Jul 23, 2015 | Baking, Desserts, Recipes, Sweets
Click here for a FREE copy of the "Top 10 MUST-HAVE Kitchen Gadgets" A couple weeks ago my 6-year old daughter came to me and said she wanted to invent a recipe. This was music to my ears, of course, and I asked her what she wanted to make. Without missing a beat she said, “Cinnamon Chocolate S’mores Cookies!” She has a sweet tooth just like her mommy. 🙂 She asked if anyone had invented this yet, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that if she went on Pinterest she could probably find page after page after page of S’mores cookie recipes, so I did what good mothers do and I lied straight to her sweet little face. That weekend we went to the store and bought the ingredients for your basic chocolate chip cookies plus cinnamon graham crackers and marshmallows. It took a couple of attempts to nail down the right amount of graham crackers for the recipe. Add too much and the texture is dry and has a sandpaper’ish quality. Add too little and you can’t taste them. Finally, on the third try we nailed it! Fear not – no cookies went to waste in this experiment. Even when cookies are bad, they’re still pretty amazing! Click here for a FREE copy of the "Top 10 MUST-HAVE Kitchen Gadgets" So now you can have the flavors of s’mores without bathing in the stink of a campfire. Enjoy! S'Mores Cookies Save Print Prep time 15 mins Cook time 12 mins Total time 27 mins Author: The Krave Ingredients 1¾ cup all-purpose flour ¾ cup...
Jul 2, 2015 | Appetizers and Snacks, Desserts, Healthy, Holidays, Quick and Easy, Recipes, Sweets
 Without question the 4th of July is my favorite holiday of the year. It’s not as hectic or expensive as Christmas; it’s not as much travel or work as Thanksgiving; and the weather is way better than Halloween. It represents everything that’s great about the laid back vibe of summer. A long weekend of picnics, pool time, carnivals, parades, time with friends and family and, of course, fireworks! Here is a festive, 4th of July-inspired fruit salad with a fun twist. Make a simple syrup (it really couldn’t be simpler, I promise!) with water, sugar and fresh ginger to add a little something special to your typical fruit salad. This recipe gets into the theme by using red strawberries, watermelon, and blueberries but you can use most any fruit you have on hand. Nectarines, pineapple, and mango would work well, too. Be sure to let the syrup cool completely before adding it to the fruit and the longer the fruit marinates in the syrup, the tastier it gets so this is a great make-ahead dish to take to your 4th of July parties.  Mixed Berries with Ginger Syrup Save Print Prep time 15 mins Cook time 5 mins Total time 20 mins Author: The Krave Ingredients ½ cup granulated sugar 1 cup water 1 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled ¼ watermelon, cut into ½" cubes 3 cups strawberries, hulled and halved 1 pint blueberries Fresh mint Instructions Place sugar, water, and ginger in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, discard the ginger...
Jun 9, 2015 | Desserts, Drinks, Food, Grilling, Life, Quick and Easy, Vegetables
Is there anything better than a warm summer night spent outdoors with great friends, food and drink? The grill is fired up, the kids are running around the yard, your friends are relaxed and laughing. There is no mention of work, never ending to-do lists or obligations. Just a chill summer night under the stars. This is the stuff memories are made of. These are the moments in life that really, truly matter. Summer entertaining doesn’t need to be fancy or formal. Quite the opposite, actually. Summer entertaining should be relaxed and low-key and quite often impromptu and unplanned. Here are a few simple, no-fuss recipes to help you pull it all together quickly and easily. 1. Virgin Sangria A sweet combination of grape juice, lemon juice, oranges, apples, strawberries and limes make this virgin sangria a perfectly refreshing drink for a hot summer night. Make a big batch of this virgin sangria for guests of all ages to enjoy and put out some wine for the adults who wish to add it. Just be sure to keep these drinks outside because you don’t want them spilling and staining your house! image via A Teaspoon of Happiness 2. Grilled Pineapple Guacamole If you love guacamole as much as we do, you and your guests will love this fun, summery twist on traditional guacamole. image via Two Peas and Their Pod 3. Texas Caviar This salad is quick and easy to prepare and it’s great on top of tacos, grilled chicken or fish. Or keep it super simple and serve it with chips and pineapple guacamole. It actually...
Jun 24, 2014 | Baking, Desserts, Recipes, Sweets
 Warning! This recipe definitely does not fall into the “healthy” category. It falls squarely in the “ice cream enthusiast” category. Make it. Eat it. Thank me later. I promise it is worth every single little teeny tiny calorie. Have you ever had a Take 5 candy bar? I hadn’t until recently – they’re pretty hard to find – but they are everything that’s good about a candy bar. Chocolate. Pretzels. Caramel. Peanut Butter. They are ridiculous! I wanted to make a dessert using them but could’t find them at the store, so I decided to make a cake with all of the Take 5 goodies instead. And then I decided why not take it up a notch and make it an ice cream cake? Because honestly, I live for ice cream. There’s never a bad time for ice cream. And I knew I was going to be doing a lot of running this weekend so I could justify the calories. I can always justify the calories. 🙂 And it’s super easy to make too! You make the crust by pulsing together some chocolate wafer cookies with a stick of melted butter. Melt some caramels in a pan with a little water. Mix together softened ice cream with peanut butter, pretzels and chocolate chips. Assemble, freeze and wah-la! Dessert is done and you never had to turn on your oven. And FYI – If you can find the actual Take 5 candy bar, I would definitely crumble that up and mix it into the ice cream with the other ingredients and sprinkle it on top of the cake instead...
