Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!!

The weather was perfect today and we spent a wonderful day at Zoo Atlanta thanks to Delaney's friend from school who invited us. I don't know if the kids loved seeing the animals more or just getting to be outside where they could run and jump and play until their legs ran out.


We got to see the newest Panda named Po which was a big hit with my Kung Fu Panda loving kids.


I enjoyed the elephants because I watched "Water for Elephants" at the theater last night (side note that it was a great movie that was visually stunning and artistically beautiful).


There are animals galore. There are a couple of fun playgrounds. There are an abundance of picnic tables. There is a carousel, a rock climbing wall, a petting zoo and there is a train ride that is perfectly placed at the very end when everyone is ready to sit down and enjoy the cool breeze.

A New Cookbook

I'm cookbook crazed. I'm a recipe-aholic. I really enjoy reading recipes. Somebody asked me recently what magazine I would subscribe to if I had to cancel all my subscriptions except one, and I said hands down "Food and Wine. So when my latest cookbook arrived today, I couldn't wait to crack it open. It is Heidi Swanson's latest entitled "Super Natural Every Day".



First off, it is beautiful, filled with great photography. I like all my cookbooks to be at least 50% photos, must be the visual side of me!


The recipes look fabulous. There are so many little twists I wouldn't have thought of and can't wait to try like adding toasted coconut to Kale Salad with sesame oil and tossing pistachios and Medjool dates into a Summer Watermelon Salad.


My book ended up with more marked pages than unmarked pages.


I'll post again with the results after I decide what to cook first! I'm kinda leaning toward the chewy Ginger Cookies with Dried Apricots and Shaved Chocolate.

Happy Easter.

Here are my favorite photos from this weekend's Easter festivities.

Chasing After Cupcakes

We've heard tales of the giant pink cupcake truck around town...another addition to Atlanta's growing food truck scene. We signed up on the Yum Yum Cupcake facebook page to get notifications as to when and where they can be found.


Last Friday, we got a message that the Yum Yum Cupcake truck would be parked at Atlantic Station. This was our chance. I told the kids we were going somewhere special and that they needed to look for something big and pink. We parked our car and paid the meter and walked around a bit so they had to keep hunting. Finally they spotted the truck and instantly knew there was a sweet surprise in their immediate future.



Delaney chose chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream icing wonderfully named "The Chanel".

Ford chose red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and I chose the carrot cake option.

All the cupcakes were delicious and we didn't leave a crumb behind. But all three of us agreed that we liked the carrot cake the best of all. We can't wait to get our next opportunity to visit the Yum Yum truck.

Beach Shopping

My favorite place to browse when on vacation is at Perspicacity in Seaside, Florida. I say browse, because the prices are high, but there are some affordable accessories.


What I love about this place has been the same since it opened 25 years ago, which is the outdoor location along the beach on Hwy 30-A, the salty air blowing through as you shop for brightly colored, beachy things, and the flea market type feel of stall after stall filled with anything and everything.



The merchandising is great...mostly clothes with accessories and sometimes small furnishings thrown in. It is like a treasure hunt. They call it a "beachside bazaar" and that perfectly sums it up.

Cake Please

My favorite cake is carrot cake. And my favorite carrot cake is the one my mom makes. She made it for me this year on my birthday and it was delicious as usual. I had to share a few photos of it because I am in love with this idea of how she decorated it.


She found this lady head at the antique market in Seaside. Her grandmother had one exactly like it when she was a girl. I think it is the best cake topper ever. I love that all 33 of my candles fit in it and how they spiral out if you look at the cake from the top.


I am stealing this idea the next time I have to bake a cake. You could use any little vessel of any sort! In case you want this great recipe, here it is:

Ingredients:

4 eggs slightly beaten
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups self rising flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups grated carrots (about 4 large)
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine the eggs, sugar, and oil and mix well. Add the flour a bit at a time until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and pour into 2 cake pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

For the cream cheese frosting you will need:

1/2 cup butter softened
1 package 8 ounce cream cheese softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 1 lb pack powdered sugar

Combine the butter and cream cheese and cream together. Add the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar a bit at a time until desired consistency.


ENJOY!!!

Neon Nails

Girls beach trip began with a trip to get a mani/pedi. Otherwise, I would have needed to wear closed toe shoes even in the sand. I remembered seeing some two toned nails in a magazine recently in coral and turquoise that I loved. I told the girls about them and we decided to try out this new trend. The colors were a bit limited but since Neon is so hot right now, we went that route.


We found fun ads in fashion magazines that coordinated with our polish choices:

I love this picture of Jacqueline's fabulous nails holding a choco-taco. Doesn't get much better than that.