Cheddar Pecan Wafers

Is it safe to come out of my rabbit hole? I know I've been gone a long time. I've been posting a little on my Facebook page, sharing photos of what we have been serving for dinner and such, but I haven't felt compelled to create a whole blog post simply because none of food has really been holiday related, which is what everyone seems to be looking for these last couple of months. So I've kept quiet, waiting for the pumpkin season to pass.

I have a confession. I don't care for pumpkin all that much. It's probably because boring ole pumpkin pie was pretty much the holiday dessert mainstay when I was growing up. You know how it was made: a can of pumpkin, some sugar, a couple of eggs, a can of evaporated milk and pumpkin pie spice. Meh.

Last year when my blogger friend, Desperately Seeking {gina}, invited me to do a guest post during her annual Month of Pumpkin, I was hard pressed to come up with something creative. Mostly I lean toward savory flavors, but I did finally settle on Pumpkin Walnut Baklava. That's about as creative as I get with pumpkin. When it comes to pumpkin, I have nothing to add, nothing to contribute.

But we still have one major holiday to go...Christmas! And I love to bake and give my family and friends containers of sweet and savory baked goods for Christmas.

And when I have guests, I also like to set out a nice charcuterie or salumi and cheese plate with homemade wafers. I'll even make a plate just for the two of us for dinner occasionally and these wafers are perfect for that.

The tray I made recently included dried chorizo slices with chives....


But they would be equally as tasty with salami, prosciutto or even pepperoni.

I also caramelized some apples slices with just a slight sprinkling of brown sugar and topped it off with a hint of fresh tarragon....


It was sort of like eating apple pie with a cheddar crust. Yummy!

These wafers are a wonderful by themselves or as a compliment to just about anything. Use your imagination.


Cheese Pecan Wafers

Makes about 50 wafers

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 pound butter, room temperature
• 1 pound bag of grated sharp cheddar cheese, cut into smaller chunks
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (I used "Pecan chips". I also think these would be equally good with walnuts)

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cayenne pepper and set aside.

In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Turn the mixer speed to low and add the cheese in batches gradually until all of it is incorporated.

Now add the flour mixture slowly, about 1/4 cup at a time, making sure to incorporate each addition completely before adding more. The dough will be very stiff.

Place a nice sized piece of plastic wrap about 15 inches long on your counter. Spoon the dough in the center along most of the length of the plastic wrap, fold the plastic wrap tightly over the dough, gently rolling the dough into a neat cylinder that is approximately 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Twist the plastic wrap gently at both ends to seal and refrigerate the roll of dough at least 4 hours up to overnight.

Preheat your oven to 375° and prepare your cooking racks or kitchen counter by covering with parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and gently unwrap the dough and discard the plastic wrap. Cut the dough into slices approximately 1/4-inch thick and place on an ungreased baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Bake the wafers in the preheated oven for about 7 to 10 minutes, until they are golden brown.

When the wafers are done, remove them with a spatula to your prepared counter or cooling racks. Allow to cool completely.

Focaccia ~ The Easiest Bread You'll EVER Bake!

Well, hello there!

Yes, I'm back. Maybe not with a vengeance, but I'm back just the same. I can't really explain why I took such a long break. A little blogger burnout, a little depression or just not able to find the right words to communicate my love of cooking and food. But, now that it is somewhat behind me, I feel like I have a little more enthusiasm.

During my absence, Tom and I took a vacation to visit our youngest son, Chris, and his family in Florida. Chris is an aspiring chef/restaurant owner and he cooks up a storm. So when we arrived in the late afternoon, Chris and his wife, Kelly, met us at the house we rented for the week. When I say "met us," I mean with some very tasty goodies. Our afternoon snack consisted of crab cake morsels with an amazing dipping sauce and Focaccia bread still warm from the oven ready for dipping in olive oil and 30-year old balsamic vinegar. Chris said he got the recipe for the bread from an acquaintance who just happens to be an Italian baker.

It was, by no stretch of the imagination, the best Focaccia I'd ever tasted. And the easiest bread I've ever made. Seriously.

Now this is not a loaf of bread that you just mix up and throw in the oven. It takes time. Four separate rises worth of time. But it's easy, perfect for a beginner because there's no kneading, just a few stretches and fold-overs. Most of the time is spent waiting the 45-minutes for it to rise each time. Plenty of time to do the laundry, vacuum the living room and tune-up the car.

The basic recipe is only 5 ingredients. Bread flour, yeast, salt, water and olive oil. That's it. Nothing fancy. But, you can jazz it up any way you want. These are some of the ways I flavored the bread:

• The first time I made it, I used roasted garlic mixed into the dough and sprinkled more chopped roasted garlic on top before baking.
• Another time, I chopped up some olives (kalamata, green and black), some roasted garlic and some herbs (rosemary and Italian parsley) and mixed them altogether with a little olive oil (see the photo at the top) and sprinkled the mixture on top before baking.
• I also experimented with adding ground rosemary (1 teaspoon) and garlic powder (2 teaspoons) when I mixed in the flour.
• I added 2 teaspoons of course ground pepper ("restaurant style ground pepper") to the mixture just before mixing in the flour, then sprinkled the dough with rosemary salt just before baking.

It's tasty no matter what you use, so use your imagination.

My favorite so far is with the roasted garlic. I roast heads of garlic submerged in olive oil (how-to coming in a later post) and use the flavored olive oil along with the roasted garlic for extra flavor. It's exquisite.

This recipe does require one piece of special equipment: a stand mixer with a dough hook. If you don't have one, please invest in one. You will need it because you will make this bread often.



In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, pour 2 cups of barely warm (not hot) water. Add 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and stir until the salt is dissolved. Sprinkle 1 package (2¼ teaspoons)of dry yeast over the salt water and let sit for 5 minutes.

When the 5 minutes has passed, add 4 cups of bread flour (if you are adding herbs or garlic, this is where you will incorporate them into the dough; or you can choose to just sprinkle them on top of the bread just before baking). Turn the mixer on low to start incorporating the flour into the liquid. Continue mixing on low for about a minute or so, then increase the speed up one notch for another minute. If you do it any faster, you'll have flour all over the place, so go easy. When most of the flour is incorporated, increase the speed again, but no higher than medium. When all of the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, you are ready for the next step.


Remove the bowl from the stand with the dough hook still in the dough. The dough is really sticky so put a couple of drops of olive oil on your fingers and push the dough off of the dough hook. The olive oil will keep the dough from sticking to your fingers. Take 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil and drizzle it around the edges of the dough, like so....


Now take a silicone spatula, rub it with a little olive oil, and run it around the edges of the dough so that olive oil can drip down the sides and underneath the dough, like this...


Remove the spatula, cover the bowl with a clean, damp kitchen towel, set your kitchen timer for 45 minutes for the first of four rises and go do something else. Really. That's it.

In the meantime, you might want to set up your work station. I have a very large 16-1/2- by 24-inch Silpat silicone mat that I use on my counter just for this purpose and to use when kneading all my other bread doughs. It's a bit pricey, but you don't need to be that extravagant. You can use a large piece of plastic wrap. Just wipe your counter with a damp cloth and lay the plastic wrap on top of the damp counter. The plastic wrap will stay in place and you can use it throughout the whole process. Easy peasy.

Okay. Next step. After 45 minutes, pour a couple of tablespoons of oil on your work surface (the silpat or plastic wrap or countertop, whichever you're using) and rub it around with your hands, then rub your hands together to coat them with oil as well. Dump the focaccia dough onto your work surface, using the silicone spatula to scrape out any dough sticking to the bowl.


Now, stretch the dough out into a large rectangle. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just needs a good stretching.


Next you need to take about a third of that rectangle and fold it over top of the dough, like so....


And then take the rest of the dough and fold it on top of the folded third, like this....


And now you have a smaller rectangle. Flip the rectangle of dough 180 degrees and give it a good stretch...


Then fold the dough by thirds like you did before...




Take that nice little package of dough and tuck the sides underneath creating a ball of dough and put it back in the bowl, cover the bowl with the damp towel and set the timer for another 45 minutes, the second rise.

When 45 minutes has passed, you are going to repeat the stretching and folding process again, form the dough into a ball and allow it to rise again for another 45 minutes for your third rise. After the third rise, again repeat the stretching and folding process for the last time and put the dough back in the bowl for its final 45 minute rise.

While you're waiting for the last rise, preheat the oven to 425° and just before the timer goes off, prepare your baking pan. You'll need a large pan, 11½ X 17½. I bought mine at one of those big box stores (Price Club in California, which merged with Costco) but Sam's Club sells them, too.

So, to prepare your pan, I can only tell you what my son, Chris, told me: "Drizzle the pan with more olive oil than you think you will need," and this is how that looks...


When the final 45 minutes has elapsed, dump the dough out onto the oiled silpat (or plastic wrap or countertop) and stretch it into the best rectangle you can get, then pick it up and quickly drop it onto the prepared baking pan and stretch it some more.

If you are going to sprinkle the top with salt or herbs, now is the time. It should look like this...


Isn't it beautiful??

Bake it in your preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until slightly golden brown.

While your bread is baking, get out your best olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping because you will not be able to wait to eat this bread. Enjoy!

Fresh Apple Cake

As I've said many times before, I'm not really a dessert person. Given a choice of types of food, my preference is always savory. I do, however, like making desserts.

I love the ooooh's and awwww's and Oh My Gawd's when I present a luscious looking dessert like the stunning Oreo Cookie Cake or the decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie or the inviting Strawberry Cake. I know. I admit it's a little egotistical.

This cake is not like that. It's not fancy. It's not decadent. In fact, it's plain, simple and while satisfying to a palate yearning for something sweet, it is less so than other desserts I've made. That's why I loved it.

You could definitely sweeten it up some with a sugary glaze or salted caramel drizzle if you so desire. I didn't. I covered it with a light dusting of powdered sugar and thought it was perfect.


I found this cake at Food52.com, one of my favorite food sites. I followed the recipe exactly, except for one minor detail. I left out the raisins. Why, you ask? I live with a Raisin Squirrel, who is also a Nut Squirrel, a Chip Squirrel, a Pretzel Squirrel...are you getting the picture? It's my husband, Tom. He's the consummate nosher, nibbler, snacker and raisins are one of his favorite little morsels. When he walks through the pantry to the garage, or from the garage through the pantry to the den, he grabs a handful of whatever morsels are stored there, pops them into his cheek and nibbles away at them, one by one. He also is not immune to grabbing a bowl and creating a custom morsel mix for himself to nosh on while he watches a movie.

So, yes, I adapted this recipe slightly. It would probably be a little sweeter with the addition of the raisins, but I didn't miss them. It was still moist and tender and quite luscious.


Fresh Apple Cake
Adapted slightly from Food52.com

• Butter for greasing pan (I use my own Easy Release Pan Coating)
• 3 cups flour, plus more for dusting pan (see above)
• 1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups peeled, cored, and thickly sliced tart apples like Honeycrisp or Granny Smith (I used a large dice)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup raisins (I omitted)
• Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Butter and flour a 9-inch tube pan (or use a pastry brush to apply the Easy Pan Release.

Beat the oil and sugar together for 5 minutes in a stand mixer (fitted with a paddle attachment). While the mixer is working, assemble the remaining ingredients. After about 5 minutes, add the eggs and beat until the mixture is creamy.

Sift together 3 cups of flour, the salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Stir into the batter. Add the vanilla, apples, walnuts and raisins and stir until combined. The batter will be very thick.

The batter will be thick, so you'll need to drop it into the prepared pan by the spoonful. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven to a rack and cool in the pan before lifting out.

Serve at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Over a year ago, Tom and I went out to dinner with a few members of his family. As most folks sat eating their desserts, my nephew's wife pulled a chocolate bar out of her purse, opened it up and asked if anyone wanted a piece.

"What kind is it?" I asked.

"Chocolate Chili," she said.

It was the first time I'd tasted sweet chocolate and heat together. I loved it.

Fast forward. I decided to try the combination in a chocolate cookie, attempting to emulate the flavors in Mexican hot chocolate, but with a little kick. I took my best chocolate cookie recipe, added cinnamon, vanilla extract, Ancho chili powder and cayenne. The result was a cookie that is chewy, sweet and chocolatey at first bite, but once it begins to melt in your mouth, the flavor of the Ancho chili emerges and you feel the heat of the cayenne. They were, in a word: delicious. They were so good, in fact, that I didn't really want to share them, but I had to or we would have eaten every single one of them.



Who would have thought a cookie would be unpopular? Not me.

Color me shocked when I took a bag of these cookies into the Clothes Closet where I volunteer and came home with a bag still full of cookies minus maybe half a dozen tops. The feedback was too spicy, except for the volunteer in his 80's who smacked his lips, held up his second cookie and said with a twinkle in his eye, "these are good!"

Well, Tom and I thought so too. We happily ate the remaining cookies!

I had toyed with the idea of using a chocolate cookie recipe and adding bacon, but I sort of already did that with the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies. And I wasn't all that sure about adding bacon to something with such a delicate balance of spices, so this time I left out the bacon.

I know. I know. Some of you will chastise me for the omission. But trust me, you won't miss it.

If you must have bacon, fry up 3 or 4 pieces, drain them well, chop them up and add them at the same time you add the chocolate chips. I won't be offended.

Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies

• 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon Ancho chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• 1 - 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, chili powder, cayenne and espresso powder. Make sure all ingredients are mixed well.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture a cup at a time, mixing gently on low speed after each addition until all the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix. Use a silicone spatula to stir in the chocolate chips (and chopped bacon, if you are adding it).

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Drop nice rounded teaspoonfuls of dough on to the cookie sheet about 2-inches apart. I have a small 1-1/2-inch inexpensive ice cream scoop I use strictly for scooping cookie dough. It measures the dough perfectly and the cookies come out uniform.

Bake for 12 to 14-minutes. Cool on a wire rack covered with paper towels.

I dare you to eat just one.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting & Bacon Streusel

Chocolate. Cream cheese. Bacon. Oh my!

I'm on a quest and I'm bacon obsessed.

Two weeks ago I bought three 3-pound packages of bacon on sale, less than $8 a package for what would normally cost almost $12. Nine pounds of delicious thick-sliced, hickory smoked bacon. Once I got them home, I divided each package into three 1-pound packages, vacuumed sealed them (love my Foodsaver!) and tossed them in the freezer.

Okay, Terri, I thought. Now what are you going to do with all of that bacon, besides making bacon and eggs?

Soups? Stews? Cupcakes? Yes, cupcakes. I saw the recipe over at Endless Simmer, pulled one of the those 1-pound packages of bacon out of the freezer and off I went......with just a few little changes.

I didn't have Dutch process cocoa powder for the cupcakes, just a box of Hershey's Cocoa Powder. It would have to do. And I didn't have any sour cream on hand, so I used Greek yogurt instead. It worked fine.

When it came to making the frosting, I was just as ill-prepared. I only had a package of low-fat cream cheese, so that's what I used. And I know when a recipe calls for "maple syrup," it means real maple syrup, not the cheapy stuff, but all I had was the cheapy stuff.  In hindsight, I wish I would have used a touch of maple extract for a more pronounced maple flavor.

I liked the streusel, but I think next time I make these I'm going to decrease the almonds to 1/4 cup and increase the bacon by 2 slices. I just loves me some bacon.

I tried sprinkling the streusel on top of the frosted cupcake, but it didn't adhere as well as I liked. So, instead, I poured the streusel on to a plate and dipped the frosted cupcake into the streusel. Way better. A good amount of streusel stuck to the frosting, which is what I was looking for.

Although I'd make the same substitutions to the recipe, these were yummy.  The cupcakes were tender with a nice chocolatey flavor and the spicy bacon streusel was the perfect contrast to the creamy sweet frosting.


Chocolate Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting & Bacon Streusel
Adapted from Endless Simmer

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 cup sour cream (I substituted Greek yogurt)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and baking soda together and set aside.

In another small bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the salt to the butter/sugar mixture and beat until combined. Add in the 2 whole eggs and beat until well combined. Finally, add in the egg yolks and vanilla and beat until well combined.

Set the mixer aside and use a rubber spatula to begin gently folding in the sour cream mixture and flour mixture, alternating each mixture a third at a time, with each addition folding until just combined. Put paper cupcake liners in your cupcake pans and fill them two-thirds full. Bake in preheated oven for 20 - 25  minutes.

Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Makes 18 cupcakes.

For the Frosting:

• 1 - 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened (I used low-fat)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup (I would also add 1/4 teaspoon of maple extract or flavoring)

Using an electric mixer on medium low speed, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gently mix in the powdered sugar. Start on low or you're going to have powdered sugar all over yourself and slowly increase the speed and beat until smooth and creamy. Add in the vanilla and maple syrup (and maple flavoring, if you are using it) and mix until combined.

For the Bacon Streusel

• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cups slivered almonds
• 8 pieces of thick-sliced bacon (cooked, cooled and broken into pieces)

Put all the streusel ingredients into a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse in 2-second bursts three to five times until mixture resembles a very coarse crumble.

Spumoni Cake

Spumoni is Tom's favorite ice cream flavor. Well, except for any combination with peanut butter in it. Anyway, what he loves about spumoni is the nut, cherry and chocolate flavors layered and swirled with each other to create the unique combination, yet retain their own individual flavors. When I saw Katy's Spumoni Cake @ Food for a Hungry Soul, I knew I had to give it a try.

Traditional Italian spumoni is a combination of pistachio ice cream with chopped pistachios, cherry or fruit flavored ice cream with candied cherries or fruits, and chocolate ice cream. Although Katy's recipe calls for an almond flavored cake layer, I decided to stick with the traditional version and use pistachio flavoring and pistachio nuts. However, I didn't have any candied fruit, so I stayed true to Katy's use of maraschino cherries. I think I would like a little stronger maraschino cherry flavor next time, so I ordered a bottle of maraschino cherry flavoring to use next time.

I did not frost the cake, but instead drizzled it with a semisweet chocolate glaze.


The result was a very moist, tender cake that is as tasty as it is festive.



Spumoni Cake
Adapted from Food for a Hungry Soul

• 1 box yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sour cream (I only had "lite" sour cream so that is what I used)
• 1 small box vanilla instant pudding
• 1/3 cup chopped pistachios
• 1/2 teaspoon pistachio flavoring
• 1 - 4 oz. jar of maraschino cherries, drained and roughly chopped
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 2 squares semisweet chocolate
• 2 tablespoons butter
• red and green food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one large tube or bundt pan with cooking spray or oil.

Combine the cake mix, eggs, oil, sour cream and pudding in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed with a hand or stand mixer for about 2 minutes until the batter is thick and smooth.

Put 2 cups of the batter in a smaller bowl. Add the pistachios, pistachio flavoring and 4 to 6 drops of green food coloring. Mix by hand with a rubber spatula until completely combined. Transfer the batter to the bundt pan, smoothing the batter slightly. Wash and dry the bowl and spatula.

Put 2 more cups of the batter into the clean bowl. Add the maraschino cherries and 4 to 6 drops of red food coloring. Again, mix by hand with the clean rubber spatula until completely combined. Layer that batter in the bundt pan on top of the green pistachio batter, being careful not to mix the batters together. Wash and dry the spatula.

In a small bowl, microwave the unsweetened chocolate until it is just melted, checking and stirring every 15 seconds or so. Do not overheat the chocolate as it will become grainy and separate.

Add the melted chocolate to the remaining batter and mix well. Pour the chocolate layer over the cherry layer.

Bake the cake for 50 to 60 minutes. Check the cake by inserting a toothpick or small skewer into the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool slightly and invert cake onto a plate.

While cake is still slightly warm, put the semisweet chocolate squares and butter into a small bowl and microwave until it is just melted, checking and stirring every 15 seconds or so until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cake with a spoon.

Oreo Cookie Cake

I came across a recipe for this cake several years ago. It is supposed to be a copycat recipe for a cake that was served at TGI Friday's, but I cannot confirm that. I haven't eaten at TGI Friday's in years and when I did, I only ordered the Asian Chicken Salad. I never looked at the dessert menu.

The recipe includes directions for a homemade chocolate cake, but the cake didn't impress me all that much. So the next time I made it, I substituted a Duncan Hines chocolate fudge cake. The texture was much better.

The cake is a little time-consuming, but it's worth it because it is a stunning presentation. The tricky part is using a long serrated edge knife to cut the cake layers in half horizontally. This video from Zoeybakes.com demonstrates how to accomplish this quickly.

The cookies add that familiar Oreo cookie crunch. The filling is creamy and luscious. One slice is laden with calories, but it's delicious.

I hope you give it try.

Oreo Cookie Cake

• 1 box Duncan Hines chocolate fudge cake, baked according to package directions using 9-inch pans.
• 4 - 1 ounce squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
• 1/4 cup butter
• 8 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 20 Oreo Sandwich Cookies (not Double Stuff), divided

Bake the cake using according to package directions in two 9-inch cake pans. When the cake is done, cool in pans for 5 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, remove the pans and cool the layers completely.

When the cake is cool, crush 12 Oreo cookies into coarse crumbs in a plastic bag Zip-lock type bag. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the whipping cream into soft peaks. Set aside.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gently stir in the whipped cream and crushed cookies.

Cut one cake layer in half horizontally. Place one slice on a cake plate and spread with about a quarter of the filling. Place the second slice on top and spread with more filling. Cut the second layer in half and repeat, finishing with a layer of the filling on top of the cake.

Place the chocolate squares and butter in a small microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, checking and stirring every 30 seconds, until the butter and chocolate are melted and combined. Do not overheat the chocolate. Cool 5 minutes.

Crush the remaining 8 cookies.

Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the crushed cookies while glaze is soft.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Top Five Most Popular Desserts of 2011

When I do my year in review, I don't usually single out a specific category of food because my stat counter doesn't count categories, only general activity and page views relating to specific posts.

But, because many of you have asked specifically for desserts.... well, who am I to question what you like to read about....or is the photos?

No matter. What's that line from the movie? "As you wish..."

So, I gathered all my stats, did the math and came up with the top five desserts that received the most hits during 2011.

Number 5: Chocolate Raspberry Panini - Originally posted February 15, 2009

I made a simple pound cake from a box mix and sliced it. Then I covered one slice of the pound cake with squares of a Hershey bar and topped it with a few raspberries. I used a George Forman grill to brown both sides at the same time, but you could just as easily use a frying pan and brown both sides as you would a grilled cheese sandwich.
The pound cake is like a sweet toast. The chocolate gets all melty and oozey and the fruit is softened and luscious.

All I can say about this is.....Yum!

Number 4: Orange Mascarpone Tart - Originally posted December 26, 2010



We've made many dishes from Bon Appetit magazine and this is one of them.

I love the combination of the creaminess of the mascarpone cheese and the sweet freshness of the orange.

Although the original recipe called for the tart to be sprinkled with chopped pistachios, we didn't think they added much to the flavor of the tart, so the second time Tom made it he merely sprinkled it with shaved chocolate. Better.

Number 3: Sugar Donut Mini-Muffins - Originally posted February 26, 2010



One word: addicting.

You know those two-bite brownies you buy in a bag at the grocery store? Don't buy them. Make these.

Tender little mini-cupcakes with the texture of a moist cake donut, brushed with melted butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar or even rolled in powdered sugar. Betcha can't eat just one.

Number 2: Oreo Cream Cheese Cupcakes - Originally posted January 30, 2010



What is it about Oreos that elicit such love?

I don't know a faithful blog reader who doesn't collect a cache of recipes containing Oreos.

And every food blogger I know tries to create some new dessert using Oreos. I'm certainly not any different.

I've added crushed Oreos to brownies. I made these Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie 'n' Oreo 'n' Fudge Brownie Bars



And I've even made this Oreo Cookie Cake, the recipe for which I've never posted. But that's another post.



And Number 1 ~ You guessed it: Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie - Originally posted April 27, 2011



Can you say 'sugar induced coma'?

It's still a favorite in many readers' households.

So what's in store for 2012? I'm good at keeping secrets so you'll just have to stay tuned.

Top Five Readers Choice for 2011

I know that I have been absent for quite some time....almost a month. But I do have a good excuse. I've been sick since the day after Thanksgiving and I'm still not fully recovered.

It hasn't been anything life threatening...only that horrible cold/flu/crud that has been sweeping the country with a vengeance...but at my age, recovery is a slow, tough process.

I am ashamed to admit that I didn't bake one holiday goodie. No cookies. No breads. No cakes. Nothing. It was all I could do to get myself ready for our trip to Reno to visit our oldest son and his family for Christmas.

But, I'm happy to say it feels like I am on the mend and ready to start posting again.

I'm going to start the year with a resolution: take better photos. Tom gave me a tripod for Christmas and I'm going to purchase some good lights. I'm looking forward to sharing much better photos with you in the future.

But this post will include old photos because this post is about last year, specifically the top five posts you liked, according the the number of hits the post received. Then tomorrow, I will post my top five favorite recipes for 2011.

Let's start with your top five:

Number 5: BANG BANG SHRIMP

I posted this recipe back in October 2011 and it instantly became one of the most downloaded recipes. It's a simple, but delicious dish: shrimp dipped in panko bread crumbs and fried and served with a spicy, sweet mayonnaise based sauce.

Number 4: TIMPANO

Posted back in March 2008, this recipe has topped the list every year since then. It is a traditional Italian dish that requires a lot of prep work, but is worth every second.

Layers of homemade meatballs, Genoa salami, hard cooked eggs, chunks of provolone cheese, cooked ziti and a rich Italian meat and tomato sauce baked in a homemade crust!



Number 3: GRANDMOTHER BREAD

I started making this bread last January after I scoured the inter-webs for what to do with the leftover whey from making ricotta cheese. Now, every time I make ricotta... a simple 30-minute process... I save the whey in plastic zip-lock bags in 3-cup measurements and store it in the freezer to use for making this bread. It makes two beautiful, delicious loaves.



Number 2: ASIAN TURKEY MEATBALLS WITH SESAME DIPPING SAUCE

Since posting this recipe back in 2010, it has been consistently popular with all of you, as well as the guests at my dinner table.

I've made the meatballs as a main dish and served them with steamed or fried rice and sauteed cabbage, and also made smaller, bite-sized meatballs for appetizers. They are a low-cal, low-fat delicious dish.



And finally......

Are you ready????

You are not going to believe this!!

Taaa Daaaa!!!

Numero Uno!!: CAPRESE SKEWERS

These skewers were part of a post that contained ideas for five separate appetizers. So how do I know it was the Caprese Skewers that were popular? Because this photo....

....has been "pinned" on Pinterest several thousand times, as well as featured in the Health and Fitness Blog on GlamourMagazine.com and in Food Served Best on a Stick at TheKitchn.com, in addition to being linked back from several other individual blogs.

Who knew that putting Caprese Salad on skewers in bite sized morsels would be such a hit? I sure didn't. But a hit they were....and I thank all of you for spreading the word!

Tomorrow, I will post my top five choices for 2011. Stay tuned.

Feast Your Eyes

This morning while I was reading online newspapers, I came across a headline on MSNBC.com titled "Feast Your Eyes: Photos of Your Homemade Dishes." Since I am a sucker for food porn, I clicked the link.

As I scrolled through...and drooled...I came across an open invitation for anyone to submit their own photos of homemade goodies. So, I did it. I stuck my neck out and submitted 6 photos for a feature on TODAY.com called Feast Your Eyes.

These are the six photos I submitted:

Carnitas Enchiladas and Mango-Jicama Slaw
Enchiladas stuffed with spicy slow roasted pork and cheese, topped with a sour cream green chili enchilada sauce and a side of spicy sweet slaw


S'more Chocolate Chip Cookies
Served with Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Syrup Drizzle


Linguini with Chorizo, Shrimp, Clams and Calamari
Selected as Editor's Pick on Food52.com in the Your Best Seafood Pasta Recipe category


Seafood Risotto
Risotto with Peas and Shrimp infused with a Seafood Broth


Ricotta Bruschetta
Homemade ricotta cheese spread on a crostini and topped with fresh chopped tomatoes and basil drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar


Caprese Skewers
This is my most 'pinned' photograph ever on Pinterest

Wouldn't it be awesome if one of them was selected as a featured photo? Well, yeah.

Okay, back to painting Adirondack chairs...