Sweet Indulgences Sunday #6

This past week was the biggest week ever for Sweet Indulgences Sunday! There were 60 recipes joining the party. And, these were some great recipes, too. One had a particularly bad influence on me. After seeing the Mini Fireworks Cupcakes from Lady Behind the Curtain, I decided I had to have some cupcake shooters so I've ordered a set and am eagerly awaiting their arrival. Oh, the possibilities...

Last week was filled with highs and lows for me. I stayed on the go all weekend and really missed getting into the kitchen and whipping up a dessert. Things finally slowed down enough for me to whip up this Condensed Milk Pound Cake. It was a recipe that I found on Sweet as Sugar Cookies and have been wanting to try for a while. Just the idea of sweetened condensed milk in a cake...Wow! It did not disappoint!



Condensed Milk Pound Cake

I want to thank everyone who returned to the linky party last week and to welcome those who accepted my invitations and joined for the first time. I hope you'll all return to share your wonderful recipes every week. Here's last week's top recipes:

Tied for #1

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

from Cupcakes with Sprinkles

Gluten-free Creamsicle Cupcakes

from Lemon Drop

#2

Mini Firework Cupcakes

from Lady Behind the Curtain

Another Tie for #3

Snicker's Pie
from Let's Get Cooking

Graham Cracker S'mores Cookies
from Eat Cake For Dinner

The Rules...

1. Please link up to the URL of your specific recipe post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your recipe.
2. Please place a link back to this post in your original post or Grab My Button included below.
3. Share your most recent dessert. Link up as many desserts as you would like. More is always better when it comes to desserts!
4. Leave me a comment in this post to let me know that you've joined the party. Also, if you're having your own linky party, feel free to post the link to your party in the comment section. I would love to join your party!
5. Now, let's share the love! Please visit at least two others and comment on the delicious desserts that they've brought to the party. It means so much to a blogger to get some positive commentary!

Grab My Button:

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The party starts here:

What We Keep

On an episode of The Sopranos, Tony Soprano and his crony, Paulie, briefly flee New Jersey after an unfortunate discovery by the police. In an attempt to "lay low" for a while, Tony and Paulie take a road trip to Florida. During the long hours together, Tony begins to grow suspicious that Paulie is betraying him. While in Florida, the two have dinner with an old friend. As Paulie and the friend loudly reminisce, Tony sits quietly, listening and stewing. His anger reaching a boiling point, he stands abruptly to leave. Paulie asks, "Where you goin', Ton? We're talking about the good ole' days here!" As he leaves the room, Tony snaps back, "Remember when is the lowest form of conversation."

Condensed Milk Pound Cake

You can't judge a book by its cover. But, you can judge a cake by its batter. And, if the batter of this cake was any indication of what was to come, I knew I was in for a treat. I found this recipe posted on Sweet as Sugar Cookies last month and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I love to bake pound cakes and am always on the lookout for a recipe that's different than any I've seen before. The addition of the sweetened condensed milk in this recipe called to me like a siren. And, under its spell, I took out a loaf pan and a mixing bowl and got to work answering the call.

Wedding Weekend

I'll admit that I've been a little slack in the kitchen this week. First of all, my husband's father was hospitalized so I've spent the past several evenings trying to help out by scraping together meals for his family. There's been a lot of eating out, too. His father is on the mend but it will be a slow process.

But, with the lows comes some highs, too. And, the highlight of the weekend was my cousin Lindsey's wedding. My cousins and I gave her a shower in April and I highlighted a little of it here in a post, Love and Cupcakes. I thought I would share some of the photos that I took of the event. And, I promise that I'll be back in the kitchen soon.

The Winner is...

The winner of the Gooseberry Patch Quick and Easy Christmas cookbook is...

Sweet Indulgences Sunday #5

I'm so happy that Sweet Indulgences Sunday's linky party is getting bigger and better every week. Last week's party featured some of the best dessert recipes out there in the blogging world. I want to thank everyone who returned to the party last week and those who accepted my invitations and joined for the first time. I hope you'll continue to do so! I realize the importance of networking in the blogging world and I believe that linky parties are one of the best ways out there to find other terrific food blogs and to invite those bloggers into your world. So, if you host a linky party yourself, please feel free to post a link to your party in the comment section below. I would love to join your party!

Last Week's Top Three Recipes:



#1

Dreamsicle Cake from Dee Dee's Delights

#2

Tropical Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting from Flour Me With Love

#3

Soft Cookies with Pink Icing from Eat Cake for Dinner

The Rules...

1. Please link up to the URL of your specific recipe post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your recipe.
2. Please place a link back to this post in your original post or Grab My Button included below.
3. Share your most recent dessert. Link up as many desserts as you would like. More is always better when it comes to desserts!
4. Leave me a comment in this post to let me know that you've joined the party. Also, if you're having your own linky party, feel free to post the link to your party in the comment section. I would love to join your party!
5. Now, let's share the love! Please visit at least two others and comment on the delicious desserts that they've brought to the party. It means so much to a blogger to get some positive commentary!

Grab My Button:


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The party starts here:

Smothered Comfort

Other than a steak on the grill, I think there's nothing that a man loves more than a hunk of meat smothered in gravy. It doesn't really matter what kind of meat it is, just so gravy is involved. I've included another smothered dish here on my blog, Smothered Pork Chops . Frankly, I find the word "smothered" downright comforting when it comes to food. I know that there's something good underneath all that gravy. Making gravy is a quick, inexpensive way to add a little something extra to your meal. And, if you pair it with rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes, you've got a meal.

A Southern Classic: Red Rice

On our recent trip to the Charleston/Mt. Pleasant, SC area, we consumed a lot of red rice. It's a traditional side dish around these parts. I've never attempted to make it before mainly because my husband has an inborn hatred of tomatoes to the point that, as a small child, he once took a stick and beat down his neighbor's tomato bushes. But, I noticed on our vacation that he ordered it everywhere we went. He's fine with tomato sauce in recipes, just not chunks of tomatoes. I thought it was high time that I learned to cook red rice.

Sweet Indulgences Sunday #4

Wow! It was quite a week here at the Sweet Indulgences Sunday linky party! There were some great recipes linked to the party and there were several recipes that went neck-in-neck all week long. I had no idea which recipe was going to end up on top. Fortunately, a few pulled ahead at the end of the week and the top recipes became clear.

The wonderful thing about baking is you can always just look in your pantry and see what ingredients you have available. Then, you look through your favorite cookbooks and find a dessert that matches your ingredients. That's what I did this week. I've made these Chocolate Crunch Brownies several times before and they're always a hit. I've been staring at a jar of marshmallow creme for a while and decided it was time to use it. And, a BOGO sale on Rice Krispies at Publix really just cinched the deal.

Chocolate Crunch Brownies

Last Week's Top Recipes:



#1

Pineapple Pound Cake from Served Up with Love

#2

Brownie Cupcakes from Crazy for Crust

Three recipes tie for #3

Creamy Fruit Salad from Cooking with K

Fake it Dont' Make it - Mother's Day Monkey Bread from Seaside Simplicity

Apple Cake from Served Up With Love

The Rules...

1. Please link up to the URL of your specific recipe post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your recipe.
2. Please place a link back to this post in your original post or Grab My Button included below.
3. Share your most recent dessert. Link up as many desserts as you would like. More is always better when it comes to desserts!
4. Leave me a comment in this post to let me know that you've joined the party.
5. Now, let's share the love! Please visit at least two others and comment on the delicious desserts that they've brought to the party. It means so much to a blogger to get some positive commentary!

Grab My Button:




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Your recipe can be #1 next week! The party starts here:




Gooseberry Patch is celebrating strawberries in their Recipe Round-Up this week. Check it out!

Chocolate Crunch Brownies

I've always preached the virtues of the simplicity of making homemade brownies and will continue to do so. I've made many pans of them in the past and hope to have more brownie-making in my future. I love the satisfaction I get from making brownies from scratch. However, boxed brownies mixes have their merits, too. Besides the fact that they're delicious, they're always on sale either in the BOGO sales or for a dollar a box. I always buy a couple of boxes whenever I find a good deal. So, let's just say that I've found way too many good deals lately and my cabinets are overflowing with brownie mixes.

Calling All Gooseberry Patch Fans!

If you're a Facebook fan of Gooseberry Patch, you know that whenever they hit a 10k level of fans on their Facebook page, they offer a new chapter to their electronic cookbook, Circle of Friends. Currently, they have four chapters available: Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes, Slow Cooker Recipes, Meatloaf Recipes, and Mac & Cheese Recipes. Now, an inside source has told me that they're about to hit 70,000 fans which means the Dips & Spreads chapter will be available soon.

My Mother's Day Dinner

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there. I hope you had a great one. My day was great because I didn't have to cook dinner today. My husband prepared a Low Country Boil. I posted the original recipe back in September 2010. But, since I've had so many new followers lately, I thought some of you might like to see it again or for the first time. Low Country Boil is a traditional way to prepare shrimp here in the Georgia and South Carolina area which is also known as the Low Country.

Sweet Indulgences Sunday #3

Happy Mother's Day!

There were some delicious recipes linked up to Sweet Indulgences Sunday last week. I can't wait to try some of them in my own kitchen. There are many times when I wish I didn't work full-time and that I could stay home all day and bake. But, alas, that is not the case so I don't get to bake as often as I would like.  This weekend has been busy with Mother's Day and a friend's college graduation. But, I knew I needed to squeeze out a dessert somewhere along the line. Since my kids have moved into a picky stage of only eating jelly sandwiches, I didn't want to let the peanut butter go to waste. So, I found this recipe and thought it would be a perfect way to use up my peanut butter. Plus, I got the Easter peanut butter cups on clearance, too. It just seemed like destiny.

Peanut Butter Texas Sheet Cake

Last Week's Top Three Recipes:

#1

Flour Me With Love's Sky High Cookie Pie

#2

Eating in Winnipeg's Homemade Twix Bar

#3

Flour Me With Love's Strawberry Cupcakes with Cheesecake Filling

The Rules...

1. Please link up to the URL of your specific recipe post, not the URL of your main blog. When it asks for "Name", type in the name of your recipe.
2. Please place a link back to this post in your original post or Grab My Button included below.
3. Share your most recent dessert. Link up as many desserts as you would like. More is always better when it comes to desserts!
4. Leave me a comment in this post to let me know that you've joined the party.
5. Now, let's share the love! Please visit at least two others and comment on the delicious desserts that they've brought to the party. It means so much to a blogger to get some positive commentary!

Grab My Button :




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The party starts here! Next week, your recipe could be #1!!

Peanut Butter Texas Sheet Cake

Ah! Mother's Day Weekend. The children have been busy at school making Mother's Day gifts. I've received a beautiful potted flower and handprint card along with some writing samples of why I'm loved and special. Apparently, it has a lot to do with me buying them things and making them laugh by sticking candy corn on my teeth. You just never know what's going to make an impression on a child.

Now, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made an impression on me when I was a child. In fact, I still love a good old PB&J or two, or maybe even three if the bread is fresh and I'm calling it a meal. My younger son was right there with me for quite a while with his love of the PB&J. I could make a hearty snack with the crusts that I removed from his sandwiches. But, times change and now neither of my sons share my love for the classic. Sadly, for some reason, they only want jelly sandwiches so I'm left with way too much peanut butter on my hands. I thought this cake would be the perfect way to use it up. This recipe is from Gooseberry Patch's Church Suppers, Copyright 2008.

Gooseberry Patch Review and Giveaway: "Quick and Easy Christmas"

At Christmas, all roads lead home.

-Marjorie Holmes

I've always wondered why with so many channels on satellite television that there's not a holiday channel that always plays Christmas movies and holiday episodes from my favorite shows. These episodes always show people at their best, filled with kindness, good will, and holiday spirit. And, in watching others, I'm filled with those same feelings. Wouldn't you love to be able to feel that all year round? While you can't watch these holiday episodes at your will, you can get the same feeling by reading through Gooseberry Patch's Christmas cookbook collection filled with entertaining tips and treasured memories from readers across the country.

Recipe Snapshot: Chicken and Rosemary Pizza

This recipe just sounded delicious. Plus, I had fresh parsley and rosemary in my herb garden and I'm always looking for ways to use them. And, here's a confession: I've never made pizza before so I was anxious to step out of my comfort zone and give this pizza a try. It was a success! I grilled two bone-in chicken breasts so that I would be working with maximum flavor. The chicken blended so well with the rosemary, garlic, and onions. This is definitely a winner! From Gooseberry Patch's Quick and Easy Christmas, copyright 2011.

Recipe Snapshot: Roasted Green Beans

I've only recently discovered the beauty of the fresh green bean. In the past, I had only experienced them as slightly raw and unsalted laying by an entree at a restaurant. Yuck! But, I now realize what I've been missing out on and am trying to make up for it by cooking more dishes that require fresh green beans. So, I was really drawn to this recipe since it also requires one of my favorite ways of cooking vegetables - roasting! This recipe is just a complete winner all the way around. From Gooseberry Patch's Quick and Easy Christmas, copyright 2011.

Recipe Snapshot: Dill Pickle Dip

I chose this recipe for one simple reason. I love the combination of dill pickles and potato chips. And, this dip was delicious with its tart and salty blend. I loved it! Plus, it's just one of those recipes that can be quickly whipped together with items that are probably already in your refrigerator. This recipe is from Gooseberry Patch's Quick and Easy Christmas, copyright 2011.