Simple Ham Salad

    My family always ends up with left overs after holidays. This is the way my mom and her mom have been making ham salad since forever. It's really ridiculously simple and a great idea for all of that leftover ham from Sunday's Easter dinner! My mom has one of those meat grinders that attach to the counter top. It's the kind that you hand crank and the meat comes out like ground hamburg. Super useful when making ham salad. Don't worry, if you don't have one of these wonderful meat grinders, you can always pulse your leftover ham a few times in your food processor and get almost the same result.

Simple Ham Salad

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of ground ham

- 1/4 cup of mayonnaise

- 2 tablespoons of sweet pickle relish

    Mix it all together and serve chilled. It's great as a sandwich or serve as an appetizer on crackers.

No-Bake Pistachio Cheesecake

    I totally grew up loving pistachio pudding! I remember my mom making it in her ice cream sundae glasses. You know, the ones that you can never quite get to the very bottom with a spoon so you're forced to use your fingers to get the last little bit out of the bottom. You wouldn't believe how surprisingly light this dessert is! Did I mention that it's ridiculously easy to make? Well, it's ridiculously easy to make.

No-Bake Pistachio Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the crust:

- 1 and 1/2 cup of crushed graham cracker crumbs

- 6 tablespoons of melted butter

- 1/3 cup of sugar

For the filling:

- 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened

- 1 and 1/4 cup of milk, divided

- 1 (3.4 ounce) package of dry pistachio pudding mix 

- 1 (8 ounce) tub of Cool Whip, divided

    Mix together the ingredients for the crust and firmly pack into the bottom and up the sides of a greased 8 inch spring form cake pan and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, whip together the softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup of milk until creamy. Add the remaining cup of milk and the pudding mix, whip until completely combined. Into this pudding mixture, fold in 1 and 1/2 cup of Cool Whip. Once folded in completely, pour into prepared crust and chill for at least 4 hours. I recommend preparing it the evening before and letting it set overnight. Before serving, top with remaining Cool Whip and enjoy!

Carrot Cake Fudge

    Yes, you read that correctly. It's fudge that tastes like carrot cake! Talk about a rich and indulgent treat! This recipe made so much fudge that I had enough to bring some to both of my jobs this week! Where it has received rave reviews from my coworkers by the way! You're going to love it!

Carrot Cake Fudge

Ingredients:

For the bottom layer:

- 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

- 2 tablespoons of butter

- 18 ounces of white chocolate (9 squares of almond bark or 3 cups of chips)

- 1 cup of dry boxed carrot cake mix

- 1/2 cup of marshmallow fluff

For the top layer:

- 1 (14 ounce) can of cream cheese frosting, divided

- 6 ounces of white chocolate ( 3 squares of almond bark or 1 cup chips)

- 2 tablespoons of marshmallow fluff

- food coloring

    In a large heavy bottomed sauce pan melt together the butter, 18 ounces of white chocolate and the sweetened condensed milk. Stir until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup of the cake mix. Once thoroughly combined, add the other 1/2 cup. Once that is combined, stir in 1/2 cup of marshmallow fluff. Mix well and pour into a parchment lined 9x13 baking dish. Let the bottom layer set in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. While it's setting, make the top layer. Clean out the sauce pan you just used and melt the 6 ounces of white chocolate over medium-low heat. Once melted, mix in 3/4 cup of the cream cheese frosting and 2 tablespoons of marshmallow fluff. Smooth that mixture on top of the bottom layer and place in the refrigerator to chill for an hour or two. Divide the remaining cream cheese in half. Color half of it orange and half of it green. Slice the fudge into bite sized pieces and pipe little frosting carrots on top.

Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

    It's finally Easter weekend! If your family is anything like mine, you love to wake up to treats on Easter morning. I made a lot of our treats this year. Reese's eggs are a definite favorite! These homemade peanut butter eggs are pretty close to the real thing! 

Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter, softened

- 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter

- 1 cup of confectioners sugar

- 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs

- 1 (12 ounce) package of chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

    Mix together the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and graham cracker crumbs until completely combined. It should be crumbly, but not dry. Shape tablespoon scoops of the dough into eggs shapes and place them in the freezer for 10 minutes. Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler. Remove the peanut butter eggs from the freezer and dip them into the chocolate, let them set, and enjoy.

Coconut Macaroon Nest Cookies

    It's finally Easter week! The weather has been beautiful here in Florida and we are celebrating the first week of spring time! Instead of youth group this week, the kids got to participate in an Easter egg hunt! I made a couple of treats to go with their sandwiches last night. These little coconut macaroon cookies look like little bird nests! Topped with little Cadbury chocolate eggs, they are a perfect Easter treat!

Coconut Macaroon Nest Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 (14 ounce) package of shredded sweetened coconut 

- 5 large egg whites

- 1/3 cup of sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract 

- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- pinch of salt

- Cadbury chocolate eggs or jellybeans for topping

    Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine the coconut, egg whites, and sugar. Heat, stirring constantly for about 10 minutes. Then, stir in the almond and vanilla extracts. Spray two mini muffin tins with non-stick baking spray. Scoop a little less than a tablespoon into each cup. Press the center down to form the nest shape. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Remove, top with eggs, and enjoy.

Crunchy Caramel Popcorn

    Last weekend I attended the cutest baby shower for my friend Amanda! We had a lovely day celebrating with her! She sent us home with so many goodies! My favorite was the homemade caramel popcorn, I knew I had to attempt recreating it! I set out with my dad's popcorn maker and a vision. It starts of similar to making my peanut brittle recipe! The only difference is you're going to be baking and mixing a lot. You're going to love how crisp and buttery this recipe comes out!

Crunchy Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients:

- 4 quarts (16 cups) of popped popcorn

- 1 cup of salted peanuts

- 1 cup of packed brown sugar

- 1/2 cup of light corn syrup

- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

    Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Spread the popcorn and peanuts out on prepared baking sheet and place in the oven. In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once rapid boil begins, stop stirring and time 5 minutes. Remove the popcorn from the oven. Once timer goes off, quickly stir in the baking soda and vanilla to the sugar mixture. Once thoroughly combined, pour the mixture evenly over the popcorn and peanuts. Stir and then place into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes, removing from the oven every 15 minutes to gently stir. Once finished, remove from the oven, stir one last time, and let cool. Break apart and enjoy!

Celebrating with the beautiful mommy to-be! 

Pot O'Gold Cookie Cups

    Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I knew I had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow when I stumbled upon this cookie cup idea! The kids at church loved them and devoured them all. They are almost like brownies that I stuffed with mini Reese's cups. Amazing! You're going to love this recipe. You could even experiment with filling them with different candy, I almost put mini Butterfingers in them. I hope everyone has a fun and safe day. Someone please drink a couple of green beers for me! 

Pot O'Gold Cookie Cups

Ingredients:

- 1/3 cup of butter, at room temperature

- 1/3 cup of vegetable shortening

- 3/4 cup of granulated sugar

- 1/4 cup of brown sugar

- 1 large egg

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1 and 1/3 cup of flour

- 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 24 unwrapped mini Reese's cups

- 1 and 1/2 cup of vanilla frosting, store bought or homemade

- food coloring

- 24 Airhead Extremes or any gummy rainbow candy really

    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and shortening until smooth. Then, beat in the sugars, egg, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Once combined, take a tablespoon cookie scoop and scoop the dough into a well greased mini muffin pan. It should be distributed evenly. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven. Act swiftly and press each Reese's cup into the center of each cookie cup before they start to cool. You want to do this as fast as you can before they start to get firm. Now let them cool completely. Next, color your frosting gold, pipe it over each cookie cup, and top with an Airhead Extreme. Easy stuff!

Guinness Chocolate Cake with Bailey's Buttercream

    Stephen finally came home from his deployment last week! Talk about one excited family! In true Irish fashion, I made him a welcome home cake with Guinness beer! It seemed appropriate the weekend before St. Patrick's Day. This cake is so moist! I was super happy with the way it came out. That Bailey's Buttercream is to die for! I decided to dice up some strawberries and layer them with the frosting, it was an excellent idea!

Guinness Chocolate Cake with Bailey's Buttercream

Ingredients:

  For the cake:

- 3/4 cup of butter

- 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

- 1 cup of Guinness Extra Stout

- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

- 1 and 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1 and 1/4 cup of flour 

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 2 eggs

  For the buttercream:

- 1 and 1/2 cup butter, softened

- 3 and 3/4 cups of confectioners sugar 

- 3 tablespoons of Bailey's Irish Cream 

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter. Once completely melted, whisk in the cocoa, Guinness, and vanilla extract. Set it aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and baking soda. Pour the cooled Guinness mixture over the dry ingredients and whisk in the eggs, mixing until smooth. Pour the batter into two well greased 8 inch cake pans. Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set the cakes aside and let them cool completely. To make the buttercream, beat the butter with a hand mixer on high until white and fluffy. Then, beat in the sugar. Once combined, add the Bailey's until you reach your desired consistency. Frost the cake, refrigerate, and enjoy!

Welcome Home Stephen!! One extremely happy family!

Finished product!