15-Minute Avgolemeno from Dinner, A Love Story started out a complete success. Until someone asked what was in it and the lemon flavor was then identified and determined to be inappropriate for soup. It is so quick and easy, we’ll try it again and see if taste buds can be worn down.

Beecher’s Mac & Cheese courtesy of Martha was, as it was billed, the world’s best (or at least the best one I have made.) I don’t make it very often but it feels good to have a go-to recipe when the need arises. It doubled well in a 13×9 for a potluck.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes from Martha are not the best chocolate cupcakes I have ever made, but they are pretty good, and they only dirty one bowl. So I’ve made them twice already.

Peanut Butter Icing from the Barefoot Contessa is just delicious on the cupcakes.

S’mores Bars from Bakers Royale were very good. Last year I threw some s’mores bars together rice krispie treat-style with golden grahams that I liked quite a bit, but these were tasty in a different way and very easy. I did use a lot more butter than called for, and the crust was still a little crumbly, so be sure to do that by feel rather than amount. I would make them again.

CRUST
8 oz chocolate graham crackers
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/3 sticks of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Pulse together crust ingredients. Press into pie plate. Bake to set (~10m) and cool.

FILLING
1 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Whip together the whipping cream and sugar, set aside (I use a plate.) In the same bowl, whip together the cream cheese, peanut butter and confectioner’s sugar, then fold in the whipped cream. Fill the pie crust and refrigerate until set.

GANACHE
1 c. heavy whipping cream
8 oz. semisweet chocolate

Warm the cream (don’t boil, but get it hot.) Pour over the chocolate (I use ghiradelli chips.) Whisk together until smooth. Pour melted chocolate mixture over pie. refrigerate for 3 or more hours (the freezer works well if you are in a time crunch.)

Baked Chicken in Creamy Tomato Sauce from Dinner, A Love Story: Simple, budget-friendly (I subbed ricotta for the marscapone) and everyone ate a big helping. Doubled the sauce and served over pasta.

Chicken & Dumplings from Simply Recipes: A cold snap was the perfect opportunity to try this. It won’t be the last time I make it, as it is a solid rendition of a comfort food and we all enjoyed it.

Chocolate Chess Pie from Angus Barn: Very good. 1.5x it for a standard pie plate and it still could have been thicker.

Pumpkin Cheesecake from Martha Stewart: Subbed brown sugar and gingersnaps in the crust (abt 2:1 graham to gingersnap). Served with homemade caramel sauce and fresh whipped cream. Delicious!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins from Annie’s Eats: Awesome. They seem more fussy than they are, the filling and the topping are really easy.

Sweet Potato Casserole from Southern Living: I dubbed this the I Corinthians 9 casserole, all things to all people. With both marshmallows and crunchy cornflake topping, who can resist?

You can find these on my keepers board on pinterest, too.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting from Brown-Eyed Baker: Cupcake was a little dense, but these were really good. The cupcake is not super sweet, and the buttercream is light, airy and very peanut-butter-y.

Easy Shepherd’s Pie from Simply Recipes: really basic, but good.

Salmon Cakes from Jamie Oliver: These were good, but too carb-y themselves with the potatoes to eat on a bun (to me.)

Sweet Potato Foil Packet “Tacos” from Perry’s Plate: I really liked these, but the rest of the family could not get their minds around sweet potatoes without cinnamon, etc.

You can find each of these recipes on my Keepers board on Pinterest.

The girls and I did some food styling to shoot my pumpkin chocolate chip “brownies” after I baked them yesterday.

Homemade Coffee Creamer from Deliciously Organic: I made Pumpkin Spice, can’t wait to try others.

Mrs. Salter’s Peanut Butter Pie from Paula Deen: I use this to riff off of, often with chocolate crust, creamy natural PB, and a chocolate ganache (no peanuts.)

Southern Pimento Cheese from allrecipes: basic recipe, but my family likes it (and they are not huge pimento cheese fans.)

Tortellini with Eggplant and Peppers from Real Simple: healthy, easy and good. I served this with Italian Sausage. Only Lexi didn’t love it (and I am the only big eggplant fan in the family.)

Turkey Meatloaf from Ina Garten: really delicious. I made ours 1/2 beef, 1/2 turkey because beef was cheaper than ground turkey.

PUMPKIN BAKED OATMEAL
3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
salt (several hearty dashes)

1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 tbsp melted butter
2 large eggs

OPTIONAL
1/2 c. – 1 c. chopped apple
1/2 c. – 1 c. pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 2 1/2 – 3 qt. casserole dish. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until smooth and add to dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Pour into dish and bake covered for about 45 minutes (until a toothpick or knife comes out clean.) Serve with milk and/or yogurt.

This is a quick iPhone shot. I have yet to master food photography while serving. Food is for eating, after all!

(Adapted from The Sweets Life.)

Beef & Broccoli from Steamy Kitchen: Awesome, but I expected nothing less (used regular broc b/c I couldn’t find Chinese.) For the record, the only blogger cookbook I own is from SK, until the Smitten Kitchen one comes out, at least :)

Speaking of Smitten Kitchen, Lord have mercy, Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake was so very delicious.

Chicken, Corn & Zucchini Enchiladas from Real Simple: Healthy and delicious! Made twice, preferred flour tortillas. Salsa topping can be skipped.

Grilled Balsamic-Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin from Kitchen Confidante: Pretty good, but hard to mess up pork tenderloin, honestly.

Baked Parmesan Tomatoes from Eating Well: I subbed basil for the oregano and they were delicious.

Eggplant & Mozzarella Melt from Everyday Food: Really thick but pretty good, Lexi ate eggplant, so that’s a win.

Greek Chicken Salad from Annie’s Eats: I didn’t follow the recipe, just used the idea of taziki instead of mayo, added tomato and feta, and felt like it needed a little something more so I added a little bit of balsamic vinagrette.

Roasted Pork Chops and Peaches from Real Simple: I liked it but I probably wouldn’t make it again.

Taziki Sauce from Susie: very good and very cucumber-y!

Half-Pint Handouts: Megan gives things away. You can win them. I’ve won TWICE. Yay for her diligence in securing great giveaways and hurrah for winning things.

New Orleans Snowballs: My favorite summer treat, but since we moved away from Austin, we have not coexisted with a place. Apparently one just opened in Birmingham to mock me. If you happen to be lucky enough to live where they serve snowballs, get yourself one, stat.

Downton Abbey: Only 7 episodes long (each UK season series is too blasted short!) but so marvelous. Must see during the summer hiatus.

CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING
1 day-old baguette torn into small pieces
2 c. half and half
1/3 c. sugar
dash salt
1/2 Tablespoon instant espresso powder
6 oz bittersweet chocolate in small pieces
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon butter, cut into pieces

Butter a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. If your baguette is new or still moist, heat the pieces at 200 until it starts to dry (but not toast). Place dry pieces in the baking dish, mostly filling it (if you have too much, eat some.)

Heat half and half, sugar, salt and espresso powder until hot (but not boiling) whisking regularly to mix well. Remove from heat, add chocolate, let stand for 90 seconds or so. Whisk until smooth. Beat eggs together in a separate bowl , then slowly add chocolate mixture, whisking as you go. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon. Pour mixture over bread and let soak at room temperature, pressing bread down occasionally for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Boil some water for a hot water bath. Place bits of butter on top of the pudding. Place pudding dish in a larger dish, adding hot water to the larger dish until it reaches halfway up the side of your pudding dish. Bake in this hot water bath until edge is set but center still trembles slightly, 35-40 minutes. Pudding will continue to set as it cools.

Serve with fresh whipped cream, either unsweetened or very lightly flavored. Serves 6. (If you double this, I’d recommend using two dishes for faster setting and an easier time with water baths.)

KING CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FILLING
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast or 1 package instant yeast
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup butter softened (I use salted)
2 tablespoons sugar
grated zest of one lemon (reserve about a teaspoon)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups flour

Filling:
16 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest (reserved)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
colored sugars (green, purple and yellow are traditional)

Warm milk in microwave just above body temp (105 degrees if you have a thermometer, I never check.) Dump into your stand mixer bowl, add yeast and stir to combine. Rest the mixture for about 10 minutes (it should look frothy.)

Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add to milk mixture. Add butter, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt. Add about 2.5 cups of flour a half cup at a time, mixing with the dough hook on low speed, until it comes together. If the dough is wet (and not just sticky) you can add a little more.

Knead by hand on a floured surface for a few additional minutes until the dough is soft and smooth (you may need more flour, add a little at a time.) Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a towel or plastic wrap, then allow dough to rise someplace warm for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Mix the filling ingredients together, beating until fluffy.

Lay dough out into a rectangle of around 10 x 20 inches (on a lightly floured surface.) One one half (longways, not in squares) spread the cream cheese evenly, then fold the other half over to cover, pinching it together to seal in the cream cheese. Form your bread into a ring. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet, cover loosely, and let it rise for 45 minutes or so. While it’s rising, preheat your oven to 375.

Bake for around 20 minutes, until lightly browned, then let your cake cool. You can add the traditional bean or plastic baby Jesus at this point, by inserting it with a paring knife from underneath.

If you need to, prepare your colored sugar by dropping food coloring into sugar until it has a nice hue. Whisk icing ingredients together until smooth. Pour generously over your king cake and immediately decorate with the colored sugar (before the icing sets.)

THE CRUST
14-15oz of chocolate cookies (wafer, teddy grahams, etc.)
1 stick + 1 Tb of butter, melted

Grind cookies in food processor until crumbs, add melted butter and combine in food processor until it’s a consistent mixture. If you have trouble finding chocolate wafers, you can also use dietary biscuits + cocoa. I tend to use a mix of all of the above! Spray the bottom of an 8″ spring-form pan with cooking spray and make a ring extension adding another 2″ of height via double walled aluminum foil to the outside of the pan. Press the crust mixture firmly in the bottom of the pan (not the sides.) Stick the pan in the fridge while you make the cheesecake.

THE CHEESECAKE FILLING
1 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, in chips or chopped well
1 lb of cream cheese (2 blocks) at room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 c. sour cream at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350, adding a pan full of water to the bottom rack to keep the oven moist. Mix the heavy whipping cream and espresso powder in a small saucepan over medium heat until the powder is dissolved. Turn the heat to medium low and add the chocolate, stir with a whisk constantly just until the chocolate is melted and the sauce smooth. Move off the warm burner to cool.

Beat cream cheese and sugar together until blended. Beat in cornstarch, then add sour cream and vanilla. Don’t over mix. Add the three eggs one at a time, mixing just until combined. Whisk a cup or so of the cream cheese mixture into the chocolate, then add the chocolate mixture to the rest of the cream cheese, whisking until combined. Pour the filling onto the crust and bake until softly set (jiggly like jello okay) with the edges puffed up, about 45 minutes or an hour. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the closed oven to cool for another hour. Refrigerate overnight (the cheesecake will settle considerably and level off.)

THE GANACHE
1 c. heavy whipping cream
8 oz. of bittersweet (dark) baking chocolate, chopped well

Bring whipping cream up to a simmer, whisk in chocolate until smooth. Pour ganache over the cheesecake carefully and refrigerate until well set. If you like your ganache soft, expect 2-3 hours, 4 or more for a harder consistency.

GINGERBREAD PANCAKES
(inspired by Kerbey Lane in Austin, but it’s been so long since I’ve eaten there, I can’t verify the authenticity)

Cream together:
6 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar

Add, then mix well:
1 cup buttermilk*
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup coffee (brewed)
2 tsp vanilla

In a seperate bowl, combine dry ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 Tbs. cloves
2 Tbs. cinnamom
2 Tbs. ginger
1.5 Tbs. nutmeg

Add dry ingredients to wet, mixing gently. When combined, mix in:
1 stick of butter, melted

This makes about 7-8 thick, plate sized pancakes. SUPER thick. Cut back a tsp of baking soda or so if you prefer less cake-y pancakes.

* buttermilk is easy to make: 1 c. milk + 1 Tbs. lemon juice or vinegar, I let it stand for a half hour or so, but you could probably push it to even 5 or 10 minutes in a pinch.

CHICKEN LO MEIN
12 oz lo mein noodles (in the asian section of the grocery store, can also use linguine)
2 Tbs. canola oil
2 b/s chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
at least 1/2 large sweet onion
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
3-4 carrots
1 cup snow peas
6-8 ounces mushrooms (of your choice)
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup chicken broth
3 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. oyster sauce (also found in the asian section)
2 Tbs. sesame oil

Prepare the noodles according to package instructions. Rinse with cold water and set aside.

Julienne all the veggies (cut them into long, thin strips.) Heat up 1/2 Tbs of the canola oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until browned and cooked through. Set aside in a large bowl. Turn the heat to medium. Start cooking the vegetables in the wok starting with the peppers and onions. They only need a minute or two (should still be fairly crisp.) Add more oil as you need it. Follow with carrots, snow peas, and then mushrooms. Add the garlic for 30 seconds at the end of the mushrooms. As each finishes add it to the bowl of chicken.

Mix the sauce (broth, soy and oyster.) Add the noodles to the wok, toss with the sauce, add the vegetables and chicken, toss together. Reheat up a bit if you prefer it warmer. Toss with the sesame oil to finish and serve.

This is a basic kid-friendly recipe, and not spicy at all. You can adjust the sauce to your taste, use more, etc. Consider adding fresh grated ginger or red pepper flakes.