Nutella lovers around the world, it’s time to celebrate World Nutella Day! The brainchild of Sara Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso, World Nutella Day started in 2007 and gave fans of the delicious chocolate hazelnut concoction a chance to share their devotion in whatever form seemed fit, whether spread [...]
Peppermint Paddy Cocktail
December 30, 2009 By 1 Comment
Peppermint and chocolate is one of my all-time flavor combinations, and this hot treat with white hot chocolate, chocolate whipped cream, and minty Altoids is a perfect dessert drink for a cold day. A twist on the classic Hot Peppermint Patty drink, this white hot chocolate cocktail is spiked with brandy, white crème de menthe, [...]
Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie with Whole Wheat Crust
November 16, 2009 By 7 Comments
We did it. I can’t believe it’s true, but we planted two pecan trees in our yard. We spotted them at Lowe’s in late September and selected a Sumner Pecan and a Stuart Pecan. We are slightly north of the growing zone for the Sumner, but our area has mild winters so it should do [...]
Malted Milk Gelato
September 4, 2009 By 6 Comments
With Labor Day weekend upon us, we’ve reached the unofficial end of summer. School starts next week and the pool closes, two signs that summer is over, but we’re stretching it out a bit with this gelato based on one of my favorite candies from childhood, Whoppers. The inspiration for this gelato came from two [...]
Chocolate Gelato with Hazelnut Praline
July 29, 2009 By 10 Comments
I have very fond memories of tasting gelato on my trip to Italy way back when, but my first taste of gelato didn’t happen in Italy; it was actually in Bogota, Colombia. Centro Andino was a pretty new shopping center when I lived in Bogota in the early 90s, and they had a gelateria that [...]
Volcano Birthday Cake
June 17, 2009 By 7 Comments
For Top Gun’s fifth birthday, he requested a volcano birthday cake with dinosaurs. For some reason, he associates volcanoes with dinosaurs, so we obliged and made a chocolate volcano birthday cake with chocolate frosting and colored vanilla frosting with five toy dinosaurs—one for each year—strategically placed on top, making a sort of volcano diorama. He [...]
The Daring Bakers Make Cheesecake: Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Cheesecake
April 27, 2009 By 46 Comments
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. The infamous cheesecake recipe comes from Jenny’s friend Abbey, and in this challenge we were given lots of room for creativity. We had to use the cheesecake recipe as is, though we could flavor it [...]
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars with Chocolate Chips
April 3, 2009 By 16 Comments
I first made these oatmeal peanut butter bars about six years ago, and they were an instant hit at home and at parties and picnics. The rich flavor belies their simplicity—an oatmeal peanut butter cookie crust with chocolate chips sprinkled on top then drizzled with peanut butter glaze—and they always garner “ohs” and “ahs” when [...]
Guinness Milk Chocolate Ice Cream
March 13, 2009 By 17 Comments
“I would have never guessed,” Michael said after sampling the custard for the Guinness chocolate ice cream. It wasn’t an ice cream flavor that immediately came to mind for me, either, but I wanted to make some easy and tasty treats for St. Patrick’s Day using Guinness, and the recipe jumped out at me from [...]
