BakeAwayGirl

Believe it or not, folks, this was not  a Pinterest find.  I know, shock and awe.  You see, while I spend many hours browsing Pinterest, Jeff reads articles and browses pictures of ridiculous people and cats.  He sends me so many links that I ignore half of them, but I was lucky I looked at this one.  It was a Buzzfeed article on the best one-bowl cakes. I had offered to make cupcakes for a friend's baby shower, and I knew she wanted chocolate, so when I stumbled on this Buzzfeed article, I made sure to pin it for later.  The original recipe only made 12 cupcakes, which is just ridiculous to me.  Who eats only 12 cupcakes?!  Silly. These were a hit at the baby shower and the few leftovers I had went quickly.  I will admit that I did not eat one.  There were fantastic cake pops at the shower as well, and I hit those hard.  So, personally, I cannot vouch for these cupcakes.  However, based on how fast they went, I will guess they are worth trying. I use the basic buttercream

Mine was a mess this time... but amazingly delicious! You'll never eat tacos the same way again!  At least we haven't.  With this cheesy, delicious pie, we no longer eat traditional tacos around here.  This is consumed (eagerly) with a knife and fork, and uses less tortillas than tacos. Now, the best thing about this recipe is it leaves a lot of room for customization.  Jeff and I have very different ideas of what goes in a taco.  I think the spicier the better, but he wouldn't enjoy that much, so we keep our taco pie very basic.  Remember that you can add whatever you'd like to yours! Taco Pie Adapted from here 1-2lb ground beef (or turkey if you're so inclined) Taco seasoning (and as much water as your seasoning packet calls for) 1/3 cup salsa 1/2 cup shredded cheese 2 large tortillas Enough cheese to cover the top (roughly 2 cups) Suggested Toppings: Shredded lettuce Jalapenos Diced onions Diced tomatoes Sour Cream Guacamole In a skille

Om nom nom these sliders were a fantastic find on Pinterest.  We were planning on having friends over for a Bears game and I immediately thought of sliders.  Luckily, I had this little beauty stashed on my Pinterest boards! See, I'm picky.  Any time the ingredients involve Velveeta, I'm out.  Done, moving on.  I realized how ridiculous it is for the woman who eats box macaroni and cheese, but I don't care.  Velveeta is gross.  Therefore, when I read recipe sliders, I usually abandon them because they incorporate some level of velveeta.  This recipe uses real cheese but still uses the oven.  The last thing I wanted to do with friends over was stand outside on the balcony and grill, so the oven was a must. As you can see in the picture, we had a plethora of condiments for the sliders.  We tried bacon, onions, ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce... it was all good, but I wasn't too wild about them.  Then, with the leftovers, we tried pickles. Magic, my friends.  One pickl

Part Two of our pumpkin delights!  As soon as pumpkin season began, I was craving pumpkin bread.  It's so spongey and full of flavor.  So of course I began browsing Pinterest, and discovered I had pinned a recipe last year and never gotten around to it.  As I was assembling my ingredients, I realized the recipe made two loaves.  I hesitated for only a moment before figuring if  some  pumpkin bread was good,  more  was better! You could easily do a cream cheese frosting or even a brown sugar glaze, but it was so delicious all on its own that we didn't make anything. I'm posting the recipe that will  only make one loaf of pumpkin bread .  It is easily doubled and makes plenty.  We made one regular sized loaf and three mini loaves to share with our doubled recipe.  I do recognize that I might be alone in my desire for that much pumpkin bread, so here is the recipe for just one.  Enjoy... and bring your extras over to my house! Pumpkin Bread Adapted from  here 1 cup ca

Sorry for the lousy instagram shot... it's all I could do with my time Mmmm it is my most favorite time of the year!  Around August, I start craving soups, stews, and things made of apples and pumpkins.  Luckily, last year I had the foresight to buy in bulk, and at the end of the holiday season, I bought canned pumpkin from Costco and it's been sitting in the back of my pantry, patiently awaiting this very event. This is a two-part post, and the first is dedicated to a favorite from last year.  While browsing Pinterest for great holiday ideas, I found a recipe for pumpkin donuts.  We had all the ingredients, but we were missing the mini-muffin pan.  Well, I take any excuse to hit up TJ Maxx!  Heck yes.  So we found the pan (as well as many other things, of course) and began baking. These have a sugary cinnamony coating that just totally makes these little bites of heaven.  The only thing is, I haven't yet perfected a technique for creating this coating.  It's m