I had some unsalted pistachios in my pantry. I came up with a nice crust that isn’t over the top, and hey, if you don’t like nuts, just leave ‘em off, it still has great flavor. I am all about the quick both in cooking and clean up, so this bakes in the oven nicely.

ingredients:
4 salmon filets
3/4 pistachios, unsalted, roasted and shelled
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put some non-stick foil down on a baking sheet.

Chop up the nuts. I like to do mine in a blender. If you use a food processor be very careful that you don’t take it too far, as it will turn into a paste. That is not what you want.

On a plate, stir together the nuts, breadcrumbs, pepper and garlic salt. Slowly add olive oil, a tablespoon at a time until it makes a nice mash. Approx. 3 Tablespoons, give or take.

Place the filets on the pan, top with the nut mixture. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until the center of the salmon is cooked.

This goes great with my recipe for creamy ricotta pasta, as a side. The squirrel plate, is not a must.

This recipe is adapted from the “Crazy About Cupcakes” cookbook.

I can’t stand faux strawberry flava so the use of fresh strawberries really makes this cake great.

ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/4 cup FRESH strawberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a cupcake pan with liners.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix until blended. Fold in the vanilla and strawberries.

Fill cupcake cups 3/4 full, bake 20+ minutes, until you get that lovely clean toothpick. Cool, and frost. Makes 12 cupcakes.

I used a chocolate frosting, and poked strawberry pocky sticks inside to reveal what kind of cake was under there. I also made a batch of my “Fauxstess” cupcakes to go with them. Sorry, they were eaten before I could take a pic of the insides!

My kids love mac and cheese. Me? I get a little sick of it. This is a different take on it, and adult take – if you will, the ricotta cheese adds a nice creaminess. You may know ricotta from using it in lasagna.

Note: If your kids are like mine and don’t like ‘green things’ all up in their business, then just use chopped asparagus. At least that way they can take it out.

ingredients:
1 lb small pasta shells
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 pkg frozen spinach (thawed and drained well)
1 cup reserved pasta liquid
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmagian cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella
salt
freshly ground pepper

Cook pasta according to package. Reserve 1 cup of the boiling pasta liquid – you’re going to need it to add to the sauce, it helps it adhere to the pasta and makes it creamy – in case you were wondering.

While the pasta is cooking, get a large skillet on the stove. Add the olive oil and the butter. Yes, both – trust me, the flavors work together. Put the heat on low and let the butter melt a little, add the garlic and stir. Watch it so it doesn’t burn!

Add the spinach (or use asparagus, like I sometimes do) and toss, turning the heat to medium. When your pasta is done, drain and quickly add to the pan. Add the ricotta, and the cheeses, right into the pan. Turn the heat up to medium high, and stir.

Add the pasta liquid and keep stirring til creamy. Salt and pepper to taste. Me? I love the bite that a lot of FRESHLY ground pepper gives, so I say be generous.

This makes a great main dish, and I usually serve the leftovers the second day as a side dish.

That’s a mouthful. As you can tell, I am no good at thinking up names for my recipes. At least you get the gist of what the cookie is made up of from the name. These are an excellent cookie for gifts. Nice and big and chock full o’ goodies.

ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups chocolate chunks
1 cup craisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep baking sheets with silpats or parchment.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar and until fluffy. Add the egg, and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.

Beat in the flour until the mixture is thoroughly combined.

Stir in the oats, chocolate chunks and craisins. This is a sticky dough, so make sure you use clean hands or an ice cream scoop to shape the cookies. Make 2 inch balls, and pat them down – I put about 8 on a sheet.

Bake in the oven for 14 minutes, depending on your oven. These make big cookies, so a tall glass of milk is definitely in order.

I saw the world’s smallest tub of this at Whole Foods and thought, ‘What a rip I can totally make this myself.’ So that’s what I did.

ingredients:
6 ounces of bacon
1/2 onion, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
8 ounces of sour cream
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
freshly ground pepper

I always freeze my bacon, since I don’t use it that often, and it’s much easier to slice that way. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Fry until extra crispy. Drain VERY WELL on paper towels. I even squeeze it out once and put it back on fresh towels to drain.

With a little bacon grease left in the pan, add the onions over medium high heat until a little soft, then add the garlic until the onion is slightly carmelized. Don’t go to long – burnt garlic is disgusting. Drain the onion mixture on paper towels as well.

Now chop the bacon again. You don’t want giant pieces in your dip, so I run a knife through a second time to make them small and crumbly.

In a mixing bowl, add the onions and bacon to the sour cream. Add some fresh pepper and the onion and garlic salt. Mix well and put it back in the fridge. It tastes best, very cold. I serve it with tortilla chips, pita chips or carrots and celery.

This is the go to cookie that I make when I need to go to a party – it’s always a crowd pleaser. I’ve tried to eat a nilla wafer. Then a peppermint patty. It’s not the same. It’s the melty combo that make them taste fantastic.

ingredients:
1 bag peppermint patties
1 box nilla wafers
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 drops green food coloring
sesame seeds
water

I was lucky enough to find “chocolate truffle” peppermint patties at the store. Which is very cool because the inside is brown, much like a burger! But if you can’t find it, the regular old white filling ones work fine.

First put 24 nilla wafers “round side” down, on a cookie sheet. Then top them with a peppermint patty. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside 24 more nilla wafers to act as the top of the “bun.”

Put your coconut in a bowl with a sealed lid, or a ziplock bag works fine too. Add the food coloring and couple of drops of water while you’re at it. Seal the container and shake til you get a nice “tinting” of green – looks like lettuce, get it?

Now put your topped nilla wafer/open faced patties in the oven for only about 1-1/2 minutes, check them to see that they are glossy and not totally melted – just “melty.”

Take them out of the oven and IMMEDIATELY top with tinted coconut…

Then IMMEDIATELY put the burger “tops” on, pushing a bit to secure them to the patty. I can’t stress this step enough. You have to act quickly and not let the chocolate melt, or there will be no stickage. There’s a lot of IMMEDIATELY goin’ on here, and for good reason, once this thing cools you are outta luck. Work quickly, it’s only to your benefit.

Now here’s where the burger really takes shape. Get a small bowl of water and brush a few drops of water on the top of the bun. (Or use clean fingers.) Then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Now these things REALLY LOOK like burgers.

Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before, “can’t you do something to look like tomatoes?,” or “what about pickles.” Look, if you want to go that far, go ahead. I’m fine with my burger bun and lettuce.

I like to put each one in a cupcake liner, it’s easier to pick up and looks sweet. See now aren’t these cute – not your ordinary cookie, is it? And sooo yummy…

I am not a fan of great gobs of frosting. So I cut the tops off overly puffed cupcakes – cut a little decor out of the middle, frosted the base and popped the top back on. Still tasty – and it impresses people like you’ve done a lot of work. When really, you haven’t.

cupcake ingredients
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons lemon zest
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- You will need confectioner’s sugar for dusting, later in the assembly

Pink Lemon frosting
4 cupc confectioners sugar
1/2 cup butter – softened
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice.
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 Tablespoons milk
pink gel tint

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, and prep a cupcake pan with liners. I prefer using fresh lemon juice in all my baking. The best way to get juice from a lemon is to press and roll it on a counter. Then the pulp is all mushy and you have plenty of juice. Two lemons oughta do you.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar til light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, beating after each one.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt.

Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk. Here’s a tip, always end with the milk. It makes for a smoother batter.Now mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest.

Fill the cupcake liners TO THE TOP. This will insure that your cup runneth over, with is what you want so that you can cut off the tops!!! (You should have filled about 20 cups.) Bake for 20 minutes, test with a toothpick, and cool on a wire rack.

While the cupcakes are cooling – make the frosting:
With an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter. Add the lemon juice, and the zest until combined. THen add the milk – speed it way up until it becomes light and fluffy, then add two squeezes of the tint and mix til the color settles in.

Now with the cupcakes cooled, take a serrated knife and gently cut off the fluffy tops, right at the paper. Using a small heart, or any tiny shaped cookie cutter, cut out the center of the tops. Put them aside or put them in your mouth. Dust the tops with confectioner’s sugar.

Take your pink frosting and frost the top of the now flat cupcake that you just cut. Then place the nicely dusted open top, right on the top of the frosting. There you go. A simple yet pretty cupcake. And oh so lemon-y too.

Adapted from Veganomicon, O.G. wanted ‘VAYGAN’ (vegan) food. These are like a cake donut filled with jelly. The CHEAPER the jelly, the better these are. Trust me. I made them and they were great. O.G. said, “I don’t like things with jelly in them. Make something else.” Just great.

ingredients:
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup grape jelly
confectioner’s sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with liners. Pour the cornstarch, vinegar and soy milk into a measuring cup. Mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Create a well in the center of the flour to pour your wet ingredients into.

Restir the soy milk mixture, then pour into the flour well. Fold everything in until just combined. Add the oil, granulated sugar and vanilla. Stir until combined.

Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter. Place just a teaspoon of jelly in the center of each. The cheaper the jelly the better. I tried both, cheap jelly, and expensive jam, and the jam just doesn’t do it. Also, don’t worry about the filling, it will sink right into the cupcake and spread out pretty well.

Bake for 21-23 minutes, obviously, the toothpick test won’t work with a jelly filled cupcake.

Remove from the oven and take them out of the pans to cool on a wire rack. Now the book says to leave them out overnight so they get crispy, but you know me, the bacteria phobe. I at least covered them a bit. The next day, sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

These are gorgeous and great if you don’t have eggs or butter on hand. Good for gifts too! Except to old ladies who are unappreciative.

This is an old skool 50s recipe, but I updated it by doing it in a cupcake form. Pretty and sweet. An old co-worker of mine liked my recipe so much, she asked for it again, 8 years later!

This makes 9 full cupcakes, or 12 small ones.

ingredients:
top:
1 can pineapple rings
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted

batter:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a non-stick cupcake pan. I used melted butter. You don’t want to use cupcake liners here, remember, you will be inverting these!!

Drain pineapple rings, keeping 1/4 cup for later. Laying the rings on paper towels helps them dry out a little faster.

In a small bowl mix the brown sugar and the melted butter. Divide it amongst the cupcake cups, and spread around the bottom, evenly. Now is when you lay your pineapple ring on top. Note the bottom of the cup is smaller than your average pineapple ring. No prob, just cut a chunk out of the ring and make it fit. You can use the leftovers for the other cups.

In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon and baking powder on low, with an electric mixer. Carefully add in the butter, pineapple juice and milk. Then add the egg and the vanilla.

Spoon the batter over the fruit and sugar into each muffin cup, evenly. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick tester comes out clean.

Here comes the trick. When you take them out of the oven, let them rest in the pan for a few minutes. Then place a wire rack on TOP of the pan, flipping it over and hopefully…your little cakes will just plop on out, with the pineapple on top.

Now you can let them cool, if you plan to serve later, but let me tell you, these things taste
AWESOME warm. So sweet and delish.

This is Martha Stewart’s recipe that I’ve used time and time again. It’s never let me down. It’s also a really stable cookie, if you ever need to mail it, like I often do.

ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light-brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup light-brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup peanut butter

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, shortening (ew, you know how I hate shortening), granulated sugar, and 1 cup light-brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until fully combined between each addition. Add vanilla, and beat to combine. Gradually add dry ingredients, and mix on low speed until fully combined. Remove from mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in chocolate chips. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with Silpats (nonstick French baking mats) or parchment paper.

In a small bowl, using a rubber spatula, stir together peanut butter and remaining 1/4 cup light-brown sugar.

Using a 1 1/4-inch scoop or heaping tablespoon, drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Make a thumbprint in the center of each cookie. Fill thumbprint with 1 teaspoon peanut-butter mixture. Top with a second scoop of dough, and carefully mold dough to cover “surprise.”

Bake until firm, about 12 minutes. Transfer sheets to wire racks to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to racks.

These are really good and the surprise inside is a nice touch. They are sweet, so milk is always a plus.