roundups

8 Recipes Inspired by Girl Scout Cookies

02/26/2014 by Jennifer 5 Comments

Girl Scout Cookie season is officially among us! On Sunday, I bought a box of “Caramel DeLites” (Samoas) and a box of Thin Mints. Samoas are pretty magical because I am not a coconut fan at all. I can’t stand it. But I love Samoas! Maybe a little too much (the box is, umm, already empty…). I’m not crazy about Thin Mints though, so I have many left still. If you were already planning to buy a bunch of GS cookies, here are eight Girl Scout Cookie-inspired recipes to tempt you even further.

1. Trefoil Cookie Pops – Coupon Clipping Cook (These are caramel-filled, candy-coated and covered in sprinkles. Omg.)
2. Tagalong Peanut Butter Parfaits – My Baking Addiction
3. Spiked Do-si-do Milkshake – Yummly
4. Thin Mint Puppy Chow – Erica’s Sweet Tooth
5. Savannah Smiles Lemon Blueberry Parfait – Little Brownie Bakers
6. Seven-Layer Samoa Bars – Cookie Crazed Mama
7. Chocolate, Caramel, & Coconut Covered Samoa Pretzels – Love From the Oven
8. Homemade Tagalong Cookies – Bakers Royale

Selling Girl Scout Cookies, or being a Daisy/Brownie Scout in general was not for me. I tried it, but I felt awkwardly older than everyone else and never wanted to participate. I did however take a couple skills away from being a Girl Scout, including making friendship bracelets and reciting the Girl Scout Law, which I actually recite pretty often. :) What’s your favorite GS cookie? Are you participating in cookie-buying this spring?

Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas

11/23/2013 by Jennifer 1 Comment

Did any of you guys watch SNL last weekend when Lady Gaga was hosting? Kenan did this skit about taking back Thanksgiving. He ran down the streets of NYC tearing down everything in sight that was Christmasy. Now I understand buying Christmas things early and getting ahead of the game – that’s what I am trying to do this year. But I want to take a moment to remember (and plan for) Thanksgiving. :)

I love Thanksgiving so much. I feel like there isn’t as much pressure around it besides, ya know, all of that food. It is just a time to get together with loved ones and be thankful and usually a lightbulb comes on and we all think, “Wait a second, every day should be Thanksgiving Day!” Because Thanksgiving is less than a week away (weird!), I thought I would revisit a few recipes I posted last Thanksgiving time.

This baked apple and bourbon ice cream from A Beautiful Mess is the first ice cream I ever made. It was delish. A little melty because of the bourbon, but still one of the most wonderful kinds of ice cream I have ever had. And I’m not even really into apples. I might have to make this next week…

For thanksgiving with my family last year, I contributed the cranberry sauce with a little help from my friend, red wine. Yum! I found the recipe at Alexandra’s Kitchen.

My aunt and uncle have a lot of foresty land where they grow lots of fruits and vegetables. I was given a delicata squash last fall, so I made it even tastier by adding cinnamon and sugar. This recipe came from Averie Cooks and was originally for roasted cinnamon-ginger delicata squash.

Lastly, a fun recipe I found last fall was this spiced and spiked hot apple cider from A Couple Cooks.

What recipes are you trying out this season, for Thanksgiving or otherwise? I still haven’t decided on what to bring to my family’s dinner. Any ideas?

tasty popsicle recipes

08/19/2013 by Jennifer 2 Comments

Summer is dwindling down (noooo…), and I’ve realized that I still haven’t made popsicles! I have never made them with anything other than plain old juice, but being creative with popsicles has always been an annual goal. I’m going to make it happen!

Before I get on my popsicle kick, I’d like to share some recipes I have come across that look pretty and probably taste amazing.

1. Citrus and Orange Blossom Popsicles – Murmures
2. Rosemary Grapefruit Greyhound Popsicles – Glitter Guide
3. DIY Refreshing Summer Popsicles – 100 Layer Cake
4. Banana, Hemp, and Salted Dark Chocolate Ganache Popsicles – The Artful Desperado
5. Striped Ice Pops – Martha Stewart
6. Salted Bourbon Caramel Pops – Autumn Makes & Does

I think what makes me most excited about this list is that popsicles can transfer over to autumn! Banana, hemp, and salted dark chocolate ganache…in a popsicle?!! This is making me so hungry.

Which recipes look most appealing to you? Please feel free to add other fun popsicle recipes to the list. :)

Don’t forget to enter the Gold House Paper + Press Giveaway to win some pretty landscape notecards! There is only about a week left. :)

Summertime Countdown | Iced Drinks

04/30/2012 by Jennifer 7 Comments

Summer-like weather has finally arrived, and I hope it is here to stay! It’s perfect outside. Mid 70’s-80’s. I have been living off of iced black tea, and today I bought my first iced coffee of the season. Yum.

Any iced drink with lemonade, grapefruit juice, or tea really just gets me. These are some of the iced drinks I would like to make this summer:

Lavender Lemonade

Drinking lavender lemonade last summer was probably one of my biggest highlights. I could drink it every day, forever. After attending a lavender festival with a friend last year, we gathered lavender and lemons and created the most wonderful drink I have ever had (besides grapefruit juice…hmm…let’s call it a tie). Now, I just believe that lavender should be in everything. (You can find this recipe at London Bakes)

Earl Grey Tea Lemonade

Holy. Moly. This sounds too good to be true! My roommate and I are having a graduation party together, and I would love to make some of this. I found the recipe at Semisweetie.

Flavored Lemonade

Emma and Elsie at A Beautiful Mess came up with all of these lemonade ideas, and I think I need to try to make each of them. For my friend’s bachelorette party, I made the grapefruit lemonade and it was probably the most amazing thing I have ever tried in my life. My roommate is insisting that we have mint cucumber lemonade at our party, so I’ll let you know how that is :)

Iced Chai

Iced chais are always a “yes please” for me. This recipe from Big Girls Small Kitchen looks like something I need to try.

What are your favorite iced drinks? I would love to add to my summertime beverage list :)