Lucky Star - St. Patty's Day Treat

Do you make any special treats to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Well, it has sort of become a tradition at my house (you can view last year's St. Patty's Day cookies HERE). This year I decided to make green Rice Krispie treats. I originally got this idea from Mique over at Thirty Handmade Days and her super fun Rainbow Treats. This was so much fun to make with my 2 year old daughter, even though she'd rather eat it than make it. :0)

Ingredients:

• 6 cups Rice Krispie cereal
• 1 package of marshmallows
• 2 tablespoons butter
• green food coloring
• cooking spray

First, melt butter in sauce pan. Then add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat and add food coloring. Pour cereal into a large bowl and stir in melted marshmallows. Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray and pour in mixture. Using your hands, firmly pat down mixture into pan until even distributed. Let cool and enjoy!

Since I don't have a shamrock cookie cutter, I decided to use one of my Christmas cookie cutters (since that's all I have!). After I found the star, I immediately thought "lucky star". Okay, I know it's a bit of a stretch for St. Patty's Day, but I had to get a little creative.

YOU are my lucky star! :0) Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

[Jen]

Happy National Chocolate Cake Day! [Cake Recipe]

Who knew there was a national holiday for all the chocolate cake lovers out there! And there's only one way to celebrate this momentous occasion...by baking a delicious chocolate cake!

Here's a recipe that has been passed on from my grandmother, to my mom, and now to me (and hopefully one day to my daughter):

Chocolate Fudge Cake

1 c. Wesson oil
½ c. cocoa

½ c. water

2 c. sugar

1 ½ c. flour

1 t. soda

1 c. buttermilk

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla

½ t. salt

Directions:

Measure oil, cocoa, water and sugar in medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Cook until bubbles begin to form on side of mixture.  Take off stove and let cool.  In mixing bowl, sift flour and salt together.  In pan of cooled mixture add eggs, one at a time.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk (mixed with soda) alternately.  Mix well.  Add vanilla.  Mixture will be thin and may have lumps. Pour mixture into 9-inch round cake pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick stuck in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

This cake is delicious unfrosted. But if you would like to add some more sweetness, store-bought or even homemade chocolate frosting is the way to go! I have made this several times, and it is always a hit. :0)

Happy National Chocolate Cake Day! How will you celebrate?

Sharing this recipe with [these] linky parties.

[Jen]

[How-To Tuesday]: Chalkboard Table

Do any of you have a dining table that looks like it's been through a lot? Hot plates, food spills, crayon marks, scratches, dents...or all of the above? Well that pretty much describes my table. Before I had my 2-year old daughter, the table was in great condition. We bought it a few years ago at Garden Ridge for about $150 (including the chairs) after we purchased our house. But recently, our poor table has been attacked by our dog, written/scratched on by our daughter, and, most recently, got an ugly heat stain from my husband who put a paper plate with hot food on it (apparently paper plates trap the heat in). And I am sure I am guilty of slamming the chair into the table creating lovely dents on the sides. Being the perfectionist that I am, I could deal with the scratches, marks, etc., but the heat stain threw me over the edge. And after trying every type of solution that I found online (toothpaste, baking soda, ashes, steam iron, etc.), I decided to just go ahead and paint it. But not with just any paint...

That's right! Chalkboard paint! Don't you just love it?!

So here's what my table looked like before:

[I know it doesn't look too bad in the photo, but in person your eye immediately goes to the stain. You can kind of see it on the right-hand side.]

[First, I wiped down and lightly sanded the entire top of the table.]

[Then, I wiped off the table so that it was as dust-free as possible. Then I painted it with a very thick coat of chalkboard paint. Since I put on one thick coat, it took a while to dry (like 2 days!), so I probably should have put multiple thinner coats for even distribution & faster drying. After it completely dried, I primed it by rubbing chalk all over the table to prevent whatever you write on it to not be there permanently.]

Voila! And this is what it looks like now! It's much more "kid-friendly" now. :0)

With chalkboard paint, the possibilities are endless. Here I have the table all set with fake flowers and fake dinnerware. :0) Who knows what the table will look like tomorrow!

Bon Appetit!

Thank you Paisley Passions for inspiring me and giving me the courage to do this fun project!

Go check out her chalkboard table! It's really neat!

I will be linking this table up to these linky parties!

[Jen]

[Motivational Monday: trick or TREAT!]

Since many of you may be hosting Halloween parties or just enjoy making ghoulish treats, here are some fun ideas to add to your holiday recipes list for this scary season!

1. Giant Black Widow
2. Haunting Hot Chocolate
3. Eye-Scream Sweets
4. Monster Mouths
5. Fresh from the Lab: Bubbling Cocktails
6. Wicked Witch Cupcakes
7. Orange Jack-o'-Lanterns with Sorbet

Sources:

Better Homes & Gardens

Martha Stewart

Parents Magazine

Parenting Magazine

[Jen]

April Fools!!!

Okay, so I am not really the type to pull pranks or jokes, but I saw a couple of these ideas on Martha's website and thought they might be fun to do.

Green Eggs and Ham! Of course this could also work on doing a special "Dr. Seuss" day. Even though the eggs are green, they still taste just as good!

"Feux Baked Potato" This by far was the neatest (and particularly delicious) prank to pull on anyone. Just take 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream, wrap it in aluminum foil, and shape it like a potato. Then "bake it" or freeze it for a couple of hours or so. When you are ready to serve it, unwrap it from the foil, cover it completely with cocoa powder, and slice it just like you would cut into a baked potato. Top it off with some "sour cream" or whipped topping and sprinkle with "chives" or green sprinkles. Bon appetit! It fooled my husband! But I must warn you, it melts fast so serve it as soon as it's ready. But I am sure it will be eaten just as fast because it's yummy!

Happy April Fool's Day Blog Friends!

Springtime Cookies

I have an announcement to make: I've been bitten by the "cookie bug". I just LOVE baking cookies! And it gives me the chance to whip out my awesome cookie press! I used Wilton's Cookie Pro Ultra Cookie Press. You can check it out here along with a how-to video.

I got it this past Christmas from my sister-in-law and had forgotten about it since. I love it that it comes with different attachments to make other various shapes such as a heart for Valentine's day, a pumpkin for Halloween, a tree for Christmas, etc. But with it being springtime and so close to Easter, I thought what better time of the year to make these flower cookies! And lots of 'em!

So sit back, relax, grab a cold glass of milk and enjoy a cookie. You deserve it! :0)

Luck o' the Irish

I love this time of year! It just means spring is just around the corner! It also gives me a chance to do a little baking in the kitchen...

This year I decided to make some clover sugar cookies. Yum! I was completely inpired by Martha Stewart (who is also my inspiration for this week's Copycat Friday) to bake these delicious cookies. The recipe is time consuming since you make the sugar cookies from scratch (of course! Would Martha do otherwise??), and you also have to put the adorable little clovers on the cookies. Aren't they cute?


To put the clovers on the unbaked sugar cookies, you simply sift together 1/3 cup powdered sugar with 1 teaspoon green food coloring. Then print and cut out this template and center it on the unbaked sugar cookies. Using a small sieve, gently shake the green sugar mixture on the template, peel off the template, and voila! A beautiful clover cookie! Let the cookies chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, then bake at 325 F for 14 minutes (depending on your oven). Easy peasy!

I placed the cookies in my cookie container that I decorated with green tissue paper (from Christmas...I recycle!) and these fun printables from TomKat Studio. Festive, huh?

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!