St. Patrick's Day Takes the Cake (Pop)!

Exciting things are happening.

The first flowers, and the first bees (!!), have made an appearance. I have a lovely spread of crocuses in the yard, ranging in color from deep purple to a lighter, bluish shade.

The shy face of this daffodil will be gloriously displayed within a few days.

My hydrangeas and lilacs are budding furiously. The columbines are unfurling all over the yard. I must have nearly 50 plants now, all from 6 little seedlings I coaxed back into living several years ago. Other nice things are happening, but one of my favorites is happening inside.

I had a great idea this morning.


I bought this metal spice rack at IKEA for $1.99 recently. I didn't intend to use it as a spice rack, but knew it would be good for something. Today I finally took off the packaging...

...and placed a plastic bag in the bottom.

I shored up the sides with moss (one medium size bag = $2) and filled the container with violas.

I love it! I have a beautiful, simple planter - container, moss, and flowers - for only $4. It makes a lovely centerpiece.


Nothing beats a cheerful table!

Maybe you noticed that St. Patrick's Day was last week. I'm Irish...I think.

Just in case, I decided to celebrate it properly, and made St. Patrick's Day-themed cake pops. They're so fun and tasty, you've got to make them! All you need is a cake, some icing, candy melts, and lollipop sticks, all easily purchased at your local grocery store.

To make it easier on myself, I bought a white cake mix and a can of vanilla frosting and tinted both green with food coloring.

I used my KitchenAid to reduce the cake to crumbs. I suppose a purist would've cut off the brown parts of the cake for an even green, but the brown and green mix made me think of mint chocolate chip ice cream, which is certainly a positive association.

Next, I mixed in half of my can of frosting and stirred until the crumbs resembled cookie batter.

Then, I rolled the batter into one inch balls and placed them carefully on wax paper.

I bought some Wilton candy melts in milk chocolate and vanilla flavors, which melt easily in the microwave. Most recipes say to mix shortening into the melted candy to make it more fluid, but I didn't have any. Canola oil is a fine substitution! Once I obtained the desired consistency, I dipped in a lollipop stick and inserted the candy-covered end into my cake balls. Easy!

I put them in the freezer for about 45 minutes. This serves two purposes: to harden the ball so that it stays on the stick, and also the cold, hard ball causes the melted candy to harden quickly, which is definitely a benefit.

When they were nice and cold, I just swirled each ball around in the melted candy until completely coated, tapped the stick to make sure the excess chocolate dripped off, and gave them a good sprinkling of green sugar.

I used a drying rack and the bottom side of a styrofoam egg carton to support the pops until they dried.
They dried within a few minutes and stored easily until the big day.

To use up the leftover icing, I made simple chocolate sandwich cookies and piped the tinted icing into the centers. YUM!

One recipe makes over 40 pops, depending on how much batter you eat beforehand! :) Cake pops are easy to make but a bit time-consuming.

It was worth it, though. DELICIOUS. Cake, icing, and a thin layer of candy? Yes, please!

These can be tailored to any holiday, of course. The possibilities are endless. I hope you give them a try!

Have a great week!

Feeling Soup-er

It seems like everyone's enjoying the crisp fall weather that's finally arrived in the Midwest. From this female fox squirrel, who's taking advantage of the bounty of seeds and nuts in our yard...
...to Bosewichte, who rolls with exuberance at every opportunity. Of course, he still takes time out...
...to stop and smell the flowers.

Clarence is still coming around for snacks every day. I've been worried about him being outside in winter weather, but Todd is going to build a small shelter for him so he'll have a place to curl up, just in case he gets too cold.

I've been watching the ginkgo tree across the street with particular interest. I look forward to this change every year. First, the leaves develop a slight golden edge.

Then, whole swatches become golden.

Finally, the whole tree is aflame.

Alas, it only lasts a few days. Today, most of the leaves are a soft, brilliant carpet beneath the tree.
This particular tree is a male. Female trees produce a small, round fruit that have a very pungent smell, especially when accidently squashed underfoot.

Speaking of underfoot...I really have to be careful when visiting the kittens now. They're incredibly active. They have great fun with each other now. Climbing...

...kicking...

...wrestling...

..romping...

...and the occasional ambush.

The kittens are seven weeks old now. It's really important to socialize them with humans, and several different ones, by this point. Kittens who associate positive feelings with human touch from an early age tend to be much friendlier adults. Thankfully, these little guys get lots of love from lots of people!

Any little scrap can provide entertainment for them.

They are so inquisitive, too!

So angelic-looking...but don't be fooled!

I've been knitting a lot lately, as the weather provides the perfect atmosphere. I've felt particularly restless here. I didn't feel like knitting more mittens or hats. I didn't want to start on a sweater or another pair of socks. I decided to dig into my knitting binder for some seasonal motivation, and found this great idea. Tiny stockings to string on your Christmas tree, or even for an advent calendar. You can slip a small piece of candy and a note in each one, to be retrieved each day in December. What fun!

I made just one before realizing that I couldn't pull this together before December. I'll be working on it as time allows over the year, however, and hope to have an active sock advent calendar in 2011!

Meanwhile, I contemplated my sock yarn scrap stash. I've been collecting these mini-skeinlettes for months, through Ravelry swaps and outright purchases. They're about 10 grams each and I love the fiber and color variety.

I originally started collecting them for the purpose of starting a sock yarn blanket. Inspired by Shelly Kang's creation, I started stockpiling scraps. A blanket. Knit with size 2 needles. Sock yarn. Insanity? Perhaps, especially considering that each square takes 20 minutes to knit, and most blankets have around 500 squares.

Regardless, I'm diving in. My blanket contains seven squares, and I'm going to set a goal of knitting at least one square per day.

Todd has been sick with a terrible cold this past week. Of course, there's nothing better than a good home-cooked remedy. Fresh sourdough loaves...

...and the best homemade chicken soup! It's so easy to make, with ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.

What really makes it great is fresh sage, which I've harvested from my small kitchen garden. Dried sage will work too. Anyone can have good, homemade chicken soup in about 30 minutes!

Best-Ever Homemade Chicken Soup
Adapted from MissNezz, Food.com

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped carrots
1 (heaping) cup diced potatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme
7 - 8 sage leaves, chopped, or 3/4 teaspoon dried sage
56 ounces of chicken broth
2 cups chopped chicken, cooked
4 ounces egg noodles
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
salt and pepper to taste

Saute carrots, onion, and potatoes in olive oil until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Add spices, chicken broth, and bouillon, and bring to a boil. Then add chicken (to save time, I just cook 2 chicken breasts on my little grill) and egg noodles. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes are soft. Top with a sprinkle of parsley.

Can't you almost taste it? It's so good, especially with homemade sourdough.

Perfect for chilly fall days. Enjoy!