Very Jane - My Brother's New Venture

I just wanted to spread the word about Very Jane which is a site that has a new deal everyday on...well, you just never know what it will be! I'm always excited to see the Very Jane email in my inbox to see what cute item they have to offer. What makes it even more fun, is that Very Jane was started by my brother and his business partners. See that beautiful girl at the top of the page? That is my niece!!! So, go check it out. Sign up and get some great deals on unique items sent straight to your inbox!

Awesome Italian Herb and Garlic Bread

This was an experiment that made some of the most flavorful garlic bread I've ever had. A few weeks ago I posted a recipe for Dipping Spices for Italian bread. You combine the garlic and spices, add olive oil and dip your fresh, warm Italian bread. Well, I had some of the spice mixture left in my fridge and decided to make a garlic loaf with it. Here is what I did:

Garlic Herb Bread

1. Slice through a loaf of Italian or French bread, but keep the loaf in tact.

2. Take 1 Tablespoon of the Dipping Spices mixture and mix it into a stick of softened, salted butter until combined.

3. With a butter knife, spread butter/herb mixture on one side of each slice of bread.

4. Wrap loaf in foil loosely and bake in 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

Here is the recipe for the dipping spices mixture:

Dipping Spices

• 1 tablespoon minced basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley (Italian is best)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon ground sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Believe me! This bread will disappear fast!

Cutest Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes!

Aren't these the cutest? I saw these on Baked Perfection and I knew that I had to make these for the family get together for Robbie's birthday. The cake starts with a box mix, but it so deliciously doctored that it tastes like homemade. The peanut butter frosting is, in a word, DANGEROUS!

I used the Wilton 1 M star tip for the cup cake and a smaller star tip for the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. After the cups and cupcakes were frosted, I kept them in the fridge just to make sure that the frosting wouldn't melt. They were a hit at the party. :)

Chocolate Cupcakes
recipe from allrecipes.com

1 package chocolate cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (dust these in flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cupcake)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into 24 lined muffin cups.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting
recipe from Baked Perfection

1 stick butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
generous pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
4 cups powdered sugar

Cream the butter, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time alternating with the milk until you reach the desired consistency.

What I've Been Up To!

I'M BACK! And I got a new camera finally. I missed my macro!!!!! (I wish my eye still looked like that. Instead, now they are bloodshot and watery from my insane allergies!!!)

It seems like forever since I have posted. I have been so busy the last 3-4 weeks that I could hardly see straight.

We had been getting our house spruced up for a visit from my parents. It had been 2 years since we had been together, so we were really excited to have them come to Pennsylvania. We did some fun changes to the kid's rooms and then refreshed the paint in the kitchen. I'll post some picks to show you what we did. I love what we did in my daughter's room and can't wait to show you! My poor kids were almost like orphans for that week leading up to my parents coming. I had so much to do at the house and cooking for a family party. I'm just so glad that is all over!

So, my parent came to PA for the baptism of my 8 year old boy, Robbie. I took the week off from work and we played and shopped and went sightseeing and SHOPPED! We had a great time!

These are my favorite guys at Valley Forge. Behind them are some of the cabins that were used during the Revolutionary War.

My daughter took advantage of this tree stump to strike the obligatory "Crane" pose from Karate Kid.

Here is the Liberty Bell

And this is inside Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

This is the original chair sat in by George Washington. Pretty cool!

So life is pretty much back to normal and I'm glad to be back to my routine. I'll be posting some pictures of the house and couple of the recipes I made over the last few weeks. Hope you like them!

Easy Easter Cupcakes

Today is my son's birthday and I made him some cupcakes to take to school. I actually make the cupcakes from scratch and the buttercream! This is big for me. I'm usually a box mix and canned frosting girl, but I was feeling extra domestic. The cupcakes pictured above were made using a Wilton 1M star tip. Don't they look professional? Love it! On the cupcakes below, I put the frosting in a gallon size freezer bag and cut about an inch of the tip off. Not as fancy, but you can get more sprinkles on that way. I used Sweet-tarts jelly beans to top them off.

I used the Best Chocolate Cake recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and Vanilla Buttercream from Cookies and Cups. If you haven't already, please check out these amazingly talented ladies!

Have a wonderful Easter!

P.S.-I'm still using my cell phone for a camera and it is killing me! Hope to have some extra money soon, but it's not looking good. Is anyone else having sticker shock at the pump, grocery store and with your electric bill?!?!?

Nutter Butter Easter Eggs

Here is a blast from the past, just in time for Easter!

When I think of Easter candy, I think of peeps, jelly beans and the peanut butter egg. Mmmmmm....they are so yummy. I've been wanting to make peanut butter eggs for a long time now, so I decided that this would be the year. I recruited my 7 year old daughter and she had a great time helping.


I'm all about short cuts, so I made these using Nutter Butter cookies. I used the same recipe as the Oreo Truffles, but substituted Nutter Butters for the Oreos.

After making the truffle mixture:


1. Roll them into small balls, flatten and shape into egg shape. Please don't look at my old, ugly cookie sheets! I'm so embarrassed.

2. Place in freezer for about 30 minutes. I kept the eggs in the freezer and took one out at a time to dip.


3. Melt chocolate, dip peanut butter eggs and place on wax paper to dry.

4. Decorate as desired with sprinkles, decorator frosting or drizzle with contrasting color of chocolate.
Yield: 36 eggs

Happy Easter everyone!!!!!

Be sure to go to Cheat Day News and Reviews to read my review on Weight Watchers Yogurt AND get a $1.00 coupon so you can try it out for yourself!

Healthy Breakfast with Weight Watchers Yogurt and Almonds

Over the weekend, my son found my nifty nut chopper and decided to chop up all of my favorite Cocoa Roast Almonds! So, what do you do when life gives you ground up almonds? Make it a topping for your favorite yogurt!

Be sure to go to Cheat Day News and Reviews to read my review on Weight Watchers Yogurt AND get a $1.00 coupon so you can try it out for yourself!