I bought a jelly roll pan to make my first roll cake this Thanksgiving, and in the end I was quite happy with my results. What really sold me on this recipe was the beautiful picture in The Pastry Queen cookbook. It is absolutely gorgeous. The cake I ended up with doesn't look nearly as impressive as the one in the cookbook. I guess that's...

I really, really wanted to make white chocolate covered banana ghost pops last Halloween as a quick DIY craft project, but I just plain ran out time. This year I wanted to make sure that didn't happen; however, I made a few changes for my ghosts. My ghosts were not on popsicle sticks, hence they were not ghost pops, but rather mine were more...

Corn crème brûlée was a great success, so we figured it was time to pull out the torch again when Dustin's parents visited us and make a traditional, sweet vanilla crème brûlée— a restaurant dessert menu staple. Here is the recipe I used as the base for an incredibly basic and super easy crème brûlée. All you have to do is whisk two cups of...

One of the best happy hour restaurants near us make a Manhattan with brandy-soaked cherries that Dustin really enjoys and also inspired the making of these bourbon soaked cherries. While we didn't have brandy in the house, we did have bourbon, which I thought would probably pair nicely with the cherries. I also figured Dustin could add them to...

When I visited my parents in Evansville last month, I ate a delicious cannoli, and it reminded me of this adorable recipe I'd seen somewhere long ago. After a little bit of searching, I found the original recipe for these awesome mini cannoli cups. Cannolis seem like a real pain because you have to fry the shell, but this recipe is all about the...

We had a party in the resident lounge at our apartment here in Seattle to celebrate our wedding with our Seattle friends who couldn't make the trek out to Texas for the actual wedding. Of course, I was ready to pull out my cowboy boots— the theme for party was "Go Texan!" Tex-Mex appetizers and Texas shaped (and sized) dessert pizzas. And no...

I wish I could take credit for this amazing flavor combination, but sadly I cannot. This wonderful recipe comes from How Sweet It Is, and while the thought of chocolate and cheese together might sound off putting to some (i.e. Dustin), I promise it is delicious. Dustin was a convert after we grilled these up on the panini maker. He's beginning...

Not only does Peanut Butter and Co. make some delicious, unique peanut butter flavors, they also have a sandwich shop in New York City where they will make you fancy peanut butter sandwiches. One on their menu is called "Cookie Dough Surprise," which sounds right up my alley. It's a combination of peanut butter, vanilla cream cheese and...

I eat peanut butter sandwiches at least three or four days a week. I do like to vary them up slightly each day. I have several varieties of Peanut Butter & Co. butters, and sometimes I add some banana or a sprinkling of cinnamon, but even with these changes I recently got tired of my commonplace peanut butter sandwich, and decided to switch my...

I have been wanting to make this forever but have been waiting for the perfect occasion. We wanted to have our own little holiday celebration together with Bonnie before we head back to Texas (and Santa Fe) to visit family, and doughnut bread pudding sounded like the perfect breakfast to serve on our faux-Christmas morning where we exchanged our...