{WW} : Backyard Dinner

Finally got around to posting our one meal under the pussy willow tree,  it was so beautiful and every time the wind  

blew the white petals fell like giant snowflakes, by the end of our feast the table

 was covered.
The flowers are are since gone now and the tree is just covered in green leaves, but I'll be
making a trip to the hardware store so I can sit and swing under it's shade come summer.

 

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SH:: Sundays #32

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! 

I'm excited to share the day with my 4 favorite people, it

 will be extra special to me being able to visit with my Mom

 for the first time in 20 years on Mother's Day too!

Perspective

I love the view looking up at the trees in my friends backyard.

Golden

My new boots, the color just brightens a rainy day.

Bloom

Unfortunately are yard has more than it's fair share of these.

Dark

The kiddos can't get enough of these, if you want to try out our healthier donuts you can find the recipe HERE.

Local

It'll be a bit different living along one of the great lakes and not the Gulf, the water is definitely much colder this time of year, no swimming for a while.

DIY: Easy Upcycled Floral Centerpieces

I've been busy pruning back the trees and cleaning out the flowerbeds, I hated to have to toss

 all the pretty clippings into the compost pile so I came up with three really easy table 

centerpieces so we could enjoy all the beautiful flowers. 

The first one I made by punching 9 holes in the metal lid of a Del Monte fruit jar , the holes

 in 2 hole sizes to accommodate different stems.

Next was a french lemonade bottle, it's really good lemonade we got ours at T.J. Maxx but

 the sell the same drink at World Market too.

Then finally I added some soil into our left over egg shells, I thought they were beautiful and had 

been saving the cleaned out shells on my kitchen window sill for some time now waiting to
turn them into something special and the ceramic egg cartons were my find of the week for $2.99 at T.J. Maxx!

Photo Canvas Giveaway!

I’m in love with photos on canvas, I’ve been ordering them for my clients for almost 8 years now and I finally got around to getting some of my own. Canvas on Demand is my go to site, (they are not sponsoring of affiliated with this giveaway) and in honor of Mother’s Day, though you don’t have to be a Mom to enter the giveaway is open to everyone within the 48 contiguous states,  I thought it would be great to share the love and let one lucky reader win a 16×20 photo on canvas**.

Check out more about the canvas HERE.

I am also offering my editing abilities to make your chosen photo look it’s best before it heads off to be printed.

The giveaway runs through May 10, 2013 and one lucky winner will be chosen at random through Rafflecopter.

**The canvas prize must be claimed by May 31,2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WW :: Healthier Chocolate Donut Recipe

I have so many food allergies that these were the first donuts I've had in 20 years! I use to
work at a doughnut shoppe back then and the chocolate glazed were my favorite along with
sour cream glazed, can't wait to make those next!

Chocolate Donut recipe:

8 tbsp butter (1 stick)

3/4 cup 66% (or more) cacao powder

2 cups organic flour

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp molasses

1/4 cup organic honey

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 extra large eggs or 3 large eggs

1 3/4 cups plain greek yogurt

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Fully incorporate the dry ingredients with the butter in your stand
 mixer, then add wet ingredients. I usually add the eggs last. 

Bake at 360 degrees for 10-12 minutes in a non-stick donut pans or
 the toothpick comes out clean,

I removed the donuts from the pan still hot onto a cooling rack and 
immediately glaze or top with powdered sugar,  my favorite was our
 homemade chocolate frosting with sprinkles.

Chocolate frosting ingredients:
powdered sugar
rice milk
butter
cocoa
( Sorry. I don't measure just mix until it looks taste good)

These stay really moist for several days on the counter if they last that long!

If you prefer vanilla, just take out the cacao and add vanilla extract to the recipe we just made some and they taste awesome covered with powdered sugar!

Also this recipe works well fas a cakes too, I use three eggs instead of two for a 9x12 cake.

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