Introducing the Sweet Baby D Cookie!

My husband was kidding around about naming cookies. He suggested the Sweet Baby D. That's one of our son's nicknames. Immediately we knew that it would have to have M&M's since those are his all time favorite bribe, I mean candy. He also loves pretzels so I threw those in there too.

To make this cookie, use your standard chocolate chip cookie recipe. In addition to the dough, you'll need;

• 1 part M&M's

• 2 parts chocolate chips

• 2 parts broken pretzels

After the dry and wet ingredients have been combined, add the above ingredients and bake per your recipe's instructions. 

Goody Goodie cream & sugar Cafe & Dessert Salon

I frequently take trips to the Bay Area to visit my family. This trip it was decided that we would stop at all the great places featured on The Cooking Channel and Food Network. Goodie Goody was featured on the Cooking Channel's show, Unique Sweets. Since I'm such a sucker for anything different, especially desserts, I had to stop in and try a few things.

I ordered the Old School Cookie, the Circus Cookie, the Olive Cocoa Nib Wafer, and a Blue Bottle latte. If given the chance to have Blue Bottle coffee, jump on it. It's my absolute fave!

The Olive Cocoa Nib Wafer was very different than any cookie I've ever had. It was perfectly crisp and super thing and chocolatey. Then you get a bite of olive and it's a tiny bit salty. Very different. I'm glad I tried it.

The Old School and Circus Cookies were great. The kettle corn was an unexpected ingredient in the Circus Cookie. It made it surprisingly light.

The service was great and the cafe was charming. I would definitely come back the next time we are in the neighborhood.

The Olive Cocoa Nib Wafer

The Old School Cookie: chock full of chocolate.

The Circus Cookie: Chocolate and Kettle Corn

Strawberries and Cream Layered Cake

I made this cake for my friend's birthday last week. It was a hit and I must say, very pretty for the small amount of work that went into it. 

Cake Ingredients
1 Box of Yellow Cake Mix
6 ounces of cream cheese
4 eggs
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup of water
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Frosting Ingredients
8 ounces of Cool Whip
8 ounces of sour cream
1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar
2 cups of strawberries or more if you like.

Preheat oven to 325. Grease three 8 or 9 inch pans.

Make sure the cream cheese is room temperature. If it's not, put it in the microwave at 20% power for 30 seconds and then check it to see if it's soft. If not, another 30 seconds. Mix the cream cheese, eggs, oil, and water together until smooth and combined. Add the flour and cake mix and combine slowly. Then mix all the ingredients at a medium speed for about a minute and a half but no more than two minutes. Pour about two cups of batter in each pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
After the cakes have cooled, start the frosting.

Combine softened Cool Whip, sour cream, and powdered sugar and beat on medium for about a minute and 30 seconds. Slice your strawberries so they look beautiful on the cake.

When assembling the cake, you may need to trim the rounded top part of the cakes. Add several heaping spoonfuls of frosting to all three layers. It may look thin but I promise that it will thicken up in the refrigerator. Then add sliced strawberries to all three layers. Make sure that the top layer looks the prettiest.

Cool it in the refrigerator for a few hours. If you are going to leave it longer, wrap it in plastic so it won't dry out.