Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

For most of my life, I basically hated oatmeal raisin cookies. I thought the raisins totally ruined the delicious oatmeal cookies. Recently I had a hankering for oatmeal raisin cookies, and came across this recipe. With a little tweaking, I think this one is definitely a keeper!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
as adapted from Mary Ellen at Whisk Together

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 c. oatmeal*
3/4 c. raisins**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the flour, powders, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugars. Add in the vanilla and egg and mix on high until light and fluffy. Add the dry mixture into butter mixture about 1/2 c. at a time until completely mixed in. Stir in oatmeal and raisins.

Drop dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake for about 11-13 minutes.

*You can use either quick cooking or old fashioned oats. I've used both and the cookies turned out fine each time.
**I used three little boxes of raisins. This isn't exactly an exact science. You can leave the raisins out, exchange them for something else (cran-raisins, chocolate chips, etc), or add more/less!

Honey Coconut Rice Pudding

Recently, I've been trying out new recipes. Combine that with the need to make a light dessert, and I settled on this recipe for rice pudding! I have never had rice pudding before, and the ingredients in this one sounded so delicious, I just had to try it. End result? DELICIOUS!

Honey Coconut Rice Pudding
recipe courtesy of, and slightly adapted from, Fujimama

1 3/4 c. light coconut milk
1 1/2 c. 2% milk
1/2 c. Japanese rice (also called Sushi rice--NOT Jasmine rice!)
2 Tb. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tb. honey

Mix together coconut milk, 2% milk, rice, sugar, and vanilla extract in a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Stir continuously so the rice doesn't stick to the pan. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Keep stirring!

Remove saucepan from heat and add honey. Let pudding stand for about 5 minutes before splitting up into 4 separate bowls. Add more honey, if desired.

Reese's Cup Birthday Cake

In addition to the yummy meatloaf and baked beans served at this year's birthday dinner for my husband, I also made him a birthday cake. He loves Reese's Cups and frankly I couldn't think of a better flavor combination for a cake! I did some research on Pinterest, and came away with three different recipes to combine into one: chocolate cake, peanut butter buttercream icing, and decoration. I have to say, the combination of the three was a total hit!!

Reese's Cup Cake
adjusted slightly from Picky Palate

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
4 large eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. water
8 oz. sour cream
1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix
Bag of Mini Reese's Cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand mixer, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, water, sour cream, and pudding mix. Mix until combined through. Pour batter into buttered and floured pans. Cook according to size of pans (i.e. 30-35 minutes for 8-in. round pans, 20-25 minutes for 6-in. pans, etc.). Be sure to check on cake several times while in oven to insure proper baking time. Do not overbake!


Peanut Butter Buttercream
adjusted slightly from Bird On A Cake

1 c. salted butter, softened
2 c. peanut butter
4 c. powdered sugar

Beat the softened butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar while continuing to mix. Add small amounts of milk if frosting is too thick/unspreadable.


After taking the cakes out of the oven, remove them to wire racks to cool. When pans are cool, remove cakes. Using a long knife, remove rounded tops of cakes, if they rose too much in the middle during baking. You want flat surfaces to work with. When you are ready to frost the cakes, place a small amount of frosting on the cake plate to hold the bottom layer in place. Frost between each layer and use the remaining to cover the cake. (You should have at least 1/4-1/2 of the original amount of frosting to use for the tops and edges of the cake.) Chop up mini Reese's Cups for decoration. I got my inspiration from here.

This cake truly is delicious! Try it out!

Mom's Baked Beans

This is the title of the recipe email I received back in 2009. In 2009, I spent Christmas with my husband (then boyfriend) and his family for the first time. His mom made these beans and ohhhh dear, are they ever delicious!! My MIL thinks its hilarious because she took a basic recipe and just tweaked it a bunch, so it's not really that involved or difficult, yet everyone goes bananas for them!!

This is also a regular part of the birthday menu rotation. You can find the main attraction, the meatloaf recipe, here.

Mom's Baked Beans
as copied from EGC, my mother-in-law

2 16 oz. cans Van Camp's Pork and Beans
1 chopped medium onion
4 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. molasses
1/2 c. ketchup
Garlic salt (to taste--start w/half a teaspoon)
Black pepper (to taste)
4-6 slices of uncooked bacon

Preheat to 350 degrees.

Stir together all ingredients, except bacon. Taste and determine if more garlic salt or pepper is needed. Pour ingredient into a greased 2 quart casserole dish and top with bacon.

Bake for 2 hours.

Best Ever Meatloaf

So begins the litany of birthday recipes. This particular recipe is long overdue. Every year, my husband requests a particular dinner for his birthday: meatloaf, baked beans, and Mac and cheese. It makes birthdays very easy, because I can prepare in advance. You can find the recipe for the baked beans here.

This recipe has two parts, the meatloaf and the sauce topping. The meatloaf recipe was from my husband's sister and the sauce recipe was from his mom. Together they make a fabulous combo!!!

Best Ever Meatloaf
as created by AT, my sister-in-law

2 eggs
2/3 c. milk
4 slices of bread, torn into bits
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (do not use pre-shredded!!)
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 - 2 lbs. lean ground beef

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and eggs, let stand until liquid is absorbed. Stir in the onion, cheese, and seasonings. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.

In an 8" x 8" greased baking dish, spread meat mixture out across dish. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

Meatloaf Topping
as created by EGC, my mother-in-law

3/4 c. ketchup
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. allspice

Combine ingredients and spoon half of mixture over meatloaf. Bake 30 minutes longer, or until meat it no longer pink and thermometer reads 160 degrees. During cooking time, continue to brush sauce on meatloaf.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.