no-bake desserts

4-Ingredient Pretzel Turtles Treats

Store bought caramels pretzel bites are dipped in chocolate and topped with nuts for a super fast, no-bake gooey caramel treat.

“You need to try one of these.”

“Mooooom! You know I can’t eat pretzels. Or caramel. Or nuts.”

“But, you’ve been helping me make them. Your braces will be fine. The warm chocolate totally softens the caramel. You still need to try one. They’re insane.”

“Oh. These are really, really good, mom.”

Yes, yes they are good. And easy. And there’s nothing better than that combo when you’re in a race against Santa’s sleigh.

continue to the recipe… about 4-Ingredient Pretzel Turtles Treats

Spicy Chocolate Bark with Chipotle and Almonds

Sweet treats don’t have to be time consuming. They just have to be good. In my book there’s nothing quite as simple, and definitely not as good, as a decadent, rich chocolate. Hit it with a little Chipotle spice and a salty crunch and man oh man, I go weak in the knees. Sounds like every Valentine’s dream, right?

I’ve had a thing for chocolate bark ever since I featured Gerry of the food blog Foodness Gracious in my Holiday Issue of FoodieCrush magazine. Not only does the guy do savory, he also knows his way around the sweet side of the kitchen.

But that wasn’t the first time I fell hard for his confections. The first time I met Gerry was at The Big Traveling Potluck when he handed me one of his luscious specialty caramels. Let’s just say we started off on a very good foot which left me licking my fingers clean.

continue to the recipe… about Spicy Chocolate Bark with Chipotle and Almonds

Announcing > Cookie Cravings Cookbook and Nutella No-Bake Cookies

Yep, it’s been one of those weeks. As in: Awesome.

It started off with a fantastic weekend when we surprised Smudge and her 7 y.o. bestie with a trip to Vegas for the Tour Concert Debut of her fave Nickelodeon band Big Time Rush. I think I liked the concert as much as she did—hello boy crush? It was hilarious when she put two and two together and figured out—and was SHOCKED—to learn that her “teen idols” were all of 23 years old. Oh, show bizness.

Our visit to the Neon Boneyard was beyond our expectations and a weekend stay at the incredible Loews Lake Las Vegas was followed by an amazing food buffet—and I mean GOOOD as in crab legs, shrimp and champagne galore—at M Las Vegas—a Best-Of suggestion from one of my L.V. resident besties. Thanks Chan!

And then it was straight hone to the big project that’s been filling my weekends and night-times with even more love, more food—definitely not the diet kind—and more laughter.

I’m so excited to announce that I’ve partnered with Maria and Josh of Two Peas and Their Pod to photograph, design and co-publish their first e-Cookbook, Cookie Cravings.

Maria, who the Pioneer Woman herself affectionately calls “The Cookie Queen”, and I met over three years ago and we’ve done several fun projects together, including Maria’s contributing editor duties for Foodie Crush magazine. And I can verify first-hand that the girl can bake cookies.

Maria and Josh have been asked to do cookbooks before but for some reason or another it just didn’t work out. But now they’re sharing their very favorite cookie recipes as well as some delicious, never before published cookie creations.

And lucky me! Maria curated her favorite cookie recipes, and then created some amazing, brand new recipes, and I got to take pics of all of them, design the e-Cookbook and lend my years of publishing expertise to get the project rolling.

We’re so excited to share Cookie Cravings with you. And of course, Maria’s first cookbook is all about cookies, SHE IS THE COOKIE QUEEN, RIGHT?

continue to the recipe… about Announcing > Cookie Cravings Cookbook and Nutella No-Bake Cookies