recipe: classic brownies & blondies

happy monday! i made these classic but yummy brownies and blondies for my friend this week and wanted to share the recipes that i used from food network. i use their recipes often, especially when i want to try new things. brownies are a classic dessert and when you find a good recipe you want to use that same one all the time. i love this recipe and i love the blondies recipe as well. this blondies recipe was a new one for me! 

here is the recipe (ingredients & details written together):

classic brownies

-melt 2 sticks of butter with 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips

-let cool slightly 

-stir in 2 cups of sugar and 4 eggs

-whisk in 1 1/2 cups of flour

-also add 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt

-bake these until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

-bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes

-allow these to cool, and then cut and serve 

classic blondies

-melt 2 sticks of butter

-let cool slightly

-whisk in 2 cups of light brown sugar

-add 2 eggs

-add 1 tablespoon of vanilla

-stir in 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1/4 teaspoon each of baking soda and salt

-fold in 1 1/2 cups of butterscotch chips (i used this full measurement and wished i would have used less, because they taste very strong)

-bake until a toothpick inserted into the center, comes out clean

-bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes

-allow these to cool, and then cut and serve

they are so delicious as classic brownies and blondies should be :) if you don't already look at food network magazine and also watch their cooking shows, you should. they have everything you need and more to create your own food masterpieces! i hope you enjoy this lovely day and have a great week. thank you for stopping by and i will see you soon!

recipe: hummingbird easter cupcakes

yum! Easter cupcakes! my friend beth introduced me to hummingbird cake and i was interested in what it tasted like. when you see some of the ingredients (pineapple & banana) you wonder what it will actually taste like.  i decided to try myself and use this recipe as my Easter treat for my family this weekend in Indiana. not only are they delicious, i found the cutest Easter decor at william sonoma this past weekend and definitely wanted to use this recipe with the cupcake details. www.williamsonoma.com

this recipe tastes very similar to a banana bread with a spice to it. they are so delicious!! i found this recipe on food network and i absolutely love it. here is the recipe for you to try as well!

ingredients for cake: 

1/4 cup of crushed pineapple packed in juice

-2 large ripe bananas, mashed

-1 cup of all-purpose flour

-1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 

-1/4 teaspoon of salt

-1 stick of unsalted butter at room temp.

1/2 cup of sugar

-2 large eggs

-1 teaspoon of vanilla

-1/2 cup of chopped pecans if you desire (i didn't use them in this recipe)

ingredients for frosting:

-8 oz of cream cheese, at room temp.

-4 tablespoons of butter, at room temp.

-3 cups of powdered sugar

-2 teaspoons of vanilla

details:

-preheat your oven to 350

-line your cupcake tin with cupcake liners

(obviously cute ones :))

-add the pineapples and bananas in a medium bowl

-mash both of these together with the back of a fork and set aside

-whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl

-add the butter and sugar to a large bowl 

-beat with your mixer until light and fluffy

-beat in the eggs one at a time

-then add your vanilla to this mixture

-next, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by scoopfuls until thoroughly combined

-add in the pineapple and bananas being careful not to over-mix

-fold in the pecans if you want them

-use an ice cream scoop or spoon to fill the cupcake liners three quarters way full 

-bake until the tops of the cupcakes turn golden brown and then with a toothpick check the centers of the cupcakes

-when the toothpick comes out clean, then they are ready to be taken out

-i baked these for around 18-20 minutes

-remove the cupcakes from the oven and transfer to a wire rack for cooling

-frost your cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting after they are cool

-garnish with a cute Easter detail or sprinkles :)

     Happy Easter everyone! while all of the cute Easter treats, bunnies, and cupcakes are cute and fun its important to not forget the real meaning of Easter. I hope you enjoy every bit of this beautiful day! Thank you for stopping by.

recipe: avocado salsa

a new recipe! and this is a great one. if you like avocados this is a great salsa recipe for you. it tastes so fresh and light but full of flavor. this is so easy to make as well. you can pair it with eggs, grilled chicken, chips, or any mexican dish. 

here is the recipe:

ingredients:

-3 avocados

-1/2 c of fresh cilantro

-1 clove of garlic

-1 large or 2 small jalapeños 

-1 c of red onion

-3 roma tomatoes

-3 tbsp fresh lime juice

-1/4 tsp black pepper

-1/2 tsp salt

-3 1/2 tbsp of olive oil 

details:

-first, start by placing your red onion in a strainer and rinse under cool water to remove the harsh bite

-dice the onion and add the specific measurement to a medium size mixing bowl

-also dice tomatoes, jalapeños, and avocados

-add all of these ingredients to your bowl

-in a separate small mixing bowl whisk together olive oil, lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper until mixture is well blended

-lastly, pour this over your avocado mixture and gently toss the cilantro into the mixture

you will love this! like i said, it is very fresh and full of flavor. we poured the salsa on several pieces of grilled chicken for dinner and it was delicious. i hope you enjoy this recipe and have a great week :)

enjoy!

(i found this recipe on pinterest by another blogger http://www.cookingclassy.com):)

family feature: grandmother battle's chocolate fudge pie

hello! i hope you are all having a great week and what more fun than to see a new family feature recipe for the week!:) i am excited to share reed's grandmother's chocolate fudge pie recipe. oh my goodness, it is dangerous and wonderful ha! i have been asked about 13 times in the last two weeks to make it (from reed of course) and i thought it was the perfect time to share. 

the next three family feature's coming up in the next few weeks are all coming from my three grandma's. i am so excited to share their wonderful recipes with you all. i started with reed's grandmother Carolyn Battle. As most of you know, i grew up eating good home cooking. from my mother, grandma's, great aunt, great grandma, aunts, and cousins. they are all wonderful cooks! now, i married into a wonderful family of good southern cooking. i think that means reed and i are doomed to be pleasantly plump and happy ha!

anyways, i couldn't be more excited to feature my three lovely grandmother's. this recipe is so easy and absolutely delightful. if you like chocolate like we do, you will be in for a treat.

here is the recipe

ingredients:

-1 stick of butter

-1/4 cup of cocoa

-1 cup of sugar

-2 eggs

-1/4 cup of flour (self-rising)

-1 tsp of vanilla 

- 1 unbaked pie crust shell

details:

-start by melting your butter first and then let it cool

-beat eggs and mix all ingredients together

-pour the mixture in the unbaked pie shell

-bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes or until slightly firm 

-the filling will become firmer as it cools

-let cool completely before cutting and serving

-serve with whipped cream or ice cream on the side  

-serve and smile :)

here is a picture of grandmother 

as always, thank you for stopping by!

recipe: valentine's Day sugar cookies & royal icing

yum! sugar cookies and icing, there is nothing better to eat for valentines day :) after a long week of bronchitis i was finally starting to feel better and wanted to make my co-workers valentines cookies. i also have been wanting to try royal icing. i haven't used a royal icing recipe before; therefore, this was going to be a new experiment for me. 

i used my mother-in-law's sugar cookie recipe and just like my aunt carri's, this is another great sugar cookie recipe. for the royal icing, i watched a few videos and read some information online about how to use royal icing and how to apply different techniques. i found that royal icing is actually tough to use and work with. because of the "secret" ingredient (meringue powder), this allows the icing to become tough and thick to work with. see the recipe below to see how to make royal icing and also for the sugar cookie recipe!

royal icing ingredients:

-3 level tablespoons of meringue powder

-4 cups of confectioners sugar 

-6 tablespoons of water 

details:

-mix all of the ingredients together for 7-12 minutes until icing forms in peaks (this will make about 3 cups)

-i mixed this by hand but you can also mix in your mixer as well

-add food coloring for the color of your choice and mix well

-to make the icing smoother just add more water to get it to the consistency that you want

sugar cookie ingredients:

-1 cup of butter (2 sticks)

-1 cup of sugar

-1 large egg

-1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

-2 teaspoons of baking powder 

-2 3/4 cups of all purpose flour

details:

-preheat your oven to 350 degrees 

-in a large bowl with mixer at medium speed beat the butter and sugar until smooth

-beat in the egg and vanilla

-next, add baking powder and mix well

-then, add your flour and mix well

-the dough will be very stiff and be sure to not chill the dough

-divide the dough into two balls

-on a floured surface, with a rolling pin, roll each ball approximately 1/4 inch thick

-dip your cookie cutters in flour before each use

-bake the cookies on the top rack of the oven and bake them for exactly 8 minutes on a timer 

-cool before decorating the cookies with your royal icing 

-this recipe will make about 3 dozen cookies

-decorate and serve with a smile :)

i hope you all have a wonderful valentines day and enjoy your time with your special loved ones. have a great week!

thank you for stopping by :)

family: Christmas 2015

what a wonderful Christmas season we had! i loved every minute of this past week with our family. we did a lot of traveling on the road but it was worth every minute spent with our loved ones. i wanted to share a few pictures of our time in memphis and indiana with you. i have one hundred pictures or so but just wanted to post a few :)

between our two families we have numerous family traditions. it is so fun to see how both sides of our family have created these traditions over the years. reed and i both cherish our Christmas memories with our family, it is very important to us. our first Christmas together as husband and wife was truly amazing, just as i expected it would be.

i hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas weekend and i hope you have family traditions as well that will carry on over the years and last a lifetime. 

this week we are in clean up mode and trying to get our house back to normal. this will be an all week thing, i can feel it ha!

enjoy the pictures above and see you later this week!