Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding

10-12 stale cinnamon rolls (I scrape off some of the frosting)

6 eggs

2 cups milk

1 cup cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 Tbsp. real maple syrup

1 cup fresh blueberries*, washed

Quarter the cinnamon rolls and place in a 9x13 dish overnight.  In a large bowl whisk the eggs and then the sugar.  Mix in the cream, milk, vanilla and maple.  Add the blueberries to the pieces of cinnamon roll in the pan - I lift up pieces of the rolls so there are blueberries evenly distributed.  Pour the milk mixture over the cinnamon rolls.  This needs to sit for at least 20 minutes, but it does great in the fridge overnight.  I just throw some foil on it and then bake it in the morning.  Bake at 325 for 50-55 minutes. 

This is amazing warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

*Pears or raspberries can be used in place of the blueberries or feel free to omit.

Royal Icing

4 Tbsp. meringue powder
1/2 scant cup water
1/2-1 tsp. corn syrup
few drops of clear extract (I use almond)
1 lb. sifted powdered sugar.

With your paddle attachment mix the meringue powder and water, then add in the powdered sugar.  Once those are incorporated add the extract and corn syrup.  Mix on med-high for about 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

The icing can now be thinned 1 tsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Peanut Butter Pinterest Cookies

These cookies are very close cousins to these.  So if you are a fan I definately suggest give these a go. like that these are bite size and stay really soft - the down side to those two things is that you seem to eat more of them because a bite is just never enough and they were a little difficult to form... I ended up having to smash them together a little, but that didn't effect the taste one bit.
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 jar (18 oz ounce) creamy peanut butter
6 cups corn flakes
3 oz chocolate of your choice (I used chocolate chips)

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and stir until the mixture comes to a full boil. Remove from heat and stir in the whole jar of peanut butter. Mix well.

Add corn flakes to a large bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over corn flakes and mix well, taking care to coat all of the corn flakes.

With a tablespoon or cookie scoop, scoop out and form into 1-2 inch balls, depending on your preference, and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.

Put the chocolate in a small bowl and melt in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir until smooth.

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies.

Apple Cranberry Crisp

3 large apples (peeled, cored, and thinly sliced)
2 cups whole cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup oats
1/3 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
5-6 tbsp. melted butter

In a large bowl combine sliced apples, cranberries, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.  Mix well and then pour into a greased 8x8 baking dish.  In a another bowl mix the oats, flour, brown sugar and butter and then sprinkle over the apple cranberry mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, it is done when the apples are tender.

*I used Granny Smith apples (I like tart), but feel free to use a sweeter apple such as Gala if you prefer.  This is a tart dish, but it's great war with some vanilla ice cream.  I suggest this ice cream recipe.

Summer Spinach Salad

Baby Spinach

Mixed Greens

Mandarin Oranges

Sliced Almonds

Sliced Strawberries

Dried Cranberries

Diced Apples - Green or Gala (Optional)

Soft Cheese of Your Choice (Optional)

I like this salad because you can tweak it to your company.  My Mom isn't a fan of the soft cheese so I skip it.  My sister doesn't love the apples, so if she's going to eat it I leave them out of add them after I get her a bowl.  It's a light and fresh salad with some flavor and color.  I like to use a poppyseed dressing or a raspberry/strawberry vinegrette.

Orange Scented Cake Balls

Make a batch of vanilla cake ball.  Basic cake ball instructions found here. 

Once the balls have been rolled out and chilled in the freezer, it's time to dip them. 

Melt down some white chocolate or white chocolate bark and add 2-3 drops of Wild Orange essential oil.  Mix well.  After dipping I added some orange zest to the top of each cake ball.

For a more pronounced orange flavor I would add a couple drops of the oil to the cake batter while preparing and some orange zest.  This can also be done with a chocolate cake, but I would make sure to add extra orange since the chocolate is a stronger flavor.

What to do with leftovers

For obvious reasons I often find myself with left over cupcakes, cake or cake tops/scraps and frosting.  Hazards of the hobby.  I have a really hard time wasting food, so I like to "repurpose it."  I'm not really sure if it counts taking food and tweaking it as repurposing it, but you catch my drift.

I really like to do this after I make a cake for someone.  You see I spend all this time making our house smell great and building this yummy looking creation, just to cart it out the door and give it to someone else.  This can be super disappointing to my kids, so here's my solution.  I take the cake scraps from carving/leveling the cakes, gring them up add some spoonfuls of leftover frosting and turn them into cake balls. These can be made in no time and really with no extra ingredients other than the chocolate I dip them in and the sprinkles I let the kids dump on top.

Leftovers are used up, kids get a goodie and we can spend time decorating them together.  This is a definite Win-Win in our house.

Cake balls are great in a cute baggie or container to give as a quick gift and they are easily dressed up in any color combination for any event or holiday.