Friday Favorites

This is the last Friday Favorites in April and I can hardly believe it! My one year blogging anniversary is quickly approaching and I'm excited! Not because anything big is happening, but because I've committed to this little internet space for a whole year! So here is what's going here in this last week of April...

1. We had some good weather this week! After a rainy and chilly April, we have had the most beautiful weather this week! It's starting to feel more and more like Summer! Although I often gush about Fall, I really do love things about every season! Spotting blooming flowers has been one of my favorite things this week!

Orange Cranberry Muffins

These muffins are long gone in my house, but I still think of them often because they were delicious! I'm hoping to make them again soon! I got the recipe from Little Sweet Baker - you can find it HERE.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of milk, the zest from one orange, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice.

The Wormy Walk of 2017!

I should preface this post by saying that I really do love nature, and I appreciate the importance of respecting other living things. But the amount of worms I saw on this walk FREAKED me out! We did our best not to step on any of the worms but at some points they were literally everywhere! Intrigued? Here are some pictures from the wormiest walk I have ever been on...

After sugaring off all morning, my family burned off a little of the sugar by walking on a trail in the woods near by! Everything started off normal. We saw horseshoe prints in the mud - the Bean was so excited about this!

Sugaring Off

Last Sunday, my family went sugaring off and we had so much fun! I didn't really intend on blogging the whole experience but it was too cute not to blog! Going sugaring off is a typical Quebecois spring time experience. My family has tried a few different sugar shacks over the years but this one was by far the nicest one I've been to! It was called 'Sucrerie de la Montagne,' you can find more information about them HERE.

When you arrive, you park in a lot and get picked up by a horse drawn carriage. The horses bring you up to the main area, where you can find the restaurant, the gift shop, the chalets... 

Music for Mondays: The Sound

I recently saw the movie Me Before You and it was so good! I read the book last summer and I loved it but I loved the movie even more! I love so much about the movie but I especially love the music - there were so many good songs in Me Before You. And I am so excited to share one today!

Friday Favorites: Featured Blogger Edition!

Happy Friday! Every Friday, I link up with Katie from Cup of Tea, Della from Della Devoted, Tif from Bright on a Budget and Becky from BYBMG and this week, they chose me to be their featured blogger! Thank you so so much to Katie, Della, Tif and Becky for featuring me and for hosting this link up every week! Now onto some of the best things going on in my life right now...

1. Last weekend, my family celebrated my Gammie's 81st birthday and I got to make the cake! I love baking for loved ones and this cake was a big hit! I posted about the cake on Wednesday, you can find all of the details HERE.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I made these muffins a couple of weeks ago and just haven't had free space in my blogging schedule to share the recipe with you! I go through weeks where I feel like I'm scrambling for content and others where I feel like I'm overloaded on content. And lately, I've just had so much to blog about! This recipe was delicious and so perfect to pack as a snack in my lunch! I got the recipe from A Kitchen Addiction, you find it HERE.

In a small mixing bowl, combine 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and a half teaspoon of salt.

Easter Bunny Cake

My Gammie turned 81 on Easter Sunday! My family celebrated her birthday on Friday evening with a delicious butternut squash & Fontina cheese lasagna, some Italian sausages, my favorite apple & walnut salad (recipe HERE!) and a fun cake!

Technically, there is nothing new about what I'm sharing today - I've shared the cake before (recipe HERE) and the chocolate icing before (recipe HERE), and I used store bought fondant. So, I won't be sharing a new recipe today but more so a concept, and I'll talk about how I made my cake making process.

Most of my cakes start out with a drawing. I had so many ideas about this cake - pastel colored icing for Easter, flowers, bunnies on top of the cake, bunnies on the side of the cake, a banner on top of the cake... I have never made a cake for Easter before so I was full of new ideas and Pinterest was filling my brain with so much more! I ended up deciding on icing the cake to look like a tree trunk, having a little bunny bum made of fondant sticking out the bottom of the cake, some little pieces of green fondant to look like grass along the side of the cake, and a little flag banner on top supported with 2 paper straws.

Easter Morning

Every year, my family has the most amazing Easter egg hunt! Even though we're older my parents make sure to treat us BIG time with fun Easter traditions! Here is what our hunt looks like:

We get a series of clues that lead us to different locations around our house. This is how our hunt went this year:

Music for Monday: The Waitress

Happy, Happy Easter!! My family had such a full and fun weekend, I will be sharing little parts of it over the next week! I recently discovered that Sara Bareilles is starring in the Waitress and it's all I've listened to since! I love listening to the full cast soundtrack but I especially love listening to Sara Bareilles' renditions of all of the songs - so good!

You Matter to Me - Sara Bareilles & Jason Mraz

Friday Favorites: Happy Easter!

The lead up to Easter this week has been especially sweet! I'm sharing some of my very best things going on in my life right now!

1. Ok, first up this week - pie crust! I have been making a whole lot of quiches lately and I always whip up a little dessert pie with the extra dough! Last week, I made a blueberry pie, and gave a lattice pie top a shot! I have tried this a couple of times in the past and it has never worked out! Well, this time it worked, I followed some Pinterest and the end result was oh so pretty!

Orange & Dark Chocolate Cookies

I made these last week to give to some of my favorite teachers at the end of the semester and I got rave reviews! I usually prefer to use recipes that I know and trust when I'm feeding others, but these looked so delicious, I just couldn't resist! I got the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction - you can find it HERE.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat 3/4 cup of softened butter with a handheld electric mixer until it is smooth.

Then, beat in 2/3 cup of brown sugar until the mixture is fluffy.

Make & Take: A Retirement Gift

My mom put this gift together for one of her colleagues who is retiring and I offered up my Cricut to make the little tags on each part of the present. My mom did all of the heavy lifting for this present - she did the Pinterest research and bought all of the gifts. Once she had everything put together, I made some little labels to attach to the presents!

Butternut Squash & Mozzarella Ravioli

 

The Bean and I made Homemade pasta a couple of Sundays ago. This process is always so much fun and the end result is spectacular! I know I typically share every little detail for the recipe that I use, but today will be a little less of that and more so focused I tips I have for making your own pasta. I will share the recipe I use - but I am not precise at all with this, so I'd recommend experimenting with some of you favorite flavors!

Music for Mondays: Lennon & Maisy

Have you guys heard of Lennon & Maisy Stella? They are two darling little girls who started posting covers of songs on YouTube 5 or 6 years ago and they are so good!! This was the first cover I ever heard by them:

I Won't Give Up - Lennon and Maisy

I mean, could they be any cuter!? They posted a few covers all in a short period of time...

Friday Favorites: Food, Food, Food & Sara Bareilles!

It's Friday & as usually I'm linking up to share my favorite things from this week! This week is all about food around here! There was some great stuff in my kitchen! And I figured this was fitting given the name of my blog :)

1. This is a recipe I shared a long time ago, but it is still one of my favorites! It's a roasted red pepper & pesto sauce that comes together so easily in the food processor and it is so tasty! I use the sauce with penne pasta, but you could use any pasta you love! You can find the recipe HERE. My family had this for dinner on Wednesday evening - so good!!

Easter Decor

Easter is quickly approaching & it kind of took me by surprise! I don't love that Easter moves around from year to year. I think that might be why I get all mixed up! My family has slowly but surely been transitioning from our winter decor to our Easter/Spring decor. We leave some red and white pillows on our couch all through Christmas and Valentine's Day and in the Spring we switch them out for some light blue and green pillows with some birds on them. We keep the rest of the decor to a minimum but this is what we have up...

This cute little bunny banner hangs in our kitchen window. I made it last season with my cricut, some scrapbook paper and big pom poms!

Pancakes & Pajamas Party - The Food

The Bean's birthday was last Saturday and it was the biggest success! Yesterday, I talked all about the games and today and talking all about the food! We did a pancake bar for the girls and had some french silk pie instead of cake - it was all a hit! Let's start with the pancake bar!

I made my favorite pancakes. You can find the recipe HERE. The link to the recipe is actually for blueberry pancakes, but if you want plain pancakes like these, just leave out the blueberries. The pancakes without the blueberries are just as delicious. 

Pancakes & Pajamas Party - The Games

I have been promising a post about the Bean's party since last week and it is finally here! Today, I'm sharing the games we played and tomorrow all be talking all about the food!

The girls arrived at 11:00 for brunch. once they were through with the pancake bar, we played the lap game. This is my third time animating the lap game and it is just as good every time. The girls get a kick out of it and it is so funny to watch too! You can find a more detailed description of how I do the lap game HERE.

Music for Mondays: Colbie Callait

Happy April! I'm sharing one of my all time favorite singers today - Colbie Callait!

Bubbly - Colbie Callait

This is the first Colbie Callait song I heard years and years ago and it was love at first listen! I'm reminded just how much I love it every time I hear it! Since then, I've discovered...