Velvety Cheesecake

This year for Easter, Auntie Vicki suggested something different than usual: a plain cheesecake that could be topped with fresh berries. For my search, I decided to stick with my books and magazines since I tend to go on autopilot to the internet. I considered choosing a fruit-flavored cheesecake but eventually decided to stick to finding a plain flavor. In the end, I chose a recipe from one of the pocket magazines I once grabbed from the register display, specifically by Gooseberry Patch.

Easy Strawberry Cake and Frosting

I feel like there are some flavors that are universal in my family. As in, just about everyone likes them. Other than chocolate (because, duh), peanut butter is the main one that comes to mind: with the exception of Carly and Stefan, I think everyone in my family likes peanut butter (just don't put it into frosting 🤦‍♀️).

There's also strawberry. Other than my dad, I'm not sure if there's anyone in my family who doesn't like strawberries (if there is, they're not as vocal about it 😏). So since he wasn't going to be here for Easter, I decided to make something with strawberries in it. After looking at both hard copies and digital copies, I decided on a cake and frosting recipe from The Spruce Eats.

Raspberry-Almond Shortbread Cookies

Back when I was in college and home on break, my mom and I went to Nonni's house to make raspberry jam. So far it's the only time I've made it but I really enjoyed it. My mom got the raspberries fresh from a friend of my parents who has raspberry trees on his property. Although that day had been my first time making jam, we had always had a jar in our fridge for years. I honestly can't remember when we started using homemade jam along with store bought jelly. I'm pretty sure Nonni has always had at least one jar of the stuff in her fridge. So I kept that in mind while I searched for a cookie that would allow me to also use up the bag of slivered almonds that sat in my pantry (when planning Christmas presents, Mom told me that almond is a flavor Nonni likes). While looking through my collection of magazines, I came across a recipe in one of the Better Homes & Gardens magazines for Raspberry-Almond Shortbread Cookies that I could easily alter to include the slivered almonds (which is as creative as I'm gonna get when baking).

Orange Pound Cake

One of the first chick flicks/romantic comedies I ever watched was My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I think it's kind of what started me and my mom having shared interests (and also our friendship despite the fact that I was a teenager and what teenage girl wants to be friends with her mom?). One of the scenes that has always made us laugh is the beginning of the family dinner when Ian's parents meet Toula's family and Ian's mom brings a bundt cake, which Toula's mom has a hard time understanding (both the concept and the name).

So when my mom asked me to make for her birthday an orange cake that I had pinned on Pinterest but couldn't remember which one, I decided to make one that used a bundt pan. It was perfect because we were celebrating at Anthony's girlfriend Kati's parents' house (we ended up basically copying the movie because Anthony and Kati announced their engagement at the part =D). OK, I mainly made the cake so I could reference the movie and the scene in this post. But when Mom saw the cake we both laughed about the scene, so mission accomplished? (Except we forgot to put a flower pot in the cake's "hole." Oh well.)

Savannah Smiles Zesty Lemon Streusel Bars

Last year during Girl Scout cookie season I bought two of my favorite flavors: one for eating and the other for baking with. I used the for-baking Thin Mints last year but I've been a bit stumped about what to bake with the Savannah Smiles and Tagalongs, especially the Savannah Smiles since they just came out last year. I guess I should've waited a year since last weekend I decided to bake with them and came across this recipe on the Little Brownie Bakers website for Savannah Smiles Zesty Lemon Streusel Bars (according to their About Us, they are an authorized Girl Scout cookie baking company).

Best Banana Bread

I'm not that big of a produce eater. Fruit and veggies - not my thing on a daily basis. So of course I didn't notice or care when we got back from a week in Chelan and several of my dad's bananas were brown. And because we try to waste as little as possible, Dad asked me to make banana bread with them (as opposed to throwing them in the trash or food waste). I started searching before my mom told me about the recipe that she uses from the cookbook that her godmother's church put together with recipes from members and their friends, including my mom's godmother and her banana bread recipe.