Easy Chocolate Raspberry Tart
Easy Chocolate Raspberry Tart ~ simple, deliciously light rustic chocolate raspberry tart. Golden puffed pastry topped with Nutella, homemade raspberry sauce, fresh raspberries dusted with confectioner’s sugar.
Today I’m here with a Public Service Announcement: Do not make reservations this Valentine’s Day. For the record, I’m coming from experience(s) that include rushed meals, lost reservations, limited menus and a less than stellar meal.
Let’s shake things up this year and make dinner (heart-shaped pizza excluded) along with this luscious, decadent easy dessert for afterward. Or before . . . no judgement here. Because you’re guaranteed to have room for dessert if you start with it.
I’m not anti-Valentine’s Day. Or even Galentine’s Day. Celebrate to your heart’s content . . . with a dinner at home. Why you ask? Because it’s just a damn good idea. Granted you’ll have cleanup, but the meal will be infinitely better.
Grinch Cookies Recipe
This Grinch Cookies Recipe starts with a boxed cake mix. They’re simple to make and deliciously hard to resist. Bright green crinkle cookies with a heart two sizes too small. Perfect for kids of all ages.
The Grinch. Cuddly as a cactus. . .charming as an eel whose heart was two sizes too small. The story is a Dr. Seuss classic and these fun cookies are a great time to get the kids in the kitchen. So . . . is cooking or baking with kids:
- Fun!
Somewhatmessy.- A confidence booster.
- A useful life skill.
- All of the above.
I’d say 5, but the biggest bonus ~ other than getting to eat the cookies is that spending time with the little ones in your life leaves your heart full. ♥
Mini Baklava Cups
Easy Mini Baklava Cups ~ easy, delicious no fail, 1-2 bite dessert ~ finely chopped almonds, pistachios and pecans blended with honey, butter and cinnamon, baked in mini store-made phyllo dough cups.
This post has been recently updated. The recipe remains the same.
I originally created Mini Baklava Cups for Easter but they’re actually a treat all year.
In my family we typically have several desserts at any gathering. Why be restricted to just one ~ and besides who wants to make that decision?
So there are usually several and that’s one reason one bite desserts like this Mini Baklava Cups recipe are the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving dessert table.
Rum Caramel Banana Bread Sundae
Rum Caramel Banana Bread Sundae ~ sliced banana bread topped with warm rum-caramel pecan sauce, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramelized bananas.
Judging by the dessert-to-savory ratio on this site, you may think I don’t have a sweet tooth. The fact is, I love all sweets ~ in the way that Oprah professed to love bread. I even scope out the dessert menu before I order the entrée.
Last week we met for girls’ dinner at a local restaurant where we swapped and shared leaving room for dessert. We ordered two split between six of us. This Rum Caramel Banana Bread Sundae was one I wish I didn’t have to share . . .
Boozy Brownies
This Boozy Brownies recipe was written by my daughter, Lauren Dezenski who was on her way to Peru in this photo. Lauren works in advertising, loves good food and wine and is always on the lookout for her next travel adventure!
Summer is my season, but I welcome fall and all that it brings: boots and scarves, all things pumpkin and tailgate season for those of us more interested in the social aspect of football. Which brings me to Boozy Brownies.
I’ll be the first to admit that I can get a little competitive when it comes to bringing food to a party. Let’s be honest…Pinterest has me and the rest of the world in a frenzy about bringing THE best dish.
Now everyone has access to everything from cutting edge fashion to must-see travel destinations, ways to get fit and of course a recipe for every occasion.
Peach Galette Recipe
Peach Galette Recipe ~ rustic, free-form flaky crust baked with sweet fresh summer peaches.
Last week my friend Audrey called saying that I had to buy some peaches from Altermatt’s, one of the local farms. Oh my gosh she said emphatically ~ they’re soooo good.
She wanted to make a peach pie but was leaving for the weekend and didn’t have time. I was leaving for New Orleans for a food blogger conference so making peach anything wasn’t in my immediate future either.
That didn’t stop her from emphasizing ~ “you just have to get some”. Not only is Audrey a good friend and the single best gift receiver you’ll ever meet, but her enthusiasm for well, almost everything is contagious. By the time I got home I was having serious peach FOMO.
I never made it to Altermatt’s, but bought these beauties at the farmer’s market and whipped up a peach galette in under 15 minutes. No joke.
In full disclosure, I’m a fan of store made crust and used it in this recipe. It was every bite as flaky and delicious as it was in this savory pie. Haters don’t hate. This peach galette is delicious.
Easy Fried Ice Cream Cake
Easy Fried Ice Cream Cake ~ vanilla ice cream with a crispy honey-cinnamon “fried” coating drizzled with fudge and caramel then topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
We love ice cream in the summer . . . and by summer I mean all year long. Cold temps, snow on the ground ~ we still eat ice cream. We’re those people.
That’s just one reason this Easy Fried Ice Cream Cake makes the perfect summer – or anytime – dessert. But can I let you in on a secret? I’ve never actually tasted Fried Ice Cream in a restaurant. By the time I’ve munched on chips and salsa, guacamole and more chips and some sort of spicy, melted cheese Mexican concoction plus rice and beans ~ I’m stuffed!
So when our daughter requested a Mexican theme for her birthday dinner, I jumped at a chance to actually eat Easy Fried Ice Cream Cake and discovered the answer to the No Room for Dessert dilemma is to make it at home. That way you really can have your cake and eat it too.
Mini Strawberry Pies
Mini Strawberry Pies ~ just 5 ingredients to delicious, simple, bite size pies loaded with fresh sweet strawberries in a flaky crust.
If you like strawberry pie, you’re in for a treat. My husband said these Mini Strawberry Pies took him back to the ones his aunt used to bring him as a special treat from Sanders where she worked when he was a little boy. They remind me of the mile high strawberry pie at Elias Brothers Big Boy’s, one of our favorite restaurants when our girls were small.
We spent a lot of Friday evenings in those vinyl booths scanning the menu only to order the same thing each time. It was a great way to wind down the week but the girls’ favorite part was after dinner when we’d head across the street to K-Mart so they could choose a new outfit for their Barbie (who already had an enviable wardrobe).
Maybe you’ll find some nostalgia in these pies, too. There are just 5 ingredients to make them and if you want to top them with whipped cream (they’re good either way), a total of 6. They couldn’t be any simpler to make and if you’re like me, you’ll agree everything better in a mini version.
Snowball Christmas Cookies
Snowball Christmas Cookies, sometimes known as Russian Tea Cakes, Butterball Cookies or Mexican Wedding Cookies. Buttery, nutty, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread lightly dusted with confectioners sugar. A holiday must!
As you know, I don’t do a lot of baking, but the holiday season brings out the best baker we can be in all of us. Snowball Christmas Cookies are my holiday favorite. No other cookie comes close to their nutty, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth flavor and the dusting of confectioners sugar seals the deal.
I love them with a mug of hot tea and literally eat one after the next with little self control. They blend quickly with just a few ingredients and the skill level to make these cookies is easy ~ just how I like it.
Snickers Cheesecake Bites
Snickers Cheesecake Bites ~ decadent, sweet and salty blend starts with a pretzel crust filled with creamy candy-cheesecake drizzled with chocolate ganache and gooey caramel.
I love a really tasty dessert, but I’ve been known to eat a mediocre dessert or in an ‘emergency’ a handful of animal crackers to satisfy my sugar craving. These Snickers Cheesecake Bites are one of the best desserts around. I may have eaten one. . .or three today alone.
I used to make a full-size Snickers Cheesecake years ago that was a total show stopper but the days of full size anything in our house went by the wayside when we became empty-nesters. It’s much easier to share extras of single-serve or bite-size anything so I repurposed that cheesecake into these Snickers Cheesecake Bites ~ equally fabulous but just because they’re mini doesn’t mean you have to stop at one.
