Baking Fool!

I've been a baking fool lately. I blame little Miss Walker as she definitely has a sweet tooth, much to Mr. Diva's delight. Over the holidays, I made Martha's oatmeal cookies as I was on the prowl for a classic oatmeal cookie recipe. I had high hopes for this recipe since it called for golden raisin, which is an pantry essential here at Chez Diva. I opted to add a bit of crushed Heath Bar because I'm telling you this little girl loves her sweets. This is a nice recipe, but doesn't need the addition of the candy bar. Sad I know! I would suggest pulling these out of the oven at about 11-12 minutes to make these cookies soft and perfect. 14 was just a little too crunchy for me. Coming up: Mr. Diva's newest obsession...cookie dough balls!

Manning never misses a pass at baked goods!

A few months ago I made the always delicious Cypress Bran muffins. Imagine my surprise when the little Man ate 9 of 12 muffins. I was only clued in when I heard him whining that he couldn't reach the last 3! Well fast forward to this weekend, where I was testing a Jalapeno Beer Bread a friend had sent me. I had devoured a tasty slice before I hunkered down with a new book. A little while later Mr. Diva came upstairs to inform me that Manning had devoured 1/2 of my fresh loaf! It seems our little Man has a taste for the fresh baked goodness. With these cold temps, I could hardly blame him.

Sundays with Manning

I met the lovely Amy Miller back in October at a family wedding. As we were talking life, I discovered that she painted pet portraits. I immediately grabbed her card in hopes that she could do a portrait of Manning for Mr. Diva's Christmas present.



Well I couldn't be more thrilled! As you can see, Amy did an amazing job. The process was pain free and once complete, she sends the portrait with framing instructions. It really couldn't be any easier. While you're sitting there drinking your morning cup of tea, send her a few of your favorite pet pics and see what see can do!

Diva Delight: Wooden Spoons

A few weeks before Christmas, a friend blogged about these fabulous spoons. I'm always happy to toss out the plastic or non-stick anything, so they were a quick addition to my Christmas list. Of course, I've used wooden spoons for years, but they were more along cheap lines like this one. I hadn't really thought about expanding my collection to spatulas and scrapers.

Thankfully, there were 4 spoons waiting under the tree for me Christmas morning compliments of my fabulous sister. They were in assorted woods, which was even more fun. I was most excited to get the slotted spoon, especially since I had never really seen one quite like it. I've enjoyed cooking up lots of tasty fare with them over the past few weeks and suggest you do the same.

A flurry of activities

Manning saw his first snow this weekend. He was slipping and sliding trying to keep up with it. It was definitely a sight to be seen. He's now prowling outside looking for all his toys buried underneath the snow. Brrr!



On another proud note, Manning had his 2nd kill yesterday morning...a little field mouse. No pictures, but I couldn't be happier. Who needs d-Con with a puppy around!

It's a Gooey holiday season!

Given all the weddings in the Diva family, I thought it would be fun to put all of our family recipes together in a book. I headed over to Tastebook and got to work. One big perk about this website over others is that the book is spiral bound, which means we can always add more recipes in for those stragglers who didn't make the deadline or new delicious must include recipes that crop up later. I'll post the book after Christmas since it's going to be sitting under the tree for a few of my fabulous family members. In the meantime, I'll give you a tasty recipe tease.

It's been fun getting everyone to send over their favorites. Most are family staples,but a few others were surprises. The Gooey Bars were a long forgotten dessert from my great aunt, Mama Sister, that I recently made to rave reviews. You can't go wrong with cake batter and more butter!

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese
½ t vanilla
1 box confectioners sugar, reserve some for garnish

Directions:
Mix cake mix, 1 egg and butter. Press into a 9 x 13 pan. Mix cream cheese, remaining eggs, vanilla and sugar for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Pour over cake mixture. Cook 25-30 minutes at 325. When cooled dust with remaining confectioners sugar and cut into bars.

Apple Slab

I've been trying lots of recipes lately, but haven't had too many worth posting until now. A few weeks ago, I made Beantown Baker's Apple Slab. It's advertised as the portable apple pie. Given that it's made in a 9 x 13 Pyrex, you can cut this slab into brownie size portions and top with ice cream or whip cream at will. It's a tasty alternative to your All-American apple pie though I wonder if you could just get by with store bought dough, which would make this dessert a definite repeat. These days I'm all about the best flavor for the least amount of work.