Fresh from Mr. McGregor's Garden

Kids and bunnies will eat these up. Carrot-cake cookies, stacked and sandwiched between dollops of cream cheese frosting, that form the shape of a carrot. 3-D dessert veggies, ya'll. Can ya dig it? 

Just add oil, butter and evaporated milk to a carrot cake mix. Pipe cookies in sizes that range from 1/2-inch to 2 inches, and then stack them together with frosting. Add some edible easter grass for the leafy tops, and you've got yourself a tasty, springtime treat. 

Helpful photos and a step-by-step tutorial can be found at SheKnows.

Holla! Hollow Chocolate Easter Eggs

Many years ago, I remember making some hollow eggs with yarn and glue - similar to a piñata. And then I saw a tutorial for it a few months ago and I thought to myself: I wonder if you could do that with chocolate?

Guess what? You can. What I thought was going to be a disastrous kitchen experiment, turned into a really fun project. So much, that I was sad when I ran out of balloons, because I wanted to make more. The only part of the experiment that didn't go too well, was when I first attempted to make these using a water balloon. I thought it would make sense to use a water balloon because it's smaller than regular balloons. Oh my. Big mistake. Yes, it's smaller, but the latex is also very THIN. Therefore, when you pour hot melted chocolate on it..... KAPOW! It explodes. Chocolate. Went. Everywhere.

I might still be cleaning blue candy melt off my kitchen ceiling 10 years from now.

But, consider it a lesson learned. And a good laugh. Use regular-sized balloons, just inflate them a tiny, tiny bit. 

The complete tutorial is available at SheKnows. Have fun. Experiment. Enjoy. I certainly did.

Slam Dunk Snacks

Who's ready for some March Madness? I am. My bracket's usually a bust after the first round, but that's OK. I just like the excitement that builds for college basketball's big dance. Oh... and the snacks that come with all that time spent in front of the TV.

Instead of serving boring nachos, score a slam dunk with these basketball calzones. They're tiny bites of cheese and pepperoni in balls of pizza dough. (Bonus: I finally found a use for my cake pop pan! I bought it last year and have never used it.)

Make these ahead of your next game gathering and heat them up just in time for tip-off. Step-by-step instructions are available at SheKnows.


Go Shockers!

Adorably Easy and Cheesy Appetizers

Normally, my edible art comes in the form of butter and sugar. But lately I've been experimenting with cheese. It started with some cheese and olive bumblebees I made for my friend's birthday. (Barbara - who we sometimes call "B.")

Then it branched out into other forms of cheese and more fun animal shapes, like these cheese wedge and almond hedgehogs. 

And whoooo wouldn't love an owl made from a mini Babybel cheese wheel?

You can find the lists of ingredients and step-by-step photos at SheKnows.com.

Schooled in Music

Bea had her first kindergarten music concert this week. Most of the time, she was REALLY into the hand motions (as well as adding in some of her own interpretive dance moves) but I only saw her sing the words to the songs a few times. Let's just say she came in strong on the choruses. :)

It was all quite adorable. The theme was "Schooled in Music." They asked all of the kids to wear bright colored clothes and colorful socks on their hands because they were tropical "fish." Lots of funny moments. And one slightly scary moment - Bea nearly fell off the back of the risers because she was putting too much foot action into the performance. That's my girl!

Gus also got in on the act. Not really. They asked him to hand out programs. He took his job very seriously, of course.

We went out for ice cream afterwards to celebrate. Pretty sweet night.

Soup's on!

Winter took a long time to arrive here in Kansas. But we've had some mighty good "soup days" lately. (Actually, I love soup any day of the year.... especially Tanya's Soup Kitchen!)

Here's some fun, octopus and penguin-shaped bread bowls I created to make your soup day even more super. The complete tutorials are available at SheKnows. 

Bonus: no bread-baking skills necessary! You can easily make these with a package of frozen Rhodes Rolls from the grocery store. I did make a dark pumpernickel rye dough for the penguin bowl, but even that wasn't difficult. Just throw all the ingredients in the bread machine and let it do all the kneading and rising for you. The rest is just shape & bake.

Live for today, plant for tomorrow.

There's still a foot of snow on the ground, but spring is just around the corner. And so is the Wichita Outdoor Living and Landscape Show!

If you find yourself wandering around Century II this weekend, breathing in the daffodils and dogwoods, be sure to stop at the Tree Top Nursery booth and pick up your 2013 gardening t-shirt. (Good for 10% off all your purchases when you wear it to the store.)

They liked the slogan so much last year, they decided to keep it. I just created a new design to freshen it up a bit.

Snow Daze

Winter finally decided to make an appearance in Kansas. Not only that, but it unpacked it's bags and decided to stay for a while. We've gotten 14 inches of fluffy white snow, and there's another 10 inches knocking at the door today. 

So when they call off school, what do you do? Go sledding, of course. And make snow angels, and build a fort.

Fort-building skills at work with our neighbor buddy, Jay.

The outdoor chalkboard still looks great... almost 2 years later!

Frozen chalk. Still works.

Or, you can just draw with snow.

Our backyard rocketship will need to thaw out.