cage match

Ack!  I am behind schedule on everything right now, but wanted to make an effort to put out something this week.  

April Fools!  This pizza...

...is actually a big cookie, with frosting "sauce" (I ran out of red food coloring so it wasn't super convincing) and frozen/grated white chocolate for the cheese.  It was delicious!

Todd was also surprised by Nicolas Cage in our car back-up camera...

...courtesy of a small photo taped in front of the lens.  :)

Easter!  I made a really tasty carrot cake with a really easy frosting method.  Squiggles I can do.

Spring ephemerals!  They are going crazy right now.  Todd and I  have been so busy that I'm not even sure we'll get in our spring ephemeral hike this year, but I've seen so many on our regular trails...

yellow trout lily

virginia bluebells

celadine poppy

dwarf larkspur

dutchmans breeches

prairie trillium

And when the mayapples get tall...

Morels come out!

I gathered some and fried them up for supper this week.

Oh, redbuds are here and almost gone!

Ferns...

Trees...

spicebush 

norway maple

Bushes...

burning bush

Everywhere we go...

...we see life returning to the forest.  And some unwanted life, despite our cold winter...

Ticks have been insane this spring.  Even though Pepita is on a flea/tick preventative, she has had multiple ticks, and brought multiple ticks into the house.  Todd has found two ticks crawling on his body this week too.  Now we rub her down every single time she returns from being outside, with extra checks during the day.  So far so good!

Everyone is enjoying the sunshine.

We're going to have a lot more of it soon...we're running full-tilt into late spring...somehow!  Lots to do before the spring ends.  More soon!

the last straw(berry)

 Spring is popping!

I planted bags of muscari bulbs when we moved here and I love seeing them every spring. 

I gathered up the last of the daffodils for our spring table and mantle...

...and made small-batch lemon crinkle cookies to celebrate the warmer weather.

I love making small-batch desserts, and Easter was a great chance to make a few things that were festive but in limited supply.  I started with candy.  We both love Reese's peanut butter eggs, but they have a lot of nasty ingredients.  It's really easy to make a healthier version at home.  This recipe makes only 5 eggs and uses honey, not sugar.  It's as simple as mixing up a few ingredients, patting the dough into a rough egg shape...

...fridge, then dip in melted chocolate chips.  Sprinkles, of course.

They aren't as sweet as Reese's eggs, but somehow tasted better.  I also made sweet rolls, modified.  I made a quick strawberry freezer jam from this recipe, and used the cinnamon roll recipe here for the quick bread (instead of a yeast-raised dough).  I crushed a few tablespoons of freeze-dried strawberries into the dough, rolled it out, and spread the jam on top.  Another quick roll and slice and they were ready to be baked.  By coincidence, a "C" initial!  Perfect!

Frosted with a lemon cream cheese and more sprinkles, they were perfect for our Easter spread, right next to the carrot pumpkin muffins!

I have to say that everything was tasty, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the strawberry rolls, considering that I'm not a huge fan of strawberry.  But the soft bread with thick ribbons of lightly sweetened jam running through was absolutely my favorite.  I will definitely be making this again!  

As much as we've enjoyed getting outside and finding new growth...

...I've been more focused on inside flowers.  My sweet peas are finally robust enough to move to the porch for a few days before being planted in the garden...

...and I've been eyeballing the many bags of old seeds that I've got laying around.  Some are 5 years old, and the only way to know if they're viable is to plant them.  I decided to do a test planting of three seeds per bag.  I spread soil on a blue tray and planted 15 different seeds.  After just a few days, success!

I've got about 50% germination.  Those bags will be added to my 2023 pile.  I'll give the other seeds another week, and then the bags will get tossed.  A lot to do...I haven't even started on cleaning up the garden beds or laying the paths.  It's been so rainy and intermittently chilly that I haven't wanted to start...but it's time, ready or not.  The kittens are loving the sun and it's time for me to get there, too!

Have a great week!

testing my nettle

A double holiday!  Todd's birthday and Easter, back to back.  I decided to have an "Easter After Dark" egg hunt with glow-in-the-dark eggs.

Inspired by glorious egg hunts of days past...

...I used plastic eggs with tiny glow sticks inside, as well as a folded-up joke.  The prize for finding all eggs?  Easter candy, of course!  I also made a small coconut cake with a lemon curd layer for earlier in the day.  Todd's birthday needed a special cake, too.  I used a photo from an old Star Wars gathering and had an edible icing sheet made.  Just perfect!

It's really brightening up outside.  Redbuds are just getting ready to open up.

Our maple is finally leafing out...

...and the apple tree is showing promise.  Not long now!

Hostas are unfurling...

All bulbs are awakening.  Daffodils have been up for a couple of weeks...

...but now we have hyacinths...

...and one of my favorites, grape muscari.

Everywhere I've ever lived, I've planted these cheerful little bells.

Claudia is loving our cool, sunny afternoons.

She loves to come down to the pond with us when we take a stroll.

Borga, too, is sniffing the wind.  Spring is here!

Finally (almost) free of invasive weeds, the fields are starting to fill up with dead nettle.  It's a beautiful little wildflower whose green leaves slowly darken to purple at its tip.  The flowers are like tiny orchids.

En masse, they are beautiful!

My little winter sow greenhouses are slowly filling with green.

I'm not sure how the garden will be this year, though.  Between my sore elbow and shoulder, and busy prep for a work convention in May, it's just going to be really tough to weed, augment the soil, pot up the seedlings, and then get them planted and nurtured until they take off.  I might let one whole plot go to grass and just focus on a smaller area.  I'll at least have several of my favorites, somewhere.

Have a great week!