weekend Baking Bonanza { cookies, pie .... }

cheesecake, muffins & marshmallows...

OH MY!

Last weekend we had two special Valentine dinners, one Saturday evening and the other on Sunday evening. The Saturday menu was gluten free and included marinated pork loin, homemade honey mustard, cranberry wild rice and spinach salad. I made mini gluten free cheesecake for dessert as well as cookies which were not gluten free. On Sunday our menu was not specifically gluten free and included curry apple chicken {apples cut into hearts}, orzo and tossed salad. I also made a French Silk Pie and also served cookies again. 

Our daughter was home from college over the weekend so on Sunday morning we had a full blown breakfast which included heart shaped Raspberry Streusel Muffins.

While I was at it I decided to try making Homemade Marshmallows. I was hoping to cut them into hearts however none of my heart shaped cookie cutters were the right size and there was no time to run out to buy a new one so...

...I cut them into squares instead.

Have a wonderful day!

Chocolate Chip Cherry Bundt Cake

For Presidents Day I made this easy, 1 bowl scratch bundt cake. Since we already had so much leftover dessert from the weekend I shared most of this cake with friends.

Happy { belated } Presidents Day!

but the greatest of these is LOVE

LOVE...

is patient

is kind

does not envy

is not proud

does not boast

is not rude

is not self seeking

is not easily angered

keeps no records of wrongs

does not delight in evil

rejoices with the truth

always protects

always trusts 

always hopes

always perseveres

LOVE never FAILS

1 Cor 13

Super Bowl 50 { cupcakes & cookies }

For the Super Bowl this year I decided to make hamburger cupcakes, which I also made last summer for my Dad's County Fair Birthday Party, however this time I added French Fries aka: sugar cookies, and served it in DIY hamburger baskets with coordinating french fry pockets. Those took a little extra time but were so cute and tied the theme all together.

The hamburger baskets had the Carolina Panthers Logo on one end and Denver Broncos on the opposite end. The sides had pictures of each team mascot. 

Congratulations 

BRONCOS!

Happy Monday!

Chocolate Chip Cookies { gluten ~ free }

It's highly unusual for our kitchen to be out of treats however once in awhile it does happen as it almost did on Monday night. Our youngest son was looking around the kitchen for something sweet to eat after dinner and just as I was starting to tell him that I hadn't made anything for dessert I remembered.....

...I tried a new gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe last week and decided to save half of the cookie dough in the refrigerator to bake on another day. Well, Monday turned out to be that day! It was already formed into a log so when I took it out to bake all I had to do was slice it into rounds and put it in the oven which was still hot from cooking dinner.

How perfect was that!

Fresh cookies hot from the oven. 

YUM!

The recipe I used was from a new cookbook I was given for Christmas titled The Gluten~Free Table by Jilly Lagasse and Jessie Lagasse Swanson. We all thought the cookies turned out well and tasted almost like regular chocolate chip cookies so I'm sure I will make them again sometime.

Have a sweet Thursday!

Oreo Cupcakes { chocolate }

I was in charge of bringing dessert last night to my Tuesday night ladies group so I made Oreo Cupcakes and a Bundt Cake { not pictured }.

I was quite short on time so was only able to get a few pictures of the cupcakes only. 

You might have noticed that some cupcakes have mini Oreo's on top and others have large Oreo's. That is because I was surprised to find that there was only 1 small bag of mini's left in the pantry so once I ran out of those I used large Oreo's cut in half. I thought they looked fine either way however I did take all matching cupcakes to serve to my friends after dinner. 

Since there were almost no leftovers I would say the desserts

were a hit!

~ Happy Wednesday ~

Oreshki { cookies }

These traditional walnut shaped Russian cookies were made by my friend Olga. We had talked about them last week and yesterday she surprised me with a little bag full of Oreshki { nuts } so that I could try them. They are delicious.

These cookies are baked in a mold and then filled with caramel and chopped nuts. They are a perfect cookie to have with a cup of tea.

Such a fun treat!

Have a wonderful day!