Christmas is coming up sooner than you think! One thing I always like to do every year is to make homemade gifts for friends – mostly in the form of food related gifts. In the past I’ve done flavored sugars, varieties of cookies, mini loaves of bread as well as flavored salts. In partnership with Whole Foods Encinitas, I’ve got an easy DIY gift to share with you plus a holiday entertaining idea! Also, HINT HINT – there’s another giveaway …

I hope you and your family had a very lovely turkey day, er Thanksgiving, yesterday! I just chilled out at home, helped with making the dinner (which was a true “dinner” this year – Jake had to work until 6PM and we didn’t eat until after 8PM instead of our usual “eat-at-3PM”).

I started the day off by baking some scones. These are actually the packaged mix from Fresh n Easy. You just cut in some butter, add an egg and …

I’ve made cheesecake quite a few times… but it has never been as super creamy as the ones at the Cheesecake Factory which has always driven me a little nuts. I adore super creamy cheesecake and I was determined to try and make something just like theirs – but homemade. I scoured around on the internet and found a few resources to help me achieve the glorious smooth and creamy texture I was seeking. The instructions I found totally nailed …

A few weeks ago I got an email from Stef of Canarsie Cookies asking if she could send me some of her “brookies”. What the heck is a brookie?! It’s like a brownie and a cookie got drunk one night and had a love child that emerged and they named their baby a “brookie”. Ahh, sweet, sweet drunken love.
The Brookie:

Stef sent me some brookies to try. It’s a fusion of peanut butter and chocolate that kind of turned into a …

Jake’s oldest son, T, celebrated his 15th birthday in August! Goodness. Fifteen. Where has all the time gone?!
His birthday request? A pistachio cake. Apparently this idea sprung from these pistachio cookies I made 2 years for Christmas. I guess he’s been thinking about them ever since and has really wanted me to make something else with pistachios.
I’ve never made a pistachio cake before so I looked up a few recipes and did one the “easy” way (aka with boxed cake …

There are some days when even if it’s stupid hot out… you just have to bake. Because inspiration has struck and you must act on it immediately! Mostly because you want to see if your idea is as good as it sounds in your head. That’s pretty much how these cookies came into being. I read Bakergirl’s latest post about Puffy Sprinkle Sugar Cookies and got inspired… to make the same thing… but with peanut butter and chocolate instead.

It’s not …

Earlier this summer, I received a few of these Gustus Vitae Condiments on my doorstep to try:

I’ve used the “Taste of Cajun” blend a couple of times for things like steak rub, rib rubs and on top of pan fried pork chops. But… I didn’t take any photos of those adventures. I assure you it is a delicious blend of Cajun-like flavors without being hot. It’s flavor baby, not heat! You could make it all hot and steamy with some …