Sprinkle Cake Cookies

For a quick batch of really delicious, colorful cookies, the journey starts with a white cake mix!

Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue!

I love the 4th of  July.  I love the flags, the parades, the picnics and the fireworks!  I love going to the flag ceremony and breakfast at our church and then stopping by our little neighborhood’s 4th celebration, where the kids decorate their bikes and have a parade.  Barbeques with friends, watermelon (with seeds…it’s more fun to spit!) and corn-on-the-cob…yum!   But like everything else, holidays seem to sneak up on me.  No matter how hard I try to stay on top of things, they do, they just do.  It seems like, and not that long ago, we eased into the month of June and now we only have one full day left!  Over a month ago I saw the Authentique Glory Collection and thought, “This will be great  for 4th of July cards!”  Know what?  I got three done…yep, only three.  It’s a good thing that red and navy are good colors to have in your stash!  Sorry…my camera is a little off on the navy…or maybe that’s my PhotoShop skills!  It helps to break up the monotony of my more “girlie” palates.  Banners are a good addition for any birthday card, and the red/white/blue palate is yet another reason to celebrate. What would the 4th be without a few stars and stripes? And the season would not be complete without a rocket bursting…right off the card! Here’s to a slower schedule and more time

Show Off Your Cake Pops!

Cake pops…those little balls of sweetness that are perfect for parties, wedding or picnics…in the shade, of course!  They are one of my favorite treats to make and take to a potluck gathering because they pack a lot of bang in their diminutive packaging.  But you need something to display the little cuties.  I am always on the hunt for ways to display them.  One day, while on Pinterest, I saw a super cute idea here and was doubly excited knowing that I had one of the little suitcases up in my workroom.  Actually, I have them in pink, purple, orange and chartreuse – hooray!  I also have them in different sizes.  Add some florist foam inside, and some coordinating paper shred to hide it and you are ready to display.  If you have different colors of the same size suitcase, you can use the same foam in the different cases. Let the party begin!

Confetti Macaroni Salad

At home, we just call it macaroni salad.  But if you’re used to the macaroni salad you find at the grocery deli, calling it macaroni salad would be way off the mark and just plain old wrong!  I have been known to eat store-bought mac salad (on a rare occasion) if its served to me or I’m desperate, but the heavy use of mayonnaise/salad dressing is  not among my favorite group of flavors.   Which brings me to…Confetti Macaroni Salad! Growing up, our family made macaroni salad from scratch.  The distinctive flavor of the home-made salad dressing is something that I actually crave.  It is heavier than a store-bought salad dressing, but really yummy.  Its got that sweet and sour taste that comes with vinegar and sugar, but the mustard makes it delicious!  I resist the urge to make it all the time because the current residents of our house are my pickiest eaters and unless I get visitors, I find myself eating it all myself…wait!  What’s wrong with that! Confetti Macaroni Salad 1 lb. box of Ditalini (salad macaroni), cooked al dente; rinse and drain 1/2 of a red bell pepper and 1/2 of a green bell pepper, top and seeds removed, and diced – cut a few thin slices from the remaining halves of both for garnishing 1/2 of an red onion, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 large carrot, shredded 1 lb

Smiley Face Pizza – Rhodes Guest Post and A Cookbook Giveaway

It’s almost summer and Mom’s know what that means…children are out of school and looking for something to do…and something to eat.  Why not solve two problems with one solution – Smiley Face Pizza!  This activity can be done with just one child or a whole gaggle of goofballs.  And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make up a few extra…they warm up nicely and will provide a quick snack later!  Click here for complete directions…and a warning! Yep, it’s time again for a new Rhodes Guest Blog Post.  This is always a treat for me because I love Rhodes Bake-N-Serv Bread products and they’re such a versatile ingredient for quick and easy recipes.  Along with a new Rhodes guest post comes another cookbook giveaway.  Here’s what you have to do: Visit the Rhodes Blog and leave a comment…make sure you leave the comment on the Smiley Face Pizza post!  Next, come back here and leave a comment…that’s two chances.  For a third chance, you can also go to the Rhodes Facebook page,  “Like” Rhodes and leave a comment.  Each comment will get your “name in the hat” for an extra chance to win – one comment per visitor per site, please.   The contest will go until noon (Pacific Time) on Saturday, June 23, 2012 and the winner will be announced later that Saturday evening.   Think of all the fun possibilities.  Let your children have a little fun playing with their food!  Thanks for stopping

A Somewhat Different Father’s Day

Happy National Donut Day!

Ah…the donut!  My first remembered experience with donuts is one of the Helm’s Bakery truck that would come around our neighborhood, stop and the driver would open up these wonderful, oak drawers filled with all sorts of delicious flavors of donuts!  As kids, our parents would let us gather the empty Coke bottles from our house and drag them off to the corner 7-11, where we would get a few pennies per bottle.  Back then, you weren’t charged up front for the recycling, but if you turned bottles in, they could reuse the bottle and they paid you for bringing them back.  It was a great way for kids to earn a little pocket change.  Sometimes we would buy 5¢ or 10¢ candy, but other times we would wait until the Helm’s truck came around to blow our “wad”.  If you were lucky, they came down your street earlier in the day – then there were more varieties to choose from.  Was anyone else so lucky?  Not exactly as I remember (I believe the side of the truck was a little different), but what a beautiful sight it was coming down the street! Without getting into the uncertain beginnings of the humble donut, or it’s evolution, let me suffice to say that it is National Doughnut (or Donut) Day(formerly known as Doughnut Day), which was founded by The Salvation Army as a fundraiser to honor the women who served

Reese’s Peanut Butter Krispie Bars

Remember when we used to be satisfied with cupcakes with a little frosting, a chocolate chip cookie or plain old Rice Krispie Treats?  It seems like forever ago.  Now everything seems to need to be “stuffed with”, “topped with” or with something unexpectedly “tossed into” the mix.  With each additional ingredient, those basic, traditional recipes seem to explode with more flavor and are stylishly presented with ingredients that not only compliment the taste, but make them photo-worthy as well. I have a recipe that was passed on to me called Peanut Butter Krispie Bars, but are better known as Scotcheroos.  This recipe  is a bit different, but a not too sweet take on the original, so far with rave reviews! Reese’s Peanut Butter Krispie Bars 1 1/2 cup sugar 1 1/2 cup peanut butter (I prefer creamy) 1 1/2 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup 9 cups Rice Krispie Cereal 12 Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, regular size First, put your peanut butter cups in the freezer.  Measure the Rice Krispies into a large mixing bowl; set aside.  Measure the sugar, peanut butter and Karo into a heavy-bottom 3-qt pan; heat on stove at medium temperature, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves (not gritty) and the mixture is smooth.  While the peanut butter mixture is on the stove, take the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups out of the freezer, unwrap and chop each peanut butter cup into

Pink Lemonade Cake Pops

Cake pops.  My daughter reminded me that I had done cake pops before (here) and that I needed to do something different.  But I couldn’t resist –  I’ve found something really wonderful that I just couldn’t wait to tell you about…Pillsbury Pink Lemonade Cake Mix! I really couldn’t wait because I’m very afraid that this is one of those seasonal things that may not be around for long and these are so yummy and make into such scrumptious cake pops with just the right tang to them.  I felt the need to tell you to be on the look-out for Pillsbury Pink Lemonade Cake Mix and Frosting!  I found mine at Von’s in University City/San Diego, and I bought a few to have on hand for the summer activities that are coming up.  I mean, what goes better with summertime than pink lemonade? Yep…that’s a bite out of the cake pop.  I certainly didn’t have any problem getting Mike to take a bite out of one, as long as he got to finish it when I was done taking pictures.  Keep your eye out for Pillsbury Pink Lemonade Cake Mix and Frosting – delicious!  Just in case you were wondering – no.  Pillsbury did not pay me to rave about this new flavor.  I really like it that much!

Cookie Brownie Candy Bar

  Is it a cookie?  A brownie?  A candy bar?  Well, sort of, if you consider a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup a candy bar.  For the sake of naming the treat, I’m going to consider it such…a Cookie Brownie Candy Bar! I would definitely call this a fully loaded piece of pure delight!   Three treats in one.  I tried, but I couldn’t figure out something cute to call it, so Cookie Brownie Candy Bar will just have to do!   It follows along with one of those new-fangled “hidden” treats inside a treat, and I am especially fond of anything with brownies involved!  Recently, I’ve made the Oreo Stuffed Cupcakes and the Oreo Stuffed Brownie  – those are both delicious!   But that’s one of the hazards of blogging…on to something different. When wandering around the web, I saw where someone had pressed chocolate chip cookie dough in the bottom of a brownie tin, placed a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, top side down, onto the dough and then added brownie batter over the top.  I meant to pin the idea, but I got distracted and then I couldn’t find it.  Don’t you hate it when you do that?  I remembered that it used 1 1/2 pre-cut cookie squares, but I wasn’t sure about the temperature and how long to bake them…blah!  Time for testing!  So here’s the skinny on the not so skinny, but easy to make treat.