Orange Cranberry Cupcakes

Photo by Katie Sechrist

I was in a cooking rut, and my style had gone stale when I came across this gem in a cooking magazine.  Orange Cranberry Cupcakes...the perfect mixture of fall and winter fruits!  I'm a huge fan of citrus cupcakes (lemon and orange are my faves!) and I had a 5lb bag of frozen cranberries leftover from a failed Cranberry Lemon Loaf attempt.

Cookie Dough Cake Balls

Photo by Matt Sechrist

Happy Birthday to my sweet Kaylen!  For years I made intricate cakes with fondant, butterflies, zebra stripes, glitter, and with enough layers to feed 50 people for an 8-person birthday party.  I'm a little relieved those days are over, although it was an expectation from nobody but myself to spend 8 hours on a birthday cake.  As it turns out, Kaylen is happy with ice cream sundaes and cake balls!

Mississippi Roast

Photo by Katie Kay

At 3 minutes of prep time, this Mississippi Roast is hands-down the fastest prep recipe in my entire collection.  Kaylen timed me with an actual stopwatch from start to finish.  I started with a clear counter, although to be fair I knew exactly where everything was in the pantry.  No time was wasted rummaging!  I felt like I was on a shopping spree though.  I don't think I've ever unwrapped a 3lb slab of meat so quickly.
The first time I made this, Matt raved and raved about it.  I've made numerous roasts before using a wide variety of recipes and this one was absolutely amazing in flavor.  So tender, delicious, and juicy! 

Baked Gnocchi with Bacon, Tomato and Mozzarella

Photo by Katie Kay

I love Diane Lane, and I find myself so envious of her pretend lives when I watch any of her movies (except Unfaithful.  Or Perfect Storm.)  
Nights in Rodanthe made me positively yearn to open a Bed & Breakfast on the East Coast and the yearning hasn't faded since the movie came out.  Under the Tuscan Sun made me fantasize about dropping everything and buying a villa in Tuscany.  I'd wear billowy white shirts and sandals as I drank deep red wine and cooked rich Italian food from scratch.

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle

Photo by Katie Kay

Okay, okay, you asked for it!  Literally.  Tammy, this is mostly for you.  I found this recipe when I was trying to come up with a non-cake dessert for a friend's birthday.  And since we all know my three favorite things to toss down the hatch are wine, peanut butter, and chocolate, this was a no-brainer.  The gooey brownies, imperfect broken chunks of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, creamy peanut butter, the sweet caress of chocolate pudding and whipped cream...

Spicy Corn Dip

Photo by Katie Kay

I've been cooking.  I really have, but not nearly as much as I used to and I definitely haven't been photographing or sharing recipes.  Honestly, life has been exhausting and for the first time in the past 10 years I feel like I can barely keep up.  I'm looking forward to summer when my commute is better due to lighter traffic and the kids don't have hours of homework every night.  
Still, some things remain constant.  My loving family is still my priority, and cooking in my kitchen with a glass of wine is still my happiest place in the world.  (Tonight's wine:  Educated Guess.)
Dips and desserts are my favorite things to make, and I have a plethora of new ones to share with you!  I've been trying them out on my friends and family for the last several months and you can trust that these are going to be party-worthy.  

My Brazilian Feast

photo by Katie Kay

My family moved to Brazil when I was 11.  I'll never forget the year, because it's about the only thing I still remember how to say in Portuguese.  1992: mil novecentos noventa e dois.  I may be spelling it wrong, but I know I'm close.  That's about the extent of what I remember of Portuguese, especially because Spanish is so much more common here, and now I get the 2 confused.  
Being 11-12 years old in a foreign country is tough on a shy girl with no social skills, so I have this weird mental block about so much of the year we spent there.  It's amazing the things my toddler sister retained, and I think my parents still speak the language fairly well!  Impressive.  I think the only thing that wasn't repressed in my mind was the food.  Oh my...the food.  My entire family looks back with fondness so recently I invited my parents over for a Brazilian feast.  I did my best to replicate some of my most memorable Brazilian dishes.  I think most were wildly successful with the exception of 1.  
Sadly. this entire day was filled with so much work that picture-taking was almost out of the question.  Besides, when you've slaved in the kitchen for 10 hours and you're serving a 5-course meal, you worry more about the timing of the food being ready than stopping everything to snap a photo while trying to find good lighting.  So I only have photos of 2 recipes, although I'll share them all with you today.

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze

photo by Katie Kay

Goodbye, summer!  September is almost over and we're officially into fall, which means skinny jeans, knee-boots, and cute sweaters with trendy scarves, right?  Not so much.  We've had a couple of random 75 degree days, but for the most part it's still warm and sticky.  The mosquitoes are in paradise.

So these summery Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes still seem perfectly weather-appropriate, and they are perfect for a pool party, BBQ, or any outdoor, backyard soiree.  This idea of putting a glaze on the cupcake before frosting them came from a website I love (credit below) and I've started using this with fabulous success.

"Better Than Sex" Chex Mix

Photo by Katie Kay

Better than sex?  Someone's getting a little carried away if you ask me.  But hey, I didn't invent the name.  I just copied it!  And if it grabbed your attention and made you even a little bit Herbal Essences curious about this snack, then it worked!

Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Photo by Katie Kay

My favorite desserts are made of peanut butter and chocolate.  Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake, and Peanut Butter Fudge Brownie Trifle are only a few of my favorite classics.  Another way I like to add a few calories to my ice cream is to scoop chocolate ice cream into a bowl, then microwave a tablespoon or 2 of creamy peanut butter, then drizzle the melted peanut butter over my cold ice cream.  YUMMAAY!  This is a flavor combination that kills every time!  Of course I feel like Chris Farley in Tommy Boy (I can hear myself getting fatter) but it's totally worth the calories.

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Photo by Katie Kay

I've been craving Lemon Blueberry for a month.  There's something about it that screams BRING IT ON, SPRING!  We've had an unseasonably long winter and I'm more than ready for toasty heat, short shorts, and flip flops.  What better way to prepare my body for those short shorts than to whip up 30 cupcakes 2 weeks in a row?  Exactly.

Shrimp & Crab Tomato Basil Soup

Photo by Katie Kay

Every time I go to HEB I stop by the free sample booths.  My favorite one is the Cooking Connection island where the guy with the microphone makes it fresh and serves you a little plastic Jello shot cup full of wine while you stand there with your mini plate and mini fork.  
And I'm not just a free-loader.  They love me there!  I see the same guy every time, and I always chat him up.  If I don't love the sample enough to purchase the ingredients, I'll make sure I mention a great recipe he made last week and tell him how awesome it was.  Then he feels happy and filled with purpose, I get free food, and we all walk away satisfied.

Ropa Vieja (or spicy, saucy beef!)

Photo by Katie Kay

The first time I ever had Ropa Veija was at Mission Burrito.  I had no idea what it was, but the lady behind the counter told me it was "spicy beef with more flavor" and I never looked back.  In fact, when Mission Burrito by my office started running out every time I tried to get some, I stopped going! Then they closed down that location.  Hmm.
Then Matt came home one day with a recipe some guy made at a party he went to and said, "you have to try this, it's called Ropa Vieja!"  Um, you mean this wasn't just a made-up name Mission Burrito gave their saucy beef?  It's actually a thing people know about?

Dark Chocolate "Black Tar Heroine" Espresso Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

Remember when I said I wasn't going to bake any more chocolate and peanut butter, and I was going to start baking for Spring?  Well--call me Miley Cyrus, but I can't stop.  I won't stop.  Around here, we love chocolate like David Hasslehoff loves a good cheeseburger.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

Am I slightly disappointed that I've baked my way through a 3lb bag of miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and now I don't have a valid reason to bake, eat and share more peanut buttery chocolateness?

Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

Photo by Katie Kay

The path that led me to these Blondies was a beautiful, complicated, calorie-laden adventure that began and ended with a giant 2 1/2 pound bag of Miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and had a whole lot of awesomeness in-between.

Simple Tomato Sauce with Pasta

Photo by Katie Kay

Some of my favorite Italian dishes are some of the most simplistic ones with very few ingredients.  I love this sauce made of good quality canned tomatoes, garlic, and basil.  The first time I made it I served it with my own homemade pasta and it was restaurant-worthy.  Truly fabulous.  I bought bagged linguine noodles this time, and they looked like they might taste fresher than pasta in a box.  They were still excellent, even if they weren't homemade.

Caramel French Toast

Photo by Katie Kay

Take note, this is an overnight French Toast recipe, so don't look at the pretty pictures without reading the recipe, then wake up at 8am in the morning with big promises to little kids, thinking you can whip up some of this sticky sweet goodness!  You'll be about 8 hours short.
I don't like cooking in the kitchen once I've already entered my evening relaxation time.  Once dinner is done and the kitchen is clean with lights off, I want to leave it that way.  But thankfully this recipe prepares quickly, and from start to fridge it only took me about 20 minutes with minimal mess.  It was an easy recipe to make, especially the caramel.  I hadn't heard of a caramel recipe that calls for dumping everything in a pan and cooking it all at once, but it turned out dark, thick, and perfectly sweet.

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

These Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies are so soft and gooey.  When they first come out of the oven, they'll fall out of your fingers and into the bottom of your glass of milk if you try eating them too early.  Which I did.  And I'd do it again.
If you're patient and don't eat them all in the first 5 minutes after their exit from the oven, then you can enjoy how soft they stay for days.  I'm not saying I serve old cookies, but if I have cookies in my cookie jar and you eat one without asking me (you know who you are), that's at your own risk.  It's not my fault if they're old.  As long as they taste fresh--which these do--who cares?
Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups flour 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 16oz semisweet chocolate, chopped 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla 2 tsp instant espresso powder 10 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup sugar 1 bag semisweet or milk chocolate chips
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Whisk gently, then set aside.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until smooth, then set aside.
Crack eggs into a small bowl and stir with fork.  Add vanilla and espresso powder and set aside to dissolve.
In a mixer bowl, cream butter until smooth.  Add sugars and beat for 45 seconds.  At a low speed, slowly add egg mixture until combined.  Drizzle the chocolate in at low speed and scrape sides of bowl with a spatula until combined.  Slowly add dry ingredients and mix only until incorporated.  Add chocolate chips and stir by hand.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 30 minutes until consistency is like fudge and you can scoop it with a spoon.
At this point, you can refrigerate or freeze it.  I froze it and cooked off small batches over a few weeks with excellent results.
Preheat oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Source:  Baking Illustrated

Thanksgiving / Fall Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

Theme cookies are so much fun!  I wanted to make Halloween cookies but never had the time.  I was very motivated this weekend and stayed up way too late a few nights in a row working on these Thanksgiving / Fall cookies.  I had no reason to make them other than to share them with you, and the whole time I wondered where I was going to offload all this sugar.  My kids' teachers, Matt's co-workers, and my co-workers are getting an even distribution.  The neighbors are tired of my cooking, I'm sure.  I don't want to wear out that welcome.