Not yo' mama's sugar cookies (MY Mama's sugar cookies)

I am a sugar cookie snob. While most people enjoy the Lofthouse sugar cookies you can pick up at any grocery store, I refuse to consume them. They taste like chalk with some sugar in the mix... lacking flavor and in my opinion, just plain gross! This may be because like much of the food I enjoy, I was spoiled by my Mom with delicious, flavorful, beautiful sugar cookies. Different shapes and frosting colors to coordinate with each holiday... pink hearts, green four leaf clovers and Christmas trees, orange pumpkins... mmmmm

I have had a mad craving for her sugar cookies the last few weeks, rather than relying on her to satisfy my craving, I gave her impressive sugar cookie recipe a whirl. I eat one with each meal: breakfast, lunch and dinner... and lets not lie, maybe more than one. :) I think they're calorie-free actually.

Cream butter. Blend in egg, sugar, vanilla and lemon.

Add sour cream (YUMM), flour, baking soda and salt.

Cool cookie dough in the fridge for at least one hour.

Flour your surface well and roll doll out... be sure to not roll the

dough too thin - once you bite into a thicker cookie, you'll know why!

Mix cream cheese and butter... add powder sugar and food coloring of your choice!

Cool cookies, frost and eat a dozen!

AMAzing Sugar Cookies:

1/2 cup butter (cream)

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. lemon extract *

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1/2 cup sour cream *

3 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cool cookie dough in the fridge for one hour

Bake at 375 for 8 - 10 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 package cream cheese

2 tbls. butter

2 tsp. lemon extract *

2 + cups powdered sugar (until you reach the right consistency)

* denotes ingredients that make this recipe OH-SO-Delicious!

Besides the incredible flavor, these cookies are super easy to prepare! And, while I am not one to indulge in cookie dough, Mikey is, and he LOVED this cookie dough! With sour cream, lemon and vanilla in the mix - how can you not?!

ENJOY

A perfect fall menu

With an intense craving for soup and something new, I thought I would try a Porcupine-inspired dish: potato beer cheese soup. It turned out even better than I expected. I added potatoes to a beer cheese soup recipe I found online, made a few minor adjustments and served this magical treat in a bread bowl. It was DELISH! Mikey and my sister Emily also raved about (Emily told me it was thee best soup she had ever had, and she gets to enjoy my Mom's cooking regularly, so this is a BIG deal).

I am normally so GOOD about taking pics of the entire process, but this time I was NOT... next time!

Click here for the link to the recipe I used.
modifications:
I did not top with popcorn
I sauteed my veggies in butter until they were soft
I added potatoes... I peeled and boiled them, diced them and added them to my veggie mix
I used two cups of 1/2 & 1/2 and 2 cups of 1% milk
I used one bottle of Blue Moon (thee perfect choice)
I added a little extra chicken boullion, making it even more flavorful and some extra hot sauce and cayenne pepper

Served in a bread bowl... a recipe that will now be in regular rotation!


Dessert: Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies... to DIE for!


ENJOY!!!!

Ah yeah... that's my jam

So, if you have ever contemplated making freezer jam and have not {yet} to avoid the hassle... just make it! I have been neglecting Mikey and I's craving for homemade freezer jam for at least a year, until now. I mean, I am sure there are more intense and gourmet ways to do this, but I just went with a jam packet, a few packages of fresh strawberries and voila! So simple and SO delicious.
Being my first time, I just picked up the package of jars that looked nice and big, not taking into consideration the fact that the minimum of five jars I planned to produce turned into 3.5 x-large jars of jam.

A Reese's Birthday Delight

I wanted to prepare dessert for my Dad's birthday celebration, and most of all I wanted to try something new. While I love to cook, and {like to think I am pretty good at it} I am awful at baking. I think I lack the patience and 'exact measurement' skills to be a successful baker. In my quest to show up with something tasty, beautiful and from "full scratch" (quote by Mikey) I discovered a gem of a recipe.
Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes...
I found this recipe and directions on Hoosier Homemade.
These cupcakes were to die for! They were extremely rich and dense- but a fabulous treat!

Chocolate cupcakes:
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
4 large Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, cut into small pieces

I am not a batter taster, but I had to taste this one... and it was to DIE for!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper cupcake liners. In a separate bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Gently fold in Peanut Butter Cup pieces.

Divide batter into cupcake liners. Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Because the batter was SO thick and dense, it did not rise like the boxed-cake mixes I am used to so I filled the cupcake liners more than I normally would once I stuck the second batch in the oven.

Peanut butter frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup Peanut Butter
3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 - 2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

(I ended up adding almost a cup more powdered sugar and more milk until it was totally fluffy. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract).

Directions:
Cream butter and Peanut Butter until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, alternating with a little milk at a time. Beat well, until desired consistency.

This frosting is like WHOA... it is the inside of a Reese's!

Frost cupcakes and garnish with a Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Two hours later, I present to you...
my first entirely from scratch AND successful dessert.

Because it is uber rich, I served it with a vanilla bean ice cream. It was a total hit!

Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo... the celebration Mexico's heritage and pride {and my own}. In honor of this glorious day, I thought I would post pics of Machel's Mexican Casserole that I posted about a while ago. I had a special request from Kelly Judd asking for photographs! I made this on Monday, and Mikey and I both had leftovers for our lunches on Tuesday.

Always a favorite and always super delish!

Introducing... the ingredients. (This time I added some "fake" Spanish rice because I felt like; makes it a bit more heavy but that much more delicious).

We have tortillas (the kind you bake yourself from Costco), a mix of corn, black beans and peppers, re-fried beans, chicken and rice.




Cilantro and avocado... two powerful ingredients that totally make this dish! I change up what I do pretty much every time, but I always use these two key ingredients!

Now that everything is prepared, let the layering begin... I always start with #1: the beans, #2: the cheese and then layer on from there as you wish!

Last but not least, the rice!
I make a second layer and top that one off with one last tortilla, three tortillas total.
I let it all melt together for 5 minutes or so...
Voila! Sometimes it turns out prettier than others. Despite the looks, this simple and quick delight is sure to satisfy.

Margarita por favor?