feeling springy.

It just takes one beautiful spring day to get my happy going.
That, combined with a visit to the Springville Reams grocery store,
{in jelly sandals, no less}
and I was high as a kite.
Ah, and how I love their gorgeous produce.
In the interest of full-disclosure,
I don't get free things or money from Reams for saying that.
{I wish!} 

I DO, however, get the royal treatment every time I go there.
As for this time?
Yeah, um, pretty sure that right as I came through the front doors,
there was a bag boy standing there.

{I don't like to call Reams bag boys
"bag boys" though.
I prefer to call them:
customer-service-specialist-executives/wonderful-chipper-and oh so helpful manchildren...
It's simply just more fitting.}

and what did the CSSEWCHMC say to me?

"Welcome, to Reams.
Can I wipe down a cart for you?"

You heard me right.
He offered to CLEAN my shopping cart for me.
 Yep. Totally happened.
Eat your heart out, Kate Middleton.
You're officially no longer the only princess on the block!

{Isn't this purple-y garlic gorge?
I know, I know, I totally took pictures of garlic... nerd---y.

But I was just so darn tickled with them... Pretty, pretty.}

Amidst all of the cold storminess that IS April in Utah, I have been craving hot chocolate, spice cakes, creamy potato soups, and all sorts of fall-ish foods. But today, my cravings were influenced by blue skies, 70 degree temperatures, and the promise of a much anticipated spring.

I sliced up fresh zucchini and yellow squash
and sauteed it in butter and fresh garlic,
then I sauteed some chicken breasts in
garlic, olive oil, and Italian seasonings.

Then we melted fresh Parmesan Cheese on the top, and voila!
A light, simple, summery meal.



We spent the rest of the evening sitting on a blanket in the backyard
eating Smoked Gouda and Ritz crackers,
while I read "The Boxcar Children" aloud to my boys.

Kort threw a toy airplane around the yard while our
neurotic Border Collie harassed the neighbor dogs
through cracks in our 20-year-old fence
and Tennyson squealed with delight at
all of the various antics. 

Now the wind is throwing branches against the side of our house
and rain is tinkling on the tin roof that hangs over our back deck.
Yep. My blue skies are already a thing of the past as
another wet April storm gets set to come barreling through.
It's a little depressing,
but I can't help but lay in bed tonight and smile.
Because those summer days are drawing ever nearer.
So close I can taste it.

easter nests

I was looking for something fun and Easter-y to do with Kort this afternoon,
and turned to the trusty Miss Nigela Lawson.
I wasn't disappointed.
{Neither was he.}
These were so much fun to make.
All you need is this:

1. Shredded Wheat. I LOVED going to the supermarket and locating the big biscuit versions of these. The nostalgia was all but overwhelming. I was instantly 8 years old again and transported back to my grandparent's home in Marysvale, Utah. I remember Papa {my grandfather} eating them for breakfast. I also remember ME eating them for breakfast because I wanted to be grown up, and sophisticated like Papa was. Mine, however, had about 4 tablespoons of sugar sprinkled on top to make those icky biscuits palatable.

So, I guess I wasn't so distinguished after all.

Flash forward twenty-two years later and you'll find, I'm not much better! Now, instead of a few spoonfuls of table sugar, I'm saturating them in milk chocolate.

2. Milk chocolate chips. {Of course, you can go with semi-sweet or bitter if you're all grown up and such, but as for me - I like my chocolate as sweet as it can get!}

3. Cadbury's Chocolate Eggs.
{Oh be still my heart, how I love those little pastel delights.}

Okay, listen up, this is where it gets complicated...or not so much:

1. Melt the chips {via microwave or stove top, whatever floats your boat.}
2. Smush up the shredded wheat biscuits and sprinkle them into the chocolate. {I used a bag of choc. chips and three biscuits, but you can just play around until it's the consistency you prefer. Not a big fan of rules up in here.}
3. Stir.
4. Plop by the spoonful onto parchment and shape into little nests.
5. Decorate with lil' eggs {Having tried your darndest not to have eaten all of them already by this point.}

I think they are just so darn kitschy and charming.


These were so easy and rewarding, but I gotta be honest.
Chocolate? Not my fave.
So we decided to play around with some other options.

Like peanut butter. 

Mmmmmmm.

So we took these:

1. Chow mein noodles

2. Peanut butter chips

3. Cadbury eggs.

and made these:


The peanut butter melts kinda funny.
You have to just let it sit in the pot
{on low, low heat}
and NOT stir and just let it melt.

Strange.




Then I dumped in some chow mein noodles
{totally just eyeballed it}
and stirred.

These were a little more dry and crumbly,

but man are they delicious.

{Says the peanut butter lover}.

I am going to try a different peanut butter recipe that I have used for peanut butter rice crispy treats, and see if those aren't a little more gooey and mold-able. I will let you know if I try...and if they are... and such...

And finally, for my absolute favorite of the nesty test kitchen experiments,
My own personal Arc Du Triumph....



Pretzels with white chocolate and cinnamon!!!!




These make the most chunky, random nests of the bunch, but they are also the yummiest. I crushed some of the pretzels and left others whole to give it some different textures, and sprinkled a cinnamon/sugar mixture into the pot as I stirred.

These are sinful.

I ate almost all of them all by my lone.

Aren't they just so twiggy looking?
Kinda fun.



So anyway, it was fun to try some new spins on an old favorite.
Let me know if you make them with your kiddos!

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fantastic play dough recipe

So, I tried{like, really hard}to find a GREAT play-dough recipe that did not call for Cream of Tartar {because I didn't have any on hand and I did NOT want to go to the store...} and while I found some that are "meh, okay" this one {which, unfortunately calls for Cream of Tartar} is fantastic!!!

1 cup white flour
1/4 cup of salt
2 tsps cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tbsp oil
food colouring

Mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a medium pot. Add water, oil and food colouring. Cook and stir over medium heat. When mixture forms a ball in the pot, turn out, knead, and play!