Red Velvet Sweetheart Cupcakes

  For some reason, this year I've been on a bit of a Valentine's kick.  Heart-shaped sprinkles, an excuse to buy little candy hearts, eat chocolate, lace, pink and red...I guess I didn't realize how much I like that stuff.  Other than the whole Cupid deal, anyway.  I'm a happy single pringle, I'm not sharing my chocolate or Sweethearts with anybody.  You've been warned.

  Please excuse the very moist appearance (despite the fresh sprinkling of sugar), they were determined to look like they'd been refrigerated overnight.  Which they were, of course.  I made them yesterday for my piano teacher's birthday, and this was the only heart one I had left to photograph for you, bear with me.  They still taste danged good, that's a fact.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Banana Pancakes

  For some reason, walnuts always remind me of my grandma.  So do wholesome breakfast foods, like pancakes.  Usually when I first try out a recipe, I stick with it and make changes later.  Buuut being that these are just pancakes, I thought I could get away with jazzing them up a little.  I made about half a dozen of these plain (they're still awesome that way, don't get me wrong), and then dumped in some chocolate chips and walnuts.  I had too, grandma made me.  I'm pretty sure she could smell these from heaven.  This is why we call food heavenly, is it not?

Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce

  Ginger tea, reading American Girl books and Little House in the Big Woods, throwing chunks of caramel into chocolate chip cookies, trying not to bite everyone's head off, kicking nudging the annoying cats that dance about the feet, and trying not to think about senior year.  Sounds pretty subdued-ish, which is a nightmare for me.  An idle mind...you know. 

  I can't say that I'll miss this week.  Or this month.  I really need to do something, I need some motivation.  I need to get a job.

Nutella Rice Krispie Treats

  

  Sometimes you need make something incredibly simple yet delicious.  This was one of those times.  When one is tired and it's 8:00 on a school night, and one has a bag or two of marshmallows, a jar of nutella, and a box of rice krispies...the rest is history.

Basic Granola

  

  I've been getting tired of time-consuming oatmeal for breakfast, so I'm always on the lookout for quick or prep-able breakfast things that last me awhile, and taste good.  This granola is awesome for many reasons: it's delicious, it's not the sodium-sugar-filled boxed stuff, it's super-easy to whip up on a weeknight, and you can do almost anything you want with it.

Vanilla Bean Caramels

  As much as I love making food, there are surprisingly very few kinds that I have no problem greedily stuffing my face with.  This is for two reasons: 1) I was always the kid who made sure everybody got their fair share, especially when it came to food.  I would run around the house with the last cookie, making sure everyone had gotten one, I would distribute much-appreciated treats that my dad brought home...stuff like that.  That's still a part of me, I guess.  2) I'm sorta picky.  I really am...but in the best of ways.  To quote the food critic from Ratatouille, "I don't like food, I love it.  If I don't love it, I don't swallow."  I'm definitely not that picky (or rude), but everyone likes food, duh.  I just happen to like it a bit more.

Applesauce-Spice Muffins

   
  Yeah yeah, this is more of a fall treat...with a photo that brings about thoughts of spring.  I don't know quite what I was going for, but I do know that this needed to be prettied up and I had only 15 minutes before the sun went down.  The house was too dark, so I went outside and took pictures of a muffin on a china plate on a wood pile,  in my classy sweats.  No, we don't really have close neighbors thankfully actually.


  Did I mention that it was cold?  Dedication.  Or idiocy, take your pick.  Either way, I like how these came out.  Judge me if you will. 

Peanut Butter Fudge

  Okay, this is a recipe that can really save you when you remember the night before a gathering that you need to bring something.  Store's closed, you're tired, and it's way too late to let butter properly come to room temp.  Oh, and your electric mixer's bowl is dirty.  And your family is watching a movie, and you want to enjoy Christmas vacation.


Totally hypothetical.


  But anyway, give this 15 minutes or so and you'll have a lovely 8x8 pan of fudge cooling in your fridge.  You've got 64 pieces, you bring those to the family gathering and generously leave some when you depart.  Then you take the rest to a (New Year's) party, leaving any remnants behind.  Guilt-free!  Unless you happened to stuff your face rather ungraciously at the party.