I remember the day we found out our first baby was going to be a boy. I, of course, was happy to find out he was healthy but I was beside myself with worry about what I’d do with a boy. I am a girly girl, all the way around, and for some reason just had it in my head that if I was blessed enough to have kids, they’d be girls. The idea that I’d ever be a mom to a boy never crossed my mind.

Jacob was born, and little by little I was given the opportunity to discover how special little boys are. They are different than girls, that’s for sure, but just as sweet, lovable and fun as girls. Having my first born be a boy has been a really great experience and now I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Much to Jacob’s dismay, babies 2, 3, and 4 were girls. Oh, I got my girls alright, but also had the chance to give them the opportunity to have something incredibly special… an older brother to always look out for them (which, we’re still waiting on to happen, but I’m sure it will, someday, right?)…

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The post Baby Love {Recipe: Neapolitan Cream Filled Cupcakes} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Lindsey from Growing Kids Ministry for winning!

I used to stand by the glass counter, staring longingly into the dessert case, hoping my parents would budge and buy me one of the little “parfait buckets”. Banana Cream pie, strawberry shortcake, triple chocolate brownie… all made even more appealing by their presentation in a clear, little container.

My Grandpa was my only ticket to ever getting these desserts… I knew every time we’d head to lunch together, a single serving dessert of my choice would be in my future. Sitting in the local KFC, eating little parfait buckets together, is still one of my favorite memories of time spent with my Grandpa….

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The other day I received a big package of goodies from my friends at Zatarain’s. At the very top of the box was a bottle of their Root Beer Extract, including a recipe for making homemade root beer.

The box couldn’t have come at a better time as I was in the middle of making my “things we want to do this summer to make the summer fun” list for the kids. You know that list, with all the great expectations on it, that no matter how hard you try to achieve everything on it you fail? Then, at the end of the summer you look back at the list of things you didn’t get done then feel like a failure of a mom for not making summer the absolute best it can be? Yeah, that’s the list. And yes, I know how it turns out each and every year, but every summer I still make the darn list in hopes of a better turn out “this time around”.

Anyway, I immediately added “make homemade root beer” to our summer bucket list. That should be an easy one to cross off, right? There’s nothing incredibly grand involved… just some Zatarain’s root beer extract and a few simple instructions and voila…. root beer! I’ll let you know as soon as we’ve checked this one off. I may make it be first on the list, just so we can start off summer with a bang!

So, since it isn’t quite summer break yet (1 more week!) I have to wait to make homemade root beer, but I still wanted to do something with the root beer extract now. I decided to give Root Beer Float Cupcakes a try!

I knew I wanted an extra creamy frosting for the cupcakes because everyone knows the very best part of a root beer float is the melted ice cream / root beer mixture at the very end of the glass. I then went on a search for a Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe. Swiss Meringue is a delicious, silky, creamy frosting made with an egg white and granulated sugar base and lots and lots of butter! It’s a little bit of extra work, but oh my… so very worth it in the end. I combined the recipe over at Martha Stewart’s website (replacing vanilla extract with root beer extract) with the awesome instructions from my friend Rosie over at the Sweetapolita blog. Thanks to them, I had incredible success with my Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

These Root Beer Float Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream are the bomb, if I do say so myself. Any root beer float fan will be as big of a fan of cupcakes made to their liking.

Do you have a summer bucket list? If so, add these cupcakes to your list… in the number one spot. Even if you fail at everything else this summer, you’ll have started your summer off on the right foot! Enjoy!

These other friends have tempting (and all unique) Root Beer Cupcake recipes too!

• Root Beer Float Cupcakes from How Sweet Eats
• Root Beer Float Cupcakes from Smitten Kitchen
• Root Beer Float Cupcakes from Coconut & Lime

Disclosure: I am a 2012 brand ambassador for Zatarain’s. All opinions expressed are my own.

The post Great Expectations {Recipe: Root Beer Float Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

We have my daughter’s 1st Communion this weekend, which means a whole bunch of family coming into town to stay with us. We are also celebrating all the cousins birthday’s for the first half of the year, which means I needed to do some baking! I didn’t want just any cupcake for this weekend… I wanted something a little different… something I have been craving since I first saw it posted a few weeks ago.

Let me introduce you to French Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting. Yep… I’ll let you take that in for a moment…

The cake recipe is from Restless Chipotle and the Cookie Dough Frosting recipe is from Cheryl at Tidy Mom. Geniuses, I tell ya’.

I’m a plain and simple kind of dessert gal… I don’t want surprises in my cupcakes. If you like surprises, you can take this recipe one step further and include a nugget of cookie dough inside the cupcakes like Cheryl does. If you like tasty yet simple, the frosting by itself with this cupcake recipe is perfection. Don’t take my word for it. Hop on over to their blogs and try these recipes out for yourself. Do it. And enjoy your weekend!

The post Happy Friday {Recipe: French Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Paula Deen and I appear to have something in common. We both believe that if you are going to make dessert, you might as well just go all out. Bring out the butter, pour on the sugar… none of this Splenda and light this and that business. Everyday cooking, you need to lighten up, but dessert? If you can’t making something indulgent, why make anything at all?

Now, listen carefully because there is a significant sequence of events that have led me to have to say goodbye to Paula for awhile. Even though I love Ms Paula, a few words “from the mouths of babes” have encouraged me to re-think things a bit. Maybe there is a reason those of you who post about light desserts are skinny. Maybe, just maybe, you are on to something.

Written here, is the sequence of events that have certainly changed my immediate future as I know it.

• On a whim, I saw Paula Deen’s Best Desserts on the magazine stand and I picked up a copy
• As soon as I got home, I thumbed through the magazine and dog eared page, after page, after page of delicious dessert recipes
• Fast forward a few days and I am in the shower. In to the bathroom walks my 3 year old. She glances at me and says “Mama, why are your boobies laying down on your tummy?” To add insult to injury, I thought for sure I had misunderstood what she said, so I  had her repeat it. Nope… word for word, spot on. No denying what she said.
• Just a mere two days later, my 6 year old walks into my bathroom, again, while I am in the shower. She looks at me and her face turned to the most excited expression and she shouts “Mom? We’re having another baby??!!!!” Yeah… thanks a lot. She was immediately cut from the will.
• I quickly decide that #1 – I need to get a door on the master bath so my insulting kids can’t come in and verbally assault me anymore while I am helpless in the shower and #2 – I need to buy an elliptical.
• Elliptical purchased, kids banned from my bathroom, and my dear, Paula Dean Best Desserts magazine sits staring at me, day after day…taunting me to make something – anything.
  
• Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. Paula Deen and I meet again. I had an occasion to make a dessert. Is it a sin to make something of Paula’s light? I think so. I’m pretty sure it would have been #11 in the Ten Commandments had they had room on their stone tablet for one more.
• Made Cookies & Cream cupcakes and <gasp> did cut down on the powdered sugar by a couple of cups, but otherwise kept all of the butter, sugar, cream, in tact.

These Cookies & Cream cupcakes from Paula Deen’s Best Dessert Special Collector’s Issue (which should be banned from butter lover’s anonymous because there is a lot of butter in this book. Paula must have something special going on with the National Dairy Council.) They may have a lot of calories, but they are worth every last little bit. And if your kid starts to comment on the size of your behind, just stuff a cupcake in their mouth. That should take care of it.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes from Paula Deen Best Dessert Special Collector’s Issue

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 14 coarsely crushed cream-filled chocolate wafer cookies (Oreos)
• Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
• Garnish: miniature cream filled chocolate wafer cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 28 muffin cups with foil liners.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture, alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Stir in crushed cookies. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread or pipe Cream Cheese Frosting evenly over cupcakes. Garnish with cookies, if desired.

Cream Cheese Frosting (Makes 6 cups… I only needed half of this recipe for the cupcakes)

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 12 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 9 cups confectioners’ sugar (I only used 6 cups and the frosting was great)

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Beat in cream until combined. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.

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Amy stopped by yesterday to deliver the cupcakes I had ordered to support the cause. Since I knew Amy’s idea was very popular and she was going to get a lot of orders, I expected to have just very simple, frosted cupcakes arrive. When she showed me what she had made, I was floored. Aren’t these the most beautiful cupcakes ever? Of course, I had to get my camera out and photograph them right away! I am so impressed with Amy’s attention to detail, her delicious cupcakes, and her willingness to put in so much time and effort to help Ann and her family kick cancer in the teeth. She has truly inspired me to try and figure out what I can do to lend a hand to Ann’s family.

If you are local and are interested in ordering some of Amy’s delicious cupcakes, you have until the 7th of August to do so. Please send an email to aloehr4 <at> kc.rr.com and mention you read about this on Dine & Dish. If you are from out of town and are simply interested in donating money to help the Schierts family, contact me and I will get you in touch with the appropriate place to do that. There is no one more deserving of this kind of generousity on this planet than the Schierts family… I can promise you that!

Helen from Tartelette is the Snapshot Spotlight guest over at Culinary Snapshot. Make sure to check out her tips and tricks for taking great food photos!

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Rabbi Shmuley Boteach this morning for an article I am doing for Her Life Magazine. You have probably seen Rabbi Shmuley around the major morning news shows lately promoting his book The Kosher Sutra.  I first became aware of  Rabbi Shmuley through his show on TLC Shalom in the Home. He was on Oprah talking about a couple who had a father who was “broken”. My husband and I started watching Shalom in the Home soon after that and it was like having a weekly marriage therapy session. The issues were real, the families were relatable and the advice Rabbi Shmuley shared was invaluable….

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I am a sucker for office supplies and paper goods. I have drawers full of pens, pencils, sticky notes, notecards, markers, scissors, etc. I have no idea what draws me in, but this obsession of mine is slowly taking over not only my desk, but the drawers in my kitchen. I think part of the reason for the plethora of pens, scissors and paper in my house is that I grew up in a house quite the opposite. If you needed to write down a phone number or a message, you would have to search and search for a pen and paper to write on. And, if you were having a really lucky day, the pen you would actually find would work! Imagine that!

Now that this obsession is out in the open, it will come to no surprise to you all that when I stumbled upon the website of Nicole Howard, I fell in love. Nicole is the owner and designer for Miss ‘N Nick Designs. Her stationary designs are sophisticated, yet whimsical. The cupcake note cards got my attention right away… what a perfect little note card to send out to all of your foodie and non-foodie friends! This is why I chose the Box of 10 Cupcakes Note Cards as the 2nd Dine and Dish Giveaway.

If you are interested in participating, simply leave a comment (please include your email address and link to your blog in the contact form) on this post by midnight CST on Saturday, May 31st. If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment and email me with a link to your favorite blog… just to control trolls. The random drawing will take place on June 1st and the winner will be announced sometime that day.

While you are taking a look at Miss ‘N Nick Designs, head on over to Nicole’s food blog too. Her blog, Art and Ailoi ( a blog about art, food, and the art of food) has quickly become a favorite!

Thanks for entering and good luck!

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