Giveaway Winner and What I’ve Been Baking/Cooking

First of all, thanks for everyone who commented on my 600th follower post and giveaway… glad you all liked the CSN gift certificate–seeing as I don’t care to understand how to do the “random number generator” technical stuff, I did it the old fashioned way–cutting out slips of paper and drawing from a hat and the winner is:

Ashley from The Johnstons… she said she is going to use the gift card to help buy furniture for their nursery-how exciting!! Thanks for playing, and I promise to have another fun giveaway {featuring bath products and skincare} within the next few weeks!

With a flip of a switch, I think I turned into Paula Deen/Martha Stewart/Betty Crocker or some other famous baking machine. Some people love to cook comfort food, some love to try authentic top-shelf cuisine, however this southern girl loves her sweets {among other things of course}… this past week, I have put my skills to the test and tried out a bunch of fantastic little edible goodies–in no particular order, here are my new found favorites to add to my recipe box:

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip, thawed, divided
1 6 oz. graham pie crust
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) Jello vanilla instant pudding

1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
Directions

Beat cream cheese, 1 tbsp. milk, and sugar in large bowl with whisk until blended and then stir in half the Cool Whip. Spread into crust. Whisk remaining milk, pumpkin, pudding mixes, and spices 2 min. Spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate for 4+ hours (I did mine overnight to make sure it hardened enough!). Serve topped with remaining Cool Whip.

1 (16 oz) container prepared cake frosting
12 oz. of chocolate flavored confectioners bars (available in white or chocolate)
Directions
Prepare the cake mix according to the directions on the box. When cake is finished baking allow to cool for 30 minutes. Crumble the cake into bowl using a stand or hand mixer. Add frosting and mix. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Line a baking tray with wax paper. Use hands to form balls with the cake mixture. Place on wax paper. Once you have used all of the mixture, place baking tray in the freezer for 1 hour (I did 1.5 hours just to make sure it was hard enough). Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl of the microwave, stirring every 5-10 seconds until smooth.
Remove the balls from the freezer. Dip the balls one at a time in the chocolate. Use a spoon/toothpick/egg dipper to slide the ball onto the wax paper tray. Once you have covered all the balls in chocolate coating place the tray in the refrigerator until the chocolate coating is set. At this point you can drizzle other chocolate on the balls for decoration.

Ritz crackers

Directions

Beat cheeses in medium bowl with mixer on medium speed until well blended. Shape into ball; roll in pecans and then cover. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Serve as a spread with crackers. So yummy and easy!!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce via My Own Creation

Ingredients

12 oz bag of fresh cranberries

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup orange juice

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

Directions

Mix orange juice, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, and walnuts together–sit aside

Put cranberries into medium sized saucepan and put on medium heat

Pour mixture into saucepan with cranberries

Let simmer for10 to 12 minutes or until cranberries start to pop and mixture thickens

Remove from heat and place in dish

Let cool in the refrigerator for 2+ hours or until mixture is thick and then serve cold!