cookieDAY for Friends FRIDAY!

This morning I made cookies for Miss E. to share with her cousin and friends on their Spring Break day trip to the 

BEACH today!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies were the Beach Trip cookie of choice. 

I also made a batch of Lemon Coconut Balls for this weekend, 

just because. 

And 

while I was baking....

...I enjoyed watching these birds through my kitchen window...

...pulling worms out of the yard. 

A perfect Spring day!

an itsy~bitsy doily

for my 

sewing machine!

I LOVE my new 

Spool Pin Doily!

{A "Grand Surprise" from MOM}

My sisters and I each received one of these sweet Spool Pin Doilies last Saturday while at coffee with our parents. Mom had a little bag full of doilies she had crocheted in both ecru and red  which she pulled from her purse and spread on the table so we could choose the one we wanted. For now I have placed mine on the outside spool pin of my sewing machine so that it is not hidden by the spool of thread

 but always in full view.

 Such a fun little accessory for our sewing machines.

thank~you MOM!!

♥

happy Palm Sunday!

sour cream LIME tart

 
This Sour Cream Lime Tart was our St. Patrick's Day dessert on Sunday. I added a couple drops of green food coloring to the filling to give it a little more color. It wasn't quite the shade of green I was going for but it was still festive and a delicious end to our traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner.

Happy Spring!

Tiramisu Parfaits {dessert in a glass}

 Saturday evening we had dinner with friends from church. Our wonderful hosts served an amazing Italian meal and I made these Tiramisu Parfaits for dessert.  

I used this recipe , made a few minor changes, and this is what I came up with: 

From the bottom up:

a brownie {cut in a circle to fit bottom of glass}

espresso filling

vanilla wafers drizzled with espresso

espresso filling

more vanilla wafers drizzled with espresso

espresso filling

sweetened whipped cream

sifted cocoa powder

chocolate curls

A fun layered dessert in a glass!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! {chocolate mint cupcakes}

Homemade chocolate cupcakes with either vanilla buttercream frosting {green & white swirl} and green sprinkles or mint buttercream frosting {green} and chocolate~mint drizzle. I topped all of the cupcakes with an Andes® mint and my St. Patrick Day cupcake picks. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May joy and peace surround you

Contentment latch your door

And happiness be with you now

And bless you evermore.

Irish blessing

cookieDAY

Nothing fancy,

just

dozens and dozens 

of 

COOKIES!

● ● ● 

WHY??

Because 

it was 

cookieDAY for friends 

FRIDAY!

Sharing homemade goodies on Fridays seems to have become our new way of celebrating the end of the work/school week.

Yesterday I made the snickerdoodles and chocolate caramel bars and Miss E. made the chocolate chip cookies. We both gave some away to our friends, put a bunch in the freezer for later and the rest we'll have for the weekend. 

SWEET!

Have a super Saturday!!

lemon~cream cheese Croissants

I made these lemon~cream cheese croissants for breakfast yesterday morning and served them with a little leftover lemon curd which, you may remember, I had originally made as filling for some lemon cupcakes. 

{Lemon curd keeps well in the refrigerator and since there is always extra we like to dip, dab or spread it on just about everything...YUM!!}

LEMONS

sammy stein

Bitter, sharp, packed so neat

Whose for a lemon treat?

Suck it slow, your mouth contorts

Eat it quick, you might feel sick

But add it little to a drink

or whip it in some cream and sink

your spoon into the lemon~goo

I bet, like me, you like lemons too.  

linking up to: It's a Spring Thing Link Party

featured on: Cupcakes & Crinoline

Quinoa Salad

Isn't this a pretty salad? 

Delicious too!

And made with love by Miss E which makes it the best!!

Our little cook found a quinoa salad recipe over the weekend that she wanted to try and decided to make it yesterday after school. We had it with our dinner last night and she also used some as filling in her wrap for lunch today. So many different ways to enjoy this nutritious salad. I'll have to get the recipe from her so I can share it.

A nice,  light salad for Spring! 

Chocolate Cake or Lemon Cupcakes? {I couldn't decide...}

....so I just made...

...BOTH!

I made these desserts for a Birthday we celebrated on Friday. 

For the Lemon Cupcakes I covered the top of the warm cupcakes with a lemon glaze. Once the glaze soaked in and the cupcakes had cooled I filled the middle with homemade lemon curd and frosted them with cream cheese frosting sprinkled with lemon zest. 

The Chocolate Cake is a two layer buttermilk, espresso cake with mascarpone frosting.

Have a HAPPY Day!

lemon scones

Clear blue skies and sunshine put me in the mood for something lemony so I made my favorite 

Lemon Scones topped with devonshire cream. 

Happy Friday!

OWL sugar cookies {college care package}

These are sugar cookies with buttercream frosting that I made Friday night for my niece who is a freshman in college. I sent them with our daughter who joined my sister and our parents on a trip down to visit her yesterday.

To package the cookies I decided to make a pretty

Baker's Box with a covered viewing window.

Tiramisu {cupcakes}

This is a two layer cupcake 

{bottom: vanilla, top: coffee} 

with a

mascarpone~coffee filling, 

cream cheese topping, 

sprinkled with

cocoa powder and chocolate shavings

and a

Chocolate Covered Coffee Bean

 for the top!!!

AMAZING!

This Tiramisu Cupcake recipe was actually sent to me by my mother. I finally had a chance to make it and we all agree...

it's a keeper!!

Happy 1st day of March!