Stovetop Mashed Potatoes
Alex had been asking me to make stovetop mashed potatoes for a while and I finally tracked down a recipe I liked the look of. This is a very simple recipe that you will love. I’ve chosen to use garlic powder and salt in the recipe to get a garlicky mashed potato. You can simply leave that out if you’re interested in a plainer mashed potato recipe.One unique part of this recipe is heating the potatoes again after mashing them. This will allow some of the excess water to cook off and the potatoes will be less mealy. I also prefer to leave the skins on the potatoes when I cook them because I love mashed potatoes with skins. If you don’t like those types you can simply skin the before you quarter them.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:219]
When I made these everyone was in awe of this flavor combination. I believe more than one person said they were “heavenly”, so you’re definitely going to want to try these out. I kind of made these by accident. I was going through my freezer trying to get rid of some of the things that had been there for several months and I came across blackberries and zucchini. I decided they would make the perfect combination along with a little lemon to zest it up.Instead of making cupcakes I wanted to make something a little more special. I love making Mini-Bundts and I thought this would be the perfect recipe for them. I actually have three mini-bundt pans from 
Recently I decided to try more dishes outside my comfort zone. This was definitely one of them. Alex loved it though and I think you will too! This is the perfect recipe for the hot summer nights when you don’t really want to turn on your oven. Since you put these on the grill you can easily have a great dinner without heating up your kitchen at all. This is a slightly spicy yet fantastically grilled dish. I’ve used green bell pepper, onion and mushrooms but you can use whatever veggies you prefer on your kebabs.You will need skewers for this recipe. I found a pack of 
These cupcakes were actually ordered by one of Alex’s coworkers for an event for 2nd graders. She asked me to make a white cupcake with a fun frosting color and exciting sprinkles. I decided on a plain white almond cake with a colored almond frosting since it is one of the most basic flavors in my opinion.When I cook with almond extract I always add in a little bit of vanilla. This just adds a little bit of sweet into the mixture to temper the bitter almond flavor. I do not suggest leaving this part out since plain almond desserts tend to be pretty bitter. This being said, the main flavor of this cupcake is almond. It shines through over any vanilla you add.I really loved the teal and yellow combination that I came up with. However, you can use any sort of gel food coloring you may like. When you use gel food coloring it doesn’t thin your icing like if you used a liquid food coloring. I prefer to use the Wilton brand gel food colorings since they are super easy to work with.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:212]Source: Cake adapted from: Sweet! – Editors of Food Network Magazine
I wanted something really easy to make for a meeting a couple weeks back. I didn’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen that day but I really wanted to bring something exciting to this meeting. So I looked through my archived recipes and found this exciting, classic recipe. I had even just purchased a bag of M&M baking pieces at the store recently so I was all set to make these.These were actually extremely yummy! I took the extras to rehearsal after my meeting and everyone who tried them loved them. One person even commented that they were “heavenly”. I really didn’t think since a simple and easy recipe would get such rave reviews. This is the perfect recipe for entertaining since it makes such a large batch. This summer when you have guests over for a cookout this is one recipe you should try out.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:211]Source: Adapted from Food Network Magazine: September 2015
I found a can of lychees at the grocery store a couple weeks ago and I’d read they were great to bake with so I decided it was time to try something exotic. I absolutely love a cream cheese rose frosting so I decided this was the perfect frosting for this exotic cupcake.Everyone raved over these cupcakes. They were so surprised by the use of two odd ingredients that made amazing cupcakes. I even had one person ask me how in the world I’d heard about lychees since they’re not commonly known. If you’re interested in making these cupcakes you can find the canned lychees in the oriental food section of your local grocery store.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:210]Source: Adapted from 
When I made plain chocolate cupcakes I really wasn’t sure what type of frosting I wanted to make. I eventually decided to spice the cupcakes up a bit by blending cardamom and lemon in a light buttercream. The resulting flavor combination is sweet, tart and just the perfect amount of spicy.If I had decided exactly what type of cupcakes I was going to make to begin with I would have included some cardamom in the actual cupcakes. I probably would have done a plain lemon buttercream then so as not to muddle the flavor blend too much.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:209]Source: Cake adapted from Kiss my Bundt- Chrysta Wilson
I’ve been wanting to try baking with more espresso powder and coffee since people seem to love it so much. But since I’m not really much of a coffee drinker I never know if it tastes right before I go to serve it. These though are the perfect blend of espresso, chocolate and hazelnut buttercream that really melts in your mouth.This cupcake recipe is my go-to chocolate cake recipe. It is light, fluffy and oh so delicious! When combined with some espresso powder it adds just the perfect amount of coffee flavoring to the cupcakes.The hazelnut buttercream on top is the best part about these cupcakes in my opinion. I hadn’t ever really had something with hazelnut in it that I was a fan of before this frosting. But this is one of my favorite frostings I’ve made to date. I highly suggest that you make these cupcakes just for this frosting.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:208]Source: Cake adapted from Kiss my Bundt- Chrysta Wilson
This flavor combination is divine from what I hear. I absolutely cannot stand strawberry flavor so I did not try these, but everyone who did said they were incredible. They may not be the first flavors you’d think of together but let me just tell you this definitely works.The cupcakes are light, fluffy and while they don’t actually contain any real strawberries, they use strawberry extract to achieve a full flavor. When combined with the maple cream cheese frosting it really just puts it over the top.I’ve used sliced fresh strawberries as garnish for these cupcakes. Halved strawberries, sliced strawberries or dried strawberries would all work as garnish for these though. I just really suggest using a real strawberry as garnish since there isn’t actually any in the cupcake.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:207]Source: Cake adapted from Kiss my Bundt – Chrysta Wilson
It’s not often that I forget to post something I make, but that’s what happened with this recipe. I made these for Alex’s work for his St Patrick’s day party. I actually won a prize from his office for these cupcakes, everyone absolutely raved over them. The judges did mention to Alex they thought I was “cheating” by serving them alcohol in the frosting.I started with a cupcake version of the 
I don’t know about you, but I’m so excited for summer to finally be here! I decided that in order to celebrate the official beginning of summer I needed to have a fresh, citrusy cupcake to post. These are an excellent way to celebrate summer and the beginning of warmth.I had found these 
I love using my crockpot often to make dinner. It is a great way to have a hot dinner ready at night even when you may not have time to actually cook anything that day. This is one recipe we tend to make often since it is easy and very tasty. Basically just throw everything into a crockpot and let it cook away all day long. I love serving this with the 
A couple of months ago I posted my own take on 
Yesterday I showed you how to make your own 
This is one of the easiest pizza recipes I’ve ever made. You basically just combine the ingredients and knead until everything is mixed and you have a ball of dough. I wasn’t sure about this working at first so I was actually really surprised when it worked as well as it did. The crust is very soft and fluffy once baked. This is not one for people who like cracker thin crusts or even really big fluffy crusts. Since you’re using self-rising flour it will rise, but not so much as if you’d used yeast.You will need to use plain greek yogurt for this recipe. If you use one of the flavored yogurts your crust will not taste right. However, if you’re making a dessert pizza I would suggest you use something like a vanilla greek yogurt to give your pizza a more complex taste.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:201]Source: The Food Network Magazine, March 2016
Self-Rising flour is not something I typically keep on hand. I normally don’t need it since my recipes are typically complex. However, sometimes you have a very simple recipe, just one or two ingredients and you need self-rising flour. Here is a recipe for those times when you need self-rising flour and you don’t really want to purchase a whole bag. Also, check back tomorrow for a recipe that uses this flour blend!!!Self-rising flour is a flour blend that doesn’t need yeast or any other leavening agent in order to rise. It is typically called for in recipes that are very simple, just one or two ingredients. However, it is not something you can substitute for regular flour in any recipe since it will mess with the levels of leavening in the recipe and could potentially ruin whatever you are baking. Really only use this if expressly called for in a recipe in order to keep your baked goods turning out correctly.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:200]