Some Easter Deliciousness

Have you ever heard of The Pioneer Woman? Her cooking is a revalation. Last night we made the crispy onion strings from her cookbook. They are beyond words. Last week we made her chicken parm and it was the best foods I've ever eaten. If you aren't familiar with P-Dub, and you love good food, then head over to her blog, where you can ALWAYS find something delicious to make for dinner. She only lives one state away from me... think she'd take me in if I pretended to be lost or something. I'd probably never leave. Please don't tell her I'm crazy :)

Anyway...

Are you ready for Easter? Do you know what you're making yet? Me neither. But I have a few ideas.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to make a Fourteen Layer Cake from Bakerella. Or cake pops. Or both.

But this Chocolate Truffle Egg Ganache Torte from Annie's Eats looks amazing too.

Or maybe Butterscotch Bird's Nests from With Sprinkles On Top.

But I also want to start experimenting with Royal Icing, so I might make sugar cookies. Oh the possibilities. What are your Easter ideas? Let me know, I'd love to hear from you!

Jamie

PS I've been experimenting with fondant, more on that later. And I'll post some pics and an update of what I decide to make this weekend. Enjoy!

A Little Bit of Sunshine

It's cloudy here. Like depressingly cloudy. And cold. What happened to spring???? So I thought I'd share some sunshine on here.

This is one of my nieces. She is my little angel! And she ALWAYS cheers me up on gloomy days. Yesterday I went over to see her and ended up spending an hour outside with her picking all the flower weeds in the yard. She could barely hold them all in her little hand. I took a few pics but I can't figure out how to get them off my phone. :S

Enjoy!

Jamie

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

After decorating all the cupcakes for the anniversary party the other day, I wanted to bake something that didn't require decorating before eating. And my sweet tooth is begging me for a sweet treat, like right now. I found the recipe for Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies on the Java Cupcake blog awhile back and it combined two of my favorite cookies. So without further adieu...

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
20-24 Double Stuff Oreos, I made mine rather large so I ended up with 22 cookies

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream butter and sugar together, it's easier if you use a mixer. Add in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla, until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda.
4. Add dry ingredients into wet mixture, adding about a 4th of the mix at a time.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Spoon about a tablespoon of dough into your hand and flatten it out. Place an Oreo on top of the dough and mold it around the cookie.

7. Spoon a slightly smaller amount into your hand and flatten it out. Put it on top of the Oreo like a lid.

8. Press down the dough at the seams to encase the Oreo. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.........

9. You want there to be just enough dough around the cookie to cover it. Place 12 on a cookie sheet and bake for about 13 minutes, until just golden brown.

10. Remove from cookie sheet and .... eat immediately! Or let them cool a bit.

11. And ENJOY!

These cookies are delish, but one at a time is enough for me! And since I made dessert... the husband is making dinner: Pork Chops, everything mashed potatoes (I'll share this recipe sometime soon!) and corn (the only vegetable a true Johnson eats!)

Jamie

PS. Apologies for the terrible pictures, I bought my ancient camera on clearance a few years ago, hopefully I'll upgrade soon!

Welcome to Baking a Family!

I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while now and I've finally done it! This blog is a place where I can showcase all my baking creations, and hopefully it will motivate me to create even more. I hope to create something new at least once a week, hopefully more often after graduation in May. I get most of my inspiration from other blogs that I read religiously, check out my blogroll so you can follow too!

Today I co-hosted with my husband and my sister in law, a combination anniversary and birthday party for my husbands parents. I baked the cupcakes myself and they turned out beautifully and received rave reviews at the party. I was even asked by Michael's cousin to make some for her high school gradution next month, which I am SUPER excited about! Hopefully someone took a few pictures of the cupcakes, as I forgot my memory card for my camera :0

Stay tuned for beautiful creations!

Jamie