This probably would be a better summer recipe than winter recipe, but I think it combines the comfort food of potato skins with the thought of summer with the avocados and salsa. I served this with wine and cheese the other night. It was the perfect little appetizer for our group. I hope you enjoy it too.

Serves 20

Potato skins  - 10 small (2″) red or white potatoes, 2 TB olive oil, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper

Salsa Fresca - 1 lg. tomato, seeded and diced, 1 TB finely chopped cilantro and 1 TB chopped onion

 Avocado Salsa - 3 avocados, pitted, peeled and diced, 2 TB lemon or lime juice and 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To make potato skins, toss together all the ingredients in a bowl and stir well to make sure the potatoes are coated well. Spread potatoes on a baking sheet and bake approximately 45 min until tender. Cool until easy to handle. Halve potatoes and scoop out centers. (you can save potato flesh for hashbrowns if you want for another day).

Increase oven temp to 400 degrees. Place potato skins cut side up on baking sheet, and bake 15 minutes until crisp.

To make Salsa Fresca: combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.

To make Avocado Salsa: Mash together all ingredients in a bowl. Stir as much Salsa Fresca in with the avocado as you would like.

Stuff each potato skin with the Avocado Salsa mixture.

I am not a coffee drinker. I never have been. I do drink a little bit of tea occasionally, but I love hot chocolate. I think this will be the best hot chocolate you will ever have. Its super easy to make and is available anytime you want it after you make a big batch. (That is, is everyone else doesn’t drink it first).  Now, I will warn you. This is NOT the healthiest recipe ever, but it is really creamy, not too chocolatey, and rich, but not so much that you won’t want a second cup. If you have a better recipe, I challenge you to send it to me. I would love to try it. I made mine with skim milk, but that is what we drink, but whatever you use will work just fine. I have also tried semi sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate and a combination of all of them, but personally, I feel the milk chocolate is the best. Have fun and try different ones for yourself. I bet even  mint chips would be wonderful.

Crock Pot Hot Chocolate

1.5 C Whipping Cream, 1/14oz. can sweetened condensed milk, 6 cups milk, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 C milk chocolate chips and a dash of cinnamon.

Stir together everything in a crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, stirring occasionally until mixture is hot and the chocolate chips have melted. Stir again before serving and garnish with whipped cream,  marshmallows or just plain like I did here.

One piece of advice though. Do not leave on all day, as it will curdle a bit. It tastes fine, but the consistency is a bit strange. I would recommend when done serving, put in the refrigerator and bring out again when ready to use. Heat up again in the crock pot or warm in the microwave.

I have tried many different varieties of this recipe, but this is the one I like the best. I did add walnuts, but its pretty good without them too.

Cranberry Oatmeal and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick butter, 1 1/2 C sugar, 2 lg eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 C flour flour, 1 C old fashioned oatmeal, 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 C craisens, 2/3 C white chocolate chips, and a handful of walnuts coated in 1/4 brown sugar and 1 TB butter.

Cream butter and 1 1/2 C sugar until blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt and add to butter mixture until well blended. Fold in cranberries, white chocolate chips and nut mixture. Chill dough about 30 minutes.

Shape into 1″ balls, pat down slightly and bake for 10 minutes. Let cool before removing.

This is a fairly new recipe for me, but it is defiantly a hit with my daughter, sister, husband and guests so I think you are really going to like this. Yes, its another cookie recipe, but if you like the salty craze right not, you are going to love it with the conjunction of the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Yummmm!

Chocolate, Peanut butter and Pretzel Cookies – Makes 24

1 1/2 C flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 butter at room temp, 1/2 C tightly packed light brown sugar, 1/3 c sugar, 1 egg, beaten, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 C milk chocolate chips, 1/2 C peanut butter chips, 1/2 C broken up pretzel pieces and pretzel salt or sea salt.

In a med. bowl sift together flour, baking soda an salt. Set aside.

In  large bowl, beat butter and sugar(s) together until light and fluffy. On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla. Beat to combine and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture. Stir in both chips and pretzels. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop out well rounded tablespoons of dough and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Pat down slightly. Bake 10 minutes. Allow to cool before removing.

No, its not Thursday. I decided to post this on Wednesday this week. I figured everyone would be so busy on Thanksgiving either eating or preparing or both and then of coarse there is shopping on Friday that there would be no time to read blogs or looks through a ton of Facebook posts.

I cannot believe I have never posted this recipe. I make it a lot and it is always a hit. In fact,  I always get asked for the recipe which is why I probably thought it was already posted to my blog.  The recipe is on our website under “whats for breakfast”, but this is so good, I have to post it here as well. I really enjoy this one and try to make an extra one for myself since they are so tasty right out of the oven.

Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins – 6 Jumbo Muffins

1 C Flour, ½ C Sugar, 3 TBSP Unsweetened Cocoa, 2 tsp. Baking Powder, ½ tsp. Salt, ½ C Chocolate Chips, 1 Egg beaten, ¾ C Milk, 1/3 C Canola Oil, 4oz. Cream Cheese, and  2 TBSP Sugar

Preheat oven 375 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients and chips if using in a bowl.

Mix egg, milk and oil in separate bowl.

In a small bowl, blend cream cheese and ½ C sugar until fluffy.

Make a well in the center of dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients all at once to dry mixture, stirring until moistened.  Batter should be a little lumpy.

Fill Muffin Cups with 3 TBSP batter, then 1tsp. cream cheese mixture and top with 2 TBSP batter.

Bake 20 minutes and sprinkle with powdered sugar when done.

This recipe is so decadent that a lot of our guests ask what kind of drug is in this piece of work to make it so darn addicting. When I say bourbon, they all say, aaaaaah, yes. WOW!  This is similar to a mouse texture, but you just can’t get enough of it. I thought this would be the perfect pre Thanksgiving recipe to post. It  will give you some time to try it before  Thanksgiving if you want. Use it as dessert or a fruit cup like we do before breakfast. Either way, I hope you enjoy. This is one of my favorite recipes to make this time of year.

Pumpkin Pie Parfaits – 12 small glasses

Graham cracker crumbs or 7 gingersnaps ( like graham cracker best), 1 TB melted butter, 3/4 C and 1 TB powdered sugar, 1/2 C canned pumpkin, 2 1/2 tsp(total) bourbon, pinch of nutmet, 1/2 C white chocolate chips and 2 C cold heavy cream (total)

Crush 7 cookies  or graham crackers. Brush the bottoms and up the sides of 12 parfait glasses with melted butter. Add a spoonful of crumbs to each and roll to coat bottom and sides. Pour out excess and reserve for later. Refrigerate glasses.

Put 3/4 C  powdered sugar, pumpkin, 1 1/2 tsp. bourbon and nutmeg in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Microwave white chocolate chips until melted, stirring 1/2 way through. Add to pumpkin mixture until smooth and combined. Transfer to a large bowl.

Beat 1 1/2 C cream until soft peaks form. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Divide among glasses and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Beat remaining cream until foamy. Add 1 TB powdered sugar and 1 tsp. bourbon until soft peaks form. Top parfaits with whipped cream and reserved crumbs.

I am not a big pecan pie fan, but I have been experimenting with different recipes and this one did the trick for me. I had a lot left over because I cut them small so I snacked on them for a few days. They were just as good on day four as the first day. Easier to eat than  pie and I think much better. Tell me what you think.

Pecan Pie Bars

Crust – 2 sticks of butter, softened, 2/3 C packed brown sugar, 2 and 2/3 C flour, and 1/2 tsp. salt

Topping – 1 stick of butter, 1 C packed light brown sugar, 1/3 C honey, 2 TB heavy cream and 2 C chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13″ pan with foil, leaving enough to hang over the sides. (getting out of the pan and cutting will make this a breeze).

First make the crust by creaming together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add flour and salt until crumbly. Press into the foil lined pan and bake for 20 minutes until golden. Do not over bake!

While the crust is baking, prepare filling by combing the butter, brown sugar, honey and heavy cream in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat. Simmer for one minute and then stir in chopped pecans.

Remove crust and immediately pour the pecan filling over the hot crust and spread it to cover the entire surface. Return pan to the oven to bake an additional 20 minutes.

Remove pan and allow to cool completely! Use foil overhang to lift out bars and car.

I love this recipe! It makes a nice textured bread and almost seems gourmet. Great by itself or served with honey butter with your eggs.

Apple Pie Bread

1/2 C butter(softened), 1/2 C sugar, 1/2 C brown sugar, 1/3 C buttermilk, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 C flour, 1/2 tsp. apple pie spice, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 C peeled, diced apples, 3/4 C pecans, chopped, streusel nut topping.

Streusel Nut topping – 1/4 C brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 3 TB flour, 2 TB butter (softened), and 1/3 C walnuts or pecans, chopped.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of 9x5x3 inch loaf pan .

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar(s) together until combined. Add buttermilk and baking power and beat. Add eggs and vanilla, beat. Add flour, apple pie spice and salt. Beat.

Toss apples and nut in a bit of flour before adding to the batter. (helps so they don’t sink to the bottom). BY HAND, stir the nuts and apples.

Spoon batter into pan and spread evenly. Prepare the streusel topping. In a small bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. Cut in the butter until it resembles course crumbs. Stir in walnuts or pecans and sprinkle over batter. Bake for 1 hour.

Cool bread for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. Best is sliced the next day.

This coffee cake could also be dessert. I like those kind of recipes since I can use for them dessert in the evening and still serve it with coffee in the morning for breakfast and  nobody ever feels guilty.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake Serves 18

1/3 C water,  1 can pumpkin, 2 eggs, 1 TB  vanilla, and 1 tsp. vanilla, 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, 1 box yellow cake mix, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 C brown sugar(divided), 1/2 C flour, 4 TB, butter (melted),  1/4 C sugar and 1/4 C heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix together water, pumpkin, eggs, 1 TB vanilla and pumpkin pie spice until combined. Add cake mix and baking soda and mix.

Grease a 9×13 pan  and pour in batter.

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 c brown sugar, 1/2 c flour and  melted butter. Sprinkle over the top of cake. Bake for 25-30 min.

For the glaze, combine the other half of the brown sugar, sugar, 1 tps. vanilla and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.

When cake is finished baking, poke holes in the top with a toothpick. Pour glaze over the cake.

These fun little treats are not only easy, but really cute and yummy too.  Great for a kids party or your upcoming Halloween party. Thanks Pinterest for another great idea. Our guests gobbled these right up the other night.

Taffy Apple Cupcakes – Serves 12 

1 package carrot cake mix, 1 C apples, cored, peeled and finely chopped, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 20 caramels, 1/4 C milk, 1 C walnuts, finely chopped, 12 wooden craft sticks

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Stir in apples and cinnamon. Fill paper lined- regular muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 350 degrees for 20-25 min. When cool pop out  muffins.

Combine caramels and milk in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until melted. Spread caramel over cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle nuts over the top and insert a craft stick in the center for effect.

Okay, who doesn’t like a good apple right? I know I do, but I don’t eat them all the time. This time of year though I find myself literally craving apples. Especially honey crisp. If you have never tried one of these delightful little things, please do. You spend a little extra money for them, but they are pretty darn good. Okay, I did not use honeycrisp in this next recipe, because I like the tartness, rather than the sweetness a Granny Smith gives me, but you can choose whatever you like. This made a great appetizer during wine and cheese the other night.

Apple, Brie and Honey Bruschetta

I liked to toast the baguette slices a little first to make them a little crispy, but you surely don’t have to.

1 baguette, cut into thin slices, 6-8 oz. brie, 1-2 apples, thinly sliced ( I like granny smith), 1/4 to 1/2 C toasted cinnamon sugared pecans, finally chopped, honey for drizzling and flavored balsamic ( I used apple cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly brush baguette slices with olive oil and place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast about 3 minutes until lightly browned, flipping halfway through. (I do this ahead of time and finish before serving).  Remove baguette slices and top each with a generous slice of brie and continue baking until it melts. – Keep an eye on it. It melts quickly. Top with thin apple slices and chopped pecans. Drizzle with honey and balsamic.