Devilled Easter Eggs

       These are a lot of fun to make, and of course they're festive for Easter.
But you can make them for birthday parties, baby showers, and other holidays as well by doing selected colors rather than a bunch!

Well - I can't quite tell you how to make the devilled eggs

I all but swore upon a death bed for the recipe - but you can check out

this recipe for general devilled eggs to follow 

and I can tell you how to get them colored!

You'll Need: 

• hard boiled eggs, halved w/ yolk removed [& saved on the side]
• food coloring
• vinegar
• water

 *DO NOT USE FOOD COLOR GELS!*

Directions: 

1. Fill each cup with 2/3 cold water & 2 tsp. vinegar [1 cup for each color you want to use.]
2. Add 5-7 drops of food coloring for desired color[s]
3. Rinse egg halves under cold water and drop one half into each cup
4.  Allow to sit for approx. 30 seconds. [more or less depending on color desired. Less will be lighter, longer will be bolder]
5. Remove from cups & set upside down on paper towel to let excess water drain off then place in trays/on plates.
6. Follow the rest of a regular devilled egg recipe as you would regular eggs.

Marshmallow Flower Cupcakes

What You'll Need

• frosted cupcakes 
• 1 bag of mini-marshmallows
• scissors
• colored sugar sprinkles 
• sandwich baggie
• & patience!

Instructions

1.  Fill first baggie with desired colored sugar sprinkles. 
2. Cut mini-marshmallows in half diagonally and place into bag. [you can also cut them into thirds, that is how I did the ones above, but it's much less frustrating to do halves.]
3. Shake the baggie until the sticky marshmallow side[s] are covered in the sugar.
4. Carefully [I suggest starting from the inside] place marshmallows in a circle 'spiralling' outwards.

NOTE: if you do multi-colored [like pictured], I suggest doing a large amount of petals [marshmallows] before hand so you don't have to keep making different colors. I also recommend doing a few of one color first, it's much easier to do and less time consuming. [also I personally like the look of the single colored ones better to be honest.]

Cake Bites

Normally I'd post a recipe; but I found theresahelmer's Cake Poppers on deviantART and decided I should just direct you to those instructions because they are soooo much easier. 

Baked Grapefruit

I'll be honest, I've never been particularly fond of grapefruit; but for some reason my dad thought I'd enjoy one [actually four] so I have four grapefruits lying around.

I saw something a few weeks ago on Facebook [or pinterest? who knows] about baked grapefruits with brown sugar and maple syrup [I think?] so I decided the best thing to do with these grapefruits was try something that had actually sounded like it could be good if I liked grapefruits.

Well; guess what? I LOVE GRAPEFRUITS! when they're baked this way...

Ingredients:
1 whole grapefruit [halved]
5 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. granulated white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. plain yogurt


Directions:
1. preheat oven to 350F. cut grapefruit in half and remove core. with a knife cut along each of the piths [the thin sort of stringy pieces that case the pieces individually]

2. fill the center [where you removed the core] with honey [2tbsp], drizzle any extra around the top. Sprinkle [1/2 tbsp.] brown sugar, [1 tbsp.] sugar and [1/2 tsp.] cinnamon on the top.

3. repeat step 2 on the other half of the grapefruit. place both on regular tin-foil lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

4. remove from oven, drizzle [1 tbsp.] honey on top of the grapefruit pieces [1/2 tbsp. each], sprinkle with extra brown sugar, sugar or cinnamon if desired.

5. cut between the fruit and the rind in a full circle to help pull the individual pieces out. you can either leave them in the whole grapefruit, move them to a bowl; I take them all out to let the extra juice out and  put them back in the rind, it makes it decorative and festive.

6. enjoy!
I also happen to dislike plain yogurt but for some reason had this as well, I mixed a little under 1/4 c. of it in with the pieces and it was DELICIOUS!

Watermelon Cupcakes

Watermelon Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 pkg. regular white cake mix

1 pkg. cherry kool-aid

1/2 c. mini-chocolate chips

1 c. white frosting [store bought or home made]

red & green food coloring

Directions

1. Mix cake mix as directed. Add in cherry kool-aid and a few drops of red food coloring as desired. Gently add in mini-chocolate chips.

2. Put into cupcake tins, filling about 3/4 of the way to the top

3. Bake as directed by the cake mix

4. Allow to cool. Meanwhile, take mix green food dye into frosting until desired shade[s] of green.

5. Frost cupcakes when cooled.

6. [optional] Sprinkle extra mini-chocolate chips on top after frosted OR mix in when mixing frosting

***this is NOT an original recipe***

Jello Cookies

Jello Cookies

Ingredients 

3.5 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1.5 c. salted butter, softened

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

4 (3 oz.) pkg. jello (any flavors)

food coloring

Directions

1. beat butter in large bowl with mixer until creamy. add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. blend in egg and vanilla.

2. in separate bowl mix flour and baking powder. gradually beat flour mixture into butter mix.

3.  divide dough into 4 sections. sprinkle 2 tbsp. of jello into each section. knead together. add a few drops of food coloring to make dough more vibrant

4. shape dough into 1 inch balls. roll in extra jello from the packets. place, 2 inches apart on baking sheets. flatten with bottom of bowl.

5. bake 8-10 minutes at 350 on lines baking sheets. cool on backing sheets 2 minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

***this is NOT an original recipe, it can be found on numerous sites online***

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients

3 tbsp. butter OR margarine
1 pkg. (10 oz., about 40) marshmallows OR c. mini marshmallows
6 cups rice krispie cereal 

24 tootsie rolls [approx.]

Green frosting & piping bag [or you can buy a can of decorating cake icing] 

        [if you make your own frosting from white, add green coloring until desired shade]

Red & yellow food coloring [or orange]

Directions

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add rice krispie cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Add in red and yellow [or orange] food coloring until desired orange shade
4. Allow to cool slightly, yet still moldable. Roll into approx. 2 inch balls and set on wax paper

5. Push tootsie rolls into the top of each ball [or pumpkin]

6. Decorate around tootsie rolls with leaves [and vines, optional]

7. Allow to cool fully