Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pistachios & Dried Cherries

I'm not a big fan of fancy things. Rather, I am a jeans and T-shirt, mini-van drivin', no frills, plain Jane sort of girl. It holds true for how I dress down to how I bake. I like to keep things simple. Christmas cookies are the perfect example of how I operate. This time of year most people break out their "fancy-schmancy" cookie recipes. They're baking nut cups, almond crescents and other uber traditional treats, but not me. No, I like to make an overabundance of the no-frills cookies that I love to eat throughout the year, plus a few others that make the holiday cut... for good measure.

Pumpkin Pistachio Cannoli (Homemade)

I just can't help it. The fall desserts, I mean. I'm piggy-backing on my Caramel Apple Cake from a few weeks ago with another bit of fall deliciousness. And, you know what, I'm not gonna feel bad about it. Nope! In fact, I may even do it again next week. The thing is, my birthday is in October. I get all happy and giddy watching the trees change color and unpacking my warm weather clothes. Not to mention, the excitement of Halloween (and my birthday) throws the house into a bit of a tizzy. It's just a fun time. It flat out makes me happy. October is the greatest month of the year (don't even try to argue me on this point), and I feel obliged to celebrate it as I please. So, bring on the pumpkin, and let's celebrate!

Daring Bakers: Baklava

Holy Baklava Batman!

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava. Yes, you read that correctly folks... h-o-m-e-m-a-d-e phyllo dough.

Baklava is not in my usual rotation of desserts. I vaguely remember trying it once on a Jr. High field trip to Chicago's Greektown, and from what I remember, it was pretty good (of course, my favorite desserts at that time were Hostess Ding Dongs and Suzy-Q, so it goes to show you how discerning my palette was back then).

I also remembered the two packages of phyllo sitting in my freezer just waiting to be put to good use. But no, Erica had to go all 'daring' on us and insist on h-o-m-e-m-a-d-e phyllo (just teasing, I love this challenge). I guess they will have to wait for another day.