Trip to Las Vegas!!

Hi everyone! Last weekend I had the opportunity to fly to Las Vegas, Nevada with my aunt and uncle and my sister. I had an amazing time walking around and seeing the beautiful architecture of each hotel, although by the end of the trip my feet were killing me! I filmed our trip and put together a little montage of the our visit and put it on Youtube. Hope you like it :)

Also, here's a few pictures:

Paris!

Worlds Largest Chocolate Fountain!

Madam Tussauds! 

 *Best food I've ever had. We ate a a restaurant called Wolfgang Puck. I'm definitely going to go back to this place!

BYEE!!

Haley

Valentine's Day Pretzels

Hi everybody! Today I have a new sweet delicious treat I'd like to share with you. I like to call them sweet pretzels but all it is, is pretzels covered in almond bark and some nuts mixed in. Over the years some of my family member have made recipes like this but with white chocolate and it's amazing. I like to use almond bark because it gives it a different flavor than the white chocolate. I have made these pretzels in the past and my family loved them so they didn't last very long in my house. Recently, my sister has enjoyed making them, so we decided to make some Valentines themed ones. Hope you will like them to because I love them! Now on to the recipe!

What you will need:

Bag of small pretzels

Almond bark

Sprinkles (optional)

Red food coloring

Parchment paper

To begin, melt the almond bark in a microwave safe bowl at 30 second intervals until melted. Separate the melted almond bark into two separate bowl ( I left one white and colored the other red which made it a little pink). Add a handful of pretzels, coat them in the bark and place on the parchment paper. Continue this, then add sprinkles while the bark is still melted on the top of each pretzel. Let the Pretzels cool at room temperature, then Enjoy!

Hope you guys like the recipe and be on the look out for more recipes! 

- Haley

Mini Apple Crumble Pies

Hey everybody! Apple pies are one of my top favorite desserts. Last week I really wanted an apple pie but I didn't have any ready made pie crust at home. I looked online for pie crust recipes but didn't really like any of them, then I had an idea. I have a recipe for mini pecan tarts (I might do a blog post about the recipe) which I absolutely love because they taste amazing and are very easy to make. For the recipe it lists the ingredients for the dough and I thought why not use it for my mini apple crumble pies. Turns out it works perfectly for this recipe! 

Here's what you will need:

For the Dough:

3 oz. softened cream cheese

3/4 cup softened butter

1 1/8 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

For the Filling:

2 apples peeled and diced (I used honeycrisp and fuji)

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

For the Topping:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup softened butter

1/4 cup oats (optional)

Directions:

In a medium size bowl, beat cream cheese and butter, then stir in flour and salt until the dough is formed. Spray a 12 tin muffin tin with non-stick spray then evenly separate the dough into the twelve cups, pressing the dough to form a cup, set aside. For the filling, add the diced apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl and stir until evenly coated. Spoon the filling into each cup. For the topping, in a separate bowl add the butter, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and oats, and mix until a crumble texture is formed (this may take awhile). Add a generous amount of the topping to each cup. Bake at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Let rest on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Serve hot with ice cream and Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Haley

My Grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary

Exactly 50 years ago, on December18, 1965 my Grandparents got married in a small church in Robert, Louisiana. Sometimes I wish I was born in their generation just to see them when they were younger. Looking at pictures just doesn't do it justice. Ahh to be young and in love...At one point during the party my Paw Paw (Doug) told the story of the first time he saw my Maw Maw (Emily).  He showed up to my maw maw's house and she was outside with her then boyfriend. Little did he know that my paw paw would soon steal her heart away (and boy am I glad he did).  My family held a party to celebrate the occasion and it could not have turned out any better. Everyone raved about the party and said everything was beautiful which made me and everyone who helped prepare and decorate feel good.

I was most excited that I got to make the cake.  At first I had no clue how I was going to decorate it and felt lost but two days before the party my sister and I came up with a design plan. I knew from the start that I didn't want to use fondant. Yes, it makes cakes look pretty, but most people agree that it doesn't taste that great. I used icing instead, which everyone thought tasted amazing. For the icing, all I used was crisco, powdered sugar, almond flavoring, and a dash of almond milk. It came out very light and fluffy. I absolutely loved the way it turned out. I have made a few cakes in the past and this one tops out as the best one I've done so far. Most of all, my grandparents and everyone loved it, which is all that matters.

Here's to another 50 years.

Haley

Rosedown Plantation - St. Francisville, Louisiana

A few weeks ago,  I visited the Rosedown Plantation in St. Fancisville, Louisiana with some of my family. Although it was raining all day, it was one of the best and fun days I've had had in awhile. Before visiting the plantation, we ate lunch at a little cafe called the Magnolia Cafe in St. Francisville. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was very inviting. I will definitely be going back sometime in the near future. 

From what I can remember I've  never visited a plantation home before, needless to say, I was blown away with how beautiful this place was. It was very extravagant, symmetrical and Victorian like. We toured the house and learned about the family that used to live there in the 1800s, and what it was like to live there during that time period. It was very interesting to hear about and to picture what it was like then. Because it was raining, I didn't get to see all of the gardens, but here a a few pictures of what I did see. Hopefully I will go back soon to see more!

                              Haley

Jam Filled Christmas Cookies

It's Christmas time!!! I love the holidays, especially listening to christmas music, baking and enjoying family time. The absolute best part though is getting to eat sweets and pastries. I was recently watching one of Tanya Burr's Christmas videos where she was making mince pies and other goodies, which inspired me to make my own cookies. What I love most about this recipe is how easy it is to make.

What you'll need:

1 Pack of pie crust

Your choice of jam (I used Strawberry and Apple)

1 Tbsp butter, melted

Pinch of sugar

Powdered Sugar for topping

Cookie Cutters

Parchment Paper

Baking Tray

Start by taking the pie crust out of the freezer and letting thaw, then take both sides of the dough and make a ball. On a floured surface, roll out the dough until it's about an 1/8" thick, then cut out an even number of cookies and place them on the parchment paper. Now make a whole in the center of half of the cookies (these will be the top portion of the cookies). Spoon about a teaspoon of any type of jam in the center of the cookie (without the whole) and then place the one with the whole on top. (I used less than a teaspoon when I did these so I think using a whole teaspoon would turn out better.) Take a fork and press down all of the sides of the pastry. Next, brush the top of the cookies with the melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake on 370 F for about 15 minutes. When they are done dust some powdered sugar on top. I find they are best eaten when still hot/warm served with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Happy Baking!

Haley