Have you ever seen a strawberry tart that didn’t look delicious?  It’s one of those summertime desserts that always tempts me.  A hybrid of a couple of other recipes, this one packs some surprise flavor:  a touch of orange. Begin by making my basic shortbread crust.  Allow to cool completely. Spread about 1/3 cup of [...]

This is the basic shortbread recipe I use whenever I need a shortbread crust. It turns out every time. Whip 1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter until it’s nearly white in color, light and creamy. Add 1/2 cup sugar and a teaspoon vanilla and whip again. Sift together 2 cups baking flour and 1/4 [...]

My mom recommended this recipe to me recently, and when I needed to take dessert somewhere at the last minute, I went for it.  It’s a Betty Crocker recipe, but we saw it on Bakerella’s site. You could easily make this recipe from scratch, but I didn’t.  After all, I was looking for something quick [...]

Since my family likes chocolate, coconut and peanut butter, these bars are always a hit. I don’t know that any of them would say that they like those three things together, but somehow these bars are a great blend of the flavors.  Here’s the recipe: Triple Layer Bars Crust: 1 1/4 cups flour 2/3 cup [...]

This dessert has become one that I love to serve when we have guests.   It’s quick and simple but elegant too. It’s made with pound cake, strawberries, vanilla ice cream, homemade chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Most of the time I just buy Costco’s package of 3 loaves of poundcake, but you could substitute angel [...]

I begin this recipe with a disclaimer.  I had no recipe for these peanut butter cups.  I just felt like making some and they happened to turn out.  They were creamy in the middle, and everyone seemed to like them, so hopefully the simple nature of the recipe will work for you, too. In a [...]

Remember this picture?  Here’s how I came to try this cake. Fifteen years ago I was a missionary serving in the Washington Tacoma area.  Just before Thanksgiving I was transferred to the city of Auburn WA.  There it was my pleasure to meet a young couple expecting their first baby.  Their lives impressed me and [...]

For FHE on Monday night, I decided to try a different variation on our favorite homemade frozen yogurt recipe. Delicious, and healthier than the recipe I’ve been using, this  batch contained no additional sugar. Here’s what I threw together. Lemon Frozen Yogurt 2 containers (32 ounces each) lemon yogurt 2 cups half and half juice [...]

This is a quick, yummy popcorn treat.  Salty and sweet.   A spin-off of some other recipes of mine, it was fun to fiddle with.  This is a nice variation on your typical candied popcorn. Begin by popping 8-10 cups of plain popcorn. In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter with 1/2 cup sugar and [...]

This week we tried a new flavor in our homemade frozen yogurt recipe. I love this recipe because it’s so very simple.  Three ingredients:  yogurt, sugar, half and half.  The peach flavor has been a hit with everyone.  We like to make homemade frozen yogurt because it’s a little lighter than ice cream, and we [...]