Simple Toasts with Marscapone, Chives & Sea Salt

We have a toaster oven at work. I may really be the only one that ever uses it. I love toast. If i can have a sandwich with toasted bread - i’m toasting it. Usually I’ll bring in al the components to make a sandwich but don’t make them into an actual sandwich until I’ve toasted my bread about five minutes before I eat it. Sounds high maintenance but it’s really not - it’s toasting bread. It’s so simple & really for the short amount of time I have to dedicate to make my sandwich all the more delicious - well I’m going to make the commitment.

So you see, toast seems fancy but it’s not.  So if you’re having a dinner party & need a quick appetizer make these simple cheesy toasts. There will be no leftovers & everyone will be so impressed that you too the time to make (easy) fancy toast - they really will.

Cheesey Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

If you follow me on instagram you may have already seen the giant pile of mashed potatoes I made for Thanksgiving. We always have several kinds of potatoes, but my cousin Marco insists it's not Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes - so it we had mashed potatoes & it was officially Thanksgiving.  This year I added two of my favorite things to our potatoes - cheese & garlic - & mashed them with a supped up version of the potato masher that my cousin-in-law, Mariah, said would've made Grandma O'Hara proud.

Keep reading for my recipe. How do you make your mashed potatoes? Do you use a food processor or go for the full arm work out with a traditional masher?

PS: remember if you have a ton of leftover mashed potatoes you can reinvent them with this recipe!

Marscapone Cheese Frosting

Sunday morning, I popped out of bed to make these cinnamon rolls. I know I've already posted about the Baker Chick's cinnamon rolls but they are so good that they warranted another post.  This time I changed up the frosting just a bit. Instead of cream cheese I used marscapone cheese & it was every bit as delicious, I may even like it better. 

Chris & I each had one for breakfast. Ok & then we shared one - one & a half each.  After our taste-testing I packed them up to bring them to the proud parents, Duclie & Brian, big brother of the newest TWINS in our family! And since food tastes better when it's shared we brought some to Chris's parents house too to share with more family. There were no leftovers which translates to SUCCESS!

The Perfect Pie Crust

When I was a little girl I helped my mom make lots of pie crusts. She was no fool, she'd put me to work. Before I knew it I was making several batches of piecrust that my mom would freeze & use later (no doubt when I wasn't available to make them!). I can't blame her & actually I thank her for showing me that it really isn't that difficult & makes a world of difference when you're actually eating the pie.  In a pinch I've definitely used the store bought dough but if I have the time I make this pie crust.

I found Giada's recipe for pie crust in her crostata with dried apricots & taleggio that I've made a couple of times but what I really love is the crust!!! So I use this recipe for most pies that I make since first finding the recipe. What I really liked about this recipe is that it doesn't call for crisco. Exactly, what is crisco? That white goopy stuff that you can keep in your pantry probably forever without it going bad. Yeah not exactly what I want hanging around in my body.  This recipe calls for marscapone cheese - hello cheese! can't go wrong with that!  Marscapone cheese is kind of like a buttery Italian cream cheese. It's a delicious fatty spread & is leaps & bounds more yummy than crisco in my book. 




PS: Happy Birthday to one of my favorite ladies ever, SUZIE! Love & miss you ;) Cheers to a fabulous day & year! xx