Skinny Deviled Eggs

Happy "eat those hardboiled eggs before they are expired!" Or, 10 days past Easter!

Hope you all were celebrating with family and friends! We had a great brunch with my side of the family, sandwiched with a work weekend.

Esquire and I have both been doing 50+ hour weeks as of late which has made life complicated. Easter at least was lovely :)

And the Skinny Deviled Eggs later in the week? Guilt free bliss.

Sidebar: our eggs were Batman.

Thanksgiving Post 3: Pumpkin Cake

This was my favorite Thanksgiving recipe of all this year. 

Pumpkin Dump Cake. 

I don't know if I would even call it a cake. It was like... pudding pumpkin pie bars. Yet cakey. And with a crumble. It's dessert of joy. It's the crack of pumpkin. 

Look at this. 

What is it about pumpkin that can make me swoon?

And this? This was seriously the best pumpkin thing I have ever tasted. 

I have seen variations of this but, I honestly think this one is the best. Check it out:

http://bugaboominimrme.blogspot.com/2011/10/best-pumpkin-dessert-ever-bar-none-none.html

I used a can of pumpkin and then added a teaspoon of cinnamon instead of pumpkin pie filling.

But I am weird like that.

We liked it anyway. I mean, clearly. We aren't dessert people. I should say:
We didn't like this one either, ha.

 Happy Thanksgiving, a week late :)

Thanksgiving Post 2: Two Ingredient Pumpkin Cake with a Nutella-Chocolate-Swirl

The other recipe I made this Thanksgiving was for my brother for his birthday. 

I WAS going to make him the traditional yellow cake with chocolate icing that he always is so keen on.

But my mom called dibs and made it herself! Upsetting, ha. I already had a cake mix and some of the ingredients and wasn't sure where to go from there.

And then I remembered a pin of mine. 

A cake made with just two ingredients. 

Could it be possible? 

When I had both in my pantry and was flush out of ideas?

Oh yeah. It's possible. 

Check it out: http://pinterest.com/pin/307299764/

I adapted it slightly. I swirled nutella and fudge into the top instead of dealing with icing the cake. I also added a bit of cinnamon to the cake batter for flavor and a bit of gingerale into the batter to make it fluff up. 

Worked like a charm.

We didn't like it at all, ha

Best try and make a better version yourselves and let me know what to do next. 

Thanksgiving Post 1: Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

So, Thanksgiving! I made 3 recipes I found online. This is the first:

Twice baked sweet potatoes. They are crunchy, sweet, and phenomenal.

I really, really can't recommend them enough. My family had the following comments:

"This is the first time I've liked sweet potatoes!" -My lovely sister

"We should do this as a casserole for Christmas! So yummy!" -My super mom

"I gotta be honest... a little too sweet for me" -My honest brother, ha

If you agree with him, perhaps you could take the sugar out of the inside, or reduce it, and keep it just as a crumble on top. 

I enjoyed the sweetness but I only ate half of one, the others had whole potatoes. 

Maybe the awesome was just too overwhelming, ha. 

Make these! Now. Recipe can be found here:

http://www.laurenslatest.com/twice-baked-sweet-potatoes-with-walnut-streusel/

Halloween's Finale Recipes: Heart Attack Hotdogs and Devilish Cupcakes

Halloween is, funnily enough, a holiday my family friggin' loves.

We eat it up. Seriously. The costumes, the kids strolling through our neighborhood, the candy... the entire silliness and scariness of this spooky holiday charms my family completely.

And as if the candy wasn't enough, there is a Luby tradition to make Halloween Hotdogs that is done each and every year.

And they are so scary good, so ghoulishly packed with cholesterol, you may need to try these bad boys as a part of your own Halloween tradition. Or you know, your next Monday night.

What we have here, ladies and gentleman, is a Heart Attack Hotdog. Mouth is watering just thinking about it... 

What that means is, this is an all beef hotdog, sliced open and stuffed with american cheese, wrapped in bacon, and baked into delicious submission.

Yep. Yeppppppppp. Phenomenal. 

Exact recipe directions:

Preheat oven to 350, line a 9 by 13 pan with foil. Slice open each hot dog to the middle (not all the way through the dog, part way.) Stuff with american singles to liking (I usually use half a piece of cheese per hotdog but, I know other family members use a whole slice for optimum cheese gooiness). Wrap in a piece of UNCOOKED bacon. Place in lined pan, bake 45 minutes or until bacon is cooked (red/crackling). 

Allow to cool slightly so you aren't biting into hot grease. Place on toasted bun and top with confiments. I always do mustard, ketchup, relish if I have all 3. Tomatoes, onions, and pickles couldn't hurt.

Yum. Nothing could really. These guys are so rich, such a shock to the system, that once a year is more than enough to make them. I do think they are well worth a try though.

And now, devilish cupakes!

I adore how they look like little murder victims :)

Lots of you were wondering how I made the knives. I wish I could say I did but, I didn't. I bought them in a package at AC Moore. They were sugary and delicious and I am SURE we could replicate them with fondant ourselves. Pretty simple design! 

We COULD make them... but we could also buy them. Which is easier/cheaper, ha. And just as cute.

I used this recipe with chocolate cake/chocolate pudding for the cupcakes and they were a smash! Poor little murder victim cupcakes were also eaten, brutally, on Halloween night. 

I know we have 11 months but, cannot wait for next years Halloween already! 

Luckily, I have far more cheerful holidays to keep me occupied this month :)

Moylan Christmas Cookies

My mother is one of five sisters and, every year, as far back as I can remember, we have Christmas cookies that they each make in bulk (1 cookie type, 5 batches- one per family) and then trade.

It's a fun tradition, and a delicious one, that everyone looks forward to reaping the benefits of once all the sisters swap cookies. I was considering doing one post per cookie but, then I realized, I'd have to wait 7 weeks for all my holiday goodies to be posted! I mean, really, that is MUCH too much time. So, here we have listed below all 6 holiday cookie recipes and then the infamous recipe for Moylan family fudge. Which means a short blog post but a HUGE collection of holiday recipes. All of which are extremely worthwhile.

Make and enjoy :)

Resess Cup Cookies:

-1/2 c butter

-1/2 c brown sugar

-1/2 c sugar

-1/2 cup peanut butter

Mix and add

-1 egg

-½ tsp vanilla

-¾ tsp baking soda

-½ tsp salt

Put into mini muffin tins sprayed with Pam. Bake 8-10 mins at 350. Press peanut butter cup into cookie and let sit at least 10 min.

Toffee Squares:

-1 c brown sugar

-1 c margarine

-1 egg yolk

-1 tsp vanilla

-2 c flour

-6 hershey bars

-Nuts

Cream butter, sugar, add eggs, flour, and vanilla. Spread on a greased sheet, bake at 350 for 20 mins. Spread hershey bars on hot toffee, smear. Tops with nuts while warm and cut (usually we just use a pizza cutter) while warm.

Basic spritz cookies:

for 6-7 dozen.

1/2 cup butter softened

1/4 cup crisco shortening

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

green food dye for tree shape

Mix butter and shortening in large bowl. Cream together on medium high speed.

Add the sugar gradually. Beat till light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add egg and vanilla, mix well using medium speed.

ADD THE GREEN FOOD DYE NOW. BEFORE YOU ADD THE FLOUR.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, THEN add to green butter/sugar mixture in 3 additions,

mixing well after each addition. Dough will be stiff.

Fill your cookie press. Press cookies on ungreased uncoated baking sheet (I never use uncoated, but may try this, would help them

not to stick to the cookie press)

Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes, or until LIGHTLY browned around the edges. Do not overbake (The recipe said that, not me)

Did I mention you need to add the green dye before the flour? Yeah, you will make the mistake once, and then try to add it after the flour, and it will take you about an hour to try to get the color consistent, and by the time you are done you will have green fingers because you got so frustrated trying to mix it, you started using your hands......

Hopefully this will only happen to you once. I was not so lucky, but it was not written in the recipe, so I was supposed to remember,

yeah, right.....

Almond Butter Cookies (Crescents or Snowballs):

2 cups butter

¾ c sugar

1 ½ c finely chopped almonds

3 ½ tsp vanilla

3 ½ c flour

Mix, bake at 350 9-10 min. Roll into balls (as shown above) or crescent shapes. Ungreased pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Pecan Tassies:

-1/2 c butter

-1/2 c margarine

-6 oz cream cheese

-2 cups flour

Mix and chill for 1 hour. Form into approx 48 balls, press into mini-muffin tins.

For filling:

-2 eggs

-1 1/2 c brown sugar

-2 tbls melted butter

-1 1/2 c chopped pecans

-1 tsp vanilla

-Dash of salt

Bake 25-30 min @ 350. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Christmas Thumbprint Cookies:

-3 c soft butter (6 sticks)

1 ½ c brown sugar

6 egg yolks – save the whites

3 tsp vanilla

6 c flour, ½ tsp salt

Mix all except flour/salt. Combine flour/salt together and blend into dough. Roll into balls. Dip in slightly beaten egg whites. Roll in chopped nuts. Bake 5 min, remove and press centers. Bake 8 mins more. Let cool, place jelly in middle.

And last but not least!!!

Moylan Family Fudge:

-2 qt saucepan

-1 stick butter/15 lg marshmallows

(melt together)

-add 2/3 c evaporated milk (5 oz can)

-2 cups sugar

-A sprinkle of salt

Cook on med heat until at a boil. When it bubbles, stir for 5 min. Remove immediately.

Add 1 cup semi sweet chips, 1 tsp vanilla, & 1 cup walnuts.

8X8 greased, let it cool

S'more Brownies = S'mownies

Okay, to be honest, I didn't make these brownies myself.

I've been traveling a lot for work lately. A lot. I was at my place in DC last weekend and won't be back there again until shortly before New Years. For the 2 days I was home, my roomie and I decided to have our pals over so I could see them all before the holidays. We ate a lot, watched Christmas movies.

So, anyway. I didn't make these. I tossed the ingredients on the kitchen counter and set my roommate up with a bowl and asked her to, (pretty please with sugar on top), make these festive brownies for our friends.

Luckily, my roommate is a good sport so, even though the flavor combination and concept seemed flawed, she did as I asked and made these lovely brownies.

Yummmm- look at the toasted marshmallow top. Fabulous.


The basic premise of these treats is creating a basic spin on the s'more. Chocolate, marshmallow, graham crackers. I bought the red and green marshmallows for our holiday party but, next time I think I'll go with the ordinary confections.

For those who are curious, I wasn't baking them myself because I was cleaning and tweaking like a crazy person. Plus I was unpacking, repacking, and trying to scrub every surface within reach at the same time. My roommate was being extremely patient, watching all this and also allowing me to be OCD and arrange, rearrange, and replace to it's original place again without saying a word. While she was baking for me in the kitchen, I was arranging the rest of the food made and gathered on our big Christmas trays.


See? Arranged. I love those napkins, by the by.

Anyway! So, most of those cookies are all store bought. I'll make/post my family's traditional cookies soon- once I have time again and am not being a crazy person.

However, just a small note: the pretzel rods shown are dipped in White Chocolate and rolled in crushed candy canes. Simple and delicious.

Hope you guys have more time then I do. And are having your own fabulous holiday soirees :)

S'mownies
-1 box brownie mix & all the ingredients the box requires
-1 bag miniature marshmallows
-1 box graham crackers.

Make the boxed brownies according to the directions. Grease 9 by 13 pan, line with graham crackers. Pour brownie mix over the top, bake according to box directions or until a tooth pick comes out clean when tested, (approx 25 mins @ 350). Remove from oven, top with marshmallows, spread evenly across the top. Turn oven up to "broil" setting, and "toast" the marshmallow topped treats until golden. It won't take longer then 2 mins so, really, do not walk/look away.

Enjoy & Merry Christmas :)