Ginger Goodies

If Christmas morning had a smell... it would smell like these cookies.  They are a chewy ginger cookie, and when they're baking... they smell like spicy molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and clove.  If that doesn't say Merry Christmas, I don't know what does!  Plus, before I bake them I roll them in some sparkly raw sugar, so they are just so pretty and festive.  Definitely one of my favorites around the holidays.

Blessings-
LC

Christmas Candy

Everyone has their own Christmas traditions... I happen to have several!  But one that I do every year, and only at Christmas, is make buckeyes.  Now, if you're not from the Midwest, you might not know what those are.  I've heard people call them peanut butter balls, peanut butter bon bons, and other such variations.  But just look at them - they're obviously buckeyes because they look just like the nut that falls from the tree (which we happen to have a lot of back where I'm from).  They're kind of like a homemade Reese's, exact way tastier and much cuter.

I've already made three batches of buckeyes this Christmas season, and I'm anticipating making at least one more.  Those who know me are aware of my Christmas buckeye tradition, so I've been getting many requests for them... and a few lucky folks received little baggies of them from Santa. HoHoHo!

Blessings-
LC

Pun-kin Pie

As promised, here's the pumpkin pie I made for Thanksgiving this year.  Admittedly, it's not the prettiest looking crust I've ever made, but I must say, I think it's the best-TASTING pumpkin pie I've had.  Not to brag of course : ) but it was smooth, and creamy, and had just the right amount of fall spice.  Plus, it's pumpkin, which I've already admitted I love in any form - even though I'm not a pie kinda gal.

Blessings-
LC

Who doesn't love cookie dough?

I have a confession - I LOVE cookie dough.  Like a lot.  I would even dare say I love the raw dough more than the baked cookie in almost every circumstance.  So when I got the idea to make a cookie dough "truffle" I was particularly excited out of my mind.  These have no egg in them, so those of you who are more germ conscious than I am have nothing to fear.  It's a chocolate chip cookie dough base that I put mini chocolate chips in, and then dipped in chocolate.  What could be better?  Not much - that's what I say.  I just had to bite into one so you could see what the inside of one looks like.  It's a tough job, but somebody had to do it, and that's just the kinda gal I am.

Blessings-
LC

Pumpkin Spice

It's that time of year when I don't need an excuse to make something with pumpkin - it's pretty much expected.  I'll be posting pictures of my Thanksgiving pumpkin pie soon, but first I wanted to share another delightful treat I made recently... Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.

Growing up in the Midwest, I had never heard of whoopie pies until college (thanks Rach!).  But my oh my are they delicious!  They're like little hand-held cupcake tops with icing... except mine came out bigger than usual and were a little larger than my palm - oops!  That's what I call a tasty accident.  I just love these pumpkin whoopie pies with sweet cream cheese filling.  They are moist and delicious and I could eat a whole plate of them.  Well, maybe not a whole plate, but they are super tasty and just remind me of all my favorite things about fall.

Blessings-
LC

Savory Scones

These cheddar and chive scones are a departure from my usual sweet treat, but they are soooooooooo good!  They're great with some eggs and bacon, or warm with a little butter.  I have made them before using dill instead of chive, and those were really good too.  But I'm not much of a dill kinda gal, and I must say that I really like the combination of the sharp cheddar, onion-y chive, and buttery scone.  And the best part is there are so many different combinations you could make by using different herbs or types of cheese.

Blessings-
LC

I Heart Cake

I'm a cake girl.  All shapes, sizes, and flavors - it really doesn't matter, I love them all.  Red velvet (with cream cheese frosting of course) happens to be a favorite of mine, and one of my coworkers.  So when his birthday came up recently, I decided to make jumbo-sized cupcakes to take into the office.  Just to give you an idea of scale, I put a cupcake next to a large honeycrisp apple so you can see just how ginormous they were!  They were over twice the size of a regular cupcake, which just means there was twice as much tastiness to enjoy!

Blessings-
LC