Edible Birds Nests

Since spring is still toying with us in the Midwest, I decided to take matters into my own hands and bring a little bit of Spring into my day by making my own bird's nests.

 In chocolate covered delicious form.

I am self admittedly not a baker, so I appreciate any recipe that calls for only 3 ingredients {chow mein noodles, Cadbury Mini Eggs and chocolate flavored almond bark}

and requires no baking {other than melting some chocolate}.

The rest of the recipe is equally as easy.  Stir in the chow mein noodles until they are coated with the chocolate.

Scoop out a spoonful of chocolate covered chow mein noodles onto wax paper and have your helper nestle a few eggs into place.

And, then, sample a few of the eggs, to give you enough energy to finish making all your nests.

Not only are these little bird's nests adorable BUT they are also delicious.

I guess while I wait for some real birds to make a nest, I'll happily pass the time enjoying these.

Red Velvet Crinkle Heart Cookies

Anyone that is a fan of pinterest has probably seen and can certainly appreciate this quote: Thank you pinterest for helping me feel creative even though I've really just been sitting at my computer for 3 hours.

When I pinned this recipe for semi-homemade Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod. I decided to step away from the computer and start baking.

What stopped me from pinning and got me to baking is how easy this recipe seemed. In addition to a few staples you should already have in your pantry, the main component to this recipe, a box of red velvet cake mix. This is the kind of baking I can handle.

In addition to licking the beater blade,

my little helper also assisted in covering each ball of cake dough in powdered sugar.

Into the oven as round balls coated in powdered sugar, out of the oven chewy red crinkle cookies.

Even after baked, soft enough to cut out some heart shapes.

Even the scraps were pretty {and equally as delicious}.

So what has you inspired lately?

Banana Bread

My bananas are fully ripe, which sounds so much nicer than they actually appear, so it's time to make some banana bread!

The tried and true banana bread recipe I use originated from Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter Cookbook.

I recently started to modify this banana bread recipe. I like to add 3/4 a cup of blueberries {I've used 3/4 a cup of dried cranberries instead of blueberries and that is equally as yummy}. I also like to add the juice of half a lemon to provide a brighter flavor.

In the past I had prepared my loaf pan with Pam non stick spray, but now I butter my pan and...

coat it with powdered sugar {I see the irony, since I am using a dieter's recipe and adding things that are obviously not low cal}. When I make brownies or chocolate cake, I butter my pan and coat it with cocoa powder.

Then, in goes my banana bread batter and the waiting begins.

45 minutes later, golden and delicious, my banana bread is ready. For a family of only 3, you'd be surprised how quickly this disappears!

I love when the house smells like banana bread. It's one of the rare June Clever moments I have in life.

Not quite mastering the fine art of baking...but almost

Something about baking intimidates me. Maybe it's the control freak in me. When you bake, you have to leave what you have prepped and labored over, in the hands of the oven to complete.

I religiously save my rotten bananas to make banana bread. Sometimes the result is a success, sometimes it's overcooked on the ends and undercooked in the middle. How does that even happen? It's those rare outcomes of success that keep me believing I will one day become a baker.

When I saw a double strawberry scone recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, I was intrigued enough to get back into the kitchen in efforts to try baking once again. Scones have always appealed to me and with an ingredient list of almost everything I would have on hand, scone making began.

For the first time, after baking, I walked out of the kitchen and actually felt like I could, one day, be a baker.

If you'd like to try this recipe, you can find it here. The only thing I would (and have) changed is omitting the basil. Perhaps my palette isn't refined enough to appreciate the dimension basil brings to the scones. I prefer mine basil free. Yum!

I am actually feeling a little cocky and hope to try raspberries and white chocolate, in substitution for the strawberries, next time I make scones. Maybe I did inherit some baking genes after all.