Monday Musings :: Look on the Sunny Side of Everything

"Promise yourself to look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true." 

(excerpt from "Promises to Yourself", also known as The Optimist's Creed by Christian D. Larson).

Rosemary Orange Biscotti {Recipe}

'Biscotti' is an Italian word, meaning 'cooked twice'. Essentially, biscotti are toasted cookies, usually made in a long flat shape which are perfect for dunking. These flavorful little treats are your morning coffee's soulmates, but don't be afraid to try them to add a little crunch to some vanilla ice cream!

This is an original recipe, adapted from another original recipe of mine - these sweet Rosemary Orange Walnut Cookies that I made for Christmas. They were absolutely delicious... but are made with butter. When I made them, I remember thinking they would make amazing biscotti, and wishing I had made them a little healthier too. 

I have been cooking with grapeseed oil for several months now. It is a wonderful oil, with a neutral flavor, lower in monounsaturated fats than olive oil, and more Vitamin E per serving. I'll be honest though, the reason I bought it in the first place was for beauty purposes (I heard it is an excellent moisturizer and helps minimize fine lines around the eyes. More on that another time!). But after running out of olive oil, I began using it in the kitchen as well and enjoy it in homemade salad dressings and stir fries!

I saw that Pompeian - the brand of grapeseed oil I have been using - was having a recipe contest encouraging bloggers to create a recipe using grapeseed oil instead of butter, and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to test my Rosemary Orange Walnut Biscotti recipe!

I think they turned out great...But they sure didn't last long around here. I've already committed to making a double batch next time. I hope you'll like them too :) 

UPDATE 05/05/13: This recipe was chosen as a semi-finalist in the Pompeian "Time to Change Your Oil" recipe contest! I would LOVE it if you would vote for me! Public voting ends 5/12.

6 of My Favorite Spring and Easter DIY Craft Tutorials

With Spring in the air and Easter just around the corner, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite tutorials to celebrate the new season. I feel like it was just Christmas... I'm not sure where the time goes, but luckily I always have a bunch of season and holiday-appropriate craft tutorials in my back pocket to share. 

One of the things I love most about Springtime is the beautiful and vibrant colors that come out to play again after a long winter's nap. I hope you find something here that sparks your fancy and gets you itchin' to put your craftin' pants on and take 'em out for a spin!

1.) Cute and Colorful Pull-Apart Papier Maché Easter Eggs (with treats inside!) 

(notmartha.org)

I love pretty much anything papier maché, but these are made with one of my favorite craft supplies -- tissue paper -- so I love them even more! Plus, these little cuties are designed to break open and reveal a secret stash of sweetness, so in my book, you can't go wrong!!

Sweet Treat Ideas for St. Patrick's Day!

I was hoping to be able to come up with a special recipe for you just for Saint Paddy's day, especially since I love green so much, but I'm afraid I've been spending too much time gawking at other people's treats on Pinterest and well, you know. I lost a few weeks in the abyss :/

Anyway, at the very least, I thought I could put together a recipe roundup of some of the most awesome ones I found so that I appear somewhat more productive than I actually have been. Heheheh.

Now that I've got this post out of the way and no plans for the weekend, I have plenty of time to bake!! I think I'll start with #2 and make the cupcakes and the cake balls at the same time...but then, I may as well go ahead and make the Green Velvet Whoopie Pies (#4) while I'm at it. But I really don't want to miss out on the Minty Creme Cocoa, so I should really try that one, and I don't imagine it would hurt to make some cookies to dunk into it so I will either bake the Frosted Sugar Cookie Shamrocks or the Mint Chocolate Chips....but I can't really decide which one... Oh DEAR what have I DONE??

1.) Leprechaun Hat S'mores from the HostessWithTheMostess

Monday Musings: Be True to the Best that is in You...

"Promise yourself to live in the faith that the whole world is on your side as long as you are true to the best that is in you." 

(excerpt from "Promises to Yourself", also known as The Optimist's Creed by Christian D. Larson).

DIY Crepe Paper Rosette Heart Frame {Tutorial}

My good friend Kat (of Kat Spencer Photography) mentioned that she was going to be setting up a photobooth at the Special Arts Festival in Garland this month. She told me about the awesome kissing booth that she was building, and said she was making mustaches and other fun props for the kids to enjoy. "Would you want to help?" she says. "Are you kidding?? You had me at 'mustaches'!" I said. 

Well, actually, she had me at 'photobooth'. I won't deny that I am obsessed lately.

Anyway, I thought it would be cute to make some heart-shaped frames as props, and I wanted to practice my crepe paper flower rolling technique...hence this project was born!

How to Draw a Heart Without a Template {Tutorial}

I realized suddenly at the beginning of a project how spoiled I have been by the ease of finding templates online for any shape I could ever need to make. Just print and trace or cut out...without ever giving it a second thought. Hearts are particularly easy - I can just use the heart shape tool in Photoshop and stretch or squash the heart to the right dimension and enlarge or reduce the size until it's just what I need, and print it out.

However, what happens when I need a HUGE shape - too big to print out? Hmmm, do I trust myself to be able to draw a perfectly symmetrical heart on a piece of posterboard? Uh...no.  So I came up with a plan.


Here's how to draw a symmetrical heart without a heart-shaped template to trace!