Christmas 2023

Tina6 Comments

Welcome to our home for the 2023 holidays! This year I’m embracing nature, earthy touches, and neutral colors with a touch of traditional reds and greens. Our kitchen tree is an ode to our vacation to Quebec City, Canada because we enjoyed macarons and hot cocoa almost every night in old Quebec. So there are several macaron ornaments on the tree. This summer I found out that I love ferns (mostly because I haven’t killed them yet). It started with one and now I have three. I decided to leave them out on the kitchen table and dress them up …

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Gingerbread Crumb Cookies

Tina0 Comments

Gingerbread cookie. Crumbs. Where have these been all my life? These cookies are a little high maintenance to make but that’s okay with me at Christmas time because it’s the time of year to show off some impressive cookies. I don’t often show prep pictures anymore but I thought it was good to show you how much crumb to get on there. It kind of looks like a stuffed mushroom, but it’s not. When they come out of the oven they magically look little crumb cakes but in a chewy cookie form. They have subtle gingerbread flavors so even those …

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Christmas Dining Room 2023 and The Most Requested Cookie Recipe

Tina0 Comments

My husband and I love baking and handing out cookies.  Chocolate chip (or M&M) cookies are hands down the most requested cookie no matter what time of the year it is.  If you’re lost about where to start your holiday baking, then I recommend you start with these chocolate chip cookies because you can’t go wrong. We also love hosting friends and family, and one place we spend a bunch of time is our dining room. This year it has a rustic/nature/elegant theme. I kept the table center piece very simple.  I used whimsical bird accent plates to match the …

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No Bake Chocolate Cream Pie

Tina2 Comments

It’s the most decadent time of the year and boy does this pie fit the bill. I’m a chocolate lover and even I have to say that this pie borderlines on being almost too chocolate-y … almost. 😉 The chocolate filling is a rich and dense chocolate ganache. You’ll want to cut small pieces, trust me. Think coffee zing times 10 because of all the sugar going on here. The crust is a chocolate cookie crust. Let’s not forget about that whipped topping. Homemade is really the only way to go. I did warn you that this was something for …

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Doughnut Holes and a Doughnut Tree

Tina0 Comments

Time to make the doughnuts. Does anyone remember that commercial? I saw a photo of a doughnut tree on social media and instantly knew that I had to try to make one for the dessert table at Thanksgiving.  It’s a bunch of doughnut holes in the shape of a tree.  What’s not to love? I could have bought a few boxes of doughnut holes from the store, but no.  Instead, I insisted on making homemade doughnut holes.  Maybe it was because I wanted to save money (gosh, they are expensive).  Perhaps it was because I knew a homemade version would …

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