Easter Treats

Easter marks the no turning back point on winter for me. We enjoyed a very busy day filled with family, friends, a very competitive egg hunt, and too much food and candy.

In preparation, Ava and I made my mother's sugar cookie recipe and glazed the cookies with thinned out royal icing. I gave Ava some little craft paint brushes and let her paint a few cookies-much to her delight and my needing to clean up afterward!

What a nut.

Yes, our daughter loves sunglasses. The Easter Bunny delivered several pair in her basket and she proceeded to wear all of them...while reading a book. Indoors.

We brought in some quince and forsythia branches last week, in hopes that they would bloom by Sunday-and they did!

Our Easter egg dyeing left all of us with stained finger tips, but it was fun to dye eggs with our child-a vision I have had for years and years. We blew out raw eggs, instead of using hard boiled, I wanted to hang them from branches for the week before Easter.

Ava and I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and decorated it with jelly beans, coconut and malted eggs-delish!

Moist and Scrumptious Carrot Cake: The only substitution I make is adding a 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce to the recipe below-extra moist!

1 1/2 Cups Sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

3 cups shredded carrots (about 5 medium-I use the food processor for this)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour bottom and sides of rectangle pan (13" x 9" x 2"), or one 8 " round and one 6" round cake pan.

2. Mix sugar oil and eggs in large bowl until blended, beat one minute, stir in remaining ingredients except carrots and frosting, pour into pan(s)

3. Bake rectangle 40 -45 minutes, rounds 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack

4. Frost with cream cheese frosting

Cream Cheese frosting:

One 8 oz. package cream cheese-softened

1/4 cup stick butter-softened

2 tsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

1. Beat Cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla in medium bowl with electric mixer on low speed until smooth

2. Gradually beat in powdered sugar at low speed, 1 cup at a time, until smooth

Refrigerate left over frosting

Happy Spring- finally!