simply delicious strawberry cake {or don’t follow stupid cake instructions when you know they’re wrong}

My little grandgirl Chloe requested all things strawberry for her 4th birthday party. I decided only the best would do, and went online to look for an amazing strawberry cake recipe with strawberry frosting. Paula Deen’s recipe is highly praised by almost everyone who’s made it. And it’s pretty much exactly the same no matter…

hawaiian cheese ball {the big kahuna}

This cheese ball is completely creamy, bacony, pineapply and delicious! If you don’t like coconut, you can coat it with chopped Macadamia nuts instead. It’s great either way! We enjoyed our cheese ball with Food Should Taste Good’s Sweet Potato Chips. They’re slightly sweet and are an awesome vehicle for scooping up the amazing cheese.…

{just like panera’s} creamy tomato soup

A couple weeks ago, Gracie and I enjoyed an afternoon on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. We perused the shelves of Barnes & Noble, bought some books, and had lunch at Panera. I had the Mediterranean Vegetable Sandwich (ohmygosh! that tomato basil bread is to die for!) and chips, and Grace had half of a turkey…

homemade candy bars

This recipe is loosely adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow’s recipe for healthy candy bars that I discovered in her awesome book, It’s All Good. Her original recipe calls for 1/2 cup shredded coconut in addition to the rest of the ingredients, and I opted to omit it. She adds coconut oil to the chocolate topping, and…