Happy Sweets-mas!

                                              Here is my display, my display, my display…

                                 That I put out on Christmas Day, Christmas Day, Christmas Day…

Everyone is waiting for my coo-kies…Everyone is shouting “Come on Liz, PLEASE!”  But they can keep on waitin’ on me, waitin’ on me, waitin’ on me!

Sorry, I had to! I’ve been dying for a reason to make my own spin on that song!

For those of you Real Housewives Fans, especially you Jersey ones…I know you get the Melissa Gorga reference ;)…that song really gets stuck in your head, doesn’t it?

But getting back to the important part - the desserts!  I love baking at Christmas time – trying new recipes, and of course making the tried and true family recipes that have been around for a long time in my family.   

As many of you know, I’m trying to take my passion for baking “on the road” so to speak.  I want to start my own dessert catering business on the side. (I know, I know...when will my busy mom-wife-teacher-tutor-housekeeper self find the time? I will MAKE the time! If Bethenny Frankel can do it all, so can I!)

I was so excited to “cater” my first dessert buffet.  My supportive, sweets-loving sister enlisted my talents for our Christmas celebration at her house. Christmas at my sister's house is always a big deal...it's like "My big fat-italian-irish-armenian holiday"...lots of people, lots of food, and always a lot of desserts. So this was my moment to shine.

I prepped for weeks.  Tweaking recipes, buying ingredients, planning the displays, and double checking everything. I wanted this to be perfect.

I really wanted to prove to everyone (and myself) that I could do this – balance the busy life that I currently have, with this new dream that I want to fulfill.

I am happy to say that all my sweets were well received by all.  The big hits of the night were...well, EVERYTHING! Here are some photos of the sweets I prepared for Christmas:

                                                                           Pizelles

                                                               Almond-Anise Biscotti

                                                        Chocolate-Toffee-Walnut Biscotti

                                                   Butterscotch-White Chocolate Biscotti

                                   Traditional Date Nut Bars & Chocolate-Coconut-Date Nut Bars

                                   Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars & Peanut Butter Pecan Pie Bars

                      Chocolate-Walnut-Butterscotch Bars & Toffee-Macadamia-Butterscotch Bars

                                                         Rice Krispie Pops & Cake Pops

The cake pops were the talk of the night! It was my first time making them, so I was thrilled that they came out so well and that they tasted amazing too!

I was SO happy that everyone loved the variety of desserts that I'd prepared and that I was able to pull this off.  (Patting myself on the back right now...haha.) I can do this and darn it, I will! (Make sure all you loyal Westchester and Fairfield County readers tell your friends about Eat Your Sweets!)

Well my sweet fans, this baker is pooped from all her baking (and lots of holiday merriment!)...so I'm off to enjoy some delicious leftovers from "my display, my display, my display"...and to kick my feet up and relax!

I hope you all enjoyed my latest post and enjoyed some fabulous sweets at your holiday celebration as well.

Thanks again for reading and please eat your sweets everyone :)

...While visions of sugarplums danced through their heads...

I don't know about you, but at Christmas visions of anything sugary are dancing through my head! (But then again, when are sweets not on my mind?)

While at this time of the year sweet treats are a big focus for me, family is the most important part of the holiday season...appreciating those who are always there for you and remembering those who have passed.  Two special ladies that I remember at this time of the year are my Grandma Millie and my Great Aunt Fannie.  I remember them not only for being wonderful, loving women, but for the delicious treats that they would procure at Christmas as well.  Being good little Italian ladies, they would religiously make the same yummy delights every year...creating desserts that we all loved and looked forward to at the holidays. 

One thing that my grandma would always make were were biscotti.  I vividly recall them being transported to our house in a Macy's shirt box...rows and rows of them.  As a child I did not have a real appreciation for these "hard cookies" :).  (I was the little girl that loved a chewy, soft cookie.)  I seriously remember sitting at the table during dessert thinking, "Does Grandma know how hard these cookies are?" Haha, how foolish I was!  Biscotti are now a cookie that I love, make quite often, and enjoy creating different variations of.  My latest ones were butterscotch/hazelnut....

and they were super yummy, if I don't say so myself!  I know several members of my family that enjoyed them...and finished them off in a matter of a day! :)

Another treat I would look forward to at Christmas time was my Great Aunt Fannie's pizzelles.
These were also brought to our house in a shirt box lined with tissue paper...God love these ladies!... recycle, reduce, reuse...they were so ahead of their time! hahaa :)

I remember their sweet anise smell wafting out of the box and their light airy taste in my mouth. So simple, but so delicious! 

This weekend I decided I would try to make these airy delights for the first time.  I broke out my aunt's pizzelle maker (yes, the very same one she used in her little Bronx apartment to crank them out by the dozen!) and gave it a whirl.  Let me tell you...they are trickier to make than you would think!  You have to get the batter consistency right, the timing in the pizzelle maker right...don't leave them in for too long! 

Well, I am happy to say that I think I have these pizzelles down! Here's the final product:

They tasted great and even my hardest critic (miss Leah herself) loves them. And I quote, "I like these cookies mama!"  Enough to make this baker feel happy and satisfied that my final product came out yummy :)

I can't wait to share these with my family to see if they get the seal of approval and if they would my Aunt Fannie proud.

Ok everyone, this exhausted gal is off to bed...I hope more visions of sugary sweets dance through my head...and yours too as we get closer and closer to Christmas.

Thanks for reading everyone and don't forget to eat your sweets!

My budding little baker :)

I remember at a young age helping out in the kitchen...cooking and baking....I loved being in the middle of everything.  Maybe it was because I was the youngest and just wanted to be in the mix of any activity that included my family, but from that desire stemmed a passion for all things food-oriented.

My mother is, and always has been, a wonderful cook and baker...and has the patience of a saint to boot!  She would have had to have a lot of patience for my "busy" (although from what I hear, busy is putting it quite mildly) little self and letting me help out in the kitchen!

Now that I'm a parent, I too have been graced with a "busy" child.  You know what they say about payback, right? haha :)  My little whirling dervish always needs an activity to do....if she has nothing to do, there's no telling the mischief she'll get into!

So I have started letting her help me out in the kitchen, like my mom did with me.  Since I love sweets (and so does she), what better way to bond (and keep her occupied!) than baking together.

Well, I am SO happy to say that Leah LOVES to bake!  She seriously becomes mesmerized as I measure things out and is thrilled that I let her hold the measuring cups and bowls and pour each ingredient into the main mixing bowl.  It's so much fun watching her enjoy something that I enjoy too!

This weekend we tied on our matching aprons

and made muffins together.  If you know my Leah, you know this girl loves her some muffins.  So we branched out from our usual blueberry muffins and went pumpkin.  Oh yes, how very Autumnal of us ;)

Survey says...They came out absolutely delicious - kid tested and mother approved :)
We've both consumed quite a few this weekend!

Well, after a weekend of baking, playing, and many other things...this baker is beat!  Time to put my feet up, watch some good TV, and enjoy the fruits of my labor :)

Hope you all enjoyed this latest post and that you're all enjoying some yummy treats tonight too!

Eat your sweets everyone :)

Somebody Call 9-1-1...

Shorty needs a cookie on the dance floor...Oh Ohhh Ooooohhhhhh!  Yes, I do in fact know that those are not the actual words to the song...but the opening line of this song made me think of the 911 emergency-worthy phone call I received last night from none other than my dearest sister:

"Help us "eat your sweets"! We've run out of your sweets and don't know what to do! We can't live without your cookies!  Help us, SAVE US from this sweets catastrophe!"

Ok, so perhaps I'm embellishing on this phone call a tiny bit...anyone who knows me understands that I do have a flair for the dramatic...at times ;)

But even though it was not a true emergency, I do believe that not having enough sweets in the house is a fairly dire situation.  So, being the good little sister I am...I swooped in to the rescue.  I put on my "super-sweets cape"...I mean, my sweet cherries apron (yes, pictures to follow in another post...keeping you all in suspense!) and set to work to think of an appropriate cookie for this situation.

What better to remedy a case of "no-sweets-in-the-house-itis" than some serious chocolate chip cookies...and I do mean serious.  These suckers are large and in charge...in a good way.  They are soft, packed with loads of chocolate chips, and a perfect treat for a sweet tooth.

So here they are folks...hot off the press...

...looking sweet and smellin' fine! If I do say so myself :).

So, what do you think? I don't think my dear sis would mind if I just had one...right? I mean, I did just save her life from sweets deficiency.

Good, that's what I thought too! Off to enjoy my sweet reward after saving the world...one sweet at a time!

Good night sweeties...and eat your sweets!

My Sweet Leah turns 2!

I can hardly believe my little Leah is turning 2!  Where has the time gone?

Growing up, I was never the biggest Halloween person.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd dress up and OBVIOUSLY hoard candy like I'd never get it again...but it was never a special holiday to me.  That was until my little "Mischief Night Baby" (very accurate...she is SO mischievous!)  was born on October 30th.  She loves the decorations, counting down to her special day on our Halloween count down calendar, and everything spooky!

From this excitement of hers, I have found a new love for this holiday and a desire to make it as special as possible for her.  After much preparation - cleaning, cooking, decorating...and of course baking a ton...we were finally ready for her party and to celebrate her 2nd birthday. 

We ate good food, decorated pumpkins, and shared a lot of laughs...as we always do in my family!

Everyone had a great time, especially the birthday girl!  She loved spending time with friends and family, opening presents, and of course... eating her sweets! My little girl has a huge sweet tooth, just like her mama!

The apple and pumpkin cookies I made as party favors were a huge hit:

The birthday girl absolutely devoured a slice of her birthday cake, and half a pumpkin cupcake as well!  She truly has a love for dessert, she is my daughter after all! :)

It was a lot of working getting all these sweets ready (and to my standards!) for Leah's big day, but at the end of the day it was so worth it to see her enjoy every morsel and every minute of her celebration.

Well, the house is put back together and my little "sweet" is tucked into bed...time to unwind with...what else, a cup of coffee and a nice slice of cake.

I hope all of you had a sweet day just like we did.

Thanks for reading, and eat those sweets!

Ladies Night...Hawaiian Delight!

Last night I had some girls from work over for a much needed ladies night.  We did it pot luck style and everyone brought delicious apps, desserts, and wine (clearly a must for a ladies night!)  It was so much fun eating wonderful food and sharing lots of laughs!

I contributed to the "food-fest" with some orzo salad, mini-crab cakes, and of course a sweet treat...the best part of every meal.

I put a new twist on an old favorite creating a "Hawaiian Delight"...

...a cookie loaded with coconut, macadamia nuts, milk and white chocolate chips...it was SOOOO good.  Just the cookies being out on the platter made the whole dining room smell amazing.  It was so fun trying this new twist on an old favorite and even more gratifying seeing that others enjoyed it just as much as I did!

Speaking of which, time for an afternoon cup of coffee to help motor through the rest of the day. And what goes better with a hot cup of goodness than a delicious cookie!


I know I'm having my sweets, are you?  Eat your sweets everyone!

Love & Marriage

Love and marriage, love and marriage go together like a....how did that go again? Oh who knows! ;)

But two things that definitely go together are bridal showers and sweets!  Today we had a little bridal shower for one of the ladies at work.  I volunteered to bring a sweet treat and whipped up these iced heart cookies.  They were quite a hit! 

Even little miss Leah enjoyed a few cookies after dinner tonight! That girl knows how to hoover down a cookie like nobody's business! :)

But, seriously who doesn't love sugar cookies?  I know this girl does....I never saw a cookie I didn't like ;). And speaking of eating cookies....time to go eat MY sweets.  After a busy week, I think I deserve it... 

Until next time...Go eat you sweets everyone!

eat those sweets!

growing up i'm sure many of you were told to eat your veggies...i know i was! and while i am a big proponent of eating a balanced diet, i am also a firm believer in the importance of dessert. i know it makes me a happier person...and i'm sure many of you would definitely agree! i love dessert with a passion - eating dessert, reading about desserts, and making desserts.  thus the purpose of this blog - to chronicle the desserts i make, for myself, my family and friends for various occasions, and share my ultimate goal of being a fabulous dessert goddess in the kitchen! 

this first post is a short one as i have no finished delicacy to photograph and share.  i do have sugar cookies for Leah's 2nd birthday party in the works, but they are not decorated yet!  i'll share them with you as soon as they are.

in the meantime: eat your sweets!