Lemon Cookies

Baby Shower Recipe- The title of these cookies is Easy Lemon Cookies and that is exactly what they were.  My best friend's father loved my lemon blossoms I made over the summer, so I made these with him in mind.  We also already had cake, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate chip cookies. So light and lemony was the perfect final dessert for the shower.  I have to admit that I'd pick chocolate over lemon any day, but these cookies were my #1 choice for the night.  Delicious!! 

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
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• 2 eggs
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• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
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• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
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• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

1. Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, and lemon extract until well blended. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into a bowl of confectioners' sugar. Roll them around until they're lightly covered. Once sugared, put them on an ungreased cookie sheet.
2. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven. The bottoms will be light brown, and the insides chewy.

White Chocolate Popcorn

Baby Shower Recipe: Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks.  A few weeks ago I tried caramel corn and loved it! I had a small bowl I wanted to use for the baby shower and thought a bag of popcorn would fit perfectly.  This was an easy recipe and can be made a thousand different ways.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 bag of kettle corn popcorn
1 cup of white chocolate chips
colored sprinkles

Directions:
1.  Pop the popcorn as directed on the bag.
2.  Pour onto a cookie sheet and cool.
3.  Melt chocolate.  Heat 30 seconds, stir.  Heat another 30 seconds and it should be melted perfectly.
4.  Drizzle over popcorn.  Add sprinkles.
5.  Allow popcorn to cool completely.  Store in an air tight container until it's time to serve.

Pasta Salad

Baby Shower Recipe- I needed a side to go with the subs we had at the shower.  I love pasta salad.  Since I had to make all the dishes the night before, this one was perfect for the menu.  I loved the pasta I used and hubs and I had the leftovers for lunch and dinner.  

Ingredients:
2 boxes of cooked pasta (of your choice)
1 bottle of italian dressing
1 cup of chopped peppers (yellow, red, green)
1/3 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Mix all ingredients together.  Chill overnight.  Serve & Enjoy!

 

Cake Balls & Pops-Baby Shower

Baby Shower Recipe- This is my first try at cake pops and cake balls.  I will admit that they were a little more difficult than I had thought they would be.  I used Bakerella's basic cake pop recipe.  I used a box of vanilla cake and vanilla icing.  I cooled the cake balls over night before dipping them in the pink melted candy.  A few of my pops didn't make it through the dipping process, but it was worth it for the ones that did.  They were a hit of the baby shower! No doubt, I'll be making these again...and again!

 Why couldn't I have invented these??? Oh why oh why?

Delicious Spinach Dip

Baby Shower Recipe- I love spinach dip.  I usually buy it at the store, I've only made it once from scratch.  I didn't want to do a store bought dip for the baby shower I was throwing.  So, I set out on a search for a spinach dip with great reviews that looked simple to make.  I found the recipe I decided to make at All Recipe.com.   It had lots of great reviews and honestly, I couldn't say no to a recipe titled Best Spinach Dip Ever! And.....after making it.  I have to AGREE!  It's amazing.  Will be the recipe I'll use from here on out for spinach dip.  I'm actually eating it leftover right now.  You've got to try this recipe! 

Ingredients

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 (1.8 ounce) package dry leek soup mix
• 1 (4 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 1/2 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 (1 pound) loaf round sourdough bread

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, dry leek soup mix, water chestnuts and chopped spinach. Chill in the refrigerator 6 hours, or overnight.
2. Remove top and interior of sourdough bread. Fill with mayonnaise mixture. Tear removed bread chunks into pieces for dipping.

Cheese Ball

Baby Shower Recipe-I had a chip and dip bowl that I didn't want to put dip in, so I decided to go with a cheese ball and crackers.  I found the recipe on Martha Stewart's website.  This was my first cheese ball and it was pretty easy.  I know there are tons of cheese ball variations out there and I'm looking forward to making them.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients

• 1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Ground pepper
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions

1. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese with cheddar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and a generous pinch of pepper until well combined. Mix in 1/4 cup pecans. Cover cheese mixture with plastic wrap, and chill at least 2 1/2 hours or up to overnight.
2. Divide the cheese mixture in half, and shape each half into a ball. Spread remaining 3/4 cup pecans on a plate, and roll balls in pecans to coat completely, pressing nuts to adhere. Serve chilled.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Cheese Ball - Martha Stewart Recipes 

Party Punch

I made this punch for a baby shower I threw.  It was the drink of the afternoon.  Everyone asked what was in it and it's so simple to make.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients: 

2 liters of Raspberry Soda

1 carton of Raspberry Sherbet 

1-2 sliced Limes

Directions: 

Pour soda into punch bowl.  Empty carton of sherbet into the bowl.  Slightly mix.  Top with slices of lime.  

Black & White Cookies

I made these cookies last year for my best friends bridal shower. This past weekend, I made them again for her sister's baby shower. Each time I made them they were used as the favors for the parties. When I first thought of black and white cookies...I thought they would be too difficult to make. But, to my surprise they were pretty easy. The most difficult part for me was the frosting. It took a few tries to find the perfect consistency. I wasn't a huge fan of the brush strokes you could see on the cookies after the frosting dried, but I'm sure that is something that was only visible to me. Overall, something pretty simple to make, but looks like they were bought at a store.
**These are blue and brown to match the shower decor
Black & White Cookies by Paula Deen
Ingredients
Cookies
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Icing

1/3 cup boiling water
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the cake flour, all-purpose flour and baking powder; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Then beat in the milk and vanilla. Gradually, beat the dry ingredients into the wet. Drop tablespoonfuls of the cookie batter onto parchment paper lined sheet pans, 2-inches apart. Bake for approximately 25 minutes until the edges of the cookies just begin to brown..

Meanwhile, make the icing. In a large mixing bowl, stir the boiling water into the confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is spreadable but still thick. Transfer half of the icing to another mixing bowl and stir in the melted chocolate.

When the cookies are done let them cool completely. Spread half of the flat side (baked side down) of the cookies with white icing and the other half with the chocolate icing. Let the cookies dry and harden completely.