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I love this time of year.  Berries are in season, it's hot outside, we play in the water, and life is good. Plus it's the 4th of July. A great excuse to make some delicious food, have a fun BBQ, and light a whole bunch of things on fire. With all those fresh berries around I decided I wanted some of my favorite things combined: lemon and fresh berries.  This cake turned out fantastic and was super easy to make.  It's perfect for the 4th with all the red, white, and blue, plus everyone at your party will love you for bringing it.   Triple Berry Lemon Cream Cake ( click here for printable version ) Cake: 6 tbsp butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs 1/2 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt 2 tbsp milk 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/8 tsp salt 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour Cream: 2 cups heavy cream 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla zest of 1 lemon 2 cups each of 3 different berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackbe...

Ahhh....breakfast! I am always on the hunt for new breakfast ideas, especially ones that don't take a lot of work but are super filling. Mornings are so chaotic around here and by the time I get home from the gym the kiddos are waking up and they are very hungry.  Especially the youngest.  Breakfast is his favorite meal and he always want "something good", no cereal for this boy. Oatmeal was a common breakfast growing up and I actually really like it.  Now that I am older, I much prefer steel cut oats to the regular oatmeal so this was a perfect recipe for me.  (the steel cut oats is essential for having it cook overnight, don't try other kinds of oatmeal, they will not work) Put it in the night before and it's ready by morning.  Fast, easy, sweet, and totally delicious. Overnight Brown Sugar and Maple Oatmeal ( click here for printable version ) 6-8 cups water (see note below) 2 cups steel cut oats 1/4 cup pure maple syrup 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1/2 t...

Since I am at Girl's Camp my sister, Emily is helping me out.  Yeah!!! That's one long title for such a simply delicious dessert. I didn't even mention the candied lemon part, sheesh!   This cake is a lemon lovers dream! I was asked to make a cake for a family friend with the specifications of "oh just something lemon." So lemon I made! The raspberry curd sets off the lemon nicely makes and it's so that you don't slip into a lemon coma (Not that a lemon coma is a bad thing!). Maybe I should rename this to the near lemon coma cake. Now that has a nice ring to it!  It's way shorter too. All in favor of a name change signify with an "aye." I'd say we're all in favor. [: Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Raspberry Curd and Lemon Buttercream Frosting ( click here for printable version ) Ingredients: For cake: 2 1/3 cups cake flour 2 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 1 1/2 tbsp. poppy seeds 5 large egg whites, at room temperature 1/4 tsp. tsp c...

When my kids get out of school they always complain that they are "SOOOOO Bored!". I hate that phrase, with a passion.  Usually, if it continues past the first week of school being out, I find all sorts of "fun" things for them to do.  Like weeding the garden, staining the fence, washing walls and baseboards, cleaning out my cupboards, etc. After that I don't hear it so much but I do try to have fun things for them to do.  We made these one night for Family night.  They were a huge hit with the kids and they thought it was so fun to put together.  It's a perfect summer activity. Worms and Dirt Brownies ( click here for printable version ) Box of brownie mix, plus ingredients to prepare 6 (8 oz) wide mouth, half pint jars ( this size works the best for this recipe) Can of chocolate frosting About 20 Oreos, crushed into crumbs About 30 Gummi Worms 1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray inside bottoms of jars with cooking spray. 2.  Mix your brownies according...

Summer is in full swing around these parts and I am loving the warm weather.  Most of the time anyway.   And I am busy, busy, busy.  I am exactly 5 days away from leaving for Girls Camp that I have been planning for 8 months.  Everything is in order (hallelujah!!) it's just a matter of going through everything 50 times so I make sure I don't forget anything and everything is covered. And buying all the food--but we have a couple days before we need to do that.   Because of this....my poor kids and husband get whatever Mom feels like and whatever is fast.  This wrap was absolutely fantastic.  It was perfect for summer (no oven required) and delicious.  The hubs and I loaded ours with veggies and the kids thought the bacon and turkey were amazing.  It was an easy, yummy dinner. Smoked Turkey Cobb Wrap ( click here for printable version ) * This is the ingredients for 1 wrap.  If you are making more just multiply it out.  Also don't be...

Sometimes you just need an adult cookie. My kids totally don't agree but I do.  I love it when they won't eat my desserts because it has "nuts" in it.  That word alone will make all my kids going running away as fast as they can. I use to be the same way as a kid and as a teenager.  Now I have come to my senses and I enjoy almost all kinds of nuts (walnuts are still not my favorite but hey....), especially in desserts.  These german chocolate cookies with toasted pecans make my mouth water just thinking about them and then macadamia nuts.  Ahhh...so delicious. And so not kid friendly.  Perfect for me. These cookies were absolutely delicious.  They are a perfect combination of cookie dough, white chocolate, and nuts.  The hubs and I loved them (and pretty much every adult in the room). White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies ( click here for printable version ) *makes about 60 cookies 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature 1/4 cup but...

With Father's Day coming up I thought I would share one of the hubs favorite burgers. It's not mine, but I'm not saying it's not wonderfully tasty, just that I am not an onion fan.  There is just something about slimy things sliding down your throat that I take issue with--too much information probably but the texture issue pops up big time with long, slimy onions. The hubs, on the other hand, LOVES them and sometimes I make things just for him that contain them.  You know, it totally makes his day. This burger was one of those.  He assured me that it was absolutely amazing so if you or the father you are celebrating this year loves onions too then this would be a wonderful, delicious burger to make for them this Sunday. French Onion Burger of Wonder ( click here for printable version ) *makes 8 burgers Caramelized Onions: 2 large yellow onions 4 tbsp butter 1 cup water 2 beef bullion cubes 1/2 cup sour cream Burger: 2 pounds ground beef 2 pkg. Lipton onion soup mix 1 t...

I am a box kind of girl when it comes to brownies.  I have only found one other recipe that beats a box and it's so involved that I only make it for special occasions.  Box brownies have lived up to my expectations in every way.  Especially because I can let my kids mix them up in 5 minutes flat and then you bake and perfect!  Moist, chocolaty, and amazing with hot fudge and ice cream.  So yummy!! Well my friends I have found another homemade recipe that is quick (not quite as quick as a box but still quite fast), super chocolaty, moist, and absolutely delicious. The only problem is that you better have some place to take these or you might find that they have "accidentally" disappeared on you. Oops. By the way, thanks to my Mom who gave me this recipe.  She's had it for ages and I just barely found about it (which is probably a good thing or my hips would be 5 inches wider)! Decadent Homemade Brownies ( click here for printable version ) 1 cup unsalted b...

Don't those just look so pretty!!?? Anyway...I love it when my food turns out.  These cookies were a dream to make.  Which is awesome because I would probably much rather make these than have a real s'more. You see the regular 'ole graham cracker, marshmallow, hershey is just not my thing.  It's fine, I don't mind them but I certainly am not going to pick them for my birthday!! All those ingredients are great but for some reason in that version, it not my favorite.  Now if you mix it up a little bit and add some fudge striped cookies, peanut oreos, or peanut cups I am much for willing to have a bite.   Because of that I really wanted to try a s'more cookie.  And guess what, they were terrific.  So yummy and delicious and amazing right out of the oven. S'more Cookies ( click here for printable version ) 1 package graham crackers (9 full sized graham crackers) 6 tbsp butter, melted 1 tbsp sugar dash salt 1 cup butter, softened 2 cup brown sugar 2 eggs, r...

 When it gets cold outside one of my favorite things to do is bake.  It's just something about being in a warm house and with no reason to go outside that makes me want to make a new recipe. We have had such weird weather this week.  45 degree temperature changes between two days, wind that blows like no other, and super sunny days.  So random! Growing up, I remember meatloaf as being super delicious.  When I finally started making it myself I realized that are many, many different ways to make it.  I have tried many ( this one being one of my favorites) but sometimes I just need something different. I saw this beauty on pinterest and it sounded fantastic, especially since we just bought 1/2 a cow (the hubs is so excited about it especially since my parents raised them).  Using good, lean beef is essential in my opinion.  This meatloaf definitely was different than the normal for us, but the kids loved it and I loved the cheesy topping.  It...

 I am so excited for today, so let's get this PARRRTAY started!! I was invited by Ashton of Something Swanky  to be a part of a blog hop.  You see all of us have come so far from our very first posts, in photography, in writing, and in being a much better blogger. So because of this, Ashton invited a few of us re-do an old post and make it way better. I decided on re-doing this classic.  This is one of my most requested recipes so it was definitely in need of a much more noteworthy photograph.  I love this maplely bread because it makes a simple recipe look pretty cool just by how you put it together, which is not hard at all.  And if you are a lover of maple this is the treat for you.  Totally delicious and full of sugary goodness. Maple Twists (click here for printable version) Dough: 1 cup milk 1/4 cup butter 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp maple extract 1 Tbsp yeast 1 egg, beaten 4-5 cup flour Filling: 1 cup sugar 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp ...