Days Until 2012: via Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.

My girlfriends and I used to manage to get together for a monthly Girls’ Night Out and we would usually try new restaurants. It has unfortunately fell to the side recently—one of us is pregnant, two of us are in graduate school, one person just bought a house (I’m trying to make that 2!). The last time we got together, we decided to resurrect it and attempt a Girls Night In so that we don’t have to budget for a big meal out. We’ll still go out, but maybe we will alternate every other month or something. December will be GNI, January will be a night out, etc. Anyway!

Our first night in is coming soon, and we’ve decided to do drinks (nonalcoholic for the preggo) and desserts the first time. I think with the holidays coming up, we’re all going to be stuffing ourselves at company parties and family get-togethers that instead of attempting a pot luck meal, it is best to do a pot luck dessert.

What’s going to happen is the host is going to pick up the beverages, and the guests will each be bringing a small dessert and a bigger dessert. I decided to attempt a sweet snack I saw on Pinterest, and made white chocolate peppermint pretzel sandwiches as my small dish. I figured I would use the white peppermint chocolate rather than the normal chocolate since we are getting together during the holiday season! (I just made these a few days ago! I’m storing them in the fridge until the party)

My big dish is going to be a repeat from something I tried last month: Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes. I actually get a lot of hits on the blog for my cheesecake, and I thought it tasted fantastic, so I figure I might as well get my friends opinions. I’m going to do it a LITTLE different this time. Instead of making one big cheesecake, I’m going to make all of them into cupcakes. I really like that the cupcakes I made last time (with the extra filling). I had a full Oreo on the bottom as a “crust”.

If I get ambitious enough, I might try to make something snazzy on top of the cupcakes, like a snowman (out of marshmallows) or a white tree (see Erin’s blog for a fantastic tutorial). Actually, nevermind what I said about Erin’s tutorial. She moved blogs and now writes at the amazing Speckled Palate. The tutorial was at her old blog, but I’m thinking maybe she can repost the old link on the new blog if we all ask nicely?