Vanilla Cream Cookies

I haven't spent too much time making sweet things lately.  Just under two weeks ago, we had a furniture delivery, and it resulted in an organizational spree that is only now starting to wind down.  All of the closets are organized, my blog dishes are finally out of their boxes and tucked away in a cabinet, and our spice, oil, and vinegar collections are in perfect little rows grouped according to uses.  Now if only it would all stay that way...
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Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

Ahhhh, toasted coconut.  Is there a better thing to eat?  If there is a coconut item available, I will eat it.  If it includes chocolate, even better.  This ice cream doesn't include chocolate, but you can always add a little chocolate sauce to get your coconut-chocolate fix.  This is quite possibly the creamiest ice cream I have ever made.  At first, the coconut flavor is subtle, but once you reach a few flecks of toasted coconut, the flavor intensifies and everything seems perfect.  You might just find yourself wishing you had used a bigger bowl...
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Crispy Walnut Puddles

Stop whatever you are doing right now.  There are more important things to do in life, like making these cookies.  I swear you will forget all about the work you are doing or the important New York Times article or random Wikipedia entry you were reading once you eat just one of these cookies.  I know the world disappeared for a few minutes when I first tried them. 

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Million Dollar Pie

When I think about Million Dollar Pie, it seems like I have been eating it my whole life.  In truth, we only started eating it a few years ago when my mom got the recipe from a co-worker. 

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Crispy Chocolate Chip Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies

A few weekends ago we brought these cookies over to a friend's house as a housewarming gift.  Our friend really likes Hawaii, and since I bought the macadamia nuts for these cookies in Hawaii this past fall, making these for his housewarming seemed like the right fit. 

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Peppermint Stick Ice Cream

I've loved peppermint stick ice cream since college.  The kind they had in my school's main dining hall was dyed pink and had red and green candy pieces in it.  I think unlimited access to ice cream might have been the only redeeming quality of that particular dining hall, except for maybe their cinnamon coffee cake.  Whenever they had peppermint stick flavored ice cream, you can bet that I was hitting up the ice cream freezer when it was time for dessert.  There is something about the peppermint flavor and tiny candy pieces that just drew me in. 
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Nutmeg Squares

These bar cookies are a great companion recipe to mudslide cookies.  I made mudslides a few weeks ago for the holidays, and I had four egg yolks leftover that I wanted to try something new with.  I stood in front of the spice rack for a good three minutes deciding what flavors I wanted to add. Pepper?  No.  Cinnamon?  Too expected.  Vanilla sugar?  Maybe.  In the end I decided to go with a nutmeg and rum combination because I like to use my nutmeg grater.
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