Happy Easter!

To you and yours Happy Easter.  



St. Patrick's for the Dogs


Hope you all had a great St. Patrick's Day.  
My dog got into the green with some homemade 
green dog biscuits. 



They are Bailey approved as you can see, 
he did not leave a crumb in site.  
Not too bad since this was my first go at dog treats.  





Homemade St. Patrick Dog Biscuits


1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup corn meal
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup oat meal
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock for basting.
Green food coloring


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl combine whole wheat flour, corn meal,
pumpkin and 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock and vegetable oil. Mix well.
Now add a drop or two of green food coloring until you get your desired color, mix well.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out your dough about 3/8 inches think and take a dog bone cookie cutter and cut out your shapes.
If you like a fuller plumped bone biscuits you can transfer you biscuits to the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.   

To keep your biscuits flat, take a toothpick or fork to the center of each bone biscuit and transfer your biscuits to the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake your bone biscuits for 10 to 12 minutes then basted with chicken stock, bake another 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool, your looking for a dry crunch biscuit. 


Store in an airtight container at room temperature.


Hope your four legged friends enjoy them as much as mine did.   



Spring Dance


Spring is around the corner and I'm counting the days.
Last weekend I saw my first two Robins and look what I found in the yard the other day.




So keeping with the theme of spring, here are some Spring Fairy Princess Ball Dress Cup Cakes.
Found the idea of them on line.



Here's how to make your Fairy Princess Ball Dress Cup Cakes with ribbons of buttercream ruffles.
This is a short cut version.
Start with your basic cup cakes, matching your cup papers with the color of your ball dress.
Bake and cool according to the package.
Set aside.
Take store bought sugar cookie dough, add a few drops of matching food color and kneed into dough until you reach your desired color.
You may need to add more flour to make it workable.



Next, roll out and cut out the top of your dress with a Onesie cookie cutter.
It worked best for us to have a thin cookie.
Bake according to the package; but, before they cool off , take your Onesie cutter and again cut the baked cookie while still warm.
Careful they are HOT.
Doing this keeps the shape uniform and precise because they spread during baking.
Let cool.

Now you can whip up your favorite buttercream or use a store bought version.

 I find the store buttercream to be a little to stiff.

Color the buttercream to match your cookie and cup cake paper.

Using a rose tip, ice your cup cake in ribbons.

Once they are done take a cookie and stick one in the center of each cup cake.
You want a hard cookie to do this.


We accented with a fondant flower at the waist of each dress.



Wishing you a fresh bright spring! 


Irish Pasties Corn Beef Hand pies

What to do with your left over Corn Beef and vegetables? Why, make Irish Pasties hand pies of course.  Here is a quick and easy way to deal ...