Well it's official. Summer's over.

Between the horrible weather and working 60 hours a week at one of the busiest Italian restaurants in Halifax, mine flew by. I did make sure to take some time and enjoy myself though; I spent a wonderful couple of days on Prince Edward Island with the Mr. and his family, took many walks along the waterfront and visited the farmers market more times than I can count!

While I love the summer, Fall is by far my favorite season. The weather, the smells, the amazing baked goods, soups, stews, and so much more! I'm excited to have time to get out and enjoy some of it! I've missed my little blog and with things slowing down at the restaurant I'll have more time to focus.

I hope everyone had a great summer!
I'm leaving you with a few of my favorite pictures from this summer :)

Peanut Butter Surprises

I don't know about everyone else around here, but I'm ready for all this cold rain to take a hike! Is it really too much to ask for a little summer?!

I tried to brighten up my day by making these delicious little treats (it worked!).

Peanut Butter Surprises (from http://backtothecuttingboard.com)

Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar, plus more for dipping
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Filling:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, blend together the powdered sugar and 3/4 cup peanut butter. Chill while making the dough.
• In another medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
• In a larger bowl, beat together both sugars, butter, and 1/2 cup peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each and vanilla. Mix in flour mixture until combined.
• Line up dough, then peanut butter filling, then sheet pan (similar to an assembly line). Fill a shallow dish with sugar and grease the bottom of a glass large enough to flatten cookies.
• Take about one tablespoon of dough and using your palms, roll it into a ball and then flatten. Take about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of the peanut butter filling and place in the middle of the flattened dough. Fold the chocolate dough around the peanut butter and roll back into a ball.
• Place on cookie sheet. Dip bottom of glass into sugar and then flatten each cookie.
• Bake for 7 to 9 minutes. When done, they should be set and slightly cracked around the edges.

Sweet Honey Cornbread

On Sunday I was having one of those days where I really wanted a little something sweet but had nothing in the cupboards and didn't really feel like baking anything too exciting ...

So what was a girl to do?

Well, I opened my notebook and started flipping through to find the easiest and fastest recipe I could find! I decided on Sweet Honey Cornbread; it was perfectly baked, served warm with a little butter and a drizzle of molasses.

Sweet Honey Cornbread

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees, lightly grease a 9x9inch pan
• In a large bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, and baking powder. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients; Add cream, oil, honey, and eggs, stir to combine. Pour batter into pan.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes

It's so easy and delicious ... There's no reason why you can't make it!