I had a wonderful group of ladies over tonight. We enjoyed sharing our ideas, passions and experiences and talked about next year’s MOPS group. We also had food. Lots of it. For those who were there, thank you for your servant’s hearts, enthusiasm, questions and support. I am so excited to take this journey with you next year! Here’s the round-up of treats so you don’t have to go searching all over Bakerlady-land to find them. 
Meringues sometimes seem a bit daunting, but with a couple of tips you can whip out a batch of melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness that are puffy clouds of perfection. I always make these after baking cookies it seems. I just cannot bring myself to waste the egg whites when some other recipe has only used the yolks. Poor little whites – getting left out of delicious cookies. Besides, mother’s day is just around the corner and my Celiac sister (I know, that’s a horrible name to give her…she’s so much more than that. It’s just an easy distinction since only one of my three sisters lives gluten-free.) will be here for momma’s day lunch. She probably won’t be able to eat whatever the guys cook up as a dessert (yes, the guys are in charge on Mother’s Day). So I’ll just keep some of these in a baggie for her until Sunday. Continue reading
Do not confuse this recipe with banana bread. They are not the same. These cupcakes are light and sweet with major banana flavor. Banana bread (delicious too) is much more dense and not nearly the sweet factor of these. I love the vanilla buttercream on these cupcakes because you get the flecks of dark in the cupcake from the banana and then the flecks of vanilla bean in the frosting. Delightful! Continue reading
I’m always looking for the perfect frosting recipe. I may have found it. I knew I needed to make this one when I read in a description that it tasted like melted vanilla bean ice cream. Oh baby. I tweaked it a little, using cream instead of milk (which I always do). Guess what. It totally tastes like the last couple melty spoonfuls from a big serving of my favorite frozen treat. My kids and I licked the bowl clean and I kind of want to make another batch just to have around. Piped on top of my Banana Cupcakes – it even looks like soft serve. Yum yum. Continue reading
Everything sounds better when you say it in French. In English this recipes is just Raspberry Chocolate Croissants. Yeah. I like the French version way more too. Raspberry and chocolate is a divine combination. Wrap puff pastry around it and you’ve got a guaranteed winner. A little sprinkle of powdered sugar and folks will think these came straight from Champs Elysees.
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It’s been about 6 hours since I had this delicious soup for dinner. I haven’t stopped thinking about how awesome it was. Perfectly blended spices and rich chicken flavor combine in a soup that (in my humble opinion) could best any Mexican restaurant’s version of this south-of-the-border classic. As incredible as it tastes, you’d think it requires slaving away in the kitchen all day. But you’d be wrong. Your slow-cooker does all the work. Just throw it in and let the magic happen. The only effort required is the homemade tortilla strips . (sigh) Yes, you could certainly substitute regular corn chips I suppose – but with your soup practically making itself, come on…you can handle making the tortilla strips. Really. You can do it. They are the perfect crunchy topper to an absolutely fantastic meal. Happy Cinco de Mayo! I know, I’m a few days early…I like to stretch out celebrations as much as possible! Continue reading
Potatoes are quite possibly the thing I would eat forever if I could. Well, that and cheese. This soup has both. There is just about nothing more comforting to me than a steaming bowl of potato soup. I love it. This version has enough substance to satisfy even the heartiest eaters. And, it includes bacon. In the soup, and on top. If that weren’t enough for you – the veggies of the soup take a dunk in bacon fat before being added to the soup. Yeah. It’s good. Continue reading
The only biscotti cookie I’ve ever made is my mom’s Twice Baked Walnut Cookies. Biscotti are fantastic and since I’m having a little tea/coffee get together tomorrow night, I thought a hard biscuity cookie would be a nice addition to my table. But, I wanted to try something new. I updated a typically bland cookie by including cranberries and white chocolate. I also threw in some orange and almond flavors to make it a little brighter and springy. Continue reading
It is practically a requirement to eat egg salad sandwiches the day after Easter. Or for an entire week after Easter if you have lots of kids who collected gads of eggs. Funny story actually, at my parents yesterday there were LOADS of kids scurrying about collecting eggs (we have a big family). Candy filled, some with money in them, bubble eggs, confetti eggs – we had the whole spectrum of oval-shaped delights. As I was watching kids eagerly scooping them up and into their baskets, I saw one little girl pick up a “real” egg. When she realized it wasn’t chocolate coated, sugary or filled with a treat/toy – she turned up her nose in disgust and put it right back where she found it. It was cause for great amusement among the adults who witnessed it, but made me a little sad that our kids don’t realize the simple joy of an egg anymore. Eggs are like the perfect food. In addition to being a great source of protein, the hard-boiled ones are easily transportable and delicious. I’m glad my munchkins brought home a bunch of them for me yesterday so I could make this salad for our sandwiches today. Continue reading
Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One a’ penny, two a’ penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One a’ penny,
Two a’ penny,
Hot Cross Buns!
That’s right. The girls get them first! Lightly spiced, filled with flavor and pretty much the one exception to my raisins in bread rule – I love hot cross buns on Good Friday. These rolls are perfect warm from the oven with a little butter and a cup of tea. I love the simple reminder on top of these rolls of the cross. The sacrifice paid for me. Thank you Jesus!
