The creamy centers of the Golden Oreos are great in here, but the unexpected crunch puts these cookies over the top.

The Duke, who loves Oreos more than life itself, proclaimed that he actually likes Golden Oreos better than traditional Oreos. Who knew?

Believe me, if you make these cookies, they will fly off the plate!

Alright, back to the grind for me…I’m at a writing training today. Can you believe pre-planning for teachers starts this Thursday, and school starts next Thursday, August 5th??? CRAZINESS! Where did the summer go? The Duchess

Before I share the details of that sweet and creamy treat, I have an introduction in store. Ladies and gentlemen of the Blogosphere, meet Pearl:

She’s our latest addition! The Duke and I have been talking for a while about adding another puppy to our brood. We brought Ruby into our family last July, and just adore her. She’s so full of energy, and we thought she could use a friend. After a few months of debate, we found Pearl and just had to give her a home. Both girls are maltipoos (Maltese/ Poodle mix- Ruby is jet black and Pearl is all white) and I think they’re going to be best buddies. Ruby’s not quite sure what to think just yet, but it’ll happen in due time.

Ok, so back to business. I’d been wanting to create an ice cream sandwich for a while, and I finally bit the bullet, just in time for the 4th of July. These cuties couldn’t be any easier, either. I made cookies from a cake mix, but you could even use store-bought cookies for convenience.

Mix some fresh summer berries into your favorite frozen yogurt or ice cream, and voila! Fro Yo sandwiches!

These will be the perfect dessert at your July 4th picnic or BBQ…just be sure to load the cooler up with lots of ice!

I’ll leave you with a precious candid of Pearl. She’s so tiny. Have a great week!!

The Duchess

Other things that make me happy? My puppy. How cute is Ruby??

She looks like such a ferocious beast in this picture, but really I caught her mid-yawn.

Yet another thing that makes me happy- Oreos. Oreos are by far the best store-bought cookie ever. Ever. Ever. Ever! So I did what anyone would do and threw the American snack-time classic into a bar cookie. Voila:

I’m very proud to announce that I didn’t eat a single bite of these bad boys, so I don’t know how they taste. I’m bound and determined to get back to 130 pounds (I’m hovering around 135), and a thick and chewy cookie bar stuffed with Oreos and chocolate chips won’t help me reach that goal. Who would have guessed?

The Duke said they were awesome, though. He ate about 5 bars, so he would know.

Serve these with a big cold glass of milk for a post-pool treat on these hot summer afternoons.

Have a great week! Remember to stay hydrated, friends. The Duchess

On another note, did I mention I’ll be teaching 5th grade next year? I’m so excited! I’ll be working at the same school, but I’ll have my very own classroom, my very own class roster and my very own grade level team. Woop woop! All of my hard work this year has paid off. I’ve loved my Pre-K babies, but bring on the big kids.

It was a friend’s birthday this week, and I wanted to make her something fun. You all know that I love making cookies from cake mix, and what’s the most fun cake mix you can think of?

Funfetti, of course! I’m pretty sure this cake made its way into every birthday party I ever went to growing up. And for good reason. It’s fun and it’s confetti…what more could you need?

This cake mix made for the cutest (and tastiest) cookies. The base is white cake, which is always so light in texture. A friend that tasted them said the cookies tasted like clouds. I guess that’s good?

With the bright and cheery colors peaking out in these cookies, they’re perfect for any celebration. They would also make a great ice cream sandwich with vanilla or strawberry ice cream. Summer parties will never be the same!

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. The Duke and I plan on being on the boat all weekend, though I heard it was going to rain I promise I’ll be sharing some not-so-sweet recipes soon. I feel like it’s been ages since I posted anything besides a cookie.

Tata for now! The Duchess

So last night, after my kitchen was unpacked and organized, I finally got around to baking in my new space. I’m used to a gas oven and cook top, but the rental house uses an electric glass cook top. I guess it’s not a huge deal, but I definitely want gas in my next house.

I stumbled upon a recipe for Honeydoodles in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine that I was anxious to try. I decided to give them a whole wheat spin.

They were delicious! Soft and chewy without being overly sweet. Other than the sugar that I used for dusting, the only sweetener in the cookies is honey. A sugar-less Snickerdoodle…genius!

The whole wheat flour was a great idea. It gave the cookies a hearty flavor, without weighing them down. These little treats would be great alongside a mug of hot tea or coffee.

I think I’ll be making these cookies time and time again. I may even try agave nectar instead of honey next time around. I just love playing around with sweet treats!

I hope you have a great week. I promise that photos of the new house are coming SOON!!! The Duchess

So, if I were a truly awesome blogger, I would have been giving you a minute by minute account of my NYC trip while I was actually there. Since I’m too lazy to lug my laptop across the country and stay cooped up in my hotel room writing posts, I’m now bringing you the goods a few days late. I sincerely hope you don’t mind.

Let’s start at the very beginning…a very fine place to start.

The Duke and I arrived in NYC last Thursday evening. We were starving by the time we arrived and decided to go to Cuba Cafe for some latin spice. We visited this place the last time we were in NYC (in 2006) and remembered the killer mojitos.

We shared a tamale that was topped with pulled chicken and peppers in a spicy broth, which was really good. It tasted like cuban comfort food.

Friday morning we made our way to the Lower East Side in hopes of finding the Clinton St. Baking Company.

This modest breakfast joint was featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay for their pancakes. I remember drooling during the episode, and knew we had to go.

The wait was really long, but this cute little pup kept us company.

After our hour-long wait, I ordered a biscuit with homemade raspberry jam while our breakfast was prepared.

This was seriously the BEST jam I have ever tasted. I would have eaten an entire bowl of it. For my main course, I had the huevos rancheros with chorizo and the Duke ordered the famous banana nut pancakes.

Both meals were delicious! The Clinton St. Baking Co. was definitely worth the wait. This was probably one of our best meals.

After breakfast, we walked around the American Museum of Natural History while we digested. This place was huge! We were in there a good two hours and walked at least a mile or two.

Since we were already in the Upper West Side, we ventured to Levain Bakery for a mid-afternoon treat.

I’d seen their gigantic cookies on Food Network, and put them at the top of my must-eat list. HOLY COW. Best. Cookie. Ever.

I ordered the chocolate with peanut butter chips and the Duke picked the oatmeal raisin. Each cookie was as big as my hand and worth every penny of the $4 that they cost!

After this large dose of sugar, I was one happy Duchess!

We dined at the swanky Fig & Olive Friday night, but I didn’t snap any photos I was too busy catching up with my friend Hunter. I’ve known Hunter since Kindergarten, and he now calls Manhattan home. He joined us for dinner and we had such a great time!

Stay tuned for the Grand Central Station Market, Bar Americain, Little Italy and so much more! The Duchess

The shower was at 2 in the afternoon, so we didn’t need a full meal. Instead, I made a bunch of cute finger foods, starting with cucumber sandwiches.

Nothing fancy here, but Ashley (the bride) was adamant about these classic finger sandwiches. I also made pimento cheese sandwiches, using my Granny Flash’s recipe, which calls for crumbled bacon. YUM!

The secret to really good pimento cheese is EXTRA sharp cheddar and lots of cracked black pepper. To brighten up the color palate, I made an awesome and super easy grape tomato and feta salad.

I made this salad for a different shower back in August. It’s light, fresh and quite the crowd pleaser. To keep things fun, I filled some tiny phyllo cups with curried chicken salad (another request of the bride).

These flavorful cups turned out really cute! And since curry is such a strong flavor, this was the perfect amount. Lastly, I made a beautiful fruit salsa, loosely based on this recipe from Our Best Bites.

We all took our plates outside and dined in the garden. The weather was just perfect!

I worked up quite the appetite while prepping for the shower, so I pretty much filled my plate.

I was busy refilling mimosas while everyone ate, so I didn’t even eat the whole plate. On the bright side, check out our precious place settings, which doubled as favors.

I just loved them!

I snapped a quick picture of Ashley (on the left) with her sister, and my dear friend, Elizabeth.

Aren’t they beautiful? They’ve got Greek blood in them, and you know how gorgeous people from the Mediterranean are.

After lunch, we munched on some white chocolate and lemon cookies while Ashley opened gifts.

I also made frozen banana pops from Picky Palate, but failed to take a picture. The ladies loved them, though. I mean, how can you not like bananas, peanut butter and CHOCOLATE???

Ashley was showered with plenty of wonderful kitchen gadgets.

I gave her that picnic basket with a “C” on it. How cute is that??

Cooking for the shower was tons of fun and I can’t wait to do it again. I guess that means the rest of my friends need to find men and get engaged quick! The Duchess

Ok, this cookie is out of control good. If there is one food that I can’t live without it’s peanut butter. I eat more of the creamy concoction than anyone I know. I just adore it. I eat it for breakfast with toast or swirled into oatmeal. I eat it for snacks with apple wedges or carrot sticks. I even eat it for dinner with chicken satay. Nothing beats a peanut butter cookie, though. There’s just something so right about a peanut butter cookie that makes me feel nostalgic.

How does one improve upon a classic peanut butter cookie? Stuff it with a chocolate bar, of course! Since all of the Easter candy was on sale at the grocery store, I picked up a bag of fun size Snickers. I knew these little chunks of peanutty and caramelly goodness would be great nestled into a peanut butter cookie.

Boy, was I ever right! These cookies nocked my socks off. I used a recipe from Paula Deen that calls for bread flour. The cookies were thick and chewy…just perfect.

I took a batch of these to school and the teachers devoured them! They could not stop talking about how good the cookies were. It’s nice to have so many coworkers to take my baked treats to…that way I can get them out of the house.

Make these soon, and be sure to have plenty of milk on hand. You’re going to want to chug down an icy cold glass of milk with these sweet treats. Have a great day! The Duchess

Just in time for St. Patty’s day, here are some super cute and ultra decadent Creme de Menthe cookies for you. I think mint and chocolate were meant to be together. I seriously can’t get enough of this awesome combo. If you have a Publix grocery store near by, make sure you pick up a carton of the store-brand mint chocolate frozen yogurt. It’s unbelievably good!

But back to the cookies…

Since we’re getting close to the ultimate green holiday, I thought it would be fun to dye my cookies green! Remember when I dyed some blondies pink?? I just get such a kick out of vividly colored treats. They’re so unexpected. Green or not, these cookies are outrageously good. I used an entire bag of Andes Creme de Menthe chocolates and boy, did they do the trick!

I think the green cookies are great for St. Patrick’s Day, but you could certainly omit the color for a delicious mint cookie year-round.

I almost forgot to announce the winner of my first give away! I only had a few entries, but I still had fun hearing from you guys. The winner is….
#3: Mark “That is too cool! Congrats! How did they find you? Twitter?? A girl at work is constantly eating Oikos and I’m always meaning to try it. I just always forget! It looks absolutely yummy.”

I’ll be emailing you soon Mark, so be on the lookout.

I hope you guys have fun making these cookies! I gotta run…we’re selling our house and we have another showing this afternoon. I need to make myself disappear for the next little while. Wish us luck!The Duchess

We kicked off the celebration last night with a nice evening in. We’re both pretty wiped on Friday nights, so we usually stay home and cook. I stopped by the fish market and bought some beautiful shrimp and delicious dips. My favorite market in town has a huge selection of prepared foods (oven-ready twice baked potatoes, stuffed shrimp, etc.), so I bought the Duke’s favorite…smoked tuna dip. This stuff is so good! If you’ve never had smoked tuna, you don’t know what you’re missing.

We wet our palates with the tuna dip and a sundried tomato and feta dip (let’s face it, this was more for me than the Duke) with crackers and a glass of vino. Great way to start the evening!

I’d say I’m looking a little tired after a long week of work! Oh, well. It felt so nice to relax on the couch with my main man.

For dinner I cooked the shrimp in a spicy tomato and olive sauce and served it over couscous.

It was really delicious! The Duke and I both downed a pretty large portion. We both love shrimp, and living on the Gulf of Mexico, we’ve always got fresh shrimp at our disposal.

After a big meal and a few glasses of wine, I prepared overnight cinnamon rolls using frozen bread dough. This is really the way to go. It’s so easy. Assemble everything before bed, then throw them in the fridge to rise over night. When I let the dog out at 6 this morning, I pulled them out and left them on the counter until we got up at 8. They were perfectly risen and ready for the oven by that point!

Before breakfast, the Duke opened his gifts.

I got him French Press for coffee and a jumbo muffin tin (he just asked if we had one the other night ). He loves to make muffins, and a regular old muffin tin is just not enough to feed this man!

Now, down to business…

These cinnamon rolls were fantastic! I sprayed the bottom of my pan with cooking spray, then sprinkled some cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans on the bottom, making a deliciously chewy crust for the rolls.

Is that a beautiful site or what??? As if that wasn’t enough, I made a quick glaze with powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon and caramel ice cream topping. This really put things over the edge.

I felt kinda guilty for eating one, since I gave up sweets for Lent. I’ve been doing really well with the fast, but I figured this was breakfast, not dessert, and it’s the Duke’s birthday, after all! It was nice to have a little something sweet to hold me over until Easter.

I told the Duke (who enjoys taunting me with cookies, candy and other sweet goodness) that on Easter Sunday I’m having these cinnamon rolls for breakfast, cookie cake (with icing, of course) for lunch and a big bowl of ice cream for dinner!

I gotta run. We’re spending the Duke’s birthday doing some major house cleaning. Is that fun, or what? We’re putting the house on the market in the next couple of weeks, so this puppy needs to be shining like a diamond. Anyone interested in a 4 bedroom 3 bath house with a pool in northwest Florida??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUKE!!!!The Duchess