1) Peanut Butter Cookies by Smitten Kitchen.  Yum.  This recipe is a keeper.

2) Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I got the recipe on Tasty Kitchen.  I’m still deciding whether or not I like browned butter.  I didn’t follow directions and didn’t let the butter cool and it melted the chocolate chips which gave them a marbled look which I actually like.

3) Espresso Shortbread Chocolate Chip Cookies by Smitten Kitchen.  These just came out of the oven… they are tasty though.

4) Tomorrow is Brownie Cookies… I’ll keep you posted on those :)

A have a few different variations that I use, today I tried Pioneer Woman’s version.  My tried and true version comes from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  I have also tried Paula Deen’s recipe (it is in her Lady & Sons cookbook)- they are all equally delish.  Every time I make one I think it is the best one I’ve tried.  I’m thinking one of these days I am going to need to hold a bake off between myself… I would just make all of the different Chocolate Buttermil/ Texas Sheet Cake recipes I have at once and then have a panel decide which one is the best.

(Forgive the iPhone photo)

I’m not sure what, but something went wrong with Pioneer Woman’s recipe and I just wasn’t impressed,  Mine didn’t look at all like the one she has pictured on her blog or what mine usually looks like when I make the BH&G version.  It was still a good chocolate cake, it just didn’t have that typical texas sheet cake flavor to it.

Chocolate Buttermilk Sheet Cake- Better Homes and Gardens
Ingredients

1  cup  butter or margarine
1  cup  water
1/3  cup  unsweetened cocoa powder
2  cups  all-purpose flour
2  cups  sugar
1  teaspoon  baking soda
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon (optional)
2    slightly beaten eggs
1/2  cup  buttermilk
1-1/2  teaspoons  vanilla
Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions

1. Grease a 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set pan aside. In a medium saucepan combine butter, water, and cocoa powder. Bring to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, soda, salt, and cinnamon (if desired). Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed to combine. Add cocoa mixture and beat until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in a 375 degree F oven 20 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

4. Immediately pour hot Chocolate Frosting over warm cake; spread evenly. Completely cool cake in pan on a wire rack. Cut into squares. Makes 60.

Chocolate Frosting: In a medium saucepan stir together 1/4 cup butter or margarine, 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, and 3 tablespoons buttermilk. Cook and stir until boiling; remove from heat. Beat in 2-1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare and bake cake as directed; cool completely. Do not frost. Place in a freezer container or bag. Freeze up to 1 month. Before serving, thaw several hours at room temperature. Frost as directed.

Ramekins… so I can make souffles all day long.

Cookie Cutters with square and round edges… to make biscuits and cookies in pretty shapes.

Cake strips… so that my cakes bake evenly.

A knife sharpener… because my knives have not been sharpened in many years, which is very, very bad.

And of course, all 80,000 cookbooks that are in my Amazon wish list.  Sigh.

Once I return from the beach I am going to be doing some major downgrading of the blog.  Right now I use wordpress.org and Blue Host to run the blog.  Seeing as I don’t post all too often, and I don’t know how to utilize all the fancy things you can do with self hosting, I think it is just a waste of money to keep it this way. Sooo, I am going to be switching back to wordpress hosted wordpress.com in the next few weeks.  Juliedanieldesign.com is going away, since I started this blog while I was in Design school, and now I think I want to take this blog in more of a cooking direction.  The new url will either be juliedanieldesign.wordpress.com or maviejolie.wordpress.com.  I am hoping that juliedanieldesign.com will take you over to the new site automatically until I let the domain expire, but that is beyond me.  Thankfully I have found a blog designer who will be able to magically do this for me, since I have no idea what I am doing.

Well I started this post as ‘My Kitchen Wish List September 2010′ but somehow it ended up as an update post.  Kitchen Wish List coming soon!

We stopped by the tent of The Potpourri Patch, and I was so intrigued by their lovely Potpourri that I had to share some pictures with you!

This is the lemongrass which is what I bought.  I decided to get it because I loved the fruit that was in it, the round orangey one is an Indian fruit but I can’t remember what it is called.  Smells lovely!

(Forgive the iPhone photos and the fact that I can’t figure out how to rotate the picture).

It was just all so pretty- I’ve never been a huge potpourri fan, I guess that is because I have never seen such pretty potpourri like this!

The bins he had them in were great too, he said they were modeled after vintage onion and potato bins.  Love it!

I immediately thought that they would make awesome wedding centerpieces- wouldn’t they look great in a glass vase?  Also would be some fun guest favors!

Check out The Potpourri Patch at www.p-patch.com!

Here is a link to their Etsy Shop.

Wedding invitations are a great way to express your personality and creativity.  Or if you have none, get Southern Fete to design your inviations so you don’t look so boring :)

Here is the link to their main website.

These magnolias are my favorite.  I am a font whore and every single one of their invitations has the funnest fonts.

While we are on fonts, www.dafont.com is the place to go for fonts.  I download at least 2 a day.  Font addiction is real and serious people.

I picked some calming colors to paint over our current mauvey/ peachy/ pinky beige color we currently have.

Bake It Pretty gets the gold star of the week (no you haven’t missed anything, this is a first!).  I saw their shop mentioned on Tartelette, and I approve.

Baking Cups…

Cupcake Wrappers…

Jack Pot!  Hot Dog Wrappers!

Cookie Cutters, love the owl!

Hot Pink Non-Pareils!

Polka Dot Candles

They have so much cute stuff, I would post more pics but The Bachelorette is on.  Check out Bake It Pretty here.

(That handsome guy is my father)…

P.S. Yes, I am a horrible photographer.