Dessert Nachos

With all of the Mexican food we've been chowing down on lately, I developed a craving for dessert nachos. Abuelo's (one of my favorite Mexican food restaurants) used to serve these for dessert and they are so delicious.

They consist of cinnamon chips topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. I make cinnamon chips from scratch by frying up quarters of corn tortillas and then sprinkling cinnamon and splenda on them. Freshly fried chips are so good - I dare you to try making them. Make some plain ones with salt for dipping in guacamole and then make some cinnamon sugar ones for dessert nachos. You won't regret it :) I promise.

A Baby Shower

My good friend and neighbor Susan is having a baby! If you've talked to me in the last 8 months, you already know because I'm so excited that I talk about it all the time. I am super excited to have a little baby girl downstairs!

A few weeks ago, my friend Lisa and I made Susan a diaper cake as a shower gift:

It was fun to make and it turned out pretty good looking. We rolled up about 60 newborn diapers, assembled them into the form of a cake, and adorned the sides with ribbons, rattles, pacifiers, other baby toys, and bibs...

At the shower, I made some other baby girl themed things:

A watermelon baby buggy,

pink and white cupcakes,

and pink lemonade punch.

At the party, we made unique onesies for Susan's soon to be delivered bundle of joy. Check them out:

Babies are so much fun!

My Favorite Guacamole

I LOVE guacamole. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!

My favorite recipe is simple:

avacados

finely chopped onion

finely chopped cilantro

fresh lime juice

salt

tomatoes

I add the ingredients to taste - for each avacado, I usually squeeze in one lime, add about a tablespoon each of onion and cilantro, pinch in a sprinkle of salt, and stir in about a half cup of tomatoes. I like to mash the avacados with a masher (best tool ever!) and leave them a little chunky. I stir in the tomatoes at the end. I encourage you (whoever you are) to experiment with guacamole and find your favorite combination of ingredients!!

A Simple Supper

Lately, Jamie and I have been keeping it simple. One of our favorite dinners is quick and easy quesadillas with beans and cheese. Of course, we love some guacamole on the side too, and I have found that there are limitless ways to throw together an awesome guac. I'll be posting my favorite recipe soon!

To make bean and cheese quesadillas, all you do is spread refried (or black) beans (from a can) onto a tortilla and sprinkle cheese on top. I like to add some pickled jalapenos as well for a little extra flavor and spice. Then, you grill them on each side in a pan sprayed with olive oil spray or greased with butter.

Super easy and super delicious!!

The Best Margaritas

Since moving to Massachusetts, I've mourned the loss of my favorite drink in Austin - the Mexican Martini. I've settled on the following method of margarita making to satisfy my margarita cravings when they come. It is a simple recipe that requires only four ingredients:

Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice

Agave Syrup

Tequila (100% de agave is best)

Orange Juice

We don't use triple sec because we never have it and I prefer not to buy it.

You need a few other things to make the margaritas:

A shotglass (preferably with a longhorn on the front), a shaker, fresh lime slices, ice, and martini glasses.

Oh yeah, and you need salt too!

Get your glasses ready. This recipe makes 2 margaritas.

Shake together the following ratio of ingredients over ice:

3 shots tequila

1 shot agave syrup

1 shot orange juice

2 shots lime juice

Shake, shake, shake, and then pour...

... and enjoy!

Happy Fourth!

This post is super late, but I've been super busy :)

Every year I love to make a flag cake for the fourth of July. No matter where I am or what my plans include, I somehow always manage to make a patriotic cake. This year, I made angel food cake (from a box - thanks Duncan Hines!) and topped it with freshly whipped cream (I can no longer purchase cool whip after reading the ingredients), sliced strawberries, and blueberries. It looked beautiful and tasted absolutely wonderful.

If I have more time next year, I'll make one of those cakes that looks like a flag when you cut into it:

Glorious Treats Flag Cake

Baked French Toast

A while back, I made baked french toast.

It's really easy to make and quite delicious! I adapted the recipe from Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Baked French Toast, and you could adapt it however you would like to, too. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf crusty bread (old bread that is not yet moldy works great!)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 T vanilla
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. salt
• 1/2 stick butter, cut into cold pieces

Method:

Spray a round pie pan with olive oil spray. Cut bread into cubes and spread in pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Pour over bread. Let soak for at least 15 minutes, up to overnight.

In another bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter pieces into the dry mixture until it looks like fine pebbles.

Sprinkle flour/butter mixture over the bread mixgture. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

Serve with fresh berries,

and REAL maple syrup :)