French Chocolate fruit bark

I hope all of you had a peaceful Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving because you can relax and eat!

Where Christmas is fun, it can get very hectic.. But, I have a great dessert that is sure to please all of your party guests!

This  French Chocolate bark is sure to dress up your Holiday dessert table. It is so beautiful and colorful, you won't believe how easy it is to make.

It is a blend of bittersweet chocolate and semi sweet chocolate and topped with chopped apricots, dried cranberries and nuts.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me! I am taking the day off from baking, Thanksgiving wore me out! So, I thought I would post my favorite store bought cake in the world! I always get it for my kids baptisms and special occasions when I'm buying a cake. It is from Stella's Bakery in Rockville.

 It is a Dark and White Chocolate mousse.. dark chocolate cake, yellow cake, dark chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse, and the icing is a white chocolate ganache  with marzipan

It is delicious!

A few things to try for Thanksgiving

Cranberry Chutney with Brie

Pumpkin Pie Fruit Dip

Squash Casserole

Turkey day is day's away and I thought I would post a few good recipes! If you are looking for an appetizer, I have a very easy one that combined fresh cranberries and store bought chutney. I serve this over table water crackers and Brie, or any soft cheese will do.

If you love my toffee fruit dip, you will also love my Pumpkin fruit dip! I sprinkle the apple slices with cinnamon sugar for added "YUM".. .

Finally, a side dish that you may want to try... I know everyone is faithful to the good old "green bean casserole," but in addition to that, you could try my squash casserole.

I wish all of you a beautiful and peaceful Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

The Best part of waking up Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon whipped topping

With November winding down and Thanksgiving right around the corner, it is my last few weeks of preparing things with pumpkin... I am so glad I did not start baking with pumpkin till October, I did this on purpose because I can go a little Pumpkin crazy!
I just love it so much and to me, It's the BEST part about fall baking! I know I have said that 100 times. But, in the next few weeks, you better believe their will be some pumpkin recipes coming your way!

Okay, about the pancakes! WOW! They were so delicious and I made a huge batch and froze some so that the kids can have a delicious breakfast on thanksgiving morning.

I also made homemade cinnamon whipped cream and sprinkled them with pecans. My kids could not get enough, and of course they were fighting over the whipped cream...

Cinnamon Pudding Cake

This cake is November's cake in the Cake Slice baking group. It is a cinnamon pudding cake, it has no eggs in it and no pudding:) I thought it would be dry, however it was very moist. The caramel topping is poured on top and it seeps to the bottom while baking creating a oohey gooey thick brown sugar topping when the cake is flipped over on the cake stand. I guess that is the pudding like part!

Don't make the mistake I did.. when the sugar mixture is cooling it will get a flim on top, that is the butter creating that film.. do not skim it off like I did!! Just give it a whisk and pour it on...

Maybe this cake will make your Thanksgiving dessert table right next to your pumpkin pie:)

 click here to visit the cake slice blog roll

Calling All Meat and Potato Lovers!

Here I am everyone with a really easy weeknight recipe. I think this is on the TOP of the easy list! Do you have a crock pot? If not, go out right now and buy one! A Crock pot is the next best thing to having a cook in your home, okay maybe not, but who doesn't like to have something cook all day and it's ready for you when you walk in the door. Also, it a one pot shot... one pot to clean! I really could not live with out my crock pot, especially in the winter.

This recipe I got from one of my favorite food blogs called "lick the bowl good". The pictures on this blog are so amazing, they make you drool.

Anyways, give this a try and go get a crock pot, it will be your best friend!

Pumpkin Playdough

We all need to have a easy play-dough recipe on hand when 1. You need to get things done around the house and  need some quiet kiddies 2. The baby is napping and you need quiet kiddies. 3. You just need  NEED  quiet kiddies!! Well, this is an easy recipe that I have been using for all of my mommy days.

It requires no stove top!!! That is key! I never use the recipes that you heat up over the stove they are always a disaster! The pot always burns on the bottom and I have to soak it forever, and scrub, scrub, scrub! This play dough recipe does need some TLC, you do need to play around with the consistency and add more flour and drops of oil as needed.

In going with the fall theme, I decided to make this "pumpkin" color , I have to hand in one batch to preschool, and one for us to keep at home.. for that much needed quite time that every mom needs for
 whatever reason!

Even your husband can handle this one

This recipe is for all of you out there that want really easy recipes. Even that your husband can handle when you have a night out:) No need to order a pizza or pop in chicken nuggets, this recipe is that simple. It take only 3 ingredients! If you can brown some meat, you're good! If your kids like taco meat, you're good! Now get to cookin!

Here we go... Your grocery store list is: 1 lb. ground beef, 1 packet taco seasoning, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 box of Angel Hair pasta or regular spaghetti. Also, some cheddar cheese and sour cream to go on top! How easy is that! Told you:)

Leftover Halloween Candy Cupcakes

Have your kids been eating Halloween candy non- stop? Like most mom's, I had to hide the candy and really put limits on how many they could have for the day. I know how they feel as I have been sneaking the bite size twix and kit kats!

But the kids never eat the 3 musketeers or milky ways and that's where this recipe comes into play. A great way to make a final treat with the candy and then they are gone and out of the house.. or your mouth:)

I made a fudge ganache icing that is to die for! These cupcakes were so moist and tender, and the icing was the best I have ever tasted! You can garnish them with candy corn and chopped milky ways, chopped reeses peanut butter cups etc... however, I just gave them a little sprinkle of orange sugar because I really just wanted the flavor of the icing to come through rather than the taste of chocolate bars!

Pound Cake Snob

 I have a problem. I am a pound cake snob. I can't stand a dry pound cake, and one with a bland, boring flavor. I can tell by looking at it if it is worth tasting! I've tried a lot of recipes and this is by far my favorite and that is why I'm posting it for you to try.   I don't know about you but I love Ricotta cheese. I love the creamy, thick texture, so, I knew this pound cake would be a winner. Let me say that it is amazing! The ricotta cheese gives it the moist dense texture and the orange gives it a great freshness.. with a hint of Amaretto for an almond flavor, you are going never going to make a regular pound cake again and you may even become a pound cake snob just like me! 

Simple and Delicious

Honestly, this is about as easy as it gets. Nobody has an excuse not to make this meal for their family because it is down right easy! I have  a lot going on this week an easy is my middle name.. okay, In reading that back, that doesn't sound too good!! SIMPLE is my middle name this week, as far as dinner is concerned!

My family loves asparagus, so I toss them in olive oil and lemon juice and add a basic ravioli with chicken in a brown butter sauce ( sounds fancy, but I promise It's not) the brown butter just gives it another flavor, it nuttier and rich. I then finish it off with some chunks of Pecorino Romano cheese.

This dinner can also be portioned out small and served as a side dish alongside chicken or fish. Especially if you are using just a cheese ravioli.

Dinner is served in a snap and you didn't slave away in the kitchen!

Happy cooking!