Happy birthday, Mom!

My sister and I pulled off the impossible over the weekend. We surprised our mom! (If you have a family anything like ours, we come from a long line of Type A personalities. We like to know what's going on and when. And what we should wear, of course.)

At the Culinary Institute, back in October for the Bake-Off

And how do you celebrate the woman who taught you 99.9% of what you know?!? Who one day you'll inevitably turn into? (I open my mouth about once a week and hear her words come out.)

Anyway, she and Dad went to Florida with friends for a long weekend and were driving back on her actual birthday. So we swooped in, decorated the house and had dinner waiting when she walked in the door. Take that!

I made several new recipes (including Bang Bang Shrimp and lighter Twice Baked potatoes!), but more to come on those later. Life is uncertain, and I have one heck of a sweet tooth, so I figured I'd show you dessert first.

Meet Mom's favorite Caramel Cake.

She's a beaut.  And you'd never know she came from a box! Duncan Hines, to be exact.  And the frosting? From the Cake Mix Doctor.  Just piped on with a petal tip, inspired by none other than Martha Stewart herself.

I thought the cake was too pretty to write on, so I made a little birthday banner with wooden skewers, thread, cut out printer paper and tape.  Took about 5 minutes and turned out really fun!

So thanks, Mom, for all that you do and have done over the years. I can only hope to grow up to be half the woman that you are!

Easy Poppyseed Ham Sandwiches

Thanks to a girlfriend at the office, I'm kind of obsessed with these. Perfect for everything from a baby shower to a Super Bowl party, these little ham sandwiches look (and taste!) like you put forth all this effort... except you don't have to. Now that's my kind of food for entertaining.

With a combination of mustard, butter and Worcestershire sauce, your guests won't be able to tell what makes them so good. And then they'll ask for the recipe. Which, in my mind, is the highest compliment. : )

Easy Poppyseed Ham Sandwiches

may be prepared the night before an event, heated just before serving

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (one stick) butter, melted
• 1 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons classic yellow mustard
• 2 (12-ounce) packages white party rolls, i.e. Hawaiian brand
• 1/2 lb. deli sliced ham
• 1/3 lb. deli sliced swiss cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350* and line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.
2. Mix butter, poppy seeds, onion, Worcestershire and mustard in a medium bowl.
3. Separate rolls and slice each in half horizontally.  Set aside tops.
4. Arrange bottoms on prepared baking sheets.
5. Spread butter mixture over lower half of each roll and top with ham and cheese.
6. Replace tops and brush with remainder of butter mixture.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes, until cheese is melted and rolls are heated through.

Leftovers reheat in a snap for a perfect I-just-pulled-off-an-great-party-and-need-a-nap lunch the next day!

A Breakfast Parable

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Once upon a time, a girl woke up early on a Saturday morning, all excited to make pancakes. She whipped up said breakfast deliciousness, but they turned out more like a sad excuse for crepes than the lofty little syrup sponges she was looking for. Her sweet significant other, not being one to complain, said that they were just fine. But she knew better.

So she checked the recipe again, only to find that she hadn't left anything out. And then it hit her. She checked the date on the baking powder and sure enough, it had just a few weeks left before the "best by" date.

Moral of the story: purge the pantry.  That, or eat at Waffle House. : )

PS - I got rid of a lot more than Baking Powder today.  Who knew that things like cake mix and salad dressing had expiration dates?

Mix it up!

Perhaps the most used tool in my kitchen is my set of graduated glass mixing bowls. And right now, you can get a set of ten from Anchor Hocking (made by Oneida) for $17.99. Regularly priced at $40, these are a great buy!

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Plus, if you enter code TTE10, you'll get an extra 10% off.

Take a look around at the clearance section while you're on the site... there are a number of good deals on dinnerware, silverware and stemware as well. (Like this set of $64 steak knives for $16.99!)

Big thanks to Southern Savers for the heads up!

Chocolate-Filled Strawberries

Anyone else seen all the variations of cream-filled strawberries floating around Pinterest? I mean, they're strawberries. And cream. What's not to love?

And what's better than cream-filled strawberries? CHOCOLATE filled strawberries!

Simple to make and beautiful to serve.  You'll need:

• 1 pint fresh strawberries
• 1/2 can prepackaged chocolate frosting, i.e. Duncan Hines
• Piping bag and 1M star tip (or other open star piping tip)

Prep is seriously a snap.

• Wash and dry strawberries.
• Cut off green stem so that berry will stand flat on it's end.
• Starting at the narrow end of the berry, slice in half vertically nearly all the way through. Then, make another slice perpendicular to the first, almost all the way through.
• You should end up with four quarters of a strawberry, just held together at the (former) stem end.  It will open up like petals on a flower.
• Outfit piping bag with tip and fill with chocolate frosting.
• Pipe each strawberry with as much frosting as will fit. : )
• Eat.  Repeat.

Store in the fridge... that is, if you have more willpower than I and happen to have any left over! 

Cheese Pennies

My husband LOVES cheese pennies. Except that he refers to them as "cheese dimes" because he thinks it's funny. Welcome to my world. : )

Regardless, they're a little bit cheese straw, a little bit cracker. All delicious!

Cheese Pennies

aka Paula Deen's Slice & Bake Cheese Straws

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• Prepackaged grated cheese will work, but is not ideal.
• Freshly grated cheese will incorporate into the dough much more easily.
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or 3/4 teaspoon, if you want extra spicy)

Using a food processor fitted with a dough blade, combine butter and cheese. Next, sift together flour, baking powder, slate and cayenne.  Add flour mixture to cheese mixture and pulse until dough forms a ball.

Not yet.

Keep going...

Bingo!

Turn dough out onto wax paper and roll into small logs.  Aim for the diameter of a penny and about 10" long.  A batch of dough makes about 7-10 logs.

Wrap individual logs tightly in wax paper and twist each end to close.  Place into the fridge until firm enough to slice without crushing, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350*.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick sheets (i.e., Silpat liners). When dough is firm, cut in to 1/4" slices.

Place slices 1/2" apart and bake 12-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool completely before storing in an airtight container. They'll keep for at least a week!

Or, since a single batch yields nearly 8 dozen cheese pennies, they can be frozen.  Place into zip-top freezer bags, then in an airtight container.  Reheat in a 300* oven for 5 minutes prior to serving.

Cheese pennies, cheese dimes, heck... cheese quarters.  Whatever you call them, you'll want to keep some on hand.  But be warned... they're addictive!

Everyday with Rachael Ray

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If you're a Rachael Ray fan, then you'll appreciate this. Right now on Tanga you can get a year's subscription (11 issues) to her "Everyday with Rachael Ray" magazine for $4.99! That's only $0.43 for each issue. To get the deal, enter code "EVERYDAY" at checkout.

A good friend gave me a subscription as a gift several years ago, and I loved how easy (and quick) the recipes were. So much so, that I may have to renew it for myself.  But then I'd have to explain to Spencer why we're getting Bon Appetit, Cooks Illustrated, Garden & Gun, Southern Living, Conde Nast Traveler, Atlanta Magazine AND Rachael Ray.  Come to think of it, maybe I should have it delivered to the office.

Just please. For the love. Don't say "yum-o". : )

Big thanks to Southern Savers for the heads up!

B is for Baby Shower

Yesterday, I hosted a baby shower for my sweet sister-in-law, Sarah.

Isn't she the cutest pregnant lady ever? I think that means Spencer and I are in for a super cute niece or nephew, come about a month from now.

Sarah and her husband aren't finding out if their little one is a boy or a girl, so finding appropriate shower decor was a bit of a challenge. Everything "neutral" was either boring or really more for a boy or a girl. So, I did what any resourceful gal would do.  Called Mom and scoured Pinterest.

It looks sunny in these pictures, but less than an hour before the shower started, our tornado sirens were going off. The rain couldn't put a damper on the festivities, though, even if it did manage to mess up my little welcome banner. Poor thing got wrinkle-y right off the bat, and by the end of the shower it read "WE  OME". Spencer found the missing "C" on our way to church this morning. Somewhere out there is a lonely "L". My apologies to whomever finds it in their front yard.

Despite the rain, everyone was able to make it and we had a lovely time celebrating with Sarah and showering my sweet niece or nephew with gifts.

If there's anything I love as much as friends and family, you know it's food. If you come to my house, you will not leave hungry. I had as much fun planning the menu as anything else! Click below for recipe links.

• Chocolate Filled Strawberries
• Spencer's favorite Cheese Pennies (a cute little variant of cheese straws)
• Pasta Salad with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Roast Chicken
• Mini poppy seed Ham & Swiss Sammies
• Baked Brie with Apricots, Cranberries and Pecans

And last but not least, my first attempt at fondant cupcakes.  Sweet little baby faces inspired by Planet Cake.

Too cute to eat. Well, almost.

I think she's giving me the stink eye.  Good thing Grandmother finished her off shortly after I took this shot.  Sorry shug, you were meant to be eaten all along!

Anyway, recipes to come soon for everything but the cupcakes. (For that, you'll need this, which I got for my birthday from Kates.)

Sarah, we love you and can't wait to meet your sweet little one soon!

It's never too late.

I've been thinking a lot about goals lately. (It is January, after all. And I have a sweet friend who completed an Ironman last year. Hello, major accomplishment. Yay, Nicole!) Sometimes I start to noodle on a goal only to talk myself out of it. Usually in the "if you wanted to do that, you should have started a long time ago" or "people like you can't do that" vein.

But today I came across a little wisdom from my favorite Miss Julia.

Say what?! I mean, I saw Julie & Julia. But somehow I missed the fact that this woman, who for many is first to mind when asked to name a famous chef, started from scratch on a skill in her thirties.  And she didn't just dabble. Girlfriend mastered it.

So there. It's never too late. You're never too old, too out of practice or too out of shape.

I have to admit, I like the last part of the sentence best. "Up until then, I just ate." In other words, my life wasn't as full. My experience wasn't as rich. Until I discovered something new, I didn't know what I was missing.

Everyone has to start somewhere in this buffet of experiences we call life. Why shouldn't we start now?

Want s'more?

Confession: this probably doesn't count as a recipe.  But it's so delicious I can't not share. Behold, the ultimate s'more.

See the gooey stuff?  There's more than a marshmallow in there.  We're talking about a Ghirardelli Caramel Square.  Quite possibly the world's most perfect form of chocolate.

Start with a graham cracker square, top it with the chocolate and pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds so the sweet stuff can get good and soft.

Now, find a metal skewer or plain wire hanger and a fireplace. Or a gas stove burner. Or maybe an Aim & Flame. (Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.) Roast that marshmallow like it's going out of style.

Marry the marshmallow and our softened chocolate...

... and top with remaining graham cracker square.  Squish, eat, and repeat.

Oh, and if you have any full-size Reese's cups laying around, they work beautifully.  I made one... but ate it without taking any pictures. And it was the last one. Oh well. You'll just have to take my word for how delicious it was.

Come to think of it, I want some more... perhaps a trip to the store is in order.  BRB.