gimme some oven

Eeks.  I’m super behind on posting this week.  But so excited to share these adorable little cherry cupcakes with you!

Now while I adore fresh cherries, I have to admit that these little cupcakes feature one of my secretly favorite ingredients: maraschino cherries! I know, I know.  They’re soaked in sugar, not in the fresh produce section, yada yada yada….but I admit I still get a pretty excited when they pop up in a drink or some fun dessert.  Hey, all things in moderation, right?  :)

The other fun thing about treating yourself to baking with maraschino cherries is that they’re of course available year-round.  So if I’m craving cherry cupcakes in March???  Voila.  And this cupcake recipe is doubly delicious.  The cake is sweet and light, but the cherry almond frosting is lick-your-lips cherrylicious.  I took these to my small group for some “taste-testing”, and they happily devoured them.  Definitely a winner of a recipe.

So grab a jar of this sweet little indulgence, and enjoy!!!

see recipe for cherry vanilla cupcakes

Hellooooo…pesto!

Was needing a quick and easy appetizer the other day, and (as often seems to be the case) was craving pesto.  So decided to just make a batch of easy pesto stuffed mushrooms!  It is hardly a recipe to post — just mushrooms, your favorite pesto, and you can top them with a variety of little garnishes.  But they were so cute and delicious that I thought they were worth sharing.

I’m counting down the days until I can start growing basil plants again.  Summer is almost here!!!

see recipe for easy pesto stuffed mushrooms

Of course after a rockin’ meal of corned beef, roasted cabbage, soda bread, and three Bailey’s desserts, we of course had a fewwwww leftovers.  :)

This was good news, though, because I was super stoked to make some corned beef hash!  Yep.  It’s not rocket science.  Just leftover corned beef, hashbrowns, onions, and a few fun seasonings to make it super-spectacular.

And oh man.  It was seriously good.  I’m pretty sure that I justified eating the leftovers of the leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  So easy and delicious.  Definitely a great way to continue with your St. Patrick’s Day feasting!

see recipe for corned beef hash

Since I have an exciting wedding to attend on St. Patrick’s Day this year, I actually decided to throw an Irish feast a little early this year!

And of course, the centerpiece of the meal was this delicious classic corned beef and cabbage.  I have to admit that this year was actually my first time making corned beef!  Somehow I have always had other talented friends who have done the cooking in the past.  But since I didn’t plan quite far enough ahead to brine my own beef, I took a shortcut and brought home a pre-corned beef from the store.  And then slow-cooked it to perfection while whipping up some yummy desserts, roasted cabbage, soda bread, and some herbed potatoes as well.

Thankfully, the meal ended up being a great success!!!  The meat was wonderfully seasoned and tender.  And I adored pairing its salty, savory goodness with a simple fruity mustard glaze.  Definitely a great combination that made for a delightful dinner.  (And a yummy leftover recipe that is yet to come!)

Wishing you all lots o’ luck and fun as you make your own Irish feasts this year!  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

see recipe for glazed corned beef