Tag: Holidays

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Cake

Valentine’s Day Chocolate Cake

Today we have a guest post by Kelly’s friend, Anna! She made this amazing Valentine’s Chocolate Cake for her boyfriend over the weekend and it was a hit! Anna and Kelly were in the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority together at USC. She currently lives in Seattle, 

German Chocolate Cake Cookies

German Chocolate Cake Cookies

I’m going to preface by saying that I have never had German Chocolate Cake so I can’t say how much these taste like an actual German Chocolate Cake but I can say they are delicious! And super easy to make too! It’s no secret how 

Sweet Potato Crisp

Sweet Potato Crisp

I avoided sweet potatoes like the plague when I was younger. I couldn’t get past the marshmallow topping and the orange color. They just weren’t for me.
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That was until my cousin transformed them into an AMAZING dessert. Or side dish. Really it could go both ways.

We had a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner with my bible study a few weeks ago and I signed up to bring the sweet potatoes.
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These did not disappoint.

I couldn’t get my cousin’s recipe in time so I adapted these from my hero, The Pioneer Woman. Her recipes never steer me wrong. With the addition of coconut and a hint of cinnamon, these are bound to be a regular on your dinner table. Enjoy!
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-Kelly

Ingredients

  • 4 medium sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp salt
  • sprinkle of cinnamon
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 3/4 sticks butter, softened
  • 2 cups coconut

Directions:

Wash 4 medium sweet potatoes and bake them in a 375-degree oven until fork tender, about 30-35 minutes.

When they are finished cooking slice them open and scrape out the flesh into a large bowl. I pulsed them in a blender until they were mostly smooth but slightly chunky before I went to the next step

Add granulated sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla extract, salt, sprinkle of cinnamon and 1 cup coconut. Mix until well incorporated.

For the Topping:
In a separate bowl, add brown sugar, pecans, flour, 1 cup coconut and 2 sticks of softened butter. Mash together until well incorporated.

Spread the sweet potato mixture into a regular baking dish (that has been coated with cooking spray) and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

 

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Chocolate Covered Oreos

It’s hard to believe that Halloween is tomorrow. I feel like I’m just now getting used to it being 2015 and we only have two months left in the year! I love Halloween! And although I can’t remember the last time I actually dressed up for 

Pomegranate Raspberry Fizz

Pomegranate Raspberry Fizz

Have I mentioned I’m sad the holidays are over? If not, you could come over and see my decorations still up. I have to take them down in phases or else I think I would go into some soft of post-Christmas-depression. To keep the holiday 

Royal Icing, Part II

Royal Icing, Part II

005Believe it or not but I have never made homemade sugar cookies before. I’ve decorated homemade sugar cookies as a kid and I’ve eaten a ton around the holidays, but I have never made them myself. This past weekend I decided it was time to change that. And what better way to frost homemade sugar cookies than with royal icing??
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I used Steph’s Sugar Cookie recipe and it is seriously the best!! When I visited Steph in Boise for New Year’s two years ago, she made these cookies and I ate one with every meal. No joke, I had a sugar cookie at every meal. Sometimes two… But it was vacation and New Year’s and we went to Bikram Yoga one day when I was there so it was totally acceptable 😉
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Last year she posted a Royal Icing recipe using egg whites. Since I’ve never made sugar cookies or royal icing before and Steph has made the egg white version, I though I’d try royal icing using meringue powder. Super easy!!
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I had visions of my cookies looking perfectly frosted and ready to be sold at the Starbucks counter. Unfortunately the presentation needs a little work. I was too impatient to make them bakery worthy this time but now that I have a great royal icing recipe to use, next time they will definitely be photo worthy! Hope you enjoy and Happy Holidays 🙂

-Kelly

Ingredients:

  • 3 tbls meringue powder
  • 4 cups powder sugar
  • 6 tbls spoons water

Directions:

  1. Mix all ingredients until well combined. Add more water if too thick.