drawers. Thanks Mom for organizing it!

And for a look inside my pantry!!! Can you believe two people need this much food, geesh!

The can shelf in my pantry.

I love bright colors and I am not afraid of them. Hence why my whole kitchen is bright orange! Love it!

That textured glass door leads to the pantry which is full of shelving and can shelves too~

All of our upper cabinets have metal cabinet faces~ Love the modern look of it!

Love the sitting area in our kitchen. Afterall, it is where we hang out most of the time!!!

Our cabinets are really tall and go all the way to the ceiling. None of the top ones have anything in them, but it’s a great place to hide things!

Standing on the stairs looking in to the living room on the left and kitchen.

This stainless steel “eye” or “surfboard” is something I designed for our long island.

The “surfboard” atop our center kitchen island. I designed this because I wanted it to be a focal point on the island, a place to display things and food~

Hey there Journey! Once we got dogs, I had to cover up alot of my wood floors with rugs~

Breakfast nook~

I designed these bulkheads for the ceiling of our kitchen and sitting area and the insides of them are painted silver~

These block windows allow a lot of light in to the kitchen~My chalkboard picture from that I drew on and a picture of us with our friends tailgating at Bonge’s Tavern for our anniversary!

Love our stainless steel backsplash, and the picture of our friends with us in Jamaica!

I absolutely love my orange lights! I picked them out for a reason! Dreamsicle~

Love that I have a big peep hole from my kitchen in to the living room~

Notice the gates in these two pictures? They are for our pups, Journey & Ripley~

And that glass door leads to my walk-in pantry~

So that’s it. That was your tour of my kitchen! Hope you enjoyed it 🙂

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If you could design your dream kitchen, what is one thing you would put in it?

If you could paint the walls in your kitchen any color, what color would you choose?

I would love it if you had pictures of your kitchen to share with me!

What room/rooms of mine do you want to see next?

Posted in Fabulousity | Tagged Kitchen, Tour of Home | 165 Comments

It’s A Hot Cocoa Kind Of Day

Posted on February 5, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

I love hot cocoa on a blustery cold winter day! It is hot, it is chocolate and it is sweet. All the things I love 🙂

And it gets even better with these vanilla snowmen marshmallows on top!

I may or may not have melted one or two of those Hershey Kisses in my mug too!

French Vanilla Marshmallows, YUMMY!

The snowmen have wonderfully sweet vanilla scented airiness that makes them perfect for eating on their own too!

I have made my own marshmallows before. And they were really good! It was a sticky and gooey mess, but at least I did it and had good results. My mom got me this book all about homemade marshmallows and after I drooled all over the pages, I decided to try making my own. But first I had to buy a candy thermometer as I didn’t own one before.

Ta-da, the finished product. Puffed and lightweight, sweet and sugary, rich and wonderful.

I can’t promise you that I didn’t have the marshmallow all over my fingers. It was a good way for me to taste test anyway.

The flavors I made were vanilla marshmallow and then chocolate swirled marshmallows. They were delicious!

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What is your hot drink of choice; coffee, tea, or cocoa?

Do you like marshmallows and have you ever made your own?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged cocoa, marshmallows | 47 Comments

Friday’s Food For Thought and Toboggans

Posted on February 4, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Pomegranates.

The healthiest winter fruit.

Tired of apples and oranges?

Punch up your morning oats with pomegranate seeds!

Pomegranates are full of antioxidants, vitamin C and fiber!

And they add sweetness and some crunch to the typical boring bowl of oats.

This bowl was especially yummy!

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Have you ever had one of these Eggo Real Fruit Pizza’s?

My husband bought this for me at the grocery store. I wouldn’t have ever bought it for myself. It was one of those trips that he makes and comes home with a bunch of stuff that wasn’t on the grocery list.

Well, don’t bother ever buying one of these. After warming it up in the microwave as instructed, it was awful. Tasteless.

Just warning ya.

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And so today, with all my snow pants, thick socks, hand warmers, snow boots, “Cousin Eddy” hats, thermals and hot cocoa packed, I was suppossed to be heading out for a weekend at a state park lodge. I planned to go cross country skiing, snow shoeing, and riding this huge long toboggan sled with my family! But ICE-ZILLA came and due to the bad weather and road conditions we are not going to be making this drive. BUMMER!

(source)

The toboggan track is a quarter of a mile long and you can reach speeds up to 35-40mph while going down it!

I was so excited to be spending the days outside in chilly nature, traipsing through the snow and the nights defrosting by a warm fireplace sipping hot drinks at the Inn!

(source)

Yes, we were going to be taking the plunge and going down this refrigerated toboggan run! Feet first! But instead…we are all staying home, in the comforts of our own houses and hoping this snow and ice melts soon.

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Do you have a favorite winter destination?

Do you prefer a wood burning or gas fireplace?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged oatmeal, pomegranate, toboggan | 39 Comments

Luscious Lemon Pudding Cake Cups

Posted on February 2, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Is it pudding or is it cake?

It doesn’t matter.

What matters is the taste. And this tastes terrific, trust me 🙂

The batter separates during baking to create a light, fluffy, airy cake on top with a luscious, saucy, lemon pudding layer on bottom!

So much flavor in this yellow, oval shaped, citrus fruit~

Blend together the cake ingredients in one bowl and in the other bowl beat egg whites until fluffy. This is what give the cake layer it’s spongy texture~

Grate the lemon rind and squeeze the lemon for the fresh juice~

Bake in a pan of hot water till bronzed on top~

Lemon Pudding Cake Cups

1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg white

In a small bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In another small bowl, beat egg white until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into lemon mixture.
Pour into two ungreased 6-oz. ramekins or custard cups. Place in a shallow baking dish; add 1 in. of hot water to dish.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a thermometer reaches 170°. Allow to cool in water bath for 10 minutes before carefully removing cups to a wire rack. Serve warm or refrigerate.

Yield: 2 servings.

Recipe from Taste of Home’s Cooking for 2.

The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for more servings.

A self-saucing pudding cake!

Sweet. Sour. Tart.

Dive in with a spoon. Fluffy cake on top and creamy pudding on the bottom. Amazing how it cooks and the layers separate!

Luscious lemon pudding cake! PUCKER UP!

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There were lemon (and orange) trees at the resort in Scottsdale Arizona that we stayed at and I just wanted to pick them all!

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We are totally iced in. ICE-ZILLA and SNOW-ZILLA have arrived in full force and it’s been going on since Monday.

I took these pictures Tuesday morning after the first ice storm, and now, we have even more ice and snow.

When will spring ever arrive?

Dear Spring,

I miss you. I miss your warmth and sunshine. I miss being able to walk outside with you and not have my fingers and nose hairs freeze. I miss the times when my puppies aren’t afraid to step out the door. I miss the days when I can drive to the gym in my car with my sunglasses on and sunroof open. Not having to skate around the rink outside my home for exercise. I miss being able to see out the windows of my house, not having them completely iced over where everything out there is a blur. I miss the smell of grass and fresh flowers. Ice has no smell. I miss being able to put on flip flops to walk down the driveway to the mailbox. Not having to put on my husbands golf spikes to shuffle down the iced driveway to find the mailman couldn’t deliver due to inclement weather.

Hurry back spring, I miss you very much!

Sincerely, Amy

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Have you ever put lemon juice in your hair out in the sun? Did you end up with highlights or a disaster?

Any other strange uses for lemon juice that you know of?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Baking and Confections, Cake, Citrus, Lemon, Pudding | 64 Comments

Winter Avalanche

Posted on January 30, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

I know, I’m whipping out treats from my sugar factory like I am Willy Wonka’s sidekick or something. But you secretly know you love it!

Winter. You either love it or you hate it. Or you don’t experience it, depending on where you live.

Where I live in the Midwest, some of our winters can be really harsh with lots of snow, wind chills below zero and ice.

You know, the kind of cold that freezes your nose hairs. Yikes! Don’t laugh. It happens.

So I always end up baking more in these frigid months because I like the warmth inside my home.

My dad’s birthday was the perfect reason to bake up these crispy crunchy sweet treats!

I made these along with 2 other treats to serve for my Dad’s birthday: Nutella Candy Bars, & Reese’s Fudge Sandwich Cookies.

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This is like the backwards way to make Rice Krispie treats. You add the marshmallows last, not first.

White chocolate and peanut butter melted and mixed in a bowl with Rice Krispies!

Creamy and gooey peanut butter~

Light and airy Rice Krispies~

Pour’em in and stir. Take a spoon and taste the mixture!

Let the mixture cool. Then add these fluffy white pillows!

Into the mix goes the mini chocolate chips~

You can place the mix in a pan, shape of your choice or make these avalanche mounds like I did~

I thought it would be great to make individual avalanche mounds instead of a bar that I had to cut~

And for a cute touch to the top of the avalanche, I added a Hershey’s Cookies’n’Creme drop~

And goodness ensues.

Peanut buttery, white chocolaty, crunchy, marshmallowy, gooey treat to munch on!

AVALANCHE

12 oz bag of white chocolate chips

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3 cups Rice Krispies

1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips + 2 Tbsp for garnish.

Lightly grease a 9×9 pan (or 8×8 if you prefer thicker bars) or whatever pan you want to use

1. In microwave-safe bowl dump in white chips and heat on med power for 1 minute. Stir and continue in 30 second increments until chips are melted.

2. Combine the peanut butter with the melted chips

3. Add the Krispies.

4. Let cool approx 15 – 20 minutes stirring every 5 minutes or so to help cool.

5. Add the marshmallows and the mini chocolate chips and stir to combine.

6. Dump mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly, pressing lightly with the back of your spoon, but do not compact too much, otherwise they will get hard.

7. Press the remaining chocolate chips into the top for garnish.

When the bars are completely cooled cut into squares and enjoy!

From the Cookies and Cups blog~

Go. Now. Make these. You know you want to!

Bite. Munch. Crunch.

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I just have to show you this new tea that I found! Tea with the flavor of White Chocolate Kisses, YUM!

Are you buried in snow where you live?

Do you love the snow or despise it?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Chocolate chip, marshmallows, Peanut butter, Rice Krispies, Rice Krispies treat, White chocolate | 76 Comments

Sugar Factory: Nutella Candy Bars

Posted on January 29, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Another sweet treat from my sugar factory has surfaced. Are you surprised?

I love Nutella and I know a bunch of other people who love it as much as I do. Did I tell that I found crunchy Nutella in the grocery store the other day. I was so excited to find it!

And when I came upon Gingerbread Bagels blog featuring Nutella Candy Bars I knew it was something I had to make ASAP! As in STAT!

A great no-bake bar featuring my favorite nut butter!

I served these Nutella Candy Bars alongside Avalanches and Reese’s Fudge Cookie Sandwiches at my Dad’s birthday party seen here:

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Nutella Candy Bars

1 cup Nutella
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (finely ground)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted

4 Tablespoons Nutella
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips.

Put 1 cup of Nutella in a large bowl.

In a food processor, grind up the graham crackers. Measure out 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs and add them to the Nutella.

Add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Mix everything together.

Pour in 1 cup of melted unsalted butter and stir to completely combined.

Spray the inside of the pan with non stick spray. This will help the wax paper/parchment paper stick to the pan. Line a 9 by 12 baking pan with wax paper or parchment paper.

Put the Nutella Candy Bar mixture in the pan and press it down evenly.

For the topping:

In a microwavable bowl, melt together 4 Tablespoons of Nutella and 1 1/2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips.

Pour of the Nutella Candy Bars and spread it out evenly.

Refrigerate the Nutella Candy Bars for 1 hour. Let the Nutella Candy Bars come to room temperature before you eat them!

Thanks Lindsey for the recipe!

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I made the recipe exactly as above, but instead of graham crackers I used Nilla wafers and some leftover animal crackers.

Mixing up the sweet sweet bottom layer of the bar.

Spread the mixture out evenly in a pan that is lined with wax or parchment paper.

And then for the chocolate Nutella icing layer on top. Melt chocolate and Nutella in the microwave, pour and spread.

Simple, decadent and sweet!

I added some silver sprinkles on top to give it that “SceneFromMe” fashionable edge!

After these have cooled off and hardened in the fridge, remove from pan and peel off the wax paper.

Cut into squares, triangles, rectangles, stars, hearts whatever shape you want!

And DEVOUR!

You can still see the bits and pieces of Nilla wafers in the bar, giving it a welcome crunch of sweetness.

Can’t you just hear these bars saying “eat me!”

The plate on the left, his, the plate on the right, mine! Winner!

No bake. Yes bite.

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Have you ever tried crunchy Nutella?

Has this been out for a while and I’ve just never found the crunchy type?

Or have you never tried Nutella? (sorry about your luck)

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Butter, candy bar, Graham cracker, Nutella, Powdered sugar | 27 Comments

Terrific Taco Pie

Posted on January 28, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

It’s not Taco Tuesday, but any day can be a taco day in our house. That’s how much we love them!

I prefer soft shells to hard shells. I prefer black beans to refried beans. And I prefer saucy salsa to chunky salsa. I’m not hard to please.

Where I live, there are tons of Mexican restaurants. We really enjoy eating chips, salsa and white queso dip! Really, that stuff is so sinfully good.

I hope you are hungry or hangry (so hungry you are angry), because this taco pie just might set your taste buds on fire!

Arriba! Arriba!

Easy Baked Taco Pie

1 lb. extra-lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed, drained

6 whole wheat tortillas (6 inch)

1 cup Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided

1/4 cup Light Sour Cream

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

BROWN meat with onions and chili powder in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and corn; cook 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

SPOON 1 cup meat mixture into 2-qt. round casserole; cover with 3 tortillas, overlapping if necessary to fit in dish. Top with 2 cups of the remaining meat mixture and 1/2 cup cheese. Cover with remaining tortillas and remaining meat mixture; cover.

BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining cheese; bake, uncovered, 5 min. or until melted. Cut into wedges. Serve topped with sour cream.

Recipe from Kraft.

Do you want a slice of this pie? It’s not dessert pie, but if you love Mexican food, this might as well be dessert pie!

Layered taco pie with cheese oozing out of it! ALOT TO LOVE!

Yep, that’s a huge dollop of sour cream! But really, the fat free stuff doesn’t taste very good.

Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. My husband had an idea, he’d top his with this fiery sauce to give it that extra spicy zing!

Look at those lovely layers!

We had 3 slices of this taco pie left and I packed up some for my lunch at work the next day! Score!

OLE!!!

For my easy crock pot taco soup recipe click here.

And Cornbread Tamale Pie recipe here.

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What’s your preference? Hard or soft shell? Refried or black beans?

Do you have a weekly meal night like Taco Tuesday?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged cheese, hamburger, Mexican cuisine, Salsa, taco | 45 Comments

Reese’s Fudge Cookie Sandwiches

Posted on January 26, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

WARNING: This post contains a lot of protein packed peanut butter persuasion.

Come on, a girl like me can’t help but to love peanut butter and chocolate. Sure, there are miserable days that go by that I don’t eat chocolate or peanut butter, but not many of them.

And what can you say about King Chocolate?! Chocolate just sucks me in like those bad reality tv shows. And I love it!

For my dad’s birthday recently, I made 3 treats for our dessert bar: Nutella Candy Bars, Avalanche’s and these Reese’s Fudge Cookie Sandwiches. What didn’t get eaten that night, was sent home with my parents and also taken to my workplace. Stuff always quickly gets devoured there. Here was our dessert bar:

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The fudge cookies are so quick and easy to make. I mean really fast and simple.

Honestly, this was the first time ever that I have used a cookie scoop to make cookies. It worked wonderfully and now I wonder why I didn’t use it soon. I guess I thought that the spoon and roll in my hands method worked better!

The fudge cookies go on top and bottom of the Reese’s cup.

More Reese’s are chopped up and sprinkled on top of the cookie sandwich! More Reese’s please!

Reese’s Fudge Cookie Sandwiches

3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

4 chopped up Reese’s cups

1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate morsels or peanut butter morsels

10-12 Reese’s cups, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine 3/4 c. chocolate morsels and butter in large bowl. Microwave on high 40-60 seconds or until smooth, stirring after each 20-second interval. Add sugar and egg to bowl; mix until well blended. Add flour; mix just until flour is incorporated. Using small cookie scoop, drop 20 level scoops of batter, 1 inch apart onto baking sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges are set. Do not overbake. Cool for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire cooling rack.

Meanwhile, chop up 4 Reese’s cups into small pieces. Place remaining 1/4 c. chocolate or peanut butter morsels in baggie and melt fully in intervals. Place 10-12 Reese’s cups onto half of the fudge cookies. Top with remaining fudge cookies. Snip corner off of baggie and drizzle chocolate or peanut butter over cookies and immediately sprinkle with the chopped up Reese’s cookies. Allow chocolate or peanut butter drizzle to harden before serving. Yields 10-12 cookie sandwiches.

Recipe adapted from The Pampered Chef.

How much peanut butter and chocolate can you handle?

I love these sandwiches, they are so sinfully scrumptious!

I mean how good do these fudgey sandwiches look? Very appealing to the eyes 🙂

When looked at from the center, doesn’t that just make your mouth water?!

Look at the lusciousness in the middle! Simply irresistible!!!!

Are you a Reese’s lover like me? The peanut butter in the middle of those lil cups is just the best!

I am still eating Reese’s Peanut Butter Christmas trees from the holidays 🙂 Reese’s, you have my heart!

I recommend you make these ASAP. Get yourself a mouth full of peanut butter passion!

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On a side note I have to share with you two new and great cereal finds! Frosted Mini-Wheats with a Touch of Fruit in the Middle taste like a jelly filled doughnut! And the Cinnamon Burst Cheerios taste like your eating a great big cinnamon roll, so good!

Do you eat Reese’s?

If not, what is your favorite candy bar?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged chocolate, Cookie, Peanut butter, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups | 91 Comments

Chocolate Chip OREO Cookie Sandwich

Posted on January 23, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Outrageous Oreo’s. Who knew there were so many possibilities with these little chocolate and vanilla cookie sandwiches~

Grab a big tall glass of milk, you are going to need it after just reading this post!

I subscribe to a blog called Picky Palate. Jenny comes up with the best creations I swear. She’s so talented. It’s so exciting to get the email with her newest creation in my inbox every time she posts!

Ya start out with Oreo’s. Double stuffed! Or the Oreo’s of your choice. It doesn’t really matter. There are so many combinations now that I think of it since there are so many different kinds of Oreo’s.

And some buttah in a big bowl!

Look at this spoon! How cute is it 🙂

It’s easy to stir up this cookie dough with a smile!

Smoosh! Smoosh two cookie balls around an Oreo, that’s the fun part!

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie Sandwiches

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 bag Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!

Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies

Recipe from Jenny at Picky Palate. For link, click here.

Tower of Tasty Temptation. Can you resist? I can’t!

Cheese, cookies, crock pot 081

Yummy goodness!!!!

Cheese, cookies, crock pot 091

~Terrific Tower of Tasty Temptation~

I plated all the cookies up on this silver tray in preparation for taking them in to work in the morning.

My coworkers will thank me 🙂

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Last night my girlfriends and I went to see “Country Strong.” We just loved it!

Have you seen it yet?

What it the newest blissful temptation that you’ve experienced lately? Do tell!!!

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Baking and Confections, Chocolate chip, Cookie, Oreo, Sugar | 59 Comments

At His Request

Posted on January 22, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

So what do you do when your husband makes a request for dinner?

YOU MAKE IT, of course, all the while saying “yes dear, I can and I will!”

That’s what happened when he asked me if I would make the special chicken nuggets that my mom makes.

My mom bakes the best chicken nuggets. And ever since my husband and I started dating (back in high school) she has made these delicious little meaty nuggets full of flavor for us. It’s just one of her special meals she likes to make for us when we are down home visiting. And while mine did not turn out like hers, they were still yummy and my husband enjoyed his meal.

As a side to the nuggets I put some broccoli and red onions in my Pampered Chef steamer and steamed it in the microwave.

Nuggets

In a baggie I placed 1 package of Lipton onion soup mix and some italian bread crumbs. That’s what makes these chicken nuggets so flavorful and wanted! Cut chicken breasts into small pieces, moisten with water or milk and shake to coat with the soup mix and bread crumbs in a large baggie. {{SHAKE}}

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. to 1 hour depending on how big your nuggets are.

Yum, steamed fresh broccoli and red onions!

Getting ready to toast this nutty whole wheat bread slathered with buttah~ This is the second loaf of this bread we’ve had recently. We also enjoyed it when my husband made me dinner, see here.

Whole wheat couscous in the house!

Toasted nutty, crunchy, buttery bread, just the way I like it!

Voila, the chicken nuggets are baked to perfection! Crispy and hot!

Eat more chikin as the cows at Chick-Fil-A say!

And…the full dinner plate is born! Crispy chicken nuggets, buttery nutty bread and couscous with broccoli and sweet onions!

January dinner 023

I started taking pictures before I finished topping the broccoli with some feta cheese. I just love that stuff and it added just a great savory flavor to the broccoli couscous!

Hooray for feta cheese!

The next logical thing to have after such a great meal like the one above is something sweet. Sweet as in dessert.

I’ll take dessert after any meal, even breakfast. That is not wrong.

And then there was DESSERT! As in frozen, sweet, sinful dessert.

So we perused the pantry and came up with our own toppings for our frozen Rice Dream.

I chose mini M&M’s and sliced almonds. My husband had cut up York peppermint patties.

Mint chocolate chip is his favorite flavor of ice cream, so no wonder he chose to have peppermints sprinkled on top!

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So while we have alot of snow and ice on the ground outside, I am enjoying the sunshine peeking in and the warmth on the inside!!! 🙂

Ok, so can anyone tell me what is wrong with my camera when it has the same shadow in every picture at the bottom?

If you were to look in your pantry right now and pick topping for your bowl of frozen yogurt or ice cream, what would you choose?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Broccoli, Chicken, Chicken nugget, Cooking, Lipton | 38 Comments

Jumpin for Jarlsberg

Posted on January 21, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

You know they say to never go to the grocery store hungry. Well I did. I had been working around the house blogging and time got away from me and I headed out to the store to cross that task off my “to do” list as well. My stomach was growling feed me and my eyes got glued on this Jarlsberg cheese dip.

You see I’ve had this before. One of my girlfriends brought this to a girls get together I had here at my house several years ago. Everyone raved about it. I thought she made it, turns out she got it from our local grocery store. Dang it! Now I knew where to find this evil snack.

This has been served many a times since that fateful party too. We even had some at a Christmas cookie exchange that I went to.

IT IS THAT GOOD!

It’s a mix of mayo, Jarlsberg cheese and red onion . Creamy delicousness!

But of course, being the onion lover that I am, I added more red onion pieces to our container of cheese dip!

{{tears}} The red onions were sliced and diced and added in!

I just love thin and crispy crackers. I spotted these flatbread ones and thought they would be perfect with the cheese dip.

Turns out they were!

Everything flatbread crackers. Look at how thin and crispy they are! Love all those seeds too~

Snack time! In fact this was much more than just a snack. This was my lunch this day 🙂

I made a plateful. Ate them all. Don’t judge!

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Do you ever go to the grocery store hungry?

And if so, what delicacy did you end up buying at the store just because you were hungry at the time?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged cheese, Flatbread, Red onion | 29 Comments

Crafting A Crockpot Meal~Chile Chicken Chowder

Posted on January 19, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Nothing warms the belly on a cold wintery day than a bowl of hot chowder!

I like chowder better than a brothy soup. I always seem to eat the “stuff” out of brothy soup and not drink the broth.

That’s what I was so excited to make this crock pot meal. Just turn on the crock pot, toss in the ingredients and step away.

Step away from the kitchen. Leave. The meal will make itself. If you don’t have a crock pot. I suggest you get one. It makes meals so simple, quick and easy.

The ingredients below. Well not all of them. Didn’t show the half-and-half or the hash browns. But you get the point.

First step, add all the ingredients to the pot. Turn on crock pot and back off. Leave. Last step, eat!

How’s that for an easy recipe!

All the ingredients are in and cooking.

Almost done…after 4 hours of doing nothing to it!

Dip in the ladle and pour into a bowl. Top with crushed up tortilla chips and cilantro!

Eat!

Chile Chicken Chowder

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 pounds uncooked chicken breast tenders (not breaded), cut into bite-size pieces
1 1/2 cups frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 1/2 cups Progresso® chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
1/2 cup frozen chopped onions, thawed
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (14.75 oz) Green Giant® cream style corn
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (7 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles
1/2 cup half-and-half
Chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

DIRECTIONS

In 4-quart slow cooker, stir together all ingredients except half-and-half and cilantro until combined.
Cover; cook on High heat setting 4 to 5 hours.
Stir in half-and-half. Ladle into soup bowls. Sprinkle with cilantro and crushed tortilla chips.

Recipe from Pillsbury.

Enjoy~

I adapted my pot a bit, I did not add half-and-half and I didn’t have cumin, so I used 1/2 pkg. of taco seasoning.

Cheese, cookies, crock pot 044

How simple is that recipe! Great for a day when you don’t have any time to spend in the kitchen slaving over the hot stove.

I loved this meal. It was the right amount of spice for my tastebuds.

And we had plenty leftovers to enjoy for the rest of the week! Yeah for that~!~!

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What is one of your go-to meals that doesn’t take any effort to make?

Do you use your crockpot or is it collecting dust?

Today, January 19th, is National Popcorn Day! Happy Poppin’!

Fitting, because last night when I got home from a long day at work I ate a small bag of light popcorn sprinkled with white cheddar cheese powder! YUM~

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Chile, Chowder, Slow cooker, Soups and Stews | 46 Comments

Slimcado Satisfaction

Posted on January 16, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Usually sending my husband to the grocery store for a few items I have on my grocery list results in a bunch of purchases that weren’t on my list. Like a box of chocolate lover Entenmanns’s donuts, cartons of OJ, a new Willy Wonka candy bar and several bottles of Naked juices. Ahh~you know what happens to those things when he brings them home. I consume them.

But this time when my husband ventured out to the store for a few things I asked him to get, he brought back two SlimCado’s. Like an avocado but bigger and less fat. 30% less fat to be exact in the ones he bought. SlimCados are the West Indian avocado variety. The skin is smoother and glossier than a regular avocado. And the SlimCado did not disappoint.

The day that I made this dinner, I had been wondering in my mind throughout the day what I had on hand to make for dinner that I could include an avocado in. I didn’t get up and look in the pantry, freezer or fridge, I just thought about it. I was too busy on my computer to get up, ha! I am sure some of you can relate.

So dinner time rolled around and scrounged thru the contents of my hot and cold cooler and found some ingredients for a great meal!

First, chicken breasts were defrosted, cooked, shredded by hand and put on top of a corn tortilla. I sliced and diced some green onions and added those too. Green onions are all I had and they worked out just fine. After all, the salsa we added to the top of these quesadilla’s had onions in it too 🙂

With the chicken and onions on the tortilla, added next is the cheese! I had some fat free cheese leftover and then some regular shredded cheddar cheese too. I put the quesadilla’s in the oven and broiled on high until hot and crispy.

While the ‘dilla’s were a cookin’ the next task was to cut up the SlimCado. I slice them into two halves, throw away the seed in the middle and then slice into chunks.

Avocado’s are so easy to serve this way. Now all you have to do is scoop out the chunks of avocado with a spoon.

I also added some taco seasoning to the quesadilla topped mixture to add more flavor. Once again, this is all stuff I had on hand already.

Yum, freshly crisped and warmed quesadilla straight outta the oven!

And another one that is even a little crispier. But that’s the way I love my cheese on top, crispy. Yep, I’m always the one picking the crispy cheese strings off of the baking sheet with my fingers. No shame.

The quesadilla’s were topped with SlimCado chunks and several spoonfuls of my favorite Trader Joe’s salsa.

Corn and Chile Tomato-Less Salsa. So good.

Salsa, get on top of this quesadilla pronto!

And a fabulous dinner was born.

Tortilla. Chicken. Onion. Corn. Avocado. Peppers. Spice. Salsa.

How can you go wrong with those powerhouse ingredients!

A scrumptious dinner creation. All because I sent my husband to the store for me.

And he came home with a SlimCado. Our virgin attempt at eating a SlimCado was complete satisfaction.

Have you ever tried one of these?

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Have you ever sent your friend, family member or significant other to the store for something for you and they came back with many other things you didn’t ask for?

And what did you make with their purchases?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Avocado, cheese, Mexico, onion, Quesadilla | 70 Comments

Cookie Dough Dip Trio

Posted on January 15, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

First I saw this Cookie Dough Dip on How Sweet It Is. Jessica can sure create some fabulous eats and this was yet another one of her great creations!

I knew if I made this I could eat the whole bowl of it using my finger. Forget the spoon. Just give me a bowl of cookie dough and I am in pure bliss. Sugar overloaded bliss.

So instead of making the dip for myself one day, I decided I would make it for my family to enjoy also.

That is until one day………………….Jessica posted the Cookie Dip Trio! The original recipe for cookie dough dip is chocolate chip cookie dough dip. And then she created 3 new flavors: Snickerdoodle, Chocolate Fudge and Peanut Butter. All in cookie dough dip form!

Cookie Dough Dip

makes about 1 1/2 cups

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cups chocolate chips

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture starts to bubble. Set aside to cool, and whisk in vanilla.

Cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar for 60 seconds. With mixer on low speed, add in brown sugar and butter mixture. Mix until combined. I added the chocolate chips at this time so the mixer could break them up into pieces. You can so that, or just fold in the chocolate chips.

Garnish with additional chopped chocolate. Serve with fruit, cookies, crackers, pretzels or a spoon. Your finger will do too.

Recipe and photos found here.

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Cookie Dough Dip Trio

Start with one batch of cookie dough dip and divide it into three equal parts.

For Snickerdoodle Dough Dip: add 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon (or 2 tablespoons cinnamon for a full batch)

For Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dip: add 1/4 cup peanut butter and 1/4 cup chocolate chips (or 1/2 cups for a full batch)

For Dough Chocolate Fudge Dough Dip: add 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 1/4 cup chocolate chips (or 1/2 cups for a full batch)

See Jessica’s photos here.

Thanks Jessica for sharing your wonderful recipes with us!

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I served my cookie dough dip trio with animal crackers and vanilla wafers.

They were very very very scrumptious.

I am craving some right now in fact. But I guess that candy sitting on my kitchen counter will have to do!

Or maybe I should just reach for one of these lil cuties on this tier 🙂

…when will this Christmas candy ever disappear?!

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Do you ever eat cookie dough and then run out of dough to bake any cookies with?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged chocolate, Chocolate chip, Cookie dough, Dough, Peanut butter | 21 Comments

Aromatic Homemade Yeast Rolls

Posted on January 14, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Can’t you smell them now!

Warm yeast rising in the heat~

My mom seems to make homemade yeast rolls several times a year. And my favorite part is punching the dough down after it has risen for the first time. ~~POW~~

MOM’S YEAST ROLLS

2 pkgs. active dry yeast (Fleischmann’s)
1/4 c. really warm water
1 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs, beaten
5-6 c. flour

Scald the milk in a small sauce pan and then add the sugar and the butter and let cool for a little while. Meanwhile dissolve the yeast in the warm water until completely dissolved. Don’t have the water too hot or it will kill the yeast, too cool and it won’t dissolve. I just use hot tap water. Place the milk mixture in a large mixing bowl when it has cooled. Add the salt and the beaten eggs. Then add the yeast mixture.

Next start adding the flour. Only add 2 c. to begin with and mix well, then add one c. at a time until it is hard to mix with a spoon and not too dry. You want it to be a little sticky.

Then dump onto floured countertop and knead it for about 5-10 minutes until it is pretty smooth. Then place it in a buttered bowl, fairly large, so it can raise. Place it in a warm, draft-free spot to raise. This will take about 1-2 hours depending on the area it is raising in.

When it is doubled in size, punch ~~POW~~ the dough. Then make each roll into whatever design you want to. I usually make cloverleaf rolls which is where I take enough dough for one roll and divide it into 3 small balls and place each one in a muffin pan. You can also make them in 2 13×9 pans too, I just like the individual rolls.

Now, you need to let them raise again until rolls are just about doubled in size, this rising will be faster than the first one, about 30-45 minutes. Cover the rolls with a very light weight towel so they don’t dry out while raising.

You can also brush them with melted butter before baking too. Bake them at 350 for about 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy! Makes 24 rolls

When they come out of the oven brush with melted butter.

Don’t they look warm and delicious!

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Have you ever made any homemade rolls?

What is your favorite homemade roll recipe?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Bread, Butter, Dough, Flour, homemade roll, Yeast | 56 Comments

Buckeye Delight

Posted on January 12, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

These lil suckers are Buckeye Delights. And I mean they are D E L I G H T F U L !!!

Chocolate sugar cookie, peanut butter and chocolate frosting. What’s NOT to love?!?!

First I lined mini muffin tins with paper liners. I used two different designs of papers because I didn’t have enough of one kind in this size. And that hurt. I love to match everything and now the papers are mismatched like a bad pair of socks. I mixed up the cocoa-ified sugar cookie dough and pressed into the bottom of the paper liner and made a thumbprint in them.

Then came the best part: the peanut butter dough ball in the middle! I may have stuffed a few of these bad boys right in to my mouth as I was making them to go in the cooked cookie cups. But who’s counting?

These buckeyes are similar to the ones I featured here.

And then comes the chocolate frosting on top. Like a cherry on top, but even better! Sadly the frosting I was making never thickened enough to spread on top, but luckily I had premade whipped chocolate frosting in the fridge that I used instead. And the last step is mixing chocolate and peanut butter in a baggie and making cute swirly marks on top of the buckeye delight.

Buckeye Delights

Cookie Base

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg

Filling

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon peanut butter

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 36 mini muffin cups with mini foil candy cups (about 1 1/4 inch). In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until dough forms. Press about 1 tablespoon dough into each foil cup. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until puffy and set. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Remove from pan.
In small bowl, mix filling ingredients until well blended. Press about 1 teaspoon mixture on top of each cooled cookie.
In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream just to boiling over low heat, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until cooled. Spread about 2 teaspoons chocolate mixture over each cookie cup.
Place remaining 2 tablespoons chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag. Microwave on High 30 to 60 seconds or until softened; knead to mix. Cut off small tip from one corner of bag. Squeeze bag to drizzle chocolate mixture over each cookie cup. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set. Store covered in refrigerator.

Thanks to Betty Crocker for the recipe 🙂 And thanks to my work friend Amy for introducing me to this magnificant treat!

Enjoy~

Don’t pass by these treats after reading this post! They are screaming at you and they want in your belly!

You won’t be disappointed 🙂

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged chocolate, Peanut butter, Sugar cookie | 66 Comments

Man In The Kitchen

Posted on January 9, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

It had been a lazy winter day (day off for me, slow work day for my husband) when he got the idea in his head that he was going to make me dinner. “Of course that would be okay” I said to him. It was just another one of his brilliant ideas. This meant more play time for me and it let him exercise his creative rights.

Let me just tell you, his creativity was spot on this night. He fixed a wonderfully delicious meal that I couldn’t have done any better myself. He incorporated all the things I love into this fab meal for me 🙂

This is just part of the stuff he came home from the store with above. Never fails when he goes to the store for a “few things” it turns out to be a mega shopping spree for him. At least this time he didn’t come home with that ever so addicting box of chocolate lover’s Entenmanns’s donuts or a tall jar of marshmallow cream! Which he has done before and over the next several days I’ve proceeded to eat it all.

This nutty grainy loaf of wheat bread was a great purchase by the husband. I love whole wheat bread with some crunch!

The ground beef was 96% lean and once it was cooked, there was no need to drain any grease off of it because it didn’t have any!

He added a whole onion to the meat in the dutch oven. Yes, you can say we love our onions! Hey, at least it’s both of us and not one of us~

For Christmas I received a garlic press. This was his virgin attempt at pressing garlic to get some fresh garlic for the homemade pasta sauce. Peel, squeeze, puuush!

And the finished product: Homemade meaty tomato sauce over whole wheat pasta drenched in freshly shredded mizithra cheese! Have you ever tried mizithra cheese? It is so good. I first fell in love with it at the Spaghetti Factory. And now that we know they sell it in our local grocery store we buy it often, so delicious! And of course that whole grain bread that was turned in to toasted garlic bread to accompany our Italian meal!Pour on the cheese! Al dente whole wheat pasta just the way I like it with a thick meaty sauce and some salty mizithra cheese on top!

My man was even in the kitchen singing “It’s Italiano” in his best Italian accent while preparing our dinner.

Oh, and he said this is “medicine.” He likes wine, I don’t and wished I did. I tasted it and me no likey.

Grazie amore per sapermi amare

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DESSERT!

What’s a good home-cooked meal without dessert? Once again, my husband did not disappoint with this one.

So simple, yet so delicious.

A big scoop of organic vanilla Rice Dream with fresh rasberries, blueberries and blackberries.

Fantastically sweet, creamy and juicy!

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Gotta love that man of mine 🙂

A few movies I’ve seen recently are “Little Fockers” and “Easy A”. Both were good for some belly laughs 🙂 And we watched the documentary “Boys Of Fall.” What a great testament to football season!

What is the best movie you’ve seen recently?

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Bread, Garlic, Mizithra, Pasta, Tomato sauce, Whole grain | 60 Comments

NOT A DONUT DILEMMA

Posted on January 8, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

When it comes to donuts and eating a donuts, there is no dilemma there for me. My answer is always a resounding YES!

So when I came down for breakfast and my husband had taken the donut maker out of the box, I smiled. I smiled so big my grin touched my ears.

We mixed together an egg, flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla and oil for the donut batter. Poured some in each donut divot and waited…impatiently!

My Dad gave me this mini donut maker for Christmas. (He even wrapped it himself) 🙂 The donuts turned a golden brown color when they were ready to be taken out.

I made some icing to top the mini mounds with, first a thin sugary glaze. And some vanilla icing with powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract. And lastly I melted some chocolate chips, powdered sugar and water together to make a chocolate icing. All 3 were quite tasty if I do say so myself!

It was fun to candy coat these donuts with sprinkles, sugar crystals, mini chocolate chips and M&M’s.

The donuts came out easily, they did not stick, thankfully. Who wants to waste any part of this yummy treat!

We even slipped in some Ghirardelli chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in the middle of these mini donuts.

So that’s the end of my false donut dilemma. There is no arguement or fight with me when it comes to donuts.

~I heart donuts~

So why the two different spelling of donut/doughnut? IDK? Do you?

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Has anyone ever been to Doughnut Plant in NYC? While visiting NYC this last August, this bakery was on my “must do” list. I had seen it featured on The Food Network earlier in the year and marked it down as somewhere I wanted to visit someday.

I wouldn’t leave the city until I had visited this little piece of heaven on earth. They have square doughnuts, oh yes they do, square filled doughnuts!

Some of their flavors include: Blackout, Vanilla Bean, Peanut Butter Blackberry Jam filled, Valrhona Chocolate, Tres Leches, Orange, Carrot Cake, Creme Brulee, Blueberry, Meyer Lemon, Marzipan, Gingerbread, Panettone & Coconut Glaze Coconut Creme.

OMG, how could you pass up that array of scrumptious flavors!!! I could not. I think I walked out of there with 6+ doughnuts. I ate them down so fast that I didn’t take any pictures of them. How dare I! But I am not one bit remorseful about it 🙂

As you can see from the picture this is a very small lil bakery. The space in the front of the store for customers only holds about 10-15 people hence the line out the door. But let that not deter you. This is a popular spot as evidenced by another lady taking pictures and I suggest getting there early for the warmest and best selections of doughnuts. Because once they are gone, they shut their doors!

(source)

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Today is National English Toffee day. How about making Motherlode Pretzels with toffee coating! (source)

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Tonight we are going to Indianapolis to the Colts playoff game! Thank you Colts for giving me weekend plans 🙂 GO HORSE!

(Source)

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What is and where is your favorite donut store?

If you don’t eat typical yeast and cake donuts, what kind of donuts do you make?

P.S., the Hungry Girl TV show premieres today on The Cooking Channel!

Posted in Deliciousness | Tagged Donut, Doughnut | 56 Comments

Paws In The Powder

Posted on January 6, 2011 by TheSceneFromMe

Snow Snow Snow

I guess that’s what happens in the winter when you are in the midwest.

I am so cold natured that my hands instantly feel like I’m getting frostbite. I wish I knew where to find battery operated warming gloves, I need a pair!

Don’t get me wrong. I love it. But only if I can stay in and watch it snow. I don’t like when I have to get out of the house when there’s a blizzard outside. AKA Snowzilla. More so, I don’t like to get out in the snow when someone else is dictating where I need to be (like work). If I get out in the snow it is because I darn well want to be out in it, not that I have to be out in it.

I love to go sledding, skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, tubing and snow angel making in the snow.

Most of all: I love snow ice cream!

Here’s some pics of J&R playing in the snow recently~

DSCN3549 The snow drifts were so tall in some areas the girls would be buried in the snow! I got as many pictures as I could without freezing my ungloved hand off and all the while wrangling two pups on leashes and trying not to fall over in the snow myself!

Ripley just shivers when out in the snow and Journey on the other hand plows right through it and doesn’t seem bothered by it. Go figure. Ripley is the timid (bashful, sweet, quiet) one and Journey is our maniac (wild, crazy, hyper) sharpei! These girls are so funny. They got some new toys seen here:

These toys aren’t really meant for dogs. In fact, they are kiddie stuffed animals. But these pups are my husbands girls and buying them kiddie toys is just how he rolls. 🙂

To see the scrapbook that I made of these girls click here.

To see them reinact Lady and the Tramp click here.

And to see the first post I ever did of our girls click here.

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This morning Ripley goes to the vet for her third eye surgery. Just call her Tammy Faye Baker. Entropion has gotten the best of our girls with all their wrinkles!

Tonight is a date night for us and our new neighbors! Yea for someone else cooking my dinner 🙂 Our kitchen shall remain clean tonight. Sigh~

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What is your favorite thing do to in the snow?

If you don’t get snow where you live, do you ever vacation where there is snow?

Posted in A Scene | Tagged snow, Snowzilla, Winter Sports | 64 Comments

Sugar Cookie Truffles

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Wake Me Up Breakfast Cups

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P+S, I Love You Pasta Sauce

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Grape-Nut Cookies

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Doughnut Style French Toast

Directions:

SWEET GOODNESS!

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Grape Nuts Pudding

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Cupid’s Chocolate Lava Cakes

Directions

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Are you ready to drench your mouth in chocolate?!

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Nutella Mallow Hearts

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all! XOXO

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Cherry Almond Angel Cupcakes

Fluffy Frosting

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Lemon Pudding Cake Cups

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AVALANCHE

Go. Now. Make these. You know you want to!

Bite. Munch. Crunch.

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Nutella Candy Bars

No bake. Yes bite.

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It’s not Taco Tuesday, but any day can be a taco day in our house. That’s how much we love them!

Easy Baked Taco Pie

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Reese’s Fudge Cookie Sandwiches

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Outrageous Oreo’s. Who knew there were so many possibilities with these little chocolate and vanilla cookie sandwiches~

I subscribe to a blog called Picky Palate. Jenny comes up with the best creations I swear. She’s so talented. It’s so exciting to get the email with her newest creation in my inbox every time she posts!

Ya start out with Oreo’s. Double stuffed! Or the Oreo’s of your choice. It doesn’t really matter. There are so many combinations now that I think of it since there are so many different kinds of Oreo’s.

And some buttah in a big bowl!

Look at this spoon! How cute is it 🙂

It’s easy to stir up this cookie dough with a smile!

Smoosh! Smoosh two cookie balls around an Oreo, that’s the fun part!

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie Sandwiches

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

1 Cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla

3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

10 oz bag chocolate chips