Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Mr. TL's birthday get together is always a time for me to flex my baking muscles! While I opted not to make his cake this year (a local restaurant offers a Heath Bar Crunch cake that is AH-mazing!), I did whip up two other sweets for people to munch on. These chocolate chip cheesecake bars are to die for good. Seriously. And did I mention easy? 4 ingredients and you're on yoru way to cheesecake heaven. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
(adapted from Pillsbury.com)



16 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 egg
2 rolls of refrigerated chocolate chip cookies

Heat oven to 350°F. In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth.
In ungreased, 9x13 pan, break up one roll of cookie dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust. Spread cream cheese mixture over dough. Crumble and sprinkle remaining roll of dough over cream cheese mixture.
Bake 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until chilled. Cut into squares and store in refrigerator.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Toffee Dip

When you put the words "toffee" and "dip" together in a sentence, you're bound to have a match made in heaven! I borrowed this recipe from my girlfriend Nicole after she brought it to one of our girls night out get togethers a few months back. This dip may have been the hit of the party (besides the lasagna Candace made!!) and I knew I had to have the recipe. It's the perfect addition to fruit and Nilla wafers. And a little birdie told me that the leftovers taste amazing spread on a bagel. Enjoy!

Toffee Dip


8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bag of Heath Bar Toffee Bits
Fruit, cookies, crackers to serve with the dip (I used cut strawberries and apples and some Nilla Wafers)

Combine the first four ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.
Fold in toffee bits.
Devour. And thank me later :)

Loaded Veggie Pasta Salad

This simple but tasty pasta salad is one that my mom would always make for BBQ's when I was younger. It's chock full of veggies, tender pasta, and yummy cheese. And if you know me then you know of my love affair with cheese! The nice thing about a recipe like this is that you can adjust the veggies, seasoning, and even pasta to your liking. The star of this recipe would have to be the McCormick Salad Supreme seasoning. It's just the right mixe of spices to jazz up the pasta salad. Enjoy!

Loaded Veggie Pasta Salad


1 pound of pasta (I use Wacky Mac for the tri color look)
4 tbsp Salad Supreme Seasoning
1 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
4 cups of chopped veggies (I used broccoli, red onion, black olives, carrots, red pepper, zuchinni)
1/2 cup sweet pickes, chopped (just trust me on this one!)
1 cup chopped cheese (I used a colby jack blend)

Boil pasta until just al dente. Rinse under cold water.
Pour 1 cup salad dressing over warm pasta. Add 3 tbsp of the Salad Supreme seasoning. Toss to coat and refrigerate until fully chilled.
Toss pasta with veggies and cheese. Add remaining tbsp of seasoning and 1/4 cup of salad dressing and serve!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

I'm alive!

Please please please forgive me for being a crummy blogger these last few weeks. Things have been crazy busy for Mr. TL and I but I think we are on the upside of things now!

I finished up this last semester of classes and we headed to FL for a week in the sun. The weather was perfect, the food was amazing, and the company wasn't so shabby either. I promise to share some pictures of our Disney trip with you all in the coming days!

Besides that we've, had weddings and portrait sessions out the wazoo that keep us running here, there, and everywhere. We are so truly blessed to have such an awesome opportunity to grow our business and work with the best clients around.

I'm in the middle of taking two summer courses this first summer session at my college. I have one more sumer class during the second session followed by two courses in the fall and them I am finally DONE! I can't believe it is *this* close to happening... I can practically taste it.

I'm extra excited because next Wednesday I'm headed to NC with my parents (Mr. TL has to stay home to work... Boo!) for my two cousin's high school graduations. I'm excited to see our extended family that I haven't seen since our wedding two years ago!

I think that just about catches you all up... I have some delicious recipes hitting the blog soon including a Toffee Dip and a Loaded Veggie Pasta Salad that were both hits at Memorial Day cookouts so keep an eye out for those as well.

Have a great Wednesday everyone :)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Boozy Baked French Toast



We celebrated Mother's Day a week early with my family and I brought this delicious wonder to the party. It's rich, decadent, and so super easy to toss together the night before a brunch and bake off the next day!

The secret ingredients in this casserole is the booze. I used Bailey's Irish Cream but may mix it up next time and opt for Frangelico or Rum.

Enjoy!

Boozy Baked French Toast
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)



1 loaf Challah bread in 1-inch slices
3 cups whole milk
3 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, divided
3 tablespoons butted, chopped

Generously grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with salted butter.
Arrange half of the bread in a tightly packed layer on the bottom.
Sprinkle the bread layer with half the pumpkin pie spice and all of the nuts.
Arrange the remaining challah bread layer on top of the other.
Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, salt booze and extract together in a bowl. Pour over the bread.
Sprinkle the bread with the remaining half of pumpkin pie spice.
Dot the bread with chopped butter.
Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The bread will absorb all of the milk custard while you sleep.
Bake at 425 for 30 minutes, or until puffed and golden.
Serve with maple syrup, more butter, fresh fruit, or powdered sugar. The possibilities are endless!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Two Years Ago Today

Time sure flies when you're having fun!

Two years ago today I married my best friend, squishy, partner in crime, and soul mate. We had the most perfect day surrounded with our friends and family and couldn't have asked for anything more.

I love going back through our wedding pictures and taking a peek back through the memories created that day...


















On our wedding day, Jim and I exchanged gifts. I bought him a shiny new watch and he surprised me with a Tiffany charm necklace with the initial M to represent my new last name.



How fitting that this year for our anniversary, Mr. TL surprised me with another lovely surprise. You know that if it comes in this box, it's got to be good, right?


Inside laid a lovely Tiffany lock to add to my charm necklace!


And in case you're wondering, Mr. TL didn't get skipped over on this anniversary. The pictures of my anniversary gift were taken with his anniversary gift... a new lens for his camera. The Nikon 50 mm/ 1.4. It's pretty dreamy!


HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my favorite person. I love you more today than yesterday. xxoo.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Bad Bad Blogger



Hi. I'm Tana. I've been a bad blogger!

This past weekend was packed full and this week is shaping up to be less than low key... between my final week of classes (and everything that involves!), client meetings, engagement sessions, packing for Florida and sleeping & eating... I promise to return to my regular scheduled blogging soon.

If I don't return by the end of the week... Have a fabulous week everyone :)