Yikes, how is that next week is Easter already? Seems March had just started and suddenly we’re in high gear trying to figure out who is having Easter at their house and what will be on the menu. In our family we try to take turns hosting the holiday so that someone isn’t always the one having to get their house cleaned up and doing all the cooking as well. Plus we try to bring dishes and desserts so that one person isn’t doing all of the work. Then there is the fun Easter egg hunt that we do for the kids, outdoors when the weather is cooperative. For dessert this year we’re going to make some delicious flan for dessert using our Kaiser Bakeware La Forme Plus Fluted Flan Pan.

I am a big fan of Kaiser La Forme Plus nonstick bakeware because it is made very well and offers a variety of quality pans to choose from. This particular product line offers a ceramic coating that offers lasting durability as well as easy release for your baked goods. These wonderful commercial weight steel pans are made in Germany and come with a ten year manufacturer’s warranty.

While we love desserts any time of year, (who doesn’t?), we especially love when the weather turns chilly and we can bake our favorite cookies and cakes. Yes, we do a lot of baking all year round, but the cooler weather makes it so much more enjoyable. You don’t mind the hot oven as much since it’s heating up the house. Plus there’s nothing quite like coming in from the cold to the smell of fresh-baked goodies wafting through the house.

Already we’re dreaming of dipping warm chocolate chip cookies into a mug of fresh hot coffee or hot cocoa. Then of course there’s our favorite pies like cinnamon apple topped with ice cream on top or a deliciously creamy cheesecake topped with cherry sauce.  I guess the truth is dessert is always on our mind! It’s just the cooler months give us more excuses to bake all of the time. There are always willing volunteers available to taste the results.

When it comes to baking equipment, it always pays to find bakeware that is as versatile and durable as possible. Many of us make the mistake of buying pans and other items in haste only to realized after using .them that they weren’t quite up to the job. I’ve been guilty of it myself, buying on impulse rather than taking the time to investigate and buy something that could serve multiple purposes. This red ceramic bakeware set is a good example of bakeware that is both useful and sturdy. Not to mention quite attractive and a good value as well.

Once you own a set of two of good ceramic baking dishes, you’ll wonder what you ever did without it. Not only are these great kitchen pieces perfect for baking meals and desserts in, they are also stylish enough to use as serving dishes as well. Plus you can use them for food storage as needed. They clean up easily, looking as good as new. Then you can stack them inside each other and store them neatly inside your cabinets until you’re ready to use them again - which will be often!

Now we love our sweets and we love our desserts, and we also love having a good, rich, hot cup of coffee with our treats. There’s nothing quite like dipping a warm cookie or freshly made biscotti into a delicious cup of coffee. The trick to making a good cup of coffee is not just in the coffee beans but in the coffeemaker too. If you don’t have a decent coffee machine, you won’t end up with a rich brew. The Mr. Coffee 12-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker is a good example of such a machine.

This programmable coffee maker features a removable filter basket and a brewing pause that lets you serve yourself a cup of coffee while it’s still brewing. It also has a handy two hour auto shut-off that keeps your coffee warm for an extra two hours before it automatically shuts off with an adjustable temperature warmer plate. Plus it has a net special cleaning cycle to make cleaning your coffee machine a breeze.

What better time to treat yourself to a delicious, decadent dessert than on Valentine’s Day. There are so many wonderful desserts you can make, it’s hard to choose.  If you love strawberries, then how about a light and tasty strawberry shortcake made of layered cake, strawberries and sweet, heavy whipped cream. More of a chocolate lover? Then you’ll love a chocolate eclair dessert or perhaps a pumpkin chocolate dessert cake made in your favorite bundt pan.

You can make mousse, parfaits, cookies, mini cakes, brownies with whipped cream - any of these mouth watering favorites. And if you don’t feel like baking this weekend, then be sure to visit your favorite bakery and treat yourself to something special for dessert for this sweet holiday.

We love pancakes, and not just for breakfast, but for snacks and dessert treats as well. While pancakes might not seem like a dessert idea at first, there are some wonderful sweet recipes that you can easily make at home that are perfect for dessert. Before you get started, make sure you have a quality griddle like this Stainless Steel Round Griddle to bake your pancakes in.

One of our favorite recipes is chocolate chip pancakes. The easiest way to make them is to use 1/2 of your favorite pancake mix combined with 1/2 of a brownie mix, adding in some chocolate chips as well. You can serve these with a strawberry sauce and a dollop of whip cream for the perfect finishing touch.  It’s just one of the many wonderful dishes you can make for your family with a litle creativity and some great kitchen cookware.

I was visiting the Martha Stewart site earlier, admiring all of the great holiday baking and craft ideas. I found wonderful ideas for food gifts and some great examples of handmade gifts and wrapping styles. It’s all quite beautiful, I would like to try to duplicate some of them for our own family celebrations this year.

Today’s cookie feature was scrumptious peppermint meringues with chocolate filling - they not only look fantastic, but sound irresitable.  I think we’d also enjoy the butter pecan rounds, so we’ll be trying a few new recipes this year. It might not always turn out perfectly the first time, but we won’t mind tasting the experiments!

There are a lot of favorite snacks that come to mind this time of year. Fresh apple and cherry pies, baked cookies like ginger and oatmeal raisin, homemade breads and muffins. Another classic is candied applies or caramel covered apples. A super easy snack to make, it’s also a wonderful treat for your little one - and a bit healthy too!

 We like to make chocolate covered apples around here. They’re really simple to make - just remove the stem from the apple, place a popsicle stick in the core, dip in melted semi-sweet chocolate and crumbled cookies or nuts, and place on a tray in fridge to cool. A delicious year-round treat. 

Bread might not quite classicly be first thought of as “dessert, but certainly any slice of warm fresh bread tastes quite wonderful enough to qualify. Now if you add things like cinnamon raisin, apple raisin, pumpkin, or many of the other delicious sweet items to your bread, there’s certainly no denying the dessert-like quality and taste. One of our favorite tools to bake our breads in our these sturdy clay mini bread pans from popular clay cookware manufacturer Romertopf.

If you’re thinking of creating some lovely homemade gifts for the holidays this year, these mini pans are perfect for making personalized loaves. You can bake up quite a variety of breads and mix and match them for individual tastes. You can even include some sample jams and butters for wonderful gift baskets that your friends and family are sure to love. Purchasing a few bread pans will pay you back tenfold as you find people coming back with requests for more of your specialty breads. Who knows, you might end up with your own little bakery side business before you know it.

If you, like many people, have food allergies in your family, you’ll find it’s not so hard to switch out many of your favorite recipes to leave out the offending allergens. It’s easy to leave nuts out when called for as most desserts taste just as good without them (with the exception of course of dishes like pecan pie, where the main ingredient is the nuts ). 

Baking cakes without egg, another big allergen, can be tricky when it comes to consistency, but cookies and muffins turn out very nice without the normal egg ingredient. We’ve been very successful simply substituting applesauce and a teaspoon or two of baking powder. Some people also recommend substituting 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon of water, and 2-3 teaspoons of baking powder for every 2 eggs called for, but our personal preference is not to use oil whenever possible.

Whether you’re just starting out in your 1st kitchen or adding to you favorite baking tools you already have, you’ll have more fun creating your favorite goodies if you keep the basic necessities nearby. There’s nothing worse than getting ready to make a pie or cake and realizing you’re missing one of the essential items to get the job done. Then you end up running out to the store and paying more than you should have for something that may not be the best tool you could have chosen for your money.

Stainless steel cookie sheets, square or round cake pans, loaf pans, muffin pans, potholders and oven mitts, mixing bowls and whisks - these are just a few of the many tools you’ll want to have to bake up your holiday desserts in a snap!

Yes, it’s time to make some of our favorite fall pies - apple, sweet potato, pumpkin.  We admit it’s always time for a great pie, but when this wonderful season arrives our yearnings always seem to quickly turn to the seasonal favorites.

While we make our own pie shells, you should never let making a pie shell stand in the way of you making a delicioius homemade pie. There are plenty of good pie shells available in your favorite store’s frozen section that will serve just fine - so you can just concentrate on the filling. You’ll find the recipes for these are pretty simple and you can tweak the spices on desserts like pumpkin pie to suit your own tastes. Practice makes perfect - plus it’s fun to taste every attempt.

If you enjoy baking breads and desserts as much as we do, then you’re likely on the lookout for new ideas and tips as much as we are. We love to bake and we enjoy trying new ideas too, though we’re not about to give up some of our favorite cakes or muffins. It’s just fun to add new things into the routine sometimes.

Here are some dessert ideas we came across recently that even reminded us of some treats we hadn’t made in a long time, like macaroons and espresso cheesecake. There’s is nothing more satisfying than a silky homemade cheesecake with fresh coffee after a delicious dinner - yum!

Is there any such thing as a bad cookie?  Doubtful, unless the recipe is really off or worse, you have a great mix you’ve made but get distracted and they burn in the oven. We’ve had that happen! But a favorite cookie, that is hard to pick. The classic favorites  for many are warm chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, gingerbread, butter cookies, peanut butter…the list is long.  And we like to play with recipes and add our own special ingredients, or sometimes we go vegan for family members who don’t or can’t eat cookies with the staple ingredients.

There is a wealth of cookie recipes to be found on the internet. If you’re in the mood for a new idea or want to surprise your family with a great new treat, try visiting allrecipes.com for cookie recipes . They have 1000’s of recipes with lots of helpful recipe reviews for insights on what works and what doesn’t.  

We love adding color to our kitchen whenever we can. Many of our main tools that are on the counter regularly are in similar colors like stainless and white, but it’s a lot of fun to add bright colors with our extras and accessories instead of going with something plain.

We really like these great mixing bowls and matching ceramic whisks. They come in lots of colors and add some fun color to our projects and our cabinets.

There is nothing like a fresh,  homemade muffin to start your day off right. Like a warm blueberry muffin or banana chocolate chip - with a delicious cup of fresh brewed coffee or cappucino. Actually they also make a tasty dessert - especially if you make warm up a chocolate chip muffin so that the chips melt in your mouth.