I have one kid who doesn’t like chocolate, especially chocolate cookies. I don’t get it, honestly. I’m one of those people who craves a rich, chocolate flavor in baked goods. I like vanilla and caramel, but chocolate is where it’s at for me. That’s why I set out to make a really solid chocolate cookie recipe!

These Double Chocolate Drop Cookies came into my life during the holiday season. I was tired of all the traditional Christmas cookies and wanted a different recipe. One that made a delicious cookie, but with chocolate as the star flavor….

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For years, I’ve resisted making the ever so popular Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie. I really don’t know why I waited. Now I’m kicking myself that this simple dessert didn’t make it into my life sooner.

Thanks to The Weeknight Dessert Cookbook by Mary Yonkin, I am now a skillet cookie fan. I’ve made the recipe from her cookbook 4 times in the past month, each time changing up the flavor of chocolate chips based on what ingredients I have in my pantry. Everyone I’ve served this dessert to has raved and it’s been gobbled up in minutes. …

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Dear friend,

Hello and happy Memorial Day! We just returned home from spending the weekend in Iowa celebrating our niece Allison’s high school graduation. In Iowa, they do HUGE parties for high school graduation. It wasn’t that way in Southeast Kansas where I grew up and I don’t think it’s this way here in Kansas City, but in Iowa it’s a grand event.

My sister-in-law planned a wonderful party and it was the best way to kick off summer. There was lots of great food, fun outdoor lawn games, kitten cuddling, and catching up with friends and family. It was hotter than normal but it was a great event. …

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Friends, this year has been so hard, hasn’t it? It seems not a week goes by where there isn’t some unthinkable tragedy. From the devastating hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico, massive wildfires in California, to the horrible mass shootings in Las Vegas and now Texas, my heart is breaking over and over again. It’s hard to not feel overwhelmed and sad all the time.

Our family has been doing more volunteer work than normal, making hygiene kits for hurricane victims, participating in diaper drives, donating money and more. There are so many needs all over and often it’s hard to feel like we are making a difference at all….

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When I was first married I was a horrible cook. Well, I take that back…maybe I wasn’t such a horrible cook, but was working 60+ hour work weeks and didn’t have the time or desire to cook. Even so, things were pretty bad. When we’d have company I’d make Hamburger Helper (Chicken Helper if I was feeling extra fancy), canned green beans and an easy eclair dish for dessert. I don’t really remember much of what my husband and I would actually eat for dinner as newlyweds, but I guarantee it wasn’t much better.

After Jacob was born, I was still working, but from home and much less. I had more time to focus on “domestic” tasks, and I think because of a hope and prayer for a wife who would actually cook meals, my husband bought me my first KitchenAid mixer. Up until that point, if I made cookies, it was always using store bought dough. I just didn’t have the time or the desire to make cookies from scratch. Nick LOVES cookies and grew up in a household where homemade cookies were a daily thing. I decided to embrace my husbands love for cookies and began baking….

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Awards season is here, and if you are like me, it’s one of your favorite times of the year. I love all the fancy red carpet dresses, dishing on the drama at the awards ceremonies, and all the acceptance speeches. But most of all, I love the movies. There’s something about this time of year and all the incredible movies being highlighted that makes me happy. What I wouldn’t give for a whole week to catch up on all the “bests” up for nomination!

One of my favorite parties to attend every year is my friend Mary’s Academy Awards party. We play Oscar Bingo, gossip about all the red carpet fashion, and eat lots of amazing food. This year, I plan on making these Salted Caramel Cappuccino Sandwich Cookies. Mary’s party is just a tad fancy, just like these cookies. They aren’t over the top or too difficult to make, but they are definitely worthy of an Oscar party event!…

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One of Nick’s sisters lives in an Amish town. Every time we visit, I’m convinced we need to move away from the city, give up modern technology, and live the life of the Amish.

Then I remember I’m a blogger and 75% of my job requires a super fast internet connection, electricity and all things non-Amish. But still, with every horse drawn carriage I see hitched to a pole at the corner market, every yard we pass with clothes drying in the wind, and every hard working family I notice working out in their garden, I get a little twinge of wistfulness for a simpler life….

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Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, which means it’s time to start thinking about what delicious treats you will bake up for your loves this year.

My kids absolutely love S’mores. There is nothing better than sitting around a campfire in the summer, roasting marshmallows, adding chocolate, and pressing them in between two graham crackers. The only problem is, as much as we all love S’mores, for us they are mostly a summer/fall treat. We never have outdoor fire pits in the winter months, which means our S’mores fix never really happens when it’s bitter cold outside.

I was trying to figure out a way to turn my kids favorite treat into something they could enjoy when it’s not outdoor fire pit season. How excited would they be if I surprised them with S’Mores in the middle of winter? I set out to figure out a way to turn our favorite summertime treat into something special for Valentine’s Day….

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