From the Heart Stamps- Spring Medley Monthly Challenge

I let it go down to the wire this month. I got home from work and realized I only had tonight to complete the challenge and I'm leaving for Obedience class shortly. This really made me make some pretty quick decisions and I was forced to break into my new Doodlebug collection that I had been hoarding. Here's what I came up with:

Not bad, eh?
This is a Progressive  From the Heart challenge.  Every month is you complete one project, you get next month's image for FREE! I really like these images so I don't like to miss out. 
This is the one we had to work with.

Loonies for Lindor Work Bee

A couple unsuspecting friends stopped over in the middle of our Loonies for Lindor work bee on Sunday afternoon. One of the jobs I had on my list was to make sure all the adorable raffle cans made by my friend Robin were in good order and had their numbers on correctly. Taylor was able to make quick work of this project.

We have such generous donators to the raffle that I had to request 15 more cans.

Lindor thought she would "supervise" the proceedings.....

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks from our work bee.

Island Coconut Pie

I always try to switch things up a bit when I bring the desserts to the family functions but the old favourites always seem to win out. I thought this was a decent effort though and wanted to try something new. The recipe made more filling than a purchased deep dish pie crust could hold so make sure you're ready with about 8 tart shells to bake the excess in. I would make this again. Tastes like a cross between a butter tart and a pecan pie.

Island Coconut Pie
2 cups white sugar
1 Tbsp. corn meal
1 Tbsp. flour
5 eggs
pinch of salt
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 unbaked pie shell

Beat the sugar, corn meal, flour, eggs and salt together. Gently stir in pecans, pineapple and coconut. Stir in melted butter and mix well. Bake at 300F in an unbaked pie shell for 50 - 60 minutes. Cover the crust with aluminum foil if it is browning too much. Cook 15-30 min more or until pie is set.

Well, I'm off to  finish the raking. We've had several days in a row of really nice spring weather so I've been able to spread out the workload in the yard cleanup. So nice to see spring finally arriving.I'm linking up to the Sassy Cheryl's Show Me Thursday blog. It may look like I haven't been doing any crafting but I have been working almost daily on my prep for the upcoming Crop. It's just a secret for now.

Happy Easter

This is Lindor's first set of grandpuppies from her daughter Eden born in Dec. There were labs of every colour but we are partial to the chocolates. Amira, you are adorable!

Easter Baking

I wanted to try a couple of new things for Easter. Sometimes our family gets into the favourites and we stick with them for a very long time. This wasn't so far off the beaten path but it was a cute little idea that I picked up on Pinterest. I just baked a regular Funfetti cake mix cake and frosted it with my buttercream frosting. If you're not great with icing this is the cake for you. You can mess up the sides and cover them with adorable Peeps. Then I broke into one of my countless jars of Funfetti and had the perfect addition to the dessert table. What do you think?

Signs of Spring

I thought I'd better post this before it snows again. Seriously, this is the longest winter ever. I snapped this photo early in the week, while I was outside desperately searching for some signs of new growth. I was pleasantly surprised to see this brave little white crocus who sadly froze and wilted the next day but I knew we were moving in the right direction.

I am also happy to report that all 3 of my rhubarb plants survived the winter. Not sure how they will taste being in a quite shady situation but I hope to harvest a stalk or two this spring.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

And now for something completely different. Well, a little different then the usual type of cookie that I like to make. This is a nice fresh tasting treat, feels a little spring-like after that nasty winter. Looks like I could have baked them a hair longer but they were very tasty anyway.

Try them for yourself.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice, fresh
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)

(About 1/2 cup icing sugar for rolling)

Cream butter and sugar, whip in vanilla, egg and lemon. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined excluding the icing sugar. I would chill them a bit, mine were quite soft.
If firm enough to form into balls, then roll them in powdered sugar and place on cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes at 350F or until bottoms begin to brown and cookies look matte.

Kennel Club Progress

I had to take a bunch of photos to try and get a couple front and side shots of Lindor to send to the Kennel Club. She always wants to sit down or come close so her head always looks enormous.
There is still some snow in the backyard but fortunately not as much as in this photo.
Here's one of her "head" shots that I sent away.

Isn't she a pretty girl? On another note, here is her famous son Elvis meeting a (sort-of) famous person. Walter Gretzky, father of the Great One.

I remember when that puppy was born and we spotted the little white dot on his chest.

Morning Glory Muffins

These are my favourite muffins to get at the Stone Crock bakery in St. Jacobs but do you know what... I can make them just as easily at home. A delightful combination of carrots, apples, coconut and raisins. They were supposed to have nuts (I always use pecans) but I forgot them this time. You can really taste the different ingredients especially the fresh apple.  These are going to be a regular in the rotation now.

Morning Glory Muffins
In a large bowl mix:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Stir in:
2 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup coconut
1 apple, peeled, cored and grated

In a bowl beat 3 eggs, I cup vegetable oil and 2 tsp. vanilla
Stir all together and back at 350 F for 20 minutes or so. I made large muffins, filled the cups right up and it made about 15. I think the oil could be scaled back slightly, the muffin liners were a little greasy but they muffins were light and delicious.