Love Potion cocktail | #SheMadeEllaHace

It's time for another round of She Made, Ella Hace with my friend Leslie from La Cocina de Leslie, and this month, we're creating Valentine's Day inspired recipes. Even though we had this planned in advance, today really snuck up on me, and I was scrambling last minute to create something.

Bisquick Pancakes w/ Raspberry Maple Syrup (for Glenn & Abraham) | The Walking Dead

I know it's been a while since I've shared a recipe inspired by The Walking Dead, but I'm sharing one today to mark the mid season 7 premiere. So, the thing is, I had an extremely rough time with the first half of the season. Episode 1 brought on a ton of anxiety, that seemed to carry me through the season. It was so brutal and heart-breaking that just typing the words are making me cry. Literally. Sometimes my extreme empathic nature feels like a curse.

Mixed Berry Crumb Pie with an All-Butter Press-In Crust

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Land O'Lakes, Inc. All opinions are my own.

Before I get into this delectable berry pie, I wanted to let  you know that I'll be working with Land O'Lakes, Inc. as an ambassador through the end of the year. I can't tell you how excited I am to be working with a company whose products I grew up seeing my grandma and my mom use, and that I always have in my own kitchen. I hope you and your family enjoy the recipes that I develop using Land O Lakes^® Butter and other products over the next six months as much as my family does!

Let's talk pie today. More specifically, let's talk pie crust, which seems to be the part of the pie that scares off most would-be pie makers. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say that they just can't make crust because they can't roll it thin enough or wide enough, or it breaks apart when after they worked hard at rolling it out and try lifting it into the pan. I get it, really. But let me tell you, there's nothing like the satisfaction of a biting into a pie that YOU made entirely from scratch.

Grilled Duck Half w/ Raspberry Barbecue Sauce

Would you believe me if I told you that you could have tender, succulent duck for dinner on a busy weeknight? Well, guess what? You CAN have tender, succulent duck for dinner on a busy weeknight! It's simply a matter of combining seasonal fruit and raiding your spice cupboard to throw together a flavorful barbecue sauce while your grill heats up.

You may know that I am a Maple Leaf Farms ambassador for a few simple reasons. They are a local family-run business here in Indiana and they produce a superior product that stems from caring and commitment. I'm not paid to use, write, or talk about their products—I do it because I think everybody should know about their availability.

Red Fruit Salad

Red. The color of love and passion. It's bold. It's exciting. It draws the most eyes in any crowd. It disappears first in any candy jar. So, while it's important to eat the rainbow in order to get the best variety of nutrients and antioxidants, sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and embrace the intensity that is RED!

Who doesn't go crazy for sweet, juicy red fruit and berries at their peak? Who else has to purchase an extra pint of wild strawberries from the farmers market...just so that you'll actually have some left by the time you get home?

I've probably mentioned it a time or five before—for me, there's no season like cherry season. Is it wrong to eat one's weight in cherries? I think not.

Baseball Nut Ice Cream (a copycat Baskin-Robbins recipe)

You know how certain foods, just like certain songs, can transport you back to a certain moment in time? For me, Baseball Nut ice cream is one of those foods. I didn't plan such a perfectly round number, but it was exactly 20 years ago this summer that I didn't go home from college for the summer for the first time. It was the summer after my sophomore year, and really, the next step in exercising my independence.

I rented the tiniest room known to man in a house rented by some of my friends who were already living out of the dorms. Seriously, it should have been a closet. My twin bed was just able to squeeze in between 3 of the walls, my other stuff in boxes stacked high against the fourth wall. I didn't have any room to walk, only enough room to open and close the door. After about a week or two, there was no hot water in the house and it was filthy (my housemates were all guys)—but I was on my own.

I didn't have a car, but it was the mid-90's, which meant that I rollerbladed everywhere. I lived in East Lansing, but worked in Okemos, which was about a 3 mile treck. I had pretty much the same meal every day: a sleeve of saltines, a tin of tuna fish, and an orange. Once a week I'd walk to Subway and order a Subway Club with light mayo and salt and pepper. And every once in a while I'd treat myself by popping in to Baskin-Robbins and ordering a double-scoop of Baseball Nut Ice Cream. Only that, never anything else.

Whiskey Raspberry Glazed Duck Breasts

Silly me, I got married on Valentine's Day, therefore condemning myself to a lifetime of anniversaries with over-booked, over-crowded restaurant dinners. Fortunately, the husband and I are resourceful. Instead of fighting those dinner crowds, we opt instead for eating out for lunch; {knock on wood} we've never once had to brave a crowded restaurant.

It was late morning when we said our vows, and afterwards, all the friends and family who were there (which were not many) headed over to a local Mexican restaurant for a celebratory lunch. It's sort of become a tradition for us to eat at that same restaurant for lunch every year on our anniversary. It's unspoken, but that's where we always end up.

Raspberry-laced S'mores

So, I've kinda-sorta taken over Food Fanatic today. But for totally good reason! It's a twofer, complete with boozy, melty, raspberry liqueur-laced homemade marshmallows and the homemade graham crackers to go along with them! And you know as well as I do what marshmallows + graham crackers means, right?

Chocolate and fire are nearby!

In this instance, it's dark chocolate studded with little bits of raspberry, perfectly playing up the Chambord in the marshmallows. They're not just good S'mores, they're CRAZY GOOD S'MORES!

Yogurt Banana Berry Ice Pops

Happy International Picnic Day! Yes, it's that time of year again - time to pack up those picnic baskets, ice-filled coolers, and extra-large blankets and head to your favorite picnic spot. Whether you head to the beach, the park, the mountains, or your own backyard, it's hard to go wrong!

Now, you may think me strange for bringing ice pops to a picnic, but it wouldn't be the first time. I've loaded up a midsummer's picnic featuring wine with some luxurious Sauvignon-Peach-Vanilla Ice Pops, and these Apricot Chamomile Popsicles have even made their way into a past picnic day post! What can I say? I love my popsicles.

This year, I decided to go all the way down to Y, which could only mean one thing in ice pop land - yogurt! These simple frozen treats are just fruit, berries, and honey blended with yogurt and frozen. So, not only are they a delicious way to cool down at the end of a warm outdoor picnic, they're also good for you. What more could a person ask for?