Happy New Year!

May everyone's New Year be full of blessings and happiness! Have fun no matter what you are doing tonight for New Year's Eve and stay safe. We will be staying in and watching movies. I have some yummy black-eyed peas ready for tomorrow. I will share that recipes with you later. Here are some other delicious black-eyed pea recipes to bring you good luck in the new year. Does your family eat the traditional black-eyed peas for good luck every year?

Gingered Black-eyed Peas
Black-eyed Pea Cakes
Black-eyed Pea Salad

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Blog Love

AK Mom @ What's Baking? gave me this wonderful award! I was so excited to receive this award from a blogger who has such an amazing blog and always posts amazing recipes. Check out her Peanut Butter and Jelly Blondies.

I would like to share this award with some more lovely blogs. Please pass this award on to other blogs.

Blissful Bites

The Pink Peppercorn

Sass and Veracity

No Fear Entertaining

The Recipe Girl

Fun & Food Blog
Lovin' From the Oven

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New Year's Recipe Reflections

As the New Year approaches, I have been reflecting on 2008. The one thing that has really had an impact on my life is the creation of this blog in July. I have met so many wonderful people, made many friends, discovered many fabulous blogs, and have significantly increased the number of bookmarked recipes to try. I thought I would highlight some of my favorite recipes from my blog the past few months. Thank you to all my loyal readers and welcome to all the new readers. You are truly appreciated!

Melt In Your Mouth Applesauce Bundt Cake
Dark Chocolate Mint Fudge
Black Bean Pumpkin Polenta Chili
Caramel Apple Kiss Cupcakes
Cherry Cheese Rolls

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Baby Sweet Potatoes

Just a short, but "sweet" post. I found these baby sweet potatoes yesterday, and I couldn't wait to share them with all my sweet potato loving bloggers, especially Ms. GlidingCalm.

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Christmas Hourderves!

I was in charge of hosting a little middle of the day hourderves feast on Christmas Day! The Brie topped with fig preserves and chopped nuts was a hit.

The mini quiches disappeared quickly!

The shrimp with cocktail sauce definitely has to make an appearance every Christmas.

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas! Mine was full of joy and the warmth of family and friends. Of course, there was a lot of dog fun too. My boys loved their new toys and treats!

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from me and a Secret Santa who wanted to share wishes too! Blessings to you and yours!

Christmas Trees On Top of Muffins!

Here is my attempt to decorate the top of some of my muffins with a cute Christmas decoration! Let's take a poll: Did I pull it off or should I try again? Don't be shy. Let me know what you think! I also have a question for all of you: What is the earliest you woke up as a kid to open up your Christmas presents? If you have kids, what is the earliest time that they have woken you up to open their gifts?

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Sugar Cookie Overload!

Just a bunch of sugar cookies with festive Christmas colors tonight! These are going to work tomorrow to celebrate the last day before some time off for the Holidays! I used some special sprinkles for some of these cookies. They are Betty Crocker Peppermint Sugar sprinkles. They added just a hint of mint to the sugar cookies. YUM!

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It's Holy Yum! Time

This week's Holy Yum! award goes to Erin @ ErinCooks. Check out these amazing eggnog pancakes. These would make the perfect Christmas morning breakfast!
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Banana Cream Cheesecake

This is a very quick and easy recipe to make. It is also versatile. I cheated and didn't make the crust. I just mixed up the filling and poured it into a prepared grham cracker crust. It could also be made low fat by using low fat cream cheese, skim milk, egg beaters, and fat free Cool Whip.

Banana Cream Cheesecake

link at kraftfoods.com
1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix, divided
4 eggs, divided
3 Tbsp. oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar, divided
2 bananas, sliced
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1-1/2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Directions:
HEAT oven to 300ºF. Reserve 1 cup dry cake mix. Mix remaining cake mix with 1 egg, oil and 1/3 cup sugar with mixer. (Mixture will be crumbly.) Press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of greased 13x9-inch baking pan; top with bananas.
BEAT cream cheese and remaining sugar with mixer. Add reserved cake mix, remaining eggs and lemon juice; beat 1 min. Blend in milk. (Batter will be very thin.) Pour into crust.
BAKE 45 to 50 to min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 4 hours. Top with COOL WHIP. Refrigerate leftovers.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I was craving something not Christmas flavored today, so I threw together these banana chocolate chip muffins. They turned out great, and definitely satisfied my craving. Off to have Christmas with the in-laws.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup oat flour

1 tblsp apple butter
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners. In a large bowl combine mashed bananas, sugar, baking powder, salt and flour; mix until smooth. Stir apple butter and water into banana mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter evenly, about 1/4 cup each, into muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 6 muffins.

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Christmas Fun!

Sorry I have not been around commenting very much, but I have been busy and there is a lot of Christmas stuff happening. Since I will be attending the office Christmas party tonight, I thought I would leave you something fun. Click here: http://www.madeupmemories.com/?mId=29062201

Peppermint Bark Cookies

Sorry everybody....more cake mix cookies tonight. Our office party is tomorrow night, and everybody requested more chocolate fudge cookies. I promised to make them, as long as I could make them a little different. I decided to add chunks of peppermint bark. My husband likes them...he's already had 4! I topped some with powdered sugar for presentation.

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The Reason I Love To Bake!

I love when my baked treats make people happy! I received this letter from one of my co-worker's little girls, and it warmed my heart!

Chocolate Fudge Cookies

The Funfetti cake mix cookies were quite the hit in the office last week, so I decided to try a chocolate version for a party at work tomorrow. These turned out so as yummy as the previous cake mix cookies. I really want to try to make a spice cake version next! (Note: I had to leave mine in the oven for 15 min. rather than 10 min.)

Chocolate Fudge Cookies

link at allrecipes.com
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix, eggs and oil until well blended. Fold in the chocolate chips. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

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A Season of Giving!

It is definitely the Season for Giving in blogland. There are so many amazing bloggers offering awesome giveaways. If you haven't signed up for these two...rush over now!

Win a Vita-Mix Super 5200 @ EatingBender

Win $100 Amazon gift card @ ZestyCook

Melt In Your Mouth Apple Bundt Cake

My mother-in-law made this bundt cake recipe at Thanksgiving, and my husband loved it! He described it as "liquid apple" that just "melts in your mouth." I decided I had to try to make this masterpiece myself. Can you believe I have never made a bundt cake? I found a Wilton bundt cake pan on sale for $5 at Target. My first bundt attempt turned out pretty well. I might make this for the Christmas office party.

Apple Bundt Cake

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract

4 Cups chopped apple (granny smith)

Topping

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Mix together eggs, oil and sugar. Blend flour, cinnamon, and baking soda together and add to egg mixture. Then add vanilla, almond and fold in apples. Bake at 350* in bundt pan for 60 min. or until it tests done. Melt butter in sauce pan and add sugar and evaporated milk. Boil carefully for 5 minutes and pour on top of warm cake.

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Holiday Randomness

Nutter Butter Santas made by my sister!

Family favorites made by my sister!

A peppermint chocolate swirl shake made by Arby's!

Our Christmas tree decorated by me!

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Christmas Wish List and a Giveaway Link

This Christmas, there are a lot of food related items on my wish list. One cookbook that I really want this year is the Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives Recipe Book. What food related items are on your wish list this year?

Tanya @ Sunday Baker is hosting an amazing contest! You can win a $50 gift certificate for Photo Fiddle. You can create some fun pieces of art based on your favorite photos. The style choices include: charcoal, retro, pop art, and oil painting. If I won this contest, I would choose this photo of my nephew, and have a oil painting made for my sister and her husband. What photo would you choose if you won?

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Spoons and an Award

I love when ornaments are made from everyday items! These spoon ornaments are some of my favorites, and they are always displayed on the front of the tree for everyone to see. I love how Santa's beard and the snowman's scarf go down the handle of the spoons. These ornaments always make me smile!

This award was given to me by AK Mom @ What's Baking? There is always something yummy appearing on this blog. Check out the latest creations: Monster Holiday Cookies and Easy Christmas Fudge.

I am passing this award on to two of my favorite reads written by fabulous bloggers!

Coco @ Balance, Joy, and Delicias!

Erin @ Erin Cooks

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Whole Foods Envy and More

I am so jealous of my sister. Look at the loot she received when she went to the grand opening of the new Whole Foods near her house. I love the travel mug, and the bag is so cute!

Speaking of my sister...check out her latest cake creation!

And some pictures of her cutest creation, my nephew:

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Christmas Cake Mix Cookies

Melissa @ Trying To Heal beat me to it and already posted some tasty looking cake mix cookies. I couldn't wait to get home tonight and make some cake mix cookies with Christmas sprinkles. I have used the Cool Whip recipe that Melissa used several times, but I went a different route this time. If you can't find the Funfetti Cake Mix, you can just use white or yellow cake mix and add sprinkles!

Christmas Cake Mix Cookies
1 package of Pillsbury Holiday Funfetti Cake Mix

1 large egg
1/4 cup of oil
1/4 cup of water
powdered sugar

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine cake mix, egg, oil, and water.
Stir until well blended. Stir in sprinkles.
Drop by teaspoons about 1 inch apart onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes or until done. Cool and dust with powdered sugar. Makes about 2 dozen.

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Holy Yum! Award

This week's Holy Yum! Award goes to Reeni @ Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice! Check out her Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. This beauty of a cheesecake deserves a Holy Yum! x 100!!!!

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Dark Chocolate Mint Fudge

Fudge is definitely a fun food to give as a gift during the Holidays! I love anything involving chocolate and mint, so I decided to make a Dark Chocolate Mint Fudge. It is very easy to make...and very easy to eat! YUM! This was a great start to my Holiday baking! My husband's grandmother loved it so much that she told me she hid it so that she could have it all herself.

Dark Chocolate Mint Fudge

Ingredients:

2 cups Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

12 York Peppermint Patties

Directions:

In saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk.

Add vanilla.

Spread half the mixture into wax paper lined 8 inch square pan and top with peppermint patties.

Pour remaing mixture on top of patties and spread evenly.
Chill 2 hours or until firm.

Turn onto flat surface, peel off paper, and cut into squares.

Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

I just found out that Ashley@ Sweet & Natural picked mint for this week's BSI contest. I am going to enter this recipe! Wish me luck!

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Uber Foodies!

Rose @ All About Cakes and Priscilla @ Priscilla's Baking Adventures both awarded me this Uber Award! I was Uber excited when I received them from such Uber Amazing bloggers! Thanks girls! You both are awesome! Now for more Uber Love for some Uber Great bloggers!

Uber (synonym to Super) Amazing Blog Award is a blog award given to sites who:

~ inspires you
~ makes you smile and laugh
~ or maybe gives amazing information
~ a great read
~ has an amazing design
~ and any other reasons you can think of that makes them uber amazing!

The rules of this award are:

~ Put the logo on your blog or post.
~ Nominate at least 5 blogs (can be more) that for you are Uber Amazing!
~ Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
~ Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

I award the Uber Amazing Blog Award to:

AkMom @ What's Baking?
Gera @ SweetsFoods
Teresa @ Mexican Chocolate Lore and More
Jo @ The Adventures of Kitchen Girl
Zesty @ ZestyCook

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Celebrating!

No recipe post today. We are celebrating our 4th Anniversary!

It's a S'mores Christmas

Throughout the Holidays, I am going to share some of my favorite foodie related decorations. Here is one of my favorites: The S'mores Nativity Scene! I have many other S'mores ornaments. Check out a variety of S'mores ornaments at Flying Cloud Gifts. Does anyone else have any S'mores ornaments?

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Gingerbread Pudding

This was my first attempt ever to make pudding on the stove top. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I have always given in to the easy preparation of Jello Instant Pudding. I had fun making the pudding and felt so accomplished afterward. It didn't take much work at all and it was so easy. I used rice milk, but you can use whatever milk or milk substitute that you desire. The result: a rich, creamy, gingerbread pudding full of flavor. I crumbled up some graham crackers on top for decoration and a little crunch.

Gingerbread Pudding

link to recipe at vegweb.com

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

pinch salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cup soy milk (or your preferred "milk")

1 1/4 tablespoons molasses

Directions:

In a saucepan, stir together sugar, cornstarch, salt and spices well. Add 1/4 cup soy milk, and blend to make a thick goo.Turn the burner on to medium, and add the remaining soy milk, stirring constantly. Drizzle in the molasses while stirring constantly. Cook this mixture until it thickens, making sure to stir constantly (takes about 7 minutes). Pour into serving dishes and cover. Place in the refrigerator until set.

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Gingerbread Applesauce Spice Cupcakes

Gingerbread is one of my favorite Holiday flavors, and you will see a lot of it in the next few weeks. I found this recipe, and I was excited to try it, because it has no eggs or oil at all! I added 1/4 cup rice milk, and I used allspice instead of cloves. These treats filled my house with a Christmas spice smell as I fought with the lights on the tree last night. The muffins were amazing...very moist and full of gingerbread spice. I might reduce the ginger a little next time because it had quite the kick! You can make this recipe without the ginger for an apple spice cake muffin. I will be trying it soon.

Gingerbread Applesauce Spice Cupcakes

link to recipe at vegweb.com
Ingredients:

1/2 cup molasses

1 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 3/4 cup flour (I used oat flour)

2 teaspoon ginger (optional)

Directions:

Combine the molasses and applesauce in a large bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and stir into the liquid. (If the batter seems very dry, add a little more applesauce or a little water.) Bake in muffin tins, in a 350 degree oven, for 25 minutes or until they test done. This made about 8 muffins.

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