Oh Pineapples, How I Love You.

Hiiiiii!

So yesterday Robert and I decided to make kebobs. First time we've made them together since we've been married! They were soooo easy to make. Every time I've thought about making kebobs I tend to think of them being more complicated than I want to deal with for dinner. So I've avoided them this whole time :P No longer! I'm going to be making these babies all the time now. Annnnd I took a lot of pictures, as usual, so prepare yourselves :D

I've been using pineapples for my table centerpiece lately. Simple, but cute :)

Pretty supplies.

All chopped up.

Kebob-ed.

Spices.

Spiced.

Chillin' with my pineapple.

All done and absolutely delicious!

Kebobs=Happy people 

 

 

 

 

 

Yum.

Easy Pineapple Kebobs:

2 chicken breasts, chunked
1 container of grape or cherry tomatoes
1 small pineapple, peeled and chunked
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped into chunks
1 orange bell pepper, chopped into chunks
1 red bell pepper, chopped into chunks
1 yellow onion, chopped into wedges

Slide all above ingredients onto your kebob skewers and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Season with pink Himalayan salt (or sea salt), black pepper, tarragon, dill, and garlic pepper on both sides of kebobs until sufficiently covered. Grill on both sides until done (I didn't do the grilling so I don't know how long it took per side!). Makes about 10-11 kebobs. Enjoy!

 

The past weekend I made some cakes for our church festival and I love how they turned out!

Hope everyone is having a lovely summer!

Curiouser and Curiouser

Well hello!

These past two months have been crazy and exhausting, which is why you haven't heard much from my little corner of the world :P
It seems that at least one part of every year (if not more) I let myself get overwhelmed with life, which leads to me neglecting things I like to do. Blogging being near the top of the list. *sigh*

In my last post I believe I mentioned being in an Alice in Wonderland mood at the beginning of April. Well, you finally get to find out why!

I have been wanting to host an Alice themed tea party for like, EVER and I finally told my family that I would be hosting our Easter. With a twist :D

So naturally, I went all out.

Here we have the 'Drink Me' bottle which made Alice shrink, the 'Eat Me' cake which made her grow, and the key that magically appeared only AFTER she drank from the shrinking potion. Ironic, huh?

I read the 'Splintered' series during my party planning. I have to say I had high expectations for these and I was rather disappointed. There were a lot of things I liked about them, being Alice in Wonderland inspired and all, but the sexual innuendos and behavior of some of the characters made me not want to finish them. But I did, and I was very happy with the ending. By the way, I liked Morpheus better than Jeb in the end :) (I knew you'd be dying to know, Cait!) It was actually pretty tough to decide between the two, which I can't say the same for in other love triangles.

My collection of Alice books and decks of cards I found at a thrift store that reminded me of Wonderland.

THE FOOD! I made too much as usual, but it was gooooood. Lots of little tea sandwiches that Mom helped me make :)



I just made them up with ingredients I had. Here are the recipes if anyone is interested:

Cucumber Goat Cheese Sandwiches

1 loaf Gluten free or Regular Bread ,cut into fourths
8 oz. Garlic and Herb Goat Cheese (add a bit of water or milk to make it spread easier)
1 Cucumber, cut into thin rounds
1 bunch of Chives, cut into thirds
1 bunch of Dill, broken off into 1 in. sprigs

Take one of the bread pieces and spread on the goat cheese. Place the chive sprig first, then the cucumber, and top with the dill sprig.

Turkey Bruschetta Sandwiches

1 loaf Gluten free or Regular Bread, cut into fourths
1 pack of Turkey or another kind of lunch meat, also cut into fourths
1 jar of Bruschetta Spread
1 bunch of Parsley, broken off into 1 in. sprigs

Spread the bruschetta on the bread. Put the lunch meat on and then top with the parsley sprig,

Enjoy!

This was my second attempt at making petite fours and I was so happy with how they turned out!!!!!! They tasted AMAZING. I was quite sad when the last one was eaten. Definitely making more soon. Here is the recipe I used. I added vanilla extract instead of orange.

 

I found these plates, brand new and still shrink wrapped, at a thrift store a few years ago. I was saving them specifically for this occasion :)

         

I had a heck of a time finding these :P I looked everywhere EXCEPT the sugar aisle. I know. I figured they would be in the tea and coffee section but nooooo, they had to be in a logical place.



That's right, you aren't seeing things. Those are mushroom cookies, baby. A fellow blogger made a TON of Alice in Wonderland delicacies for a friend's party and she found this mushroom cookie recipe.

 

The dining room table. I made quite a mess! Also, my 'talking' flowers.



I had fun throwing them on the table :D

 

The 'Mad' Tea Party. I was so happy the weather cooperated with me! It wouldn't have been the same had I had to have inside. It was so warm being in the sun during the afternoon, that my brother actually fell asleep. At the table. I thought it was quite fitting for a mad tea party, and now I have blackmail pictures :D

 

 

My sister's contributed some of their dust collectors to complete the look :)

 

 

One of them even had this little dormouse-y fellow!

 

 

I made name place cards for everybody and I used my sister's collection of old keys to make it look cool. Did I mention some of my family dressed up for the occasion? *sigh* A dream come true!

 

 

I was Alice, of course. My sister, brother-in-law, and brother were 'cards' made from poster board. My Dad was the Mad Hatter. Mom was the Red Queen. My aunt and her friend dressed up as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. My nephew and nieces had bunny and mouse ears on. Everyone looked awesome and I'm so happy they agreed to dress up!!!! It's more fun that way.

 

 

My sweet husband consented without (much) complaint to be the Cheshire Cat, his favorite character! He even climbed a tree so I could take pictures :) I told him to give me his biggest, toothiest smile.

 

 

"I'm afraid so.You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."

 

 

I had a mirror and a clock leaning against a tree. The roses are actually from Picmonkey since some of my siblings were in the reflection who have requested to not have their pictures shared on my blog.

 

 

I found this awesome contraption at a local boutique. It was a tea cup attached to a distressed bed post. Adorbs.

 

My red and white 'rose' bushes. I just stuck some fake ones in for the party.

Me and Chessie :D

 

 

I love these socks!

 

We ate delicious food, played croquet, set up an Easter egg hunt, had fun being crazy at the mad tea party, and basically had a smashing good time :) It was a blast.

 

St. Paddy's Day - Scones and Rainbow Stamps

Happy Day after St. Paddy's Day!!!!!!

I hope you enjoyed my week before St. Patrick's Day party! I had fun :) I also learned that I'm not great at posting daily, but hey, it's better than what I've done in the past! So long as I keep it up...hehe.

Anyways, here is the outfit I wore on St. Patrick's Day:

Plaid Shirt - Thrifted
Black T-shirt - Wet Seal
Black Cami - Maurices
Green Skirt - Thrifted
Flats - TOMS - Nordstrom.com
Shamrock Earrings - Claires
Celtic Knot Necklace - Irish Fest.

I love this combo! That shirt is my absolute favorite right now.

It looked warmer than it was :P Afterwards I went inside and put leggings on!



Has anybody tried this hairstyle? It's something I made up myself.
First you make two low pigtails. Then section the pigtail as if you are going to do a three strand braid. Individually braid each strand so that you have three mini braids and secure with small bands. Braid all of them together and secure with a large band. Remove small bands. Repeat with second pigtail.
Make sense?



My sisters have similar necklaces to this. My eldest has one with a shamrock and my other sister's has a Celtic trinity knot.

 

 

My shoes.

 

 

I made gluten and dairy free scones for the first time!!!!!!! They're amazing. Here is the recipe. I did make a few changes since her recipe wasn't dairy free. I used almond milk instead of regular and spectrum spread vegetable shortening in place of butter.  Robert is not allergic to eggs so I didn't bother replacing those. I also did not have the self-raising flour mix she used so I used my flour blend (brown rice flour, potato flour, and tapioca starch) + 2 tsp. of GF baking powder.

 

Topped with black current jam. YUM.

 

 

We went over to Robert's mom's house for dinner. She fixed corned beef with potatoes, cabbage and other veggies. A GF bread with pesto and manchego sheep's cheese. And some homemade coleslaw. It was gooooood.

 

 

Sooo. I did not have time to finish the Celtic craft I was going to share, so I will share this instead. Around this time last year, I bought this adorable little notebook from TangleCrafts on Etsy. IT'S SO COLORFUL I'M GONNA DIE!!!!!!!!! I love it. I turned it into an address book, so I guess you could call it a craft. Sorta. This lady's stuff is amazing so be sure to check out her shop!

 

 

Well, that is all for now, folks. I hope you all had a very Irish-y St. Patrick's Day! Cheers :)

The Week Before St. Paddy's Day - Day 4 - A Leprechaun's Favorite Drink

And another one!

March 13th, 2015

The Outfit:



Green Irish Shirt - Irish Fest.
Orange Long Sleeved Shirt - Wal-mart
Jeans - Wal-mart
Celtic Trinity Knot Earrings - College Campus Booth
I was running out of time that day, so I only had time for a selfie :P

The Food:

This is what happens when the photographer doesn't take pictures of food BEFORE she takes it to a party full of hungry people. It gets eaten. Therefore, half a veggie tray :P

This, my friends is Leprechaun Lime Punch. It's amazing.
Here is the recipe:
2 cans of frozen limeade
1/4 c. sugar ( I used pure cane sugar)
1/4 c. lime juice
2 liters of lemon lime soda
2 cartons of lemon sorbet or lime if you can find it
Mix first 3 ingredients in large punch bowl, then add half of the soda. Spoon in lemon sorbet and mix. Add more soda. It will start to foam. Serve immediately. Makes about 24 servings (Hint: If all ingredients don't fit into the punch bowl, add them later, it will cause more foam and fizziness and look amazing again.) Enjoy!



Yummy Paleo Biscuits. Get the recipe here. I used one of our Celtic crosses to make an imprint on the top of the biscuits! Who needs a cookie stamp?!

The finished cupcakes!!!! They were delicious.

The Craft:

I covered the front of this paper mache letter in Celtic scrap book paper. First I painted the parts that were not getting covered in paper with dark green acrylic paint. Once it was dry, I traced its shape onto the paper, cut it out, and modge- podged it onto the letter. It's gorgeous, is it not?

Feel free to join in The Week Before St. Paddy's Day Party! Share your Irish outfit, food, and craft the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day. Link up by sharing your link in a comment on one of these posts :) If you can only do one day, that's great too!

Cheers!

~Mary