{LemonLoveNotes}

I’ll admit it, I’m a chocolate gal.  Plain and simple.  So when Mr. Charming called me to make Lemon Bars, SHORTLY before a Scout Court of Honor (gotta love the timing) I tried to tempt him with a nice pan of Satan’s Brownies …um, yes, wicked name, perfect description.  Unfortunately, Lemon Bars were the refreshment of choice for the little scouts, so I caved.  Then I remembered my Mother-In-Law’s recipe for Lemon Love Notes and as I’ve mentioned she is a fabulous cook, and once again I was NOT disappointed.  YUM!  Move over chocolate, these are the ultimate comfort food.  Perfect for spring, they’re fresh, quick and satisfying.

Lemon Love Notes 

Crust

2 cup flour

1 cup butter – at room temp.

½ cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9x13x2-inch pan.

Make the crust by combining flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter to make a crumbly mixture. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

Filling

4 eggs

4 Tbsp flour

½ tsp baking powder

2 cups sugar

7 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Meanwhile, to make the filling, mix the eggs, sugar, flour, and lemon juice. Pour this over the baked crust and bake for 25 minutes longer. When cool, sprinkle bars with powdered sugar.

[Edible Bird Nests]

My kids love spotting birds’ nests; especially now, in the leafless trees.  Yesterday as we walked T to preschool, J found one that had fallen out of a tree.  Of course, he wanted to pick it up, bring it home, and put it with the rest of his treasures.  I’ll take the hermit crabs, ant farms, fish, frogs – even encourage them; but I draw the line at birds’ nests.  We compromised and made our own edible bird nests.

To make your own edible birds nest, make a batch of birds nest cookies (no bake cookies, below is my Mom’s recipe).  When dropping cookies onto the wax paper use a spoon to make a dip in the center of each cookie to hold the “eggs”.  Allow the cookies to cool.  Sprinkle colored coconut (see recipe below) in the center of the nest.  Lay egg shaped candy on “nest”.  And no, the butterfly is not edible, but I just love it…so springy!!

 

Birds Nest Cookies

¼ c unsweetened cocoa powder

2 c white sugar

1/2 c milk

1/2 c butter

3 c quick cooking oats

1/2 c peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

Directions:  In medium sauce pan, heat cocoa, sugar, milk and butter over medium heat.   Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute and then remove from heat. Fold in oats, peanut butter and vanilla and salt.  Drop on wax paper.

Tinted Coconut

Add your favorite food coloring to 1-2 tbsp of water until you reach the desired shade. Fill a jar with 2 cups of shredded coconut. Pour in colored water. Close jar and shake until coconut is evenly colored. Spread tinted coconut on paper towels to dry.

Homemade Finger Paint

On an especially trying night (and sometimes in the middle of the day…hello Spring Break!), when my kids have been very full of life and my patience is wearing thin, I make a batch of this and let the kids take a good long bath full of creativity!  Kids can have fun making a huge mess in the bathtub, and it will all go down the drain.  Your kids will enjoy creating painted flowers, monsters, printing their names, or anything they dream up.  I haven’t had any problems with this recipe staining my tub like I have with store bought finger paints, but I would test it in an inconspicuous area first!!  I’ve used several recipes but I like this non-toxic recipe that doesn’t call for dish soap (my kiddos have super sensitive skin so that is a no go for us).

FINGER PAINT

½ cup cornstarch

2 cups cold water

Food coloring

Mix cornstarch and water in a saucepan, stirring constantly to eliminate lumps. Bring to boil. Mixture will begin to thicken. Pour into several small containers.  In each container, add a different color. FYI, I usually double the recipe and I give each kid their own ice cube container or muffin tin of “paints”.  Allow to cool before using.

{Leprechaun Kisses}

When the kids got home from school, there were Leprechaun Kisses on each of their school desks.  According to the note, Patrick wasn’t stealing green M&M’s for his own uses, he was making Leprechaun Kisses for the munchkins.  We have yet to figure out how Patrick the Leprechaun got past Mom.

After several failed attempts, Mom was able to duplicate the recipe:

Place mini pretzels on a cookie sheet.

Put an unwrapped original Hershey Kiss on top of each pretzel.

Bake pretzels kisses at 400 degrees for five minutes (or until Kisses are soft).  Take the pretzel kisses out of the oven and place a green “leprechaun” M&M on top of the kiss and gently press part way down.

Apparently Patrick is a rather crafty (no pun intended) Leprechaun, he had the Leprechaun Kisses in a baggie with its own St Patrick’s Day Label.

[CookieGoo]

My S-I-L passed the super easy, super yummy recipe on to me and it’s amazing!  3 ingredients and NO baking, this is one kitchen activity my kids can make from start to finish (we sometimes make individual servings in flower pots and serve them as little treat gardens).  I’m thinking it would be delicious with a layer of chocolate pudding in between the two cookie layers…mmmmmmm!

Cookie Goo:

 ½ c milk

24 Chips Ahoy Cookies

16 oz Cool Whip


 

Pour 1/2 c. of the milk in a shallow bowl. Dip a cookie in the milk very briefly and line an 8 X 10 dish with them.

Take 1/2 the Cool Whip and spread over cookies.  Do another layer of cookies that have been dipped in milk.  Top with remaining Cool Whip and sprinkle with crushed cookies.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour makes 9 servings.

[Valentine Pops]

 

Love Cookies?  Take a bite out of these cookies on a stick + a little extra goodness.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of Extra Stuffed Cookies with Cream Centers Cookies (they won’t work)
  • 1 package of melting chocolate
  • 1 package of sucker sticks
  • 1 package of small cellophane bags
  • Crushed peppermint, sprinkles, candy bits, etc. for outside of the pops.

 

Directions:

Place one sucker stick directly through the center of the cookies (through the white filling in the middle) and stop just before it comes out the other end. You may need to gently press the cookie together after the stick has gone through. Continue this step for as many cookie pops as you want to make and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Cool for 15-20 minutes inthe refrigerator, this helps the chocolate stick to the cookies easier.

Melt the chocolate according to package directions.

Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and dip each cookies into the chocolate. You may need to use a spoon to make sure it is evenly covered, shaking off the excess chocolate into the container (I use a narrow, tall container, it makes the dipping easier). Put cookies back onto the wax paper to dry.  Be ready to decorate because the chocolate dries quickly (I only do about 4 cookies at a time).

Wrap them in cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon.

Sometimes I forget to look up.

 

Last night I think the sky caught fire.

“We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew… Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful… and all of us are given the task of trying to make this world a little more hospitable to these beautiful things.”
~Desmond Tutu

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves ‘who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? Your are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
                                                                           –Marianne Williamson