Fourth of July Treats

American Flag Cupcakes from Martha Stewart 

I love all things festive for holidays, especially food. (I made Pumpkin and Ghost Sugar Cookies at Halloween, Santa Hat Brownies at Christmas, etc.) I'm one of those people that can't wait to get a little older and have a place of my own so I can entertain friends and host holiday parties at my house, and I'm always on the search for fun recipes for when that happens. So I was looking for Fourth of July dessert recipes for my family's barbecue and came across the most adorable and easy desserts that anyone can make. I am definitely making the American Flag Cupcakes this year. Here are a couple of other fun Fourth of July treats. 

Patriotic Jello Shots from Saucy Pants

Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Sticks from Cupcakes & Cashmere

Red White & Blue Fruit Cups from Rachel Ray 

Insta-Sam

{Cool photograph of me & Pat lounging by the pool.}

This past weekend was mine & Pat's two year anniversary, so we headed out to the Hamptons after our original plans got cancelled. We decided to stay for two days to relax and have fun. We had such a great time doing such simple things like playing board games and eating outside in town. It was very us and ended up being the most amazing anniversary ever. Here's a few Instagram photos from our weekend...

{Pat having a glass of Chardonnay during dinner at Barristers in Southampton.}

{My incredibly delicious burger from Barristers. Seriously, it might have been the best cheeseburger I've ever had, and that says a lot coming from me.}

{It was so hard to pick which two flavors of gelato we wanted from Sant Ambroeus.} 

{Our cups of gelato! I ended up getting vanilla and chocolate chip, and Pat got strawberry and banana.} 

Cupcake Fondue

I've been so busy with final projects the past week I've been neglecting my blogging duties. Terrible, I know. But what's been getting me through this last bit of school is thinking about all of the fun plans I have coming up in the summer. Extremely excited about my birthday, which is in the beginning of June. Desserts are my absolute favorite and I've been looking at recipes to try to make for a "dessert bar" at my birthday. I came across this photo of cupcake fondue. GENIUS. Cupcakes are my number one choice of dessert so this is perfectly fitting for me. Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting and tons of topping layed out on a table. I think making your own desserts is so much fun.  I love this idea. 

Photos: 1

A Special Treat

Yesterday morning I flew home after spending a week and a half in Myrtle Beach visiting my boyfriend. I had so much fun but coming home, back to reality, was depressing. When I got home I went straight to school and my friend Victoria had a special treat waiting for me. A nice little pick me up. She brought me these amazing homemade Orange Creamsicle Cookies. They have a light summery taste with the perfect amount of white chocolate chips and orange zest. Honestly, so delish! She posted the recipe on her blog last month here. You must try them! (P.S. Thanks Vicky!)

Photos: 1

Pinspiration

Boards On My Pinterest Profile 

I've always loved saving images I find inspiring or ripping pages out of magazines of looks I like or hairstyles I want to try. I used to try to organize images in different files on my computer but it quickly became chaos. What a disaster. Then a little over a year and a half ago I stumbled across this amazing site called Pinterest. At the time it was a smaller community but I wanted to see what it was about so I sent a request to join and it took about two weeks for them to notify me that I was officially part of the community. I immediately started organizing boards and saving images that I loved into different categories. Fast forward a few months. Last year in March I started my blog, this very one you are reading right now. Pinterest became my savior. It was the easiest, fastest, convenient, and bonus, most fun way of collecting and filing away inspiration for posts. I have boards for anything and everything from fashion to food to hair and makeup. Fast forward to now... Pinterest has exploded. Every girl I know has a Pinterest or is begging one of her friends to send her an invite so she can get in on the action. Pinterest is even coming out with their own app specifically designed for iPads. I could honestly talk about this site all day. I absolutely love it and suggest every one of you get one as soon as possible. You will not be disappointed. Here's a look at some of my boards...

Interiors 

Stylish

Delicious Eats 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I know a lot of people dislike this Hallmark holiday and all of the cheesy things that come along with it, but I love it. Last year I spent Valentine's Day sick in bed with my boyfriend because I had mono. This year I'm spending it with friends and over the weekend I'll celebrate it again when my boyfriend comes to visit. I love holidays like this because they're an excuse for me to spend the weekend prior baking and watching sappy love stories like The Notebook. Over this past weekend I went on a serious baking spree. On Saturday I made the Heart Shaped Red Velvet Whoopie Pies that I posted on Friday. On Sunday I made Conversation Heart Sugar Cookies. I used this recipe for the sugar cookies and this recipe for the royal icing. Let me tell you, royal icing is easy to make but piping it out in a perfect heart and then flooding each cookie takes hard work! By the time I was done icing them I was exhausted and barely wanted to write the messages on them. They weren't as perfect as the ones shown above but I was happy with the outcome. They tasted delicious and looked adorable.

Photos: 1

Friday Favorites {Valentine's Day}

Favorite Valentine's Day Treat
{Red Velvet Heart Shaped Whoopie Pies}

Favorite Valentine's Day Etsy Find
{Reasons I Love You Pencil Set} 

Favorite Valentine's Day Color Combo
{SJP in Red and Hot Pink}

Favorite Valentine's Day Accessory
{Heart Shaped Sunnies}

Favorite Valentine's Day Nails
{XOXO}

Wishful Wednesday

Wishing I wasn't lactose intolerant so I could enjoy a large ice cream sundae, right about... now. I miss you ice cream! Maybe one day we will meet again. 

Photos: 1

Caramel Brownie Cheesecake

Over the weekend I made my first ever cheesecake. The task seemed a little daunting at first but my mother assured me she'd made cheesecake before and it wasn't that hard. I have to say that I am very good at following recipes so that gave me a tiny boost of confidence. I chose to make a caramel brownie cheesecake. I used this recipe and it came out amazing. I was very happy with the way it turned out. Now I have to figure out what I want to try next.

Crust:

12 graham crackers

6 tablespoons of butter

Filling:

2 cups of leftover brownie crumbles

1/3 cup of caramel sauce

4 blocks of 8 oz. cream cheese

1 1/2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

1/4 cups of sour cream

1 1/2 cups of vanilla

Directions:

Prepare the crust by breaking the graham crackers into crumbs by hand or in a food processor.  Melt butter and stir into graham crumbles with a fork.  Pack the mixture into a springform pan packing half way up the sides.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

For the filling, in a mixer, whip together cream cheese and sugar.  Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla.

Crumble the brownies into the cooked crust, then drizzle with the caramel sauce.  Pour cream cheese filling over the brownies and caramel.

Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, then lower oven to 250 and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Allow to sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours, then wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours - overnight.

Photos: 1

Friday Favorites

Favorite Fall Snack
{Caramel Apples}

Favorite (New) Fall Hairstyle
{Waterfall Braid}

Favorite Fall Home Decor
{Orange Flowers, Candles, and a Pear}

Favorite Fall-Wear
{Chunky Grandpa Sweaters}

Favorite Fall Dining
{Outdoor Area for Lunch on a Crisp Fall Day}

Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Chocolate Chip Cookies

About a week ago, my dad bought me a belated birthday gift. A kitchen-aid mixer. I've been dying to use it and tried to think of what I wanted to bake first. I decided on classic chocolate chip cookies because they're easy and I feel like you can't mess them up. This is only the second time I'd ever baked something from scratch. (The first thing was these chocolate cupcakes.) So yesterday afternoon I whipped out my Magnolia Bakery Cookbook and made them. A couple of them came out a little disfigured from the way I put them on the baking sheet but still tasted extremely delicious. I used this recipe...

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. 

Chocolate Banana Pudding

Pudding has always been a snack of choice for me. It reminds me a lot of being at my grandmother's house when I was younger. Her fridge was always stocked with pudding cups. Anyways I saw this pudding a while back and I have not stopped thinking about it. It's definitely a must make dessert. I found the recipe on Today's Nest. She makes it from scratch but says you can get close to the same results from a box. Personally I like to take the easy route most of the time so I'd probably go for the box.

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

1/2 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

16 oz. heavy whipping cream

1/4 sugar

ChewySoft Chocolate Fudge Cookies

3 or 4 medium bananas sliced.

Directions:

Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Beat the egg in a separate bowl. Set aside. Heat milk in saucepan over medium heat until just before boiling. Slowly pour sugar mixture into milk while whisking. Slowly pour 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into beaten egg while whisking vigorously. Pour the egg mixture back into the hot mixture while whisking. Bring back to simmer and heat until mixture coast the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter. Pour into bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressing it directly against the pudding. Allow to cool and set up in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before using. Whip cream and 1/4 cup sugar to soft peaks. Fold 1/2 cream into pudding. Place a small amount of pudding on the bottom of your serving container. Top with a cookie or layer of crumbled cookie. Place banana slices on top of the cookie and top with pudding. Add a thin layer of whipped cream and top with crumbled cookie. Keep refrigerated. 

Photos: Today's Nest

Friday Favorites

Favorite Cupcakes
{Crumbs Bake Shop}

Favorite Casual Summer Look
{Shorts Paired with a Silk Button Down Blouse}

Favorite Flower
{Hydrangeas}

Favorite Actress
{Natalie Portman}

Favorite Place I've Visited
{Italy}

Giant Cookie Cake

Everyone knows I'm all about baking. I can cook a meal if I really put my mind to it but cooking for me takes serious effort. Baking on the other hand, is easy and fun and desserts are so much better than real food. So this is my next baking project. Giant Cookie Cake. (I realize the small sliver shown in this picture does not look very "giant" but I assure you the actually cake is large.) I got the recipe from Martha Stewart.

Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
40 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Put butter, brown sugar and granulated sugars into mixer bowl; mix on medium until pale and fluffy. Mix in vanilla, eggs and yolks. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the cream. Stir in chocolate chips.

For each of the 5 layers, drop 1 level cup batter onto center of baking shit lined with parchment. Using a small spatula, spread into an 8-inch cirlce. Bake until edges are pale golden brown (about 12 minutes). Remove from oven. Use spatula to reshape circle. Return to oven; bake until edges are golden brown (8-10 minutes). Let Cool.

Mix cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in clean mixer bowl on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Spread onto 4 cookies. stack cookies, placing unfrosted cookie on top. Refrigerate until frosting is set

Feelin' Hot! Hot! Hot!

On days like today I wish I lived closer to the beach or that our pool was properly functioning so that I'd actually want to be outside. Instead, in order to make this unbearably hot day more bearable, I will have to resort to eating delicious cold treats. 

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

About two months ago I found this recipe for Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies on Serious Eats and made them for my boyfriend and family. I think I only had half of a cookie myself because they were gone so fast. They were delicious. (If you don't want to make the chocolate chip cookie dough from scratch, all you have to do is buy pre-packaged cookie dough and Oreos from the supermarket and you're golden!)

Ingredients:
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup packaged light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz. bag of chocolate chips
1 bag of Oreo cookies

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugar until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop, take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo is enclosed with dough. Place onto non-stick baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Magnolia's Chocolate Cupcakes

Everyone knows I love to bake, but I'm no pastry chef. Up until yesterday I had never baked anything from scratch. I've helped my mom with her christmas cookies before but I've never made anything totally by myself. I bought The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook a few weeks ago and decided to make their Chocolate Cupcakes  and Vanilla Buttercream Icing. I can't lie, the Vanilla Buttercream did not turn out very good but the cupcakes themselves came out perfect. They're delicious and intensely chocolatey. I ended up frosting them with some Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting from the supermarket. So I guess it wasn't a complete success but I still feel accomplished. Hopefully I'll have better luck with the icing next time.