fresh recipes from the heart...

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.
I love Tiramisu.  Love it.
So, I was thrilled when [...]

Who would have known that giving away decorated cookies would turn into a minor baking crisis? It’s not like I’ve never made cookies before… Far from it!
If you read my blog (or follow me on Twitter), you have probably figured out that I’m not a chef.  I haven’t had any formal culinary training, and most [...]

As soon as I picked up a copy of the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook, I knew I had to try the Chewy Oatmeal Decorating Cookies recipe.  I love to make rolled cutout cookies, but had never tried a recipe with oatmeal.  So, with Valentine’s Day coming up, I decided to make some [...]

Today’s Friday Favorites are a bit different for one very important reason… Today is the 4th annual World Nutella Day!

You all know that I am a Nutella fan (and that I love participating in the Nutella Challenge).  So, you know I couldn’t resist participating in World Nutella Day, which is hosted by Ms. Adventures in [...]

I’m on a mission to find the recipe for the perfect wedding cake! As I’ve mentioned before, I will be making the cake for my brother’s wedding in December.  So, I have started making some sample cupcakes for my brother and future sister-in-law so that they can pick the flavors for their wedding cake!
This will [...]

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.
When I first saw this month’s Daring Bakers challenge, I was really excited! I knew that making [...]

You may remember that I was lucky enough to be selected as one of fifteen Foodbuzz featured publishers headed to NYC for an event to raise awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, sponsored by Electrolux.  The event (which is now less than two weeks away!) is a cake decorating event, and we will be [...]

For me, it’s just not Christmas without gingerbread cookies… Don’t get me wrong – all of the other cookies are great, but they just aren’t the same!
I’ve been making the same gingerbread recipe since I was a kid and I made these with my mom.  They puff up beautifully, making cookies that are soft and great [...]

I don’t know about you, but my holiday baking is now in full swing! For the next week and a half, I will be going nowhere empty handed, so I’ve been baking lots of cookies and making lots of treats so that I always have a wide selection to choose from.
As I was flipping through [...]

As I’ve mentioned before, two of my favorite things about the holidays are making homemade gifts and the peppermint mocha (in the red cups) from Starbucks.  So, this year, when it came time to make some homemade candy for gifts, I used my favorite seasonal hot beverage as inspiration.
These peppermint mocha truffles are pretty quick [...]