Peanut butter and marshmallow chocolate eggs

This is another of those "I'd better package these up so I don't eat them all in a feeding frenzy" recipes.

Think fluffernutter meets nutella,

and this is their love child.

Peanut butter and marshmallow eggs

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

12 oz. marshmallow fluff

3 cups powdered sugar

1 package chocolate melting discs

Mix the first four ingredients together until well blended.

Refrigerate till firm (It should have the consistency of playdough).

Form into egg shapes and rechill.  

Melt chocolate discs.  I read a great way to do this to keep the chocolate the perfect temperature for dipping.  I placed the discs in a heatproof bowl and then placed it in my crock pot which was set on high.  I poured hot water half way up the outside of the bowl, and in 30 minutes the chocolate was melted (I was mucking around with the egg forming during this time).  When the chocolate was melted, I turned the crock pot to low and kept the bowl in there as I did my dipping.  A note here:  do NOT put the lid on the crock pot as it will cause condensation that will drip into the chocolate.

That would be tragic.  

After I dipped my eggs, I put them back in the fridge to firm up.  

I put royal icing flowers on top for show.

After I took their picture, I bagged these bad boys up so I wouldn't get into them.  

Happy Easter!

Sharing with

The Charm of Home Feathered Nest Friday

Jesus praying in the garden stained glass cookie

Yes, this took me a while to do.

I wanted to do something special for holy week - 

no bunnies or chicks or eggs in this post.

Just a quiet reminder of what Easter means.

I have been wanting to make a stained glass cookie for a while now.

It was a pretty intense process - I sketched the design with a food marker, did an outline in black, flooded in all my colors, re outlined all the black "lead" lines, and then went back in with a tiny paintbrush and added some food coloring in places to give it more variation in the "glass".  

This is not the type of cookie I would like to make by the dozens!

Wishing all my readers a very blessed holy week!


Sharing with
The Charm of Home
Savvy Southern Style Wow us Wednesday
A Stroll Thru Life Tabletop Tuesday
Cedar Hill Ranch
StoneGable On the Menu
 Monday Sunny Simple Life
Twigg Studio Show off Sunday

Easter brunch cookie favor

I love soft pastel colors, but lately BRIGHT pastels have been catching my eye.  Evidence as follows.

Who doesn't want a bright blue sky, a pink Easter basket full of blooms, and a yellow duck for good measure?

These colors are just plain happy!  

And isn't that what spring is all about?

I am going to be making more cookie favors to have at our Easter brunch.  It looks like the Philadelphia duo (Drew and Genevieve) will be coming down now, so we will have a full house!  

I'm thinking these

will need to be making an appearance as well!

Sharing all of this bright fun with
Seasonal Sundays at the Tablescaper Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound Funky Junk Junk Party The Dedicated House Anything Blue Party The Charm of Home Home Sweet Home French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday

Calico Easter egg cookies

I am my own worst critic. 

It isn't too often that I am completely pleased with things I make.  

After I decorate my cookies I hide them away for a few hours and then go back and look at them, hoping that my opinion has changed for the better.  

With that being said, I think these cookies are the prettiest I have ever made.  

That was humble, wasn't it?

They may not be technically perfect, but I adore the colors and old fashioned feeling they have.

They remind me of vintage wallpaper or fabric.

And do you want to know the really crazy part?

I had absolutely no idea where I was going with these.  

I just mixed up some pretty colors and let loose.

I had originally thought I might paint on them with food coloring, but SOMETHING held me back from the paint brushes.

Thank you SOMETHING.

Inspiration is such a funny thing.  

You can't force it - or at least I can't.

It comes to me at unexpected times almost like it has a life of it's own.  

And I am very happy and grateful when it does  :)

I mailed these darlings off to my eldest son Drew, and his wife Genevieve. Drew is in med school and Genevieve is getting her masters/Phd in psychology.  They have been studying their brains out so I thought they could use a sweet treat.  

Drew's birthday is coming up, and I asked him what he wanted as a gift.  I did a double take when I read his email requesting a knot/suture tying practice kit - I had no idea they even made such a thing.  

Shhhhhhh, don't tell him I ordered it!

Linking with
Ladybird Lane
Pink Saturday
Common Ground Be Inspired
French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday
The Charm of Home No Minimalist HereStoneGable tutorials tips and tidbits

Easter wishes

Did you wake up to bird song this morning?

Have you colored your eggs?

I hope you are wearing your new Easter bonnet!

Sending you wishes for a joyous Easter.

Have a blessed day filled with family, love, and faith.

And maybe a little chocolate!

Pysanky egg cookies

Pysanky is the Ukranian art of egg decorating.  When I ran across some pictures of pysanky eggs the other day, it brought back some fond memories.

When I was a young child, some neighbor children that I played with had a babysitter that made pysanky eggs with and for the children.

You heard me right - she came bearing blown out eggs, a kistka (stylus type tool to apply the wax with), and dyes.  

Top that one Mary Poppins.  When I was a teenage babysitter, I thought I was doing well to read stories and make popcorn.

I was spellbound watching her carefully and skillfully apply the wax, layer the colors, and then wipe off the wax with a warm towel.  Let me tell you, when that wax was removed and all of the colors revealed, it was

MAGIC!

Although I generally like pastels at Easter, the vibrant colors of the pysanky eggs are just gorgeous.  

The colors all have special meaning, for instance

BLACK stands for eternity, the darkest time before dawn.

RED stands for happiness in life, hope, passion, and the sun.

YELLOW stands for light, purity, youth, happiness, and hospitality.

GREEN stands for spring, new growth, and hope.

WHITE stands for purity, innocence, and birth.

The shapes and symbols all have meanings as well, so quite a story can be told in a single egg.  Isn't that fabulous?

These cookies have a fair amount of detail on them, but are downright plain compared to some of the amazingly complex designs that are done.  Can you even imagine how steady your hand would need to be?

All I can say is WOW!

My carpal tunnel Easter cookies

Oh yeah,

ENOUGH SAID.

Painted Easter cookies

I have been playing with food coloring as paint.  Maybe it is my extreme dislike of cleaning icing bags and tips manifesting itself.

I have to say, though, that I really like using tips and paint brushes together on the same cookie.

The icing borders seem to make the painting pop more.

After outlining and flooding a cookie with icing, I let it set up till it is very dry.  

Then I squeeze food color gels onto a paper plate, get a bowl of water for washing the brushes, a paper towel for blotting, and start painting.

White food coloring comes in very handy to tone down the intense color of food coloring gels.

Of course, I use artist brushes that are only used in food coloring - 

NO REAL PAINT ALLOWED!

I'm not sure it is a quicker form of decorating, but it is certainly fast in the clean up department!

I really enjoy trying new techniques.  If it doesn't work out, hey, you eat it.  

I actually did eat one.  I was curious to see if the food coloring was adding a bitter taste (it doesn't), and it was a really bad design.  

It all works out!

I think the ones above are my favorite.  A true "mixed media" cookie, and who doesn't love sugar egg dioramas?  They are 

PURE CHILDHOOD MAGIC!

Linking with French Country Cottage Spring Link Party

Some Easter cookies boy style

I have been having myself some fun with Easter baking.  This particular batch is headed to Iowa for some special cousins of mine.  

Because my cousins have two grandsons who will be visiting, I didn't go with my usual girly palette of pinks and pastels.  These are a more boyish bright pastel color scheme.  I love doing something I wouldn't normally choose, and then enjoying the results.  Gets me out of my comfort zone.  

I had some chocolate dough sitting in the fridge, so I also made the old

CHICK HATCHING OUT OF EGG design.

Silly, cute, and fun for kids.

And speaking of kids, I made some leggo cookies for first grader Sean.  He is a leggo maniac like my boys were.

If I had a nickel for every time I stepped on a leggo barefooted.

Most unfortunate when it happens before morning coffee...

And for his older brother Drew, black belt karate cookies!  

I am totally amazed by a 13 year old earning a black belt.  Wow!  I think the most impressive thing I did at that age was get my ears pierced. 

So that is it for today - eggs, chicks, and boy cookies.  Tomorrow I will be posting some cookies using a new technique.  My version of "multi-media" decorating.  Very fun so stay tuned!

Linking with French Country Cottage Spring Link Party