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Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

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Vanilla Polka Dots: Pantry Baking

April 5, 2020 By Laura 4 Comments

Vanilla Polka Dots

Vanilla Polka Dots are simple and elegant cookies, redolent of vanilla, that are equally at home in holiday tins or being whipped up from your pantry with a substitute sugar on the outside. Do you like how I slipped in the substitute sugar comment? But it’s true–pandemic cooking and baking is not for the faint… 

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Filed Under: cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, pantry cooking Tagged With: butter cookies, cookies, Holiday cookies, holiday tins, pantry baking, vanilla

Swirled Black and White Bundt Bundt Cake

December 2, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

Swirled Black and White Bundt Cake

This Swirled Black and White Bundt Cake is a striking and delicious cake to impress dinner guests with or just to make for fun. Affiliate links have been used to link to items discussed. Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you are all decorating in some way for some holiday and baking cookies like mad! Our… 

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Filed Under: bundt cakes, cakes, chocolate, cocoa Tagged With: black and white desserts, bundt cake, cake, chocolate, dinner party desserts, vanilla

Taralli Dolci di Pasqua (Southern Italian Easter Cookies): #CreativeCookieExchange

March 22, 2016 By Laura 26 Comments

Taralli Dolci di Pasqua (Southern Italian Easter Cookies)

Taralli Dolci di Pasqua are large cookies made for Easter in southern Italy. They are thick and sturdy and fragrant with citrus and vanilla. The cookies themselves are not at all too sweet–most of the sweet comes from the icing. Keep reading to see what other traditional spring cookies the Creative Cookie Exchange has for you… 

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Filed Under: blog events, cookies, fiori di sicilia extract, Italian, lemon baked goods Tagged With: #CreativeCookieExchange, citrus, cookies, Creative Cookie Exchange, Easter, fiori di sicilia, Italian, southern Italian, spring, sprinkles, vanilla

Salted Caramel Sauce 3 Ways

January 13, 2016 By Laura 6 Comments

Salted Caramel Sauce, always delicious, can be kicked up a notch with vanilla beans, bourbon, or ground ancho and cayenne chile pepper. It is easy to make, makes a great gift and lasts forever in your fridge. Affiliate links have been used in this post to link to items I am discussing. This post had… 

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Filed Under: Boozy Desserts, Bourbon, caramel, misc. dessert, sauces Tagged With: bourbon, caramel, caramel sauce, homemade, hot, scratch, spicy, vanilla

Holiday Biscotti Bar: #CreativeCookieExchange

December 15, 2015 By Laura 13 Comments

A Holiday Biscotti Bar is the perfect combination of holiday party and delicious Christmas cookie baking and decorating; dip biscotti in luscious chocolate and then decorate them wildly in Holiday sprinkles! It is especially fantastic for kids because with these cookies there is no such thing as too many sprinkles! Keep reading to find out… 

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Filed Under: biscotti, blog events, chocolate, cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, kids cooking, misc, Peppermint Tagged With: #CreativeCookieExchange, biscotti, chocolate, Christmas cookies, Creative Cookie Exchange, holiday baking, party, peppermint, sprinkles, vanilla

Vanilla Cake with Sprinkles

January 28, 2015 By Laura 18 Comments

Vanilla Loaf Cake with Sprinkles

A basic Vanilla Cake with Sprinkles is a great way to show pride in your team, especially if you have a fan-oriented pan too! Affiliate links were used in this post to link to items I am discussing. I have a confession to make. I used Photoshop to swap out colors on the Block M… 

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Filed Under: cakes Tagged With: Block M, butter cake, cake, Michigan, nonpareil, sprinkles, vanilla

Cookie Press Cookies in 3 Flavors for Your Holiday Tray

December 14, 2014 By Laura 2 Comments

Cookie Press Fiori di Sicilia Orange Snowflake Cookies--simple and fast with a cookie press!

The same simple dough for the cookie press flavored 3 different ways for the Holidays: Peppermint Christmas Trees; Salt and Pepper Maple Wreaths; Fiori di Sicilia and Orange Snowflakes. Affiliate links have been used in this post to link to items I am discussing. I am determined to slide these cookies in right before Creative… 

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Filed Under: Cookie Press, cookies, fiori di sicilia extract, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, maple, oranges Tagged With: citrus, cookie press, cookie tins, cookies, fiori di sicilia, Holidays, maple, orange, peppermint, vanilla

Spiked Voodoo Mocha

December 8, 2014 By Laura 11 Comments

Voodoo Spiked Hot Chocolate: rum, coffee, chocolate and cream make for a delightful winter drink!

This Spiked Voodoo Mocha with real chocolate and vanilla rum is the perfect warming indulgence for a chilly winter night. Affiliate links are used in this post to link to items I am discussing. I am seriously actually impressed with myself when I manage to get something posted during the correct season. I seem to… 

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Filed Under: Boozy Desserts, chocolate, coffee desserts, Creole/Cajun, drinks, misc. dessert Tagged With: booze, chocolate, coffee, drinks, hot chocolate, mocha, rum, spiked drinks, vanilla

Piped Vanilla Spritz Cookies: OXO Cookie Press & #CookiesForKidsCancer

September 23, 2014 By Laura 3 Comments

Simple recipe for piping Vanilla Spritz Cookies--great basic recipe to flavor to taste

Piped Vanilla Spritz Cookies are easy, fun and delicious; the OXO Cookie Press, which I received for the purposes of a review and to help promote #CookiesForKidsCancer, is simple to work and comes with loads of fun shapes to press out. Affiliate links have been used to like to items I am discussing in this… 

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Filed Under: blog events, Cookie Press, cookies, Holiday and Christmas Cookies, reviews, Tools Tagged With: #CookiesForKidsCancer, cookies, OXO, piped, spritz, vanilla

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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