For a chocoholic, there is perhaps no bar more perfect than a brownie. What’s not to love? Crackly edges and a slightly fudgy middle. Certainly, you can use a mix, but I personally feel that making brownies from scratch is almost as easy. Is this a copycat Nestle Toll House Brownie recipe? This recipe is not a copycat. It’s an actual copy of the original. Nestle used to print this recipe on the back of Toll House chocolate chips, right next to their chocolate chip cookie recipe. Thankfully, I cut this from the bag long ago, because at some point

Chocolate Mousse is one of my favorite desserts: delicious, decadent and chocolate. The trifecta! So finding an especially easy version made me deliciously happy! Mousse recipes can take many forms. Some are sweet, others savory. Sweet mousses are typically made with whipped egg whites, whipped cream, or both. Some chocolate mousses call for the addition of egg yolks to give the final product a richer texture. Sometimes the mousse is stabilized with the addition of gelatin. (Wikipedia) I experienced that variety on a trip last year. I went with a group to Madagascar, an island that was part of the

Ah strawberry season! There’s something so special about these beautiful berries filled with sweet juicy goodness. So many berries! So many possibilities! Readers of my blog know that I grew up on a family farm. We grew lots of vegetables, but also strawberries. When you grow strawberries you need some easy desserts to take advantage of the bountiful crop. Another bountiful farm ingredient? Whipping cream, courtesy of Betsy, the cow. For my family, finding both of these food wonders in one dessert was considered a win. This recipe has origins in my mom’s recipe box, but I adapted it with

Cheesecake is one of those wonderful desserts that just works. And it works even better with fresh fruit topping. The only problem is, when fresh fruits and berries are in season, it is typically too hot to make a traditional cheesecake. That’s why this no-bake cheesecake is just the ticket. And it’s a wonderful platform to highlight your favorite fruit of the season. I’ve tried a few different recipes for no-bake cheesecake. It’s probably no surprise that my favorite comes from Martha Stewart. Hers, to me, has a taste and texture closest to traditional, oven-baked cheesecake. Simply delicious😀. How to

Have you heard of Cake Batter Dip? It’s a sweet “dessert” dip that starts with a box of cake mix,  and has many variations. The best one, in my opinion, is Dunkaroo Dip. Remember Dunkaroos? It’s a snack made by Betty Crocker, first launched in 1990. It consists of a snack-sized package containing cookies and frosting. As the name implies, the cookies are meant to be dunked into the frosting before eating. (Wikipedia) Dunkaroos were discontinued in the US in 2012 but continued to be sold in Canada until January 2018, at which point they disappeared there too. Rumor has

The weather is warming up and that means we need another no-bake pie for summertime enjoyment! I crave sweet goodness but don’t want to heat up the kitchen with elaborate baked goods. Enter: Kool-Aid Pie. Only four ingredients, 15 minutes and some time in the fridge.   Kool-Aid memories My childhood summers involved a lot of time outside, a lot of it riding a bike with my friends. My trusty little dog, Esmerelda, would sometimes ride along in the basket on the handlebars. Eventually, we’d get hot, tired and thirsty. A sweet drink was in order. We’d stop at the

For the record: This is not Derby Pie Several years ago, I was introduced to this pie by my friend, Julie. She told me “It’s Derby Pie, but you can’t call it that.” Huh? Turns out the name “derby pie” is a registered trademark of Kern’s Kitchen, the restaurant that first developed it. The recipe is a secret, I mean, a BIG SECRET, and the trademark is diligently (some say over-zealously) guarded. As of 2008 it’s estimated that the company has sued 25 times to protect the trademark. In May 2013, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit digital rights group,

When life gives you lemons . . . Today I continue the lemon theme with a Lemon Layer Cake. Like my Jelly Donut Cake, this recipe uses a box mix for the cake layers and spruces it up with a special lemon filling and lemon-cream cheese frosting. Lemony goodness! Make the lemon curd filling Pick your pan Please don’t overlook this important step. The choice of pan is important. I am very sensitive to “metallic” tastes, and the acidity of lemon juice can cause aluminum cookware to leach metallic aluminum ions into the sauce. Not only will the reaction create

When life gives you lemons Call it what you will: social distancing, quarantines, whatever. At first we all felt united to defeat a common foe. But as the days turn to weeks, many are beginning to feel a bit sour on the whole topic. Well, as the saying goes: when life gives you lemons, make . . . Lemon Meringue Pie! Lemon Meringue Pie is one of the first I learned to make, straight from the Betty Crocker cookbook. It’s perfect for beginners because it’s simple and produces such impressive results! I find the sweet-tart combination of sugar and lemon

With Easter coming, I think spring. And when I think spring, I think fruit. And when I think fruit, I think of fruit-based treats. For many years, it was my tradition to make a Fruit Pizza for Easter. It’s one of those great, easy recipes that everyone loves. And you don’t have to spend hours preparing it. After all, you need time to hunt for those eggs! There are many variations on this recipe. Some people add Cool Whip to the mixture of cream cheese, which sounds interesting but also kind of messy. Some use a homemade cookie dough recipe.

Every spring, I crave strawberries. The craving usually hits before strawberries are actually in season. That’s why I love making this Strawberry Jelly Donut Cake. I get the taste I want from the strawberry filling without worrying about finding those perfect berries. The star of this cake is actually not the cake part. I simply use a box mix for that. What makes it great is the filling layer. I used my raspberry sauce from the meringue hearts recipe as a starting point, and revised it for strawberries. So let’s go through how to make that: Make the strawberry filling

Celebrate Pi March 14 Yay! Make an Apple Pie and be ready for Pi Day! As everyone knows, (does everyone know?) March 14th is Pi Day, a happy coincidence with the number of the month, 3, the number of the day, 14, and Pi, 3.14 (pushing glasses to forehead), the mathematical constant describing the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. (No, there will not be a test at the end of this recipe). And what better pie on Pi day than the all-American favorite: Apple Pi, er, Pie! What kind of apples are best for pie? Apple pies

The birthday of the Girl Scouts is March 12, which brings to mind Girl Scout cookies. This recipe is a wonderful tribute to one of the most popular cookies: Samoas. But this is no cookie recipe, it’s a Samoa Pie. What’s in a name? First, let’s address some lingering confusion. The Samoa cookie is made of a simple shortbread-type cookie smothered in coconut, caramel and chocolate. So good! But, here’s a question: Are you eating a Samoa? Or, is it a Caramel deLite? Perhaps you’ve noticed: Girl Scout Samoas are also called Caramel deLites. The difference in names is because

National Oreo Day is something to celebrate! March 6 is National Oreo day. Now THAT is worth celebrating!! Oreos are my favorite “from a store” cookie. Let’s face it, they’re not easy to replicate at home so I’m not even going to try. Instead, how about combining Oreos with something just as iconic and something made at home such as . . .  Rice Krispie treats! (Cue the peanut gallery: wild applause). Mixing Oreos and Rice Krispie treats makes Oreo Krispies. And after your kids eat them, they’ll be called, “These are FANTASTIC, Mom!” A few Oreo factoids Since this

Happy President’s Day! For some, a holiday. But for everyone, a chance to remember the visionary men who founded this country on principles of democracy, which we try to uphold today. And what better way to commemorate this day than with a pie? But not just any flavor, because – I cannot tell a lie – I love Washington Sweet Cherry Pie. Most every school age child has heard the story of six-year old George Washington, who received a hatchet for his birthday and proceeded to cut down his Father’s favorite cherry tree. When confronted, he reportedly fessed up: “I

Meringue shells, also known as Schaum Tortes, were a staple of my childhood. On our farm we had a steady supply of eggs and cream so when the strawberries were in season these tortes were our go-to dessert. So simple: make a meringue shell and layer that with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream. Easy. And so delicious. I loved them so much I would sometimes just eat the shell, like a big oversized cookie. The shell is extremely light and airy. Beaten egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar. Straight from my Betty Crocker cookbook. It’s the same way you

Tis the season for holiday baking! There’s a  good chance you’ll want to make a pie for either Thanksgiving or Christmas (In my case, both) For many years I used pie crust  from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. It was reliable, and while it wouldn’t win any awards, it was at least decent. Then, something changed. At first I thought maybe I got a bad batch. I bought some more, still it wasn’t right, something had changed with the texture, the look, even the smell was different. Every time I opened a package, I didn’t like what my

November 9 is the anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, a pivotal event in world history. It seems only fitting to mark this occasion with something German. My first thought was to make a sauerkraut meal (“Crickets, crickets. . .”). Then, I switched directions and got a much more enthusiastic reaction: German Chocolate Cake! (“Massive applause, standing ovation!!!. . .”). Ironically, this cake has nothing to do with Germany. In fact, it’s named after its English-American creator, Sam German. It was called Baker’s German Chocolate Cake. But we’ll go with it, anyway. Even without the Germany connection. I

Your favorite candy bar made into a pie With Halloween approaching, get ready for the fun part: leftover candy! If you’re serious about trick-or-treating, there are going to be extras. No one wants to be THAT house, the one that ran out of candy. For shame! So, stock up, hand out the Twizzlers FIRST, and ration the Snickers bars because you’ve got to try this recipe: Snickers Pie, found at thekitchenismyplayground.com. How to make Snickers Pie To start, you’re going to need 1½ cups of chopped Snickers bars. That equates to about 12 so-called “Fun-sized” bars. For the record, I

Apple Crisp is the perfect dessert during apple season! All the tastes of apple pie in a fraction of the time. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream and prepare for the applause!

Everyone loves strawberry shortcake Today’s recipe delivers all the wonderful flavors of strawberry shortcake: fresh strawberries, whipped cream and shortcake, in one package. I found this recipe on crazyforcrust.com and to my great distress the cake looked like a complete failure at one point. In the end, I snatched victory from the (hungry) jaws of defeat. This Strawberry Shortcake Roll was a Bridge Club hit! Normally I wouldn’t post a recipe before getting it right all the way through, but people from the neighborhood Bridge Club are clamoring (“Clamor! Clamor!”) for the recipe, and I am here to deliver! The

Lemonade is for summer Is there anything more refreshing on a hot summer day than lemonade? It’s tart, sweet, thirst-quenching (and I swear it cools body temperature) all at once. I love it! No-bake pies are an easy choice That made this recipe an easy choice: a no-bake pie with the flavors of lemonade. This is another super-easy pie that requires very few ingredients, and the result looks like you labored from dusk til dawn. Note: While Lemonade Pie is not a labor-intensive recipe, planning ahead is essential since preparation for this cool confection includes four hours of defrost time