lemonade

I made this one today:

so true.

10 Things I Hate About You

One of my sister's favorite movies is "10 Things I Hate About You." I saw a poster online featuring the movie's title poem, and I decided to make one for my sister. Enjoy.

Pancake Success

(another crummy phone picture)

This morning, I tried a new recipe with great success. I made this recipe for Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes from Williams-Sonoma.

They weren't difficult to make, but I had 2 bowls to clean at the end. That wasn't a big deal to me, but I might not make them if I were in a hurry. I used a Meyer lemon because I happened to have one on hand, but I think these would be equally scrumptious with regular lemon.

The pancakes had a great texture, and the ricotta added a delicate flavor profile. I served my pancakes with raspberry jam, and it complemented the lemon quite well.

Overall, fairly easy-to-make pancakes with nice flavor and texture.

Christmas Ornaments

It absolutely made my day to see this on Facebook!

I made that beautiful ornament for some newlywed friends of mine. I found the idea on this website, and I loved those monogrammed ornaments as soon as I saw them. I thought they would make an excellent gift for newly married couples sharing their first Christmas together. I got my ornaments and letter stickers from Hobby Lobby, then I simply put them all together!

I should have taken pictures before I sent them out for Christmas, but I guess my oversight was corrected when my friend posted the picture she took on Facebook :-)

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

(phone picture...please excuse the blurriness!)

I am a pretty big fan of Nutella. There are lots of chocolate Nutella cookies out there, so I thought I'd try my hand at making some.

Most of the recipes I have tried in the past either lack flavor or the chocolate overpowers the hazelnut. To combat this and add texture, I decided to add chopped hazelnuts to my cookies. I love nuts, so I added quite a few. I think they were really tasty. Here is my recipe:

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp cocoa powder (I used Dutch process, but you can use regular)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Cream butter, sugar, and Nutella in a bowl. Add egg and vanilla, mix until combined. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Combine mixtures until a soft dough forms, then stir in hazelnuts. Drop by rounded spoonfuls (I used a cookie scoop) onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for 8 minutes.

My cookies were chewy with a little crispiness around the edges. Yum!