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10 Year Anniversary: Tory’s Sweet Favorites

July 3, 2024 by Tory Leave a Comment

Hello! After a long hiatus, I am back. And really only because Dana peer pressured me. I was browsing our dessert recipes on the blog for this post and a couple of things struck me: there are not enough ice cream recipes. I blame myself. Dana proclaimed me the ice cream queen of the family and then I stopped food blogging a while ago. There are so many good ice creams I could (and maybe should) blog, legit winners. I made a flaming hot cheeto ice cream for the annual ice cream contest at work, it won. I turned my favorite dessert (strawberry pretzel jello) into an ice cream for work, and as Dana mentions in one of her ice cream posts, I’ve never blogged my absolute all time favorite- black licorice.

Another thing that struck me is how many recipes we have, and how good everything sounded to me as I was scrolling. Turns out raising a 2 year old will really suck the life out of you, and it has left me with little to no ambition for creating food that is healthy, tastes good, and both of us will eat. So, I’ve been eating like a toddler lately…chicken nuggets…noodles…cheeeeeeeeeeese, and hopefully a vegetable. I long to be able to find new interesting, flavorful recipes to fill my belly with. Check in on me in a couple years, maybe I can convince my daughter to help me cook. (I’m sure Auntie Dae Dae will help with that).

So, here I have chosen some of my favorite dessert recipes. I think the underlying theme in many of them is nostalgia. I think food is also a comfort thing for me, so I gravitate toward familiar or family favorite recipes.

Favorite Cookie: Chewy Ginger Spice Cookies

In my old age, I’ve really come to appreciate a soft cookie. A nice soft plain sugar cookie, the cake cookies at Target, and these chewy ginger spice cookies. The bonus for these cookies is you can consider them as medicine if you have a little tummy ache or nausea, cuz you know, the ginger. Bonus points if you have ginger chicken and rice soup for dinner 😉

Favorite Bar: Special K Bars

This is my favorite bar recipe mostly because of the nostalgia. They remind me of my Aunt Than (the Cookie Queen, but really all things baked). Unless you’re one of those weirdos that doesn’t like their chocolate touching their peanut butter, this is the lovely combination of both plus butterscotch! Such a classic.

Favorite Pie: Cherry Key Lime Pie

I chose this one as my favorite pie for three solid reasons: 1) the post is funny to me, I thought that baking a pie would keep me from drowning my breakup sorrows in wine…how naive I was. I ended up dropping the lime I was zesting on the pie. 2) it is based off key lime pie, and that’s my ultimate favorite and 3) its based off my Nana’s recipe, so again, nostalgia wins.

Favorite Ice-Cream: Fresh Fig Frozen Yogurt with Goat Cheese

You can’t buy this one in a store. I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere. Its creamy, its unique, its delicious.

Favorite Family Favorite: Strawberry Pretzel Jello

This is the comfort food of the dessert family. And it is so Minnesotan. What is a Minnesota get together without some sort of jello’d something? I think the best part about this is the cream cheese cool whip layer. It is sweet, it is creamy, it is salty, it has crunch. It will feed your soul.

Favorite from the Garden: Easy Rhubarb Dessert

This feels like another classic, so Minnesotan to use cake mix. Its warm, and soft, and has that awesome tangy rhubarb flavor with a little of the sweet, savory (that’s probably not the right word) cake mix crumble. I always forget about my rhubarb plant…imma go see if its still good and go make this RIGHT NOW. BRB….

 

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We’re two sisters whose story began at the end of a gravel road in Northern MN. We love to cook, share new recipes with each other, and are excited to share what we love to cook with you!

Hey, It's Tory! I've somewhat recently decided that cooking my own food is fun and can be healthier. I'm hoping this blog will inspire me to create healthy, tasty dishes! Learn More…

Hi! I'm Dana! I love being in the kitchen trying new recipes or perfecting old favorites. I am the chef of our hunting camps but am known for my cookies as much as my food! Learn More…

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