This has to be my favorite season of the year. The weather, the leaves and the mood of those all around makes this such a special time.

Last year, our dear friends introduced us to a Kansas City treasure that I hadn’t known about. Hard to believe that a die hard foodie like myself missed this one all these years. On a crisp, fall day, we met two other families at Dunn’s Cider Mill. The experience was truly a “Norman Rockwell” type of day. We enjoyed hot, fresh cider doughnuts and quenched our thirst with Dunn’s crisp apple cider. The kids had a great time and the parents were able to sit a while and catch up. I will treasure the memories of that fall day for years to come. When fall rolled around this year, one of the first “field trips” I wanted to take was back to Dunn’s. We enjoyed another day at Dunn’s recently and once again savored the doughnuts and cider. This time we purchased cider to bring home to enjoy. [Read more…]

God, family, friends and food……pretty well sums up happiness in my book. High on the list would be friends. Of course, Kathy has been my business partner and best friend for more than 30 years! Hard to believe isn’t it? Each and every day I am so thankful for her presence in my life. Another group of great friends have been my Culinary Cookbook Club.

My Culinary Cookbook Club has been meeting once a month for at least 16 years. We have experienced weddings, adoptions, divorce, cancer and sadly, death of a spouse. We have also laughed, cried, giggled, gossiped and even traveled to a chateau in France for a week. Those memories are priceless and will be ones I cherish always. It is a tremendous group of “Mid-western” women, originating from strong roots and Midwestern values.

This month we got together and had one of those, “never to be forgotten” experiences. Usually we select a book that is either a cookbook with a story or a novel with recipes. The theme for September was any Italian recipe from an Italian book. We changed it up a bit and decided to watch a movie. It seems the group couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen the movie, Moonstruck. I am so happy they decided to watch this movie and we even enjoyed the experience outside by the pool. If you haven’t seen this move, please try and rent it. The food and fun the movie provides promises to be one you will enjoy.

Our hostess was my dear friend, Elizabeth Benson. You haven’t lived until you’ve been invited to Elizabeth’s house for dinner. Elizabeth is one of those friends that you love dearly, for you will never meet a kinder spirit. When it comes to talent, she knocks the ball out of the park. She always has the perfect music, dishes, food, ambiance and setting for an unforgettable evening. It is like watching Next Food Network Star and HGTV’s Design Star all rolled into one.

The ladies have been more than supportive of our new cookbook, 175 Best Babycakes Cupcake Recipes and have tasted, tested and sampled their fair share of these two-bite morsels. My contribution to the evening was Italian Cream Cake Bites. These are moist, filled with coconut and pecan crunch and, thanks to their small size, you don’t need to feel that guilty for just eating one.

I hope you will try this recipe and let me know what you think.

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We are so excited to share a recipe from our newest book, 175 Best Babycakes Cupcake Maker Recipes. The Babycakes Cupcake Maker is so fun to use and this book packs all of that fun and the good taste into 175 bite-size recipes. Who doesn’t love red velvet cupcakes? In celebration of our new blog design and our new cookbook we are serving up these fantastic cupcakes, with a toast of champagne. Let’s celebrate. [Read more…]