Pinterest Made Me Do It #2

Happy hump day! Today's post is the second post of my Pinterest Made Me Do It series. This one is so exciting because it's perfect for the holiday season...a chocolate chip peppermint bark cheesecake! Oh my!

I made this decadent dessert for when we had Amanda and Nick over. Also - Amanda has finally launched her food blog and you should totally go check it out. One of the recipes featured in her blog is an artichoke dip that she brought over and it was to die for! You can't go wrong with any of her recipes :) https://shesaidfood.com


Now let's get into the cheesecake. This was my first time making a cheesecake so I was slightly (ok VERY) intimidated. First things first is the spring form pan. Luckily my mom had one she doesn't use so she gave me hers....THANKS MOM! :)

Here are the ingredients...

Oreo Crust:
24 Oreos
5 Tablespoons unsalted melted butter

Cheesecake Filling:

4 - 8oz cream cheese softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
3 eggs
peppermint bark chopped into small pieces
1 cup chocolate chips

White Chocolate Ganache:
5.5 oz high quality white chocolate finely chopped (I used Ghirardelli)
1/2 cup heavy cream

Garnish:
Whipped cream
Crushed candy canes
Dark chocolate shavings

To make the crust:
1. Grease the spring form pan
2. Combine finely crushed Oreo's and melted butter. Then press evenly into the spring form pan and set in fridge while making the filling.

To make the filling:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Once smooth beat in sour cream, flour, salt, and the extracts
3. Add in eggs one at a time on low speed until mixed
4. Add chopped peppermint bark and chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon flour
5. Once mixture in combined pour into spring form pan
6. Place the spring form pan on a roasting pan with 1 inch of water in the roasting pan
7. Reduce oven temp to 325 and bake for 70-90 minutes (Mine took closer to 90)
8. Once cheesecake is cooked, turn off oven and let set in oven for 30 more minutes
9. Cool cheesecake on a rack and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight

To make the ganache:
1. Bring heavy cream to just a boil and pour over white chocolate.
2. Stir until melted and smooth. Let cool then pour over cheesecake
3. Once the ganache is set, garnish with whipped cream, crushed candy canes, and chocolate shavings

This cheesecake was amazing and not as intimidating as I originally thought (Thank God!). I love peppermint bark during the holiday season so this hit the spot for sure.

Hope you enjoyed my Pinterest Made Me Do It #2! :)

What I'm Loving Friday #8

Happy Friday! I haven't shared a "What I'm Loving' post in a few weeks which means it's way overdue. I do have some fun things to share this week so let's get right into it shall we?

                                                             1.) Old Navy Pajamas

I went Christmas shopping with my mom last weekend (and may have picked up these pj's for myself!). They are SO COMFY. I love the gray and white pattern. Benson made fun of me because it's a lot of gray and looks like you're wearing a onsie but guess what....I love them! 

2.) Because of a Case Cellphone Case

This is one of my Christmas presents! And I maaaaay have already opened it and put it on my phone...oopsies. Anyways, this case is gorgeous and for a good cause! 10% of sales go to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America AND it's on sale right now! I wish I had waited to get it. I paid $24.99 for mine but right now you can get it for $18.74. I've already gotten a lot of compliments on it. 

3.) Christmas Decorating

This is the first year Benson and I have gotten a tree! Our last 2 Christmas' we were in a smaller apartment and really didn't have room. This year we were able to go and get one and I could not be more happy! P.S. Colored lights are the way to go ;)

4.) Krispy Kreme Donuts

YOU GUYS. I have not had Krispy Kreme donuts in seriously like 12 years? This week at work we were surprised with a dozen glorious glazed donuts from the RIT Hospitality department for giving students a tour. We received these on Monday and they were gone by Thursday. #noshame. I remember when we use to have Krispy Kreme and if the light was on you could go in and get a free glazed donut. Those were the days! My favorite donut from Krispy Kreme was the glazed donut with chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles. If you live by a Krispy Kreme, know that I am jealous. 

5.) Plans over the weekend

We have some fun plans coming up this weekend! Tonight I will be baking a dessert for our get together with Amanda & Nick at our place tomorrow and it will be featured in my next "Pinterest Made Me Do It" post! Fingers crossed it comes out well. I say I'm making to tonight so it can set but really I'm also thinking that I want to make it tonight because then if it turns out bad I have tomorrow during the day to come up with a plan B! Then on Sunday we are taking a little family trip to Skineateles. Should be fun! 

Check back here next week for my next Pinterest post and more! Have a good weekend everyone :)

Pinterest Made Me Do It

It's a new series! Welcome back to my blog. I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving as well as some relaxing days off.

Over the weekend I was thinking of what I wanted to plan for my blog in the upcoming weeks. I was making my grocery list while looking on Pinterest and of course pinned SO many holiday treats, crafts, and more. Since I was heading to the grocery store anyways I decided to pick up ingredients to make on of the things I pinned. That's when I thought of doing a series called "Pinterest Made Me Do It." Like I said, this series will include not just food but also crafts - maybe fashion looks? We'll see with that one but definitely food and DIY!

I decided to start with something that wasn't too overwhelming. My first recipe in this series is a Loaded Cookie Bar.

This recipe is by no means healthy (obviously) BUT it's delicious and a little goes a long way. It's loaded with mini chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and m&m's - oh my! This is a perfect dessert to bring to a holiday party, cookie swap, or just to make for your family!

Let's start off with prep and ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9 x 13 baking sheet.

The ingredients you'll need are:

• 2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of M&M's , plus more for topping
• 1 cup of mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping
• 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips

1.) In a mixing bowl, beat butter and both sugars until fluffy.

2.) Add in eggs, and vanilla while continuing to beat

3.) Lower the speed of the mixer and add in flour, baking soda, and salt - mixing until combined

4.) Add in M&M's, and mini chocolate chips (saving a little to top it off) and reserving the white chocolate chips to add on top as well. 

5.) Transfer dough to greased baking dish and press remaining M&M's and white chocolate chips on top. 

6.) Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden brown

And there you have it! My first Pinterest Made Me Do It project...and it's delicious! This one is definitely a thumbs up in my book. Only thing that would have made it better is if Wegmans had plain Christmas colored M&M's! Or maybe they did and I didn't notice but either way this still came out amazing and definitely rich! If you have a sweet tooth like me, these will blow your mind. 

Be sure to let me know if you make these too! Be on the lookout for my next "Pinterest Made Me Do It" post! These are fun :) 

Waking Up with The Skimm

Hello everyone! Long time no see! Is it just me or can you not believe that Thanksgiving is TOMORROW!? I sure can't! Hope you all have some exciting plans coming up. Mine will include going to not one but two Thanksgiving's - Benson's family first and mine later! I have to say that our family plans could not have worked out better. His family likes to do dinner early in the afternoon and my family eats around 6 or so. I love that we're able to spend the holiday with both sides and that we all live so close. Can't wait for my grandma's stuffing (which is the best part of the Thanksgiving meal if I do say so myself!)

For today's post, I wanted to share one of my must-have's every weekday morning which is The Skimm.

Just what is The Skimm? It's a newsletter that's delivered to your inbox every weekday (mine comes in at around 6:30 in the morning) that covers the most recent news broken down into easy to understand and witty paragraphs! I love that I can stay up to date on everything that's going on and it actually makes me enjoy reading the news. It's no more than a 10 minute read so it's perfect to read on your way to work, while you have your morning coffee, and get ready! 

I've been reading The Skimm for about 2-3 years now and have been a Skimm'bassador for a year. A Skimm'bassador is someone who has gotten at least 10 people to sign up for The Skimm using your unique link (see mine below!). Once you have at least 10 people, you're sent a cute tote and officially added to the Skimm'bassador Facebook group and LinkedIn page. They have milestones for different referral counts that include a t-shirt, wine glass, umbrella, cellphone case, apparel and more. I love being a Skimm'bassador and connecting with others in The Skimm community! It's a great way to get involved and connect with people who have similar interests as you. 

Another great reason to sign up for The Skimm is that they do frequent giveaways! By sharing your link and having people sign up you're then entered into their giveaways which have included gift cards, aparrel, TV's and more. 

Lastly, there's an app called Skimm Ahead which is a subscription service ($2.99 per month) and syncs to your phone's calendar that include's events coming up such as sports games, Netflix releases, concert tickets, show specials and everything in between. It's extremely convenient and I love being on top of the things that interest me!  

I highly recommend signing up for The Skimm. It's free and I look forward to getting mine each morning before I go to work. :)

Go sign up for The Skimm and let me know what you think!! (copy and paste link into your browser)

https://www.theskimm.com/?r=31AJK

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!!

Roadtrip Recap via Iphone & Snapchat

It's Tuesday! It's election day! Hope everyone get's out there to vote. No matter who you vote for, just VOTE. 

Ok now that I've said that, I'm finally able to catch up and fill you in on our road trip with photos from my phone! I did take pictures on my nice camera as well but I haven't uploaded them on my computer yet. 

Our trip consisted of going to Maryland to visit Alecia and Nick, then Haymarket, VA to see Casey and Jakob. It was so fun and of course went by waaaaay too fast. This recap may be a little choppy because I was switching from phone to camera so some pictures may be a tad jumpy but hey! It's my blog so I guess it's my rules ;)

Unfortunately I don't have pics on my phone from our time in Maryland. We still had so much fun though including but not limited to: My FIRST Chick-Fil-A experience (amazing), drinking out of "turtle shells", trivia and coming into last place (A for effort?), and a winery! 

Our second half of our second day we drove to VA. Casey & Jakob's house is adorable and definitely gave me lots of decorating inspiration. Their house is Pinterest come to life, I swear! 

The first night we went to a movie theater that serves dinner and drinks! We saw "The Girl on the Train" and I had a delicious wrap and adult milkshake to go with it. I wish we had one of these types of movie theaters in our area!

Our first full day there we explored the cutest little town of Middleburg followed by some wineries.

 

This market was adorable and had lots of local goods. Next time we visit I would love to have lunch here! 

I loved the vibe of Middleburg. It kind of reminded me of Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls! We even went into a store that has a dog named Tiffany.

After getting coffee and walking around it was time to hit up the wineries! 

The first winery had all reds. I love a good red so this winery was right up our alley! My FAVORITE winery was the second one though. 

Yes, there was a dog here too so obviously it was my favorite. Not only that but it was also a cidery along with the winery. I actually liked the cider better than the wine! (gasp!). They had about 10-12 different ciders to try and all were delicious! The best part was that after we tried them all the woman who was pouring (and owner of the dog) let us mix and match our own flavors to test out. I forgot which two I mixed but in the end I ordered a pint of the blackberry cider to sip while we hung out.

We even got to tour the barrel room which was super cool. I think a barrel is only $1,400? I say only sarcastically because when we were here (and maybe a tad tipsy) we joked that we would happily buy a barrel! ;) 

Next stop was Barrel Oak Winery where we tasted and ordered glasses of wine to drink outside because it was gorgeous out. 

59 felt so warm!

#thegreenteam

After a long day of walking around and drinking wine, we headed to a mexican place for a quick dinner then did a haunted maze. I WISH I had pictures from this. It was so funny and yes...scary! It was actually pretty long too. It took about 20-25 minutes to go through the entire maze. Luckily, Casey was brave and led us the whole time ;)

Full Day #2 consisted of walking around in Leesburg which was another little town that had lots of antique shops. I ended up buying a couple things for my mom and a wooden sign for me that says "Farm to Table". I just loved the rustic look of it and knew exactly where I would hang it up at our place. For lunch on this day we went to a cafe called Roots and while we went there with the intention of only getting a snack, we each ended up ordering a full lunch. I had a very good roasted turkey sandwich and pumpkin spice latte. 

On Sunday before we left, Casey and Jakob took us to one of their staples called Trummer's and oh my....this cafe did not disappoint.

Benson and I split a breakfast panini which had ham, eggs, tomatoes, and gouda. My drink was called viennese eis cafe which was icecream and cold brew blended together. It was the perfect way to end such a fun trip!

We were sad to end our trip and our drive home was pretty gloomy and rainy. Once we got home Riley was not so happy that we had left him for 5 days. Dylan however was happy to see us! 

All in all it was a fabulous 5 days and I'm glad we were able to visit with everyone. Can't wait to do it again!

What I'm Loving Friday (on a Saturday) #7

I started writing this blog post on Friday (Hence the title) but as I was writing how busy this month has been, I was unable to finish it! Luckily, I have some time today to finish my post! Second time's a charm right?? Ok, let's get into what I was saying yesterday (haha):


This morning I definitely needed some caffeine to say the least! Life at work has been SO busy..being in HR, we're busy all year round but for some reason every October just flies by and I'm so exhausted due to the extra things we have to do.

Technically, today is my Thursday. I am working tomorrow because next Wednesday Benson and I are heading to Baltimore to visit Alecia and Nick, and then Haymarket, VA to visit Casey and Jakob! To say Benson and I are excited is an understatement. We are most definitely looking forward to our road trip because to be honest, I don't remember the last trip we took? AKA this is waaaay overdue. 

Let's dive on into what I've been loooooving this past week!

1.) Ipsy Glam Bag

I've been a subscriber to Ipsy for about 3 years now and every month I look forward to my glam bag. This month however was probably my most favorite bag yet! I love the nail polish! When I looked up the nail polish online, I found out that they are $20....A BOTTLE. Ipsy is $10 per month so just that nail polish makes it worth it. I'm also excited to try the Make Up Forever foundation. I've always wanted to try their foundation but since it is pricey I just haven't ever bought it. Now I can!

2.) Pumpkin Pie Latte from Wegmans

You know me and my pumpkin drinks. This one from Wegmans is deeeelicious. Seriously, I don't even know how I would function not living near a Wegmans. Want to know what made this latte even better? It was FREE. I had gone to Wegmans to get flowers for one of my co-workers birthdays and I paid for those at the coffee shop. When I paid the cashier never told me a total so I walked out and it wasn't until I got to work that I realized I was only charged for the flowers! That definitely made my Friday!

3.) This Is Us

OMG...this show! I fell in love the first episode and now it's one of my fall favorite tv shows. If you haven't watched it, go on Hulu ASAP and watch! Such a good show!

4.) Sunglasses

I know summer is over, but I wanted to order new sunglasses for our road trip next week. These ones from Nordstrom's are so cute and affordable. My cousin Kelsey has them and I fell in love with them over the summer so I figured I should buy them for myself too :)

That concludes my favorites from this week! I'm sorry my blogging has been lacking lately! I promise to get back into the groove of things! Once we get back from our trip to MD & VA I'll be sure to blog all about our travels. Benson and I are super excited for this trip. Plus, I hear there are lots of wineries in VA...right up my alley!  ;)

What I'm Loving Friday #6

It's that time of the week again! I love doing these posts every Friday and being able to share what I'm loving at the moment. This week flew by so let's just jump right into today's "What I'm Loving Friday!"

1.) Madison & Mallory Online Boutique....again.

You guys...this online boutique is so awesome. It's super affordable and cute! I ordered a shirt and sweater on Tuesday and received them YESTERDAY in the mail!! I ordered two items. The first being the olive criss cross sweater. So cute right!? The second item was the distressed t-shirt, but I ordered mine in olive green. These are going to look so cute with my black LuLa Roe leggings and booties. I love olive green clothing in the fall because I feel like it looks good with my dark hair.

                                                        www.madisonandmallory.com

2.) Homemade Caramel Apple Poptarts

I'll be sharing this recipe next week! I wanted to make another fall recipe and since I already made a pumpkin one, I wanted to do an apple one. This was my first time making homemade pop tarts. I grew up on the good 'ol box kind which I'll admit are still delicious. These were pretty easy to make and the frosting is homemade as well. Be on the lookout for more on these scrumptious treats!

3.) Birthday Celebrations at Work

Ok, how cool are these cupcakes my co-worker made for me!? On Monday I was surprised with gifts and treats at work. The HR shirt is spot on and perfect. I love working with such fun and caring co-workers. This definitely made my Monday!

4.) Cake Stand

Again, I know I shared this in my birthday post but I was so excited to be able to use my cake stand right away with the leftover cupcakes from work. They looked so pretty in my cake stand I almost didn't even want to eat them because they looked so neat in the cake stand (I said almost....these cupcake are long gone by now). 

5.) "Uninvited" By Sophie Jordan

I borrowed this book from the library on Tuesday and I'm almost finished with it. It's such a quick and easy read but it's really good! I don't want to give too many details or spoilers, but it's basically about a girl who found out she has the "kill" gene, and her life is changed upside down when the government decides that all who have this gene need to be quarantined. She however is one of fifty who get to go to a special training camp to be taught how to deal with this and hopefully live with the general population again. Go read it! Like I said, super fast and easy read but SO interesting. 

Let me know of any must read books you recommend. Since it's fall, I love darker themed mysteries and thrillers. 

Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend! See you back here on Monday!