Rustic Nectarine Crostata



Gorgeous Nectarines

The Nectarines Sliced

Pie Crust Rolled out

Slices Arranged in a Spiral

The Crust folded around the sides
& dusted with Cinnamon and Sugar

Baked until Golden Brown

Nectarine Crostata Plated

Served warm with Vanilla Ice Cream

I had a bunch of nectarines in my fridge that I forgot about and thought I would try to make a tart of since I had some pie dough in the fridge as well. I like nectarines a lot they are a hybrid of a peach and plum. They aren't sweet and tart at the same time and the fruit holds up well to baking. I didnt have enough fruit to make a whole pie or enough to fill my tart pan so I figured I would go rustic and just fold up the edges around the fruit and then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and dotted with a little butter so the crust would brown. It didnt take long to bake and then once done served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Wicked Brownies

 All the Ingredients to make a Wickedly COSMIC Brownie

Mixing Dry Ingredients

Folding all together being careful not to overmix

Brownie baked on a sheet pan

Over a Pound of Dark Chocolate

Chocolate Chopped up

Add warmed Heavy Cream

Ganache ~ Stir Chocolate and Cream to combine

Spread the Ganache over the cooled Brownies

Frosted Brownies Sprinkled with
Rainbow Chocolate Chips

Cut Brownies into squares or whatever shape you want

Wicked Brownies Plated

Do they look familar.......hint...... Little Debbie : )

Sighhhh, this was my last bar of chocolate to use up before I leave, how bittersweet...... both literally and figuratively, lol. I wanted to make frosted fudgy brownies for the kids. I went to the craft store to look for something decorative for them like sprinkles and saw these. It made me think of the Little Debbie snacks, you know Cosmic Brownies. Do they even make them anymore? I am not sure I don't really by those snacks anymore since I make treats for the kids. But my sister's and I loved them with the pretty little colored chips on top. I baked these on a sheet pan (15x10x1, I believe) I like to bake my brownies in this pan because I can cut them into huge squares. Also it takes less time to bake off and cool, so quicker for us to enjoy them :). These were really fudgy like the Cosminc brownies I remember, but more for the adult palette with the dark chocolate. The kids and I love dark chocolate so it was heavenly, but if you dont care for it use a semi sweet or milk chocolate. It would also be neat to do the opposite and do a blondie with white chocolate frosting. I am still working on my photographing skills, I need my sis! It's getting better I think, at least I am not using my phone to take the pic's anymore lol. 

Turkey Pretzel Panini

Trader Joe's Pretzel Rolls

Rolls Piled up with Cheese and Turkey

On my AWESOME Panini Press

Sammy Pressed some more

Lettuce and Tomato Added

Perfect for the Dog Days of Summer!

By the time I get home after a long day at work and not to mention the heat, I don't feel like standing over a hot stove. So I like to make salads and sandwiches that are easy and don't require any cooking. And any excuse to pull out my panini press is also a plus, lol. My sis brought me these fresh pretzel rolls from Trader Joe's this weekend and I knew I wanted to make a turkey sandwich with them like the one's at Bennigan's that were so good. All that is on the sandwich is turkey, swiss cheese and honey mustard and what makes the sandwich is the pretzel roll. I made it my own and pressed it and added lettuce and tomato. For the kids sammy's I swapped the swiss for american cheese. They loved them and thought the cross on the top of the roll were just the bee's knees. :)  Sooooo good and perfect for these excruciating hot days!

Pizza Bites



Ingredients

My lil man helping roll out the dough

Assembly

Form a Ball

Pizza Bites

Place on Baking Sheet sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese



Perfect size for my Doodle Bugs

Ben and I decided to make stuffed Pizza Bites for dinner. So easy, just need to have your favorite sauce and toppings. We used store bought pizza dough, a jar of marinara, cheese, pepperoni and bacon(Ben's favorite). He helped me assemble these cute little balls and we had some dough leftover to make dessert. I baked the dough into little squares and had some leftover frosting from the cupcakes that I spread on the baked crust then we topped with peanut butter chips. He enjoyed it. If you are wondering where my phia is at she took a late nap and was being cranky. She did come and eat when she saw that there was chocolate pizza for dessert, lol.

Carrot Bundt Cake

Carrots

Carrot Cake Batter

Frosted with a Cream Cheese Glaze and
Toasted Black Forest Walnuts

Sitting pretty on a Cake Pedastal

Carrot Cake is one of those desserts that is a classic for me, usually you see at least three layers with the decadent cream cheese frosting and then coated with pecans or walnuts on the side. In culinary school we would make marzipan carrots and arrange them on top so that each slice had a carrot on top, so elegant. So this was my take on the classic downgraded to a bundt cake and made a glaze that I spread over the cake. This can be a dessert or breakfast.

Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes



Strawberry Cupcakes

Cupcakes Frosted

I made Strawberry Cupcakes for the non chocolate lover's in my family. Also for my Sophia since she loves strawberries. I tried a new recipe and they turned out good. No jello in this recipe just strawberries so the color is a light pink for both the cake and the frosting. I got mixed review's though. You can taste the strawberry but the color of the cake might not be pink enough for some. The jello recipes add that pinker hue you cant really get from just fresh strawberries. Same with the frosting I would have to add food coloring if I want it to be pinker because adding more strawberries would just change the texture of the frosting too much. I haven't come up with a strawberry cake recipe that I really like, so the search continues.................. These did taste good though just not strawberry enough for me.

Double Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes

My Chocolate Cake Batter

Cupcakes Baking

Cupcakes Baked

Cupcakes with Double Chocolate Frosting Swirl

Looking Fabulous all in line!

Almost too Pretty to eat..... Almost. : )

 I made these cupcakes for the chocolate lover's in my family. This is the perfect chocolate cake recipe, and the coffee in the batter brings out the chocolate. I made a dark chocolate frosting and a cocoa based frosting to create the two toned swirl. I tried for a three toned swirl but my bag broke so I just went with two this time. They turned out well and I topped with a chocolate covered expresso bean. Oh and below is a smashed cupcake on a plate, advice from my bro-in-law that he heard this was the best way to eat a cupcake. If was good advice because you get frosting with every bite of cake this way. But the point of a cupcake is that is is supposed to be eaten with out a plate or utensils, lol. But if if you are at home you should try this. The kids would have a fun time with it.

Cupcake Smash~ To get frosting and cake in every bite