Bunny Tails Hopping Down the Bunny Trail

 Here comes Peter Cottontail's - tails!

Hopping down the bunny trail.

  In this month's issue of Southern Living,

I came across these Bunny Tail Bonbons. 

 

 

They reminded me of the

soft cottontail on the back of a wine bunny apron

 

 

 I recently picked up at Pottery Barn. 

You can go back and visit that post of

my Spring visit to Pottery Barn.

 In this recipe, melted white chocolate is mixed with cream

cheese then crushed coconut cookies are added.

 

 

I rolled and scaled each of them at three-quarter's lb.

I made one change to the recipe instructions by

rolling them in the coconut before placing them on  a

half sheet pan to rest in refrigerator overnight to firm up.

The recipe calls for adding the coconut after the night's stay in the frig

then refrigerating for another hour before serving.

 

 

The final tails become these rich and tasty soft balls of sweetness.

I dyed some coconut green to give the tails green "grass" to rest on. 

I did this by putting some coconut into a Ziploc bag along with some

regular liquid food coloring and smooshing and shaking the bag

from the outside until the color was distributd evenly.

 

You can find an easier printable version of the recipe on the

Southern Living's website here.

 

There are so many fun spring ideas out there.

I just love this time of the year, don't you?

 

I will be joining

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Friday

and

The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays

 

Thank you for visiting.

 

Fondly,

~Karen

 

 



Whats for Dinner? Crock-Pot Chili with Chocolate

 

This chili with fool you!

Going into the crock-pot, it may seem like any ordinary chili.
 

 

It begins with black beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans,

along with cooked ground beef, tomatoes, onions, and spices.

It cooks for 6-8 hours... then for the last 15 minutes it

gets finished with chopped Chocolate - and just a tad of honey!
 

 

It's sure to please the most skeptical palate and would be fun to

serve guests, asking them what they think is the secret ingredient.

Its actually pretty tasty and delicious and, other than seeing the

sprinkling of shaved chocolate on the top for garnish, you would

never suspect there was chocolate in it.  The chocolate really is that subtle.
 

 

I made some seasoned saltine crackers to serve
along side. I often make these with chili flakes but for
tonight I left the spicy-ness off so we could get enjoy
the full spicy flavors of the chili.

 

Come on! Eating can be an adventure. Give this a try!

You can click on this link for the recipe for the

Slow-Cooker Chocolate Chili with Three Beans

and here is the recipe for the crackers:

 

Seasoned Crackers

Source: Unknown
 

1 lb. unsalted saltine crackers
1 cup canola oil
1 (1 oz. pkg) ranch dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons chili flakes (optional)

Line crackers on their ends in an air-tight container. In a small bowl, combine canola oil, ranch dressing mix, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Stir until well combined. Spoon mixture evenly over crackers. Close the lid and gently flip over the crackers.  Flip over every 5 minutes for a total of 20 minutes.  There will be excess oil at first but as they get flipped they will absorb the oil.  The crackers can be stored in a ziploc bag and will last for about a week.

Enjoy and Thank you for visiting!

 

I will be sharing this recipe along with others at

Rattlebridge Farm's Foodie Friday

 

Fondly,

~Karen

 



 

 





Cupcakes at the Mission Inn!

Looming large in Southern California is The Mission Inn -

a historical hotel and spa dating back to 1876 where it

began as a 2-story adobe guest house.

 

It has been visited by seven U.S. Presidents beginning

in 1903 when President Theodore Roosevelt stayed in

the hotel shortly after the Mission wing was added.

Richard and Pat Nixon were married at this hotel and

Nancy and Ronald Reagan chose this hotel as

their honeymoon destination.

 

During the holidays, it holds its Festival of Lights

which shows its spectacular collection of nearly 4 million lights!

 

Today, however, my visit to the Mission Inn fell in with

a visit to a nearby antique mall and a visit to the

- never to be missed...

Casey's Cupcakes.

Casey's Cupcakes is actually located on the backside of

The Mission Inn and opens out onto a courtyard of quaint retail shops.

Besides delicious cupcakes, what makes it so fun to visit Casey's Cupcakes?

Casey was featured on Food Network's hit show Cupcake Wars

where she was a Cupcake Wars Winner!

Inside is cheery and bright.

and her cupcakes are some of the best cupcakes I've ever eaten!

As much as I always want to try one of each...

I came home with two.

Caribbean Coconut

and the Beach Boy with a gumball on top!

Individual cupcakes are packaged in their own cute

lidded-box to bring home. 

Not only has Casey figured out some great-tasting cupcakes,

she has figured out its all in the packaging.

 

Thank you Casey for the cupcakes - once again!

 

And thank you for visiting!

 

I will be joining

The Tablescaper's Oh! The Places I've Been!

 

Fondly,

~Karen