Tres Leches Cake

I made this cake for a Mexican themed progressive dinner with friends. I've never really been a fan of the tres leches cakes I had tried, but had heard other people say they loved it. I tore this recipe out in 2006, and finally got around to trying it. I thought it was great, and both my husband and I thought it tasted better the next few days after it had sat. I do not like soggy cakes, and though this cake looks like it might be, it really isn't!!! It almost has a lighter pound cake texture.

The good thing about Southern Living Recipes are you can still look them up on the website, and I don't have to retype it here for you. See the recipe HERE.

This would be a great addition to your Cinco de Mayo party!

Organizing winter gear

I love organizing, and I think it can legitimately be included under the category of creating, because sometimes you have to get a little creative when trying to figure out where to put everything in your home.

I've had a hard time trying to find a place for all of our winter hats, scarves, gloves, and mittens. I used to keep my son's gear in his room, and my daughter's gear in her room, and my husband's stuff and mine in the coat closet in a basket. The problem was, whenever we were going out, I never felt like hiking up the stairs to go get my daughter's hat. Or, when my son got home, his gloves never made it back to his room, so we would shove them in our basket in the coat closet. I didn't like the system I had. I just wanted a convenient place to put everything, and not have to dig through a basket to get it.

I finally figured it out. We always enter our house through the garage. The garage leads to a small laundry room where our coat closet is. On the inside of our coat closet door, I hung a canvas shoe rack to organize all of our winter gear. Now, Trevan can put away his own gloves, and all of our winter hats, scarves, and gloves finally have a home.

Not really rocket science, but a perfect solution for my problem.

Valentine's Day Breakfast

Planning breakfast in bed for your Valentine? Here's some ideas:

I made some homemade bagels in the shape of hearts. (There are a lot of recipes online, make sure to choose one that you boil the bagels first before baking them. I read that those were the best kind.)

I made three spreads to go with the bagels.

Cinnamon Spread: Beat 4oz. cream cheese 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 1/2 T. brown sugar.

Honey Almond Spread: Beat 1/4 c. toasted almonds minced, 4 oz. cream cheese, 1 T brown sugar, and 3 T. honey.

Raspberry Spread: Use the cream cheese filling recipe below.

My husband's favorite was the cinnamon spread.

I made doughnuts with a chocolate sauce. I tried a new recipe, but didn't love it enough to share it. You can use most doughnut recipes that you shape the dough. I rolled out the dough and used heart cookie cutters to shape them. You can make your favorite chocolate sauce recipe. I just adapted my fondue recipe to make a sauce.

Now, for my new favorite breakfast recipe! My own special creation... It has a few steps, but well worth the time it takes to make!! Let's just say my husband asked for it two days in a row.

Gourmet Stuffed French Toast

1 large loaf of french bread cut into wide slices (you could also use Texas Toast, but french bread is a sturdier bread)
Raspberries for garnish if desired

Peach Sauce:
1 bag of frozen peaches
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 T. corn starch
1/2 tsp. almond extract
generous pinch of nutmeg

Cut up peaches in smaller pieces. Put them in a small saucepan. Mix together sugar, corn starch, and nutmeg and pour over peaches and mix well. Add almond extract. Heat over medium heat, stirring often, until mixture is to desired thickness. If you want your peaches in smaller pieces you can take a potato masher and mash the peaches in the sauce. Set aside.

Raspberry Sauce:
1 bag of frozen raspberries
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 T. corn starch

Put the thawed raspberries in a small saucepan. Mix together sugar and corn starch and pour over raspberries and mix well. Heat over medium heat, stirring often, until mixture is to desired thickness. Strain seeds. Set aside. (You can use raspberry jam, but I prefer making my own sauces. If you use raspberry jam that has seeds, heat it so you can strain the seeds out as well.)

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/4 c. + 1/8 c. raspberry sauce

(You could also add 1/4 c. powdered sugar, but there is plenty of sweetness in the rest of the recipe that you don't really need it...)

Beat cream cheese and add raspberry sauce. Beat until well combined. Set aside.

Using a sharp knife, cut a pocket in the bread, and fill it with the cream cheese filling. (You could also sandwich two pieces of bread together with the cream cheese in the middle, but I think the pockets are cooler.)

Egg Wash Mixture:

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla (if you love the almond flavoring you could add 1/2 tsp. of that as well)

1/3 c. half & half (you could use milk)

dash of nutmeg

Whisk all ingredients together in a wide shallow bowl. Holding your piece of bread flat, dip each side of the bread lightly in the egg mixture, just getting the top and bottom wet, not the sides. DO NOT IMMERSE.

Cook on a greased griddle or in a greased pan until done to desired done-ness (not really a word, I know). Do not flatten with spatula as it will cause the filling to come out. On a plate, top french toast with peach sauce, and garnish with raspberry sauce, sweetened whipping cream, and fresh raspberries if desired.

TIPS: You could make all the sauces, and filling ahead of time - even two days or more ahead. All that needs to be heated up before serving is the peach sauce. You could even slice and pocket the bread the day before hand, and put it back in the bag. Also, for an added touch for Valentine's Day; when garnishing, you could pipe the raspberry sauce in shapes of hearts on the serving plate.

Valentine Gift Idea

My gift to my husband this Valentine's Day is a week of love. Some people like to give fun personalized coupons for holidays, or buy those cute pre-made coupon books, but really, in my experience, no one ever cashes those in. So, instead, things or items that I would have put on a coupon, I am just going to give to my husband one day at a time for a week. It's something he can look forward to every day. His week of love from me. This is so easy, and inexpensive, but I know he'll love it. You can customize it for your significant other.

I made heart shaped envelopes, and put a heart shaped card inside. I hot glued a ribbon on the back of the card to enable him to get the card out of the envelope easier.

Ideas for your cards:

Breakfast in bed
Day off from any fatherly duties (I gave my husband a week off from doing dishes)
Favorite dessert (home made or store bought)
Foot Rub
Back Rub
Movie night of his choice
Favorite Dinner
Surprise him at work with lunch
Free reign of the remote control for a night


I plan on giving my husband his week of love cards at different times of the day to keep him on his toes.

During the week of love you can leave other love notes for him to find, and surprise him with Hershey's hugs and kisses to find in random places.

Tomorrow I will post some Valentine breakfast ideas (you could use for his breakfast in bed), including my new favorite breakfast recipe!

Valentine Pastries

For family night last night, we made cherry cheese turnovers in the shape of hearts. (We talked about love). My two year old had fun playing with the scraps of puff pastry, as did my five year old. The recipe:

Cherry Cheese Turnovers

1 box of puff pastry dough
1 can of cherry pie filling

For the cream cheese filling: Beat together 4 oz. cream cheese, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

For the glaze: Whisk together 1 1/4 cup of powdered sugar, 1 1/2 T. milk, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla.

Follow the directions on the box for the puff pastry (don't let it over thaw, then it is a little more complicated to work with, and I've found it puffs up nicer if the dough is a little firmer). Cut out desired shapes. Spread on cream cheese filling and top with cherry pie filling (stay away from the edges). Put a top layer of your dough on top and press around the edges with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees 15 - 18 minutes, until slightly browned and puffy. Drizzle with glaze. (With the left over scraps that my children didn't play with, I made funny shaped turnovers, and baked any smaller pieces of dough by itself.)

I wanted to do an open heart to show the filling, so I cut a smaller heart in the middle of my larger heart.

My husband didn't have any faith in my open heart, and thought the cherries would run everywhere, so he and my son made full covered hearts.

Here are some other fun things you can do with pastry for Valentine's Day:

I made a Blueberry Raspberry Pie, and covered it with hearts.

You could also make a chicken pot pie and do the same thing, or make individual chicken pot pies with a single heart like I did.

Lots of fun things you could do with pastry dough for Valentine's Day!

Classic Valentine's Day Flower Arrangement

This is an example of my 'go to' flower arrangement or decoration for Valentine's Day. Not really original, but I always love how it looks!

picture found here

My Favorite Cookie

I'm hesitant to call anything my favorite, but if I had to choose a favorite these just might be it.

One of my neighbors in college introduced me to these cookie sandwhiches, and I even served them at my wedding. (That's why I've titled these cookies, Wedding Cookies) Although, not sure about this same color, and definitely not in the shape of hearts.

If I had to describe what this cookie tastes like, I would say similar to a shortbread cookie, but a much more delicate cookie; soft and flaky, and delicious paired with the filling in the middle!

Wedding Cookie Recipe:

For the dough:

1 c. butter

1/3 c. whipping cream

2 c. flour

food coloring of your choice if desired

Cream the butter, and beat in the rest of the ingredients. (Okay, I know you'll be tempted to taste the dough, don't, it's not a very tasty dough. But, I know because I told you not to, you probably will. But, don't say I didn't warn you. And, trust me, even though the dough tastes funny, these cookie sandwhiches are divine!) Cover and chill at least one hour.

After chilled, roll out dough on VERY WELL floured surface. (This is a very sticky, delicate dough, so you will need to use a lot of flour to make the dough easier to work with.) Cut into 1/2 inch rounds. (I used a large cookie cutter, only because I didn't have a small heart to use. The smaller your cookie cutter, the easier your cookie dough will be to work with. Plus, easier to work with after it's done baking too. Just trust me.) Sprinkle sugar, and prick the dough with a fork. (I included the picture below of what your cookie will look like if it doesn't get pricked. The dough rises unevenly, and gets bubbled making one layer of the cookie getting cooked faster than the other layers.) Bake until fluffy at 400 degrees for 7-9 minutes.

For the filling:

1/4 c. butter

3/4 c. powdered sugar

1/3 c. cream cheese

1 tsp. vanilla

Beat the cream cheese and butter together, add the rest of the ingredients and beat well. When the cookies have cooled, spread the filling on the flat side of a cookie and top with another cookie. (MY TIP: If you are making these for a party, or want a nicer presentation, I would pipe the filling to the edge of the cookie to make the edges look nicer. These cookies are pretty delicate, and easy to break, so piping is a better choice if you are doing them for a party.)

Options: These cookies can go with any holiday, just add your choice of food coloring and cookie cutter shape.

A gift idea for your Valentine

A long time ago, before diapers and babysitters, my husband and I used to date...

My husband and I decided not to exchange any gifts at Christmas because we got so many big ticket items before Christmas, but I still wanted to get him something. I came across this idea on the How Does She? blog.

So, for Christmas I gave John a membership to the Date of the Month Club. I did it a bit different than how they showed on the blog, but you can totally customize it to fit you.

How I did it:

I bought and wrapped up two calendars. One to use as our family calendar that stays on the fridge, and a mini calendar for John to take to work with him. I printed off two copies of twelve dates typed on mailing labels. John could then choose the day of the month to put one of the dates on. I gave him a mini calendar to take to work, so he could look forward to our dates all year at work too! We have our first date from our Date of the Month Club this Saturday!

This would make a great Valentine's Day gift as well, especially if you want to do something that is inexpensive and shows a little more thought. I love gifts of the heart.

Marshmallow Recipe

This was my second time making marshmallows, but this was a new recipe.

Powdered Sugar

2 packets unflavored gelatin

1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. light corn syrup

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Red food coloring, (optional)

1. Grease an 8" square baking pan. Dust HEAVILY with powdered sugar. In a mixing bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 c. cold water, and let set 10 minutes.

2. In a saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/3 c. water. Bring to a boil and dissolve sugar, then boil 4 minutes more.

3. With mixer on low speed, pour hot sugar syrup into gelatin. Continue beating until completely mixed. Turn mixer on high and beat 10 -15 minutes more, until mixture has doubled in volume and is completely white. Beat in vanilla and food coloring if using. (MY TIP: It did not take me anywhere close to 10 minutes to beat this until it was done. I do have a very good, powerful mixer, so that might make a difference. I figured mine was done when the mixture got really thick and started rising on my beaters.)

4. Spread mixture in the prepared pan. Wet hands to smooth top. Let set 3 hours or overnight. (I did 3 hours) Turn onto a cutting board dusted with powdered sugar. Cut into squares with a SHARP knife. Toss with powdered sugar to coat all sticky sides. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

These are really, really yummy! If you like marshmallows, that is...

A few ideas: You can cut these out into shapes with small cookie cutters, but I would put them in a bigger pan, to make thinner marshmallows, to make cutting them into shapes easier. You would need to dip your cookie cutter in powdered sugar between cuts to help with the stickiness. These would also be fun to make for a baby shower with a pink or blue theme. Also, instead of dying these pink, leave them white, and instead of rolling them in powdered sugar roll them in fine colored sugar. I don't ever have to buy Peeps again, I can just make these and roll them in sugar!

**I think I cut this out of a Family Fun magazine, but I'm not really sure**

Valentine's Day Cards

I've been cleaning out boxes in my garage and I found a Valentine one of my college roommates gave me back in the day:


If Etsy were around back then, she could have gotten me this:

found here

I love cards! Here is a fun selection I found online:

found here

found here

found here

My friend Becky needs this one:

found here

(This store also does custom orders, so you can fill in the, I Love You More Than ___ part.)

Here's an idea for you. Instead of you and your significant other buying each other a Valentine card, make a date of it. Go to a store and read Valentine's day cards together. Pick out one's you would buy for the other one, and just have them read the card right there in the store. If you're like me and my husband, we can never buy just one anyway.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

I used to go to this Mennonite bakery as a kid with my mom, and I would get a whoopie pie as a treat. I've always loved them. Here is a red velvet variety that would be great to use for a Valentine party or treat. This was a new recipe, and I really wanted to cut out the dough in heart shapes, but it wasn't the kind of dough to do that. But, those would have been even cuter. It was a super easy recipe, with yummy results.

The recipe:

2 c. flour

2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. buttermilk

1 - 1 oz. bottle of red food coloring (2 Tbsp.) - I actually didn't have the whole amount and mine still turned out pretty red.

Filling Recipe:

1/4 c. butter softened

4 oz. cream cheese softened (I used Neufatchel)

1 - 7 oz. jar of marshmallow creme

1. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds, then add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Alternately, add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined. Stir in food coloring.

3. Spoon batter on greased cookie sheets (or you can use parchment paper) 1-2 inch rounds allowing room for them to spread.

4. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 - 9 minutes or until tops are set. Cool completely on racks.

5. Make the filling: Beat butter and cream cheese, then add marshmallow creme.

6. Spoon filling on flat side of cookie and top with another cookie.

7. Enjoy!

My tips:

1. Don't let the cookie rack sit too close to the edge of your counter, your daughter will steal the cookies as they cool!! (She even got ahold of the pie above in the photo, right before I could take a picture, you can tell where I had to fix where her fingers grabbed... but we had already eaten and given away the rest of the cookies...)

2. These taste better after you let them sit for an hour or two. It allows the filling to harden up a little bit. I know it's hard to be patient, but it pays off.

Valentine's Day Idea

For at least the next week I will posting fun Valentine's Day gift, and recipe ideas.

I love these cupcake boxes:

Great to send as a Valentine or to use as a party favor. I think they are adorable, perfect timing for the fancy, shmancy cupcake trend, and so cheap! $3.99 for a dozen!

Available HERE.

A Little Punchy

I love trying new recipes, and I especially love trying new punch recipes. Here is a tart punch recipe I tried for New Year's Eve.

1 - 6 oz. can of frozen pink lemonade concentrate
12 oz. pineapple juice
1/2 gallon cranberry juice (I use the 100% juice kind)
1 liter ginger ale
2 cups of crushed ice

Mix all together.

Makes one (average sized) punch bowl full.

Crab Stuffed Phyllo Cups

These babies went really fast, and never even made it to a serving tray. This was the only quick picture I captured. This is a great appetizer and would even be delicious with the stuffing baked alone in a serving dish to serve with hard crackers like Triscuts.

1/3 c. Green Onions (finely chopped)

1/4 c. Butter

2 - 6 oz. cans of lump crab meat, drained

2 Tbsp. all purpose flour

1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. Cocktail sauce

2 tsp. Lemon juice

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. Mustard

1/2 tsp. Garlic salt

1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper

2 egg yolks

Phyllo dough cups

In skillet, saute onion and butter over medium heat until tender. Stir in crab and sprinkle with flour; cook 2 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the next 7 ingredients, blending until smooth. Stir into crab mixture, cooking until it thickens. Remove from heat and add egg yolks, blending well. Let cool.

Fill into cups. (I would have piped my filling into the cups, but I didn't cook these at my house, and my sister didn't have the tools I needed).

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

**This is a great recipe that you can prepare the filling ahead of time and store for a day in the fridge before baking right before a party.**

recipe adapted from cooks.com

Marshmallow Popcorn Balls

If you like rice krispy treats, and popcorn balls, here is a recipe for you!

I was introduced to these marshmallow-y popcorn balls by my in-laws and make it whenever I need an easy, sweet and salty treat.

Here is my own personal serving size recipe (technically, this makes about six orange sized popcorn balls, but I can really eat them all by myself... yikes! I do share with my children now, however.):

1 regular sized bag of microwave popcorn (I usually use some kind of butter flavor)

2 TBS unsalted butter

5 oz. marshmallows

1/8 C. brown sugar

Pop popcorn according to directions, and then put in a large bowl (picking out any unpopped seeds). In a small pot, melt butter on medium low heat, then add brown sugar and marshmallows until smooth and melted. Pour over popcorn and mix well. Butter your hands and form into balls.

For these popcorn balls, I used three different kinds of marshmallows. I used the holiday marshmallows, and picked out all the green ones to melt. I also used the strawberry marshmallow flavored ones, and the coconut marshmallows! I liked them all. Oh, the possibilities!

Home Made Granola

Making granola at Christmas time was a tradition of my mothers. This year I decided to try it myself for the first time. I would choose home made granola over the store bought variety any day.

Here is my family's recipe just for you:

Mix together the following ingredients in a large bowl:

13 c. oats (not the quick cooking kind)
1 c. wheat germ
2 c. sunflower seeds
1 c. sesame seeds
1/2 c. flax
4 c. of chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, and pecans)

In a medium sized pot heat the following ingredients until they boil:

1 1/2 c. of brown sugar
2 c. water
2/3 c. vegetable oil
1 c. honey
3/4 c. molasses
2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cinnamon
5 tsp. vanilla

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well. Spread on cookie sheets, or use a roasting pan. Bake @ 300 degrees for an hour, stirring every 20 minutes.

My mom made a few modifications to this recipe, and didn't use as much of the sugar ingredients. The next time I make it, I am going to add coconut, and use butter instead of oil. I'll let you know how it turns out.

How to clean your lamp shades

I know I don't have "Cleaning" as one of my favorite three "C's," but I thought I'd share my useful tip. We'll consider this a consumers tip...

About two years ago, I heard how you can clean your dusty lamp shades with a lint brush, and I finally tried it a few months ago. Why had I waited so long to do this?? I used to take one of the brush attachments to my vacuum and clean the lamps that way. What a pain that was, and how rarely I did it. This way is so much easier!!

Buy one of those sticky lint brushes, and roll away.

See the difference??

So simple. So easy. So clean!

Place mat Pillows

Oh, the many things we can do with place mats. Why should the table be the only place they can be enjoyed?

This week, I made a holiday pillow for my bedroom out of a place mat.


You can do it yourself, and you really don't even need a sewing machine!

Step #1: Place mats are usually made up of two pieces of fabric sewn together. Every now and then, they aren't, but most of the time they are. Use a seam ripper (or really pointy scissors) to take apart a seam wide enough to stick your hand through (that's really all you need).

Step #2: Stuff it!

Step #3: Stitch your open seam closed.

Step #4: Enjoy your handiwork!


This pillow cost me $3.19. I already had the stuffing on hand. That's a pretty cheap accessory!

I've also framed a place mat for my bathroom.


Oh, the decorating possibilities!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

I took my basic chocolate, chocolate chip cookie dough recipe, left out the chocolate chips and added crushed candy canes (the kids had fun helping crush the candy canes with a rolling pin).

I rolled my cookie dough into balls and dipped the top of them in the candy canes. (I also tried rolling them in the candy canes too, but they don't come free from the cookie sheet very easily, so if you did that, I think you would need to use parchment paper.)

My finished product - a fun Christmas cookie!

Egg Nog Cream Puffs - Review

Looking for a yummy treat to serve at a Holiday Party? Or just a yummy snack to eat as you watch White Christmas? If you like cream puffs and egg nog, these are just for you!!!

You never know about those pre-made desserts or appetizers in the frozen food section, but these are an A+ for sure! The inside egg nog cream is heavenly. These are delicious and addictive! I think I saved two for John... Next time I get them, I think I will add a chocolate frosting to the top. But, seriously, they are delightful all on their own.

I found these at Wal-Mart.

Enjoy!