Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake

Fall is here and that means it's time to bring out all of my fall recipes that I have been saving all year!  I have acquired good stack of recipes using some of my favorite fall ingredients including pumpkin, apples, walnuts and pecans, and am looking forward to finally getting to make some of these yummy creations!  The first recipe that was on my list of things to make was this Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake.  As you know, I love using alcohol when I bake and this sounded like a nice alternative to my Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake that I usually make around this time of year.  The cheesecake turned out perfectly and would make an nice ending to a Thanksgiving dinner (yes Thanksgiving is only a month away)!

Rolo Ice Cream with Caramel Swirl

Last month I treated myself to a new toy for the kitchen.  In anticipation of the hot summer days ahead, I decided to buy an ice cream maker, that way I could continue to make sweet treats on those days that are just to hot to turn on the oven to bake something.  I purchased my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker from Williams-Sonoma and I absolutely love it!  It was so easy to use and the ice cream turned out delicious!  I can't wait to try out more ice cream recipes and share them with you guys!  Hope you all are staying cool this summer!

Key Lime Pie

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  Can you believe it is almost May?!?  It's hard to believe that in just 19 short days I will be graduating from pharmacy school!  Since I will be moving back to California right after graduation to prepare for my residency that starts in July, I took advantage of Easter weekend to explore the one place I had yet to visit in Oregon, Crater Lake.  Thankfully my co-workers recommended some places for me to stop and site see along the way to Crater Lake because unfortunately, by the time my fiance and I got to Crater Lake we found ourselves in the midst of a little unexpected snow storm.  Both of us were not dressed for the snow and we could barely see across Crater Lake.

Crater Lake

Since my fiance came to visit for Easter, I didn't have to think twice about what I was going to make for dessert.  He loves key lime pie and always asks me to make my key lime cheesecake bars, so I decided to try my hand at making my very first key lime pie.  I have to say it turned out pretty darn well and was nice and refreshing after our Easter dinner.

Chocolate Dipped Amaretto Cake Bars

In case you haven't realized, Easter is less than a week away!  It's time to dye some eggs, eat some carrot cake, and make egg salad out of all those Easter eggs.  Whether you are celebrating Easter at home with family or having a party, I am almost 100% certain you will consume some form of carrot cake on Easter, maybe you will even make these carrot cake cupcakes!  Another Easter staple is all that candy found in Easter eggs.  If you are like me and over the age of 21, you may appreciate these super delicious alcohol infused cake like candies, and might actually prefer them over your typical Easter candy.  If you are headed to an Easter party next Sunday or are just going to hang around the house with family, these little bars are the perfect little candy to share with anyone celebrating Easter with you.

Baked Chicken Tenders

What's your favorite comfort food?  Mine definitely has to be a big bowl of mac n cheese, however due to my whole trying to be healthy kick, mac n cheese is totally not on my dinner menu.  Chicken tenders are probably my second favorite comfort food, and this baked version takes away the guilt that comes along with the fried version.  These chicken tenders were super easy to make and were great dipped in some BBQ sauce or ranch dressing.  Pair it with some steamed veggies for dinner and you have a pretty healthy but comforting dinner!

Almond Biscotti

What could be better with your morning coffee than a tasty chocolate dipped biscotti!  My morning coffee routine was started at a young age, probably somewhere back in high school, when my dad would make coffee for me on the weekends.  Looking back, I probably would have benefited more from having coffee on school days instead of the weekend.  To go along with our morning coffee, my mom always kept a jar stocked with Nonni's Biscotti on the counter by the coffee pot.  My favorite biscotti of all time though definitely was my nonna's homemade biscotti.  I saw my nonna make biscotti a few times but never thought to pay close enough attention to exactly how she made them.  I knew she used almonds and what tasted like a hint of brandy, so after reading through a few biscotti recipes I came up with this recipe.  These biscotti taste just like I remember my nonna's biscotti tasting like.  I sweetened them up even more by dipping them in chocolate since I had some extra chocolate chips lying around.

Bacon and Leek Risotto

With every new year, people are always making new years resolutions to loose weight, exercise, eat better, etc.  This year I didn't make a specific new years resolution, but instead decided I was going to try and be healthier in general by going to the gym and trying to cook more healthy homemade meals.  When I was searching through recipes like I always do, I came across this recipe and immediately saved it.  Risotto is one of my favorites and adding bacon and leeks, this had to be good!  After bookmarking it, my conscious started kicking in reminding me of all those hours I had put in at the gym, and that this dish would probably reverse all of the effort I had been putting into being healthy.  Then I happened to glance at where the recipe was from and lo and behold it was a Cooking Light recipe!  I ended up making this for dinner without wasting any time but was hesitant about how yummy it would turn out since it was a "healthy" recipe.  To my surprise it was EXCELLENT and now just might be my favorite risotto recipe yet!

Pecan Tassies

Hello again!  I have become pretty bad at this blogging thing I do have to admit.  Unfortunately life has gotten in the way and has been keeping me busy.  I just couldn't miss sharing a recipe with you for the holidays, even though I'm sure all of you have finished stocking up the pantry for your holiday meals by now.

I have gotten in the habit of making TONS of Christmas cookies every year but this year I just couldn't spend that much time in the kitchen since I am frantically trying to finish up my pharmacy residency applications before January 1st.  I did however have to test out my parent's new kitchen so I whipped up these awesome pecan tassies tonight and they were wonderful.  If you are still looking for a little something to bring to a holiday party or planning your new years eve menu, these are perfect and not too time consuming.

Pumpkin Cookies

It's already October!?!  Man did I accidentally take a hiatus from posting recipes. I'm sure you will forgive me though after I tell you my story so let me take a moment to catch you up on what I have been doing over the past two months.  

Taco Rubbed Burger with Avocado and Salsa Verde

Before getting to today's recipe let me take a moment to catch you up on life.  Last week, I finally caved and signed up to sell Jewelry by Sara Blaine since I found myself buying so many of her pieces.  After signing up, I learned about a neat program the company started doing called Pay It Forward which selects a product of the month and donates a portion of the profit that item makes to a charity each month.  This month, the charity they selected is Help Save Pets.  Help Save Pets is based out of Plainfield, IL and is dedicated to their mission of saving and finding homes for dogs and cats about to be euthanized at animal control facilities. Since 2000, they have been able to prevent the euthanization of over 6,000 animals and place them into loving homes. Help Save Pets gives deserving animals shelter, food, medical aid and vaccinations and helps them find the right home. The foundation is run solely on money from adoptions and donations and every penny is spent on medical and other care for the animals.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

I know... I apologize!  I have fallen into a bad habit of going weeks without posting new recipes.  But let me explain myself.  Over the past few weeks I have finished my rotation in the ICU, am over half way through with my Medication Safety rotation, volunteered with Habitat Against Humanity to build a house here in Medford and finally got to scrub in and observe an open heart surgery! (Yes, I got to see a live human heart beating which pretty much was my coolest life experience yet!)  Time has definitely been flying by but I couldn't let July come to an end without posting a recipe in honor of National Blueberry Month!  I made these simple bars and brought them to work and they were all gone within a matter of hours.  The hint of lemon helps give these a nice slight citrus twist without overwhelming the taste of the blueberries.  These bars are so simple to make and are the perfect thing to bring to your next summer get together.

Almond Poppy Seed Bread

I don't know what it is with almond flavored things but I love them!  Last year I made Sweet Almond Bread and it was so delicious!  After being inspired by one of my favorite kinds of muffins I decided to make some Almond Poppy Seed Bread.  When making this bread I used some almond extract that I was trying to get rid of instead of the almond paste I used for the Sweet Almond Bread.  It was equally delicious, and the poppy seeds were a nice added touch.  This bread was quick and easy to make and is great to have in the morning for breakfast along with a nice big mug of coffee!

Tiramisu Cupcakes

It's my second blogiversary!!!  I know I have been MIA for a few months but a lot has been going on.  I officially finished my second year of pharmacy school and have relocated to Medford, Oregon where I am currently completing my rotations.  It's hard to believe that in a little less than a year I will be done with school FOREVER!  In order to celebrate my blogiversary, I wanted to share this yummy Tiramisu cupcake recipe with you.  I have made these a few times over the past year but have not had a chance to post the recipe yet so here you go!

Asparagus Shrimp Pesto Gnocchi

Happy April!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and got to eat lots of yummy food.  Now that April is here it is officially crunch time for me with less than 40 days of school left before I have to move to Medford for rotations.  Since I'm a little short on time, quick recipes are going to be key this month to allow me time to study, pack, and still eat healthy.  One of my favorite springtime ingredients to cook with is Asparagus and mixed with some shrimp, gnocchi, and pesto I had a delicious meal ready in minutes.

Bacon and Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've done it again!  Last year you might recall that I made some very yummy Bacon Maple Cupcakes after being inspired by Voodoo Doughnuts Bacon Maple Bar.  This time around I decided to combine chocolate, bacon, and sea salt into a cookie for something a little savory and sweet.

Chicken Adobo

It's Friday!  I hope everyone has caught up on sleep after loosing an hour last weekend.  As the end of my in class portion of pharmacy school quickly comes to an end I am finding myself very low on time especially when it comes to cooking for myself.  This recipe was perfect because I was able to just throw everything in the crock-pot before school and come home to a fantastic meal.  If you are ever in need to a fast recipe I highly recommend trying this one out, you will not be disappointed!

Banana Muffins

What do you do when you have extremely ripe bananas?  Make banana bread of course!  Over time I have accumulated so many random cupcake liners so I decided to use some of them up and make muffins instead of banana bread.  The muffins turned out very moist and were a nice treat in the morning with my coffee.

Valentine's Day Cookie Grams

I realized that I haven't posted in awhile mainly because I have been so busy with school.  I also took on a big project for Valentine's Day that involved baking 375 sugar cookies!  Last year I joined a Pharmaceutical Fraternity on campus and I quickly became involved as our chapters Historian since I enjoyed taking pictures.  Before I knew it, I also found myself as the fundraising co-chair.  Looking for ways to raise money for charity my fraternity decided to hold a Valentine's Day Sugar Cookie Gram Sale.  Of course when the question arose of who was going to bake the cookies there was no question that I would volunteer to do it.  When the word got out that I was going to be baking the cookies, people started buying 10+ at a time.  In all we sold around 375 cookies and made a profit of $300 that is going to be donated to Doernbecher Children's Hospital.  Here are some pictures of the process!

Chicken and Dumplings

I don't know about where you live but here in the Portland area it has been FREEZING!!!  Last week, due to an inversion, we were in the 20s here while the snowboarders were enjoying temperatures in the 50s on the slopes.  School even got delayed for 4 hours due to freezing rain and ice on the roadways.  Needless to say I have been craving something warm and comforting.  I have never had chicken and dumplings but when I came across a recipe to make it using my crock-pot I decided I just had to try it.  It turned out great and was a perfect meal to warm me up during the cold nights last week.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Growing up as a kid, whenever we had pancakes in the morning, my dad was in charge of cooking them.  He was such a perfectionist (I wonder where I get it from) and always made sure that they were perfectly golden brown. We always made our pancakes using bisquick, and it wasn't until last year that I experimented with making buttermilk pancakes from scratch.  Even though I made the batter I still made my dad cook them, since I am still scarred from one of the first times I made pancakes for my boyfriend and they were raw in the middle (he still ate them though so kudos to him!)  When I was home for winter break, my parents wanted me to make my buttermilk pancakes again and this time I actually cooked them myself!  Sure there were a few choice words that flew out of my mouth when I didn't flip some of them perfectly but they turned out just fine and I'm pretty sure this was the first time ever my dad was able to sit down and enjoy them instead of being the last one to the table.