Favorite Easter Candy

Happy Friday Everyone!!

I'm back today for another Friday Link Up!

And again, I'm linking up with THREE different groups.

Make sure to check them all out at the bottom of this post!

I haven't done a Friday Link Up in awhile,

and with Easter being right around the corner,

I figured now was a great time to talk about my

FIVE FAVORITE EASTER CANDY!!!

Note: These are in no particular order,
just five types of Easter candy I really like!
I've linked to where you can currently buy them online too.

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Eggs and Rabbits!

Even better if they're covered in DARK CHOCOLATE!

Peeps Chick and Bunnies.

So I'm a lil strange and DO enjoy these.

But, they have to be a little stale and starting to get hard.

I know, strange!

Sour Jelly Beans!

I've tried both the Starburst and Jelly Belly ones,

but think I need to try the Yummy Earth ones this year!

Shape it like an egg, I don't care.

Easter is just another excuse to eat some yummy Reese's!

Last but not least...

You didn't think I'd forget these did you?

How can Robyn not like Robin Eggs?

If the regular ones are a mouthful, maybe try the mini ones!

Now for more Friday Link Up Fun, check out the blogs below!

Andrea and Erika's blogs from Friday Favorites.

April and Christina's blogs from 5 on Friday.

Karli and Amy's blogs from oh hey friday!

Easter Home Decor

Easter is officially less than two weeks away,

so I guess I should finally post about my Easter decor.

You can see last year's decorations here!

Welcome come on in!

I made the tulip wreath last year.

You can read about that here.

The other side of the front door.

Bunny and beautiful roses.

Picked up this bunny candy dish a few weeks ago.

Eggs, egg and more eggs by the tv.

I found this at Michaels recently!

My decorations don't stop at the bathroom...

Or the kitchen!!

I'm always on the hunt for cute new decorations.

I can't wait to see what's on sale after the holiday.

In my opinion - that's the BEST time to buy!!

Spring Decorations

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you probably know by now that I love to decorate!

I really get into the seasons and am always looking forward to the next holiday.

You can read about some of my past decorations here, here and here!!

Now, let's talk about my Spring Decorations!

For me - Spring and Easter have always gone hand in hand.

In fact, most of my decorations are Easter related!

And this year, I added a NEW Spring Wreath to the mix.

You can read about all about that here.

Take a look below at the fun Spring decorations around my place!

I know it's probably a little late to use any of these ideas at your place this year,
but keep them in mind for NEXT year and get started on your DIY projects now!!!

An Easter Feast!

This year wasn't the first time I spent Easter away from my family, but this year WAS the first year I decided to make myself my own Easter Feast!

Ever since I spent the first Easter away from my family, I've wanted to recreate an Easter "Dinner". And I say "Dinner" because to be honest, in my family Easter "Dinner" was always closer to 2PM.  To me - that's more of an Easter LUNCH! Does anyone else's family do this? And why don't we just call it what it is?!? Anyway... since I wanted to recreate an Easter Dinner, I decided it only made sense to serve it at a normal dinnertime! :) 

Elina, my favorite cooking partner and one of my best friends, helped me make the amazing feast! I've cooked an entire Thanksgiving Dinner, so I knew I could do this alone too, but let me tell you - Elina made it so much easier! It wouldn't have been the same without her!

Now that I've told you all about the feast, take a look at all the yummy food we got to enjoy!

Started it off the afternoon with some Mimosas! 

Piping the filling in the Deviled Eggs.

Garnished and waiting to be devoured. 

The Ham before putting it in the oven. 

Starting the Au Gratin Potatoes.

Carrots peeled and trimmed.

Mini Cheesecakes waiting to be topped with fruit!

The Finished Ham!

Almost time to eat...

YUMMMMM - Time to dig in!!!

Strawberry and Blackberry topped cheesecakes.

The entire dinner was DELICIOUS, but the ham was by far the BEST ham I have ever had. And it's even amazing as leftovers too! I can't take full credit for how tasty it was because we followed this recipe. 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. 

He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 

Mark 16:6

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter, Passover, Spring, whatever you were celebrating. I had a wonderful day and I hope you all did too whether it was with family, friends or both!

When I'm not home with family, I still like to have a nice Easter dinner even if it's just for myself and one or two others. 

I started the night with some delicious homemade deviled eggs. I love them and they really couldn't be easier to make!

Hard Boiled Eggs

Decorated for Easter DUH!!!

Plus a lil mayo, mustard and some relish.

Cut eggs in half.

Take out yolk, mix with mayo, mustard and relish.

 Portion back into egg whites and sprinkle with Paprika. 

I didn't do the usual Easter Ham this year - instead I roasted a Pork Tenderloin, but I decided to brine it first since my Brined Turkey Breast was so amazing last Fall.  

For sides I went with Scalloped Potatoes and Roasted Asparagus. I'd seen numerous recipes for scalloped potatoes, so I finally decided I HAD to make them. And asparagus is so tasty - especially this time of year, so I couldn't think of a better vegetable to serve.

Dinner was AMAZING and I'm really looking forward to having leftovers of it for lunch tomorrow. Mmm Mmm Mmmm!

Easter Cake Balls

I've made cake balls before - I've made them multiple times in fact. I made them BEFORE Cake Pops were the "in" thing. But I hadn't made them for awhile. That is until last weekend!!!

I hadn't taken any baked goodies in for my co-workers to enjoy in quite some time, so I decided it was time to make cake balls and take them into work!

I know I've blogged about making Cake Balls in the past, but I wasn't as detailed so it's time to revisit them and take a look at the Step-By-Step process. :)

The Goods:

Funfetti Cake Mix and Frosting

Vegetable Oil

Water

3 Eggs

Grease 2 Round Cake Pans and set aside.

Preheat oven according to cake box.

Pour the Cake Mix contents into the mixing bowl.

Add the water.

And the vegetable oil.

And lastly, the eggs!

Now mix it all up!

YUM!

I LOOOOOOOOVE batter...

and cookie dough...

but these contain raw egg so technically that's a NO NO.

Don't be like me!

:)

Back to the cake balls!!!!

Pour cake batter into pans and bake according to box directions.

And DONE!

Now it's time to ruin the perfectly good cakes!

Cut each cake in a criss-cross pattern.

Put the cake cubes into a clean mixing bowl.

And mix it until it's all crumbled up!

Now add the frosting.

And mix THAT in too! 

Cover and let the mixture sit in the fridge AT LEAST 4 hours.

I actually let it sit over night - well over 12 hours sometimes.

Now - using a melon baller, scoop out portions of the cake/frosting mixture.

Once they're all scooped out, roll them into cake balls. :)

Put the trays into the freezer for an hour or so.

Before removing from the freezer for the last step...

Get out some confetti Candy Melts!

And melt them in the microwave.

Cover each cake ball and add little sprinkles on top.

Give them to your friends.

Take them to work.

Feed them to your family.

Eat them all yourself.

The choice is up to you!

And because these were EASTER Cake Balls,

here's the cute little packaging I gave a few friends/neighbors.

Happy Easter!