march snow day!

well folks, we have a snow day.
march 25th & we have seven inches of snow on the ground.. welcome to the midwest.

i'm not a winter gal {i'd rather be living down south} but if its gonna snow, i want it to snow. i'm talking inches. not the drizzle stuff. i like the so-thick-and-fluffy-you-can-throw-snowballs-kind. ya know, the kind we woke up to this morning. my only problem is that its march 25th. yep, almost april. what the heck!? where is spring? where are the bright cheery flowers? where is the sun? & the kids riding their bikes around the neighborhood?
i want that & i want it now. {quite demanding eh}

seriously though, where is spring?
let me tell you, i am ready.

so what does one do to get in a better mood? WE BAKE.

for st.patricks day this year, i made a variety of green treats: mini cupcakes, cake balls, pretzel mint
m&ms. and i must say, they were all mighty good! a big thank you to christi at love from the oven for
these amazingly delicious recipes and ideas. they have now become my staple treats for each holiday.
cause ya know what? you can just add in different food coloring to go along with each holiday.

brilliant i tell ya!

ok. ready? set? lets bake.


green velvet cake {original by bakerella}

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 oz green food coloring

preheat your oven to 350 & grease your cake pan. {whatever you decide to make - mini cupcakes, round cakes, whoopie pies, regular cupcakes, etc} 

lightly stir eggs in medium bowl with whisk. add in remaining liquid ingredients. whisk until blended and sit aside. place all dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together well. add in the food coloring {yes the entire bottle} to the wet ingredients. yep thought that part was kinda fun!

pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high until well combined. it will be green green GREEN! so pretty huh? now pour into your desired pans and bake! the mini cupcakes took about 10-12 minutes, and the 8" round cake about 22 minutes. as for the frosting, i used store bought. i dumped some in a bag for easy decorating & then added shamrock sprinkles i found at party city for a little added jazz. ta da, you're good to go. now share & enjoy.

want to make cake balls? its so simple.

make sure your green velvet cake is cooled. i actually made it the night before and just stuck the cake in the fridge till it was cake pop makin' time! :) cut the cake up with a fork or pop it in the food processor - both are pretty quick. then add in a couple spoonfuls of frosting, again, i went with store bought, and mix together. now start shaping the cake balls. you can use a spoon if you wish, but your hands will do the trick!

now melt your chocolate. i used green and white milton chocolate disks. i just stuck mine in the microwave on medium power for 30 minute intervals. this could vary - so keep an eye on it. now just pop one cake ball at a time in the melted chocolate and get it all smothered up! i find using two spoons to do this is the best! :) for these cake balls, i covered most in white chocolate and a few in green. and for a finishing touch, i added shamrock sprinkles!

trust me, you can't just eat one. they're sooooo gooood!
oh!  remember how i went to the thrift store and bought a really cool wine rack? well it was spray painted black this weekend - woohoo. i'll post about it later the week. :) until next time y'all.. XO

practice makes perfect

st.patricks day. a day covered in green.
but this year, it isn't just a one day celebration... this year, its two days.
we decided it was only appropriate to also celebrate this past weekend. cause, why not?

we like to call it {drum roll please} ...  st. practice day 
we usually spend the green weekend up in chicago {although i'm not going this year} but why not start the festivities a week early and call it st.practice day? seems clever enough. it all started with my good friend, the flair fairy, as we like to call her. she is obssessed with the holiday and fills her condo in downtown indianapolis with all the appropriate decorations. as you'll see in these pictures...

ok. let me tell you, what a fun idea! y'all should continue the trend next year. seriously.
we started the early afternoon with irish coffees, then began on the green keg 'o beer shortly after. and continued with the green beer. and continued.. games were played, pictures were taken. the flair fairy made sure our tummies were filled with irish-themed appetizers and goodies - such as a mac & cheese bar, avocado and feta cheese dip, flavored popcorn, guinness cupcakes, and a couple other dips. sounds yummy, right? cause it sure was!

most of my green fairy friends will be celebrating the holiday in chicago this coming weekend, but i will be sticking around indy. we shall see where my green feather boa and i end up for the real deal..

but i do know i want to continue this st.practice day trend in the years to come..
i think people will surely catch on. you dig?


also, want to give a big 'ol thank you to jess over at hoosier mom.me for helping me with my new design! its still a work in progress, but it'll come together {hopefully} one of these days. who knew blogging would require so many html codes? :)

happy wednesday - start looking for your best green outfit for the coming weekend!

XO