You can never go wrong with bringing a basic chocolate chip cookie to party.  Everyone loves those babies and they get gobbled up in minutes.  But I’m always looking for new ways to spice up basic recipes and I may have met my match with these Toasted Coconut and Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies seen on Doughmesstic.  What takes these cookies to the next level are the:

1) browned butter (must must must brown the butter, don’t get lazy and think you don’t need to brown it)
2) coconut (takes me back to paradise)
3) sea salt (don’t think I can express enough in words how much I love a sweet and salty contrast)
4) chopped chocolate bars (I didn’t have Scharffen-Berger but wish I had. I’ve actually been on the Scharffen-Berger chocolate factory tour in San Francisco before, so fun and yummy!)

I made these over the holidays, hence I couldn’t bring them into work, sorry team, I’ll make another batch when I return at the end of March.    Me, Marvin and my parents finished these off in no time, they went with breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I promise you that these cookies (and you) will be the talk of any event if you make them, the more gourmet the chocolate, the more of a hit you’ll (err the cookies) will be.

So I have a confession to make.  Sometimes when I’m in a blog post preparing frenzy, baking lots of stuff, taking lots of outfit pictures, etc. I get so backed up in content that I don’t have enough time to post then.  Case in point, this post here.  It’s a “The Dish” one if you couldn’t tell from the title, but I actually made these ONE YEAR AGO.  But then somehow November and December got away from me and then I figured it was too late to post about a pumpkin recipe, although I do not have a problem with pumpkin desserts being made year round, mind you.  SO anyways, I figured it was about time I post this… since recipes never really go bad, thank goodness!

Chocolate Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

For the Cookies
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Filling
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Place butter, shortening, and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture.

3. Drop about 2 teaspoons dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.
4. Prepare filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese, butter, and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whip until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

5. Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons filling on the flat sides of half the cookies. Place 5-6 chocolate chips on top of filling. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down.

And there you have it!  A little time consuming, but so worth it.  These little mini bites are perfect for a Fall Holiday party or potluck!  Don’t worry, all the whoopie pies you see in this post had already been consumed (last year), it was only a matter of minutes at the office. 

Well, I just wanted to say once again how THANKFUL I am of this blog, my readers (you), and my sponsors.  I am so happy to always share with you all the daily happenings in my life and honored that so many of you care enough to read and leave comments about it!  Hope you all have a safe, wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with a ton of good food!  Our menu will consist of a young chicken (it’s just the 2.5 of us so we didn’t want to go all out w/ a turkey), cranberry dressing, creamy corn casserole, green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, and mini pumpkin pies! 

P.S. If you have a little one in your life… a daughter, son, niece, nephew, or have friend’s with kids, then don’t forget to enter The Rice Babies $20 credit giveaway!

P.P.S. Have you voted for me in the Soon Maternity Blogger’s Style Challenge yet? 

What’s on your Thanksgiving menu?

With summer quickly approaching… and by quickly I mean a few days away, I thought it would be perfect to share a few desserts that I’ve made recently.  These scrumptious recipes were found through twitter and blogs, of course (they are my favorite places to ask and look)!  The first one was given to me by Navywife3619.  I had asked a question on twitter for simple, delicious BBQ/potluck ideas and she came back with the idea of making a Chocolate Trifle!

Yum!  This recipe truly was so simple and so deliciously sweet and yummy!  All that this includes is devil’s food cake, chocolate pudding, whipped cream and heath bar (toffee).  You bake the devil’s food cake according to the box directions and once it’s done you cut it up into squares and layer the bottom of a bowl.  Then put a layer of chocolate pudding on top, whipped cream on top, sprinkled bits of Heath bar on top, then another layer of cake, pudding, whipped cream and Heath bar on top again and you’re done!  Easy peasy, oh yes! 

Next up is a dessert I made for my friend’s bridal shower!  It’s healthy (sorta) and the presentation is great.  It’s none other than Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries – seen on Sugar Derby!

My suggestion is to make this dessert the day you serve it and it is sure to be a crowd-pleaser (the strawberries may be a bit soggy and not as fresh the following day).  You basically hollow out a strawberry, stuff it with a cheesecake mixture and top it with graham cracker bits.  It is heavenly I tell you… and for all those healthy folks… well, it’s fruit!!  And now I might just be drooling all over my keyboard as I finish this post.

What are your favorite summer desserts (links appreciated)?

So my last three recipe posts had pumpkin in them, nothing wrong with pumpkin, I mean I LOVE pumpkin, but I’m guessing you’re probably ready for something new huh?  This weeks recipe was sent to by my friend Amy, from Pura Vida Nutrition!  And what’s so special about this recipe?  Well, it uses stevia, instead of sugar!  From the trusted Wikipedia, stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, even enhancing glucose tolerance; therefore, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to diabetics and others on carbohydrate-controlled diets.  Would you believe that 3/4 teaspoon of powdered stevia is equal to 1/2 cup of sugar??? (Stevia also comes in liquid form and 1/4 teaspoon of liquid is equal to 2 teaspoons of sugar.)  OK, enough with the lesson and on to the pictures and recipe!    I introduce to you the White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookie, a soft, cake-like wonderful cookie!

How does it look?  It’s a mix of white chocolate chips , cranberries, and delicious soft dough… perfect for a holiday party!  Here’s the recipe adapted from Sensational Stevia Desserts by Lisa Jobs, background design created by Lovely Design, if you’d like to try it!  I think I was inspired by the Winter Recipe Exchange to put my recipe on a “card” this time instead of just listing it out in a post!

*Note: these cookies will NOT brown on top like traditional cookies, so you must first check the bottom for browning to tell if they are done.  You can also put a toothpick in center to see if its dry.  If so, then cookie is done.  Enjoy!!

Have you baked with stevia before?

hello from sunny orlando, fl (going to meet up with Sonja from SoNg Designs this week, can’t wait)!  hope you all had a fantastic weekend!  mine was filled with laundry, crafting, sewing, cooking, eating, photographing, shopping for a baby shower i’m planning, packing and straight up lounging!    i’ve got a lot of randomness to share with you today so thanks to carissa, i’m linking up (and typing in all lowercase because sometimes it’s fun to do that):

{1} can you believe it’s august already?  oh my.  that means summer is almost over, nooooo come back!!  well we all better enjoy it, before you know it, it’s snow and ice time.    i just downloaded this august desktop wallpaper calendar by pamela viola, kellie from 74 lime lane tweeted me and said she saw it on poppytalk, don’t you just love social media?

here’s another august calendar that following rabbits tweeted me with, found on free people.  i think i’ll switch out my calendars every other day, what do you think??  well it is my computer so i can do what i want! 

{2} why am i doing the insanity workout?  because my coworkers has these babies filled with milk chocolate m&m’s, peanut m&m’s, pretzel m&m’s, and peanut butter m&m’s… how could you resist?  i sure can’t!

{3} a new frozen yogurt place, yogurtini, opened up in kansas city this past weekend.  yes, we’re about 2-3 years behind on trends.  they had sriricha as one of the available toppings, i couldn’t resist – it wasn’t half bad!

{4} what could be better than a bar in a boutique shop??  *thinking thinking*  nope, can’t get much better than that!  it’s the perfect date really… girl shops, guy drinks, guy gets drunk, guy buys girl lots and lots of clothes and shoes! 

{5} picked up this antique sewing table at a yard sale.  love that it has a spool holder and a tray of pins or other knick knacks.  do you think i should leave it as is or repaint it?  if so, what color?

{6} it’s the last day to enter the we heart paper custom stationery giveaway!  love animals?  enter here! love moustaches?  enter here!  don’t worry, if you don’t win, janie still has many more weekly giveaways this summer!

Today is quite the exciting day: my parents are coming into town, the weather is super nice out, and I have my first ever GUEST POST over on Lola’s Girl!  Big thanks Jozen for letting me share with your readers while you nosh on spam musabi, sip out of coconuts, and watch beautiful sunsets in Hawaii!    Here’s a sneak peak at the heavenly dessert that is posted over there…

And if you are joining me from Lola’s Girl, WELCOME!!  I’m glad to have your company over here on my little corner of the web.    For those of you who aren’t already Lola’s Girl readers, hop on over to her blog to see everything from stylish inspirations, pictures of her adorable daughters, and basically just a daily dose of happiness!

Now see the fabric underneath the pie?  That’s the same fabric I used to make my… drum roll please…

FIRST DRESS!!!!

Can you tell I am excited?  A few weekends ago, my friends, Nancy, Sheena and I got together to tackle our first apparel project.  We didn’t really follow a template, just started cutting and sewing (and then later adjusting).  Nancy had made this dress the week before we met up so she was able to give us measurement pointers, but if you choose to follow along and make one for yourself, these measurements may need to be altered.

1. Cut two pieces of fabric for the front and back of the dress: length = 34″, width = 25″.

2. Cut two pieces of fabric for the drawstring tie: length = 56″, width = 2″.  Or you could cut 4 pieces that are length = 28″, width = 2″ if your fabric is not long enough.

3. Sew a hem on the bottom of each piece of dress fabric, about 1-2″.

4. Measure about 8″ down on the top sides of the dress fabric and cut out arm holes.

5. Sew the hem on each of the four arm holes, two on each fabric.  Make sure not to sew the armholes together!!

6. With the right sides facing each other, sew down the two sides of the dress.

7. Fold over the top hem of the dress by about 2-3″, make sure it is enough to fit the width of the drawstring tie.

8. For the drawstring tie, place the two pieces right side facing each other, and sew along the edges, about 1/4″ in.

9. Flip the tie inside out and sew the edges closed.

10. Insert drawstring tie through top of dress.  And voila, you are done!!

Now kick back with a tall glass of sangria…

…and jump for joy because you just finished sewing a DRESS!!!

If you would have asked me one year ago if I’d ever make my own clothes — let alone get into sewing — my answer would have been a big negatory!  But thanks to my mother-in-law for getting me started and my dear friends for pushing me, I’m doing it, I’m making my own clothes!  That being said, I’m never shopping ever again for clothes, haha just kidding.  Well, basically, now when I go shopping I think… “Can I make this?”  And if the answer is “Yes”, then I don’t buy it!

Once again, if you are a new reader from Lola’s Girl, I hope my pie and my dress have enticed you to come join me on my crafting, sewing, baking, renovating, and photographing adventures!

P.S. The Pagestoppers GIVEAWAY ends today at 5:00PM CST!  Winner will be announced tomorrow!

I know what some of you may be thinking after reading the title of this post, but bare with me, you may be pleasantly surprised! My friend Elisa recently told me about a delicious and healthy dessert called Nasoya Chocolate Silken Style Creations. I had actually never heard of it before and realized that it was sold in health food stores and the nearest one to me is too far away. So I decided to try and concoct something on my own and it ended up being quite tasty! It’s smooth, creamy, and tastes just like chocolate mousse from a restaurant… but it’s made of tofu so you know it’s healthier!

Ingredients

• 1 package silken tofu
• 5 oz. chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream (optional)
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 dash vanilla extract

Directions

1. Blend tofu in food processor until smooth.
2. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and heavy cream.
3. Add melted chocolate mixture, honey and vanilla into tofu mixture and blend until creamy.
4. Chill mousse in fridge until ready to serve.

Eat mousse as is or serve layered with graham crackers, strawberries, bananas and whipped cream. Either way it is delicious!

Special THANKS to my childhood friend Elisa for inspiring me to make this!

{Caution: This post my make you drool on your keyboard}

I want to be a professional food photographer who takes pictures like the following…

found on to be charmed, all i can say is WOW! these lovely desserts were made and photographed by mowie of mowielicious. i totally could use one of those cake stands!

what’s for lunch, honey? i don’t know about lunch, but i will take a cup of mango and passionfruit tiramisu & a bowl of prosecco pears with blood orange mascarpone cream for dessert!

make your steamy kitchen smell delicious with a citrus shrimp cocktail & easter ham with mango ginger glaze

i love how la tartine gourmande has many colors and textures to her photos. gourmande is the french to describe anyone who cannot resist food, i think i’ll be using this word more often to describe myself.

Here is the current state of my food photography:

Some ways I could improve are to lighten up my photos and add fun props like flowers, colorful napkins, trays… yup, I have my work cut out for me…

…for now, I’m just taking one baby step at a time.

oh yea… evan’s also a gourmande, guess it runs in the family.

(pictures of my nephew were taken by my sister-in-law, can’t wait to see them in 2 days, he’s growing up so fast!!!! the last time i saw evan was when i made cake pops for his 1st birthday party and he was still crawling!)

Because Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year are both coming up on Sunday, February 14, 2010, I decided on the color RED for my Flavors to Follow theme this week.  For Chinese New Year, red should be worn as it signifies joy, good fortune and also scares off evil.  And I don’t think I need to mention that red signifies LOVE for Valentine’s Day… OK, so I just mentioned it.  Without further ado, here is your eye candy!

eat: perfect chocolate cupcakes created by diane
see: chinese new year lanterns by eye poetry
craft: DIY Printable Teabag Cozies on oh, hello friend
sew: yo-yo frame on the sometimes crafter
inspire: pretty dresses on pink clouds
wed: paper airplane engagement on adrienne gunde & featured on ever ours
decorate: lovely dining room on this lovely city
wear: pin-up bow headband by lou and lee and featured on a beautiful mess

Hope you all have a great Valentine’s Day and a Happy Year of the Tiger!

I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t end the post without sharing some cute tiger crafts I found on Etsy!
1) Kawaii Tiger Brooch by Fluffington
2) Clutch by ThePrintTree
3) Cute pink tiger buttons by Modes4u

OK, seriously, this is the end of this post, have a wonderful weekend full of love, passion and celebration!

Last Thursday, my dear girl friends and I met up for a Girl’s Night!  We try to meet up at least once a month so we can talk about all the things the boys couldn’t care less about.  It’s a great time to catch up on everyone’s lives, laugh, and give advice.  Usually we’ll go out for happy hour but this time we decided to go to one’s house and cook, drink and let our creative juices flow!  And since Valentine’s Day is coming up, we decided make “heart” and “love” related crafts!  So here you have it… a tutorial on how to have a successful Girl’s Craft Night!

Ingredients
The obvious…a group of two or more girls
Bridal, home & garden, and celebrity gossip magazines
Martha Stewart Crafts premade boxes or material to make your own box
As many scrapbooking materials as you all can muster up, such as stickers, scrapbook paper, ribbon, etc.
Scissors, tape, glue stick, toothpicks
Frosting, powdered sugar
And of course, desserts for decorating!  (Examples: brownies, red velvet cupcakes)

A poison of your choice: Wine or ZEVIA zero calorie Cola (This was the first time I heard about this natural, amazing tasting pop product that really takes like other pops, or soda for you people living on the coasts.  Here’s a little spiel from their website: ZEVIA contains none of the chemically processed artificial sugar substitutes, artificial flavors or artificial colors found in other diet sodas. ZEVIA is all-natural, has zero calories, zero net carbs, zero fat, and little or no sodium. It uses a natural sweetener called Stevia which I still need to buy and substitute in recipes that call for sugar!  You can buy ZEVIA at your local organic or health food store or I even found it on Amazon.  They have Cola, Ginger Ale, Twist, Orange, Root Beer, and Black Cherry flavors… maybe I will try them all and do a review post on them… OK sorry, I digressed.)

And the result of everything above mixed together… Drum roll please…..

Craft #1 – Decorated Red Velvet Cupcakes with Hearts on top

Heart decorating ideas:
Inverted powdered sugar heart
Strawberry hearts on cream cheese frosting
Strawberry hearts + bow on cream cheese frosting
Sticker hearts on toothpick on cream cheese frosting
Brownie hearts on cream cheese frosting

Craft #2 – Boxed heart-to-heart conversation text twist brownies

Directions
- Bake brownies from scratch or from box, whichever you desire
- Cut out brownies into small heart shapes
- Think of 6-8 letters that either define your relationship, is a nickname for your significant other, or describes your emotions about your love and use frosting to pipe one letter on each brownie heart (Examples: SWEET <3 , UR MINES, SMITTEN!, POOH BEAR, SNUGGLES)
*I made one 9x13inch batch of brownies the day before and was able to cut out 40 brownie hearts for 5 girls to use, hence why I had to limit the girls to 8 letters max.  Some were eaten before we got to crafting, but by those who shall remain nameless haha.*
- Decorate box with hearts, magazine cut out letters, stickers, scrapbook paper, ribbons, bows, love notes, poems, etc.
- Scramble brownie heart letters when placing in box
- When you give your box to your significant other, have them guess what the brownie hearts spell out!  (I think we had about a 60% success rate with this one haha).

And last but not least, you may want to hire a photographer (or just rope in one of the husbands) to capture all of the precious moments!  All pictures in this post are courtesy of Matt at Paralyzed Horizon Imaging.  Thanks again!

If you had a max of 8 letters to describe your significant other or relationship, what would you say?