Signs Of Spring

The last week of April, we went down to Hawaii for my uncles wedding. It was on Maui and was absolutely gorgeous. I thought that I would share a couple of my favourite pics!

This is actually a picture of my right foot and my sisters left foot. She is a year and a half younger than I am, so we thought that it was pretty funny that our feet were almost the same size!

I took a picture of these palm trees while we where waiting for breakfast. I really like the black and white version of this picture even better that the color, because it makes them look almost like silhouette. 

We are used to maple syrup living in Minnesota, but this coconut syrup was positively divine! 

This was called a pineapple spear. Being on Hawaii, it was super fresh too!

We always look forward to these macadamia nut pancakes when we go to Hawaii. They were heavenly with the whipped cream, bananas, and coconut syrup.

I loved being able to eat out on the deck in the mornings given there was still snow on the ground at home!

I really liked this classic picture of a Hibiscus. 

This was where the wedding happened. It was a stunning beach with a grass area.

We went to a luau later that night. I liked this view of the torch over the sunset.

We went to visit the blowhole on the side of the island, where water crashes up through a hole in the rock. This is a photo of a farm along the way.

Here is a black and white photo of the blowhole. I always love coming here. The views are spectacular.

This is also a picture of the ocean from the blowhole. The choppy surf is what causes the blowhole to shoot out water.

On a different note, yesterday, when we came home from school, there was a incredibly huge pile of feathers all over the house! Who could have done such a thing?

There was pretty much a trail crossing the whole house.

The pillow was only torn at the corner, but the culprit still managed to get a ton of feathers out of it.

It's starting to look a lot more like spring around here, which is a welcome change!

This was a homemade Peach Blackberry Crisp by the Pioneer Woman. I also made some homemade ice cream to go with it.

Angus actually prefers the winter and is a little disgruntled that it is 100F outside.
 
Note: Sorry the more recent pics were such bad quality. My good camera is broken and is in a shop being fixed!

May Day

I needed a cup of hot chocolate today because it is thirty-two degrees outside, and snowing. It's May Day too. The day when, last year, we brought baskets to the neighbors. That's not happening this year.

It's not snowing yet. Trust me though, it will later. 

I'm not sure that I even want to go outside, let alone bring around May Day baskets.  It's kinda depressing. 

I think I might need another cup of tea, or hot chocolate.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oat Bars

This is not a well documented, step by step recipe. When I first dug this recipe up online, I didn't think that I would be posting it here, and, as a result, I only took a few pictures. The pictures that are on here are the only ones I took. I'm sorry, I just had no idea that these bars would be this good! The base is made of oats rolled in an caramel like mixture. Next, there is a layer of melted chocolate and peanut butter. Raise your hand if you are a chocolate peanut butter lover! My hand is totally raised! The nice things about these bars is that the top is the same as the bottom, so there really isn't that much prep involved, making these quick as well as delicious.

Here is the final product. It's delicious, I'm warning you.

This is the first two layers. I am so bad, that I didn't even get a pic of the finished product! Shame on myself! I will do better next time. :)

This picture doesn't do justice. Chocolate and peanut butter really were a match made in heaven!

I liked this picture. I also liked liking off the spoons after this picture.

Recipe:

Makes a 9 by 9 inch pan
Based On A Recipe By Traci On Allrecipes

1 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

3 Cups Oats

1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

Heat the butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Stir in vanilla. Add oats to the mixture and stir until the oats are covered. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double boiler, and add peanut butter. To assemble, press half of the oat mixture into a greased 9 by 9 baking dish. Pour the chocolate on top and spread with the back of a spoon until the oat layer is thoroughly covered. Then, crumble the remaining oat mixture on top. Chill for 2-3 hours. Enjoy!

Mini Nutella Cupcakes

These simple cupcakes only have a few ingredients, making them a tasty, but quick treat to whip up. I topped mine with whipped cream, caramel, and hazelnuts, or peanuts. They were kind of a clean out the fridge cupcake. Enjoy!

 I have been playing around with a little stop motion, so I added a quick video. It is just the beginning of a video, and it kind of jumps around a bit as I wasn't using a tripod, but I had fun with it anyways and thought that it was cute enough to post here! 

I thought that these looked cute, for very little effort! You could top them with buttercream instead of whipped cream, but I liked the light texture of the cream. 

The caramel gives these cupcakes a more decadent look. Trust me, the caramel tasted fine with the nutella!  If I made them again, I would probably fill them with nutella as well. I thought that they had really good flavour even without the filling though.

The nuts on the top give these cupcakes a good crunch.

Recipe:
Adapted From Abby Dodge

Cupcake-

  ½ cup Nutella spread

      1 large egg

      5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

      ½ cup chopped hazelnuts

Preheat the oven to 350F. Whisk the egg and nutella in a small bowl. Mix in the flour until the batter is smooth. If the batter is too thick, add some milk until it is thinner. Bake for 11-12, or until a toothpick comes out with some moist crumbs. 

Whipped Cream-

Cream

Powdered Sugar

Vanilla

Whip the cream in a cold mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. I used about a cup of cream, but it really depends on how much cream you want on top. Top the cupcakes with a dollop of whipped cream and a pinch of chopped hazelnuts. I drizzled Coco's Caramel on top, a recipe you can find on this blog.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Hi! Sorry I haven't posted anything since Christmas, but I've been busy. Also, I haven't really made anything new worth posting! These sandwiches are definitely worth your while though.
The cookies are to sweet by themselves, but the ice cream in the middle really makes them perfect! I used french vanilla ice cream in mine, but I think that it would be cool to try different flavours too!

I didn't add that much ice cream in mine, but feel free to change that! Sorry for the gross looking pictures, my good camera was dead!

The cookie recipe is by Hummingbird Bakery with some adaptations. The recipe makes about 24, depending on the size of your cookie. You can just buy ice cream from the store, but making ice cream would be great as well. 

If you are looking for some good ice cream/gelato recipes, I would recommend Ciao Bella's Gelato book. It not only has great recipes, it has some awesome tips for how to make it perfect, and ways to make your own flavours!

Double Chocolate Cookies-
100g butter
350g semisweet chocolate
2 eggs
1/4 t vanilla
85g flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder

Melt butter and chocolate, either in a double boiler, or in the microwave with 15 second intervals.

Put eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a mixer and beat. Add chocolate mixture until well combined.
Stir in the salt, flour, and baking soda until well mixed.

Arrange on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until glossy and beginning to crack on top. Cool cookies until room temperature.

Set ice cream out on the counter to soften. Once soft, spread equally on half of the cookies. Then, press the other cookies on top. Freeze for 10 minutes or more and serve. Enjoy!

Gingerbread Cookies and Christmas Decor

Merry Christmas! I thought it would be a good idea to share some treat and decor idea's because, you know, there's that little thing called Christmas coming up soon! I really loved this gingerbread cookie recipe. They are frosted with cream cheese frosting which goes great with these cookies! I got the recipe from Two Peas And Their Pod's ebook. It's called Holiday Cookie Cravings and it's full of great recipes for the holiday's or any time of the year. Does anybody else eat peppermint in February?

Our Snugshine loves the snow!

Frosting & Sprinkles

Our Christmas Tree

Cute Boxes Make Packaging Easier!

Add Homemade Gift Tags!

Tags Let People Know What They're Eating

Snugshine in the Snow!

Our Little Doggie Got Cold!

We Got New Ornaments At Crate & Barrel

These Adorable Birds Came In Packs Of Three

These Glittery Snowflakes Are Just Gorgeous

We Went For A Silvery, Sparkly Theme This Year

These Little Globes Replaced Old Red Ones

These Little Silver Bells Add A Playful Touch

These Birds Are Wooden & Handpainted

They Just Clip Onto Branches

This Wooden Nativity Set Is Perfect For The Fireplace!

Angus Is Trying His Best Not To Devour The Ornaments

These Paper Garlands Came In A Kit From Paper Source

You Glue Card-stock Snowflakes Onto A String

Fold, Them Out, And Add Silver Stickers

I Also Made Oreo Truffles Yesterday. I Use Wild Harvest Organic Oreos. 

Yum Yum Mum!

These Make A Great Gift & Are Easy To Package!