In honor of National Cheesecake Day, today I'm sharing my most-requested family-favorite cheesecake recipes.  Perfect for any day of the year, but an extra special sweet treat today!  If you could take a bite of each, which would be your favorite?

​And yes, they do taste as wonderful as they look!

First it's "I Do" and then a kiss...but it's the Wedding Cookie Table you won't want to miss!  

Even in the fanciest of venues, the traditional cookie table topped with dozens of homemade cookies are a tradition at wedding receptions in the western Pennsylvania and Ohio areas.   Family and friends display their baking skills to present a magnificent array of delectable treats for wedding guests to sample and fill a bag to take home.  The cookie baker in me was so ready for this challenge - and Almond Shortbread with Summer Fruits was the perfect little sweet treat to share!  

For the Bridal Shower, each guest was asked to bring a recipe card for the cookies they would bring to the wedding reception.  Isn't that such a sweet idea?​

​Everyone goes crazy when I make these tender sweet Buttermilk Bran Muffins with Maple Glaze - a treasure to add to your recipe collection!   Always super moist and delicious with a bit of caramel flavor from the brown sugar and molasses, and with rounded, bakery-style tops.  Not only healthy, but with a simple maple butter glaze, these are the best “bran” muffins ever!  Just made for lazy mornings warm from the oven!  

Fresh French Croissants...dozens of layers of buttery fresh & tender croissants filled with Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad, Smoked Turkey & Gruyere Salad, a perfectly spiced Curried Chicken Salad, traditional Deviled Ham Salad, or Classic Egg Salad.  The perfect summertime lunch for our mama-to-be and all of her friends and family!

These easy salad fillings are so easy to make ahead of time and the recipes are proven favorites - everyone always asks for the recipes!  Perfect to serve at a Garden Tea, Bridal Luncheon or Baby Shower.  If croissants aren't your thing, you can also serve these with a selection of fresh rolls or thick slices of bakery bread.  And for anyone wanting something a little bit lighter, you can also serve any of these salads on a bed of fresh lettuce.

For our event this weekend, we served them on fresh croissants, layered with  romaine lettuce to help keep them moist and add a little fresh color.  Clusters of red seedless grapes, curly lettuce leaves and baby gherkin and baby dill pickles complete the sandwich platters.  

Summertime Baby Showers are the perfect time to serve up a "Northwoods Sweets" table with a selection of homemade bundt cakes for our newest mom-to-be.  Figuring out her favorites was the best part, and the fact that these could all be made ahead of time and simply glazed and garnished the day of the shower made this a no-brainer!

Garnished with the appropriate fresh summer berries, sprigs of mint from the garden, dark chocolate, glazed pecans or simply glazed, these were easy to bake, easy to take and fun to display.  I used a variety of my longtime favorite bundt pans - and my newest favorite - the sweet little Charlotte pan.  We pre-sliced each cake and I was excited that everyone tried more than a few slices at the party.  We also boxed up the remainder for everyone to take home as a special treat at the end of the day.