Easter Dinner Re-Cap

Growing up we went to my Grandmas' houses for all of the holidays, except Easter.

Easter was always hosted by my Mom.

So, when my husband and I bought our first home and had our first child, my Mom "subtly hinted" that this would be a tradition she would like to keep up.

So, each year, we go to my Mother and Father In-Law's for their Easter celebration on Saturday, and then come back home, and we host Easter here for my family on Easter Sunday.

Our kids wake and find their baskets in the morning, we make breakfast, then head to Easter Mass.

After church, my brother and his family, my Mom and her husband and his daughter, our family and my husbands parents come for dinner.

the grandmas enjoying a beverage while the kids hunt eggs.

Before we have dinner, we have an Easter egg hunt for the kids, and take the traditional "picture on the porch" after everyone has found their eggs.

score!

After the egg hunt it's time for dinner!

I love to set the table differently every year.

Of course, I don't think I will ever compare to the year I made the PEEP Centerpiece!

Have I mentioned how I adore PEEPS?

This year I used one of my favorite tablecloths.

After the long and depressing winter we had, I wanted to go BOLD!

Love the colors of this tablecloth!

The only thing I bought new, were the two blue vases.

They were a steal at Tuesday Morning.  Do you have one of those?

Awesome store.

I hunted for some flowers that would go with the tablecloth and used the same colors for the 

eggs and the PEEPS.

I used the "pouch fold" for the napkins.

Originally I had the eggs and bunnies inside the pouches, but they got lost in there.  The napkins I was using are quite big.  This would have worked with a smaller napkin.

I think it turned out pretty cute?

On the Menu:

Baked Ham

Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut 

(from the best local place, Stoysich Sausage, in Omaha, NE)

Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Potato Casserole (with bacon)

Green Beans

Orange Glazed Carrots

Cinnamon Applesauce

Biscuits

...and for dessert

Strawberry Lemonade Cake

It was a fun weekend, and God granted us beautiful weather.

Welcome SPRING!

Egg Hunt Snack Cakes

Our parish has a fish fry every Friday during Lent.

They are not only a lot of fun, they generate a good source of income for our church via the Men's Club who does all of the "heavy lifting."

Now, I do my part and stand in line with  a beer and consume yummy fried fish, coleslaw and french fries, shell out money for the kids to get heir faces painted and for raffle tickets, but aside from that my "job" is pretty easy.

The church asks that families donate desserts.

There is one week, based on the first letter of your last name, that you are asked to do so.

I don't abide by that, and usually bring a couple of different things every week.

(I sometimes lose my inhibitions for dessert after consuming keg beer in line for an hour+, and I, for one, wouldn't want dessert lovers to go without a choice.)

So, I whipped up a batch of chocolate mint brownies, and the kids helped me with these little cakes.

If you have never visited partypinching.com you are seriously missing out.

She does the MOST ADORABLE things for parties, and just for plain fun.

My 11 year old daughter LOVES the sight, too, and if forever saying "we should make this!"

Best part is, your kids will have fun helping you do it.

So when I saw these on her page, I fell in love.

My kids love when I have those Little Debbie cakes around anyway... and I thought, how fun they would be to make for the fish fry!

Link to PARTY PINCHING EASTER BASKET SNACK CAKES

I literally didn't do anything!

My 11 year old twins made these.  Our only problem was we couldn't find the Sour Punch candy, and bought licorice (the colored flavored kind) and it was too limp, it kept falling over.

So, my son unwrapped the packages of snack cakes while my daughter squirted on green frosting from the can, then he added the jelly beans.

I plated them on an aluminum pan and off the to the fish fry they went!

Follow the link to Party Pinching's original idea, to make the cute baskets.

Egg Hunt Snack Cakes

Little Debbie Easter Basket Snack Cakes

Jelly Beans 

Can of "squirtable" green frosting

Squirt on green frosting and top with jelly beans.

done.

easy peasy!

Valentine - U Rock

When we were making my kiddos' homemade Valentines this year, my son, Hayden loved the idea of using Pop Rocks and the "U Rock" idea.

I needed to buy a lot of Pop Rocks, though, so I got on Amazon to see what they had.

(Amazon seriously has EVERYTHING!!)

When I saw these bubble gum ones, we were sold!!

I placed an order and in a couple of days, they were on my porch!

I took a picture of Hayden dressed in his red skinny jeans and sup cool hoodie, holding my oldest daughter's electric guitar.

In picmonkey, my photo editing site I use, I chose the daguerreotype frame setting to make the picture look funky-rock ish...

chose some cool fonts and sent it off to be printed at Walgreens.

An hour later, we were sticking Pop Rocks to the back of each picture with double sided tape.

Valentine's Made!! 

Here are some of the other Valentine's we have made in the past:

Homemade Valentine's Steal my Heart

Won't CHEW be my Valentine?

We LOVE Valentine's Day around here!!

Well, let's be honest, I kind of cram it down their throats, so they have succumbed to my LOVE of the day!

I love it... what's not to love?

Chocolates and flowers and MAIL!! 

I love getting "fun" mail.

The last three years, I have had fun with my two youngest making homemade Valentines.

This is Josie's Valentine she handed out to her friends.

I took a photo of her, standing in her room by a piece of her art work, palm up, blowing a bubble.

In picmonkey, a photo editing site, I turned it black and white then brought the color back in a few spaces.

I used double sided tape to stick a piece of double bubble in her hand.

Valentine's made!

Here is a link to other Valentine's we have done in the past:

Homemade Valentine's Steal my Heart

11 Valentine Sweets for your Sweets

Valentine's Day is hands down my MOST favorite holiday of the WHOLE year.

I know, I know... people think it's a nonsense, it's a "Hallmark Holiday..."

I love love love it!

When I was a kid, making that Valentine's box and addressing all of those Valentines for my classmates, 

LOVE!!

As I got older, picking out Valentine's for (boy)friends ...ha ha BRUT cologne?

Later helping my kids do all of the same things, and baking sweet desserts for them and for my friends at my Valentine luncheon.

Over the last couple of years I have made some really yummy treats, and I compiled a few, 

(11 to be exact,)

of Valentine Worthy sweets for your sweets, whomever they may be!

Cherry Torte Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting

Cupcake Cream Filling

Pink Angel Food Cake Trifle

Better Than Sex Chex

White Chocolate Truffle Center Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Neopolitan Cupcakes

Mexican Chocolate Brownies

Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes

Heart Shaped Spiced Peach Pie Pockets

Chocolate Bliss Cake with Raspberry Sauce and Devonshire Cream

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Wishing you lots of love and CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate Peppermint Stirring Spoons

I am one of the room moms for our twins' 5th grade class, and this Friday is their Christmas party.

My kids are lucky, they still get Christmas parties... I have talked to many friends, and their kids have "winter" parties.  I LOVE singing Christmas Carols and singing the kids all dressed in their Sunday best at their programs.

I am thankful my kids go to a Catholic school.

We are doing this cute craft I found on Pinterest

and having a hot cocoa bar!

My daughter and I made these cute Chocolate Peppermint Stir Spoons!

They couldn't be easier to make and so good in hot cocoa!!

Want to make your own cocoa mix?

CLICK HERE

Chocolate Peppermint Stirring Spoons

48 plastic spoons

6 candy canes crushed

2 cups chocolate chips

2 teaspoons crisco

Crush your candy canes.

Line cookie sheets with waxed paper. Rest spoons on edge of cookie sheet.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave for about 1 minute and then 30 second intervals until you can stir them smooth, add crisco and stir until incorporated.

**I used a glass 2 cup measuring cup ... worked great to pour the chocolate into the spoons!**

Pour chocolate into spoon well, and tap the spoon to make the chocolate pool evenly in the spoon.

Add crushed peppermints and place in the refrigerator to set up.

Swirl it through some hot cocoa and Relax....

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

I made a housewarming gift basket for my brother and his family last weekend, and it turned out super cute!

I'll blog about it AFTER the holidays ... but the cute basket included this homemade hot cocoa.

I searched Pinterest, and read different recipes, but found this one from a blog that I love called wonkywonderful.com   You have seen recipes from Nicole on my facebook page, she shares there every now and then, and her stuff is always AMAZING.

So hers it was!

rich and thick and stirred into hot milk ... no water here, friends!  

Do you have a Tuesday Morning where you live?  I love going in that store, it's sort of like digging for buried treasure.  It's where I found this "Chalk it up" Glass jar.  I love how it looks like a barrel.

This is one of my favorite mugs, given to me by my dear friend, Traci.

(aint that the truth??)

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

wonky wonderful

1 cup cocoa

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup instant coffee creamer

1/2 cup Ovaltine

Combine and store in an airtight container.

Add 3-4 Tablespoons to a an 8 ounce cup hot milk and stir.

Pecan Pie

Honestly?
I have never really cared for pecan pie.
Many may gasp, but I didn't grow up with it, and pecans were never my favorite.
Gimme peanuts and chocolate or ooooo...cashews...but pecans?
Not so much.

So when I took pie orders for Thanksgiving, I had to do a little research, and asked for Pecan Pie loving
TASTE TESTERS.
I had quite a few takers.

This pie got RAVE reviews.  I found it at a blog that I have always had wonderful luck with recipes
 "Gimme Some Oven" --  first off, what a clever name!  and when I read her post on this pie, it made my heart happy.  It was all about her grandma, this is her grandma's pie recipe.

I hope you enjoy it as much as the pecan pie lovers in my life did!

Pecan Pie

Gimme Some Oven

1 pie crust PRE-BAKED < --find how to here

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 eggs beaten

1 stick of salted butter

2 cups pecans

Pre-bake your crust (click here for instructions)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees for pie.

In a medium bowl whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.  Add eggs and whisk until smooth.

In a small saucepan, melt butter and heat for about 4-5 minutes, until butter becomes brown and fragrant.  Stir often.  Pour butter into the sugar mixture and whisk to combine.  Stir in pecan and pour into prepared crust.

Bake for 50-60 minute or until center is set.  If your crust edges begin to get too brown, you can remove pie and cover crust with foil.  I didn't have that problem with mine at all.

Cool pie on rack for 3-4 hours before slicing and serving.

Eggnog Fudge

One of the first bloggers I ever "met" was Joan from Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate.
Her blog is full of amazing sweet, most times chocolaty, goodness.
This recipe for eggnog fudge she posted last year is no exception.
 I wanted to make it then, but found I ran out of time!

It was on my holiday MUST BAKE list, and we are all happy that I did! :)
Make sure you pop over and see what Joan has baking in her kitchen, you will always be glad you did!

Eggnog Fudge

Chocolate, Chocolate and More

1/2 cup butter

2 Tablespoon heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup eggnog minus 2 Tablespoons

2 cups sugar

1 - 10 ounce bag white chocolate chips

1 - 7 ounce jar marshmallow fluff

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Line a 9x9 baking dish with foil and butter well.

In a medium saucepan combine butter, eggnog, cream and sugar.  Bring to boil over medium heat stirring occasionally.  When it boils, reduce the heat and continue cooking until candy thermometer registers 234 degrees. (soft ball stage)  Remove from heat and stir in white chocolate chips.  Stir until combined, add marshmallow, nutmeg and vanilla, stir until smooth.

Spread into prepared pan, garnish with a sprinkle of nutmeg on top.

Let cool at room temperature and then place in refrigerator.

Store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Nutter Butter Acorns

We made these the last couple of years, I don't know why I never took pictures of them?

I think they are ADORABLE.

And 

so.darn.tempting.

They are so little you can just pop 'em in your mouth!

Perfect blend of peanut butter and chocolate.

I think you should make some of these up for the kids at Thanksgiving...

or anytime really?

NUTTER BUTTER Acorns

Taste of Home

1/2 cup chocolate chips, + 48 pieces

48 Mini Nutter Butter Cookies

48 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.

Melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave.

Dip the flat end of the kiss in the melted chocolate and stick to one side of the Nutter Butter and place on the cookie sheet.

Place in refrigerator until set.

Do the same thing with the chocolate chips to make the "stem."

Put back in refrigerator to set completely.

Pop one in your mouth and say thanks!!

Sometimes it's ok to talk with your mouth full!