Gingerbread House Cookies

Last Christmas I spotted these cookie cutters in the holiday section of my local grocery store. I had to have one. I couldn't wait to make mini houses and I love the simple genius and efficiency of this cutter. Even though it was only $5, I'm a cheapskate and I was on a tight budget last holiday season (who isn't) and was trying to be really good about impulse purchases. So I passed on them. Then a week or two past Christmas, I was browsing through the clearance bin of that same store and discovered there were 3 of these cutters left, priced 75% OFF. OK, that was it, I couldn't resist. I snatched them up. Then sat a waited, a whole year, to try the recipe, post it for all of you AND. . . give the two extra cutters away. Yep, two lucky readers can have one of these all for themselves. Wahoo. But first, check out how cute these little houses turned out. . .

Marshmallow Cheesecake

You know during the holidays when a good friend calls and invites your whole family over for diner and since you've been crazy busy this is totally what you need, a no-brainer dinner for the fam? So you accept. And because she a good friend you say "What can I bring?" And you're friend says "Just bring a dessert. Something fabulous." And she says this because you write a food blog and kinda have a reputation for fabulous desserts. But fabulous desserts take fabulous amounts of time to become fabulous. And you've been working extra hours at work because they're shorthanded and because you could use the extra cash at the holidays. Your house is a wreck, the kids have no clean clothes and the last thing you have is time to make a fabulous dessert. Been there? Stuck between Ho Ho Ho and Oh No! That's where this recipe swoops in and saves the day. Seriously it takes 15 minutes to throw together (it does need to chill out in the fridge for a couple of hours). Tastes divine and can be topped with just about anything you can imagine. (I went with a quick tangy raspberry sauce.) Everyone will love this recipe, be totally impressed and beg you for the recipe. Even those who may scoff at cheesecake will like this lighter version. Give it a try. . .

Holiday Ribbon Cookies

And so, it has begun. The holiday baking season. So let's start out with something totally easy that looks pretty impressive: Ribbon Cookies. If you've been reading my blog you may have read my post for Candy Corn Cookies. They were great and I told you I'd be fiddling around with the recipe. And so I have. I basically took that same recipe and changed the colors from yellow and orange to red and green. I also simplified the layering of the dough. Just smoosh it into a pan rather than rolling and shaping and bla bla bla. Easy peasy. An added bonus is that you can make the dough a week or two ahead, layer it in the pan and then freeze it until you are ready to bake the cookies. Kind of spreads the holiday baking frenzy out over a couple of weeks. So what are you waiting for, get your Holiday Bake on. . .

Mini Waffle Breakfast Sliders

I have a foodie confession: I like McDonald's Sausage Egg and Cheese McGriddle sandwiches. I know, they're gross. But, they'er not. Or at least not to me. I can take or leave most fast food breakfasts, but there's something about that warm thick fluffy maple flecked griddle cake that calls to me. And I can't resist the sweet savory combo when you add the sausage. Yummy! Or gross, or whatever. They are what they are. Like 'em or not.

Now that the weather has turned chilly here in my neck of the woods, I've been trying to come up with a quick, hot, breakfast on the go, for my kids. I've done breakfast sandwiches before. They're pretty good. I've done breakfast burritos, bunches of them to reheat in the AM. They're good too. I'll probably eventually make those before the winter's out. But I wanted to come up with something else. That's when my thoughts turned to my beloved McGriddle. You can see that these Mini Waffle Breakfast Sliders are a slightly healthier homage to the McGriddle. Give 'em a go.