Chocolaty Bird Nest Treats

With a lot of hard work at the gym, following healthy eating goals 98% of the time, comes a time for a special little Easter treat, so here's something for that 2% special occasion-  dark and chocolaty, crunchy, sweet and salty... a little bit of every taste sensation fulfilled!

Chocolaty Bird Nest Treats

Ingredients:

2 cups dark chocolate chips (or semi sweet, butterscotch or peanut butter chips)
3 cups crunchy chow mein noodles
30-50 small egg-shaped candies

Directions:

Melt your chocolate in a microwave, 1 minute at a time and stir until all is melted.  Add your crunchy chow mein noodles to the bowl and stir to combine. Drop teaspoon full on a wax paper lined cookie sheet and place a small dent in the middle of the treat.
Fill with whatever egg-shaped candies you like- I used almond M&M's- but Cadbury mini eggs would be great, as would jelly beans.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Best served cold.

Easter Bunnies Everywhere!

Let me share with you a little glimpse into a special Easter Day full of love, bunnies, flowers and delicious food.

 It all starts with a gorgeous pink tulip arrangement. My favourites!

 Oh, look, I spotted a bunny. Yes, my little girl still goes for an egg hunt- dressed as a bunny- check out her little basket of goodies!

 Oh look, another bunny... Little Cooper bunny with his mommy.

 ... and another, Stephanie bunny, with her cousin and Grand-maman!

 Easter treats and so much fun... reading cards!

 Look at these gorgeous blue-eyed boys!

 And now, enough of the bunnies, it's time for the Easter Dinner. A gorgeous ham...

 ... a perfectly set table...

 ... delicious broccoli/cauliflower panko cheese bake... so good!

 Even Easter crackers.... my mother really loves to party!

 Stephanie's first jambon... a true half French-Canadian girl.

 The gorgeous bunch of Easter Chicks and Roosters!

... and the Grand Finale! A tower of Bird Nest Cupcakes. Thank you to all my family for the beautiful party, food, celebration and most of all... the LOVE!

Spring Time Cupcakes- Bird Nest Cupackes

You may know that anytime there's some kind of celebration, I always offer to make cupcakes...

Well, when my mother invited us over for Easter Dinner, I knew I had to try making these delightful Bird Next cupcakes.

 Start with some pretty cupcake papers and decorations.

 Mix all the ingredients look at those gorgeous yellow and white colours, looks like an Easter cream egg! See the recipe below for the directions.
  

Bird’s Nest Cupcakes

(adapted from  http://www.cookingclassy.com/2012/03/birds-nest-cupcakes/)

 

•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

•1 cup granulated sugar
•1 1/2 tsp baking powder
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/2 cup salted butter, softened and diced into pieces*
•1 large egg, at room temperature
•2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
•1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
•1/2 cup sour cream
 
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Add in butter, egg, egg yolks, vanilla and sour cream then beat ingredients together with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds until mixture is smooth (don't over-mix, if necessary, using a rubber spatula stir the batter until the flour is fully incorporated after the allotted 30 seconds). Divide mixture evenly between 12 paper lined muffin cups (they should each be about 2/3 full). Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes, until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

 Nice and golden...

  Toast up some coconut on a baking sheet, try not to eat it all!
 

  Prepare your favourite vanilla frosting and get ready for some fun.

 Invite your delightful children to help sprinkle coconut on the cupcakes and place the Eggies in the middle. They stick to the frosting and look so pretty.

Here you have it! Some delicious Spring/Easter time party treats!

Easter Bunny Time

I want to wish you all a Happy Easter. Easter is a beautiful time of year. It's a time to remember Love!

A little religious moment...a time when we remember that Jesus died and ressurected. Celebrate! It's Spring, it's renewal, it's bunnies?

Here's a little something I found out from http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/132091/

'Easter bunnies have their beginnings traced back to pagan festivals, as symbols of fertility and life. Sometime later, in the 1500's, Germans incorporated the bunny into their celebration of the Easter season. They were also the first ones to eat Easter bunnies, which were made out of pastry and sugar. The tradition traveled with them to America, though it really didn't catch on until after the Civil War, when Easter became more widely celebrated.'

Ok, that helps a bit... but what about the eggs?

Here's what I found, again from http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/132091/

'The exchange of eggs actually predates Easter by centuries. Originally they were painted with bright colors to symbolize the sunlight of spring.
Eventually, they became associated with spring's most celebrated holiday, Easter. It's commonly believed that the shell represents the tomb in which Christ was buried and the chick that hatches from the egg represents Christ rising from the dead.
While pastels are usually the color of choice for dying eggs here in this part of the world, other countries use different colors. In Greece, for instance, Easter eggs were traditionally colored red to symbolize the blood of Christ. It turns out the Easter egg is a commercial staple today, but it does have some ties to the religious meaning of the holiday.'

So now you have it! Go in peace and celebrate Spring and Love ... don't eat too much chocolate either!

Best Easter Ever with a new baby- Part 3

Wow, after yesterday's amazing Easter Egg Hunt/Disney Vacation Surprise, how could I possibly have any better stories to share about Easter? Well, I do! This is the first Easter for my little niece Stephanie. What an awesome blessed event! We got to share and afternoon and dinner with all my family (minus my brother's ... hoping to do that this summer) on Easter Sunday.

We brought my folks some sweet Easter Flowers.

I made Melanie a little bag of Easter funnies... these Easter Bunny masks were part of it... so like the festive person that I am, I made everyone wear them and captured their Easter Joy!

Barrie and Julie.

Daddy and Mommy bunny.

and little Stephanie... she still has to grow into them though!

We gave Stepanie a little pink Easter bunny- how cute that it's almost as big as her!

Uncle Brent holding her wearing her First Easter Bunny bib.

Julie thought it would be nice to take photos with this sweet little dress one of our American cousins sent for her. So we dressed her up.... all girly and proper- all that's missin is the little matching headband with a bow on it.  

Stephanie seemed to like the photo shoot.... she just might be a 'girly-girl' one day!

We quickly put her back into her pj's and I think that made her Daddy happy... he likes the casual look! And here is my Daddy carving the delicious Easter Ham.

Pretty Spring Colours.

Here's my Easter Dinner plate. Some great ham, a bit of corn, mashed potato and delicious green beans and red pepper stirfry with cashews. My mother did such a nice job... as usual!

My sister and I think alike, we both brought pretty flowers for my mom. I made 2 'light' deserts. Lemon-Scented Blueberry cupcakes and those Birds Nests I blogged about a few days ago.

These cupcakes were delicious, the light cream cheese icing was delicious and tangy- I doubled the amount of lemon rind and lemon juice. Next time, I would add lemon juice in the cupcakes for more of a lemony taste.  I used festive Easter cupcake holders and little chick toothpicks too! These are a treat dessert at 236 calories each- but it's made with good wholesome ingredients and blueberries which are full of antioxidants.

Lemon-Scented Blueberry Cupcakes (cookinglight.com)

YIELD: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 cupcake)

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups (about 6 3/4 ounces) plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided

10 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 large egg

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

Frosting:

1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Fresh blueberries (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place 12 decorative paper muffin cup liners into muffin cups.

To prepare cupcakes, lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Measure 1 tablespoon flour; level with a knife. Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour plus 1 tablespoon flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Combine melted butter and egg in another large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk, milk, and 1 teaspoon rind to butter mixture; stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Toss blueberries with remaining 1 tablespoon flour. Fold blueberries into batter. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

To prepare frosting, place cream cheese, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon rind, vanilla, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed just until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar (do not overbeat). Stir in juice. Spread frosting evenly over cupcakes; garnish with blueberries, if desired. Store, covered, in refrigerator.

Nutritional Information (for one cupcake):

Calories: 236, Fat: 7.7g, Protein: 3.7g, Carbohydrate: 38.7g, Fiber: 0.7g



Best Easter Weekend Ever- Part 2

Even though Melanie told me she doesn't believe in the Easter Bunny anymore, she told me that she wanted to have an Easter Egg hunt, little did she know what we had planned for her. The best hunt of her young life.We were planning a summer vacation - maybe Quebec we were thinking, then I worked out the financial details and found that we could go to Disney World for just a few couple hundred dollars more.... We would drive down in the summertime for a week. Melanie had no clue... so when I got wind of a sale on the Meal Plan at Disney World and with the advice of friends who had already been there, I booked a Disney World Resort all-inclusive vacation for the last week of August which happens to be Melanie's birthday week.  I was dying to tell her, and when would be the best time... well, on one of my shopping trips to Walmart I found a beautiful Minnie Mouse watch- I decided I would hide it in a big egg and that she would figure it out and then freak out... Well I never expected to see such love!

Brent hid a series of eggs with clues.

Each clue had a Disney hint... but Melanie had no idea.

Clue 1 and 2 about Adventure and Aristocats.

Clue 1- basement.

Clue 2- in the cat bed.

Clue 3 and 4 about a Mouse and Mighty Ducks.

Clue 3- under the sink.

Clue 4- on the bench.

Clue 5 and 6 about Yoda and the Wicked Witch.

Clue 5- on top of the Star Wars Movies.

Clue 6- in front of the mirror.

Here is Clue 7... the watch in the big egg... making all her wishes come true.

But the best thing ever was when Melanie found the egg and the watch.... opened the special package and her reaction made all of us cry, including herself. Watch for yourself and see if you can keep a dry eye.

It was the best reaction of absolute love and appreciation. Melanie's wish has come true. She is going to Disney World.