Coffee and Cannolis

When I received an email from a friend menu planning for a then upcoming Thanksmas dinner with friends, I immediately jumped in and said I'd bring dessert. As I always do. But of course, I searched and searched for ideas, and nothing sounded just right to appeal to a group of people. All of a sudden it's like the day before and I still need to shop and bake. I wanted to do a cheesecake, but with everything going on I didn't know if I'd have time. So I turned to trusty Pinterest and just typed in Cheesecake Bars. As soon as I saw these I knew I had to make them. I emailed a picture to Rob and all he replied was "Yep!". I am so glad that I slacked and slacked on deciding, because these were simply amazing. And, they don't require any out of the ordinary ingredients, so I had everything on hand! I realize not everyone had Graham Crackers in their pantry but a) why not, they're delicious!? and b) just a quick stop and you're good to go! These c

I've had a very busy December this year, and sadly I haven't had much opportunity to bake as much as I'd like. But what little bit I've baked, I've decided I wanted to try something different. As much as I love a beautifully decorated sugar cookie at the holidays, they're time consuming, and time has not been on my side. It's not easy trying to get in to the swing of things just going back to work a few weeks ago, two kids, and this little project called "the holidays". So when my husband sent me a picture of some cookies he saw I knew that these would be a cute, yet QUICK alternative to decorated sugar cookies. Just whatever drop cookie recipe you want, some M&Ms, chocolate pretzels and chocolate chips and you're good to go! I chose to make these as peanut butter cookies because it's been awhile since I've had a peanut butter cookie, but also the coloring is more "reindeer-y" than sugar cookies! I think these wil

I'm back with another Make Ahead Monday post. We eat a lot of chicken in our house, and a lot of times I'll menu plan on using leftover chicken in dishes so that I can just grill an extra breast or whatever. It's a great time saver, especially now that I'm back at work and have an hour between getting home with 2 kids and getting dinner on the table. But, to save even more time, I sometimes like to poach a bunch of chicken on Sunday and chop or shred it for later in the week, or even the freezer. As an added bonus, if you poach it with flavor enhancers like veggies, bay leaves, a little garlic you can use the poaching liquid to make broth. This is also a great way to actually use some of the forgotten veggies on their last legs! It's not quite as flavorful as broth made with bones, but it works, especially for dishes where you don't need a lot of extra flavor from the broth. I love to use it to make rice! This is great to do when chicken is on sale as well. Ju