Mother's Day with my ♥'s

It never fails: every year that we have our Mother's Day get-together the weather is always absolutely bea-u-ti-ful!  May not only brings Mother's Day and beautiful weather, but it also brings fresh strawberries.  I decided to go pick some at a local patch that I've been really wanting to check out.  Not only did I get about 2-3 lbs of strawberries for $6, but I also was able to find some really sweet and juicy ones!

What better way is there to celebrate the strawberry season than by making yummy strawberry-themed desserts? The first recipe that always comes to my mind is a great Strawberry Upside Down Cake recipe that I found on AllRecipes.com (surprise surprise, I know).  I decided to make this recipe for our Mother's Day lunch because everyone in my family LOVES strawberries and I just happened to have some fresh ones on hand!

Fresh Strawberry Upside Down Cake

YUM!  I know!  

Trust me, it's even more delicious than it looks!

Continue reading for pictures!!!

Time for Some Serious Baking

I hope I'm not the only person out here who is ALREADY super excited about Valentine's Day! There are so many sugary concoctions that I want to make for my hubby and friends, that I don't even know where to begin! Also, last night while studying for my Pharmacology exam I realized that we didn't have anything chocolatey in our house to temporarily curb my urge to bake (note: craving something yummy while you're studying is a particularly horrible time to realize this)!

On a side note, recently I purchased a mini-muffin pan and a Springform pan. As you get to know me, you'll understand that I am definitely a person that gets super excited about the little things in life. There are endless recipes for adorable and tasty mini-tarts and mini-this and that, which I'm really looking forward to bringing to our various functions this year. Not to mention, all the beautiful cheesecakes that I'll be able to prepare with my new Springform pan!

I've added links below to some of the recipes that I plan on attempting in the very near future! Be sure to stay tuned for pictures of my successes....or failures, LoL.

‘Twas the Season for Baking

Image Credit: FortheMommas.com

I thoroughly enjoy cooking and baking for the ones I love! The aromas, the excitement of the first bite, the feeling of the day's stress slowly melting away are just few of the small joys that I've found in this fun and semi-new activity.

It all began when I moved into my first apartment with my college roommates in 2004. I dabbled in making meals that didn't originate in a box, which was quite a feat at the time. When I later moved to Michigan in 2006 to live with my boyfriend (who eventually became my fiancé, and then my husband), my mother gave me my very own "Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook" and I also discovered my new favorite recipe web-site that I still use to this day: AllRecipes.com.

Now that I'm married and living in my own home (with a kitchen that is MUCH nicer than the ones I learned in), I try to cook and bake whenever I can. Although I certainly don't frown upon the use of box dinners and mixes, I've found that if I have the time it's not terribly difficult to make most things from scratch (not to mention it can be fun putting that extra bit of "love" into what I make).

Over my Christmas break I made batches and batches of cookies and candies until I just couldn't look at anything that was remotely sweet. I'm using this post to share with you some of the recipes I followed that will definitely be used again!

Sadly, the only two pictures that I can claim as my own is the first one of the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies I with the red and green M&M's (which my good friend named "stoplight cookies" because he just couldn't possibly see how they would make him think of Christmas ::wink wink::) and the Awesome Oatmeal Cookies.  Continue reading for the recipes and pictures!