Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes for Summer Fun!

**Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.”

I am one of *those* moms.

The ones who decorate complicated cakes for every birthday.  The ones who trot out batches upon batches of freshly baked and decadently iced cupcakes at the first sign of a cupcake-less preschool event.  I own not one, but two, of those crazy double decker cupcake carriers which, of course, I use to store the 12 zillion colors of food coloring, icing tips, colored sugar, sprinkles and cupcake wrappers that I keep on hand for a cupcake emergency.

The need to frost consumes me.

I tried once, a couple of years ago, to make a batch of those cutesy Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes that I’ve seen pictures of in various magazines and on other people’s blogs.  It was a huge fail of soggy cone and over-baked cupcake.

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A peek Into My Kitchen: Oven-dried Apple Chips

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I am always looking for easy, fun and healthy snacks to give my kids after school…and, quite honestly, for them to snack on on their way out the door in the morning if they haven’s had time to eat a real breakfast.

Making apple chips is surprisingly simple and, though I wish that I had one of those handy-dandy dehydrator gizmos, doesn’t require anything more complicated in the way of tools than an oven and a cookie sheet.

I like to cut the core the apples and cut them in circles, because I think they’re more fun to eat that way.  If you’d rather cut them in slices, that could work just as well. I like to make a bunch at a time because, though this recipe couldn’t be more simple, it does take time and patience.

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Rustic Crust and American Flatbread Pizza (review)

To get it out of the way upfront, my family doesn’t generally buy frozen pizza.  We have great pizza delivery in the neighborhood, but we generally prefer to make our own…from scratch.

I was intrigued to try out these frozen pizzas as well as the packaged crust to see how they match up to my homemade dough.  I was glad to see right off that bat that, unlike some other brands, the American Flatbread products do not contain a whole host of unpronounceable ingredients.

Experiment 1: 3 Frozen Pizzas–Farmers Tomato Pie, Twisted 6 Cheese and Sliced Tomato and 5 Cheese

American Flatbread pizza Collage

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A peek Into My Kitchen: Seedy Granola #nutfree #allergyfriendly #breakfast

I love granola, but, as the mom of a kid with nut allergies, most packaged brands are off-limits.  This is an easy recipe which, even if your household is allergy-free, is a much cheaper, healthier option than most of what you can find in your supermarket’s cereal aisle.

Note: Some people who are allergic to tree nuts also cannot have coconut, in this case you can easily substitute canola or other mild vegetable oil.  Likewise, any seeds which pose an allergy risk can also be omitted. If you are cooking for someone with a severe allergy, check packages to make sure that the oats, seeds and dried fruit you have purchased have not been packaged on a line with nuts.

Seedy Granola

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A peek Into My Kitchen: My Mom’s Baked Spaghetti (mostly)

After posting the picture on Instagram and Facebook, I’ve owed the recipe to a number of people for quite a while. Somehow creating a casserole out of your spaghetti and sauce turns it into a much more exciting and satisfying dinner than just boiling noodles…not much additional work, trust me!

Baked Spaghetti

INGREDIENTS

1 lb box spaghetti, linguini or cappellini

2 bunches fresh raw spinach, washed well and chopped coarsely (optional)

2-3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 stick unsalted butter

I 16 oz jar of your favorite sauce (homemade could work too, but I promised little work!)

½ cup cornflake crumbs

DIRECTIONS

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Vote for my Spiced Maple Pudding on Stonyfield Farm’s Facebook Page and Win Prizes!

I am proud to have been asked to submit a dessert recipe to the Life is Better with Stonyfield contest.  Not only is my recipe for Spiced Maple Pudding featured on their site along with some other wonderful recipes, but I can win free products and possible $1,000 to spend on cooking.com 🙂 I don’t know about you, but I could do a lot of damage on that site for 1000 bucks1

What’s in it for you besides my undying devotion?

Anyone who votes is automatically entered to win their own grand prize of $1,000 to cooking.com. Voters can come once per day, and share via facebook, twitter, and email. Each vote and share (per day) is an extra entry into the grand prize–how exciting is that? My recipe will be up until 12/12 and, in a couple of weeks, my mom Gloria Kobrin, author of the Kosher Cookbook App for iPhone , will have a recipe up as well!

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