Easter Sunday 2016

Hello Friends!

Hope everyone is having a joyous Easter Sunday thus far! We have attended Sunday School and are patiently waiting for the Sunday feast to finish cooking. The mix of aromas drifting from the kitchen are tantalizing to say the least. What is finished is our dessert table, which we are also patiently waiting for, or should I say, practicing patience for.

 

 

 

On the table we have fresh flowers signifying the bloom of spring. We also have the traditional Easter Bunnies and eggs to complement the arrangement. But one of the most important details hangs above our table and draws the least amount of attention to itself; a thorn of crowns. It was on this day many years ago that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rose from the grave. It is this crown that we use in our home to represent the hope and renewal He gifted to us by sacrificing His life for ours. On this day I hope you and your family also remember the reason we celebrate Easter Sunday. Oh and don't worry, we have more cupcakes hidden on reserve ;) 





 

I also put together this Easter basket cake to tie in the holiday theme further into our dessert. The cake was simply made; two 8 x 8 cakes stacked on top each other with chocolate icing, malt Easter eggs for topping, and Kit Kat bars positioned around the perimeter. SUPER easy and SUPER festive.

Hope you enjoyed our post and hope everyone's Easter Sunday is filled with hope and love.

Happy Easter,

Tilly

Saint Patrick's Day 2016

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Being of Irish decent, St. Patrick's Day is an unofficial holiday looked upon as a wonderful time in my house. It has been celebrated in the United States since the late 18th century, but what is the day all about? Well, that’s the best part. Saint Patrick was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. As legend would have it, Patrick was converted to Christianity and used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans. He used a piece of nature as a training aid to instill the cause of God causing green to become synonymous with the day. It is said that he converted thousands to the cause of Christianity. The day eventually integrated into festivals, parades, eating, and the much consumption of Irish alcohol and liquor. You won’t find too much Irish spirits in our house but you will find us celebrating the way we like to - with tea and treats! Finding a lot a lot of green décor and some tea items sets me up for the day. I even had some fun with putting a green mustache on my tea cup. However you decide to celebrate your Saint Patrick’s Day, I hope the luck of the Irish is with you and please don’t forget the Christian faith it’s rooted in.

 

God Bless,
Trina

Easy Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies | How to

Hello Friends!

Lately I have been craving mint chocolate chip flavored things. I most likely owe my craving to the coming holiday, St. Patrick's Day. While Steak N' Shake's Mint Oreo Milkshake and Dairy Queen's Shamrock Blizzard have been supplying my need, I decided to try an at home recipe. I wanted to do something that was super kid friendly and simple. The result was 6 ingredients and only 3 steps - hope that is easy enough!

Recipe:

           Ingredients

          - 1 mix of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies

          - 1 stick of softened butter

          - 1 cup of dark chocolate morsels (or more if you're a chocolate lover;)

          - 1 egg

          - food coloring

          - 1 teaspoon of pure peppermint extract

 

         Directions

          - Mix together all ingredients. We added a lot of green gel food coloring and a little bit of yellow gel food coloring to make the cookies a lime green rather than a forest green.

          - Form dough into spoon-sized balls spaced evenly apart (our recipe made 18 cookies).

          - Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

 

          Additional Comments

          - If you're unsure on the peppermint flavoring, start with 1/2 teaspoon.

 

My brother and I also filmed a baking tutorial. He was HILARIOUS as a French chef, check it out!

 

 

Happy Baking,

Tillly

The End of the Downton Abbey Era

Hello Everyone,

In honor of the very last episode of Downton Abbey, I have set up a plate of treats and tea to celebrate this wonderful show's ending. It is a definite must to enjoy this event in a Downton Abbey-style by having tea, a ritual that bound society together. In true Great Britain-style, a pot of tea brought comfort and support during many times for the Crawley family. It is only fitting that I should do the same to close the chapter on the series. Whether you can identify with the upstairs or downstairs characters while enjoying your tea milk-in-first, or milk-in-last (a historical practice of upper class or lower class way of having tea), I am sure for other fellow Downton Abbey enthusiasts, these characters have edged their way into your life as they have mine. This historical fiction series has followed the aristocratic Crawley family and their downstairs staff, and has kept my family entertained every winter. We have watched this family have a host of problems, many of which we can relate to today. We have also very much enjoyed the time period clothing, history, and cadences that went along with the time period. I hope that everyone in the show has a happy ending, especially Barrow and poor Edith! So as you tune in tonight, brew a cup of tea with me as we usher Donwton Abbey's final episode in by giving a toast to our favorite characters. Oh, and don't forget the tissues, goodbyes are never easy!

 

Thank you for entertaining us Crawleys, we will miss you!
We bid you farewell,

Trina

Cherry Pie Valentines | How To

Hello Friends!

Today I am sharing a recipe for Cherry Pies. Since Valentine's Day is tomorrow, I made them heart shaped so they would look like Valentines. As far as pies go, this was pretty simple as everything was premade. However, if you like to make your own pie crust or pie filling, please feel free to change up the recipe!

 

Recipe:

           Ingredients

          - 1 can of cherry pie filling (or flavor that suits you)

          - 1 box of premade pie crusts, I picked up a 9" 2 pack

          - sugar

          - 1 egg

          - 2 tablespoons milk

          - a heart shaped cookie cutter

 

         Directions

          - Mix together milk and egg. Set aside.

          - Unroll pie crust (make sure you set the pie crust out 20 minutes prior to baking) and cut out heart shapes. Place bottom pieces on a greased baking sheet. Go around their edges with the egg-milk mixture.

          - Depending on the size of your hearts, place 1-2 spoonful sized portions of cheery pie filling in the middle of the hearts. Sprinkle a spoonful of sugar over the pie filling.

          - Take the top heart shaped crust pieces and cut out a design in the middle of them. I cut out a heart shape to go with the Valentine's Day theme. Then place the crusts on the tops of the bottom crust that has the pie filling. Take a fork and smash the outer edges together to seal the top crust to the bottom crust. Then go around the edges with the egg-milk mixture. Optional: sprinkle sugar on the top of the pie.

         - Finally, place the pie in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes depending on the size of your pies. Mine were kind of bigger, so they were in the oven for 24 minutes.

         - Allow to cool and serve with ice cream.

 

          Additional Comments

          - I couldn't find a heart cookie cutter, so I actually used a small Valentine's Day chocolate tin. This made the pie larger than I wanted, but worked exceptionally well!

          - Because the pies were larger than expected, the recipe only made 5 pies and I had to piece together the bottom crusts with scrap pieces.

 

Here is a video tutorial as well. Check it out:)

 

 

Let me know if you recreated these!

Tilly

National Pancake Day 2016

Hello Friends!

Today is IHOP's National Pancake Day! To celebrate this awesome holiday I whipped up some heart shaped pancakes. To dress them up, I sliced some strawberries and sprinkled on some sugar. Comment below what your favorite kind of pancakes are!

 

 

Happy National Pancake Day,

Tilly

Jane Austen

Hello Friends,

Last month marked the 203rd publication anniversary of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I have loved this book for SO long and have it in several editions (a bit obsessive I know). With the publication anniversary and the new Pride and Prejudice and Zombies movie releasing this month, I thought a Jane Austen memorabilia post was in order.

 

 

You know you may be an 'Austenite' when most of your gifts are Jane Austen themed! Here are links to the gifts in the photos:

Pillow

Pride and Prejudice Poster

Necklace

Calligraphy Pen

Thank you for stopping by! Any questions? leave them in the comments below!
Have a great day!!

Tilly