Tortillas and Honey

Vanilla and Blueberry Cheesecake Pudding Do any of you follow any reality food television or food competitions? There are several food competition shows now that seem to be getting more and more popular. There are really only two food competition shows that I've watched and they are "The Next Food Network Star" and "The Taste." There are some of my favorite cooks and chefs that came out of the series that I adore, including Guy Fieri, Aaron McCargo Jr., and Melissa D'Arabian! One of the things that I loved about Melissa was that she always seemed like the underdog on the show but she always came out on top and ended up winning the competition. Her show and her books focus on delicious yet inexpensive meals to feed your family, which is a great concept. The Review: Supermarket Meals is Melissa D'Arabian's second book. As you may expect from the title, this cookbook features healthy recipes whose ingredients that you can find at your local su...

Apricot Cheesecake with Crumb Topping I've been slowly working on trying to get this post done for over a week now and I just couldn't seem to get this post completed-- until today when the lovely Zainab at the Blahnik Baker mentioned on her Facebook page that it's National Cheesecake Day! So I buckled down and am getting those post to you all on National Cheesecake Day! I know it's been yet another two months since my last post, but I sure hope that this beautiful and scrumptious makes up for my absence. I really don't have any excuse as to why I haven't gotten more posts to you all because I'm on break from graduate school for the summer. I do think between work and school that I've been burnt out and I have been enjoying my free time entirely too much (Netflix, books, vacations to MD/VA/DC and camping and the lake and other fun activities and festivities)! It's going to be very hard to go back to school in a couple weeks. My parents hav...

Dulche de Leche can be used in many diverse ways and these Dulche de Leche Cheesecake-Filled Cupcakes are a special treat to share with your loved ones. This post was sponsored by Collective Bias® to help others learn the many uses of dulce de leche but, as always, the recipe and the opinions in this post are my own. The holidays are the season of giving, and it's also the season to recognize others and to say "thank you." I created these Dulce de Leche Cheesecake-Filled Cupcakes using Nestle's La Lechera Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Kit to deliver to Big Brothers Big Sisters in order to say thank you for all of their work in helping children realize their fullest potential. In 2009, I became a Big Sister to my Little, and we were matched for about three years until I started graduate school in 2012. During that time, it was amazing to see how she matured and grew... both mentally and physically (she ended up being taller than me after a couple years!). He...

Red White and Blue Cheesecake Cupcakes Happy 4th of July! Okay, one day late but you know how it goes. :-) How did you spend your 4th of July? We went to my brother's girlfriend's family BBQ yesterday. They initially were going to have it in the mountains, but because we're in such a severe drought, they closed all the picnic areas for the holiday to help prevent fires. So we ended up at Tiff's sister's apartment complex where they had an amazing BBQ/pool area. The BBQ area was set up like an outdoor kitchen, complete with a fridge and sink. If I ever get an outdoor kitchen, it would look very similar to that. It was very impressive! So we had massive amounts of BBQ and spent a lot of time in the pool (complete with sunburns to prove it!). It was a very fun celebration! Tiff and I are even thinking of possibly doing another BBQ/pool get together for our birthdays next month. :-) These lovely and festive cupcakes were my contribution to the BBQ yesterday. I...

Chocolate Chip and Toffee Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars So guess what? I'm surviving graduate school so far. I've gotten two A's on two of my papers. I just turned in my third paper for the semester yesterday. I have a midterm due next week and two more papers due two weeks after that. So ask me in a couple weeks if I still feel the same way! My excitement for the fall has been depleted slightly. Every year I forget about the dark mornings. Every morning seems a little darker and I do NOT like waking up before sunrise. It just doesn't seem natural! Also, a cold front is coming through New Mexico so it's cold right now (not the crisp mornings and warm afternoons). And I won't go into trying on last year's fall/winter clothes. But I like scarves! Anyway, I love it when people send me recipes or ideas. My brother's girlfriend sent me this recipe that she had found online. It's cheesecake and cookie dough together in one. Sounds heavenly right?...

Apple Streusel Cheesecake Happy Monday! I have another wonderful fall recipe for you today and a great recipe if you have some apples waiting to be used. This recipe I've been making for years and found it on Food.com back when it was Recipezaar. Do you remember it back in those days? I've been hoarding recipes for so long! What I'm sharing with you today an Apple Streusal Cheesecake. The cheesecake is very mild and doesn't have a strong cheesecake flavor so the apples are the star. The lemon really helps to bring out the flavor of the apples, especially if you're using tart apples. This is a very simple recipe that doesn't take too much time to put together, just remember that chilling time is several hours. I hope you enjoy this recipe, it's one of my favorites! Also, the Balloon Fiesta ended yesterday so I'm going to share a photo that I snapped on the way to work last week. Being stuck in morning traffic didn't seem as frustrating w...