strawberry-lime crumble bars

Growing up, my mom had a Land O Lakes cookbook that was given to her as a Christmas gift by one of our neighbors. Of any cookbook my mom had (aside from her ragged and worn 1970s edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook), we seemed to make things from this book more than most. One such item was a raspberry crumble bar. It was the simplest thing in the world, instructing you to mix up a quick crumbly dough, press half in the pan, spread that half with raspberry jam and crumble the reserved dough on top. Once baked, the bars had a soft and buttery base, topped with tart-sweet jam and tasty little crumbly crunchy bits. My sister and I loved them, and they were basically irresistible cause I never remember any pan of them lasting very long.

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AmandaMarch 24, 2013September 14, 20151 Comment

Dessert, Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish, Meat, Savory, Sweet

savory and sweet empanadas

Growing up in the southwest, I feel obligated to like empanadas. There’s just so many damn good variations of fillings one can cram into their flaky dough, that it’s almost impossible to not find something you’ll like.

I know a lot of people who have really only eaten sweet dessert-type empanadas, pumpkin or pineapple being very common, but I’m partial to the savory fillings. I don’t know if I’d enjoy the common Spanish filling that includes green olives and hard-boiled eggs, but luckily making them in my own kitchen means I can fill them with whatever I’d like!

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AmandaMarch 13, 2013September 14, 20151 Comment

Cookies, Dessert, Spring, Sweet

knock-off samoas!

Hooray, it’s Girl Scout cookie season! Is there no better time of year? The ushering in of springtime, adorable little girls in their Girl Scout uniforms, ~~harassing you~~ asking you to buy some cookies as you walk into the grocery store. It’s wonderful. There seems to be quite a dividing line between people and their love of the top two Girl Scout cookie flavors, Samoas and Thin Mints — people always seem to prefer one over the other. I’ll generally devour anything containing coconut, and toasty coconut with caramel and chocolate is just a bonus.

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AmandaFebruary 20, 2013September 14, 20151 Comment

Candy, Dessert, Fruit, Holidays, Snacks, Sweet

tuxedo strawberries

Seeking out a Valentine’s Day gift for a significant other is sometimes difficult. Aside from agonizing over just what to get your sweetie, there’s the added stress of worrying if they’ll truly love the gift you’ve gotten for them. So far, I have yet to meet a man or a woman who would turn down the gift of chocolate. Want to do them one better? Make them these homemade chocolate-covered strawberries! Sweet, creamy, chocolate-y, and while some may say that they’re predictable this time of year, they’re a great traditional Valentine’s gift. Save yourself tons of money by making them yourself. Most places that sell individual chocolate-dipped strawberries at this time of year, tend to charge per berry what you’d usually pay for several pints of strawberries. The best part about making them yourself? You can choose your most favorite brand of chocolate to dip them in.

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AmandaFebruary 13, 2013September 14, 20153 Comments

Candy, Dessert, Snacks, Sweet

key lime pie marshmallows

When I first made homemade marshmallows, I was blown away. I thought I was doomed to an eternity of eating marshmallows of the storebought, chemical-filled Jet Puffed variety. I will use these in a pinch, like in my rocky road squares, but I much prefer the homemade kind. They’re surprisingly simple, too!

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AmandaFebruary 8, 2013September 14, 2015Leave a comment

Dessert, Frozen Treats, Summer, Sweet

lemon-strawberry ice cream

Recently, my roommate brought home a bunch of lemons from a co-worker’s lemon tree. These lemons were HUGE. Like grapefruit-sized, huge.

Since there were so many, I wasn’t quite sure how to utilize them. I solicited ideas, and was met with suggestions for lemon pound cake, homemade limoncello, lemon bars, you name it. Even with all these lovely ideas swirling around in my head, I always have a weakness for ice cream, and I’m one of those crazy people who could eat ice cream even in the dead of winter. Thankfully it’s not that cold where I live, so ice cream can always been in season! When life gives you lemons, you make a whole bunch of lemon-strawberry ice cream! Well, you do if you’re me.

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AmandaFebruary 1, 2013September 14, 20152 Comments

Cookies, Dessert, Snacks, Sweet

gf peanut butter cookies + pb jammies

This weekend was beautiful — it was cold and rainy. Some of you may think I’m crazy for calling a cold, rainy day beautiful, but living in Phoenix, those days are few and far between. We look forward to rainy, cool days the way Seattle residents look forward to sunny days. What better activity to partake in on a rare rainy winter day (other than snuggling up in bed!) than making cookies?

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AmandaJanuary 29, 2013September 14, 2015Leave a comment

Dessert, Snacks, Sweet

rocky road squares

(Every time I see a bag of marshmallows, I feel compelled to squish it. Does that make me weird?)

Most people who know me, know that I rarely turn down chocolate. As a kid, one of my favorite ice cream flavors (and to this day still ranks in the top 3) was rocky road. What’s not to love about awesome chocolate ice cream, with marshmallows and almonds? Plain perfection.

A few years ago, on a whim, I set out to make some rocky road candy. I went to the store and randomly bought some chocolate, marshmallows and salted almonds. I threw them together with not much of a plan in mind, and the finished product was damn near perfect in my eyes. I don’t think I’ve created such a hassle-free dessert recipe since.

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