My children are spoiled. Every time they return from any kind of trip -- camping, time with their grandparents, etc. -- they expect a new treat. I oblige. This time... homemade ice cream sandwiches made with peanut butter cookies, store-bought ice cream and mini chocolate chips. They were actually not that hard to make, considering how amazingly yummy they were!!

What You Need:
For the Peanut Butter Cookies:
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter

2-3 cups Store-bought or homemade ice cream
1-2 cups mini chocolate chips, chopped peanuts, rainbow sprinkles, mini m&ms, etc.

Yield: 5-6 2-3" ice cream sandwiches
Click Here to Read More>>

Baseball season is coming to an end... yet again.
This year, I decided to make some jersey cookies for my boys and their teammates.

The same weekend, my kiddos came back from Boy Scout camp. So, I made them some Scout Uniform Shirt cookies, as well.

I made all of these cookies using my favorite Chocolate Cookie Recipe and Royal Icing.

I made the t-shirt shape using a onesie cookie cutter that I purchased for a baby shower a few years ago, and just cut off the bottom part.
My photos for this post are lacking, I'm sorry about that. But the raspberry curd was perfect for a special cake I made for my director's retirement cake.

It is perfectly tart, rich, and maybe most fantastic, it's raspberry-- without the seeds!

What You Need:
12 oz. frozen raspberries, defrosted (or fresh)
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
3/4 cup sugar
2  Tbsp. lemon juice
7 egg yolks

Yield: 2 1/2 cups
adapted from Good Life Eats. (I wanted it to be thicker than the batch I made following her recipe, so I increased the butter and egg.)


Click Here to Read More>>

This Mother's Day weekend, I get the pleasure of spending my special day at a baseball tournament. So, I decided to make some "Baseball Flowers" for myself and the other Baseball Moms. I wish I'd had better flower cookie cutters, but these will do.

(I also did make a dozen regular baseballs for the players because, well, I want the moms to actually get to eat their cookies.)

If you're interested in making something similar... here are recipes and tutorials:
Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies
Royal Icing Recipe
Baseball Cookies

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Momma's out there!
We LOVE everything Harry Potter in our house. So, for my boys 12th birthday, we went to a Harry Potter Trivia Night with some friends. I made these easy Sorting Hat Cupcakes to bring along.


What You Need:
Cupcakes
   (I used boxed mix and 'doctored them up' to taste a little better.)
Filling:
  1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
  2 cups half & half
Rich Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Click Here to Read More>>