Tres Leches Cupcakes I've been looking for a Tres Leches cupcake recipe FOREVER, so I jumped at the chance to make this one. Now, I love making cakes from scratch but for cupcakes...forgetaboutit! It's Betty Crocker cake mix, every time! I used the recipe located for Double Almond Wedding Cupcakes on this site but then followed the recipe 100% for the milk mixture. (*NOTE*--I've hated "cupcake papers" my entire life so I grease the muffin wells and bake them right in there. After 10 minutes cooling, I take them out, cool on a rack, and THEN place them into cupcake papers for ease of handling. What's the difference? The paper doesn't pull out the moisture from the cake AND the paper doesn't pull apart the cupcake as you're desperately trying to peel it away from the cupcake!)So, with THIS recipe, I did the cooling on the rack, but then placed the cupcakes conveniently back into the cupcake wells to treat with the milk mixture and refrigerate. When getting ready to serve them, I then put them into the clean and tidy cupcake papers, placed the whipped cream and coconut on top (skipped nuts) and served them at a 40th birthday party on Cinco de Mayo! What a hit they were!!! Will be making these again, but ONLY with the box mix and recipe for the batter from the aforementioned Double Almond Wedding Cupcakes, minus the almond extract, of course. :)

Bananaberry Bread I was all set to make Banana-Blueberry Bread from this site when I read a review by Ms. Ziebell saying to "Not bother with this one. Make Bananaberry bread instead." So, I checked out this equally unknown recipe and am SO grateful to Ms. Ziebell for her recommendation!!!! First, I adore baking with buttermilk and second, WHY use dried blueberries when you can use fresh or frozen? It makes NO sense! I read all the reviews HERE, added the suggested vanilla and nutmeg and bumped the blueberries up to 1.5 cups. Also, since my family does NOT like quick bread format but muffins instead, that's what I made. Thoroughly enjoyable, the bright burst of tart berries is a perfect oounterpoint to the sweetness of the banana. A reviewer wrote that the berries made it soggy and sunk to the bottom; that was not my experience at all. This batter made 12 Jumbo muffins, using a 1/3 cup scoop for each well and took 28 minutes to bake them. This recipe is a Keeper, for sure, and one that I'll look forward to making in the years to come. :)

Citrus-Kissed Fig Thumbprints I made three changes because of my family's preferences but the core recipe was stellar. Change #1: No one likes fig ANYTHING in my home, so I used Smucker's All Fruit Spread in Apricot. The marriage of the orange and lemon zest suggested a nice marriage with apricot; I used a pure fruit spread because jam or jelly would have leaked out of the cookie. #2: Because of the apricot, I used almond vs. vanilla extract. #3: Once the cookies were cool, I melted dark chocolate chips and shortening and drizzled a thin stream over the cooled cookies. This combination was insane and my family begged me to make them again, this coming weekend. Secretly, I'll make the fig version for myself. ;)

Ham, Spinach and Cheese Strata It took me less than 24 hours to receive this recipe in a Betty Crocker email and have it on our table for Christmas Eve. STUNNING!!!! I used sourdough bread (I love the taste!) and used very thin slices of smoked ham from our butcher.Rather than have the meat on the bottom, I had the veggies as the bottom layer, then the ham, 100% of the Cheddar Cheese, the soaked bread and then the Italian cheese. It baking time was perfect and so was our meal; now, we can have this for brunch, too! Merry Christmas, 2011!

Fantastic Fruit Dip I've been making this dip for over 10 years! Got it from a lady at church and it is so deceptively simple, yet sublime! I don't need to worry about calories so I use full-fat yogurt; I mean, you're using it on FRUIT which is low in calories. I make it early in the day and allow it to "rest" and mingle in flavour; sometimes I use plain yogurt or vanilla. Wonderful dip!