Father's Day Gifts and Mini Pizookies

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of World Market.  All opinions are 100% mine.

Cost Plus World Market is a store I know and love!  I'm a huge fan of their furniture and unique decor.  It is also one of my favorite places for gifts and my absolute favorite place for serve ware.

Normally, my husband isn't game for shopping.  But he doesn't protest a trip to World Market.  He wanders right into the candy aisle for his favorite candy (fizzy gummy coke bottles).  He even makes special trips (WITHOUT ME) for those things!

But it's not just about the candy!  There's so many fun "man gifts" there, perfect for Father's Day!

They have some of the COOLEST grilling accessories I've seen!  I may or may not have bought some and tucked it away for Father's Day. Check out some more Father’s Day Gifts here!

There was something else I just couldn't pass up for my husband.  He is a true believer of cast iron pans and we have been collecting several sizes for some time now.

We've always wanted a good set of little cast iron skillets for entertaining purposes.  Think of the awesome ness of individual servings of fajitas, deep dish pizzas, sautéed veggies, or even corn bread!

And the individual dessert possibilities... cobblers, mini pies, brownie sundaes and pizookies!!!

We put our new pans to use right away, (couldn't hold out till Father's Day).

Pizookies are a great make ahead dessert.  I made my cookie dough, put it in the pans and pressed some parchment on it.  These babies chilled in the fridge until it was party time!

Eeeek!  My mini pizookies were really cute!

Entertaining is our favorite, so we're both pretty happy to add these to our collection.

Our friends enjoyed them, the kids were happy to share them, and my husband was pretty stoked about his gift!  He's been experimenting with blonde brownie sundaes and I think those will have to be the next up in his new cast iron!

I can think of some fun possibilities for a Father's Day breakfast too!

Individual breakfast scrambles?  A personal sized German Pancake?

I just need to go back to World Market and get a great breakfast tray to serve it on!  :)

Cost Plus World Market is celebrating Dad this year with a Dad's Day Sweepstakes!  Facebook Fans can enter for a chance to win one of 4 Weekly Grand Pize Packages: $1,000 gift card for you and $1,000 gifr card for your Dad! Nominate your Dad here
  

Mini Cheesecakes Teacher Gift

You may know by glancing at our sidebar that Ashleigh and I are sisters. What you may not know is that with our five year age difference we really never had that sibling rivalry thing going and we never fight. Unless you count the extended period of our childhood when I whined, "Mom, she's copying me!!!!" So yes, maybe she copied me by pegging her jeans, ratting her bangs or wearing 457 jelly bracelets at a time. But, fast forward to our adult years and the truth is....

I copy her ALL. THE. TIME.

When Ashleigh made these mini cheesecakes I was amazed and hungry and bought the pan immediately. (Look in the sidebar at the Amazon link for the specific information).

It's that time of year for end of the year teacher gifts and teacher appreciation week. So, the cheesecake pan emerged and my "cheesy" tag along with it.



I bought these boxes in the candy aisle at Hobby Lobby



Four mini cheesecakes fit in one box and I wrapped it in scrapbook paper and ribbon.



Ashleigh and I make it our mission in life to celebrate teachers in honor of our Mom. So if you need more inspiration to thank a teacher this month, check out...


"Happy Summer" Teacher Gift


School Cookies


Teacher Appreciation Scrapbook


Supply Caddy

And if you want to make your kids feel like a rock star on the last day of school check out these...


Last Day of School Cookies

I will continue to copy Ashleigh in almost everything I do. Hello....I benefit from all of her recipe trials along with all of you. But, luckily for me Ashleigh doesn't yell "She's copying me!" At least not very loudly.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies- Quest for the Best

I've been experimenting again.  When I don't have a solid, tried and true stand-by recipe for a particular thing, I surf the web for recipes.  Then well... I can't know which one is my favorite by just reading reviews.  So I make the 3 that sound the best and do a side by side comparison.  Call it obsessing or call it research, but I'm going to share my results for red velvet whoopie pies with you today!


In these situations, I rely on friends, neighbors and family to taste test and give an opinion.  No, they're not professional food critics, just average peeps.  But average peeps is who is going to be eating these, I don't cook for food critics.  (thank goodness)  I don't tell them anything about the recipes before they rank them.



Recipe 1:  Red Velvet Whoopie Pies from Six Sister's Stuff
This recipe ended up a close second place.  It was by far the easiest recipe.  It used a cake mix and a few other ingredients.  I may have used a different brand of cake mix as they did because mine look slightly different.  These were the flattest cookies.   They were the chewiest and least cake-like, but the taste was spot on. Nothing to complain about here.  It is a great, easy recipe.


Recipe #2:  Red Velvet Whoopie Pies from Brown Eyed Baker
These were my personal favorite and out ranked recipe #1 a little in the voting.  They were very flavorful and very cake-like which is what I think of when I hear whoopie pie!  They were a little bit taller and smaller because they spread the lest.  But if you don't like that, you could flatten them down with a wet finger before you put them in the oven.  This recipe wasn't too difficult.  It uses buttermilk for it's red velvet kick.


Recipe #3:  Red Velvet Whoopie Pies from Food Network
This recipe ranked a distant 3rd in every taste tester's opinion.  The cookie was just a bit too bland.  It was also the most difficult recipe.  It uses melted chocolate and cocoa.  It uses apple cider vinegar and sour cream for that kick.  Everything it calls for makes sense, but it was just the least favorite.  I'll save you some time and safely tell you to try recipe 1 or 2.



I tested things out with the same cream cheese frosting for the center:

1 (8oz.) brick of cream cheese
1 stick of real butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla

I keep that the same so I can focus on which cookie I like the best.  However, when eating them alone, they are not near as awesome.  Red Velvet needs the sweetness of the frosting to be awesome.


There you have it.  I secretly wish that I could test recipes all day long.  Don't you all wish that you had that one golden recipe for everything you want to make?  Maybe I'm the only one that fantasizes about that?  But just in case I'm not the only one,  I hope this helped someone just a little in the red velvet department!  :)

Remote Control Cookie

Ideally this cookie would accompany the gift of your husband's dream TV for Father's Day.  But if you're me, you wouldn't dream of picking out a TV on your own.   So, I think this would be great wrapped up with a DVD, or simply a promise that you give your man some alone time with sports center.  

I made this remote control cookie 2 years ago and shared it on somewhat simple.  My sister says it's still her favorite cookie I've ever made.  I don't know if it's mine, I see lots of imperfections in it.  It's definitely a fun one though, so I thought I'd share the instructions here!  

No need to have a special cookie cutter for this one!  Just use your real remote as a guide!  

I just put my actual remote in my copier/printer.

Then I cut it out, put it on my cookie dough and cut it out with a small knife.

You can use this method to make just about any shape of cookie you can imagine.  

1. Outline  2. Fill  3. Let dry  4. Make your buttons by looking over at your remote.  

Mine ended up a little off center, but that's okay!

To decorate the buttons, I used these edible markers with a fine tip.  These things are just beyond fun.  

They write on (dried) royal icing, really well!  You may just want to color all over your cookies!

I added some candy on the bottom because the box I found was a little deeper than I wanted.  

My Dad came over and saw this and said it was "unreal."  He was impressed with my craziness!

If I'm feeling really mean, (or maybe for next April Fool's Day) I might put one of these on the side table and hide the real remote.  Then I'll wait to see how long it takes for the kids to figure out what's going on.  Oh the possibilities!  

I hope you are inspired to make some custom cookies of your own.  Don't be afraid to use copy machines, knives and markers in your cookie making.  We do what it takes here in the cookie world!

Home Depot, "Revamp Your Kitchen"

I've been itching for a DIY project lately. I've done too many food projects and not enough sanding or painting. Last time I went to Home Depot, I found myself fantasizing about a big project... Like a kitchen makeover! I've been wanting to "reface" my cabinets for so long. They are too dark, and just "not me." Check out this video to be inspired too!