Happy Valentine's!

My best friend and I spent the entire day in the kitchen making these very special cupcakes.

Flavors: To the left is Vanilla cake with Cream Cheese frosting; to the right we have Chocolate cake with Raspberry buttercream.

Anthony took me to see the Broadway show Phantom of the Opera. I loved it! It also happened to be their 10,000th performance. How awesome is that?! There was confetti, there was a speech, and even cake...

Hope your V-Day will be as special as mine was!

XOXO,

Marge

Lemon Meringue Cookies

If you do not have access to a stand mixer, do not attempt to make these cookies. They are extremely easy to make, so this was the perfect recipe to try out this afternoon. They take a long time to bake, but they're worth it. And the best part about them: Only 23 calories per cookie! A couple of tips before you begin:

• If you have long hair, tie it up.
• Wear old clothes. Things are about to get sticky.
• Make sure the room you're making these in is dry and cool. You need the right conditions because they need to be the right consistency.
• Last but not least, when I say use parchment paper, I mean it.

Lemon Meringue Cookies recipe: (yields 20-25)

2 large egg whites

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.

2. In your mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and salt on medium speed until soft peak is reached.

3. Start to add the sugar 2 T at a time. Continue to beat on medium-high speed until stiff peak holds. Should have the consistency of marshmallow fluff. Add food coloring if you wish, I used 3 drops of yellow.

4. Fold in lemon zest.

5. Using a piping bag and large tip, pipe your cookies onto your cookie sheet with the parchment paper. (I did not have parchment paper, but they were still pretty successful. Don't risk making these with wax paper like I did though.)

6. Bake in preheated oven for 2 hours. Until hard and no longer sticky.

7. Let them chill completely and enjoy!

XOXO,

Marge

Sugar Cookies

Today we went out to The Bronx to hang out with a couple of Anthony's friends from college. I baked some sugar cookies for the occasion. They came out really good so here is the recipe:

Sugar Cookies recipe: (yields 30-36)

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a small bowl, gather your flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

3. In your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.

4. Beat in egg and vanilla.

5. Gradually add the remainder of your dry ingredients.

6. Roll your dough into little balls, using either your hands or a tablespoon (like I do!) and place them onto your greased cookie sheet one inch apart from each other.

7. Bake in preheated oven 9-12 minutes. Don't go beyond 12, even if it looks questionable, because the texture will not be right at that point. As soon as you can see some golden, they should be ready.

8. Enjoy! Share these with your friends and family!

Now, if you have kids at your house -- or boyfriends -- let them join you in the kitchen! In my case, since this recipe yields so many cookies, I let Anthony "play" with some of the dough... Here are his works of art:

Happy Super Bowl XLVI! Let's go Big Blue!

XOXO,

Marge