I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day. The boy, the pup, and I picked up my parents from LAX Saturday around midnight. It was a great way to start Mother’s Day. The Naughty One completely freaked out when she saw them. We are happy to have them back here after their hundred day world vacation, and hope to keep them around for awhile.

I’ve been away from the blog for a few weeks, but still have tried to carve out small chunks of time to bake. The boy’s baseball schedule and my job have been all-consuming this past month. We both can’t wait until summer vacation!

This week, the boy’s school is holding their annual silent auction. I was asked to make cookies for the beach themed basket and the “rain or shine” basket. The umbrellas are my favorites from this batch. The flip-flop cookies were a must for the beach basket. I think in the history of cookie baking, I’ve made more flip-flops than any other cookie. Last year I somehow found time to make The Hungry Caterpillar cookies for the auction. These are probably my favorite of all-time… that caterpillar turned out so darn cute!

Have you ever visited The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle baking blog? Callye is one of the most talented cookie decorators I’ve ever come across, and her blog is one of my favorites. Cookies are her canvas and royal icing is her medium. I made these rainbow cookies using my mini flower cookie cutter and large circle cutter and followed her rainbow photo tutorial as a guide.

Wishing you a great week ahead… Rain OR Shine!

Hope everyone had a great Easter! We hosted our annual Easter brunch and had a great time celebrating with our friends. My parents were definitely missed this year. Really, what’s Easter without Grandma Bunny? They are still traveling the world and having the time of their lives… one more month left of their adventure before they get back home. We are in the midst of Spring Break this week and are both SO happy to enjoy a few days off.

Guess who decided to be part of our annual egg hunt? I’m pretty sure she also had the most fun. Regardless of the number of kids we have over on Easter, we still hide hundreds and hundreds of eggs. My girlfriend, Deb’s husband asked me if we really HAD to hide ALL of the eggs. Seriously, I thought he knew me better than that. The Easter egg hunt apparently has not officially ended, as the pup is still obsessed with finding eggs and bringing me a  few each day.

I was able to find a little time to squeeze in some Easter cookies. I decided to keep it simple and made bunnies  with carrots and chickadees with mini Easter eggs. Now that Easter is over, we are onto planning the next party. I can’t believe my boy will be eleven in a few weeks. He has decided to go big again this year. His original guest list had over fifty people on it (and I wonder where he gets that).  I can’t complain; I’m just happy after all of these years that I finally have a child who likes to party! I knew the party gene was dominant!

]]> http://grinandbakeit.com/easter-wrap-up/feed 9 http://grinandbakeit.com/decorating-easter-eggs-beyond-the-dye http://grinandbakeit.com/decorating-easter-eggs-beyond-the-dye#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2012 03:25:06 +0000 Kate http://grinandbakeit.com/?p=16795 Spring Break has completely snuck up on me this year. I can’t believe Easter is only a week away. Our Spring Break doesn’t officially start until after Easter, but the boy and I have decided to start early. We picked my girlfriend, Deb and her girls up from the airport this weekend and are excited to have them back in Southern California (where they belong) for the next ten days.

I’m excited to have Deb’s three crafty girls here to dye eggs with this week.  Every year we always end up making two kinds of Easter eggs. I have to buy the PAAS kit. It’s purely nostalgic and reminds me of decorating eggs every year with my sis. The boy and I also try to come up with a more creative way to decorate each year.

Here are a few creative decorating ideas from around the blogosphere…

I love how the simple touch of grass from Better Homes and Gardens makes these Easter egg pop… and the butterfly just adds to the cuteness factor.

Is it wrong to decorate eggs so that they coordinate with your decor? These lace eggs from Martha Stewart would color-coordinate perfectly in my kitchen!

A few years ago, we made these chalkboard eggs shown on style.com and set chalk out in little pails for the kids to decorate at our Easter gathering.  You just spray them a few times with chalkboard paint and cover completely. Once they dry, they’re ready to go.

These ladybug eggs are another fun idea from Martha Stewart. I don’t think the boy will be all that excited for these, but the reality is he is going to be totally outnumbered by girls. These would be even more adorable dyed in pink!

Don’t you love how the blue egg above was made just for me? It’s featured on ReadersDigest.com . I’m a huge fan of monograms, and these monogrammed eggs would make great place settings on the Easter table.

I also love these speckled eggs from Southern Living this year. They look perfect in these decorative nests.

Tissue paper is another great medium for making eggs fancier. Martha shows the steps on how to make these tissue-paper adorned eggs.

This technique above is one that my mom and I tried a few years ago. My mom saw this on the Martha Stewart show, and we then proceeded to raid my dad’s ties and attempt these. Kelly shares a photo tutorial on how to make these on her blog Mommy Knows . This does involve boiling water, so it’s not as kid-friendly in terms of the process, but the kids can hang around the kitchen and be amazed when you unveil these eggs.

I was able to find time to make a bunch of Easter cookies last week. I’m hoping to snap photos and post them this week before they disappear!

Made by me!

Some food for thought today… I received an email this week telling me that one of my photos was posted on another site without any link back or credit. Basically, the person took an entire 60 seconds max to cut, paste, post it on her site, and then took full credit for my creation. I emailed the person nicely letting her know it was my original photo and that it’s only blogging etiquette to link back, or at least say where it came from. And no, I did not call her a thief (at least in the email). I never did hear back from her and the photo is still up. Interesting, isn’t it?

This is a highly sensitive issue for food bloggers, and I completely understand it. Putting up a post on your blog is the culmination of several hours of baking, photographing, and writing. I currently have been blessed cursed with way more wacky issues at this point in my life, so as far as this incident… I’m annoyed. I think it’s pretty tacky. Am I angry? Do I have blogger’s rage (similar to road rage)? No, not at all.

I do love to post and share other people’s recipe, photos, and ideas on my blog. (Some bloggers even disagree with this.) When I see an amazing idea, I get excited to share it. I always give credit, link back to the source, and explain why it’s so fabulous. I also search the person’s blog and try to find his or her name so I give credit to the person, not just the blog (not always as simple as you think). If I see another recipe or idea on a blog and am inspired to try it or tweak it a little, I do my best to credit the person for his or her original idea. By giving credit and link backs, it informs and encourages readers about other creative blogs… Spread the love, if you know what I mean.

There was one time that I was accused of stealing someone’s idea (not photo) without giving her credit. I had posted mini cupcakes or cheesecakes and had put a few chocolate eggs on top. Okay, google “Easter Cupcakes” and you will find a plethora of photos with chocolate eggs sitting on cupcakes. That is what we call a very unoriginal idea. So yes, there is a bit of a gray area, but let’s not be ridiculous folks.

As much as I enjoy Pinterest, one huge downside to it is that people are pinning photos that don’t link back to the person who took the photo. When I click to see the source, it often takes me to google images, another search engine, or some other site. That’s really a bummer.

Made by me!

Here is how I look at it, if I share your idea or photo and give you credit, I increase the chance that you will gain more readers, get more hits, rise in your popularity, etc. If someone did not want me sharing their ideas or photos, I would totally respect that.

But without further ado, here are a few of my favorite St. Patrick’s ideas from some very creative bloggers.

I saw this treat idea on Tip Junkie, created by the girls at eighteen25 . I’m kind of addicted to Lucky Charms. On occasion, I will even eat Lucky Charms with a glass of wine, and call it dinner (wish I was kidding, it’s very true). What an easy and festive treat this is to make for friends. You can print out the “Lucky” topper at Tip Junkie.

Rainbow Cake Pops found on Etsy… I have an entire shelf dedicated to sprinkles in my kitchen. I admit it, I hoard sprinkles and cupcake liners. I had to come clean when my girlfriend Deb was helping me organize my kitchen cabinets and pantry (is that an awesome friend, or what!). Deb banned me from buying sprinkles or cupcake liners (no matter how cute they are), until I use a whole bunch of what I have.  Rainbow cake pops may just do the trick!

Rainbow waffles, is this not the best…Kelli shares how to make these on her blog Random Thoughts of a Supermom. Now this is what I call an original idea!! Oh how I LOVE those puffy, whipped cream clouds.

And if you’re more of a pancake lover, these Rainbow Pancakes made by I am Baker are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day morning. Kids would love to help in making these.

This Leprechaun Trap Cake is pretty fabulous, isn’t it. But you can’t possibly know how fabulous it is until you click over to see what’s inside. Megan whose blog is called Not Martha is the creative cake genius behind this.

I’ve seen bakers make cake in little jars, but this one takes it a step further with sprinkles and a darling little rainbow tag on top. Sprinkles make EVERYTHING better. The  Rainbow Cake in a Jar was made by Lisa at Sugar Celebrations.

Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day this weekend! Hope the leprechaun leaves you a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Hope you had a great weekend! The boy and I decided if we were going to make a St. Patrick’s treat this year, we needed to do it before our crazy week began. We came up with a few sweet ideas, and this is what he picked. I knew better than to argue with the boy. He loves to eat this (what’s not to love?) and it’s kind of become a tradition. I love it because it’s festive, takes little time, and requires very little brain power.

Here’s another thing to love… you don’t even need to measure. But if you must, the basic recipe is here. I just fill my large measuring bowl with chocolate chips (about 2  1/2 cups) and melt in the microwave. Be sure to stir every 30 seconds until fully melted, otherwise the chocolate will seize on you and make you wanna cry. I spread the melted chocolate with a spatula on a cookie sheet that has been covered in parchment paper, and then add whatever we want on top before it sets. For these, we added green M&Ms, mint flavored Oreos, and shamrock sprinkles. You can put the pan in the fridge or just leave it out for awhile it set. Once set break it up and you’re done. It’s that simple!

If you want a little more mint-spiration, and have some extra time this week, these mint cupcakes and whoopies pies are fabulous! If you decide to make the mint chip cupcakes, use my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe and this mint frosting recipe. And if you’re looking for a St. Patrick’s Day cocktail, this thin mint martini is perfect!