Butter and Jam Thumbprints

Flour is my nemesis.  It seems like every time I set out to bake something tasty I have a nasty fight with the flour.  I don’t mean I end up wearing it or it gets all over the kitchen, I mean I’m always left guessing how the recipe I’m looking at happened to measure the stuff. These cookies are a great example of how everything can go wrong in a matter of minutes.  Okay, I’m being a bit dramatic, but when you follow the recipe and end up with sewer cap sized cookies instead of what you expected you get …

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Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

Guys, meet the best cheesecake in the world.  Cheesecake, meet the world.  Have I had every cheesecake in the world to know that this is the best?  Nope, but I’m that confident. Why do I love thee?  Let me count the ways… One.  This cheesecake has the perfect texture.  It’s creamy and dense, but not overly so.  When you prepare the batter, make sure all the ingredients and especially the cream cheese are at room temperature.  This will help give you a smooth velvety texture. Two.  I can finally make a cheesecake without cracks on top!  “We never think this would happen for …

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Carrot Vichyssoise

One day I’m drinking frozen beverages to keep cool (on vacation) and the next day I’m eating hot soup to keep warm.  Wow, that messes with me. I am trying to adjust to anything colder than 85 degrees F weather (I miss Turks & Caicos).  Plus, it’s freakin’ cold out, yo!  Sorry, about that.  I’ve been channeling my inner hip hop ever since bumping into Coolio at the JFK airport on the way home from vacation.  I was totally freaking out inside.  We exchanged smiles but I wasn’t brave enough to strike up a conversation or ask for a photo. Anyway, one …

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Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cereal Bars

Every day of your life you see a cow… or that’s how the theory goes.  Do you buy that? Someone somewhere along the way made a claim that you will see a cow every day, whether it be in person, on TV, a photo, a logo, or any other format possible.  If you Google this topic you’ll see what I’m talking about.  I’ve tried to test this theory but I never seem to remember to keep track of it.  I can see how it might be true since if you drink milk every day, then you probably see the carton and most of …

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Confetti Cookies

Holiday cookie baking has officially begun in our home.  Yes, I’m one of those people that start early.  When you make a lot of cookies, you kind of have to start early or you’ll never finish.  I even had Christmas music rockin’ in the background while I was baking these beauts. I’ve kicked off my holiday baking extravaganza with these confetti cookies.  These are like good old sugar cookies for people that don’t really do cut-out sugar cookies.  I’m too much of a perfectionist and I easily get frustrated with the whole process of rolling and cutting.  So I was excited to find these easy …

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