Martha Monday--Easter Menus

Easter is less than a week away.  Like any other holiday, we'll celebrate three times over the course of three days and two weekends to make sure we see as much family as possible.  This year, I'll be hosting one of the Easters. 

This is a first for me.

Sure, I've done Thanksgiving and Christmas, but never an Easter.  Gird your loins, people.

For those of you looking to go all Martha on Easter, you can see a sampling of menus here.  I'm particularly intrigued by this "Easy Easter Dinner"...

...because nothing says "Easy" like hosting your first-ever Easter for the in-laws, right?!

Here's my menu:

Ham
Green bean casserole
Au gratin potatoes
Corn casserole
Glazed carrots
Devilled eggs
Bread and butter
Magic jello mousse

Dessert:

Carrot cake cupcakes
Lemon cupcakes
Twisted krispies
Easter M&M cookies

The Little Guy and I will be tackling the cupcakes and maybe even some Easter candy this week.  For your viewing (and salivating pleasure), here's the Easter dessert I came up with last year:

It's a coconut cake covered with peanut M&Ms and candy bunnies.  I called it "Easter Island."  You can read all about it here.  While that was fun, I'm going to try something new this year.  Stay tuned!

Martha's blueberry muffins

I have blueberries in my freezer.  They've been there a long time, and I had to take action. 

Enter Martha's blueberry muffins...here's what they look like:

The Little Guy and I decided to tackle these blueberry muffins and decrease our stash of frozen shame-berries (seriously, they've been in my freezer forever.  I keep meaning to use them...). 

Unlike a few of Martha's recipes I've tried recently, this one was absolutely correct in both yield and baking times.  The only thing I did differently from the recipe was to leave out the additional sugar and nutmeg for the muffin tops.

Granted, my muffins aren't as picturesque as Martha's, but I can guarantee they were just as tasty.  Yum!  In the meantime, I'm going to work with the Little Guy to turn him into a food stylist for this blog. 

After all, he's got the role of taste tester down perfectly.  Enjoy!

Announcing the arrival of BabyGirl

Here she is!

BabyGirl was born on February 25.  8 pounds, 11 ounces and 21 inches long.

We're doing well, if a little sleep deprived, and definately enjoying the latest addition to the TMI family.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Martha Monday--Martha's St. Patrick's Day menu

St. Patrick's Day is Wednesday, so for those of you looking to do something special, there's still plenty of time.  Martha shares her St. Patrick's Day menu and recipes here. 

I don't know if I'll get to the entire meal, but the Little Guy and I might take a stab at the soda bread. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Pantry makeover

I love my pantry.  It's a walk-in, and by that, I mean it's big enough that the Big Guy and I can take turns standing inside to hide our cookie consumption from the Little Guy.  Don't get me wrong, the Little Guy gets the occasional cookie, but there are only so many Girl Scout Thin Mints to go around, you know?

Anyways, the pantry had gotten a bit disorganized in recent months.  (Tilt your head 90 degrees to the right to get the full effect--sorry for the sideways picture.)  Cereal and crackers are on the top shelves, which makes absolutely no sense in a household where there's a two-year-old who only wants to eat crackers and cereal. 

Here's more proof things are out of control:  one shelf contained canned goods, bread, chips, syrup and noodles.  And to think I consider myself an organizational maven.

Plus, there was a great deal of wasted space toward the ceiling. 

Not a good thing.  Clearly, something had to be done.

I started with a semi-detailed plan of where items should go, and as I emptied the pantry, any expired items went straight into the trash can. 

The Big Guy installed two more shelves at the top of the pantry, allowing me to fit in items that I don't use often but want easy access to.  Additionally, everything was rearranged so that items I don't use often are up top, items the Little Guy will want are within his reach, and items for easy meal planning are mostly at eye level. 

For the full finished product, tilt your head 90 degrees to the right.

Overall, this project took only one afternoon. It was well worth it...the pantry is now a much more enjoyable place to hide while eating cookies.  I might even have room to fit a recliner in there now. ;)