Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes

When I first found out about Pinterest last summer, I immediately told my friend Tori about it. Tori, being against most forms of social media including Facebook, decided to check it out but refused to make an account. Instead of pinning her finds, she does it the old fashioned way - with a bookmark. Account or not, Tori is always on top of the latest Pinterest phenomenons. It was no surprise to me that when I asked her what to bring to her annual Memorial day weekend party, she requested these Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes.

Bananas Foster Bread with Cinnamon Butter Rum Glaze

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Last week we celebrated National Banana Bread Day. And national pancake day... and tortilla day... margarita day... pistachio day and kahlua day. Oh and then we celebrated pancake day again this week (thanks, IHOP). It seems that every food has its own holiday lately. Tomorrow is banana cream pie day. So being late to banana bread day, and early to banana cream pie day, I'll stick to the banana theme and combine two familiar banana desserts - bananas foster and banana bread.

Cinna-Toffee Pumpkin Muffins

I've noticed in the blogosphere that Monday is the day to post muffins. I guess there's some cutesy alliteration in Muffin Monday that makes this such a popular posting topic. So, here's my contribution. It's officially fall, so naturally pumpkin was the obvious pick for these muffins. I didn't want to make your run of a mill pumpkin muffin though. I wanted them to be a little bit more filling so I used a combination of whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. You might think that this would make the muffins healthy, but seeing as I then threw in toffee bits and cinnamon chips, that's not quite the case. Chopped pecans add a nice little crunch to these perfectly spiced and sweet muffins.

Baklava Bars

I'm back! After an almost three week hiatus, I'm back in the kitchen. I'm hoping to get on a more normal schedule here, hopefully posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I'm also planning to venture into the world of cooking as well as baking. Afterall, a girl can't live on sugar alone (though I would try if it wouldn't require me to buy bigger pants on a weekly basis).

I've always had a love for Greek food. Five years ago (wow, that seems so long ago) I had the opportunity to study abroad in Athens, Greece. It was an eye opening experience for more than one reason. First, I was introduced to a culture entirely different from my own. The language, the food, the history - all of it was completely foreign to me. I was immersed in an urban setting for the first time in my life. I was introduced to public transportation, daily riots in front of the parliament buildings and anti-American sentiment. The trip as a whole gave me a broader understanding of the world around me and taught me to respect cultures different from my own.