My puppies are growing up so fast! I'm lucky that they have a beautiful place to play and get into trouble. They love chasing cars now which is not good but we're working on breaking that behavior. They also love going into the neighbors yard and chasing the llamas. When they are behaving, they are fun to take hikes around the yard with.
I LOVE Easter. I love the memories I have with my grandparents hiding our Easter Baskets and having to hunt for them on an early Sunday morning. Inevitably they were always in the oven, the last place we would look. I love the sunrise church service held outside. I love how pretty Easter Lillies are. Now in Tennessee, I love how Easter means the weather is going to warm up so I can plant my garden!
The Spring colors are fun to play with so I decided to make some Easter Basket Cupcakes with the kids. I showed them how to use a piping bag with a grass tip and let them create some really cute cupcakes! It was a lot of fun and great to see them be creative!
Easter also means egg dying and that was even more fun! Our eggs turned out awesome! Bart was having fun with us too, which serves to prove that you're never too old to have some fun! I think he spent the most time dying his eggs and they turned out the coolest. Now if he would just let me bring home some of the adorable baby ducks it would really feel like Easter ;)
Maybe next year...
Every year as a little girl my grandparents sent me a Valentine in the mail. My father continued the tradition until he left me to watch over me from heaven. My mother always made me little baskets every year and this year she mailed me one. Valentine's Day to me has always been a sweet day that my family has made special. Just a note to my single girlfriends, if you want to feel like it's Valentine's Day everyday, date a gentleman. Better yet, date a gentleman who writes country music. Get a puppy. You will feel as lucky as I do! Happy Valentine's Day! XOXO
Cooking with kids is fun and easy. I enlisted my little helpers to make some sweet treats for the week. I think they were as excited as I was with how it all turned out.
With a few items from the store we were able to create an impressive dessert platter with plenty to share with friends.
I'm not always opposed to baking from a box, especially when you have children involved. It's great for them to be able to measure and follow the directions. They can then go into a store and see the options for making things themselves without feeling overwhelmed by measuring flour and sugar. It's a great starting point for any young chef!
Brendan is great in the kitchen. He's 12 and showing interest in making a variety of things. He's a great cook already. I enlisted him to make Blueberry Muffins so they would have a quick homemade breakfast option before school. With the addition of a teaspoon of vanilla extract and fresh blueberries as well as the enclosed can of wild blueberries, he was able to make some delicious Blueberry Muffins! I had him top them with a little raw sugar for a professional touch. They turned out perfect!
Baleigh is 14 and after our Super Bowl cooking extravaganza she's been excited about desserts. We made some fancy looking chocolate covered strawberries. The secret to easy chocolate covered anything is a product called Almond Bark. It comes in vanilla and chocolate options. It's usually found next to the chocolate chips in the baking section.
Baleigh wanted to add some color to the white so she added a few drops of pink coloring and a splash of almond extract. You melt the almond bark in the microwave until it's fluid and then get to dipping. While the coating is still warm you can add sprinkles if you like. I sliced up some fresh pineapple and dried it with a paper towel so the chocolate would adhere, dipped it using a toothpick, and set it on parchment to solidify. All of the fruit turned out great! Fun and easy!
