• Carrot Cake

    This is the second time this carrot cake has appeared on Lemon Sugar, for two reasons.  One, it’s fan-freaking-tasticly the best carrot cake ever known to mankind.  It just is. Everyone who tries it says so.  And I’m not bragging, because it’s not my recipe, but holy cow is it delicious. The second reason it’s making another appearance is because my first photos were horrendous.  Bad lighting, bad frosting job, bad everything.  I was determined to make this humble looking cake look photo-worthy, and I’m…

  • Hot Chocolate Cake with Homemade Marshmallows

    So, my daughter’s 7th birthday is next week.  First of all, it’s really just not possible that she’s turning seven years old.  Not possible.  Second of all, this means that I have a big family party looming on the horizon. That means my house has to be cleaned.  It also means I need to plan a menu, figure out decorations and – oh yeah – do all that cooking and baking without undoing all of the cleaning and planning.

  • King Cake, Filled Two Ways

    I’m feeling very out-of-sorts and distracted today.  We’re in the middle of a very busy week, mostly the fault of my first grader.  Between after-school basketball camp, dance class, gymnastics and a dance-clinic performance, our evenings are shot.  Oh, dinner you say?  What’s that?  Laundry?  How many times can you wear a pair of jeans before they’re truly dirty?

  • Chocolate Cream Pie

    Dear Chocolate Cream Pie, I love you. xoxo, Everybody Right?  Who doesn’t love a good chocolate cream pie?  Crumbly, buttery, chocolaty crust.  Creamy, silky chocolate pudding, topped with lightly sweetened, homemade whipped cream.  And chocolate shavings. It’s the best thing, ever.  And really, its very easy – a bit time consuming, but very easy.  You guys, if I can make this stuff, seriously anyone can.  Do it!

  • Easy Lemon Bars

    I wish I would have snapped a picture of the sky today so I could show you, but take my word for it – it was gray.  Not like pretty-hazy-snowy-gray, it was cold-damp-dreary-icky-gray.  I’m so over winter, guys.  I just want it to be February already, so I can say that “at least it’s February so that means it’s almost March which means it’s almost April and then things will finally warm up.”  Sigh.

  • Chocolate Lava Cupcakes

    These cupcakes were the result of a little color coordination.  My little sister is expecting a baby boy so I needed a favor for her baby shower.  Our color scheme was brown and blue, so of course I needed brown and blue cupcakes!  These were good cupcakes, but next time I might switch the cake out to a firmer, taller cake so it will stand up to the filling a little better.  These were actually better after they sat overnight in the refrigerator, so if…

  • Slow Cooker Apple-Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oatmeal

    If there’s one meal of the day that I’m really bad at, it’s breakfast.  For one, I’m not a morning person at all.  I like to sip on my coffee for at least an hour before I eat breakfast, but on weekday mornings, that’s just not an option.  The first-grader has to eat breakfast just 20 minutes after she rolls out of bed, and she never, ever wants anything easy – she always wants pancakes, waffles, french toast…cereal is always frowned upon, as are toast,…

  • Toasted Coconut Cupcakes

    I am definitely a chocolate person. Except for the occasional carrot cake, I will almost always choose chocolate over any other cake flavor.  Vanilla cakes are just so…vanilla. I am trying, though.  I am trying to like vanilla-based cakes.  I’ve made several of them for this blog, in fact.  Yet, I’m still on a mission to find the perfect “white” cake…one that will make me change my mind – the one that will end my love affair with chocolate.  My wedding cake is, so far,…

  • Lemon Pound Cake & A Giveaway

    On most Saturday mornings, I take my oldest to dance class.  During her class, my youngest daughter and I venture off to a nearby shopping center and take care of our weekly household shopping.  We wander around, looking at toys, books, kitchen goodies and then pick up a few necessities before heading back to the dance studio.  In this particular shopping center, there happens to be a Starbucks, which always seems like a fabulous idea on a busy Saturday morning. My youngest, who is three…

  • Reuben Sliders with Homemade Thousand Island

    I’m pretty excited to share this recipe with you.  It’s a good one.  I love sandwiches, and I especially love warm, ooey-gooey slider sandwiches.  And I really love a good Reuben.  This is like, the nexus of the sandwich universe.  Or something. My family isn’t doing our annual St. Patrick’s Day dinner until next week sometime, so I know that tomorrow (on the actual holiday) I will want something corn-beefy to tide me over until next week when we can celebrate.  Since there is an…

  • Chocolate Dipped Cannoli Cups

    I don’t like to leave my house on New Year’s Eve.  I like to hunker down with my family, watch TV, eat some YUM food and make a cocktail or two with my husband.  The thought of venturing out and dealing with crowds just doesn’t do it for me anymore – although I’m not sure it ever did. I love to pick a bunch of one-bite appetizers and desserts for our evening, and these cannoli cups will definitely be on the list this year.  They…

  • Caramel Cupcakes

    Can I just tell you how hard it is to find a recipe for caramel cake?  Not yellow cake with caramel frosting, a CARAMEL flavored CAKE?  It’s difficult.  Very, very difficult.  So difficult that I spent 90 minutes sitting on my heiney saying mean things to my laptop when I couldn’t find what I wanted…90 minutes that should’ve been spent baking because my girls were in bed asleep and the house was quiet.  Grrrr.  The wasted 90 minutes eventually led to a midnight trip to the…