New Year, New Blogging Style

It's a fresh new year and I am ready for it! I went totally dark on this blog over the summer months. I completely intended on returning, but to say I lost my mojo was an understatement. A few years ago my blog had evolved from a relaxed place where I would touch base with my friends and let them know what was going on in my life to a blog that was more and more about crafting tutorials. The process of having to photograph each step of the crafting process along with loading and editing the photos became daunting and it made writing posts less fun for me. I almost dreaded the idea of posting because I didn't feel like I could write if I didn't have a craft to share and I didn't feel like crafting just so that I would have something to write about.
Instead, I focused my energy on my garden ( that's a whole other blog post) and was drawn completely away from this blog. My apologies, friends. Let's start fresh. I just cracked open a new planner kit and began plotting and scheming. I haven't gotten as far as digging out my stickers or washi tape but it's a start. I have the tendency to make a huge mental list in my head and overwhelm myself feeling as though I have to complete everything all at once. Today, I decided to make it a goal to stop doing that. My husband is always telling me not to overdo it, to rest, to stop exhausting myself. Since I will be turning 40 soon, I want to start the next forty years of my life being more relaxed. I worked as far as I wanted with the planner for the day and when I was fulfilled, I set it aside to resume more work on it tomorrow.
I began my day ( and my new year) by cleaning dog poo off of my kitchen floor before I could even brew a pot of coffee. Once the animals were fed and the dogs let back inside, I got myself dressed and shoveled my driveway as we were struck once again by the snow fairy. I didn't want my husband to attempt to shovel since he'd been poorly most of the weekend and he needed to get to the airport by 10:30 in the morning. I wanted him to rest as much as possible. After he woke up and got himself some coffee he found me outside and insisted on helping but I refused. Once I was done I was able to enjoy a coffee and spend at least an hour with him before he headed out to the airport. the rest of the day I enjoyed (truly, I did) some light cleaning and more shoveling. Tomorrow, the temperature is going to drop back to the single digits and I don't plan on doing any outdoor work then.
It's a grey and gloomy afternoon; I am sipping my latte and listening to the wind whip about my yard. The windchimes are quite noisy at the moment. For now, all is calm after the hectic holiday season. I still have my tree up, as well as all my other decor. I have no plans to remove it until Sunday. On Saturday I will be hosting one final holiday celebration and then I can put away the decorations for another year. I will keep some decorations up for a while yet, as some things are just nice to have a while longer and winter isn't going anywhere any time soon. So, my mini wreaths and snowflakes shall remain on my kitchen cupboards and my snowflake cushions will stay on the couch. I will even keep my outdoor snowman wreath on my backdoor. However, any decorations that are red and green or depict Christmas shall be tucked into bins and put back into storage.
I don't mind the ritual of holiday decor removal because it makes room for new holiday decor. I like to decorate for all seasons and many holidays. As such, I am never sad to see the decorations go for the year. I will keep you updated more this year than last now that I am letting myself off the hook and will have more fun with this blog. Expect to read very random thoughts throughout the year and enjoy the occasional craft or baking story. Here's to a new year and a new blog!
Until next time~ Toodahloo!

What Is Happening in February

This month has been a grab bag of emotions. I am very certain that I am just done with winter. I really enjoy February, because it is a birthday month, we have Valentine's Day, and the month is rather short. When we start off the month with the tradition of waking a sluggish rodent to predict our future, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment. Winter will always last as long as it is scheduled and we would be fooling ourselves if we thought that we could cheat our way out of it. At least we have bits of things to look forward to, such as vacation and holidays. I made a tiara cake for Valentine's Day. I used a Devil's Food cake mix, then I made a chocolate ganache, I added almond extract to Cool Whip to spread on top of the ganache layer and I finished the layers with a berry topping. The cake was sublime. I still have the tiara cake pan that my mother purchased in the mid-1980s. I think it was a Dunkin Hines kit and it had always been a favorite. When I unearthed the pan from a pile of random objects in my parent's attic, I snatched the pan to take to my home. This cake is delightful.

I had watched numerous Dollar Tree Haul videos on Youtube (a guilty pleasure of mine) that showed a variety of adorable Valentine decorations. By the time I finally got around to shopping at the store, most of the Valentine decor had been picked through. I was able to find some cute glittery hearts that I hung from my kitchen cupboards. The bubblegum pink glitter makes me smile. I had a girl day with my bestie and another day out with my husband, both times I managed to gather some St. Patricks Day and some Easter decor. I am hoping to get some more of both, but I wanted to get what I could from St. Patricks while it was available and the things that I spotted for Easter I grabbed before they were gone. I am hoping to gather some more supplies tomorrow, that way I can work on some crafts this week.

The beginning stage of decorating my planner.

This is the finished look for my March spread.

My bestie and I had a fabulous girls day out the day after Valentine's Day. I was able to take advantage of the post-holiday clearance. I found a lot of adorable washi tape from the Target Dollar spot that was half price, so I was able to purchase several rolls for only $3.00! I do love a good clearance sale.

I made a quick sketch to plan out where to place my flowers, herbs, and strawberries.

Now that February is winding down, I've been planning a few projects for the month of March. I am focusing my energy on redecorating the inside of my house so that I am all set for Spring cleaning. Once Spring rolls in I will be doing a lot of work outside. There is plenty of yard work to be down, a few fixes to the outside of the house and a garden to start working on. I began my seed purchases the other day. My husband and I work on the vegetable garden together, but the flower garden is my thing. There's a lot that I want to do with my wildflowers this year. Last year was our first Spring and Summer in our home, so we were just establishing our gardens. Now that I am more settled in, there is so much that I want to do. I got a really good start last year, so I hope to achieve even more this year. I think that it will be a lot of fun and it will be nice to be outside and be productive. This next month might be bit busy and I am so excited about that! Hopefully, I will be able to share my various projects as they are completed. I will keep you updated. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Enduring Blizzards, Fighting Colds and Navigating My Way To The New Year

If you hadn't noticed. I took a much-needed break from blogging. I usually love to write during the Fall months and the many holidays that I celebrate from October to January. This year was far too exhausting for me to do any of that. I was trying my best to stay healthy so that I could enter the New Year refreshed and ready for new adventures. I made it through Christmas, which was a challenge, and just a few days later I started to feel sick. I am still recovering.
I got my white Christmas, it was beautiful but stressful. I was very worried that family wouldn't be able to make it to celebrate the holiday. My husband spent most of the morning snow throwing the driveway, while I arranged presents and helped him with the dinner preparations. Fortunately, the kids and my in-laws made it safely and it was a good day.
When it came time to celebrate Christmas with my parents and my sister families, I was feeling pretty rubbish, but I still had fun. I was hoping to post about my goals for the new year. I am not one to make resolutions, but I do like to try new things each year. So, here are some things that I wish to strive for in the year 2018, in no particular order... I want to enjoy more of what I have. I am a youtube junkie. I have been for years. I prefer to watch beauty bloggers, tutorials, etc. I also like a few lifestyle channels and I really like Dollar Tree videos. I know, it's weird. I recently cut back on my subscription feed and I only follow a few beauty bloggers and a couple ladies who do crafts with Dollar Tree supplies. The problem with being a Youtube junkie is the fact that you have so much product exposure. You see a woman using a new eyeshadow palette of a foundation and you suddenly need to get it. Even though you already have half a dozen eyeshadow palettes. The videos are fun to watch, but they are so seductive. Therefore, I've decided to watch less of those videos and only watch specific vloggers and I also decided to focus on the makeup I already have and work with that.
I have also decided to use my cookbooks more. I have so many cookbooks and binders with printed recipes. So, instead of hopping on one of my Pinterest boards in search or recipes, I am going to use my cookbooks. I also want to find new recipes to try in my cookbook library.
I have also begun using a new binder/planner and I think that it will be much more helpful to keep my life organized. I will post more about that later.
That about sums up everything that I wanted to touch base on with my 2018 goals. In other news, we had another blizzard plow through yesterday. All day long I was worried that the power would go out. The thought was terrifying as there has been a wave of below freezing temperatures lately. I made certain to have extra water in the refrigerator, plenty of candles and make-shift space heaters, flashlights, matches, extra blankets, and a clean kitchen. Fortunately, the power never did go out, but I didn't get much sleep last night because I spent the majority of the night checking to see if the power was still on. With any luck, I will sleep better tonight.
I am excited about all the new things I want to try out and all of the old hobbies that I want to get back into again. I will write more in-depth about various gols for this year over the next few weeks and more as they come. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

We Got A New Kitten and Other Distractions

I have been sick lately and had little energy to sit down and write. Most of the time I am feeling pretty exhausted. It all began a few weeks ago when I thought that I was getting hit with allergies but instead was a nasty cold. Once the cold finally subsided, I was still feeling gross and it turned out to be Fall allergies. I have had Fall allergies since I was a teenager and they always prove to be far worse than Spring allergies. The thing is, I love to be outside, especially in the Fall, also the kids have soccer. I don't make it to every home game, however, I also have nephews who play soccer and I like to go to their games too. This proved to be the biggest problem for me. So, back when I still had a cold, I toughed it out, took some DayQuil and went to my nephew's soccer match. Then, I went to my sister's house for dinner after the game and I didn't get home until after 9 pm. the combination of being out in the cold, out to allergen air, being out late and running around doing too much all made me very sick. Then, I finally got over the cold and WHAM, I was hit with allergies. Over the weekend, I went to another nephew's soccer match with my husband. It was a great day for soccer, nice and warm. The next day, I went to a parcel of land that my Dad owns, with my Dad, to pick apples. Problem is, his apple trees are on a hill, in a meadow. That was very silly of me. Between the soccer match the day before and the apple picking I felt awful. I already had a stuffy headache while apple picking from the exposure during the previous days game, after that I was down for the count. I was having dinner with my parents and was going to watch the premiere of The Walking Dead, but my head felt so stuffed up and after taking an allergy pill, I could barely stay awake. So, I went home, ut on some comfy pajamas, cuddled with my new kitten in bed and watched Masterpiece on PBS. 

 
So, about that kitten.......

My husband wanted to get another cat so that Murr could have a companion. We have one large dog and one small dog, both are great pals. The dogs get along swimmingly with  Murr. Where the dogs are, Murr is too. When it;s time for bed, they all race up the stairs together. The thing is, Murr likes to play, he is only 1 1/2 years old. The dogs, like to play with each other, but they are older dogs and like to relax. Also, they are far too big to lay with the cat. So, I agreed to get another cat, under the condition that it be an all black cat. I have always preferred black cats and I haven't had an all black cat since the passing of Merlin. A couple of months ago a woman he knew posted on Facebook that her cat had kittens and they would be available for new homes when they were ten weeks old. Two of the cats available were all black. My husband asked me if I would be interested, and I gave him a "soft yes." I had forgotten all about it, until a couple of weeks ago e=when he reminded me that the kittens would soon be ready. So, last Saturday morning, we drove to the woman;s home where the kittens were and were handed this little ball of love. I told my husband that a black cat needed to be named after a wizard or a witch, that is is my tradition. He went along with it, he was just happy to get a kitten. I named her "Mildred Hubble" after a character from my favorite childhood movie. It is also a new show available on Netflix and there was another tv version that was made in the 1990s. We call her "Millie" for short. I only call her by her full name when she is naughty.
As I write this, she is sleeping on my lap, only ten minutes earlier, she was climbing all over me and being a bit of a terror. She loves to cuddle and purrs a lot. She isn't a fan of the dogs, yet, and she is very playful with Murr. Murr, is very pleased with his new companion, he finds her to be a very adept pupil. ALready, he is a bit protective of her. So, even though it took some convincing, I am happy to have this darling black kitten, Just in time for Halloween.
It is a very stormy day. The winds are blowing and rain is pouring down hard. This is the perfect weather for hot cocoa, a movie, and cuddles. So, after I complete some more writing, while Mildred naps, I think I will watch The Worst Witch (the 1980s movie version with Fairuza Balk). I will be posting some of the crafts that I had been working on before I got sick. So, be on the lookout for those throughout the rest of the week. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Resting and Preparing

 I had high hopes that I would blog each day of December, leading up to Christmas. I managed to do this, quite successfully, a few years ago. However, this year has proven to be very busy and I am exhausted. I have been working around extreme temperatures and trying to insulate the "mud room" which is going to be converted into our dining room. I was hoping to get the room ready for the holiday so that we could eat our Christmas dinner in there. I had no hope of getting it painted, but I at least wanted to get it warm enough in there. Over the weekend, we had a substantial amount of snow come down and we had artic temperatures, reaching beyond -30 degrees. 

I was happy to get some more shopping done on Sunday. I still have some last minute shopping to do, plus getting all the groceries needed for the weekend. I still have a few packages coming my way, too. I do have a very decorated home and that makes me happy. We got our tree at the beginning of the month. I do love the lights and garland. I made homemade stockings for the family, using recycled clothing from the thrift store. I can't wait to fill those on Christmas morning. Last night, I made my first ever attempt at making marshmallows. I have yet to see how it worked out I did have a minor hiccup during the process, so I would be very surprised if they worked out.

Today, I am going to pace myself, as I have all week, I decided to get tasks accomplished but not go overboard. Since I've been so tired lately, I didn't want to risk getting sick around the holidays. I have been binge watching episodes of Victorian Farm Christmas and now I am watching Wartime Farm Christmas. I think I will watch Avonlea Christmas and Edwardian Farm Christmas, if that exists ( I think it does). I know that on Friday, I will be very busy baking and making homemade candies.

That is my December wrap up! I hope to share more on Friday! Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Post Thanksgiving Tidy

I am turkeyed out. As much as I love turkey, I just need a break. I bought a 16 pound turkey, hoping to feed the family for the holiday and yield plenty of leftovers. I certain accomplished that goal! After Thanksgiving, I continued to enjoy a few turkey sandwiches and turkey with gravy over mashed potatoes. Today, I decided to freeze the rest. I divided the remains of the turkey and I split the poultry between two freezer bags. This will come in handy when I want to make something for dinner throughout the next few weeks.
I also needed to figure out what to do with all of the leftover cranberry sauce that I made. My husband has always consumed canned cranberry sauce on the holidays, but that was not my tradition. Since we were combining our traditions, I made the cranberry sauce. This is a task that I have done the night before Thanksgiving since I was a teenager. As such, I am accustomed to having to make a lot. In my family, growing up, everyone piled on the cranberry sauce and they still do. On Thanksgiving, only my husband and I ate the sauce. So, after snacking on the cranberry sauce as much as I could, I decided to re-use it for a treat. I modified a recipe that would typically be used for raspberry bars, and substituted the raspberry jam with the cranberry sauce. I can't wait to eat a bar with some tea!

I also baked a batch biscuits to have for supper, tonight. I decided to make biscuits and gravy, and my husband was happy to go along with that. Today, I spent the day cleaning and preparing for tomorrow, as I intend to break out the Christmas decorations. While I was baking, I listened to my Spotify Christmas playlist and it put me in such a delightful mood! It felt good to get work done after taking a breather over the weekend. The holiday weekend really wore me out, so I took it easy yesterday. I just didn't feel inspired to do much, especially with such gloomy weather outside. Today was perfectly sunny and just right for being industrious.
So, I have been eagerly waiting to watch the new Anne Of Green Gables movie, which I will do tomorrow. I have also been anxious to watch the new Gilmore Girls episodes. Most people, ahem (women/girls), that I know who watched the show binged the entire day after Thanksgiving. I only watched one episode. I prefer to enjoy them a bit at a time, savor them, really. So, I think I will go sip some tea, eat a cranberry bar and watch another episode of Gilmore Girls. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

How I Made My Own Weeping Angel Tree Topper

It's taken me a while to finally sit down and write a new post. I knew what I wanted to write about, but it seemed like such a daunting task. I'm not certain why, perhaps it was the thought of uploading photos that has turned me off from this, but I decided that enough was enough and it was time to post again. So, I'm at my desk, the window above is displaying a grey morning, snow is lurking high above; a Spotify playlist is echoing throughout the room. I'm contemplating on making a latte, but I know that is just a ploy to distract myself from completing my writing. I refuse to be distracted. My reward for finishing this is cuddle time with the dogs, whilst watching the latest episode of "Younger." I know that I have a busy weekend ahead of me and I need to get a lot of things done before the weekend begins.
I DIGRESS!

Back in December, I was in full on festive mode. I spent a great deal of time decorating the house and making tree ornaments. The Mister and I decided early on that this year's Christmas tree was going to have a "Doctor Who" theme. We already had white lights, so we bought blue lights, blue and silver balls, blue ribbon, silver garland,etc. I also made Dalek inspired balls, as well as Cybermen balls. What really pulled it all together was the Weeping Angel Christmas tree topper that I made. Here is how I did this....

I started with a Barbie that I acquired at the local thrift store. I braided her hair and fashioned the tail end of the braid into a bun. I fastened it together with clear tape at the bottom and tucked it under. Then, I removed her legs (sorry, but it was for a worthy cause.)

Next, I took a large plastic drinking cup that I found in the clearance section at Wal*Mart and I cut an "X" into the bottom of the cup. I used a marker to mark the X for carving. I VERY, VERY carefully used and x-acto knife to accomplish this part. After the X was in place, I squeezed the bottom of the doll into the X. Using and X, instead of making a hole helps to keep the doll firmly in place. This was to create a skirt and to have an opening to use to place her on top of the tree. I positioned her at the point of her waist and then I hot glued her in place, for extra security. 

Once the doll was in place, and still had my hot glue gun plugged in, I glued her arm over her eyes, so that she appeared to be shielding her eyes. Then, I took scrap fabric from a previous project and glued it on to look like a loose dress.

I made angel wings by cutting out the shape from a plastic gallon milk jug. Then, I layered "feathers" cut from a paper grocery bag and glued them onto the plastic wings. I made certain to include tabs so that I had a way to glue the wings onto the back of the doll.

 Once the wings were glued in place, I began the painting process. I wanted the angel to look as though she were made of stone and had been exposed to the elements for years. I used acrylic craft paint to accomplish this. I layered grey that I made with black and white paint. I also added a little bit of mossy green paint. I covered the hair with the paint, as well as the wings and the dress. I applied many layers to get the right look. I also took the white paint, and watered it down and then dripped it over the doll to make her look very weathered. Once the paint dried, the dress was nice a stiff. It held the shape, perfectly.

Once she was placed on top of the tree, she really looked spectacular! Considering it only cost less than $2.00 to make and most of the materials used, I already had on hand. The tree was really pretty and a whole lot of nerdy! That is the beauty of being an adult and having the ability to declare that you will have a Doctor Who Christmas tree. Now, she is safely packed away in her own box, until next year.

There you have it, my post about my nerdy Christmas tree. I don't know why I was so worried about writing this. Yes, it is a month overdue; but at least it will be available for any Whovian who wants some insight on the subject for next year. Now that this is finally out of my system, maybe I'll feel a little less skiddish about my posts and things can get back to "normal."
I hope you enjoyed my nerdiness! Until next time~ Toodahloo!

The Decorations Are Up

This week has been one of those weeks where the weather was a bit off. The past couple of days have been quite damp. When damp mixes with cold, it makes it the perfect weather for staying inside and getting the crafts started, Earlier in the week, I decorated the front porch and took advantage of the warmer, rain free day while I still had it. The rest of the week was better suited for indoor work. I decorated the hall, the living room and the dining room. I even made a wreath today.
Next weekend (not this coming weekend) we'll be getting the Christmas tree. We decided that we wanted to have a Doctor Who inspired tree. So, next week, I will be focusing on making tree decorations, including a Weeping Angel Christmas tree topper. I will share my efforts as I work along; it should be quite fun!

Today was a very productive day. Since I knew that I was going to be busy with tasks, I planned ahead and let the Crock Pot cook for me and I let the bread machine do my baking. "I" made mozzarella stuffed meatballs in marinara sauce and "I" baked homemade garlic bread. I also took the time to make some Rice Krispy Treats. Right now, the house smells amazing! With the smell of food, paired with a Gingerbread Cookie Yankee Candle and soon, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, this house is very snug, indeed.

I have two pooches hanging out with me in the kitchen as I write, and they're patiently waiting for the arrival of the rest of the household. They look like they could use a bit of a cuddle too. At that note, I will sign off for now, I will check back in on Monday. Until Next Time~ Toodahloo!

It's December Already!

 I took last week off in an effort to restore what was left of the week. The week began with one clumsy event, followed by another clumsy event and a lot of sleep deprivation was involved. After all of the craziness, all I wanted to do was relax and enjoy my four day weekend with family.

 I mentioned on Facebook that it snowed earlier in the week. The snowfall didn't accumulate to much and it didn't take long for it to melt away. Last year, we endured a massive snow storm the night before Thanksgiving, which made for crummy travel weather. This year, I stayed home. I didn't drive myself crazy with baking. Instead, I baked my caramel apple pie the night before Thanksgiving, the next morning, I baked homemade cinnamon rolls to eat while we watched the parade, something I haven't been able to do for years. Then, I made one more pie, a lemon pie. That was it. I took it easy on the holiday and it was a nice break.

Now, I am continuing to work on preparing the home for winter. Today, I began the holiday decorating process. I think that I will do a little at a time. Tomorrow, I might decorate the front porch; it will be could an nasty outside, However, I'll bundle up and then when I come in, I'll be able to cuddle with the pooches and binge on Youtube vlogs. I have a few crafting projects in mind for the holiday season, which I hope to share with you all. I will also be baking, once the oven is fixed (all part of the clumsy events of last week). I will be digging into the files of my Pinterest boards for inspiration. So, hopefully, this month will prove to be a busy one on the blog. My fingers are crossed.
 Until Next time~ Toodahloo!

A Relaxing Memorial Day Weekend

It is a three day weekend here. I thought that I would thoroughly enjoy the moment. On Friday, I made biscuits, using the recipe on the back of the Bakewell Creme tin. This recipe makes huge biscuits and I only need a few for dinner. The rest were dedicated to homemade strawberry shortcake. I adore strawberry shortcake, the fresh strawberries and the sweet juice that is produced when you combine strawberries and sugar is pure magic. Strawberries piled on top of a biscuit with a huge mound of whipped cream, it's simply fabulous. This delight was pure bliss. I was riding on a high, and then I watched Orphan Black and I received a swift kick in the gut. Sigh.

Fortunately, this morning was bright and sunny. It was much warmer than yesterday, but with a slight breeze to keep things comfortable. So, I took Fred to the lake to play in the grass.

Then, Fred decided to take a little dip in the water. I can't believe how clear the water is now. It was a much murkier lake when I was a little girl. Now, it is beautiful and filled with life.

Still, no sign of the loon. Since it is the start of the summer season, the lake was very active today, I'm certain the loon was hiding on the other side... avoiding the boats.

In the afternoon, I set out to work in the garden. It is tilling time, so I was clearing the excessive debris that resurfaces after a run-through. The air smelled of honeysuckle and apple blossom; the fragrance would have made "Anne Shirley" swoon.

Spread throughout the yard are wild strawberry blossoms and these little blue flowers, I positively love wildflowers!
Now, I'm home after working in the garden, running errands and doing a bit of rose rescue (the indoor miniature rose was looking unwell) I now have on my lounge pants and a there's mug of coffee at my desk. I am done for the day. I still have some writing to do. I'd like to tidy up a little corner in my room and I'd really like to enjoy a pedicure. The night is still young, so I'll see how it all works out. Tomorrow morning, I'll go to the parade, then visit family and I will not do any yard work. It will be a very, very relaxing, but reflective time. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Wacka Wacka Guacamole

Today is Cinco de Mayo, such a fun day! The sun is shining and after a long winter and a long cold spring, it is finally warm. This is a time for a nice festive meal! With my family, we never have authentic Mexican food for this day. I do, on occasion, make authentic Mexican food. However, some times we like things that are a bit less involving. I decided that what I could not go without is my guacamole. My sisters love it, my nephews even dig it. So, here is how I make it.....

Slice 3 avocados in half and remove the pits. I carefully slice a cross hatch cut in the fruit, avoiding the skin. This makes it really easy to scoop the fruit out and it is already cubed for the mix.

I add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice ( lime would work, too), 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, a tablespoon of dried cilantro and several shakes of cumin (to taste).

I use a pastry blender to mash the avocado and to blend all of the ingredients together. Using the pastry blender allows you to see the exact texture that you desire. I like my guacamole to be slightly chunky, almost like the texture of large curd cottage cheese.

This is how it looks when it is ready. This has such a nice, fresh flavor to it. Sometimes, I add a bit of salsa to the guacamole (1/4 cup), but I left it as is, this time. If you have any left over, be certain to squirt a bit of lemon juice on top and leave it, don't mix it. This will help prevent oxidation and keep your guacamole nice and Shreky green.

In other news, the weather has been so splendid lately, I couldn't help but do some yard work. It is so nice to finally be outside, with the fresh air and warm sunshine! Yesterday, I did some work on my herb garden. I also planted a basil plant and a cilantro plant in a pot. This will make some tasty sauces, sandwiches and salads all summer.

I love the smell of fresh herbs. When the rosemary, sage and mint grow and the wind catches them, the scent in the back yard is heavenly. I wish we still had our rose bushes, but we do still have the lilacs. I have that to look forward to. I hope to add more wildflowers to the flower garden this year, too. I want the bees to love my back yard. They do like the flowers that grow on the herbs. I hope my herbs help the bees to make some tasty honey. The goal for this summer: more flowers, wind chimes and nature journaling. I'll let you know how that works out as I go along. I hope that you re-create this guacamole and have a delicious time! Until next time~ Toodahloo!

A White Easter

Yesterday was such a fun day! It snowed in the morning, and it snowed the day before that, too. I spent Saturday morning having a relaxing marathon of the first four episodes of the BBC America show, Orphan Black. The show is available to stream on the BBC America channel on youtube. I've seen those episodes before, and I can watch them on demand any time I'd like. However, Saturday morning, I was on Facebook and there was a post from BBC America where they'd shared their youtube playlist. I decided to cozy up at my desk and watch the show. It was snowing and I knew that I'd be busy the rest of the day, preparing for the holiday. I took the morning to rest. I am so happy that I did. The rest of the day, I was cleaning, organizing, baking carrot cheesecake and carrot cake with a cream cheese center and I was making homemade chocolates for my sisters Easter baskets. I forced myself to stop, sometime around 8 pm. Featured in the photo below, is one of the many homemade Needhams that I made. It is strange to think that coconut, butter, powdered sugar and mashed potato can be such a delicious combination!

Easter morning arrived, I made a mad dash to do any last minute tidying and then my sisters and their families arrived. It was such a delight to see my nephews and to be silly with my sisters. I introduced my teenage nephews to the youtube talent, Flula Borg- a German musician, comedian and all around nice guy. He is very funny and I could spend a good hour bingeing on his videos. With all of the food and treats, I was exhausted at the end of the day. While my sisters were back on the interstate, heading home, I was cleaning up the kitchen and doing dishes, whilst watching Monarch Of The Glen on Netflix.

Now, I am at my desk with a mug of hot mocha and a plate of cakes (thanks to aid of Lactaid). Outside my window, snow is falling from the sky. Since it is so cold and grey, I am watching the BBC show Murder In Paradise on Netflix. Usually, I watch reruns of this show on PBS, but I discovered that it's now on Netflix. It really couldn't come at a better time. When the weather is especially disappointing, I turn to tv shows that are set in warm climates. This is why I watch so many reruns of McLeod's Daughters and Hart Of Dixie in the winter. I also really enjoy watching youtube videos from beauty blogger and makeup artist Sharon Farrell. She's Irish, but lives in Sydney. Often, her videos are filmed in front of a window, so you can see the warmth of Australia radiating inside. I find it very helpful when battling the winter blahs.  Once I finally recover from the exhaustion of the holiday and winter, in general, I'll return to being wacky with the sewing machine and the hot glue gun. I just need to have that snow go away. Until then~ Toodahloo!

Ps.
 If you're curious about Sharon Farrell here is a link to her channel, she's really great! https://www.youtube.com/user/sharonmakeupartist

Seeing Green

Yesterday, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Even though we are not of Irish ancestry, we love to celebrate the holiday. Traditionally, I bake green velvet cake. However, this year, I decided to try something different. I did miss having green baked goods. I decided to begin the celebrating early, and made fluffy green pancakes. They look like something the Hulk would create, but they are delicious. I always use the recipe from the trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook. It was a fun way to start the day and it put a smile on my face.

In the afternoon, I made Irish soda bread, whilst watching the show Moone Boy on hulu.com. Growing up, my mother never made soda bread. The first time I ever had soda bread was when I was in college. I was at a cast party hosted my the director who also happened to be my adviser. She cooked a delicious dinner for the cast that included scrumptious soup and soda bread. I was hooked from that point. Every time I bake soda bread, I think of that night, it was a great time.

I use Craisins in my soda bread rather than currants or raisins. I also soak my Craisins in Red Rose tea for at least 30 minutes before draining them and adding them to the dough. I found the recipe way back in 2002 on epicurious.com. However, the internet is full of thousands of recipes for soda bread, I'm sure you can find one easily.

I ran out of time to make a dessert, so I waited until today. I wanted to make a dessert using only ingredients that I had already on hand. This morning, I decided to have fun and make up my own recipe. I call my creation- "Last Minute Key Lime Pie."

Last Minute Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:
1 (2.75 oz.) pkg. lime gelatin mix
1 (3 oz.) pkg. vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 c. water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
2 tbsp. lime juice
1/2 c. whipped topping
graham crack crust

Directions:
1) Prepare a graham cracker crust for a 10 in. deep dish pan according to directions on the back of the graham cracker box.
2) While the crust is in the oven, blend the gelatin mix and the pudding mix in a medium saucepan. On medium heat, add 1/2 cup of water and mix until the mixture is fully combined, then add the remaining water.
3) Remove crust from oven, and set aside to cool.
4) Continue to stir the gelatin and pudding mixture and bring to a full boil. Once it comes to a boil, let it cook for one minute and continue to stir, then remove from heat.
5) In a large mixing bowl, add the sweetened condensed milk and beat with an electric hand beater for 2 minutes. Add the lime juice and beat another minute.
6) Add the cream cheese to the milk mixture and beat on low speed until smooth. Then, switch the beater to high speed and beat for three minutes.
7) Slowly add the lime gelatin/pudding mixture to the milk mixture a little bit at a time. You don't want to pour it all in at once, because it will still be quite warm and it will make your mixture freak out on you. Beat on the lowest setting, with each addition until blended.
8) Once the all of the gelatin mixture is added, gently fold in the whipped topping and fold until smooth.
9) Pour mixture into graham cracker crust and chill until set.

Now, I know that technically this isn't Key Lime pie, as it doesn't use key lime. It is a sort of mock key lime pie. This took, roughly 30 minutes to through together. If you need to make a dessert quickly, this is great. This is also great to make if you are feeling a bit lazy and don't want to jump through a lot of hoops to get a tasty dessert. Sometimes, you just want a great dessert and you don't feel like you need to impress anyone. To be honest, I'm a bit impressed with myself. I don't often create my own recipes. I think my sister will dig this, because her little boy absolutely LOVES Key Lime Pie and this takes little effort and is practically fool proof. The trickiest part for me was folding in the whipped topping. Full disclosure: I didn't use vanilla pudding, I actually used vanilla tapioca pudding. This happened because I saw what looked like a box of vanilla pudding and I didn't see the word "Tapioca" that was in small lettering. I was initially a bit vexed, but I quickly got over it, and it turned out perfectly fine. These things happen and you just have to roll with it.

So, there you have it. A wonderful emerald green day was had. Tonight I will eat the delicious pie for dessert after I eat hash that will be made with the left overs from last night's boil dinner. I intend to be more creative this week and I can't wait to share it all with you. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Perfectly Pink Cereal Treats

One of my favorite movies to watch, when I'm in the mood for something silly, is the movie "Peggy Sue Got Married." I don't think that the movie was a smash hit, but it's something that I enjoy watching on days when I'm so heavy with cold or a headache that I'm too pathetic to function. It's fun to curl up under a pile of blankets and watch a light-hearted comedy. The movie appeals to me for many reasons. One of the things that I like about the movie are all of the funny lines that I like to quote. There is a scene in which the main character decides to ditch her best friends party. Her mother fervently protests and gives of a long list of reasons why she must go. One reason that her mother felt rather strongly about, was due to the fact that she "baked Rice Krispie Squares" as though she had slaved in the kitchen "baking" this marvel of a treat.

The treat, like the movie, is a classic. I can remember many Christmas and Valentine's Day parties at school where at least one classmate brought in Rice Krispie Treats. This was back when it was still okay to bring sweets to school and nobody knew anyone with a peanut or a gluten allergy. So, since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I thought I'd "bake Rice Krispie squares." I made mine extra special.

You will need:

Two cups chocolate chips, any flavor you like
3 tbsp butter
1 (10 oz) pkg of pink marshmallows ( mine were peppermint flavored)
6 cups of Rice cereal

In a large mixing bowl, measure out the cereal and place into the bowl. You want this to be ready when it is time to add the marshmallow mixture.

In a large saucepan, melt butter on medium heat.

Add the pink marshmallows to the pot of butter.

Spray a wooden spoon with non-stick butter spray and use that to stir the marshmallows and butter until thoroughly melted and smooth. The marshmallow mixture can get very hot, so it is important to use a stirring utensil that can hold up to the heat. When I was in Jr. High, I made the mistake of using a rubber spatula and totally melted the rubber into the marshmallow mixture; so yes, you CAN mess up this recipe. I sprayed the wooden spoon so that it would be easy to get the marshmallow mixture off of the spoon.

Pour the marshmallow mixture onto the the cereal and blend; make sure that all of the cereal is evenly blended into the mixture.

Once the cereal is blended and the mix begins to cool down, dump the mixture into a greased 9x13x2 inch pan.

Spread the cereal mixture evenly into the pan and press into place. Mmmmm, pink marshmallowy goodness.

Then, melt the chocolate. You can use whatever method you like. You can melt the chocolate using a double boiler or you could melt the chocolate in the microwave, like I did. Whatever method works for you, do what you like. Once the chocolate is evenly melted, stir the chocolate and pour it onto the cereal that was pressed into place. Quickly spread the chocolate evenly onto the surface of the cereal. You might need to work quickly, as the chocolate can cool fast.

Allow the chocolate to cool and harden, then cut the cereal treats into squares. There you have it, delicious pink cereal treats to celebrate Valentine's Day. It takes very little effort and only a few ingredients, but it makes me super happy. In fact, I think I might watch "Peggy Sue Got Married" tomorrow and snack on these delicious treats while I watch! I can't begin to explain how much I love pink desserts. I have more projects that I'm currently working on and I will explain more on that in another post. Until next time~ Toodahloo!