Author: jess

iced berry piñata knock off

iced berry piñata knock off

back in the day, i was a girl scout and i proudly sold girl scout cookies each and every winter.  i had a few favorites, including peanut butter patties, but my absolute favorite girl scout cookie didn’t come out until i was no longer in 

sausage and lentil soup

sausage and lentil soup

i have been on an italian kick this week.  well, i think i could be on italian kick every week.  i love italian food and one of my favorite restaurants is carraba’s italian grill.  they often feature sausage and lentil soup as their soup of 

italian meatloaf

italian meatloaf

tom is a HUGE fan of meatloaf.  i hate meatloaf.  i’m just not a beef fan.  however, my mom learned this trick a long time ago… if you dress up meatloaf to smell like pizza and add cheese, i’ll eat it!   so i created 

breakfast burrito casserole

breakfast burrito casserole

happy new year, everyone!  breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, so i couldn’t think of a better way to start out the new year than with this kickin breakfast casserole. 🙂 1 tube breakfast sausage 1/2 medium green pepper, chopped fine 1/4 medium 

sugar cookies and frosting

sugar cookies and frosting

thanks to an early Christmas present to myself, i can make festive sugar cookies all year round!  the cookies pictured above were decorated at my sister-in-law’s house Christmas eve.  it was a fun way to get into the Christmas spirit!  here are the recipes that you 

sausage ala vodka

sausage ala vodka

coming down from the holiday sugar buzz… 🙂 here’s a dish that’s simple to make for dinner tonight! this is what you will need: one package sausage of your choice, sliced into bite size pieces.  tom likes cajun style andouille.  i like sweet mild italian 

pecan pie

pecan pie

this pie is one of tom’s favorite desserts, if not his absolute favorite dessert.   it’s frequently served at thanksgiving and Christmas.  but i make it several times during the year, dressing it up with mini pie crust cutters. it is very simple to make, 

basic spritz cookies

basic spritz cookies

Christmas time is always a wonderful time of the year for me.  after moving to tennessee, it’s a little bit different and even though i’m far away from the majority of my family, i can still hold onto a lot of our traditions.  of course, 

mexican lasagne

mexican lasagne

so, it has been a while since i have blogged… sorry for neglecting you, shoebox! a lot has happened since my last post.  tom and i got engaged, married and now we’re living in nashville, tn!  i have a lot of newly found free time, 

crème brûlée

crème brûlée

crème brûlée is about as perfect as dessert can get. i had never had crème brûlée until our recent trip to cincinnati. we ate at jeff ruby’s and it was so heavenly, i decided that i needed to figure out how to make it!  i