Posts

Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

Image
Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a

DIY Handmade Egg-Shaped Soaps, Using Plastic Easter Eggs

Image
I created this project and featured it as a guest post many moons ago. Today, I'm delighted to be sharing this simple and versatile DIY project with my readers at Rook No. 17. Plastic eggs -- they're great for filling with sweets and goodies for the annual Easter egg hunt. But afterward you're left with a bunch of brightly colored plastic eggs that don't exactly lend themselves to sublime home decor.  However, with one simple modification, you can transform those plastic eggs into poured soap molds to create elegant egg-shaped soaps that look like they came right out of a chic little French country boutique. With this simple and versatile DIY project you can design custom soaps by adding your choice of colors, scents, and natural elements (mine are made with dried Lavender and essential oil). The egg-shaped soaps make a lovely gift when packaged in an upcycled egg carton.   DIY: Egg-Shaped Soaps  makes 1 dozen Materials For the soaps:

Recipe: My Favorite Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Image
  Every since I was a kid I've had a weakness for blueberry muffins But now that I'm a so-called "grown up" I've accepted the reality that my beloved blueberry muffins are really blueberry cupcakes. Muffins - Schmuffins Alas, a cupcake does not a breakfast or healthy snack make. That's why I decided to play around with the traditional blueberry muffin formula...   I used cake flour to keep the muffins fluffy, moist and light. I used frozen wild blueberries to keep the batter to berry ratio perfectly balanced.  A quick toss in cake flour helped to keep the berries from sinking to the bottom. To boost the protein and take the place of some of the oil, I used nonfat Greek yogurt. Lemon zest adds all the health benefits of the essential oils found in fresh lemons.    The bottom line is this:  These muffins are scrumptious! They're the perfect blend of sweet and tart.  They're lower in fat than tradition

St. Patrick's Day Recipe: Shamrock Style Irish Sausage Rolls

Image
For our St. Patrick's day celebration this year, I decided to put a holiday spin on the classic Irish bakery savorie -- The Irish Sausage Roll.   Like the classic, my shamrock-shaped pasties consist of hand-blended Irish sausage enveloped by buttery, flaky puff pastry.  These were such a hit with my family that I felt lucky to grab a few decent photos before they all disappeared. My daughter absconded with the last two to tuck into her lunchbox for school tomorrow.   Not having a drop of Irish blood in my body, I consulted an expert to help get this party started:  Irish American Mom .  I adapted her recipe for Irish Sausage Rolls to suit my plans for the Shamrock pasties.   Shamrock Style Irish Sausage Rolls Yield:  18 Shamrock Pasties Prep Time:  30 minutes Baking Time:  20 minutes 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley 1/4 teaspoon each of the following dried herbs:  marjoram, basil, rosemary, sage, fennel seed 1 teaspoon

Movie Ticket Style FROZEN Party Invitations (Free download)
and 20+ Ideas for the Ultimate Frozen Party!

Image
  My family has completely fallen for Disney's Frozen .   It seems as though every household in the land has been similarly frostbitten . Frozen + These = My Inspiration I've enjoyed reading comments and getting emails thanking me for the LEGO Movie party invitation template that I shared in January. It's nice to know that many families have enjoyed using the invites for their own celebrations. I figured that with the popularity of Frozen, there are bound to be a lot of Frozen-inspired parties in the works these days.  So, I put together a trio of Frozen Movie Theater Style Invitations that can be downloaded for free, personalized and printed. Disclaimer -- PLEASE READ -- These templates are not for sale and are not for profit. I'm sharing the templates free of charge, but as such, am not able to provide any custom work or tech support for how to use photo editing software. If you're new to photo editing and are ambivalent to t