Christmas Baking used to be a huge tradition for me.  I would spend two weekends making so many different varieties of treats, candies, bars, and cookies.  Friends and family would anxiously await their treat packages each year, all having their favorites tucked inside.  Lately, I haven't made quite the extravaganza I did in the past, but what is Christmas without a little baking?

We love oatmeal cookies.  We also love almost anything with apples and cinnamon in them.  So when we had more apples from the apple orchard than I knew what to do with, I thought making apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies sounded like a great idea.  My husband apparently thought so.

Lately I have found myself staring at my kitchen counter, wondering what on earth to do with all the apples we got from the apple orchard!  I wanted something easy that had a caramel apple flavor. Voila!

I hear the words 'summertime', 'kids' and 'dessert' and I immediately think ice cream.  I'm sure my kids do too.  I have to admit, there's always a gallon or two in our freezer.  Lately, however, I've wanted to find a dessert that they're excited about having and I'm excited about giving them.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend.  As the wife of a veteran, we live this day (and Veteran's Day) in remembrance of those who have served and are serving our country.

When my kids look back on their childhood they'll remember a lot of things, but I would think one memory that stands out would be our kitchen.

My oldest daughter loves to cook, but her real passion is baking.  Almost every weekend our home is filled with wonderful smells of homemade cookies, mini pies from my new Babycakes Cupcake Maker, or some other delectable treat.

As a child, I was actually not a big fan of cupcakes.  They were alright, but there were other desserts I would pick over cupcakes.  As an adult, I have a much different viewpoint.

Actually, I always called them Millionaire Rice Krispie Bars.  Because in my chocolate and peanut butter loving world, these taste like a million bucks!

In our household, birthday cakes aren't chocolate, vanilla, or marble.  They're carrot cakes.  This is a tradition that I started as a kid when I fell in love with my stepmother's carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  Every year thereafter (even into my 20's!) she would make me a carrot cake for my birthday.  When I finally asked her for the recipe, I was a little surprised that it wasn't some vintage Grandmother recipe hidden in a recipe box somewhere.  Nope, it was straight out of Better Homes and Gardens.  I've been using it ever since.