Ginger-Orange Cranberry Sauce

I've been assigned to make cranberry sauce and apple pie (post soon to come) for the Thanksgiving feast this week, so of course I had to share!! This is definitely the best homemade cranberry sauce I've had, and on top of that, it's SOOOO easy to make!!  Literally, all you do is throw the 6 easy ingredients in a pot, stir occasionally for 10 minutes, and voila!!

Check out the before and after pics:

    

Spicy Mexican Brownies

First off, I must start by saying that a batter defines a recipe....good batter generally means the final product will taste good (not necessarily look great, but oh well!)  And with this recipe, I literally licked the bowl.  I'm serious...I scraped the whole thing out 'til it was clean!!  Eeek!!  Only slightly embarrassing, but I'm over it  :)  And on a side note, my kitchen smells aaamazing!!!

Snickerdoodle mini's

I'm not gonna lie...these are easily my absolute favorite cupcakes.  I have a cinnamon/sugar obsession and love making snickerdoodle cookies (that post is soon to come!), so when I tasted the cinnamon ice-cream at my neighborhood ice-cream shop I KNEW I needed to find a recipe that would translate that flavor into a cupcake.

Mounds bar mini's

The idea for these tasty choco-coconut mini's came about when I asked my landlord's 3 year old son, Joey, what kind of cupcakes he wanted me to make next.  Whenever I bake something, I always make sure to save a few for them (it doesn't hurt to keep your landlord happy), plus I just really love giving away treats!  So when I asked Joey for his request, he replied without hesitation "chocolate cupcakes with white icing!!"  (I love how to a three year old, "white icing" is a flavor.)

Blueberry-banana muffins

With a few ripe bananas in the kitchen and a freezer full of berries, I decided to throw together my standard banana bread, but with a twist!  The result: blueberry-banana mini muffins!!  Oh how I love mini's :)  I think my favorite things about minis are their tiny size (obviously), and the fact that they can feed so many more people in a bite size bundle...plus they bake faster!!  Of course, this quick baking time is only beneficial if you have multiple mini muffin tins, but luckily I stocked up on the tins with World Market coupons and can now bake 4 dozen at a time.  (Other wise you're in the kitchen forever baking batch after batch and that can get exhausting!)

Blueberry-Ginger Pie

Let me start by saying that this was my very first pie making experience, and I have to admit, I'm quite proud of myself  :)  This pie crust recipe is very easy and I recommend it to everyone!  I plan on making some ahead to put in the freezer for a later date....perhaps peach pie will be next??!

Vanilla with chocolate

These bite size morsels are perfect for any occasion: birthdays, get well, the office, any old Saturday...you get the drift ;) 

I was requested by my mom to make mini's for some little girls who were in a bad car accident with their mother a few weeks ago.  Two of the girls are home with their parents now, but the third daughter is still at Children's Hospital in the ICU and is slowly coming out of a medically induced coma, so we're all pulling for her!  Since these are relatives of a family friend, my mom wanted to put together a food/care package with basically a whole day's worth of meals, so she asked me to bake a dozen mini's of "something yummy" for these two little girls to enjoy during such a tough time.  How could I say no??  (On a side note, you must try these Orange-Ricotta Pancakes, courtesy of Martha Stewart, which my mom included in the goodie basket. They've become a special occasion breakfast in our household!)