It’s that time of year again, when I make cute sugar cookies with royal icing for my daughter’s favor bags for her birthday. This year, for her third birthday, she wanted the theme to be Hello Kitty. I honestly saw this a mile away since she was in love with Hello Kitty at the time of her second birthday as well!

While I have used this royal icing recipe in the past and have had success, I learned from Marian of Sweetopia at the Mixed Conference that there is an easier way! My biggest complain of royal icing is having to have a thick icing for outlining and a thinner one for flooding. If you have multiple colors that means you need two of everything. This can make for a tedious prep and cleanup. I don’t have time for that, especially with a three year old running around! This icing was great for an outline and then filling in right away. I also learned the shake method from Marian, where you give the cookie a slight shake and icing will fill your design, rather than chasing it around with a toothpick. For some great tutorials, check out Sweetopia, the link is at the bottom of this recipe.

For the bow shaped cookies, I used this tutorial. I had a bone cookie cutter hanging around from last year’s puppy themed second birthday party so I simply bent that a little bit and made it broader and more bow like. With the large bow cookies and the bows on Hello Kitty’s face, I did the center piece first, allowed that to dry for 20 minutes and then went back and did the side pieces. For the faces, I then filled in the white part and let that dry overnight. The next morning I added the details of her face.

I used my go to sugar cookie recipe for these cookies.

10 Second Magical Royal Icing

Ingredients

• 6 oz. warm water (about 3/4 cup)
• 5 Tbsp Meringue Powder
• 1 tsp Cream of tartar
• 2 1/4 lbs Powdered sugar
• 1 tsp clear vanilla (if there is no vanilla present in the meringue powder)

In the bowl of your standmixer, add water and meringue and hand whisk (do not use the mixer!) for 30 seconds.

Add the cream of tartar and hand whisk for an additional 30 seconds.

Add the powdered sugar, and using the mixer paddle attachment, mix on slow for 10 minutes.

Tint with your desired color. Remember, if you are after a true white, you will want to use a brightener. Although this mixture appears white, it will look dull once you have applied it. Also, make sure you keep a damp towel over the icing or keep a lid on the icing to make sure it does not dry out.

Source: Sweetopia

I know what you are all thinking. The only way I make vegetables is to stuff them or cook them with bacon, but it’s not true. Although, they are wonderful ways to eat anything! I do love letting the vegetables do the talking and using simple ingredients that really highlight their natural flavors.

My daughter and I deemed these buttery, lemony Broccolinis our “springtime” dish. In her words, “They are so cute and little,” just like all of those baby chicks and ducks we’ve been seeing at farm supply stores lately. They are a beautiful bright green, like those flowers eagerly breaking through the earth and the lemon gives a fresh smell and taste, just like the air outside that is slowly melting away that last bit of snow. If you think this is just poetic prose for the blog, you’re wrong, we have daily discussions like this while we eat. Partly because it’s fun and mostly because it gets her to eat new things!

Buttery Lemon Broccolini

Ingredients

• 4 qt water
• 1 1/8 tsp salt, divided
• 12 oz Broccolini
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add 1 teaspoon salt and cook the Broccolini in batches for 5 minutes. Remove the Broccolini with a slotted spoon. Drain and discard the water.

Combine the butter, zest, and juice, stirring with a fork until well blended. Return the Broccolini to the sauce pan over medium-high heat. Stir in the butter mixture, remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, and pepper, tossing gently to coat.

Source: Cooking Light November 2009

I always have cooked shrimp in my freezer since I can whip up anything with them and can have a meal for myself in no time. My daughter loves shrimp as well, although only sauteed in butter for her! The nice thing stir fry is I can have my meal ready in almost the same time it takes hers to sautee! With all of these ingredients in my pantry, I’ve got something different and tasty for dinner in no time! You can pair the Szechuan sauce with chicken or pork if you’d like as well.

Szechuan Shrimp

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 12 oz cooked large shrimp, tails removed

In a small bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients and set aside.

Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the green onions and garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and toss to coat with oil. Add the sauce and cook until the sauce is thick and bubbly, stirring often. Serve over rice.

Yields 2 servings.

Source: Blog Chef

Spring is finally in the air here in Maine. With no more snow in the foreseeable forecast, I am keeping my fingers crossed! The snow is melting and unearthing memories of warmer weather. What does that mean for me? Time to get outside and start working on some projects. We have quite a few lined up for our yard this year, as a lot of the main landscaping on our newly built house will take form, but I’ll also continue to grow my garden. Last year was only the beginning! We grew enough zucchini to last us a long time so we will skip that this year, but we will add more tomatoes on my quest to never buy canned tomato sauce again! Pretty soon I’ll be posting all about canning tomatoes so you can give it a try! The key to great cooking is using fresh ingredients, and with a short growing season here in Maine it’s so important to get a jump start and have a plan. I try to take full advantage and plant as many vegetables and fresh herbs as I can! I get excited just thinking about all of the wonderful things my daughter, the budding gardener, and I will be picking this year! Since my daughter has grown a love of cucumbers and carrots the past year, we will make sure to grow an ample supply! That means lots of recipes involving those headed your way! I already have so many I’ve bookmarked and printed out this winter. Can we say cabin fever?

Time to landscape and some life to this lawn!

Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a beginner, or just can’t wait to tackle some outdoor projects this spring, Home Depot’s Garden Club can help you out! The Garden Club provides some great resources that match your region and provide you with monthly lawn and garden ideas. It offers How-to videos, expert advise, and even sneak peeks on new products! To top it all off they will even offer over $300 worth of savings through exclusive emails each year! Why fret over what you should be doing next when they set up your monthly schedules for you? Now you will have time to get out there and do what you need to do and then sit back and enjoy the benefits!

Over the next few weeks I’ll be working and sharing how The Home Depot Garden Club is beneficial. I’ll be working on projects we’ve had planned for a while and some other ideas that have piqued my interest while perusing the The Home Depot Garden Club site. Yup, we’ll have a busy spring and summer, but we’ll be outside. After this long and snowy winter, we’re ready for it! Growing great food is just as important as cooking and baking it!

It’s home improvement time, and The Home Depot has everything you need for spring.  No matter what projects you want to tackle, The Home Depot has you covered and can help you #DigIn to spring.

Spring is the perfect time for all your outdoor home renovations. Shop The Home Depot for terrific values on new patio furniture, landscape supplies such as fertilizer and potting soil and outdoor grills. Keep your lawn and garden looking great, too, with the huge selection of lawn mowers, edgers and trimmers, and garden tools.

Visit The Home Depot Garden Club for product ideas from kick-starting your Spring with seed starter kits to building a window birdfeeder.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Home Depot.