Are you ready to party? It’s almost time for one of my favorite low-key holidays!
That’s right, kids. July 4th is just around the corner, so I’m dipping. Strawberries, that is. Honestly, is anything better than a dipped strawberry?
Don’t answer that question. Instead, think about how beautiful these will be at your holiday celebration, and how fancy they look. Especially think about how little time they take to make! About .02 seconds, really.
Sugar high forthcoming. Be warned!
With Memorial Day coming, everyone’s making barbecue and picnic plans. Well, everyone except me. I tend to forget all about it until the last second or just shrug it off, figuring that if worse comes to worst, I’ll just throw some meat on a fire and be done with it.
But for you lovely people who plan ahead, think about this delightful no-bake dessert for your get-together time. These bars are made of egg-free Oreo cookie dough and topped with thick white chocolate fudge.
Not much is more annoying than spending a ton of money on something you could have made on your own for cheap.
There’s the convenience factor, sure. Paying someone to make dessert is a lot easier than rolling up your sleeves and doing it on your own, but on Valentine’s Day, we like to pull out all the stops and make the treats ourselves. So why pay a lot of money to an expensive chocolate shop for dipped Oreos?
These are just as good as the ones you pay for, if not better. See, they’re made with Double Stuf Oreos, which have more filling. They’re also blinged out for Valentine’s Day. There’s a video tutorial below, so enjoy!
Oh, bark. How I love you.
This is the chocolate month, the time when everyone forgets their healthy resolutions, turning straight to the chocolate lava cake. It’s only human nature. We can’t be deprived for extended periods.
So if you’re gonna do the chocolate, make bark. It’s a cheap and easy gift for a loved one, or you can eat it all yourself. I have a video tutorial below plus a step-by-step recipe, so keep reading!
Now that I’m on board with July 4th being around the corner, my kitchen has changed color. We’re looking very patriotic these days. I blame the sprinkles and M & Ms.
About two months ago, I spied patriotic M & Ms at Target. So I bought them, hid them from Kenny, and forgot about them. Until today. If you want a bar that’s as close as possible to white to set off the glory of these holiday-themed M & Ms, this white chocolate base is perfect. It has the consistency of a brownie but it’s made with white chocolate. Holy stars and stripes forever!
It’s Monday morning and I’m a little on the exhausted side. Father’s Day was great, but crazy partying comes at an expense to my beauty sleep.
You see, my husband and I had to have margaritas last night. I knew at the time it wasn’t going to feel good this morning. I knew it. But I went ahead anyway. And I know that my past self isn’t sorry, and my future self won’t be either. But man, my present self is a little ticked off.
On the plus side, we made it through the holiday with a minimum of our usual string of disasters, with the exception of my son getting sick once again. What is it with my child? Does he enjoy curling up on the couch with his stuffed animals and conking out? Actually, that sounds pretty good right about now. Or anytime, really.
Okay, people. I’m posting two recipes this week that involve a crumb topping, and how can I not? Crumb topping is one of the great joys of life. Any baker knows that when crumbs are involved, the ratio of crumbs to cake has to be disproportionate. As in, tons of crumbs. TONS. And just a bit of yummy cake.
Well, these aren’t cake. They’re bars. But really, who cares? It’s all about the crumbs, baby! And this simple recipe has crumbs upon crumbs to the point that they’re spilling out of the pan and straight into your mouth, where they melt as you sigh in ecstasy.
Back when I was a suffering grad school student, I had one saving grace. Right at the edge of my campus there was an independent ice cream store adorably named Cone E. Island. I got into the habit of stopping there before my grueling night classes and getting something creamy and sugary.
Their signature treat wasn’t ice cream, though. It was a giant blondie called a Fantasy Bar. While it came in many flavors, the original was the best. I could always count on that bar to deliver with its giant chunks of caramel, chocolate and white chocolate.
About a year ago, I embarked upon a kindness project. It’s not much, but I decided to bake something for each co-worker’s birthday. You see, every time someone did me a random act of kindness, I’d just feel so grateful. And kind of guilty, too, because I wasn’t doing enough back. So the birthday baking is my way of showing appreciation for the people I work with, but it’s also my way of making them feel special.
Anyway, this past week, I messed up. An intern’s birthday somehow slipped through my fingers. I promised to make it up to him and he told me that the easiest way to make him happy was to incorporate Oreos into whatever I was baking.
I’ve noticed something about Oreos: they have the same fanatic fan base that my beloved peanut butter cups do. And like any loyal fan, Oreo devotees accept no generic substitutes. It has to be Oreo or bust. I understand completely. I accept no peanut butter cup that’s not a Reese’s.
