Let's talk

Ok, so here's the deal!

I have reached 10,000 HITS!

I can't believe it!

ESPECIALLY since I've only started this in September!

It's been CRAZY.

I've been baking away, sharing the wealth...sometimes!

But, mostly, i've been baking away.

The last 2 recipes I have made, and have yet to post,

well, let's be honest,

they kicked my butt!

They didn't turn out!

They were recipes that I got out of a magazine.

You know, the ones that look

OH.SO.GOOD.

and then you rip them out of the magazine

with the hopes that they will taste as good as they look.

Well...they didn't!

It kinda put me in a slump.

With that said...I think i'm taking a break.

Just a week.

I'm in the process of updating my blog...

getting it designed to be all "cutsie!"

more appealing to readers.

(just in case the treats weren't working!)

AND

I'm going to have a give away!

Something that I bought when I started this blog and that I ABSOLUTELY love!

It's just a little something from me to you...my readers.

The ones that leave me nice comments about my dessert, and pictures,

and couch in the background!

SO,

Please don't give up on me!

PLEASE!

It'll be worth it...

I may just be adding a new "COURSE"

to this little dessert blog too!

So, check back

02-01-10

Thanks for being understanding!

Cream Cheese Brownies

My Grandma Travis makes THE BEST desserts.
I don't know where she gets her recipes.
She's magic...just like most Grandma's!
I know that I don't ask questions,
i'm usually too busy savoring the delicious-ness of her cooking!
This recipe is a good one, and very high in her rotation!
Serving size is usually EXTRA LARGE!
Cream Cheese Brownies
1 box german chocolate cake mix
(cake mix made as directed on box)
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 bag chocolate chips...(use the Ghiradelli brand)
Preheat oven to 325*

Make cake mix as directed on package...you know,
eggs, oil and water.
Pour into greased jelly roll pan.
Next, combine cream cheese, egg and sugar.
Mix until smooth.
Place by small spoonfuls throughout cake mix.

Run a knife through the cake mix to make a swirl pattern.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

When they come out, sprinkle 1/2 bag of chocolate chips on top of warm cake.

FROSTING

1 tbsp butter

3 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

powdered sugar.

In a bowl, combine the milk and butter, and melt in the microwave.

Combine with vanilla and add powdered sugar.

Mix until it can drip off the spoon as a thick mixture.

(Don't you love Grandma's and their ability to just MAKE frosting...without a recipe?)

Drizzle white frosting over cake.

(My cake was a little too warm still, and it melted my frosting...

oh well!)

Orange Cookies

These have to be some of the most AMAZING cookies!

My sister-in-law, Roxanne's mother, makes these cookies

and will bring them to our family parties.

I think the first time I tried them I ate about 7!

They are so good...and i've decided they have 5 of the food groups in them

so they are TOTALLY healthy to eat!

One batch made 64 cookies (small ones) for me.

I would HIGHLY suggest you double them,

unless you think you will be ok when they are all gone and you want another one!

ORANGE COOKIES

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup shortening

1 egg

1 cup mashed, cooked carrots

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup coconut

First off, start cooking those carrots.

Peel and slice them and put them in a pan and cover with water.

Boil for about 10-15 minutes, or until they are soft.

When they are done, mash them completely.

Let them cool down a bit,

so they don't cook the egg when you add them to the cookie mix!

Preheat oven to 350*

Combine sugar, shortening and egg.

Mix until soft and fluffy.

Add the cooled carrots and vanilla.

Once combined, add all the dry ingredients.

Using your small scoop :), place onto parchment paper covered jelly roll pan

or a cookie sheet...whichever you have!

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Mine took 12.

FROSTING:

Grate the peel for some orange zest.

Juice the orange into a bowl.

Add the powdered sugar until it is the right consistency.

You want it to be a thick consistency, not runny.

I think mine took about 3 cups of powdered sugar.

You want that orange goodness to stay on TOP of the cookies!

Add the orange zest!

Place cookies on a cooling rack to cool.

Before they have cooled completely, frost them.

****Use the left over parchment paper to put under the cooling rack...

that way you don't have frosting drippings all over your counter!

I DARE you to try and not snag a cookie...or two...or three.

Orange Bubble Loaf Bread

What do you do when you have 2 cases of oranges picked fresh from the tree in your Arizona friends' backyard?

You can either juice them, which I HIGHLY suggest,

but before you do that...PLEASE make this recipe!

(isn't her handwriting so neat...I loved the way she wrote!)
This recipe has SO many memories for me!

It is from my Grandma Steiner.

She passed away in 2003, and I miss her TREMENDOUSLY!

When I was younger, I would often spend the night at her house

with my other 2 cousins, Natalie and Makell, who were a year younger than me.

We would stay up all night laughing and giggling and sleeping on the red carpet floor

in the front room with my grandma's sliding glass door open

and the satin curtins blowing in the breeze.

The next day we would all man our posts and make this and wait

IM-PATIENTLY

until they had raised enough to bake.

I LOVED IT!

Orange Bubble Loaf Bread

1 bag 36 ct bread rolls (I have changed this part)

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp grated orange peel

1/4 c melted butter.

Grease a bread loaf pan, or any other pan with high sides.

First of all, you need to decide how much bubble loaf bread you are going to make.

The whole package of rolls will make a TON...which I could eat myself.

I used probably 24-28 rolls of dough for 3 pans of bubble loaf bread.

It was probably 8 rolls for each pan.

Allow for the dough to thaw.

It will be perfect if you put the frozen dough in the fridge at night for you to use in the morning.

In a small dish, melt butter.

In another small dish, combine the sugar and orange peel.

My "stations", if you will.

Cut each ball of dough in half, and then cut that half into thirds.

Roll them into a ball.

Roll that ball of dough in the butter.

Roll that ball that is coated in butter in the sugar/orange mixture.

Place in the greased pan.

Repeat until you have two levels of rolls.

Depending on how many you make,

you may need more butter and orange/sugar mixture.

Allow them to raise until 1 inch from the top.

Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes,

then....lower the temperatue to 300*

and OPEN YOUR OVEN DOOR....

for about a minute to lower the temperature.

Cook for an additional 10 minutes.

When done, turn upside down onto serving plate to cool.

Wait for at least a minute before you devour them,

or else you

WILL BURN YOUR TOUNGE!

I really hope you enjoy these...

They are one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!