Here comes Peter Cottontail

We wanted to give our two year old a great Easter basket without stuffing it full with candy and chocolate. A puzzle, bubbles, and paints fill the majority of his basket this year. We did tuck a few treats inside, and we made sure to finish up our morning with a Lindt bunny hunt.

I love, and I mean LOVE Jamie Oliver. He has a brilliant way of making complex and flavorful dishes so easy. I chose to prepare his 'Best Turkey' recipe this Easter. It definitely lived up to it's name. Ground pork, prosciutto, and apricot stuffing is tucked between the breasts and the skin. Delicious.

Baby's got blue... bathroom.

Easter weekend provided my husband and I the opportunity to get some much needed home reno time in. The first mess we decided to take on was our main bathroom. A very small space (about four feet by five feet), with a blue tub and toilet, terrible blue plastic tub surround, worn linoleum on the floor, and plastic 'base boards'.  It was begging to be updated. First I ripped down the old tub surround and patched the holes beneath. Then I picked up some glossy white ceramic 8 by 10 tiles and went to work. Take a look at the progress so far...

Beading down!

I conquered beading today. My day began with a trip to Michaels, one of my very favorite stores, unfortunately my two year old son does not share my love. As soon as the automatic doors opened he screamed, "I DON'T LIKE IT, LETS GET OUTTA HERE!" After a quick detour to the toy section I made a turn towards what I came for... beads. Martha's beading section of her Craft Encyclopedia is filled with little beaded blooms and bugs. I chose to take on a little bumble bee. So I picked out some black and gold glass beads. Martha's directions are really easy to follow and it only took a few moments, I think it would be really cute buzzing though a little girls braid.

Embellishment Journey

So I feel I have been slacking on my goal to craft my way though Martha's encyclopedia. Totally overwhelmed by the first section, 'Albums, Scrapbooks, and Memory boxes'. The world of Scrapbooking is huge! The thought of embarking on an embellishment journey should be thrilling... right? All I can see is isles of paper and stickers and stamps and scissors. Don't get me wrong, I have bought in and happen to own all of the necessary ingredients for a perfect scrapbook. When I open to the first page though, staring back at me is a blank page and a overwhelming feeling of, 'Where do I start?'. I am determined to overcome said Scrapbook, but another day. For now technically I have already completed a 'Memory Box' with the mounting of metals craft, and so I move on to Beading. Stay Tuned.

What's for dinner?

Since returning to work I have found that my desire to make dinner has almost disappeared. The problem usually starts with the struggle to find time and energy to go to the grocery store. Then I find myself trying to throw something together with spaghetti noodles and tomatoes... again. I used to plan meals two weeks in advance, perusing recipe after recipe until I perfected the menu. When you can start preparing at 4:00, cooking dinner is much less stressful. So... I am always on the lookout for quick and delicious recipes. I meshed a couple of recipes together to come up with the dish we had tonight.

- 1/4 cup of Cream Cheese
- 1 1/2 cups of Chicken Broth
- 3 Small Zucchini sliced
- 1/4 cup of Parmesan
- Spaghetti
- 1 Tbsp of Thyme
- The zest from 1 Lemon & the juice from half
- 1 Tbsp of Flour
- Salt and Pepper

In a large frying pan, place a splash of Grape seed oil and the zucchini slices until they are tender. Set aside. Whisk the Chicken Broth, Cream Cheese, Flour, and Thyme together in the frying pan until combined. Cook the Spaghetti noodles in boiling salted water with a splash of oil until el dante. Combine the noodles with the sauce and add Lemon zest, juice, and Parmesan. Divide between dishes and add fresh grated Parm and season with Salt and Pepper. Serve.

Queen of Crafts

While scanning the craft section of the library this weekend I came across this brilliant literary masterpiece. An Encyclopedia filled with one gorgeous Martha idea after another. I had a thought. What if I worked thorough each craft idea A to Z? Could it be done? I am going to attempt it.

Pancakes = Delicious

Growing up my Mom used to make 'egg pancakes' on special mornings. Waking up to a delicious crepe like pancake smothered in butter and dripping with maple syrup is a delicious way to start any morning. The thinner batter than regular fluffy pancakes also makes it the perfect medium to create shapes and creatures of any kind. Hence the makeshift dinosaur creatures I threw down in the pan this past weekend.

Mom's Egg Pancakes

2 Eggs
2/3 Cup Milk
1 Tbsp Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Enough Flour to make batter the consistency of cake batter.