1 Yr Blogiversary!!

It's Teach Me How to Cookie's 
1 Yr Blogiversary!!!

One year ago today, we posted our first recipe... Meatball and Veggie Strombolis.
Click HERE for the recipe.

I started TMHTC on a whim, hoping to find a little hobby I could enjoy.
I had no idea how much I would love blogging,
sharing recipes, creating recipes, and connecting with people.

I'm also excited to announce that today
we are launching our official Facebook page!

 
Make sure you click HERE to like the page
to keep up with all of the latest recipes and posts!

I have to take a second and thank all of the
guest bloggers who have guest posted for me!
I have loooved having these wonderful women
share their talents through TMHTC!

Thank you Hannah, Sue (Mom), Mandy, Katie, 
Melissa, Julie, Tessa, and Carly! 
I hope you will continue to share your recipes on here!

And to anyone else interested in guest posting, please contact me and let me know!

And now the Top 5 Recipes from the year...

1. Chicken Asparagus and Parmesan Spaghetti

Click HERE for the recipe.

2. Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Click HERE to see the recipe.

3. Starbucks Iced Lemon Pound Cake

Click HERE for the recipe.

4. Cabbage & Ramen Noodle Salad

Click HERE to see recipe.

5. Taco Pie

Click HERE for the recipe.

Your favorite Pumpkin Fall Friday...

...Easy Pumpkin Dip

Click HERE for recipe.

Your favorite Christmas Cookie...

...Katie's Sugar Cookie Cut outs with Royal Icing

Click HERE for recipe.

My Favorite Recipe from the year...

...Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes

Click HERE for recipe.

And now....

The WINNER of the Red Keurig Mini Brewer is...

Tiffany Roberts!!

Congratulations Tiffany! I will be emailing you with 

instructions on how to claim your prize.

In case you missed yesterday, here is 

The Perfect Valentine's Dinner Menu for You and Your Sweetie!

Chocolate in EVERY. COURSE!

Click HERE for the recipe.

Here's to another great year of cooking, baking, blogging, 

creating, sharing, connecting, and tasting!

Week #9 Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Ahhhh November! 

How glad I am to see you! 

Halloween was such a fun holiday, 

but I'm ready to move on to Thanksgiving 

and then of course CHRISTMAS!! 

I'll try to keep my Christmas cheer to a minimum until after Thanksgiving. 

But maybe just a few recipes?? Please?? 

Ok back to Pumpkin Fall Friday! 

Can you believe its Week #9?! 

And the worst part is we only have 3 weeks left!! 

Well today I am absolutely crazy about our recipe. 

Maybe, just maybe my favorite so far. 

I mean who can resist a whoopie pie?! 

What could be better?! 

Let me tell you... PUMPKIN Whoopie Pies!  

Thanks All Recipes for this Ahhh mazing recipe!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Shopping List:

2 C Brown Sugar, packet

1 C Vegetable Oil

1 1/2 C Solid Pack Pumpkin Puree

2 Eggs

3 C All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Tbsp Ground Ginger

1/2 Tbsp Ground Cloves

1 Egg White

2 Tbsp Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 C Confectioners' Sugar

3/4 C Shortening

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease baking sheets.
2. Combine the oil and brown sugar. Mix in the pumpkin and eggs, beating well. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix well.
3. Drop dough by heaping teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 mins. Cool cookies completely and  make sandwiches from two cookies filled with Whoopie Pie Filling.
4. Whoopie Pie Filling: Beat egg white and mix with the milk, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup of the confectioners' sugar. Mix well then beat in the shortening and the remaining cup of confectioners' sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.

I really thought whoopie pies were much more difficult to make. 

I was so pleasantly surprised by how easy this recipe was to make. 

And they are SO SO Good!!

Happy November, Friends!

Halloween Post 2013

Happy Halloween!

Such a fun holiday! 

Today I am going to share a quick and easy 

Halloween recipe that you can throw together last minute 

if you are rushing to a Trick-or-Treat party tonight. 

So easy. So yummy. So cute. 

And then we will recap all of the Halloween recipes from this week.  

First things first...

FrankenGuac Cups

While, I'm excited to share this super cute recipe with you, 

I'm MOST excited to share this guac recipe. 

Seriously the most simple thing you will ever make 

and maybe the most delicious. 

1 packet. 2 Avocados. Mix. Done. 

No seriously. That's it. 

You'll wanna save this little gem for more than just Halloween. 

If you love guac like me, this little recipe will become a staple at your house.

Shopping List:

8 Avocados

4 packets Concord Foods Mild Guacamole Mix

1 bag Tostitos Blue Corn Chips

12 small Clear Plastic Cups

Method:

1. Mix avocados and guac mix packets using a potato masher.

2. Draw face on clear plastic cup. Full cup with Guac.

3. Add chips to top to create "hair." Enjoy.

Tip: To keep guac from turning brown, place pits back in mixed guac until, ready to divide into cups and serve. OR, cover top of guac with a thin layer of water. Just before dividing into cups and serving, pour of water.

Now let's recap...

On Friday, we celebrated Week #8 of Pumpkin Fall Fridays 

AND Halloween with these adorable little Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars. 

How cute are these ghosts?!

On Sunday, I put together for you the perfect Trick-or-Treat night menu. 

You want to spend your time helping your little ones get dressed up 

and parading around the neighborhood collecting sweets, 

NOT slaving away over dinner... 

My crockpot Meatball Subs, Caesar salad, and Spiderweb Brownies 

are just the quick and easy meal you need!

Yesterday, my sister Hannah guest posted this delicious Spooky Snack Mix. 

So yummy. So festive. And will be enjoyed by the whole family!

Have a Spooktacular Halloween folks!

See you tomorrow for Week #9 of Pumpkin Fall Fridays!

Week #8 Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Today marks Week #8 of Pumpkin Fall Fridays 

and the first day of a week of Spook-tacular Halloween recipes! 

When I saw these Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars on Pinterest from My Recipes,

I was a little intimidated at first because 

they looked difficult to make - especially those cute little ghosts!  

But I as I read the recipe, I realized they were actually very simple to make! 

And they are just so gosh darn cute, I couldn't resist. 

I practiced a few ghosts on a plate before I tried it on the actual bar. Easy-peasy. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Shopping List:

20 Oreos

2 1/2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted

2 8oz Packages of Cream Cheese, at room temperature

1 C Sugar

1 C Pumpkin Puree

3 Eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Tbsp Flour

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/4 tsp Salt

Cool Whip

Mini Chocolate Chips

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8 baking pan with foil.

2. Crush oreos in a food processor, add butter and pulse.

3. Press evenly in pan and bake for 10-12 mins. Cool slightly.

4. In an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar. Then add pumpkin puree. Add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla extract, flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

5. Pour mixture into pan and place pan in a a baking dish. Fill baking dish with hot water. Bake for 40-45 mins or until sides are set and center still jiggles slightly. Allow to cool completely.

6. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Pipe cool whip to form ghosts and use mini chocolate chips to create eyes. Enjoy!

Such a fun Halloween Treat!! 

And the best part is we are just getting started!! 

Tune in Sunday as I put together for you 

the perfect Trick - or - Treat night dinner. 

And then Monday for a guest post from Hannah on another Spooky Snack! 

I can hardly stand the excitement!

Week #7 Easy Pumpkin Dip

I can't believe it's Week #7 of Pumpkin Fall Fridays!! 

This little series has seriously been so fun. 

You'd think I would be tired of pumpkin by now, 

but I ASSURE you.  

I AM NOT!  

In fact, here is the next of our pumpkin recipes... 

This Pumpkin Dip is unreal! 

I took some to a Young Life committee meeting recently, 

and it was gone almost instantly.  

It is S-U-P-E-R easy to make! 

Like 5 mins max. 

And you can serve it with anything you want. 

I used Nilla Wafers and sliced Granny Smith apples, 

but really... the possibilities are endless. 

Annnndd... 

Because you can use lite and sugar free ingredients, 

it really isn't too too bad for you. 

Serve it up with some fruit and you have a delicious, 

semi-healthful dip to take to your next Fall party or gathering. 

Yummy. Yummy. Yummy.

Easy Pumpkin Dip

Shopping List:

3/4 can of Pumpkin

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 small box of Instant Vanilla Pudding mix

(I used sugar free).

1 container Lite Cool Whip

Your favorite snacks to serve with

(I used Nilla Wafers and sliced granny smith apples).

Method:

1. Mix ingredients together.

2. Chill for 30 mins before serving.

That's it!

See you Sunday for some delicious Chicken Gyros!!

Week #6 Pumpkin Spice Latte Bars and Fall House Tour

Week #6! Week #6!

I tried one other recipe in preparation 

for this week that bombed, but then... 

Magic happened. 

It literally felt like all of the amazing deliciousness 

that is a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte 

morphed into bar form. 

I mean... YUM!  

I know I say this every week, but this literally is the best. 

Go get yourself a Venti PSL, whip up some of these babies, 

sit back and taste the Fall!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Bars

Shopping List:

1 pkg Betty Crocker Pumpkin Bar Mix

1 pkg Pumpkin Spice Pudding Mix

2 Eggs

1/2 C (one stick) of Butter, melted

1/4 C Boiling Water

1 Tbsp Instant Coffee

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp All Spice

1 can Cream Cheese Frosting

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish.

2. Dissolve instant coffee in the boiling water.

3. Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer), mix together, pumpkin bar mix, jello mix, eggs, melted butter, boiling water/coffee mix, cinnamon and all spice until smooth.

4. Pour into baking dish and bake for 25-30 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

5. Allow to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting. (I decorated with some cute fall leaf sprinkles I had left over from some caramel apples we made this week!) Enjoy!

I finally finished decorating my house for fall. 

My annual decorations have been up since the first weekend of September. 

But I finally picked up my pumpkins, straw bales, and mums.  

Here's a little 'pin-spiration' for you! 

And thanks to everyone who has shared in Pinterest to inspire me!

Here is the front door...

The door was white with a storm door on it when we moved in, 

but I just repainted it black about 2 weeks ago. 

I absolutely love it now! 

I also have 2 black shutters to put up on either side of their door, 

but they are still being painted. 

I'll post un updated photo when they are finished.

By the mail slot and screened in porch...

The back door...

The fall mantel!! This is the one I love the most!!

Decorations are from Target and Hobby Lobby!

Pumpkins and straw bales are from an awesome farm 

in Ashland, OH called Honey Haven.

Thanks for touring!

Have a great weekend!

Usually I don't post over the weekend, 

but I am excited to share a 

wonderful slow cooker applesauce recipe with you Sunday. 

See you then!