I have a hubby who I think was deprived of 'the Easter Egg Hunt' during his youth because every year he insists on hosting and then turns into the 'Easter Bunny equal opportunity law enforcer'...

The HUNT (according to my OCD Hubby)

1. Those silly plastic eggs (invented for the germ-ophobes) must have equal amounts of candy or coins in them...Yes, hours is invested dividing everything equally and for those helpful neighbours who pre-pack their eggs - yes, every single one is opened to ensure that it has equitable candy... 
2. Then let's outline the process for hiding the eggs:  Up at 5.30am, another hour or two is invested to ensure the ultimate hunt is achieved!  He does a good job because come summer we often find those hot, melted eggs stuck behind a few rocks!
3. Then we all must line up and the hunt begins.  Once the bell has gone...
4. All found eggs are then placed into a communal basket and shared equally amongst the participants.

What happens if you step out of line? Ask my preteen...He likes to test the law enforcer!
Then comes the sugar high and grumpy kids...So, between the Law Enforcer & grumpy kids is it too late to sign up for Passover?

Here are some fabulous Easter pinning ideas (click on the photo for the how to do's) and a little sweet something from me xox

Are you guilty of buying too many bananas? Pushing them aside for a few sweet berries, or mixing with some oranges to assist with their aging process and dumping them based on appearance? And I thought the 3 day life as a butterfly was tough!

While in Toronto I managed to convince my family to take part in a foodie road trip in search of some fabulous chocolate. We visited two chocolate factories, both unique in very different and interesting ways, but the product that grabbed my attention was a packet of CACAO nibs (one raw and one roasted). The label read "great for baking or just nibbling on"...So, what are cacao nibs and how does one cook with them? 

Firstly, the world is a better place now that chocolate has been hailed the new wonder food; brain health to skin elasticity to cardiovascular health to anti-cancer... Now we have a medical excuse to overindulge in fabulous chocolate...Sadly not the supermarket candy bar type which actually contains low levels of cacao bean compared to the other tasty and unhealthy ingredients; sugars, milk fat and articial flavourings.  So, what about chocolate cake or a winter favourite, 'drinking chocolate'? Nope, not even my Dutch cocoa makes the cut.  Sadly the over-roasting of the beans sucks all the healthy elements right out of them...
So, what chocolate can we eat? Well according to Brain Ready  if you want the real stuff, you need to invest in 100% organic non-alkalized cocoa powder from a high-quality maker and as for those chocolate bar cravings you need to look out for high cacao percentage dark chocolate bars(typically at least 75% cacao content or higher, but we suggest 85% or higher), also from a high-quality provider such as ChocoSol Traders, SOMA or Tu Chocolate!

Monday morning usually means my children finally empty their school bags and dump whatever they brought home Friday from school all over my kitchen counter. This occurs precisely 30 seconds before we are meant to race out the door to school.  Today, among school notices, crumpled artwork and graded homework, I found a real TREASURE.  My youngest daughter (6) brought home from Kindergarten a beautiful old Chinese coin tied onto a simple red string.  One of her Chinese classmates brought the necklaces in for all of the Kindergarteners as a Chinese New Year gift.  It is truly one of the most lovely and simple things I have ever seen.  After 11 years of my children bringing home junky goody bags, plastic gifts with purchases and a thousand other tacky and useless freebies, this simple coin necklace was like discovering a tiny piece of fine art.

I immediately snatched the necklace up and have been wearing this treasure all day.  I did ask my daughter's permission before "borrowing" it, but I'm really hoping she never wants it back.


Stacy

In the tool box.

Piping in a bag with tips.  Wilton makes loads of beautiful tips that create all types of looks. 

One important tip : NEVER buy store-bought frosting! Make it yourself, it's easy and SO delicious! 

There are so many types of frosting/icing to use: buttercream, cream cheese, fondant, ganache, or a glaze. 

On top of these, you can add many decorations to spruce things up a bit! Think sprinkles, fondant pieces, edible flowers, decorations with frosting, meringue, stencils with confectioners sugar, nuts, sanding sugar, food coloring in the frosting, fresh fruit, crushed candies, or maybe a syrup to soak in the cake then a drizzle of chocolate. The possibilities are really endless. How about marshmallows under the broiler[grill]?