Peanut Butter Ice-Cream

Sometimes all you need after a long day is a big scoop of ice-cream.

Peanut Butter Ice-cream was what I had in mind, and whipped it up really quickly!  This was my first time to make this recipe (from my Cuisinart Ice-Cream Maker booklet), the only thing I would change is next time, buy some mini reeses peanut butter cups and throw them in! 

You'll need:
1 cup + 1 tablespoon of peanut butter (I used Peter Pan Reduced Fat)
2/3 cup of sugar
1 cup of milk (I used 1%, but the higher the fat the thicker the icecream)
2 cups of heavy cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract


You'll need to:
1. Mix the peanut butter and sugar in a bowl until well mixed.
2. Add milk and the mix until sugar has dissolved. Then add the whipping cream and vanilla.
3. Pour into ice-cream maker and mix for 25-30 minutes. 
4. Ta-da!

-DD

Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last football season, I made some oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies that were a massive hit!  Since they were so popular (a friend of ours literally ran to get the last one - and then pumped his fist triumph)    I wanted to try Erin's Nutella version - Best.Decision.Ever.   

For someone so hopelessly addicted to chocolate this was amazing.  They were massive, delicious cookies gone all too quickly.

Here's what you need:
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of shortening
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups of flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 - 12 oz package of your favorite chocolate chips
1 container of Nutella 

You'll Need to:
1. Cream butter, shortening and sugars all together
2. Add in vanilla and eggs - one at a time.  Mix until completely combined
3. Add flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix together
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Form into smaller balls (I used a melon roller) and place on a greased cookie tray.
6. Flatten each cookie with the back of your hands or a spoon.
7. Put about one teaspoon of Nutella on each cookie.
8. Take a second cookie and sandwich the Nutella.
9. Bake for 12 minutes on 350 degrees.

Enjoy each and every calorie.

Marina 

Bridal Shower Fun!

One of my friends - Emily - is getting married in December!  I cannot wait - I just need to make sure I can still fit into my bridesmaid dress after eating so many cookies!!

I hosted (with help from my mom) a bridal shower for her over Labor day weekend!  Our moms are also great friends, so it was a really good time!  Since the shower was from 2-5, we had light snacks (sandwiches, fruit trey, veggie trey, 1 dip) and cake!  For drinks it was lemonade, iced-tea, and coffee!

Drinks Table!  Balloons hidden in back

Cake & Food Table! 

To start off, we made some lacy wedding invitations - complete with some envelopes also with lace!

Pretty!

Then, I had a craft day with my mom to make this wreath!  It was really easy, we bought everything at Hobby Lobby.  

The wreath was about $6, then we bought a bouquet of flowers for about $12, the letters were $1.99 each!  We painted the letters, plucked off the flowers off the greenery, and used hot glue.  It ended up being so simple and pretty!  My favorite decoration :)

Easy to make wreath!  And inexpensive! 

 During our craft day, we made the burlap banner - this was a cute idea to hang in front of our fireplace!  We have an open floor plan, so this was visible throughout the party!  So easy!! And I loved the clothes pins!

Mr. & Mrs. Welcome Banner!

This last minute addition was just for fun :)

We had this on the dessert table, along with a framed copy of the invite!

Finally, we had a game and a little activity before opening gifts.  The "recipe for a happy marriage" I bought some spoons and had everyone write some advice using sharpie.  Emily then read her "recipe" aloud.  It was fun and some of the mothers had some funny things to say with experience :).

Fun/Easy Game!

We also had a game "Points in Your Purse" which I made using Microsoft Word. It was fun and easy - and the winner won a bottle of red wine!!  If you want a copy of this game, email me and I'll send it to you!

For the favors we gave out Butterscotch Pretzel Chocolate Chip cookies which were SOO good!! I loved them way too much :). 

These are amazing - you should definitely try them!

It was a great shower, and super easy!

-DD