Dessert on Sticks part 2

Yesterday I made more cake pops.. last batch here... trying out all the to see which ones will be best for sisters wedding.... These both get my vote for Yes!

I used a confetti cake mix... with a cream cheese to mix it up and hold it together. In half I added some coconut and then dipped in white chocolate and then coconut and the other half I did with no coconut and just dipped in sprinkles. I would not do the valentine sprinkles for sisters wedding.. but since I am giving away this match and it happens to be close to Valentines day I thought this would be fun. Dave said that they taste like the pink and white frosted animal cookies.. but in cake and on a stick... well they do.. and those cookies have always been one of my favorites.

So now I have made... chocolate peanut butter cake balls.. .. just chocolate ones.... dipped Oreos... and dipped peanut butter cookies...S'mores..... then confetti cake in white chocolate.. with and without coconut. I am thinking I will skip the peanut butter cookies.. the chocolate peanut butter cake balls are already a for sure...I am thinking I want to do a chocolate mint cake ball.. thinking of wrapping the cake around a jr mint... also have thought of a wrapping it around a rolo... I am thinking of maybe a fruity cake... strawberry.. maybe... I am not sure.. What flavor combo would you love??

Back Yard Oasis

Love this site www.BlueWheelBarrow.biz and anything we do not end up doing ourselves I will be calling them about.. they just do amazing work and are awesome people! They have some great information on their blog too about native plants.

The house is all finished... it is our castle now... and the shop is in the finishing stages. Was almost starting to feel lost without a new project to be focusing on. This weekend we started really talking about the back yard and the plans we have for it. We have not done much in the yard in the last 5 years... we did clean up the parking areas.. lined them with rail road ties and filled in with gravel and rock. Cleaned it up and gave it some definition.. looks great but we have so many more things we want to do. We basically have 3 sections to the yard... the driveway and parking area.... the front yard.. and the back yard. The driveway/parking area is mostly done.. needs a bit more gravel.. every 3 year or so.. also would love to get some of it paved some day.. but that is a long ways off in the future. The front yard... that is going to be a lot of grass and some work along the front of it to give it some curb appeal.. but... not in a hurry for that either. The back yard... we have big plans here.. going to turn it into a whole other living area :) Well that is our plan at least. We started with the fence.... need to get that finished.. then we will build a deck area and a patio area .. put in a new hot tub... lot of native plants and walk ways and a trellis. We are just in the planning stages of it and talking about it stages... We will start working on it.. already have started with the fence... and we need to get that finished and get the big huge monster ugly trees out of the yard this spring.... not sure how long the rest will take... but it feels good to have a new project to really start thinking about now that the shop is getting close to finished :) Now I can start collecting photos of the yard I want.. and start thinking about what plants we want in it.. want to keep it native so if we leave for a few weeks in the summer we do not need to worry about watering it or mowing it... just the front yard will need mowing. We will have lots of water features and some fire... different areas to just hang out in listen to the birds and watch the sunset... sit around a table and play cards in the evening... enjoy a bbq with friends... roast some marshmallows over the fire pit... lol doing a lot of dreaming here... not only of the back yard we will be creating.. but of spring and summer and time spent outside just relaxing and enjoying each other and our lives. If you follow me on Pinterest you will see all the photos I am pinning for my backyard plan.. if you need a pinterest invite.. just send me an email Michelle_Ballard@hotmail.com and let me know you want one..I will send an invite back :)


Found this photo on www.penick.net where there are a few with the type of look I want.

Thankful

Saw this today and had to come write about it. I have always told my kids to remember to be thankful for everything you have instead of asking for more. If one is not thankful for what they have then why would they think they deserve more. It is not just about saying thanks but about showing it. In how we treat the things we own, the relationships we are in and the strangers we meet is how we show if we are thankful or not. I hope that how I live my life has been a good example of this for my children ... I am very thankful for all that I own, the relationships I am in and the strangers that I meet. Writing this makes me smile.. I love my life!

Saw this on Pinterest* which lead me to a great new blog to explore (here)

*Warning ~ do not click on the link for Pinterest unless you have a LOT of time to kill.. it is way too much fun.. finding so many fun things I want to make.. and places I want to go and recipes and ideas and so many new blogs to read... it is a major time killer :) If you do have lots of time to kill and you would like an invite .. just get me your email and I will send you one right away :)

Dessert on Sticks

Today I spent some time in the kitchen. My sister is getting married in March and I am going to be making some desserts on sticks. Cake pops and S'mores were the plan today. Needed to see how many one cake makes and how long it takes.. so I know what supplies to get and how long it takes to make enough.

S'mores on sticks = easy easy easy.. and fun! Take the marshmallow.. dip in melted chocolate.. stick the stick in there and then sprinkle with crushed graham crackers. Twirl them over an open flame to toast the edges and they are ready to go!

Next time I am thinking I will not crush the crackers so fine.

Next up.... Peanut butter / chocolate cake pops. This was my first adventure with cake pops.. I have done a lot of cake balls.. but this was the first time getting them on the stick. I did not think anything about it.. until I had the ball slide right down the stick in to my hand. Needed a plan.. so I decided to take the cake ball.. then dip the stick in the melted chocolate and slide it into the hole and stick them back in the fridge for a bit... it worked!! Yay!! Dip and cover in crushed peanuts!

I made a few more... everything was the same.. but instead of peanut butter in the cake I added a chocolate cream cheese thing I made up... and then half of them I dipped in crushed MnM's ( again I crushed them a little too much.

I also left some plain.. just chocolate/chocolate. I was thinking all the time about the different things I could dip them in... or thing I could put in them.. I could put a rolo around each bit of cake.. or maybe a jr mint... I really want to do some coconut ones. I am thinking I need something with a white cake.. not everyone loves chocolate.. hmm I could do those in white chocolate.. any ideas there?

Walk on the Beach

Yesterday I spent some time on the beach.. it was warm ( for Jan) and so calm.. just walked and listened to the water just lapping at the shore.. no big waves. Ran into a friend with her two cute little dogs so walked with them for awhile and did some catching up.. was a wonderful walk.  Found some treasures and took some photos.  Very relaxing enjoyable couple of hours.  Today my shoulder is screaming.. but it was still worth it :)

Pretty green sea glass

Even though the sun was setting I just did not want to go 

Sea glass photo was added to Weekly Top Shot
Thanks to Madge @ The View From Right Here for the invite :)