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.

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.

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!

Peanut Brittle

    This is the perfect homemade peanut brittle recipe. It takes a bit of patience, you'll have to bring it up to temperature. You are definitely going to need a candy thermometer. I made a batch for my cookie trays this holiday. My one piece of advice, make sure you are storing it in a air tight container. Especially here in Florida, where we have had a very hot and humid December. Be careful or your brittle may not stay very brittle. Everyone loves this stuff though!

Peanut Brittle 

Ingredients:

- 3 cups of sugar

- 1 cup of light corn syrup

- 1 and 1/3 cup of water

- 3 cups of dry roasted salted peanuts, (16 ounce package)

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- 4 tablespoons of butter

- 2 teaspoons of baking soda

- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

    Line a cookie sheet with tin foil, spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray, and set aside. In a large 3.5 quart saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the soft ball stage (about 240 degrees) on a candy thermometer. Stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the peanuts, salt, and butter. Turn up the heat a little bit and cook the mixture to the hard crack stage (about 300 degrees) on a candy thermometer. Stir this occasionally so the peanuts to not scorch on the bottom of the pan. Once you reach the hard crack stage, remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. Pour the mixture out onto the prepared cookie sheet and spread out evenly to desired thickness. Let cool completely, break into pieces, and store in an air tight container. Makes about 2 pounds of candy. 

This is the beautiful caramel color you are going for!

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

    I made a whole lot of cookies this year! Everything from Eggnog Snicker-doodles to Mint Crackles. But, my favorite of all of them were these Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Crinkles! Having a cookie scoop is going to make this recipe so much easier. They not only look good, they taste good too. Good luck trying to save some for your cookie plates!

Rolo Stuffed Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of flour

- 1 cup of cocoa powder

- 2 teaspoons of baking powder

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 10 tablespoons of butter, softened

- 1 and 1/2 cup of sugar

- 2 eggs

- 2 teaspoons of vanilla

- 24 to 30 unwrapped Rolo candies

- 1 cup of powdered sugar

    In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.  In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar. Then, add eggs and vanilla. Once combined, add the flour mixture. Let the dough chill for 1 to 2 hours. If using a cookie scoop, you don't really even need to chill the dough, just scoop and press candy into soft dough in the scoop. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Scoop dough and cover each each Rolo candy. Roll in powdered sugar and place cookies onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool and remove from baking sheet. 

Citrus-Kissed Fig Thumbprint Cookies

    I had never thrown a cookie exchange party. I decided to try this year! We had a small group but we still had a nice time. My friends did such a fabulous job creating some delicious Christmas cookies. My friend Ashley's thumbprint cookies were such a hit! These cookies have a hint of citrus while cradling sweet fig preserves! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us Ashley!

Citrus-Kissed Fig Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

- 1 cup of butter or margarine, softened

- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

- 1 egg

- 2 and 1/2 cups, plus 3 tablespoons of flour

- 1 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar

- 1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest

- 1 teaspoon of grated orange zest

- 1/3 cup of fig preserves

- granulated sugar for garnish

    In a large bowl, mix powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and egg. Stir in the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, lemon, and orange zest. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Using your thumb or handle of wooden spoon, make indentation in the center. Spoon about 1/4 teaspoon preserves into each indentation. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes, remove to a wire rack, and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Cool completely. Store tightly covered at room temperature. 

Magic Coconut Cookies

    Here it is folks! The easiest Christmas cookie recipe ever! It's really just so simple. We went to the Ocala Christmas parade on Saturday! It was really cool to see it from the sidelines. I had never gone to actually watch it, I'd always been performing in the West Port Marching Band. It's been 9 years now, I'm getting old! What?!?!? They were awesome this year! Well, after all of the excitement we decided to go home, bake some Christmas cookies, and finish decorating the tree. It was a nice evening. Ok, back to these cookies! You're going to love them!

Magic Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1 (14 ounce) bag of sweetened shredded coconut

- 1 bag of chocolate chips or I used mini M&M's for a more festive look

- 1/2 cup of chopped pecans

- 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything together. Scoop onto a well greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Let them cool and use a spatula to remove. Enjoy!

My hunnie is the best!

The Christmas tree is finally finished at my parents' house!

Thanksgiving Shepherd's Pie

    Not sure what to do with all of those Thanksgiving leftovers? Make a casserole! Seriously, all I did was layer leftovers in a casserole dish. 

Thanksgiving Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

- leftovers:

    -stuffing

    - mashed potatoes

    - green bean casserole

    - turkey 

    - ham

    - sweet potato casserole

- 3/4 cup of gravy

- 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

- 1/4 cup french fried onions

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Start with stuffing, press it into the bottom of desired sized baking dish. Layer leftovers. Add gravy after the turkey and save the mashed potatoes for last. Top with cheese and onions. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Serve with cranberry sauce.

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm sure by now everyone has a fully belly and happy families! My family eats a huge lunch and then naps in the afternoon. I think I had my first glass of wine at 11am! Even though Thanksgiving is finally here, I've definitely been celebrating for the last two weeks. I wanted to highlight some of my recipes so we can pin them for next year!

Mom's turkey feast!

       After Friendsgiving, I was more than happy to throw in the apron and have mom take over for Thanksgiving. I decided that I was only making two things, the cranberry sauce and the appetizer.

 

Here's my recipe for Cheesy Sausage Puffs!

    I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about my Friendsgiving by now. Too bad! It was freaking awesome! We ate so much and it was my first time making a turkey by myself!

A cheese tray is always sure to keep guests happy!

Here's my recipe for The Best Sweet Potato Casserole!

The turkey is the star of the Thanksgiving dinner!

  

Here's the recipe for my Apple Cider Brined Turkey!

And of course, the most handsome man alive carving my beautiful turkey!

Once you're stuffed with turkey, it's time for the sweets!

I made this pumpkin layer cake for our luncheon at church

and everyone loved it! I even had to send a few recipe emails!

Here's the recipe for my Pumpkin Layered Cake!

Here's the link for my Pecan Pie Bars!

Here's the recipe for my Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles!

I didn't go too crazy with my decorations. I did have a lot of candles though.

Our seat place cards came out pretty cute!

I found the chalk board skewers at Michael's!

Then, I just stuck them in some chocolates!

Lots of candles, pumpkins, and pine-cones!

I hope these recipes and tips have been useful! 

And I hope you are all having an amazing Thanksgiving!

Cheesy Sausage Puffs

   I found a similar recipe months ago and I've been wanting to try these! What better excuse to make them than it being Thanksgiving Day! You really can't go wrong with sausage and crescent rolls. My one piece of advise, make sure you pack these little sausage balls really tightly so they don't fall apart.

Cheesy Sausage Puffs

Ingredients:

- 1 roll of Pillsbury crescent rolls

- 1 cup of finely shredded cheddar cheese

- 1 pound of spicy ground sausage

- 1/2 teaspoon of ground thyme

- salt and pepper to taste

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. In a skillet, lightly brown the sausage. Sprinkle the meat with the thyme, salt, and pepper while cooking. Make sure to break it up really good into crumbles. Once the sausage has cooked most of the way through, drain the fat and place the meat into a bowl. With a pizza slicer, slice the crescent rolls into tiny pieces. Add the cheese and crescent roll pieces to the meat. Mix with your hands really well. Form the mixture into tight little balls and place on prepared baking sheet. You can kinda make these as large or small as you'd like, just make sure to adjust the cook time accordingly. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Crescent Pieces!

Pecan Pie Bars

    Pecan Pie is a necessity for the holidays! If you're having a crowd over for dinner this is the perfect idea for dessert! I made them for my Friendsgiving Celebration and we loved them.

Pecan Pie Bars

Ingredients:

  For the crust:

- 2 cups of flour

- 1/3 cup of sugar

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

- 2/3 cup of cold butter

  For the top:

- 3 eggs

- 1 cup of light corn syrup

- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 2 tablespoons of melted butter

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 2 cups of chopped pecans

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. I used a fork and then my fingers. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan and bake for 20 minutes. While the crust is baking, start the topping. Beat together the eggs, corn syrup, sugar, brown sugar, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir in the pecans. Once the crust is ready, pour the topping over it. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until it is no longer jiggly in the middle and the top is golden brown. Allow it to cool completely before slicing with a sharp knife.

Apple Cider Brined Turkey

    Practicing for Thanksgiving last week, I cooked my first ever brined turkey! I was a little nervous once I had boiled everything together, it didn't smell as wonderful as I'd thought it would. My nerves didn't subside until we were slicing into the juiciest, most tender turkey I've ever had! On top of soaking it for almost two days, I rubbed it with butter! Lots of butter. Oh, and not to mention roasted garlic and fresh rosemary! Making your own roasted garlic is super easy and I highly recommend trying it! Here are directions how!!

Apple Cider Brined Turkey

Ingredients:

  For the Brine:

- 3 cups of apple cider

- 2 gallons of water

- 6 large sprigs of fresh rosemary

- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

- 1 and 1/2 cups of salt

- 2 cups of brown sugar

- 3 tablespoons of whole peppercorns

- 6 bay leaves

- The peels of three large oranges

    Mix everything together in a giant stock pot and bring to a boil. Let it completely cool and soak your thawed turkey for at least 12 hours. 

  For the butter rub:

- 3/4 cup of butter, softened

- 3 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary

- 5 large cloves of roasted garlic

    Mash the roasted garlic and then mix with the butter and rosemary

Here's my butter rub!

    Once the turkey is removed from the brine, pat it dry with a paper towel. Then, rub the butter mixture everywhere. I mean everywhere. You want to make sure to get it under the breast skin and inside the turkey as well as all over the outside. I put a couple of sprigs of rosemary on the inside instead of stuffing it. Next, you want to roast your turkey according to it's weight! Here's a good guide! I cooked my 15 pound bird, covered in a roasting pan for about 3 and 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. I uncovered it for the last hour to allow it to brown.

Good luck my friends and Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Best Sweet Potato Casserole

    What would Thanksgiving be without sweet potato casserole? My family is usually the mini marshmallow and canned yam type. I thought I would mix it up with a little brown sugar and chopped pecan topping. I love this recipe! I'll definitely be making it for years to come.

The Best Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

- 3 pounds of sweet potato (about 4 cups) peeled, cooked, and mashed

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1/2 cup of butter, softened

- 2 eggs

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1/3 cup of milk

- 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

 For the topping:

- 1/3 cup of butter, softened

- 1 cup of brown sugar

- 1/2 cup of four

- 1 and 1/2 cup of chopped pecans

     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the mashed sweet potato, sugar, 1/2 cup of butter, eggs, vanilla, milk, and cinnamon. Spread into the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish. Next, mix together all of the topping ingredients. Spread the topping evenly over the potato mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the topping has a light golden brown. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifles

    So, I decided to throw a little Friendsgiving party this year! I got to practice some Thanksgiving recipes a little early. Which works out because now I can post them in time for you to use them for Thanksgiving next week! I decided to skip the pumpkin pie for this dinner because we'll have plenty of that next week. I tried something a little different. These trifles are so rich! And it's nice because you can make them as big or small as you want to. I made them kind of big and I doubled the recipe for 10 people.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

Ingredients:

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

- 1 cup of pumpkin puree 

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

- dash of ginger

- 1 (8 ounch) tub of cool whip

- 18 biscoff cookies

- 1 tablespoon of melted butter

    Crush 12 of the cookies, mix the crumbed cookies with the melted butter, and set them aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the soften cream cheese until smooth. Add in the pumpkin, vanilla, sugar, and spices. Fold in half of the whipped topping. Take the crushed cookie mixture and press into the bottom of serving glasses. Spoon or pipe layers of the pumpkin mixture and the remaining whipped topping. Crush the remaining cookies and sprinkle on top. You could serve it like this or chill in the refrigerator for a while first.

I love these people!
We had an awesome Friendsgiving!

Cinnamon Spiced Applesauce

    If only I could bottle up a smell and send it to you! This slow cooker applesauce recipe has to be the easiest ever. It tastes like apple pie! It's the perfect after school snack. You could even can it and give as gifts. If you're looking for a low sugar snack, you could leave it out and I'm sure that it would still be delicious!

Cinnamon Spiced Applesauce

Ingredients:

- 10-12 good sized apples, I used ginger crisps

- 1/2 cup of sugar

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

- 1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves

- dash of ginger

    Peel, core, and chop the apples into 1/2 inch pieces. Place them into your slow cooker and stir in the sugar and spices. Cook for about three hours on high. Stirring the mixture every 30 minutes. Once finished, you could blend it more. I liked the texture though so, I left it the way it was.