We love cupcakes at our house, mostly because they are the perfect serving size and while I’ve posted a few here before, this week has been a cupcake explosion at our house. It all started with my Pink Champagne Cupcakes with Strawberry Champagne Frosting. Then my kids wanted to make something more kid like (I get it) and so thus began the quest to find the perfect cupcake to make.

I have a totally funny story about our cupcake making escapades that I will probably post over the weekend, but in the meantime, I really wanted to share this delicious cupcake. They lasted less than 48 hours and we  made over 2 dozen of them!

This was totally my daughter’s idea and then we googled it and found out that Martha Stewart had some cupcakes that were very similar. At any rate, these were  my brilliant daughter’s idea even if Martha Stewart did come up with them first. ahem.

Here are the rest of Brielle’s cupcakes she made:

The second batch tasted better anyway – we used a spice cake batter with a cherry icing. I kept thinking how yummy they would have been if we had made them filled with cherry filling as well. There’s always next time!

Buttermilk Spice Cupcakes with Cherry Frosting originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on February 17, 2012.

When I think of Valentine’s Day and/or romantic foods, I think of chocolate. In fact, honestly, when I think of any holiday I think of chocolate, but we’re not talking about any other holiday. We’re just talking about Valentine’s Day and chocolate is my food of choice. So when This Week’s Cravings theme suggested Valentine’s Treats or Romantic Dinners for Your Loved Ones, all I could think of was chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. Then I started thinking about some of the treats and things we’ve made over time, and what we’ve made for special occasions and then I remembered the puff pastries we made last year for Valentine’s day and it was decided immediately those would be the perfect recipe to share.

I am proud to be co-hosting This Week’s Cravings along with Tina over at MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Angie from Big Bear’s Wife  & Kristi from Veggie Converter. Go visit them and tell them I said hi!

<a href="http://dailydishrecipes.com/" target="_blank "><img src="http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k498/Hudgens6/Buttons/ThisWeeksCravingsButton.jpg" /></a>

Participate in upcoming linky parties:

• 2/27/2012 Week # 70 Smoothies & Shakes
• 3/5/2012 Week # 71 5-Ingredient Meal
• 3/12/2012 Week # 72 St. Patrick’s Day – GO GREEN
• 3/19/2012 Week # 73 CHOCOLATE – CHOCOLATE & MORE CHOCOLATE
• 3/26/2012 Week # 74 Freezer Meals (fix them and freeze for later)
• 4/2/2012 Week # 75 Easter Cookies & Treats

Would you like to link up a Valentine’s Day and/or Romantic Meal? Go ahead!

If you are a regular link-up we’re excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party and your recipe doesn’t get deleted!

If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don’t feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week’s theme is: Valentine’s Day and/or Romantic Meal

Please only link recipes with our theme! Thanks very much!

Valentine’s Chocolate Puff Pastry Recipe originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on February 13, 2012.

These little yummy bites of goodness did not last long in our house – in fact they were barely cooled and iced before the first bite was taken. Nobody could wait another moment. They were absolutely delicious and yes, my kids love them so much they’ve asked for them frequently. There is only a hint of the champagne flavor which in my opinion makes them better than some of the other recipes I’ve seen.

This special recipe has been brought to you by #RomanceDinner and #SundaySupper and our group is bringing you all kinds of delicious goodies that are perfect for a romantic dinner or Valentine’s Day. The recipe for the cupcakes is down below, but let me tell you about the others first.

• Renee Dobbs of Magnolia Days is making a Mediterranean inspired appetizer – Shrimp Arnean. I am absolutely addicted to all things Shrimp, so I am excited to take a peek at her recipe.  It sounds absolutely stunning and is described as aromatics like celery, green onions, & parsley infusing into the shrimp overnight enhancing the full out flavor of this delicious meal starter.
• Valerie of Val’s Food and or Art is making a Roasted Creamy Mushroom Bisque with Caramelized Onions & Creme Fraiche and Smoked Oyster Pate. The description itself makes my mouth water, detailing a smoky, roasted garlic flavor enhanced with a creamy texture that will be decadent, for sure.
• Sunithi Selvraj of Sue’s Nutrition Buzz is known for her characteristically healthy dishes is bring her Pink Heart Healthy Grapefruit Pomegranate Salad and honestly I cannot wait to not only see the recipe but to try it out. It will be on my must make list very, very soon. These two fruits together have got to be a delicious pairing of tart and sweet.
• Rashmi Primlani from The Primlani Kitchen is making Osso Buco with Gremolata and Saffron Risotto. I was not familair with Osso Buco, but the interesting name got my curiosity peaked and my love of all food, kept me mesmerized by the description: Osso Buco is a Milanese specialty of cross-cut veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine and broth. It is often garnished with gremolata and traditionally served with risotto alla Milanese. All I know is that I cannot possibly wait to see this amazing dish. The Saffron Risotto she is making with it is exciting as I just love the flavor of Saffron and I can imagine it will compliment it beautifully.
• Here on The Daily Dish Recipes, I am sharing my delicious Pink Champagne Cupcakes with Strawberry Champagne Frosting. They have only a hint of champagne and a hint of strawberry making them light and the perfect ending to a romantic meal.
• Our hostess, my dear friend Isabel from Family Foodie is making her smooth & silky Portuguese Style Chocolate Mousse. Everything that Isabel shares that is Portuguese, makes me wish I was in Vovó’s Cozinha right along side Isabel and her mother, preparing and then enjoying these amazing International dishes. Chocolate is a must have for any romantic meal ending and this rich Mousse has me wanting to reach out and lick my screen, either that or hop on the next flight and experience the delicious dessert first  hand with Isabel.
• Donna of Cookistry is an extremely talented cook, where she seems to specialize in delicious breads and a deep rooted love for cheese. Me too, Donna, me too. Foregoing her appreciation for some of the best bread recipes I’ve seen,  she has decided to focus on her passion for cheese for our #RomanceDinner and is bring her   her flavorful Pimento Spiced Cheese Balls, that are simply perfect for spreading on crackers, or in my opinion, one of the many delicious bread recipes she has shared.
• Eileen Gross of Wine Everyday is knowledgeable in a field I simply fail at, but admire about her. She is showcasing her talent as a mixologist  and has created champagne cocktails using Biltmore’s Pas de Deux, Methode Champenoise – Sec. It’s a foreign language to me, but I cannot wait to see them and possibly try them out. See, I might fail at the whole creative mixologist thing, but if someone gives me a recipe to follow, let me at it – I can make a delicious drink.

Now, let’s go check those cupcakes out.

P.S. We have more delicious Valentine’s Day cupcake goodness coming on Tuesday in honor of Valentine’s Day. Please come back and visit!

Pink Champagne Cupcakes with Strawberry Champagne Frosting originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on February 11, 2012.

I really enjoy creating sauces and dips from scratch. I have tried and tested a bunch of different recipes for homemade ranch dressing, and I’ve had a few hits & misses. Each time we make it, we add this or we add that, and often we add different herbs and seasonings. This is my simply standard, go to, favorite ranch dressing. I’m also not sure we’ve ever made the same batch more than twice, simply because I don’t measure as well as I should, but the last batch we made, I did measure out what I used so I could share the recipe with you.

Serve with fresh veggies, a salad or like we do – with AWESOME fried veggies.

From Scratch Buttermilk Ranch Dressing originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on February 10, 2012.

After spending a great deal of time looking for new and different recipes on Pinterest in honor of Valentine’s Day, we’ve put together this little collection of some of the best.

HOWEVER, we want you to participate too. If you have an awesome Valentine’s Day recipe on your blog, go ahead and link it up. If you want to share a Pinterest recipe, that’s okay too and very welcome. The process is a tiny bit different for adding a Pinterest Pin though, please keep reading.

YOUR BLOG: Just follow the directions like you would any linky party.

PINTEREST RECIPES PINS: LinkyTools can’t find photos on Pinterest pages. No idea why, but it can’t. Ironic since the site is made up of photos, but anyway it can’t. So if you have a pin you want to share, copy the URL directly for the exact pin, right click on the photo and save it on your computer and then click on “Click Here to Enter” below. It will have you copy the URL for the pin, then the title of the recipe, then your email address and then cropping your own image should already be selected and then select From File. You can upload the photo and crop it the way you think it looks best.

I hope you’ll share some more delicious recipes. I’ll be adding more as the days get closer – the linky is open until the morning of the 15th. Thanks for joining in!

Valentine’s Day Pinterest Recipes originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on February 9, 2012.

I know I seem to always say this, but I love chocolate. I mean, I really, really love chocolate. And I’m a little particular about the kind of chocolate I enjoy. I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate when eating straight chocolate. Cakes have to have a certain flavor. So when our Crazy Cooking Challenge this month was for the Best Chocolate Cake, I knew it wouldn’t be that hard to find one, and I certainly wasn’t going to stress out testing a few recipes. Interestingly, I only tested two and then found this one and was absolutely sold.

My crazy cooking challenge chocolate cake came from the blog Lick The Bowl Good, which trust me I did. haha.
She originally got the recipe from Williams Sonoma which as soon as I saw, I knew would be amazing!

Tina from Mom’s Crazy Kitchen hosts this challenge every month and this is our sixth month of the Crazy Cooking Challenge.

Here are my previous entries:

• Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
• Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
• World’s Creamiest Mashed Potato Recipe
• Ultimate Fudge Recipe
• Ultimate Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
• and of course this one, is the 6th – the Ultimate Chocolate Cake Recipe.

Be sure and visit the other amazing chocolate cake recipes this month:

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on February 7, 2012.

I love Nutella. My family loves Nutella. We love Nutella Recipes a lot and we find ways to eat Nutella often. So when Tina chose Nutella for our theme for This Week’s Cravings in honor of it’s National holiday, there was a certain excitement that flowed through our house. We try to make sure we buy Nutella frequently in our house, and we look for new ways to use it in recipes. I’ve created a Nutella French Toast (which is a lot like my Pumpkin French Toast, except not), Nutella Pancakes, Nutella Brownies and a Nutella Donut that is so gooey and delicious. And then I’ve scoured my friends blogs for other Nutella recipes. I’ve found dozens. Everyone seems to love Nutella. Okay so I’m sure not everyone, but with all it’s oooey gooey chocolaty hazelnut flavor, what’s not to love?

Another thing I really love is crescent rolls. I like that you can stuff them with a variety of things and create delicious and fun things to eat. We make ham and cheese crescents, pizza crescents and lots more. I have a recipe for crescent roll dough, and we’ve made the dough a couple of times and its goooood, but for ease … I’m giving you the recipe using the kind you just buy at the store. You feel free to do what’s easier for you – making it, or buying it. Either way they are sooo good.

Nutella Crescent Rolls

• 1 8ct. pkg of Crescent Rolls
• Nutella, Lots
• 1/4 c. Powdered Sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Open the crescent rolls, separate and roll them out on a flat surface. Spread them generously with Nutella.

Roll the crescent per the package directions – starting at the wide area and ending at the point.

Place them on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for between 10-12 minutes, checking frequently once you get to that 10 minute mark.

Remove them from the oven and sift powdered sugar across the top. Eat them warm. What’s that you say? Nutella heaven? Yes!

 
I am proud to be co-hosting This Week’s Cravings along with Tina over at MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Angie from Big Bear’s Wife  & Kristi from Veggie Converter. Go visit them and tell them I said hi!

<a href="http://dailydishrecipes.com/" target="_blank "><img src="http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k498/Hudgens6/Buttons/ThisWeeksCravingsButton.jpg" /></a>

Participate in upcoming linky parties:

• 2/27/2012 Week # 70 Smoothies & Shakes
• 3/5/2012 Week # 71 5-Ingredient Meal
• 3/12/2012 Week # 72 St. Patrick’s Day – GO GREEN
• 3/19/2012 Week # 73 CHOCOLATE – CHOCOLATE & MORE CHOCOLATE
• 3/26/2012 Week # 74 Freezer Meals (fix them and freeze for later)
• 4/2/2012 Week # 75 Easter Cookies & Treats

Would you like to link up a Nutella Recipe? Go ahead!

If you are a regular link-up we’re excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party and your recipe doesn’t get deleted!

If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don’t feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week’s theme is: Nutella Recipes

Please only link recipes with our theme!

This post might be linked up at these fabulous blogs: Tastetastic Thursday

Nutella Crescent Rolls originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on February 6, 2012.

I have a hard time even looking at these photos without setting my mouth watering and my stomach growling. First, there’s avocado and, I just love avocado. And then there’s cheese, any kind you want. The whole thing ends beautifully with bacon, because absolutely everything tastes better with bacon, including grilled avocado sandwiches.

Grilled Avocado & Bacon Sandwich

• 1-2 Avocados
• 1 pkg Bacon
• 4 Cheese Slices
• 8 pieces of bread
• butter

In a skillet, cook up the bacon. If you don’t like lots of bacon, you might only want to use half a package. I’ll be honest, we LOVE bacon. Like a lot. So we put a lot on it. You do what works for you.

Once the bacon is cooked, drain and allow to cool slightly.

Spread butter on one side of each of the eight pieces of bread.

Using a clean skillet or a griddle, put one piece of bread butter side down into the skillet or on the griddle over medium heat. Next put bacon on the bread, then top with a slice of cheese and then sliced avocado. Remember to go crazy – put as much avocado, cheese and bacon as you can stand on there.

Top with a buttered slice of bread with the butter facing up. Allow to cook on that side for about 3-5 minutes or until golden, and then flip it over. Cook for an additional 2-4 minutes or until golden brown.

Now put it on a plate and slice in half and eat. You’re welcome. It’s amazing. That is all.

This post may be linked up at the following awesome blogs: Full Plate Thursday

Grilled Avocado and Bacon Sandwich originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on February 4, 2012.

I had to do another Paula Deen recipe this week, no real reason except I just love her to pieces and want to support her. And I couldn’t decide what I wanted to make for Mondays This Weeks Cravings. Plus I absolutely adore Tilapia and so do most of my kids, so… it’s fitting. That is all.

Parmesan Tilapia Roll Ups

• 1/2 c. light mayonnaise
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley (we actually used Oregano for more flavor)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 8 Tilapia fillets (about 3-4 oz each)
• Salt & Pepper
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Lemon Wedges, for serving

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, stir together the mayo, Parmesan, parsley and garlic.

Season the fillets on both sides with salt and pepper.

Spread the tops of the fish fillets with the mayo mixture. Roll up the fillets to cover the filling and secure with a toothpick or two.

Brush the outsides lightly with the olive oil. Arrange the roll ups on a baking sheet.

Bake until the fish is opaque and just cooked through – about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with lemon wedges. Absolutely delicious!!

Parmesan Tilapia Roll Up Recipe originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on February 2, 2012.

I love cookbooks. I have a ridiculous amount of cookbooks. I almost never follow a recipe fully and I’m always substituting or adding my own twist to every meal we make from a recipe. However, my over flowing bookshelf of cookbooks needed a little dusting off and when Tina made This Week’s Cravings a recipe from our favorite cookbook, I knew it was time. The problem is, which cookbook. It took me days to decide which cookbook I wanted to use, and then another week to decide which recipe.

I finally settled on this awesome Cheese and Pesto Italian Baked Spaghetti from Paula Deen’s The Deen Family Cookbook. We had never made it before and it really turned out good. I think that next time I will probably nix the goat cheese (only because it was expensive) and add some low fat cottage cheese, simply to add a little more moisture to the recipe. But honestly the flavor was amazing and it is definitely hearty and rich.

Four Cheese and Pesto Italian Baked Spaghetti

1 lb. uncooked spaghetti noodles
1 lb. ricotta cheese
2 (6-7oz) jars of prepared pesto
2 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. crumbled goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 13×9 dish.

Cook the spaghetti for 2 minutes less than the pkg directions say to cook it. Drain the spaghetti well and transfer it to a bowl. Stir in the ricotta, pesto, 1 cup of the mozzarella, 1/2 cu. of the Parmesan and the goat cheese.

Toss the mixture well and transfer it to the baking dish.

Sprinkle it with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.

Bake until the cheese is melted, about 15-20 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and broil for 1 minute or until golden (we skipped the broil setting.)
Serve hot!

I am proud to be co-hosting This Week’s Cravings along with Tina over at MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Angie from Big Bear’s Wife  & Kristi from Veggie Converter. Go visit them and tell them I said hi!

<a href="http://dailydishrecipes.com/" target="_blank "><img src="http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k498/Hudgens6/Buttons/ThisWeeksCravingsButton.jpg" /></a>

Participate in upcoming linky parties:

• 2/13/2012 Week # 68 Valentine’s Day Treats or Romantic Dinners
• 2/20/2012 Week # 69 Avocado Recipes & Homemade Salsa
• 2/27/2012 Week # 70 Smoothies & Shakes
• 3/5/2012 Week # 71 5-Ingredient Meal

Would you like to link up a Nutella recipe? Go ahead!

If you are a regular link-up we’re excited to see what you made this week. If you are new please read and follow the simple rules, so that everyone can enjoy the linky party and your recipe doesn’t get deleted!

If you forget to follow the theme, your post will be deleted. Please don’t feel hurt, just come back and link up a recipe that follows the theme. Thanks a million, we look forward to blogging with you!

The LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week!

PLEASE do not link more then 3 recipes per week.

This week’s theme is: Nutella Recipes

Please only link recipes with our theme!

Cheese and Pesto Italian Baked Spaghetti Recipe originally appeared on The Daily Dish Recipes on January 30, 2012.