In a small saucepan, bring 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), 1 cup water, and 1/4 tsp salt to a boil.

Then add 1 cup of flour and stir until the mixture forms a ball, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

Transfer it directly to a mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix this on low speed until cooled to about room temperature.

Add 3 eggs, one at a time, and mix until dough is smooth and combined.

Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a large star tip. We couldn't find our pastry bag so we used a ziploc bag and cut the corner to fit the star tip.

Make sure the oil is at 350F before you pipe the batter. Use scissors to cut the batter as it's going into the oil, about 3-4 inches if you want them small.

Let it swim around until it's golden brown. Don't crowd them by adding too much at one time.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the churros to paper towels to remove excess oil. Then immediately roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture (shown below).

We used 1 cup of sugar with 2 tbsp cinnamon (we actually used Saigon Cinnamon that we got from Spices, Inc.). Also for extra flavor, we added some vanilla bean!

Drop the mini churros in the sugar mixture and coat it evenly.

See how easy that was to make churros? From start to finish, it could be fast as 20 minutes. We love the crunch of the outside with the sweet cinnamon sugar and the warm soft dough on the inside. It's very similar to a donut! And here's a quick tip: If you want to serve it the next day, just reheat it in the oven at 200-250 degrees for about 5 minutes or until warm. I'm so glad we finally got the opportunity to make homemade mini churros! And yes, I like my desserts "mini-sized."

We grow our oranges in a pot in our garden just to control it from growing out of control.

(Sorry for the god-awful picture. I must've drank too much Grand Marnier when I took this.) In a double boiler, combine 5 oz of bittersweet chocolate (we used chocolate chips), along with 2 tbsp coffee and 2 tbsp Grand Marnier. The Grand Marnier is the extra ingredient that gives it that subtle orange flavor. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat.

When chocolate has cooled, whisk in 4 large egg yolks, one at a time. Keep in mind that this is a classic French mousse recipe so it requires raw eggs which will not be cooked.

In a mixer, whip 1 cup chilled heavy cream to soft peaks. In another bowl, beat the 4 egg whites until foamy. Add 1 tbsp sugar and beat to soft peaks.

Fold half of whites into chocolate until incorporated, then fold in rest of whites. Finally, fold in whipped cream.

The chocolate mousse should look like this. Keep in the fridge to chill at least 4 hours before serving.

To serve, cut 4 oranges in half and scoop out the flesh without breaking the skin. Fill the shells with the chocolate mousse, top with whipped cream, and sprinkle with orange zest. This is a creative and fun way to serve the Chocolate Mousse to your guests to add that extra "wow" factor!

Sift together 2 1/2 cups cake flour, 3 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Gently mix together.

In a mixer, beat 1 1/2 sticks of softened unsalted butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup shredded coconut. Then add 3 large eggs, one at a time. With the mixer on low, gradually add 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk, and 1 vanilla bean (shown below). To get the batter looking a lovely red, add 2 tbsp of red food coloring.

Instead of vanilla extract, we scraped a vanilla bean instead. If you don't have this on hand, then use 1 tsp vanilla extract to be added to the wet ingredients.

We combined the dry ingredients with the red batter by hand instead of using the electric mixer. In a separate bowl, combine 1 tbsp white vinegar with 1 tsp baking soda and let it activate. Then add it to the batter.

Spray two 8-inch cake pans and divide the mixture into two. (Note: We didn't have two pans handy, so we just used one cake pan for the batter. This will have a longer baking time and we had to cut off the top of the cake after it baked to get it flat.) If you have the two cake pans, it should take about 25-30 minutes to bake or until toothpick comes out clean.

As you can see, we sliced off the top of our cake to give it a smooth texture to prepare for the icing.

We also cut the cake into 3 layers and added a thin layer of cream cheese frosting on each piece. Cream cheese frosting is prepared by mixing 1 package of softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter, 4 cups confectioner's sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. If the frosting is not as smooth, add 1 tsp of water to help the consistency be more spreadable.

Frost each layer of the cake and finish off with the entire outside of the cake. Don't worry if you get red velvet specks when you are icing because the coconut flakes will cover it.

Sprinkle about 1 cup of shredded coconut over the entire cake, making sure to cover all areas of the frosting. This was definitely the most enjoyable part! Maybe it's because we were at the finish line.

From the outside, it just looks like a white coconut cake, but once you slice into the cake, you get the beautiful red velvet color which is perfect to serve for a Valentine's Day dessert. So now you can have your cake... and eat it too!

We love having a lemon tree in the backyard. It's such a useful fruit in so many dishes - from desserts (like this cupcake we're making) to savory dishes like lemon chicken. Of course, there's always the classic lemonade that you can make out of these wonderful lemons!

For the batter, combine 1/2 cup butter (at room temp) with 3 oz of cream cheese. Mmm, fatty.

Along with that, add 1 tbsp grated lemon zest and 2/3 cup sugar. We beat this with a whisk instead of taking out our huge Kitchenaid mixer, but the mixer will be a lot easier. Next, beat in 2 eggs until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and a pinch of salt.

Divide the batter evenly between 12 cupcake cups in your cupcake tin. Bake at 325F for about 25 minutes until firm.

Meanwhile, prepare the candied lemon zest. With a vegetable peeler, remove long strips of zest (without pith) from lemon. Then cut into julienne strips.

Place in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for 7 minutes and drain.

Return the lemon strips to the pan and add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Return to a simmer and cook over low heat until the zest is translucent and the syrup is slightly thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer the candied lemon zest to wax paper and set aside. Maybe pop a few in your mouth - you'll love the taste! Sweet and tangy.

To make the cream cheese frosting, combine 3 oz of cream chees with 1.5 cups confectioner's sugar. Add 2 tsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp grated lemon zest. Beat together until smooth. (Oops, this is the wrong photo for this caption. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the cream cheese frosting process. Let's pretend the flour pouring in is the powdered sugar, ok? Hehe)

When your cupcakes are done baking, let them cool for about 10 minutes before frosting. Top with the candied lemon zest for a nice finishing touch to the Meyer Lemon Cupcakes. Despite all the lemon flavors we added, the cupcakes didn't have a overwhelming lemon taste. It had a nice hint of lemon that worked well with the sweet cupcakes and frosting. Enjoy!

For this recipe, I used only half a package of Oreos because that's all I had left. So, put them inside a bag and start smashing it until it's in finely crumbled. This also works well with a food processor.

Put the oreos in a mixer along with 4 oz. of cream cheese (half a package). Mix together to combine.

To make the texture more gooey and moist, I added 4 tbsp of water to the mixture. This is entirely up to you based on how you want the texture of the oreo balls.

The mixture is placed in the freezer to harden for a bit before I rolled them into 1-inch balls. These are placed on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper for easy handling. I placed them in the freezer again after rolling so it stiffens up.

Take each ball and roll it around in cocoa powder so it's fully dusted and you can't see the blacks of the oreo underneath. This will yield about 24 oreo truffles.

Some people like to dip the oreo balls into melted chocolate or candy melt. But since the filling is already sweet, I didn't want to overpower the sweetness with a heavy coating. This is why I decided to use cocoa powder which is light and has a subtle chocolate flavor. It's also less mess! It's like biting into a brownie but flavored with Oreos. These are great as desserts for any party and people will think you spent a lot more time making it!

Have fun making your Oreo Truffles Dusted in Cocoa Powder! I sure did... just look at my pyramid of Oreo Truffles! I still have some leftovers which I put in the freezer. It's a great treat whenever you need something sweet to perk you up!

In a large bowl, whisk together 4 large eggs with 2 cups sugar.

Next, add 15 oz pure pumpkin puree (1 can), 1/2 cup water, 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract and mix together with the egg/sugar mixture.

Now add 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup melted butter to the mixture. If you want to splurge, then just use 1 cup of butter instead of half oil/butter combo that we did to cut some fat.

Time to add the dry ingredients - which consists of 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg. Stir this just until the ingredients are combined - do not overmix or the bread will be tough.

For the final touch, add about 1 cup of golden raisins. If you prefer nuts, you can add pecans or walnuts instead.

The batter goes into a buttered and floured loaf pan and gets baked for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. This batter is good for 2 loaves of pumpkin bread using a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Leave the bread in the loaf pan for about 10 minutes to cool before trying to remove it from the pan. Once removed, it should look like this!

Hopefully through our step-by-step photos, you can see how visibly easy it is to make your own Raisin Pumpkin Bread at home to serve for the holidays. You can always get creative with the filling by adding other ingredients, like walnuts, pecans, or even cream cheese! Get in the kitchen and whip up something good to bring to the party - the host(s) will really appreciate it! Happy Holidays!!

Pre-heat the oven to 350 and prepare your cookie sheet. Next, start with the dry ingredients: 2.5 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp salt.

Next, beat 1.5 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter until well blended.

Then, beat in 1 cup of pumpkin puree, 1 large egg, and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Now it's time to gradually add the dry ingredients to the mixer to form the cookie batter.

Drop rounded tablespoons of batter to the prepared cookie sheet. I also sprinkled more cinnamon on top to add extra color and flavor.

While digging for my baking sheet, I came upon my cookie mold that I bought awhile ago. I thought it would be fun to use the remaining batter to form cookies-on-a-stick! Pop them in the oven for about 18-20 minutes until the edges are firm. Do the toothpick tester in the cookie just to make sure they are cooked in the center.

These Cookies-on-a-Stick turned out great --soft and cake-like --and look so adorable after drizzling some white icing over it. This quick and easy cookie recipe would be great for school or work parties. What I liked about it is that it's not overly sweet and the spices of cinnamon and nutmeg really go well with the mild pumpkin flavor. If you want to add more texture to the cookie, try adding walnuts, raisins, cranberries, or even chocolate chips! Have fun with it and have a joyous and spooky Halloween!!