a new nothing with a speckled handle

pumpkin bars with cream cheese brown sugar frosting It's fall-ish here and cool enough for the pumpkin spice cravings to have begun! i searched far and wide for the best pumpkin bar recipe.  it had to be very tender so it would melt-in-your-mouth. but also rich and warm with creamy and sweet frosting that would perfectly offset the spices. i combined several recipes, and then changed them all to include melted butter for the added flavor and texture that butter allows. nothing ever goes wrong with butter. it's like the perfect food. ha! the addition of brown sugar gives the frosting an extra depth of sweetness and the combination will blow your socks off.  this recipe makes plenty to share.  make the batch and invite over the neighbors! or take a plate to friends. i shared mine with the ladies at the office and they were in heaven. definitely gonna keep this one bookmarked for when the pumpkin spice cravings hit again.  and they will.  ingredient li...

these are the lemon bars of your dreams.  that's really all i should say about them.  but i won't stop there.  this is a recipe that my mom has always used...for good reason.  it's perfect.  the shortbread crust is flaky and rich and the custard filling is tart and sweet.  it's the stuff dreams are made of.  i mean if you dream of food like i do.  in fact, there's a whole neighborhood who would agree with me.  there are certain people who live around my mother who would attend certain functions only because her lemon bars would be there (who's that girl getting married?  who cares, julie's lemon bars will be there!).  and, if you can believe this, i married a man who disliked lemon desserts (preposterous, if you ask me).  and i say dislik ed  because he now craves these lemon bars.  and everything lemon.  so you could say that these bars are not only the stuff dreams are made of, but maybe even life altering. ...