Easy Easter Treats, Part 2, Rice Krispies Easter Bunnies

Its Monday once again and now Easter is even closer—but not to worry I have a really easy, yet super tasty treat that you can make for your friends and family for this special holiday (or even just for yourself, hehe). I went to Michaels and found that they have this really cute bunny shaped cookie cutter and it was only $0.99. I thought it would be perfect for creating Easter bunny themed treats.  The pink ribbon used for the bow is also from Michaels—you can find a wide variety of colors to choose from in their ribbon section.

What you’ll need:

Ingredients

3 tbsp. Butter

10oz. Marshmallows

6 cups of Rice Krispies Cereal

Cooking spray

Neon food coloring (optional)

Tools

Rubber spatula

Large bowl

Medium sauce pan

Wax paper

Cookie cutter 

Step 1: First thing is you’ll want to take your cooking spray and spray every single tool you’re going to use because this recipe can get pretty sticky and messy. Apply cooking spray to your sauce pan, bowl, cake sheet pan (or whatever you use), the spatula, cookie cutter, etc.

Step 2: Put your sauce pan on the stove and turn on the heat to low, add the butter and let it melt. Once the butter has melted add all of the marshmallows and stir frequently until they’re completely melted. It’s going to smell so good at this point! Once it’s been melted you can take it off the heat, and add the food coloring—but adding the coloring is completely optional.

 Step 3: Simply add the sauce into the bowl that has been pre-sprayed and mix all of the ingredients together.

Step 4: Add it to your baking dish. I placed wax paper on the bottom of the pan; namely, because I didn’t want a sticky mess on that pan. Then I spread out the mixture, covered it with another piece of wax paper and flattened it with another baking dish to make it evenly flat. Once that has been done, simply set is aside for about 20-30 minutes so it can cool down.

Step 5: Once it’s cool, you can begin cutting out your shapes with the pre-sprayed bunny shaped cookie cutter. I’ve seen man recipes that place the rice krispies in the refrigerator first but if you plan on cutting them with a cookie cutter I’d recommend simply letting them cool at room temperate. Once they’ve been cut, then you can place them in the fridge—if you like. 

 Step 6: Add some cute ribbon and you’re finished! If you’re making them the night before simply place them into an air tight container and place them in the fridge. On the day you plan on serving them take them out of the fridge to let them return to room temperature. Tip: This recipe will only last up to a week in the fridge.

Aren't they adorable?! They tasted so amazing, too. I almost couldn't stop eating the left overs but I HAD to, hehe. I hope you give these bunnies a try Easter. You and all of your loved ones will definitely enjoy them! 

Lime Cocktail

While I was browsing through the newest issue of, Fine Cooking, I found this really great cocktail recipe that I really wanted to try. It's made with only liquor, limes, and sugar. After making this drink I fell in love with it, it's so refreshing and absolutely perfect for these hot summer nights. I have to admit that I tweaked the recipe because my liquor of choice is Bacardi, so I used that instead of the alcohol shown in the original recipe. Another great thing about this recipe is that it's made perfectly for one serving. A lot of recipes I've found for cocktail have about 6+ servings--but I really only want one, hehe. 

Serves 1:

1/2 line, quartered
2 tbs. sugar
2 fl. oz of liquor 

What I did was cut the lime in half, quartered it, and place those pieces into the cup. Next I added the sugar, and mashed the two together using a large stone. Next I added the liquor and ice--mixed, and it was ready to drink. This would be a perfect drink to make for yourself or others at your Fourth of July celebration! Trust me, it's tasty! 

What we Ate in Old Town, Pasadena

On Monday, I shared a post about visiting the amazing store, Paper Source; and, I mentioned that the reason why I stopped by that store was because I was having lunch with my mom and sisters, in Old Town. Well, after a day of shopping we thought it would be great to stop at Kabuki (also in Old Town), for some Japanese food. I’d never been there before but my sisters have, and they told me their food was delicious—so I definitely wanted to try it. While walking over to the restaurant we found this really cute macaron shop, Lette Macarons, and decided we HAD to taste a few of them after eating lunch, hehe. When we were seated at Kabuki I was already in love with the vibe of this place. We sat outside because it was a perfect sunny California day, and we started out with some yummy California rolls and dumplings—and oh my gosh, the sauce that the dumplings were in was so amazing! While we ate our appetizer we placed our order and I requested the ‘Samurai Lunch special’ which consisted of: Miso soup, beef, chicken, salad, white rice, and shrimp tempura. I was so happy with my choice and my tummy was too, haha. After lunch, we each got a macaron from the bakery and I tasted the Rose Water flavor and it was amazingly delicious! If you’re ever in the Pasadena area—you need to stop at these two places. 

Our Easter Brunch

I was so excited to have saved so much money on the Easter table setting this year. I bought this table cover, ornaments, and grassy bunnies from the dollar store. I couldn’t believe how many cute things they had there. I didn’t get to capture a picture of how the table looked when it was completely finished—I always do that, LOL. But you can get an idea of how it looked, with these two pictures I took. I love that we always have dishware that goes with everything; and, since I’m a blogger we always have mason jars and paper straws in my closet, hehe, so we used those too.

This year we had a really small Easter celebration, with a lovely brunch, egg dying, and mini Easter egg hunt. There is only one grandchild in our family. So, we go all out for our little one (my niece). The first thing she did was open her Easter basket and marvel all the things she got…and once she walked away I started dipping into her basket and taking what I wanted, haha. She dyed a set of eggs, and couldn't get enough of that. Once that was done we all ate brunch—made by my sister and mother. They prepared ham, eggs and potato cheese casserole, baked French toast, homemade blueberry compound butter, and they purchased some fruit and bread. It was SO delicious!

I think Easter caught me off guard this year—it came so fast and I couldn't believe it. Now that I've started a blog, and run a shop where I need to be aware of all the holidays it seems like the days go by so much faster. I’m not sure how I feel about that yet. Sometimes I wish things would just slow down a bit—but then again if they did slow down, I’d probably get bored. Well, I hope you had fun taking a little look at what our family did for Easter. Take care! 

Foodie Friday – Ceviche

TGIF! The weekend celebrations begin today and whether you’re hosting a BBQ or simply craving something delicious, yet easy to make, you’ll absolutely love this easy ceviche recipe. I actually took this from my older sister (the queen of easy cooking) and thought I’d share this with you all.

Typically ceviche is cooked in lemon juice; however, this recipe consists’ of a much easier and less time consuming process. My sister bought the shrimp already cooked in lemon and cilantro, and then she simply diced up some tomato, cucumber, jalapeño, and mixed it in with the diced shrimp. Once that was combined she added more fresh lemon juice and added salt. Isn’t that easy? Not only is it easy it’s so tasty, and I wish you could smell the ceviche just by looking at the pictures, LOL. 

Ingredients:

1 lb of cooked shrimp

Handful of cilantro, minced

Juice of a lemon

1 tomato, diced

1 jalapeño, diced

1 cucumber, diced

Salt, to taste

Combine all items in a dish, toss and serve. This also pairs very well with baked tortillas and sour cream.  What I do is take my baked tortilla, spread a tbsp. of sour cream on it, add your ceviche over that, and top it with some Tapatío.

Have a great weekend!

Foodie Friday—Homemade Butter, turned into Compound Butter

Its Friday again and there’s no better way to celebrate this day then by creating another food post! Today I wanted to make something I’ve been dreaming about making for some time now—Butter! I think since a young age I’ve always been curious as to how it’s made; and recently I found out its incredibly easy. The actual butter making process is very easy, but I wanted to take my butter up a notch. I used to work at a country club and I remember they used to serve this delicious looking sweet compound butter that I always wanted to try—but couldn’t. So I wanted to finally make some for myself to serve up on a freshly baked French baguette. So, enough chat, I want to show y’all how it’s made.

Ingredients

Whipping cream (If you’re only making the butter then whipping cream is all you need)

Almonds

Vanilla extract

Confectioners sugar

Tools

Jar

Bowl

Colander

Cheese cloth

Food processor 

Ok! First you add the cream to your jar (I didn’t measure; I just filled the jar up almost half of the way, there just has to be enough room to shake). 

Next, apply the lid and ensure that it’s secured tightly. 

Shake non-stop for 10-15 minutes. 

The cream is starting to thicken!

Once the liquid has pulled away from the butter its ready! Now just remove the buttermilk (and save it), and get your bowl, cheese cloth, and colander ready for the water wash. Here’s how to make the water wash: simply add ice cold water to your bowl, place the colander in the bowl, and place your cheese cloth on top. 

Once the butter is in the wash, gently toss it around in the bath, and then lightly drain. 

Once you’ve drained the butter remove it from the cheese cloth and wrap it in cellophane wrap, then place it in the fridge for about 10 minutes. 

While the butter is in the fridge, take the sliced almonds and ground them up in the food processor, I used the whole bag and it was too much, so maybe you can only use half the bag. 

Next add 2 tbsp. of confectioners sugar, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, and 2 tbsp. of the ground almond mixture to the butter and mix. 

Next, I sliced myself three pieces of baguette and placed the compound butter in the cellophane wrap again, and placed it into the fridge to form a block of butter (and to save for later). But for now I’m going to enjoy these toasted breads with my sweet compound butter…OMG! I just tasted it and it’s so good! You must try it. 

Have a great Friday!