Something Saturdays (11/1/14)

Sunday I had such a wonderful time in Pittsburgh with Carla (Chocolate Moosey)! As you can tell, I survived the drive! It actually was pretty simple. Then Carla took me to a gorgeous French bakery, La Gourmandine. I had a perfectly flaky pain au chocolat as well as some sort of chocolate dessert that reminded me of a giant candy bar. Carla had a beautiful passionfruit macaron. Then we went to the Duquesne Incline which was so cool and had a beautiful view of the city! One of the highlights of my visit was going on a tour at The Cathedral of Learning (University of Pitt), a gorgeous tall building that looked like an old Catholic cathedral inside. There were different rooms that were dedicated to different cultures (based upon immigrants who settled in Pittsburgh)-some of my favorites were the Italian room, Irish room, Lithuanian room, Greek room, and...well....all of them. It was SO fascinating and they were so beautiful! By this point we were starving, so we headed over to Burgatory for the best milkshake I've ever had (Fluffer Nutter) and an amazing burger and homemade potato chips. It totally hit the spot! Carla and I finally just visited a bit at her apartment before I headed back. I had such a great time and I'm so happy Pittsburgh and Carla are only 2 hours away :)

I had a fun-but somewhat unproductive-week! Tuesday I got to go to the shops at First & Main in Hudson with Michael's stepmom. The shops were SO cute and they reminded me of my favorite little spots in NY. So it won my heart. Wednesday I headed back to my and Michael's old high school to spend some time with his mom (a teacher) and sister (a student) and his best friend (also a teacher). While I was there we also booked our ceremony musicians! The director of campus ministry went to the same grade school as I did and so is very familiar with the church where Michael and I are getting married. He has a group of people who do weddings with him and they're extremely popular and in demand and talented! So thrilled I have one more thing crossed off my to-do list!

Friday Michael had the day off (he has to work today though) so we ran some errands (got his passport processed and found a new haircut place for him) and got dinner (steak!). Then I worked a bar crawl in the cold and rain...blech. Today I'm going to a bridal shower for Michael's cousin (she's getting married in February) so it should be fun!

10 Recipes For Leftover Halloween Candy

Happy Halloween!!! Tis the season for adorable rugrats dressed in various fun costumes. The season for drunken college students and child-less adults to find the perfect (or the easiest) costume and partyyy. The season for Michael and I to be cranky because our perfect family (his family) costume idea* was foiled (by lack of participation from a couple members as well as lack of party for us to go to). Most importantly-the season for LOTS and LOOTS of candy! Whether you're collecting, handing out, or buying up the 50% off candy the day after---chances are...you've got some candy in your possession. Maybe...too much candy? Maybe you need something to do with that candy?

You're in luck! I've rounded up 10 recipes from the blog that are wonderful ways to incorporate your leftover candy...and really...just tasty in general. Any excuse to bake, if you ask me!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Browned Butter Brown Sugar Toffee Blondies

These blondies are seriously gooey. And I'm unsure if they're supposed to be quiiite this gooey...or if I underbaked them...It doesn't really matter. Either way they are fan-friggin-tastic! Sometimes the messiest things taste the best. True story.

I feel like the color brown gets a bad rep. Brown is a perfectly lovely color. It's the color of my hair. It's the color of my Michael's very lovely eyes (contrary to what he says. I won't repeat what he says to describe the brown color of his eyes). It's the color of most of the delicious things I can imagine. Chocolate? Brown. Toffee? Brown. Browned butter? Brown Sugar? Brown is in the name. And these are some of the tastiest things in life! Annnnnd they are all highlighted in these blondies. Boom! Brown is. da. shiz.

The original name of this recipe was "I <3 Brown Sugar Blondies". And I DO love brown sugar! It's so warm and complex and molasses-y. Ahhh brown sugar....you are the superior sugar. It is true. And these babies have a full THREE CUPS of brown sugar-2 light brown and 1 dark brown. So yeah...you're getting a big punch of that flavor. And...since the recipe had melted butter anyway...and I knew it would only serve to amp up the flavor even more and make these even more mouthwatering...I obviously browned the butter. Which was a good call, btw. Browning the butter added even more nuances and buttery goodness. Toffee is a perfect compliment to the 2, with just a little bit of semisweet chocolate chips in to help add a little something different. And some salt on top helps balance the entire thing. *muah* bellisima!

These blondies are a party on your tastebuds. You bite into a crackly top that gives way to utter gooeyness. Then you just taste everything. Like...you want to have a Homer Simpson "Mmmmm....blondies," moment. I'm literally beginning to salivate just thinking about it. The brown sugar is totally the star but the browned butter merges with the flavor so perfectly you almost can't distinguish between them. And then you get the crunchy bites of toffee and slightly melted pieces of semisweet chocolate (which adds a welcome bit of variety to break up the melding of the other flavors)...and the salt hits your palate to just make all the rest of it taste not too sweet. Like...they're sweet. But not too sweet. Warm and complex. Those are the words for this treat. And WHAT a treat these blondies are. Mmmmm.....blondies.

Individual Baked Mashed Potatoes

Sometimes you need to brainstorm a recipe that you can share on your blog.

Sometimes you have leftover Gruyere cheese and chives that'll die as soon as a frost decides to hit.

Sometimes you're a potato addict.

This recipe is a result of these times.

Life is a smidge crazy around my household currently. Michael has a huge workload to deal with in his new job as a caseworker plus school plus things I ask him to do around the house plus wedding stuff plus a need/obligation to see family and friends.

I suppose it'd be more accurate to say Michael's life is crazy. But...ya know...I'm kinda busy-ish too.

Anyway...

Maybe you're busy too. Maybe you just want some comfort food. Maybe you want flavorful and cheesy potatoes. Maybe you only want a single serving so you can control yourself. Or maybe you already have self-control without having to impose it upon yourself and maybe you're having a dinner party (or...hmmm....Thanksgiving isn't too far awayyyy). Maybe you're having a dinner party and you want a side dish you can make ahead of the time and just put it in the oven when you're ready. Maybe these individual mashed potatoes are as much of a lifesaver for you as they were for me?

Yeah. I thought so.

Something Saturdays (10/25/14)

Have I shown you guys our wedding website yet? If not--here it is!: 

http://kayleandmichael.wix.com/wedding

Um....Renee Zellweger legit. looks like a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON???! What the eff?? I've read a lot of articles shaming people for being so obsessed with her different look but....this isn't about her aging or plastic surgery or anything. It's just that...she literally does not look like the same person and I cannot figure out how that happened.

I had another alterations appointment to work on my mom's/my wedding dress and it is really coming along! For the first time I'm feeling really good about it-I am 99% sure that this dress is going to turn out the way I want, now! A bunch of the things I didn't like have been removed and the off-the-shoulder sleeves are looking the way I imagined them. There's still a lot of work to do but I'm super duper excited! Plus Wava, my alterations woman, took a look at my tiara and earrings and said she thought they were perfect! woot!

Aaaaand finally: tomorrow I am SO excited because I'M GOING TO PITTSBURGH TO SEE CARLA (AKA Chocolate Moosey)!!! I'm approx. a 2 hour drive from Pitt and I've been wanting to explore the city, and meet Carla in person, so I'm very excited! But...also nervous. This is my biggest, longest, scariest driving venture I've done so far. Fingers crossed I'm alive to post Monday! :P

La Piuma Bella Review

La Piuma Bella...google translate tells me it means "the beautiful feather". And how fitting a name that is for this fantastic little shop. Feathers are one of a kind and evoke a feeling of fantasy-of flight. Plus...they're pretty. Just like all the things that La Piuma Bella sells!

I knew that I wanted all of my bridesmaids to have a matching jewelry item as one of their gifts, as well as for them to wear in the wedding. And...since roses are something of a theme...I wanted something with roses. My first thought was necklace but, due to the necklines of the dresses we're looking at, necklaces wouldn't work. So then my thoughts jumped to earrings! And then I found La Piuma Bella and I fell in love.

Baked Gnocchi & Cheese

Sorry about these pictures, guys. It was all gross and rainy and fall-like outside when I made this yum yum yummy side dish and it impeded my light. But I had to share this recipe with you soooo we shall have to muddle through these photos! Remember, it tastes much better than the pics look!

I absolutely love homemade ricotta gnocchi-it's insanely easy to make. However, I hadn't really had anything to make the gnocchi for UNTIL I SAW THIS RECIPE! You can totally use store-bought gnocchi, but really...it takes nothing to make the homemade. And I just adooore the pillowy texture and perfect flavor of it. Regardless, let's chat about the dish as a whole and not just the noodles!

This is essentially a recipe for a small mac'n'cheese-like dish (which is actually lovely because so many of my mac and cheese recipes make way too much for me to eat on my own!) You make a lovely sauce with delicious gruyere (sorta like fancy cheddar?) and fontina (sorta like Parmesan) cheeses. Then it's topped with some Parmesan cheese which-when baked-becomes wonderfully golden brown and a bit crisp-a much needed contrasting texture from the soft gnocchi and rich sauce. It's cheesy and flavorful and like an Italian'd up macaroni and cheese! I absolutely loved it and I think you will too :) A great recipe to serve when having people over for dinner!

Browned Butter Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups with Graham Cracker Crusts

After my last attempt at caramel sauce in a chocolate chip cookie...I decided to try again. I was hopeful the caramel would be more noticeable. Good news: it was! Slightly. But it helped that I drizzled the cups with caramel too. And that I used browned butter...actually....browning butter is just helpful, period. Mmmmm...

Anyway, when I decided to make this recipe I realized that I was lacking in pretzels (which were what originally crusted these cups)--so instead I made little graham cracker crusts. Which meant these cookie cups taste a little s'moresy...ya know...minus the marshmallows...stay with me on this.

Cookie cups are great-you never have to worry about if they're going to rise correctly or spread too much or anything. They just bake up in their little muffin cups and you are guaranteed a thick, chewy, gooey cookie. Plus, now there's a whole world of putting a crust on your cookie. So it's like cookie + pie. Amazingness.

These cookies are perfectly portable yet soft and gooey on the insides. The browned butter adds that bit of depth, and the caramel drizzled on top with the salt adds that mmm mmm salty goodness to the sweet. The graham cracker crust is buttery and delightful and...chocolate chips...always our friends. They're crazy addictive and simply irresistible. Find out for yourselves, my friends!

Something Saturdays (10/18/14)

Um...so at first I did not realize the song "Jealous" was sang by Nick Jonas. But now that I know I'm like "Duh." and I'm also happy for him. I wasn't a big fan of the Jonas Brothers, but I always knew that Nick actually had talent so good for him going back to being solo and rocking it. Pretty cool. I also enjoy the song :P (that music video is hella weird though. It's also a little strange to see him all grown up and stuff.--quick Google search showed me he is my brother's age. Ok. Also learned that he's acting on a DirecTV show??? THAT should not be allowed...dude is an awful actor. Whatever...I ended up talking about this way longer than anticipated...)

I think I may have amassed almost all my bridal accessories. I have my bustier/bra-thing, my shoes, my veil, my tiara--and I think I just got the perfect pair of earrings, too! I'll be 100% certain next week after my next dress fitting/consultation but it's looking good. All I still need is my garter (and maybe underwear? Or I could just wear a pair I already have lol) :)

We've also booked our florist! We went with Seifert's Flower Mill-they have an extremely strong and long relationship with the church we're getting married in (St. Mary's exclusively uses Seifert's for most of their events), they're also friends with my grandma and aunt. And---lowest quote by far with the most perks thrown in (they'll do sample arrangements for free, day before the wedding we can come and view the arrangements and make sure they're to our liking, delivery and complete set up and take down, etc. is a total of $8.99--where most florists charged $1-200 for that.) Super excited about this!

In injury news: 2 days after I got stitches (so...last Saturday) Michael was sword fighting with his best friend (David bought Michael and himself heavy duty PVC sparring swords for his birthday) and his pinky ended up getting hit so hard that it split and there was blood everywhere and it was swollen and....he ended up going to urgent care BUT he didn't have any broken bones or need stitches. And he's much better now. And my stitches are out and my finger is on the mend!

Also we finally are almost done getting the apartment together (*cough* 5+ months later...)--we just have a few more things to hang up and then I might finally take some pictures to show you all!

PINTEREST UPDATE ALERT: (courtesy of Stephie Cooks)

For everyone who uses Pinterest, they recently started incorporating Sponsored pins into the stream and very quietly (they sent an email, but you might have missed it) switched everyone's account to different settings to accommodate it.
What this means is that your Pinterest stream is no longer organic (based on who you follow and when they pin), but on "web cookies" that track your recent browser history. They use this info to deliver the pins they think you want to see, plus sponsored pins that are tailored to you based on the sites you've previously visited.
I don't know about you...but I don't like sites telling me what I want to see. I'd rather choose for myself and see the results organically.
GOOD NEWS: You can shut these settings off and switch back to the original stream. Here's how:
 1) Go to your Pinterest profile and click on the gear icon at the top right of your main profile box. A box will drop down. Choose "Account Settings". Scroll down to the section labeled "Personalization" and choose NO for both options.

Please make sure to hit the "save changes" button at the bottom, so it goes through!

Crispy Chicken with Italian Sauce & Noodles

"It smells like fried food in here."

"What's this?"

"Is it healthy?" 

All asked within 5 minutes of my brother's arrival to my house.

"Um...well...I mean...the chicken is like...pan fried...um...and the sauce isn't full of preservatives? Sooooo?"

"Well the pasta is just carbs so I'll just eat chicken and sauce," and then he sat down to eat a bunch of my chicken and sauce. Thus concludes the tale of the mooch-y carb-free brother.

Silly brother aside--you should totally not skip the pasta. The pasta plus cream sauce plus chicken creates a trifecta of yum. And I used whole wheat pasta so it was totally fine :P. The sauce is sort of alfredo-esque, but more herbaceous? And with the chicken this is sort of a chicken parmesan situation...but without the melted cheese on the chicken...and not tomato sauce...and the chicken has a bit of a sweetness to it because of the cornflakes....but you get the idea.

The perfect bite starts with the tender, juicy chicken encrusted in that slightly sweet fried breading. Then it gives way to a creamy, rich, delightful sauce which encases some chewy noodles. Yum. Very filling too-a tiny bowl will pretty much satisfy your belly, even if you have a demanding, Italian stomach like myself and Michael.*

*(Fun fact: he doesn't know what it means to be hungry. He says he's hungry and I tell him "Just because you're not full doesn't mean you're hungry. Do you actually feel hunger?" and he replied, "That's not being hungry, that's STARVING." True story.

Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

My new actress friends said these were the best cookies they'd ever had. Now...they're not the best cookies I'VE ever had, but I have a pretty high bar. Like...cookies are sorta my thing. They're my boo. My bae, if you will.

Speaking of bae...um...I'm officially at that age where I don't understand the slang the teens are using. It makes no sense. Like, apparently bae used to stand for "before anyone else" but now it's also an adjective? Like "that skirt is so bae!" "Tbh I think you're bae <3" etc. Kids today. *snort* that's not even the worst of it! Being around my teenaged cousins is just reeeeally driving home the fact that I am SO not that age anymore. And when I was we didn't have such a weird language. Like...I didn't even have texting yet.

But I digress.

I had a bunch of my beloved salted caramel sauce just aching to be used in another recipe and when I saw I had bookmarked (like..ages ago) a recipe for Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies I was like "Well...yeah. That's gonna happen."

And so I made some giant cookies with salted caramel mixed in. And they turned out sturdy yet gooey and full of salty and sweet goodness. They were great. An awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe.

BUT....I didn't taste the caramel. Which bummed me out. Perhaps the caramel added to the texture and gave them a bit of extra caramelized flavor but for some reason my brain had expected more caramel. But this was my brain's bad. Its expectations were unrealistic and these cookies are not to be faulted for such things!

Michael fully agreed that these cookies were awesome. He happily stated that they weren't falling apart the way, apparently, many of my cookies do (they do not). And they found their way into my adorable case worker's lunch for a few days. And they were MY lunch for a couple days too.

That's nutritious...yeah?

So, here's the moral of this cookie story:

These cookies are tasty.

They're yummy.

And nummy.

BUT...don't waste your beloved salted caramel sauce on them. Or perhaps just buy any old caramel sauce to throw in. All I know is I just wish I had more of my homemade sauce left....to just spoon into my mouth.

*sniffle* Cookie...you were great. I just wish my caramel hadn't had to perish for you to liiiive.*

overdramaaaatic

Eat yo'self some cookies, and don't mind the little drama queen that is moi.

French Dip Sandwiches

Hi. I'd like to introduce you to my new favorite thing. (I know I say that a lot, but stay with me on this.)

It's essentially super tender shredded roast beef. On bread. With mozzarella cheese. Dipped in the juice the beef cooked in. And it's filling and comforting and SO YUMMY I COULD DIE.

Like, literally. I almost died for this sandwich.

... ok not exactly.

What happened was I went to slice a baguette in half for a sandwich (my 3rd and final one from this batch, in fact) and I um...didn't have my fingers placed wisely. So I ended up slicing into my middle finger with a bread knife! Albeit a sharp Wusthof bread knife, but still. Embarassing.

So then my finger was bleeeeding and bleeding and I realized this was a much deeper cut than I've dealt with in the past and I realized I might actually need medical attention. But first I called my mom, in hopes she would be like "Nah. You're cool." But she told me to call my doctor. So I did. And they said I, at the very least, should have a tetanus shot so yeah I should go to Urgent Care. So Michael left work (just 30 min. early) and came home and took me to Urgent Care (leaving a bathroom full of bloodiness in our wake) and long story not that short I ended up with 3 stitches.

MY FIRST STITCHES EVER! It was not fun. But you know what I did when I came home?

I made myself that sandwich.* And I ate it. And it was all worth it in the end.

*My mom cut the bread for me this time....just for safety.

So now I'm typing this post with a bunch of gauze on my left middle finger that makes it look like a snowman. And my finger hurts. I should probably take some Tylenol. You probably didn't care about any of this and you just want to know about the sandwich. My bad.

Super tender and flavorful, falling apart, perfect roast beef that you just let cook in a crock-pot gets piled onto your favorite bread (I obtained some roasted garlic loaves of bread from Giant Eagle but you do whatever you want. Next time I'll probably go for a more straightforward kind of hoagie or some such). Then you melt some lovely mozzarella on top. And...then you top it with the other half of the bread that you sacrificed your finger for. And then you dip the bread in some of that lovely "au jus" (which I presume translates to "with juice", yes?) that is the good beefy brothy stuff the beef cooked in. And it's heaven. Perfect for this chill that's currently in the air. Perfect for a girl whose finger is hurting. Perfect for youuu.

Something Saturdays (10/11/14)

This article made me feel not so alone and weird (well...ok...still kind of weird). It's brave in today's society to stand up and say what this girl said-and I'm just happy she did it.

Well this week was mostly a catching-up-on-stuff week. And an I-got-my-first-stitches-ever week (you can read about that on Monday if you're interested--essentially I just got 3 stitches in my middle finger on my left hand after I wasn't being careful enough with a bread knife).

On Wednesday one of my bridesmaids (my friend Angela) and I went and tried on the bridesmaid dresses I had saved from when I scouted with Alex. We narrowed it down to 2-with the favorite remaining the favorite. And then we just hung out and that was lovely :)

This weekend my mom is going to stay with us and hang out and help me with some things around the townhouse. Plus go check out our church. And take us out on Michael's very belated birthday dinner. :P

StampOutOnline Custom Stamps Review

I knew I wanted to use a return address stamp for my save the dates and wedding invitations from the second I found out that it was a thing (via pinterest, of course). You get a uniform, pretty, return address on everything-and it looks so much nicer than a label (in my opinion). And it's inexpensive-you just pay a one time cost for the stamp (and the ink--or you can just buy a self inking stamp!) and that's all you need!

So I was beyond excited when, on my hunt for the perfect return address stamp, I connected with StampOutOnline and they agreed to work with me to design a custom stamp and a review for the blog!

The process is simple: you simply visit StampOutOnline's website or etsy shop. You then contact them (either message them on etsy or email them) if you want a fully customized stamp or just order based off of one of the designs they already have. You give them the names and addresses and particulars for the stamps as well (they do make plenty of stamps other than return address ones, but since that's what I went with that is what we'll discuss!) In my case, I loved the overall look of this stamp's layout (fonts, etc.) but I wanted to make sure the dimensions would work for my Save the Date's (I wanted to make sure it would be small enough to fit in the upper left hand corner)--I also wanted to see if a rose could be incorporated (since that's a bit of a theme for the wedding).

They got back to me crazy quickly with 4 proof options they'd come up with! Then all I had to do was pick my favorite (or I could have tweaked it with anything else I would've want changed)/approve it and my custom stamp was on its way to me!

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cups

Remember how I told you that caramel and I are having a minute? Still true.

But...it might be more than a minute. Perhaps an hour?

Who am I kidding--I will love caramel FOREVAHHHH!

And one day I was just going about my life, probably working or something, and I was overcome by the craving for a good dark chocolate salted caramel candy. And I was like "I should totally make some." So, at my first opportunity, I made my best friend: salted caramel sauce (nnnngggg it is SO GOOD). Then I made these (after first spooning some into my mouth).

And do you know what my first thought upon eating one of these candies was?

"Hm...it's good but....they'd be better without the chocolate." So...essentially...I just wanted caramel. It's like I don't even know me anymore. HOWEVER--after I ate approximately 3 more I completely changed my mind and decided these were 100% perfect as is. Silly me, sometimes I just take some time to figure out how I feel about things (note that Michael is not an example of this, since he and I said "I love you" to each other 2 days in. I feel comfortable telling you this because you're my pals and also we've been together 5 years and are getting married, so obviously it all worked out :P)

Anyway, once I decided that these were the bestest, I couldn't gobble them up fast enough!

You have delicious dark chocolate (the higher quality the better!) and once you bite into it you're rewarded with gooey, sweet and salty and delightfully rich caramel. Irresistible. For serious. And really...pretty easy to make. Everyone is pleased about this, methinks.

Faux Fried Chicken Tenders

I am consistently making recipes that are baked chicken that is supposed to taste like fried chicken.

I know, I'm repetitive. Sorry. BUT--this recipe is the closest I have ever come to making baked chicken tenders that taste like the fried kind that you can get at virtually any restaurant/diner. They're, like, SUPER good. Especially when you serve them with mashed potatoes. Then it's just Southern comfort.*

*from a Yank who has never spent any significant time in the South. 

I'm having some troubles with my meal-making game, y'all. I'm just....uninspired for the most part. I know that Michael and I need to eat (things that aren't cookies) but I get so lazy and so like "blahhhh" when it comes to me making us something. I'm not sure what it is but I have got to snap out of it!

These chicken tenders and potatoes were the first legit. meal I'd made in awhile. It was pretty nice. I should really get my heiney in gear and make these things occur more frequently (Michael would certainly be grateful).

And if you want to know how these chicken tenders taste-um...awesome? They're moist and flavorful-with just a hint of spice. You can also absolutely mix things up with the seasonings (I adjusted the original recipe slightly for my own palate--I can't deal with very spicy things so I significantly decreased the spicy factor. Feel free to re-up it if that's your thing!)

I think these will be made fairly frequently around these parts from now on!

Something Saturdays (10/4/14)

First of all, I just want to direct your attention to the navigation bar under the header-the one with the tabs (Home, Recipes, etc.)--notice there is now a, new, Wedding tab! I have had some and will have some more wedding specific posts (aside from these Something Saturdays)--and you'll be able to find all of them under that tab, if you're interested in such things :D

In other bloggy news, I've also slightly edited the recipe index so now there are sub-categories under dessert. Because....the dessert section was out of control. So hopefully now it should be easier to find what you're looking for!

Good news: This past Sunday I filmed a principal role in a commercial for a local Honda dealership! It was fun and so nice to be on set and acting again!

Wedding planning update: we've chosen our wedding cake baker! It was the one who I said had THE BEST buttercream I've ever tasted. And guys...it was. The bakery is Tiffany's Bakery in Akron and they gave us the best quote and they have a relationship with our tux place (so we get extra discounts on tuxes and the cake because of this) and the owner is super nice and the cake is TAAAASTY! Hooray! Here's the picture from our tasting we had there a couple months back:

I'm serious--that buttercream. I could eat it with a spoon (and I'm not even a frosting fan!)

This week started out fairly unproductive--my brother came and stayed with us for a few days and I essentially just sat on the couch the whole time he was here. Oops. It was fun though :P

Thursday I met up with 2 local actresses and we ate, chatted, laughed, saw super amazing magic card tricks, saw the premiere of a film one of them was in, and I picked their brains on what the biz is like around here. So, acting stuff is moving along + I made 2 amazing new friends!

Caramel Recipes Round Up for National Caramel Month!

Do you say car-mull or care-a-mel? I say carmull. Is that wrong? I don't know...car-a-mel sounds weird to me. *shrug* but I digress.

Caramel is a new love for me. I didn't used to think I really cared for it. Until I experienced good caramel. And now I can't get enough. Oh do you have salted caramel gelato? GET IN MY BELLY! Oh and you have caramel corn? Don't mind if I dooo. Is that a dark chocolate salted caramel truffle? GIMME! CARAMEL CARAMEL CARAMEL! Yayyyyy!

So, since October is National Caramel Month I thought I would celebrate my new favorite thing. Here are all the caramel recipes on this blog (so far-prepare thyself for many more!!)

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

My brother was so excited one day. He was like, "Have you ever had chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter on them? They're SO good! And healthier than like butter and syrup." "I know," I responded, "that's the only way I eat pancakes." And he was all like, "Oh." And then he wanted me to make him pancakes. Healthyish ones. And then, after I'd purchased all the necessary ingredients....he cut out carbs.

*facepalm*

After I ensured that he was, in fact, not going to be eating pancakes in the immediate future, I bit the bullet.

I made pancakes for myself. And only me. (Michael doesn't love pancakes.)

And it was glorious.

You're probably all, "Kayle! It makes so many pancakes! You couldn't eat all of them!"

You're half right, I couldn't eat all of them at once. Leftover pancakes are easy-peasy. You just heat them up in the oven (250F-300F degrees, usually) for 10-15 minutes and they're all warm and crispy again, just like when they're fresh!

I would take 2 pancakes, heat them up, slather them in peanut butter, and then go work out. Perfect system.

And yes-these pancakes ARE fairly healthy! They're made with whole wheat flour and filling/heart healthy oats. Throw in some Greek yogurt for protein + fluffiness. Minimal other stuff. Plus you can totally customize what you do with them--I chose to use chocolate chips and top with peanut butter. Maybe you want to put some chopped up apples + cinnamon in them. Or bananas. Or nuts. Really...you can have a lot of fun with these lovelies. And they are super thick, hearty, soft, filling, and just....my new favorite pancakes.

NY Cheesecake with Strawberries

So....I don't like cheesecake. (I knooow, I'm crazy.)

But even I can tell that is is one DANGED good cheesecake.

New York, New York...one of the things I miss most about you is your food. Mostly the pizza. Ah...the pizza. But I also know that their cheesecake is pretty danged awesome (Michael certainly loved it.), so when Michael's birthday snuck up on me this year, I knew the perfect treat would be a NY style cheesecake---with strawberries...because he loves 'em.

Apparently 1 whole cheesecake is a bit too much for my boy to polish off on his own, though, so we shared some pieces with my mom and his family as well. And from all these sources, the reviews came in: this is a DANGED good cheesecake. All you have to do is look at it to see the amazing texture (and, boy, does it smell great), and I've been told it tastes silky and tangy, yet sweet.

And making it is surprisingly easy (time consuming, but easy)--I didn't even need to do a water bath and it didn't crack (mind you, I've made this once. Perhaps it will crack for you--I do not know for sure.) This was my first full-sized cheesecake and it went so smoothly. And you get a total sense of accomplishment saying to yourself, "I just made an amazing cheesecake. GO ME!"

And soon you'll make this and I can say, "GO YOU!"