Hello Dolly Bars

More sugary treats coming your way! It’s okay though. I can justify it because the holidays are upon us! Especially since these are one of my all time favorite desserts, then again, I probably say that about most desserts. But seriously, these do have an extra special place in my heart because these bars were one of the very first things I ever learned how to bake. I used to make them for our girl scouts’ bake sale. Let me explain. In Nicaragua we didn’t sell girl scout cookies like the ones you have here, instead we sold real cookies made by girl scouts. In my opinion, our cookies are better than some samoas in a box but hey, what do I know?

I made these hello dolly bars for our bake sales, and they were a best seller. I should mention, that they produce the most amazing aroma when they are baking.

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Cinnamon and Chocolate Chip Rugelach Cookies

Remember that cookie swap I was telling you about, this is what I made. It’s a great treat for the holiday season, or any season for that matter. They are fairly small as well, meaning you can eat three of them and not hate yourself for it. Such a win.

The cookie swap turned out to be a whole lot of fun. I must have tested a dozen cookie recipes in the last few months. I’m stocked with cookie dough for the winter. This recipe was one of my absolute favorites. They were easy to make, relatively inexpensive to make and they held up really well after several days without refrigeration.

Still Alive and Dulce de Leche Thumbprint Cookies!

I can’t believe how long it has been since I’ve been on here. Once I started my fall quarter I just didnt have a moment to stop and think about the blog. I’ve been juggling school and travel. I spend Monday through Thursday with my nose in a book, and then I jump on a train to San Diego for the weekend where I forget about school, books, emails and other technology of that sort. Having a long distance relationship is tough but we are lucky enough to be only be 2 hours away. That’s why I’ve been traveling every weekend, and blogging fell by the wayside in the process. But now I’m back! At least kind of… I’ll be back more fully on Dec. 8th, once I’m done with my first quarter at UCLA!

Now to the important stuff: COOKIES!!!

Quick Cinnamon Buns

I love making cinnamon buns as a house warming to ourselves. We have done a lot of moving recently and we will continue to for the next month. This weekend we are moving out of one apartment, and in a couple of weeks we will be moving into the next. When I saw this recipe I immediately thought of the cinnamon buns I’ll be making when we are finally done with all the moving. Of course, I had to make sure that they were up to snuff, so I had a great excuse to make them.

A very tall chocolate cake

I’ve always loved to read food blogs and that is what inspired me to start my own. The Smitten Kitchen was the first food blog that I started reading. Seeing her beautiful pictures and delicious recipes really pushed me to a whole other level of cooking. I found myself with dozens of tabs open, all of recipes I was dying to try. In the last two years I have made a large number of the recipes seen on smitten kitchen and I have rarely been disappointed by them. Since I’ve been writing my own blog I’ve been seeking food inspiration in other places aside from the blogs I typically read. I want to find my own style and try new things aside from those that I see on other people’s blogs but every once in a while I see a recipe that I can’t resist. This chocolate cake was one of those. Sam and I made this right around the time of his graduation. We figured that the momentous event deserved celebrating, and what a better way to celebrate than with a huge chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese filling, yeah you heard me correctly.