Blooming over spring break

So here's what I did over spring break:
1. whipped up the following in my kitchen: duck a la orange, a lemon tart with a pate briste crust and, for St. Patrick's Day an Irish Fish Pie with Dublin Cheese
2. Finally set up Netflix and caught up with a ton of films I missed while pregnant (Zombieland and Sherlock were my favorite. I found the Princess and the Frog a little extremely scary for kids)
3. Visited the Arboretum and saw a LOT of gorgeous tulips
4. Planted a lot of veggies and herbs
5. Had several backyard picnics -- something I couldn't do in my last house (see: mosquitos, year-long horrific abundance of)
5. Sewed a cupcake-themed dress and a St. Patrick's-themed skirt and tiered top -- all for The Beautiful Girl!!!!!
I am just loving this sewing business!

Killer cupcakes

For Sunday at Loops, I made these cupcakes:

Cute, yes? Sweet, innocent and ..... deadly?

OK, so I got the idea from a recent Martha Stewart Show which highlighted knitting. The marzipan knitted decorations are the idea of VeganYumYum and though time consuming (three hours with the help of my husband-assistant), are not difficult. I used this recipe. In the past, I've always been a fan of Everyday Food but this recipe..not so much. The icing was REALLY buttery and the cupcakes were pretty much banana nut muffins -- without the nuts or spices. But they were cute.

I had some leftover when we were leaving, so I set one aside for the owner, Shelley. She bit into it as she was driving to pick up her daughter. And then spit it out. Because Shelley is highly allergic to bananas.

So I guess what I'm saying is: Shelley, I swear I wasn't trying to kill you. :)