While I was baking....

 a quick and easy bundt cake for dessert late yesterday afternoon I looked out my window and saw.....

...a CHICKEN in our backyard! What a surprise. 

We were pretty sure we knew where she came from so we called our neighbor to let them know she was on the loose. They did not seem the least bit concerned and said she would make her way back to the coop when she was ready which was fine with us.

In the meantime, the curious chicken decided to wander next door to check things out so I went back in kitchen to finish the cake.

While the cake was cooling we were invited next door for a visit so I was happy I had the cake to share. However, I rushed the cooling time so it was still quite warm and, as expected, when I put the frosting on top it slid down the side and puddled a bit at the bottom.

Oh well, looks aren't everything.  

It still tasted fine.

I must say, it was quite fun having a chicken in the yard and I was glad I had a fresh warm cake to take over to our friends for dessert. 

A wonderful Friday Night!

Have a wonderful weekend!

His & Her Projects

The hubs and I usually have a list of projects to work on in our free time. Sometimes we work on the same project however the last couple weeks we have been focussed on separate tasks, both of which are polar opposites.

My project is painting a Bird Feeder for my parents. My dad built it, gave it a base coat of yellow paint and delivered it to me ready to add an artistic painted design of my choice. The sky was the limit so the first thing I had to do was narrow down the possibilities. While I thought about the motif I had the Hubs sand down the yellow paint on the outside. Unfortunately it was not the right base for my paint and had to be removed before proceeding. I did decide to leave the yellow paint inside though since it would be covered in birdseed most of the time. As I continued thinking about the theme for the project I began doodling some ideas which changed many times over several weeks. After multiple revisions I finally settled on a something and finished all the drawings.

Next I had to transfer those onto the bird feeder. Unfortunately I did not have transfer paper in the house so I decided to use chalk as a quick and easy way to keep moving forward.

This method worked perfectly.

While I was busy with the bird feeder the Hubs was working on the car. He had to replace the water pump which required taking off a lot of parts to get to the issue. I am happy to report the new pump is in and he got the car all put back together again and it is running much better now. 

 The bird feeder is ready to be painted but is temporarily on hold while I turn my attention to another fun project that is time sensitive. Once I get back to the bird feeder I will post an update of the progress. 

Have a beautiful day!

Easter 2018 ~ Sweets

Easter was so early this year that I felt a little behind. Partly because my to~do list was a bit longer than I had time for, as usual. However, I like to prioritize which helps so at least that way the most important things get finished in case I do run out of time.

I always have a big list of desserts I want to try but never seem to have time to make them all and this year was no different. Due to the short timeline, I decided to choose the desserts that were quickest and easiest to make.

One thing I really wanted to make were mints so used my favorite recipe, mixed them up early and put them in the refrigerator until we were ready to mold them. Later Miss E chipped in and finished the mints by rolling them into balls and then flattening them with a fork which formed them into perfect disks. Ordinarily I press the mints into molds but this method worked great and looked very cute. 

Of course we had to have Lemon Meringue Pies, which I offered to make, and mom made Angel Food Cake, which is also a must for our Easter dinner. 

These festive Macaroon Nests were as fun to make as they were to eat. 

We had a wonderful family Easter and now look forward to April birthdays!

Happy Tuesday!

Easter 2018 ~ Appetizers

Our Easter dinner menu is usually about same each year no matter who in the family is hosting and as tradition would have it I kept it the same. Ham, potato salad, asparagus, marinated carrot salad, fruit salad and cardamom Easter bread are some of the mainstays of our meal so to change things up a bit I like to serve new appetizers.

These one bite appetizers were packed with flavor. 

I served fresh veggies with this beautiful hummus. It was delicious and such a pretty color for spring. 

Assorted crackers were added to the roulade platter along with a cute little knife to serve up this delicious basil cheese . 

The Mango Basil Prosciutto wraps were so good and easy to make. This would make a great summer snack as well. 

These appetizers got good reviews on Easter so I am sure they will show up again soon.

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Just popping in to share some cupcakes I made last night.

I had some leftover strawberries from Easter so decided to put them in some cupcakes. I made pulp with half of the strawberries. I cooked the pulp with some sugar, chilled it and then added it to the frosting which tasted wonderful and made the frosting a pretty pink.

And, as you can see, I used the rest of the strawberries for a 

surprise in the middle!

I also made a batch of lemon bars which are always a favorite. 

I tried some new recipes for Easter and hope to share some of those photos soon. April is going to be a busy month so I should have a lot of fun things to post. 

Happy Friday!!