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you make my heart RACE!

My son is a matchbox car lover (one of the many) and when I was thinking of what to do for his preschool Valentines it made sense to make my own cards. Our school does not allow us to bring treats (boo!) so these Hot Wheels inspired Valentine’s Day cards are perfect. I simply printed out on white card stock, I purchased three packages of five Hot Wheels and attached them with washi tape that looks like tire marks. Below is the file for you to print too! Enjoy!

Click here to print your own “You make my Heart Race Valentine” RACEvalentine

apple pie pops, celebrating Snow White

Do you love apple pie? Do you love Disney’s Snow White? We sure do! So I was even more excited when I was asked to bake an alternative to the classic apple pie to promote the Diamond Edition release of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. My little baking assistant and I were very lucky to make some adorable and even tastier apple pie pops on CW 6 San Diego. These pops are something I have made before. but I switched it up for the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday and because afterall, what does the evil Queen want the huntsman to bring her back? Snow White’s heart of course! I hope you bake these easy pops with your kids, they are fun and super easy!

Apple Pie Pops, celebrating Snow White. They will take about thirty minutes to prep and only take 15 minutes to bake. Make them for a Snow White themed birthday party, a movie night or for your child’s class for Valentine’s Day. {recipe at the end}

Peel three granny smith apples. If your kids are old enough you could have them peel. Next, take a apple slicer/corer. My kids love doing this part!

Slice your segments into halves or thirds depending on the thickness. Cut them in half and then dice. The key to these pops is making sure your dice is even and small so they cook quickly. Next, mix apples with granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. Mix until all apples are well coated.

This recipe calls for store bought pie crusts. You could make these from scratch, they turn out the same but for the ease of this recipe I used Pillsbury pie crusts. I also enjoy the Trader Joe’s frozen crust, both brands are my go-to because they bake well and taste similar to homemade, which I do prefer as a crust lover. Use a heart shaped cookie cuter to cut the crust. Place a stick 3/4 of the way on the crust. Spoon a heaping teaspoon onto the dough. Remember not to overfill, otherwise when they bake you will oozing caramel-y goodness.

Before place a second heart shaped dough over the apples you will want to do a light egg wash around the edges so the top crust sticks. Gently press the two pieces together. You can crimp or press however you wish. Brush an egg wash over the dough if you are using a sanding sugar. If you wish to skip this step you can. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

I hope you enjoy these! If you bake them I would love to hear from you. Remember, Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is out for the first time on Blu Ray/DVD! Pick-up your copy today and make it a movie night at home!

apple pie pops, celebrating Snow White

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

35 mins

Easy Apple Pie pops that you can bake with the kids!

Author: Melissa

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 12

Ingredients

3 Granny Smith Apples
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ light brown sugar
1 ts. cinnamon
1 ts. flour
1 package store bought pie crust
1 egg, beaten
decorative sanding sugar (optional)

Instructions

Peel, core, slice and dice your apples.
Mix in sugars, cinnamon and flour.
Roll out one crust layer to flatten out the crust.
Cut out heart shapes with cookie cutter.
On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, stager hearts.
Place a stick ¾ of the way onto crust and lightly press.
Spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of filling onto each heart.
Spread a thin layer of egg wash around edges and lay top crust over, lightly pressing until sealed.
Crimp or press edges together. With a knife slice a small air vent into crust.
Spread egg wash over crust and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 350º for 15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on baking sheet.

The Best Damn Bread Pudding & Dad Update.

The day after Christmas was quiet. We were all in a food coma from the most amazing prime rib dinner. The season was finally winding down from a whirlwind of a month. The weather was the coldest I had ever felt it at my parents. The wind caused the power to go out and once the kids became restless we decided it was time to head back home down the mountain. My parents asked my sister and I to walk next door to give them a Christmas card. I went to open my car door and decided to just walk back into the house to say one last goodbye and that’s when I found my Dad on the floor. My Mom was next to him and I immediately knew he was having a stroke. I ran to our car and told Jim to call 911 and ran next to my sister’s car to get her. We were able to get one aspirin in and within minutes the ambulance was there. We acted immediately and I cannot thank the first responders. My parents had no power, all of us were in jammies, and all us were worried about my Dad. We spent the next hours in the emergency room and then he was transferred to ICU. He had good days and he had some bad. He so badly wanted to go home and we wanted him home too. Family dinners are just so uneventful without his sarcastic undertones and seeing him sad broke all of our hearts. After 27 days and several hospitals later he was released. The stroke was on the right side so his left side was effected. He was able to raise his left arm, and eventually able to bend at the elbow but no hand movement. He regained speech, facial expressions and awareness of his left side. However, the hand was still not working. I truly believe that God was not ready for my Dad. He just took my Aunt as another angel in October (who was also a stroke victim) but he had greater plans for my Dad. He was given a second chance and I truly believe that better things are to come. I was not and I am not ready to lose my Daddy. We have our first family vacation coming up at the end of this year to Hawaii and that has helped him. Looking into the future we see him here and he sees himself here.

The second night of his stay in the ICU my sister, Mother and I went to dinner. I had the bread pudding for dessert and kept thinking how much Dad would love to be sharing this with me. We both have a love for the spongy egg-y dessert. When we went back to the hospital I told him what I had and he said that sounded so good to him. I made a promise to bake it for him when he got out. Two days after he was released we had a celebratory dinner at my parents house. My sister and I made: tri-tip with an amazing mushroom wine sauce, mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli. We finished dinner with bread pudding. My friend, Janelle, had posted the recipe for Golden Nugget’s Famous Bread Pudding recipe on Instagram. After several texts back-and-forth on modifications and the most sinful vanilla bean sauce it was set. I am so happy that our family was all together. I am happier now than ever in my life watching my Dad’s progress. I am happy that we have him for a lot longer. I am happy for our future and all the memories we haven’t made yet. Add this bread pudding recipe to our ‘happy’ memory bank. We love you Dad!

Golden Nugget’s Famous Bread Pudding.

Golden Nugget's Famous Bread Pudding

Author: Melissa

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

16 ounces half-and-half
8 ounces whipping cream
8 eggs
1 1⁄4 cups sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla
4 1⁄2 slices white bread (I used challah)
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons raisins

Instructions

Mix first 5 ingredients together in a bowl.
Arrange bread in a single layer on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.
Pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread.
Mix cinnamon and sugar together. Sprinkle over bread.
Sprinkle raisins on top.
Cover with foil and bake in a water bath at 400 degrees for 75 to 90 minutes.

Update: Since I wrote this (I had yet to hit post) God has graced my Dad with another improvement, he can squeeze my Mom’s hand. I cried after we hung up. God is good.

to.die.for cinnamon rolls

Every Christmas and New Year’s Day my family wakes up to fresh cinnamon rolls. For the past four years I have been baking Pioneer Woman’s recipe, which I love and will never part with. This year, after having a holiday evening with friends and trying their recipe I decided to venture out. Her secret was vanilla pudding! I would have never thought about that in quick yeast bread. Her recipe was for a bread machine and even for me it seemed too difficult because I have to be honest with ya, bread scares me! Will it proof, not proof? Will it take quadruple the amount of time to rise? Probably. The one thing I have learned while baking cinnamon rolls is just to be patient. Wrap some presents, prep something else and make it a family affair. We made a double batch, the kids helped mix, I didn’t knead this dough long enough so after thirty minutes of zero rising I re-kneaded and it rose very quickly! The kids then helped spread the melted butter and loaded those babies up with enough sugar and cinnamon to give you a tooth ache. Christmas Day we gobble up the gooey cinnamon-y goodness and then Payton brought them to all our neighbors. She was so proud as she delivered them and I was equally as proud watching our tradition continue.

I followed this recipe from Mel’s Kitchen, fitting that I would love her recipe since we share the same name. 😉

For the frosting, I made my cream cheese frosting I use for my cupcakes. It uses slightly more powdered sugar than she recommends and I used vanilla bean paste for speckled goodness.

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