Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts

Monday, April 5, 2010

Weekend Recap & Recipes

It was a great weekend.  I had hoped to post this weekend but didn't get around to it.

Friday - It was the Friday before a holiday so my manager let us out at 11:30.  It was great to not have to stay late and to be able to have the afternoon to myself.  I went to lunch with a friend, which we so very, very rarely do just the 2 of us and we sat there for 1.5hrs.  It was a lot of fun.  I came home to these from my awesome husband.  (Sorry for the iPhone picture)


It was a great start to the weekend.  We picked up some paint for a project this week (I'll blog about it when I'm done), stopped by the mall and then grabbed some dinner.  All in all it was great to just spend the evening together.

Saturday - Since KC went out-of-town to play Ultimate Frisbee for the day, I had the whole day to myself.  I ran errands, had lunch with another friend and then started baking.  I love banana bread and save all of my rotten bananas in the freezer to make some banana bread.  The bananas started to pile up so I make 4 batches of banana bread, some for Easter and some to share with friends.  I also made an ice cream cake for Easter and it was delicious.  (Recipes below)  I love Funfetti cake and at the store the other day, there was a box of Funfetti cookie mix.  Yum, Yum!  I definitely made some of those for Sunday and they were delicious (despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of frosted cookies)!


Sunday - Sunday was Easter.  It's so hard not to spend the day with family.  I know it's been about 6 years that we've been away from them but that doesn't make it any easier.  We decided to go to 11:30 mass so we could work out beforehand.  It was packed.  We found a parking spot but ended up in the Fellow ship hall because the church was full already when we got there at 11:10.  It was a beautiful service, I just love the hymns that were sung.  After groceries, we lounged around and I made some pretzel salad before we headed over to eat with some friends.  We had a nice meal and everything was delicious.  Afterward, we watched Opening Night, which I will say was a little disappointing, but hey it's only the first game of the season.

I hope you all had a wonderful and joyous Easter weekend.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Weekend Recipes

Pretzel Salad
1 cup crushed pretzels
1 cup sugar (divided)
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz.  Cool Whip
1 stick of butter (melted)
  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Mix pretzels, 1/2 cup of sugar and melted butter in a bowl.  Press into a 9x13" pan.  Bake for 7 minutes. Allow to cool.
  • Whip cream cheese, Cool Whip and 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl.
  • Break pretzel mixture into pieces and fold into cream cheese, Cool Whip mixture and enjoy!

Ice Cream Cake
1 vanilla ice cream (softened)
1 chocolate ice cream (softened)
1 tube chocolate chip cookie dough
Cool Whip
Caramel and/or Fudge topping
Candy toppings

I use a springform pan for this so it was easy to add/remove things and then cut when ready to serve
  • Bake 1/2 of the cookie mixture in the pan and then remove from pan to cool
  • Bake 2nd 1/2 of the cookie mixture and leave in pan
  • Put 1 layer of vanilla ice cream over the cookie, freeze 30 minutes
  • Put the other cookie (that was removed from the pan) on top of the ice cream
  • Put 1 layer of chocolate ice cream on the second cookie, freeze 30 minutes
  • Put a layer of Cool Whip on top, freeze 30 minutes
  • Garnish top with Caramel/Fudge toppings and candy
  • Freeze until about 10 minutes before serving, remove edge of spring form pan and leave on counter to soften

You could do this with many different types of ice cream.  I think it would be good to put a layer of fudge or caramel on top of the ice cream or cookie as well

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Easter Themed Treats

Around the holidays I like to make desserts and bring them into work.  I usually try to make them holiday themed.

Last year I was trying to find some new treats to make and I stumbled upon Bakerella.  If you didn't know, she is the queen of cake pops and they are absolutely adorable!





I tried my hand at the cake pops and they were well received and delicious but they can be time-consuming to decorate.

This year I've been searching for some more ideas of things to make.



Pillsbury



Cakes aren't popular around here so I try to make individual items.  I'm terrible with sugar cookies for some reason, so I'm not sure how I feel about the first 2 Pillsbury items.  Anyone else make Easter themed desserts or have other suggestions?

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Where my peeps at?!?!


Sorry for the lame title, it just seemed fitting.

When Easter came around every year, my mom would always put lots of candy in our Easter baskets, but my favorite is the Peeps.  She always made sure to leave mine out for a few days before so that they would start to get stale and then of course I couldn't eat them for another week at least.  Stale peeps are the best.  I know I'm not the only one who likes stale peeps, come on back me up!

Cruising the internet, I found this article on Peep Research and it was quite amusing.

Check it out (clipped from PeepResearch.org):

Basic Science: Our first studies focused on basic attributes and reactions of Peeps to simple conditions and stimuli.
Our subjects: Before any testing begins, all peep subjects are thoroughly examined and sign a disclosure form explaining the potential risks of their volunteer service.

Peep Health: Perhaps one of the most under-represented areas of study worldwide, issues of Peep well-being are only now making their way into the mainstream consciousness.
  • Risk Analysis: Investigating the effects of smoking and alcohol on Peep health.
  • Medical Miracle! Quintuplet Peep siblings, conjoined at birth, have been separated through this daring application of modern medicine!
  • Fear Response: Discover what causes this dramatic Peep behavior.
I'm definitely looking forward to heading out to the store this week and picking me up some peeps, ripping open the package and letting them sit on the counter for a week before I event eat one!

Anyone else out there like stale peeps?  Do you have a favorite shape/color?

Monday, March 22, 2010

Easter Eggs

I've never been one to decorate Easter Eggs, but this year I just might.

Our Best Bites posted these beautiful eggs and I can't get over how beautiful they are and how they are done!

Eggs in progress:






Final Products:





There are instructions here.  Let me know if you've tried it!

All images and instructions:  OurBestBites.com