adapted from CupCakes and CrabLegs to include more Oreos

Ingredients:

1 package Oreo cookies (30 cookie pack)
2 – 11 ounce bags of white chocolate chips
20 mini -size candy canes (or 10 normal-sized candy canes)

Directions:

1. Crush candy canes in a food processor until the pieces are very fine.
2. Melt white chocolate (I use the glass bowl over pot of boiling water method).
3. Dip each Oreo in the white chocolate, then lay out on parchment paper.
4. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
5. Let them cool for about 30 minutes.

You may not end up being able to fully cover 30 Oreo cookies, but this also accounts for the fact that you may eat a few Oreos during the process.    These were a huge hit at the workplace and I imagine they’d be so at any Holiday Party!

P.S. If your name is Aik and you blog over at Friends & Family – then CONGRATS!  You won the Luce $30 credit giveaway!  Please email me at sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com and I’ll put you in touch with Ashley!

What foods are you planning on making for your Holiday Parties?

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?

Recently, in my hunt for the perfect ways to use up my pumpkin, I found this amazingly simple and delicious recipe on Pressed Down, Shaken Together that uses pumpkin and crescent rolls.  Now I have to say that it’s been awhile since I’ve bought said crescent rolls (don’t know why) and since I always love to mix up what I eat I decided to give it a shot.  Boy was this delicious, seriously y’all, you’ve got to try it.  It’s flaky, sweet, tasty, flavorful and mmmm, just feels right with a glass of milk or some hot tea.  So get your ingredients ready and LET’S BAKE!

Pumpkin Pie Croissants (recipe from here)

Ingredients:

- 2 tubes of refrigerated crescent rolls
- 1/2 block of cream cheese
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice + 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 3 tbsp. sugar + 4 tbsp. sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Roll each crescent roll out and cut each lengthwise by 2.

3. Mix together the cream cheese, canned pumpkin, 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, and 3 tbsp sugar.  Generously spread each crescent roll with a tablespoon of the mixture.  (Sorry if this picture isn’t too appetizing, I didn’t do such a good job of mixing up the cream cheese haha.)

4. Starting at the wider end, roll the crescent roll so the smaller end is on top.

5. Now mix together 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice and 4 tbsp. sugar.  Roll each of the crescent rolls into the mixture so that it is evenly coated with the sweet goodness.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

And now you can finally enjoy your creation!  We ended up giving some of these to our neighbor across the street as a thank you for giving us a bunch of free baby hangers!  But of course we kept some to ourselves too, duh.    I’d eat these as a dessert OR breakfast and are best eaten fresh out of the oven.  Cool thing about this is that next time you can make your own crescent roll filling, oh think of the possibilities… peanut butter, nutella, marshmallow fluff, jam… mmm yes.

Entries for this giveaway have been closed, thanks for entering!

Hey all!  I’m back again, but this time with a TASTY GIVEAWAY!  I had a similar giveaway last year and it was such a hit that I decided to bring it back.  Sweet Lydia’s shop is not just your regular old sweets shop, but her focus is sticky gooey heavenly marshmallows, with her most popular item being S’mores!  What more could you ask for?  If you are looking for the perfect holiday treat for your Thanksgiving or Christmas party or as a stocking stuffer or really to just indulge on yourself, look no further!

 I just HAD to create a photo collage with some of her treats.  Have I got your drooling yet?  That was my goal. 

{BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY #3 of 6}

Enter to win a box of Sweet Lydia’s Mixed Fall Box of Smores (that’s 3 Pumpkin Spice and 3 Apple Cirder Smores, YUM)!

To enter:

1. What is your favorite kind of birthday cake? (mandatory entry)

For additional entries, leave a separate comment for each action.
2. Visit Sweet Lydia’s and leave a comment with your favorite item!
3. Be a Google Friend Connect follower of this blog
4. Like Sweet Lydia’s on Facebook and write on the wall saying I sent ya
5. Follow @sandyalamode and @sweetlydias on Twitter
6. Blog, facebook, or tweet about this giveaway (make sure to include @sandyalamode and @sweetlydias in your tweet) and include the link (one entry each). 

Feel free to use this tweet:

Celebrate @sandyalamode’s birthday with 6 #GIVEAWAYS! Enter to win @sweetlydias fall smores! http://bit.ly/vc0Pzo

This giveaway is open to U.S. readers only and closes on Monday, November 7, 2011 at 12PM CST. Good luck!

Don’t want to wait?  Take 10% off your order with code “THANKS” at checkout!

Entries for this giveaway have been closed, thanks for entering!

While blog reading, I recently just found my new favorite fall cookie recipe!  In the past few things, I’ve been craving all things caramel… caramel macchiato, caramel apple pops, apples dipped in caramel, and of course any dessert with caramels would have been perfect!  So when I stumbled upon these Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, I told myself it was a must for making.  I mean, the main flavors and ingredients, caramel and apple cider packets, are like the epitome of fall, don’t you think?  I sure do!  And let me tell you, when I brought these babies into work, people were taking seconds and thirds and fourths, no joke!  They were gone in no time, all 2 dozen that I brought in (I may have eaten the other 2 dozen, OK, maybe I gave some of those away as well).

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies (by The Cooking Photographer)

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, nearly melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (7.4 ounce) box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix *Not sugar free*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) bag Kraft Caramels

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line rimless cookie sheets with parchment paper. It has to be parchment this time.

2. In a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt, and all 10 packets of apple cider mix until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract, then mix in the baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

3. With a standard (size 50) cookie scoop, scoop the dough scrapping off the excess as you go up the bowl. Flatten the dough slightly in your hand and place a caramel in the center. Work the dough around the caramel sealing well. Place the cookies two inches apart on the sheets.

4. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. After baking, carefully slide the parchment with the cookies onto the counter. Let cool until they are no longer soft but still slightly warm. Twist gently to remove, and cool the rest of the way upside down on the parchment or on a cooling rack.

Makes 51 cookies (it may sound like a lot, but just make them all, they are THAT good).

*These cookies are best served over a warm cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or any warm drink to soften up the caramel insides.  Or I suggest nuking them in the microwave for about 15 seconds for a similar effect.*

My goal these days as I’m on travel restriction from work because of baby is to bring in a dessert every (or every other) Friday for my coworkers.  It totally makes for a homely, aromatic smelling kitchen every Thursday night at least, oh and wider hips too but that’s in preparation for baby. 

And oh yes, I do have a GIVEAWAY WINNER to announce today!  The winner of the $25 credit to Maple Boutique is Melissa from Simply, Melissa Ashley!  CONGRATS!  Please send me an email to claim your prize and I’ll get you in touch with Maple Boutique!!

What are some of your favorite fall desserts?

Let me introduce to you the easiest peasiest lemony squeeziest cookie known to human.  All you need is a box of lemon cake mix, some lemon extract (or lemon juice) and some other basic ingredients you probably already have!  These are so perfect for a summer going into fall BBQ, potluck, baby shower, or really… any party!  And these sure do satisfy any prego lady with a lemon craving. 

Easy Lemon Cookies (from Allrecipes)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, and lemon extract until well blended. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into a bowl of confectioners’ sugar. Roll them around until they’re lightly covered. Once sugared, put them on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven. The bottoms will be light brown, and the insides chewy

P.S.  Just wanted to announce the winner of the Yellow Plum Blossoms giveaway!  If your name is Heather and you blog at Pics, Pages, & Purls, CONGRATS!!!  Please send me an email at sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!!   For those that didn’t win, you can still take 15% off your Yellow Plum Blossoms order with code “ALAMODE” for the whole month of September!

So, since I’m still on a bit of a lemon kick lately, what are your favorite lemon recipes (links appreciated!)?

First off, I have a GIVEAWAY WINNER to announce!  Thank you to all who helped celebrate the two year blogiversary of Lola’s Girl!  As you know, she was giving an awesome Polaroid camera and a winner has been picked.  If you are the owner of City Life To Ranching Wife blog, then CONGRATS!  Please email me your mailing address to sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com and we’ll get the camera sent right out to ya! Can’t wait to see the pictures you take with it! 

This week I’ve had my mind on nothing but summer.  Did ya know it will be here in just a few days?  And even cooler, it will be the longest DAY of the year.  Oh how I heart daylight (crossing my fingers that next Tuesday is sunny)!  And it didn’t help that I finally renewed my interest for using Pinterest again.  Well to be honest, I signed up last August in order to do my Pin It Forward post but haven’t touched it since.  Not because I don’t like using it, but quite the opposite, I know that every time I go there I could be sucked away for hours… and that is just what happened this week haha.  It’s a place to be inspired and inspire others!  I like the fact that you can create categories or “boards” as they call it.  And here are a few of my favorites this week from my different boards, and they all pretty much scream summer to me!

{fashion} | {for the home} | {favorite places and spaces}

{food and drink} | {beauty and makeup} | {party and decorations}

Aren’t these all so fun? The shoes… amazing!  The kitchen… so colorful!  The over water bungalow… can I just be there right now?  The fruit kabobs… mmm tasty!  The waterfall braid… so elegant!  The bouquet… perfect summer palette! 

OK, well I’m off to Michigan for my college roommate’s purple and green wedding this weekend!  So excited, especially for the cupcake dessert!    Have a great weekend all!

Are you on Pinterest?  If so, you should follow me!  And if you aren’t on Pinterest but would like an invite, let me know!

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)?

Before we get started on this post, I just wanted to announce the lucky winners of the FOUR GIVEAWAYS from last week!!

The winner of the rosette headband and button earrings set by Oh, Sweet Joy is Anna of Be Healthy, Be Well, Be Inspired!

The winner of $25 credit to The Rusted Chain is Amylou of Amylouwho!

The winner of $30 credit to Ashley Carter Designs is Kelly of Just The Two Of Us!

The winner of the Autumn Breeze headband by Lindsay Harmony is Lola of The Life of Lola!

WINNERS: Congrats! Please email me at sandyalamode@gmail.com with your mailing address so I can send it on to my sponsors!

***

One of my favorite types of blogs posts to read AND write are food posts (or “The Dish” as I like to call it over here).  Because everyone pretty much has a love for food, am I right?  There aren’t many more things that bring me joy in life than when one of my friends says, “Hey, tried a recipe from your blog and everyone loved it”!  OK, well there are other things that bring me joy in life but this one is pretty high up there on the list.  Not only do I love sharing my own recipes, my parent’s recipes, as well as recipes I find online, from cookbooks and magazines that I’ve tried (and loved)… but more recently, I turn to other blogs for recipes as well!  Because if another blogger has tried it and found the time to blog about it, it must be worth it, yea?!    (All the pictures in this post were taken by me.)

First let’s start off with some Brie and Chive Biscuits from Food Wine and Mod Podge.  These savory bites are like a more sophisticated version of Red Lobster’s cheddar biscuits.  They crunch and flake in your mouth and the little bits of brie with make your stomach thank you!

As your appetite gets going, I’d like to bring out another cheese appetizer, the amazing Favorite Cheese Ball by Cooking for Seven, with step-by-step instructions on Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen site!  This chunk of cheese is super amped up with multiple cheeses, onion, garlic powder, cranberries and more, then rolled in crushed pecans.  Serve on your favorite cracker and you’ll have people popping until they can’t stop!  Trust me, that happened with one of my friends!!

Then we move on to Asian- Style Turkey Meatballs by Ruffles and Truffles!  It’s a combination of Asian and Italian, sweet, salty, and spicy all mixed up into a ball!  Not to mention, it uses turkey which makes it leaner than pork/beef (for the most part)!  Serve it with a side of rice and there’s an entree for you!

And lastly, to top off your meals, why not serve some Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Truffles to your guests, or keep them all to yourself, either way (I’m not judging you).  Thanks to Honeysuckle Chic for the recipe!  These are a mix of sweet, salty, chocolatey, and soft!  They sure do hit the spot when you’re looking for a perfect dessert to finish off your meal!  And they are pretty simple to make, can’t beat that! 

Psssst… don’t forget to enter the For The Love Of Joy and Slieberry Designs giveaways going on right here, right now!

What are some of your favorite food/recipes blogs?

(besides mine, kidding!)

Happy Friday and upcoming weekend, friends!!

Since I did my Flavors To Follow post this past Wednesday already, I thought today I’d share the bacon chocolate chip cookies I made for a Super Bowl party!  It’s the one I mentioned in my first Awkward and Awesome post from yesterday, that my coworkers were pleasantly surprised with!    I’m guessing some of you have tried it before, some of  you are severely intrigued and can’t wait to try them, and others, probably just think it’s plain gross.  These cookies, oh my, are a mix between salty, sweet, gooey, fluffy, crunchy and unexpectedly addicting.  Yea, we’ll keep the description at that.  And if your man is anything like my husband, it’s just another reason to eat cookies for breakfast… because bacon is breakfast food, right?  For my first time making it, I followed a recipe by Pete Bakes and I’ll probably be using it again!  Although I think you could probably follow any chocolate chip recipe and just throw in a handful of candied bacon and you’d get a similar taste! 

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

candied bacon
1 pckg thick cut bacon (about 10 strips)
brown sugar for sprinkling

chocolate chip cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
12 oz toll house semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Directions

1. Make the candied bacon: preheat the oven to 350 F.  Lay bacon on a parchment covered baking sheet so they are not overlapping.  Sprinkle about 2 tsp brown sugar evenly on each strip of bacon.  Bake for 12 minutes, remove from oven, flip bacon and drag it through the syrupy liquid that’s collected on the baking sheet.  Put the bacon back in the oven for another 12-15 minutes, until it is fully cooked and very dark (mahogany). Remove the strips from the sheet and cool on a wire rack.  After they have cooked, chop them or quickly food process into tiny pieces.

2. Make the cookies: combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Beat butter, both sugars and vanilla in a large bowl.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in morsels and bacon pieces.

3. Spoon dough (about a Tbsp per cookie) onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 375 F for 9-11 minutes.  I tend to go a little under 9 minutes so they come out just underdone.  Remove to cooling racks or eat immediately with a tall glass of cold milk.

So there you have it, there’s your last minute Valentine’s Day present for you bacon loving lover!    And while we’re on the subject, please tell me…

What are some of your favorite strange, unexpectedly delicious, food combinations?

peanut butter and bananas, ramen and cheese, french fries dipped in ice cream, oreos in lemonade, grape jelly and saltines are a few to ponder…