Easter!

I had an itching for baking something fun, but it was still a little early to do Easter-themed treats, so it seemed like the perfect time to make these cupcakes that I have been wanting to do for years, every since I saw them in the "Hello, Cupcake" cookbook. They turned out just like the pictures, which is always very satisfying!




My mom saw this great idea for a Peeps flower in Woman's Day magazine. We made them one afternoon. I saw the carrots in this year's Martha Stewart, and I thought that they were a good combination.



Here is the finished display:



Quinton and I had a great time making our family into pinecone bunnies!



Anyone who knows me well, knows that I LOVE marshmallows. Several years ago I bought a silicone mold for Easter (it was on clearance at Wal-Mart; I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with it yet, but I thought it had potential). I was thinking about how much I love chocolate-covered marshmallows, and it occurred to me that this mold would be perfect to make my own. They turned out so-so. I think next time I would use extra-dark chocolate instead of milk and white chocolate. The combination of milk chocolate and marshmallows was just a little too sweet - even for me!





I love making iced sugar cookies, so I thought it would be fun to make them for Easter and not just for Christmas. Coincidentally we had some new neighbors move in, so I made them a tray to welcome them to the neighborhood.

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Of course, there was an Easter party at Quinton's school. Here he is eating his special lunch.



The Easter egg hunt!



Taking a rest after running around!



They had all the kids participate in making cookies, relating each step to a part in the story of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.



Coloring eggs with Tia Bertha and friend Adriana. We employed a fantastic idea that my mom used to do: Since everyone always wants to color lots of eggs, but I don't necessarily want lots of hardboiled eggs to figure out what to do with afterwards, we color raw eggs. Well actually, Quinton colored hard-boiled eggs, and the adults colored raw eggs.



Okay, so Quinton brought this Easter craft home from school. I have no idea what it is supposed to mean, and Quinton wasn't sure either. I don't know if it is supposed to say "sin" or if he just put some letters on or what. In any case, I get a laugh out of it every time I see it on the refrigerator.



Easter morning. Roman wasn't awake yet, so I didn't get a picture of him in the morning (we have very early church - 8:30 AM), so the kids didn't even really get a chance to eat anything until afterwards. Domenic seemed more interested in the pretend cookies for the play kitchen.