Chocolate French Crullers with Raspberry Glaze

I received my subscription of Food & Wine magazine for the month of February and was inspired to make these after reading their Chocolate-Raspberry French Crullers with Fudge Glaze recipe. I tweaked it to my liking and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I live at an elevation of 7,700, so this recipe made double…

Liliane’s “Retro Trolls” 2nd Birthday!

When I went home to my parent’s house at Easter, I went through my stuff stored in their attic to find my old Troll dolls. I decided it was time to take them back into my possession, so I brought them back to Colorado to introduce my old favorite toys from my elementary days to…

The Cotswolds

We flew in early this morning on a red eye flight straight from Denver and got a rental car in a blur to drive to Oxford, England.  We stopped at Cafe CoCo there to have our first [of many] basic English breakfast: grilled tomato, baked beans, eggs, potatoes, mushrooms, and toast (opting out of the…

Gluten AND Sugar Free Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I have always enjoyed zucchini bread but never thought to make my own until I worked at the farmers’ market the past two weeks and had so much zucchini I had to think of some different ways to prepare it. I also have been trying to eat less sugar and gluten, so I came up…

Banana Cake with Browned Buttercream Frosting

I was leaving town for a week so had to use up my 4.5 bananas.  I decided to make my first banana cake and made it with a twist.  I added dark chocolate chips and made a browned butter frosting.  I toasted walnuts to layer and top off the cake and added bit o’ toffee…

Magical Times in Monaco

Looking back on my life over the past 10 years I have been very fortunate to travel to some amazing places.  My favorite of these will always be Monaco.  The main reason this place is so dear to my heart is because I lived there after college.  I have returned twice since and came across the pictures…

Dinner and Dessert

Caramel Apple Muffins 10-12 apples 2 cups sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted and divided Peel and finely chop apples to equal a heaping 3.5 cups….

Browned Butter Banana Bread

Browned butter makes everything better!  I made this as a Labor Day treat, and it turned out deliciously.  I have been wanting to make banana bread and thought why not incorporate my browned butter technique and bake it in a bundt!  It was a lovely addition, and for hours the nutty aroma filled the room followed…

S’mores Cookie Cups and Pumpkin Pop-tarts

When I think about fall, I think about pumpkins, changing leaves, camping weather…and S’mores!!  I also anticipate autumn festivals: first Tulsa State Fair followed by Oktober Fest.  Last year I went to the fair once but visited 3 different Oktober Fests (two in one day!) while driving around Lake Tahoe.  Oktober Fest is celebrated early October…

Gelato al Limoncello: Molto Fresco!

Gelato al Limone  1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream 1/2 cup cold milk 1/2 cup sugar (I used my superfine homemade vanilla bean sugar) 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons) 1-2 T Limoncello Italian Lemon Liquor 1/2 t lemon zest 1 t vanilla extract Mix the cream, milk, and sugar together and stir until the sugar…