Fruit Parfait

So I had extra compote laying around. A very versatile recipe as it turns out. I already used it on pancakes and ice cream, so I decided to try something new. You can't really tell from the picture but there is vanilla yogurt under the compote. I wanted a toasted granola topping so I just kind of made one up based on what I remember from Mom's cobbler recipe. I can't really remember what all went in it, but I think it was basically oatmeal, butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar broiled in the oven. Turned out ok, definitely could use some perfecting.

Sparky

This was so delicious! Pretty good for my first unsupervised attempt. I'm still not much of  fan of making bread, but for this recipe it's totally worth it. I need to get a better kneading technique. I'm guessing its just a practice makes perfect thing. 

Whoopie Pies

Happy Valentine's Day! (btw Monk would absolutely hate making these.)

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

I should start off my mentioning that it's not really a cheesecake filling. I kinda knew that going in though, and it is certainly a worthwhile trade considering all the time and effort saved. The filling is more or less just a sweetened cream cheese. Overall these were pretty tasty and not too hard to make. The longest step was prepping the strawberries and even then it still didn't take all that long. It would have helped if I had a narrower paring knife to work with. I'd vote this as a good party recipe but perhaps not a family favorite. They make for really good finger food: it's relatively fast and easy, can be prepped ahead (so I'm told), and is visually appealing (as opposed to chocolate oatmeal cookies which seem always to fail at this last requirement, at least when I make them). For a family recipe it's not bad but I just think you could find a better use for fresh strawberries.

White Chocolate Liqueur with Whipped Cream and Caramel Drizzle

This was another case where I wish someone else had been around to give an opinion. In general I don't like drinking alcohol straight, even if it is yummy white chocolate liqueur. So adding the sweet whipped cream was a nice way to cut the edge and the caramel flavor was wonderful with the liqueur. Next time I might try frothing the whipped cream into it and see how that goes. Or I could just mix in ice cream as I've done before; always a good choice. The caramel will definitely be a regular addition I'm thinking though. Tasty.