Did you know that you are 15 times more likely to be killed by a falling coconut than a shark? Did you know that, the deeper you get in the ocean, the more things lose their color, so red and yellow fish begin to look blue? Did you also know that Kansas City has opened a great new aquarium at Crown Center?

My family had the opportunity to visit Sea Life Kansas City not long after it opened. Yes, that Sea Life. The one with 38 locations worldwide (see if one is near you at www.visitsealife.com).

Oh. My. Gosh. This place is awesome.

But seriously. Let me rewind and take you to the beginning of our visit.

When we first arrived at Sea Life, which is located in the Halls building at Crown Center, we were greeted by this cheery shark!

From there, we went inside, purchased our tickets, and, well, entered the aquarium. The mood is almost instantly set when you first set your eyes upon the incredible shoaling tank… it has beautiful fish nearly surrounding you in a round room… Shoaling fish like to swim together, and every few minutes, the fish in the tank change the direction they swim in (since it’s not a true circular path, they instinctively change direction due to the shift in current their turns back and forth make). From there, a door opens, and you enter the marvelous aquarium.

There are so many different kinds of fish to see. Even the youngest in our family, Mr. Zachary, was impressed by the huge tanks and beautiful fish. And of course, some of us couldn’t resist the urge to make fish faces at the fish… because, well, they’re fish, and that’s the face they make.

As you navigate your way through the self-paced tour, there are plenty of things to see. From facts dotting the walls and great quizzes to test your aquatic knowledge, to various tanks and types of sea life, no one is going to be bored. We had an 8 month old, a 51 year old, and several ages in between, and we all were entertained by the various exhibits in the aquarium.

One of our favorite places in the aquarium was the touch pool. They had this weird type of sea life that would actually hug your finger if you touched it! It felt so crazy! One of the great things about their touch pool is that they have someone keeping an eye on it. Every once in awhile, she would switch the covers from one side to the other, so the same set of animals weren’t constantly being touched. This limited the stress that they were under, and they chose the perfect animals for the touch tank that would experience less stress anyway.

The boys loved that they had several domes that actually allowed you to crawl up under the tank, putting you in the center of the action and giving you a chance to look at the fish as though you were a part of that world.

The weirdest creature we encountered, though, were the garden eels. You can look at the tank and see nothing… and then all of a sudden, these long, thin objects just shoot out of the sand, as though they’re literally sprouting up like flowers! They were weird, and a bit too snake-like for my comfort, but they were incredible creatures and the way they sprouted up like that was both creepy and cool all at once. They would move so fast that I couldn’t get the best picture of them, but below, in the red boxes I added, you can kind of see what they look like.

Despite the fact that I’ve been stung on three separate occasions, I must admit that my absolute favorite part of the aquarium was the jellyfish section. It was truly mesmerizing. I swear, I could have spent an entire day there (and trust me, I did spend a good 20 minutes just staring into the tank. I’m not exaggerating… our entire family was in awe). It’s crazy to think that God created such an incredible, but dangerous, creature. It’s beauty is just alluring, and intensely lovely.

Even Zach was mesmerized by the lovely creatures!

We spent several hours inside of the aquarium, visiting each tank, some of them two or three times. We explored every nook and cranny, looked at as many fish as we could, and definitely got our money’s worth.

Plus, because there were so many facts and quizzes throughout the aquarium, it was easily one of the most educational spots in all of Kansas City. It’s a great place to go on a field trip to! If that weren’t enough, Sea Life is dedicated to preserving sea life around the globe. Because of this, they have many great places where you can find out what you can do to help the sea life, especially those in danger of extinction. There is a huge play area near the end of the exhibit, several crawl spaces that allowed you to get up close and personal with the sea life, and even a few places where you could walk over plexiglass above the tanks and look down onto the sea life.

If the Sea Life weren’t enough reason to make the trip up to Crown Center, here’s a sneak peek about the newest attraction at the Halls Building!

Yes, you guessed it… LegoLand opened this last weekend! We haven’t gotten to make the trip up to see it yet, but you better believe we’ll be heading up there soon so I can get all the details for you lovely readers.

Of course, you can’t hit Crown Center without visiting three of my very favorite places up there!

If you haven’t been to Fritz’s, it’s a must. It’s been in the Kansas City area for years, and it’s such a fun and quirky place to go. You place your order by telephone, and, minutes later, the food is delivered to your table by train! Yes, you read that right… a track winds around the ceiling of the restaurant, and when your order is set to arrive, a little lever drops, so the train drops it’s cargo off right at your stop. Then, a tray lowers the basket containing your table’s meal onto your table… yummy! Also, 12 year olds and under get to wear that stinkin’ adorable paper conductor hat. Cute!

If you’re a newer reader, you may also be unaware of my absolute obsession with Chip’s Chocolate Factory. It’s easily my favorite place to stop in at Crown Center (but of course, I’m a chocoholic). Chip’s Chocolate Factory has been around longer than I have (it opened it’s doors in ’83!) and it has been slinging the best fudge in Kansas City since then. It was even featured on Food Network’s show “Kid In a Candy Store.” If the chocolate factory weren’t enough to satisfy your sweet toothed desires, Chip’s has now opened Chip’s Candy Factory, on the first floor of Crown Center. You can LITERALLY be a kid in a candy store when you enter the shop, with hundreds of different kinds of candy from M&Ms in colors you can only dream of, to a huge selection of Jelly Belly jellybeans, tons of taffy, and of course, our family favorite… CRICKETS! (Yes, real, food-grade, salt and vinegar crickets).

Yum!

 

So what are you waiting for? Get your butts down to Crown Center (or, if you’re not in the Kansas City area, see if there’s a Sea Life location near you!)

Cholangiocarcinoma. One word. That’s it.

That one word is all it takes to change the shape of a family, to leave holes, to open wounds. It’s been just over two months since my grandfather had to have his gallbladder removed, a routine procedure that missed a huge underlying issue. It’s been just under a month since the doctor considered removing a section of his liver, went in to do the surgery, and realized that it’s simply not going to be effective.

In the past month, I have spent maybe two weeks at home, near internet access. I haven’t been blogging, mostly because of the lack of internet access and because of the major things happening.

Many of my days have been spent visiting my grandfather. A few other days were spent with my grandmother, as she is also facing illnesses.

But nothing really could prepare me to hear that someone who is beloved to me, is dying. It’s not something you can ever really… grasp.

Cholangiocarcinoma sounds pretty intimidating just as a word itself, but when you unpack that word and realize that it represents a rare bile duct cancer, one with a very poor survival rate, you being to recognize why that one little word has impacted our family so intensely.

There are only 1-2 cases of the illness per every 100,000 people in the Western world. Abdominal pain, abnormal itching, jaundice, weight loss, fever… those all begin to define the life of someone with cholangiocarcinoma. For the cases like my grandfather’s, where surgery can’t be performed, the 5-year survival rate is literally… zero. The six-month survival rate? Very small.

It’s a difficult prognosis, absolutely. It’s hard to hear about, hard to deal with… As in shock, sadness, frustration as I am in, I can’t even fully empathise with what my grandfather must be feeling.

If you haven’t seen me around the blogosphere in awhile, this is why. I know I have a list of things I want to blog about a mile long, and I promise those articles are coming soon… but right now, I’m spending some much-needed time with my family.

Love and hugs,

 

Jenni

 

I have a teesy obsession. Well, not-so-teensy. Do you remember my Gimme S’mores Bars a few weeks ago, where I used Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits? I had picked them up on a whim thinking that they would be an easy way to add those hot chocolate marshmallows everyone loves, without having to pick through a hot cocoa packet to get them.

Buying that container of Mallow Bits was great for the recipe, but I didn’t realize then how much I would use Mallow Bits in my every day life. Those things are amazing. I may have had 1, 2… 20 bowls… of Golden Grahams topped with Mallow Bits and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips in the past few weeks. I may have also topped hot cocoa, coffee, iced coffee, and cookies with the Mallow Bits. And there may have been a few (lot) of handfuls that I ate straight out of the jar.

I’m not kidding you, these things are GOOD. One of the best parts of childhood, in a little container (am I the only person who would sometimes eat the marshmallows before I finished making my hot chocolate? I can’t be, right?)

Anyway, I shared my love of Mallow Bits with JET-PUFFED, and they tasked me with coming up with ways to re-use the containers from all of those Mallow Bits I had been eating. At the bottom, you’ll find a shortlist of ideas we came up with as a family, but first, I’m going to share with you one of my favorite ways that we settled on.

Oh, and if you don’t have any Mallow Bits, first, shame on you- go buy some now, but second, you can substitute that container with a Kraft Parmesan Cheese container. They’re the same thing (literally! The same container, different color and wrapper, because the people at Kraft are supersmart and know that it takes less time and environmental energy to make the same container do double duty, than to come up with a whole new one).

When coming up with ideas, I first thought of one of my biggest problems as a parent, and as a sister of a precocious eleven-year-old boy.  You’re a parent. It’s a long trip/summer day/what have you. Two words come out of your child’s mouth, and with these two little words, a hair on your head turns grey, or you pull it out, or… something. It has some effect on your aging process, is what I’m saying.

“I’m Bored.”

Ugh. I swear those words are the bane of a parent’s existence.

Well, I found a solution for at least staving off repetitions of that word for awhile.

I took my Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits container, and I grabbed some trinkets from around the house. A small spool of thread, a paperclip, a cheerio, a flinstones vitamin, a peppermint, a nerf dart, some silk flowers, a butterfly cookie cutter (teesy size), a penny, and more. In total, I found 25 things to put in my jar. I placed about 5 in the jar, then covered that with a layer of beans. Then 5 more, then more beans, then 5 more, and more beans, until I was out of objects. I left a little space at the top for shaking. Then, I glued the lid shut.

The next day, my brother told my mom “I’m bored.” I handed him the jar and said “Here’s a list of items in that jar. You can’t say ‘I’m bored’ again until you’ve found every object in the jar.

He shaked, he spun, he twisted, and he looked. And, after about 30 minutes, he had finally found every object in the jar. Seriously, this thing entertained him for 30 minutes. He handed it back to me, I gave it a good shake, and when he said “I’m bored” again later, I told him he could repeat the challenge. He said “Easy. I know where it all is.” Then he took the jar, went to look and said “HEY! You moved it all.” And a new challenge was presented…

This “I’m bored” jar would work pretty well on a trip. It takes up very little space (it fits in a cupholder. Not that I know that you can stick a container of mallow bits in a cupholder or anything…. FINE! The mallow bits may be a slight addiction of mine. So what?). The jar is entertaining. It’s easy to make. You can put it in your bag to entertain at the grocery store, in the car, whatever.

And, once you shake it, it’s a whole new challenge.

Don’t have kids? Want some other ideas instead? Here’s my short list of ways to re-use your JET-PUFFED Mallow Bits containers. You’ll have a lot of them, especially if you go through a couple jars a week like my family does.

The Short List of Ways to Reuse a Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits container

Put seed beads in it. I used to make beaded bracelets and I have about a billion seed beads. I poured a whole bunch of them into the jar, and when it’s jewelry making time, I just pour some into a bowl, work on jewelry, and then the rest are safe and sound in my un-spillable container.

Travel container for sunflower seeds or other snacks. My dad is a huge fan of sunflower seeds when driving, but there have been a few occasions where the entire bag has spilled in the floorboard of our car. With this, he can shake some into his mouth, close the lid, and not have to worry about it. Plus, like I said, it fits in our cupholders. It also works as a snack container for my 9 month old.

Travel wipe container. Do you wipe down your carts before you use them? My family is very OCD about it because honestly, my 9 month old likes to chew on the cart and you don’t know what’s been there. I’ve found that there are many occasions where there are ZERO wipes there, so I like to put anti-bacterial wipes into one of these jars so I can wipe my cart down. It works really well, and the container is small enough for me to throw in my diaper bag. Plus, they don’t dry out in these containers- seriously!

Tech Deck Storage: because who doesn’t have 20 Tech Decks to carry on a bike ride to a friends’ house. Do you have a water-bottle holder on your bike? Then you have a place to put your Tech Decks, in this container.

Sprinkle storage: We like to bake around here, and we have an out-of-control amount of mixed sprinkles in various plastic baggies. Easy: pour them all in here. Less baggies to worry about.

Dead Wax storage: I have to explain: as a Scentsy Independent Consultant (it’s my other addiction aside from marshmallows), I have a lot of warmers. Each day, when I change my wax, it’s easier to pour it into a container than to just pour it into a trashbag, so I just carry a container around with me room-to-room to pour the wax in. I just pour mine into this container, and when it’s full, I toss it. It holds enough wax, and it’s cool to see the wax pool in layers.

For Sugar: The little holes on one side are a good way to pour some sugar into coffee or something, but the big hole on the other side fits a measuring spoon so you can use it for cooking.

Shaking Drinks: This one seems silly, but it works. We load it up with water, a little single-serve packet of Kool Aid or Crystal Light or a few squirts of Mio, and some ice, and we shake shake shake until it’s well mixed, then pour it into a cup. It’s fun, and it seems to mix it better than stirring (or maybe we just like our Kool Aid shaken, not stirred).

Nails or Screws storage: Growing up, my dad always had odd-sized boxes or buckets holding nails and screws. We’ve streamlined the process now by putting all of the screws and nails in containers, sorted by size or type, and put a label with the type on them. It fits on a shelf, and looks MUCH more organized.

Piggy Bank: Take a Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits container and wrap some pretty paper around it, or decorate it with stickers, or whatever. Now put your spare change in it. Do it every day until it’s filled to the brim, and then take it to the bank and get it counted and turned into cold, hard cash.

For Marshmallows. I’m not kidding. Yum. The best use I can find for JET-PUFFED Mallow Bits containers is to actually hold Jet-Puffed products. Because, duh, they’re yummy.

I know, my ideas ranged from the silly to the obvious, and back to the very practical. I think you’re going to find a ton of ways to re-use these containers. And trust me, you’ll need the ideas, because once you try the Jet-Puffed mallow bits, you’ll be as hooked as I am.

Lately I have been getting a fair amount of traffic from some of my review posts. As you’ve seen, I’ve written several posts for the Duncan Hines challenge (I should have one more of those coming today, as well as some hopefully coming in the next few weeks, for those of you who were enjoying those posts). I also wrote my monthly review of Citrus Lane’s box yesterday. Typically, my reviews are the highest traffic blogs that I get on this site. I think it shows a lot about where we are, as people, that we want to know as much as we can about a product before we spend our hard-earned money on it.

But, because I’m getting an influx of new traffic lately, I want to encourage those of you who did stop by just for a review to stick around, and I wanted to tell you guys a little more about what I’m all about, and what this blog is all about.

I’m a 23 year old single mom. My son is eight months old. I also have a dog (Shih-Tzu/Lhasa Apso mix) that I adopted a couple of years ago, after a miscarriage, and a turtle (African Sideneck). I live with my family, who I absolutely adore. My brother is 11 years old, and he is a homeschooled student. My mother and I co-teach him, and often, on the blog, I’ll feature notes about homeschooling an elementary child, or about lessons or field trips that I found positively inspiring. I also blog about being a mother to my son, and tips and hints that I’ve picked up along the way as a mother.

As for my personal background, I grew up having a single mom. When I was 9, she married again, and my then step-father adopted me, becoming, legally and emotionally, my dad. He is a huge part of my life, and my mom is probably my biggest role model and influence in the world. When I was growing up, she did in-home daycare. I’ve grown up around children my entire life, and have always wanted to be a mother. I may not have an education degree, or a child psychology degree, but I do know kids. I do know curriculum. I have been developing lesson plans for toddlers and children for as long as I can remember as a part of being in that in-home daycare and working with children in my every day life. I truly do have a passion for kids, and you will see that show up in my blog a lot.

You’ll also see recipes here occasionally. I used to be awkward and uncomfortable in the kitchen until someone gave me a bag of Amish Friendship Bread starter. I found as my family got bored with the basic bread, I started branching out and trying new breads, and new foods other than bread, that utilized the starter. From there, I started to see patterns in bake times and ingredients, and started developing my own recipes. As time has gone on, I’ve become more comfortable in the kitchen, which means I’ve become more comfortable developing my own recipes, as well. This has helped me immensely, and it’s become another face of my blog.

My blog started out as a way to record memories from my first pregnancy. I figured that there was no way that anyone would really read it, but it would act as an online journal of what happened. Then, when tragedy struck and I lost my child, people came out of the woodwork to email me words of encouragement and advice in that difficult time. They were women just like me, who had held so much hope for their future with their child, and had it crash down on them. I took a break from writing, but truly decided that, baby or not, the blogging and the sense of community was therapeutic. I found that, as time went on, in triumphs and in struggles, this blog was a great place for me. After my divorce, my blogging picked up for a bit, but then I started seeing someone new, who really discouraged my blogging, so once again, I took a long break. However, now, in my mind, this blog has really been the best thing for me. It has brought me in a close connection with others (like some of the long-standing email conversations I have had with people who read my post about PMDD and were touched by that). It has brought me friends from around the world, and brought me so much closer to people who were a part of my world through scrapbooking websites, or forums on various topics (I’m looking at you, Chloe!) It’s become a part of my life.

So yes, I may have trouble nailing down my blog to one central theme or message. Sometimes it’s a foodie blog. Sometimes it’s all about products. Sometimes it’s about education for tweens, and sometimes it’s encouragement for moms of toddlers. But in every way, this blog has a little something for each person who stops by.

If you’re new here, or just stopping by because of a post you saw somewhere, welcome! I really hope you stick around and decide to join me here, in my blogging home. Don’t hesitate to comment or email me. I don’t bite (at least, not very hard).

To the people who have been here for awhile, thank you so much. Your support, love, and comments have been invaluable. I feel so blessed that I have a great community of people I know online or even in person (Pat, mom, grandma, this means you guys!) who read my posts and support my blogging. This blog wouldn’t be anywhere without the great people, and companies (like Citrus Lane!) who have linked to my blog on facebook, retweeted my links on twitter, pinned my posts, and just generally shown me love. I so appreciate the people who have given me tips and feedback on blogging better (like my friend Kristie).

I’m going to stop now before this reaches too much farther into acceptance speech territory, but seriously. I love my readers, each and every one of you. My heart glows when I get a comment or a new follower. I truly hope if this is your first time here, that you decide to return again.

Love you guys!

Okay, so I mentioned on my other post that I’m starting to have a little bit of an obsession with Duncan Hines Frosting Creations. I love it so much, in fact, that after using one of the containers and mixes they sent me to make last night’s amazing Coconut Amaretto Layered Brownies, I decided to buy more of the Starters and Flavor Mixes. In fact, I went to four different stores to locate them, and finally found them at Hy-Vee. Tonight’s creation was made with one of those that I purchased… the oh-so-yummy caramel.

I knew the second I read the flavors for the frostings, I wanted to do something that played on a caramel apple idea. You just can’t beat that pairing of flavors… they are two things that just GO together.

This recipe was easy. I mean, super easy. The hardest part? Not pulling it out of the oven and devouring it while it was baking. It is truly that good.

I’m going to preface this by saying that this is the perfect evening dessert. But it would also be great as a fall treat. Or a brunch. Or mother’s day breakfast. Or church event. Or, really… anything. It is a treat that could truly be enjoyed at any time of day.

So here it goes… my delicious, amazing, caramel apple sticky buns.

You need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9×9 baking dish. Grab 2 cans of crescent rolls. Unroll your crescent roll dough, and pinch the seams together. You’ll want to do each can of crescent rolls separately in this step- it makes for easier rolling and cutting if you don’t try to roll these super thick.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and spread the melted butter evenly over your spread out crescent rolls. Sprinkle them with 1/2 a cup of white sugar, and 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Optionally, you could also sprinkle this with 1/4 cup walnuts at this step. Now, take two really tart apples. Grate them on top of the cinnamon-sugar-butter mixture on your rolls.

Roll them up. Cut them into 1 inch slices, and position them, cut side up (like a cinnamon roll!) in the pan. Cut another apple into chunks and insert the chunks in any empty-ish looking spots in the pan. You can add another 1/4 cup of walnuts in these empty spaces, too, if you want.

Sprinkle this with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and then shake some cinnamon over the top. Bake it for 40-45 minutes.

While you’re baking it, go ahead and do your frosting. You’ll take 1 container of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Frosting Starter and 1 packet of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Caramel Flavor Mix. Make a hole in your frosting with a butter knife, pour your powder in, and stir like crazy, making sure it’s all mixed in. When you’ve finally got it all mixed in, wait for your rolls to finish baking.

Pull them out of the oven when they are turning golden brown.

Let them cool for about 5 minutes, then frost with the caramel frosting. It’s going to sink in and it’s going to get gushy, giving them that sticky bun quality.

We found that it was easier to cut them like they were bars or brownies, rather than trying to serve them like a cinnamon roll or sticky bun. Also, these are best WARM! I decided to garnish mine with some apples, and you could also top it with a few walnuts, too, if you wanted.

 

These things were amazing. There’s just enough apple and caramel flavors to really make it very caramel apple-like, but also enough of the dough to really make it more of a sticky bun. It’s that perfect hybrid and I just can’t get enough of it. This flavor of Duncan Hines Flavor Creations is my favorite of the two I’ve tried, and I’m so excited to be bringing some more recipes your way soon! I have so many great ideas for the remaining flavors… I’ve purchased 3 of the remaining ones, but I’m really thinking I may have to turn this into a 12 recipe series with all of the flavors, don’t you? Haha- I have an addiction to this stuff!

 

I love almonds. Amaretto-flavored coffee? Oh yum. I’m in heaven. I also have a serious addiction to coconut, and most of all, chocolate. My 11 year old brother knows these addictions well.

So well, in fact, that when Duncan Hines sent me a box of their new Frosting Creations for being a Very Important Baker, he knew exactly what I should make upon hearing I got a Chocolate Almond frosting mix.

First, let me tell you about these awesome new frosting creations. You know when you’re in a pinch and looking for the perfect frosting flavor? You could always go to the store and get vanilla, or chocolate… OR, you could punch it up and get something fun. What about Bubblegum or Cotton Candy flavored frosting for yummy kids cupcakes? Or a decadent cinnamon roll flavored icing for a brunch? There are 12 amazing flavors of Frosting Creations (chocolate marshmallow, chocolate almond, mocha, cinnamon roll, mint chocolate, strawberry shortcake, caramel, orange cream, cherry vanilla, white chocolate raspberry, cotton candy, and bubblegum). You purchase the tub of Frosting Starter, which seems like your typical frosting container, but it’s specially made to work with the packets of frosting flavor! You also buy a packet of the flavor, in whichever flavor works with your special creation. They seriously look like little packets of Kool Aid, and they’re super cute.

The frosting creations are SO easy to use, and I’ll tell you all about it when I get to that part of my recipe, but for now (drumroll) the recipe.

I swear to you, it isn’t as complicated as it looks or sounds.

Part One: Yeast Mixture

The yeast mixture is important for the first two layers below, so you’ll need to make some of it.

1 package active dry yeast (0.25 ounce)
1/4 C warm water (110 degrees F)
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C white sugar
1 C milk

In a small bowl, dissolve your yeast into water. Let this stand for 10 minutes. While you’re waiting on that, get a glass bowl and combine the flour and sugar. At the end of the 10 minutes, go ahead and slowly mix in your milk and your yeast mixture. Cover this loosely and let it stand until it’s bubbly (overnight is a fair amount of time, but if you have less time, it still should work with no problems).

If you happen to have some Amish Friendship Bread starter stashed away, or know someone who has a cup of it they can give you, it’ll work just as well for this recipe instead of the yeast mixture. It’s my sweet bread starter of choice! The reason I don’t have a picture of the yeast mixture is because I did simply use some Amish Friendship Bread starter– why not? Yummy!

Okay, now to Step 2. The layer-y goodness! Now is when you’ll want to pre-heat your oven to 325. Spray a 9×13 pan. Or butter/flour. Or, do what I do for brownies, and spray it with some Pam, then sprinkle a packet of hot cocoa on the bottom in lieu of flour. It just adds that extra boost of chocolate awesome.

Bottom Layer: Chocolate Almond Brownie-ness

1/2 of your yeast mixture (or 1/2 C friendship bread starter, whichever one works)
1 egg
1/2 C oil
1/4 C milk
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 C flour
1/8 cup cocoa
1 box instant chocolate pudding
just under 1/2 C slivered almonds

Mix all of your ingredients together in the order listed. When using a yeast starter, I recommend avoiding metal utensils because they can react poorly, but that’s just a suggestion. When they’re all mixed up, they should look like a thick brownie mix.

Pour it into your greased pan.

 

Layer Two: Coconut Blondie Goodness

The rest of your yeast mixture (or 1/2 C friendship bread starter if you’re using that)
1 egg
1/2 C oil
1/4 C milk
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 C flour
1 small box instant JELL-O Coconut Cream pudding
2 small handfuls of shredded coconut (fresh is good, but I couldn’t find it at my local supermarket, so I just grabbed some sweetened shredded coconut from the baking aisle)

Mix all of the above ingredients together, the same way you did the first layer. Easy as pie. It’ll be a nice thick mixture.

Pour this on top of your brownie layer and spread it out so it covers all of the brownie goodness. Sprinkle with an extra tablespoon of sugar, and a little bit of the shredded coconut.

Bake for 55 minutes, until the edges are starting to turn golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

This is where the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations come in. What could be better for an amaretto inspired treat than a Chocolate Almond frosting? Instead of going to the trouble of inventing the perfect chocolate almond frosting recipe, I just grabbed my can of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations frosting starter, and my packet of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Chocolate Almond frosting mix.

Open your frosting. Make a deep hole in the middle of the frosting starter with a butter knife. Pour in your frosting creations flavor mix. Stir the flavor mix into the frosting starter until it’s thoroughly blended throughout. Make sure you mix it really thoroughly. The first time I tried this, I didn’t mix it nearly well enough, and it left a few “spicy” patches throughout, where the powder wasn’t quite mixed in. Because the powder is kind of concentrated, it gets a little intense if it’s not fully mixed in.

When the awesome baked treat is cool, go ahead and frost it with the frosting creations. Top it with some additional slivered almonds and shredded coconut.

Easy. Delicious. Best. Dessert. Ever.

I sampled it and I was in amaretto coconut chocolate heaven. It combined my true loves when it comes to tastes in the best possible way. My mother agreed that it was delicious, but also that it was rich. I had cut the bars into a large brownie-sized piece rather than a small bar-like piece, and she ended up only eating half the piece- good, but very rich. My dad dug in and said it was incredible- truly amazing. He complained that my slivered almonds were “too frou-frou” but that the dessert was awesome. We also had a houseguest staying the night, and she said “Oh. My. Gosh. You made this all like… tonight? It seems really complicated. But it’s delicious. It’s incredible. I may have another piece with breakfast!”

I’ll never tell her how truly easy the dessert was to make. The hardest part was letting it cool before I frosted it.

 

 

 

 

Fine print: I was mailed the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Starter and Flavor Mix for free, as a part of my participation in the Duncan Hines Very Important Baker program. All opinions above are my own (or when applicable, the opinions of those I shared my creation with). The recipe above is my own, and Duncan Hines did not require a blog post, nor did it require that I provide a positive review… the opinions above are my honest thoughts about the product. I believe in transparency with my readers above all else!

There is something seriously different about Springtime. I go through an entire winter with zero motivation, getting very little accomplished, procrastinating on tasks, stalling.

Then, suddenly, the weather shifts to 75 degrees. Our windows open. A nice, perfect temperature breeze rolls in.

 

…and I’m ready. I get so much accomplished. Yesterday, for example, was 80 degrees. We have all of the windows open. I finished all of the laundry, including bedding. I made homemade strawberry lemonade (yum… and so so so easy!)  and some semi-homemade pizzas with garlic bread (I took storebought french bread, cut it, buttered it, garlicked it- yes, that’s a word now- seasoned it, and BAM! in the oven for five minutes and perfect)… I cleaned out the freezers. I went to the grocery store. I cleaned out the refrigerator to put the groceries away. I made sure that the cabinets stayed organized while those groceries were put away. I picked up toys. I served fresh pineapple to my family. I worked out.

I did more in one day yesterday than I often get done in a full week in winter. Why? Well, there’s just something about springtime for me. Something about that fresh air makes me feel like I can do literally anything. It makes me feel like I can accomplish to do lists, like I can organize like a professional, like I can cook anything.

How can one little burst of air make everything so perfect? I have no idea, but whatever it is, I like it, and I hope it sticks around for a long time before the hot summer hits… because summer is like my other winter.

 

 

 

Something Something Springtime Strawberry Lemonade

1 pound strawberries
1 cup sugar
4 large lemons
Water

Bring 1 cup water to a boil. While waiting for it to boil, hull and wash your strawberries, and put them in a blender. Juice the lemons (you’ll need about 1 cup of fresh lemon juice) and put this in a pitcher (not the blender), reserving some for rimming glasses. When the water boils, add 1 cup of sugar and stir constantly for a minute until the sugar dissolves.
When the sugar is dissolved, remove the pan from the stove, and pour onto the strawberries in the blender. Puree strawberries and simple syrup until smooth. Pour  the strawberry mixture into the pitcher. Add enough water to bring the total amount to 2 quarts (I had to add about 1 quart of water).

Stir. Chill for at least 1 hour. You’ll want to stir it again before serving. When you’re ready to serve, dip the glasses in the reserved lemon juice, and dip them in sugar. Place a fresh strawberry on the rim, if you’d like. Yummy!

(Try to share some of it. Just try).