I wanted to make my mother in law a cake for mother’s day, but when I asked her what she wanted, she said anything would be fine. So Rob, never at a loss for a treat suggestion, asked me to make a white cake with vanilla frosting and M&Ms. So I tweaked a white cake mix, made a buttercream frosting and sprinkles it with mini m&Ms. I have no decorating skills. It is the best I could do.

Cake ingredients

• 1 white cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 instant white chocolate pudding mix
• 1 1/4 cups water

Directions – preheat oven to 350. combine ingredients and mix well by hand. Spray 2 round cake pans with Pam. Divide batter evenly in each. Bake 20-25 minutes until you see light golden patches on top. Cool completely

Frosting

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tbs vanilla

Directions – cream butter and powdered sugar. Add milk and vanilla and beat well. You may need to add another tablespoon or two of milk to make this easier to frost the cake.

Assembly

• Place one cake round, flat side up, onto cake plate
• Frost with a thin layer of frosting
• Place second cake layer, flat side down on top of frosting
• Frost top and sides of cake
• Sprinkle with M&Ms

Store covered in covered container.

I decided to bake a smores cake because it is a summer treat and I am tired of cold weather and want it to be sunny and warm. I have also put out our patio furniture, hoping to hurry nice weather! So if it rains the next ten days, it is my fault! 😉

Cake ingredients

• Chocolate cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350. (325 if using non stick coated pans)
• Combine eggs, oil, buttermilk and Greek yogurt. Add cake mix and chocolate chips. Blend well.
• Spray two cake pans with baking spray
• Divide batter evenly into each (I used a one cup measuring cup to do so)
• Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center basically comes out clean
• Cool completely

Toasted marshmallows

• Place marshmallows on a tray lined with toin foil and sprayed with Pam. Broil on high for a few minutes. Set aside.

Chocolate buttercream ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups butter (softened)
• Heaping half cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbs Greek yogurt
• 3 cups powdered yogurt

Directions

• Beat butter 2 minutes
• Beat in cocoa, vanilla and Greek yogurt
• Slowly blend in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.

Assembly

• Place one cake layer, flat side down, on cake plate



• Spread a thin layer of buttercream on top



• Gently press down a few toasted marshmallows



• Place second cake layer, flat side down on top of buttercream/marshmallows



• Frost with remainder of frosting
• Gently press remaining toasted marshmallows on top.



• Store in covered container

Rob and I are going to see a middle school production of the “Lion King”. My goddaughter Lyndsey is working on the set design and we are looking forward to seeing her work. I never come empty handed to anything, so I am making two kinds of cookies – chocolate chip and chocolate cookies with Reese’s pieces and peanut butter chips. The chocolate ones are for Lyndsey, who loves peanut butter and the regular chocolate chip are for Sara, her sister and my other goddaughter, who hates peanut butter. So here are the Lyndsey cookies. Sara’s cookies are on another blog entry.

Ingredients

1 cup of butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup baking cocoa

3/4 cup cake flour (you can add 3/4 tbs cornstarch and 3/4 cup all purpose flour if you don’t have cake flour)

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tbs cornstarch

1 cup Reese’s pieces

1 cup peanut butter chips

Direction- cream sugar, brown sugar and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Fold in Reese’s and chips. Scoop into 1/4 cup dough. Chill. Preheat oven to 410 degrees. Line cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Stagger mounds of dough, eight to a sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool on sheet 5 minutes. Cool completely.

Store in covered container.

When I make cookies (or any treat for that matter), I say “the bigger the better.”. And these cookies are no exception! I use my ice cream scoop to scoop out 1/4 cup of cookie dough and then I chilled it. I find it much easier to scoop then chill, as opposed to chilling the dough and then trying to scoop it out. Also, then you can just plop the ready made cookie dough mounds on your sheet. These are for my goddaughter Sara (I made her sister Lyndsey, my other goddaughter peanut butter chip cookies and Sara hates peanut butter).

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened to room temp.

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups cake flour (or you can use 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 1 1/2 tbs cornstarch)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tbs cornstarch

3/4 tsp baking soda

2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. fold in dry ingredients. Stir in chips. Scoop out 1/4 cups of dough. Chill. Preheat oven to 410 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Stagger cookies on sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Remove from sheet and cool completely.

Store in covered container.

Check out @FoodSided’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/FoodSided/status/978290595625095169?s=09

My husband, kiddingly reminded me I had not baked in 3 days, which is an incredibly long time for me. Our girl,Gracie has been keeping us busy and the time flies by. I am not sure how people with kids do it, or people with kids and pets! 😃

“Am I getting some of that peanut butter treat?”)

So today I went with a semi homemade treat. That’s what I call a treat when I use a mix.

Brownie cookie ingredients -1 brownie mix, 1 egg,1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup oil, 5 tbs water, 1/4 cup hot fudge (microwaved for 15 seconds)

Peanut butter filling ingredients – 1cup peanut butter, 1/4 cup butter, 4 tbs brown sugar, 1 cup powdered sugar, milk (optional).

PB filling ingredients – melt butter and peanut butter. Add brown sugar and powdered sugar. Add a tbs or two of milk if you think mixture is a little dry. Roll into balls. Put in fridge.

Brownie directions – preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with nonstick baking liners. Combine all cookie ingredients. Scoop out 1/4 cup of dough and stagger on lined cookie sheets. Bake 13-15 minutes. Immediately place a peanut butter ball on each cookie. Cool completely.

Topping ingredients – 1cup milk chocolate chips, 1 tbs shortening

Combine and microwave in 45 second increments until you can stir smooth. Pour on top of each cookie, using a spoon.

Store in covered container.

Hi again friends! I am loving my new life! And I love learning new commands bc every time I do, I get a treat! I have been working on “leave it” and “release” today. To be honest, I sometimes just grab things bc I know I will get an extra treat after I hear “release.” (Hee hee). Also Rob had to get me a new toy bc I may have ripped the arm off my other one. Ok,time for another nap now. ❤️

Today Christine pulled out this big white box… It made had a flashing light, moved around a little and made a lot of noise, so I barked at it a few times.

Rob told me it was just a breadmaker, like a harmless R2D2. I felt better, grabbed my stuff friend, who lost an arm yesterday (I may have done that 😉). Then I went on a few walks. Also, Christine made chocolate chip whoopie pies for work.. but I did not get any, despite sitting next to her like a good girl as she made them. Happy Wednesday! ❤️

What a day I had today! We took four walks. I met a new friend, Vinny. He is a big, furry black dog. He did not mind I jumped up and down and barked like a crazy dog until we met. Then I laid down on the ground and we said hello and wagged our tails. I also found this big stick in the backyard. I carried it around for a while until Christine threw it over the fence. I am leaving soon to sign up for obedience classes at Petco. Have a great Tuesday! 😉

Why hello there. This is my second full day in my new home in CT.. already, we have gone on two walks, with a third and fourth on the way. On my second walk, there was a small black dog who did not seem to care for me. Christine deduced it was bc he had on a Red Sox collar and she was wearing a Yankee jacket. I also walked around the backyard early today with Rob a bunch of times, tried to eat a stick or two.. I ihad a few puppy fits, ran round in circles with a toy in my mouth like a Tasmanian devil. I was hoping I would get more treats. I mean, I sit down like a good girl all the time, look at Christine and all I hear is ” good sit, Gracie.”. That’s great, but I prefer a milkbone! I have some things to work on, but I am pretty smart and eager to please, so I will be a good pup in no time! Anyways, we are off to the vet soon for a checkup. I am not sure what that is, but I will soon find out. Have a magical Monday, everyone! Love, Gracie