Sweet Potato Mash

I just love the melt in you mouth texture and rich sweetness of a sweet potato that his been baked to perfection. That texture takes a good couple of hours to achieve and I don't always think far enough ahead to make my dinnertime sweet potato dreams a reality. So, this week I decided to experiment and see if I could get that melt in you mouth texture in just 30 minutes, start to finish. I am happy to say that while it wasn't the exact same texture and sweetness that you would get from baking, it was a close second! Satisfying enough for a busy weeknight when I'm short on time.

Click here for a video of the whole process!

Ginger Molasses Cookies with Citrus Glaze

 These chewy, buttery, ginger-spiced cookies with a bright citrus glaze are a perfect Fall treat. These little beauties are easy to make and perfect to take to a party or share with a neighbor. These have been a family favorite for the last few years. Click here to see how I make them. Enjoy! 

Mini Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Ganache

This Mini Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling and Chocolate Ganache is the perfect birthday surprise for a friend. It's super moist and full of rich chocolate flavor. Although it looks fancy, it's a simple recipe with simple ingredients that you probably have in your pantry right now. 

"What's For Dinner?" - Zucchini and Ground Beef Skillet with No Knead Bread

What's for dinner? Honestly, I am terrible at meal planning. It's just not how I roll. Sure, I plan if I am having people over and I might think of something a day ahead, but generally,  I am the kind of person who comes up with a dinner plan a couple of hours before it's time to serve dinner. So, I thought it would be fun to share some of the dinners I come up with from time to time.

Tonight, I had a craving for some homemade bread. And what better to go with bread than a veggie centered meal? It's nearing the end of our garden harvest and I happened to have two large zucchini and generous handful of cherry tomatoes to use. Whenever I have fresh zucchini from the garden, my go-to meal is Zucchini and Ground Beef Skillet. It's basically a zucchini boat, but less labor intensive and certainly faster to make. It's light, and summery, and delicious. 

Brown Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My grandma was a wonderful baker. Her house always smelled like fresh baked bread. When you visited grandma, you could count on her having a cookie jar full of a variety of her homemade cookies. You never knew what kind of cookie you would pull out of the cookie jar, but it didn't matter because they were all good. These brown butter oatmeal raisin remind me of Grandma's chewy oatmeal raisin cookies, I think that's why I like them so much. I hope you will too! 

Alex's Minion Birthday Party

My Nephew Alex turned six recently.  His family was busy preparing to move, so my mom and I thought we would help out by throwing him a minion birthday party. It was so much fun!  Here's what we did....(Fair warning, there are *a lot* of pictures)

This our main table

The Girlfriend Clutch

Here's what I've been slowly working on in my spare time over the last week. Thanks Blue Susan Makes for the pattern!!!