Simple Girl

We are escaping our LOOOOONG northern winter in search for some spring break sun.  We found the sun in southern Florida, and, fortunately, the kids are content with ignoring the fact that it was in the 40's when we set out on a shell hunt this morning.  Did you hear me?  FORTIES PEOPLE! I guess it's all relative.  Forties is still way better than sub-zero and two feet of snow.  The sun actually felt warm on the miniature golf course despite the fact that the high today was 64!  It wasn't too cold for swimming.  And it definitely wasn't too cold to try out these 2-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Bird's Nests.  Crunchy and sweet, these adorable nests will add some WOW to your Easter Buffet! With only two ingredients (three if you count the delicious Cadbury Mini-Eggs!), you still have time to whip up a batch yourself! Just start with a bag of semi-sweet chocolate.  Melt it in the microwave and stir until smooth. Add in about 8...

Is the Easter Bunny on your horizon?  Do you have a few spring parties in store?  I was digging through some of my photo archives and ran across this cute idea that I used a few years ago for a class Easter party:  Green silverware wrapped in an orange napkin and tied with green chenille stems (chenille stems, I found out, is the new crafters term for pipe cleaners.) How easy is that? THIS POST MAY BE LINKED TO:  MONDAYS :    MADE BY YOU MONDAY ,   FLOUR ME WITH LOVE ,  MANIC MONDAY ,  OUR DELIGHTFUL HOME   TUESDAYS :  TALENT SHOW TUESDAYS ,   TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY ,   TRICK OR TREAT TUESDAY  , GET YOUR CRAFT ON ,     MANDY'S RECIPE BOX    WEDNESDAYS :   WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY ,   GINGER SNAP CRAFTS ,     THURSDAYS : ,  STRUT YOUR STUFF ,   FULL PLATE THURSDAYS  ,   CHIC & CRAFTY PARTY , FRIDAYS :   I’M LOVING IT ,  FOODIE...

Happy Spring!  I'm saying that out loud in hopes that it will come true.  It didn't feel like spring when I walked the dog this morning in sub-zero wind chills.  The snow crunched under my feet and the wind against my forehead caused a brain freeze - the kind that only feels good when you're drinking a slushee on a really hot day.  They say that  today is the coldest start to spring here in almost 50 years.  It  might not seem likely at the moment, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I know that real spring will eventually arrive! In Atlanta, March is always marked by the blooming of the daffodils.  Since the weather up here wasn't cooperating, I did my best to re-create spring for Arielle's birthday brunch.  I brought in my own spring flowers, and bagged up flower cookies for take home treats. I love how simple these cookies are.   Poured Cookie Icing adds a pop of color and candy melts dot the centers. Check o...

Appropriately, this month's Martha Stewart Cupcake Club assignment is Stout Cupcakes -  A nod to the Irish! The secret ingredient, of course, is Guinness Beer! Two years ago, I bought a six-pack of Guinness for our St. Patrick's Day feast of Slow Cooker  Corned Beef and Cabbage .  Unfortunately, the rest of the lonely five bottles sat in the fridge for the next year and a half until we moved and some kind friends were willing to take them off our hands.  This year I vow to find more Guinness recipes! Here's the other surprise ingredient:  Orange!  I doubled the zest and added the juice which I thought added a bright note and balanced out the bitterness of the Guinness and the molasses. Now, normally I'm a throw-all-the-cupcake-ingredients-in-a-bowl-and-mix kinda gal, but this recipe is a good exception. It's not the beer - it's the molasses. Have you ever tried mixing  molasses into dry ingredients? It doesn't work ve...

Happy Pi Day!   (That's March 14th or 3.14 for you math fanatics.) Pi Day has become a much anticipated holiday in our house ever since the kids figured out it included a blog post on Pie!  They begged me for another round of last year's Vegan Peanut Butter Pie , but this year Pi Day also happens to correspond precisely with the Teacher Appreciation Dinner, so I decided to pull out all the stops and make Key Lime Pie in a Jar.  Besides, I'm really ready for spring.  And I love Key Lime Pie. Some of you may remember my first experience with Key Limes when I made Key Lime Cake Pops .  I squeezed approximately 10,000 itty bitty key limes to get enough juice.  While spending an afternoon squeezing limes was really fun and all, this year I decided to go with the bottle. Now I was a little confused when I read the bottle.  Is this really Key Lime Juice?  Or is it just regular limes that are grown in Key West?  I decided to go...