Enter Spring- The accidentally green version.

Some things I've been dwelling on lately...

Do I want to make this cake because the cake stand is so pretty, or do I want the cake stand because the cake is so pretty? Or shall I just make a cake and put daisies on it?

Hmmm....

I really don't want to forget to use my Easter cookie cutters that I bought on sale at the end of spring last year.

I told Raj that this Fran's dark chocolate bunny is all I want for Easter.

My favorite new recipe of mashed potatoes with spinach. It's a great way to get an extra kick of vitamins:

About 1 lb of whatever potatoes you have in the house (I like small red potatoes because I don't have to peel or cut them).

Roughly 2 cups of spinach (I always like to chop it up so that it doesn't get stringy in the potatoes. Also, you can use more or less spinach if you like.)

1 Tablespoon of butter

1/4 of plain yogurt, or to taste. I like the rich, greek yogurt.

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes until soft enough to mash. Drain potatoes, and immediately, while hot, cream in the mixer with spinach so the spinach wilts. Add butter, and enough yogurt to make it creamy and a little tart. Add salt and pepper, et voila!

Thing I bought...Thing I want

Purchase of the week:

{Williams Sonoma 9 x 13 rectangular cake pan}

...as it occurred to me recently that I want my bars and brownies to have squared edges rather than round ones like the 9 x 13 casserole dishes make (a most important distinction, you know...)

Wish list:

{Eden Home Organic Table Cloth With Linen Trim}

For spring, I want a natural, white (or almost white) table cloth, preferably in organic linen or cotton. However, for the prices I'm finding, it's not going to be very high on the budgetary priorities list.

Afternoon Tea

"It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive organs. We cannot work, we cannot think, unless our stomach wills so. It dictates to us our emotions, our passions. After eggs and bacon it says, 'Work!' After beefsteak and porter, it says, 'Sleep!'

"After a cup of tea (two spoonfuls for each cup, and don't let it stand for more than three minutes), it says to the brain, 'Now rise, and show your strength. Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature, and into life: spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!'"

-Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927): Three Men in a Boat

{Images from Cost Plus, Williams Sonoma, and VeganYumYum}

Pregnancy Food Photography

I swear, sometimes I feel like I spend more time linking to other people's blogs than writing my own. But when other people have such better ideas than I do...why not?

Allow me to introduce you to Carolee Beckham. She's a photographer/blogger that is documenting her pregnancy with produce! Every few weeks, she posts a photoshoot of whatever fruit or vegetable that the little life inside her is compared to in size. What a keepsake for your baby to have for the rest of his or her life! All I can do is work on an alphabet cross stitch....

When my friend emailed this blog to me, I had already been calling my baby by fruit names and measuring its growth the same way. This is especially fun, because she is just a couple weeks ahead of me. Every time she posts, I see what my little guy or girl is about to be!

Currently, I am going on sixteen weeks, which makes it....

Avocado!

Here is the whole blog. It's really fun.

Oh! Oh Cake Stands!

Would you look at these? Just lookit! And the adorable cakes, too! I'll take one of each stand for sale here.

Ps. Thanks, Design*Sponge. Love you as always!

Cinnamon Scones on a Rainy Day

By definition, that would mean here in Seattle I made cinnamon scones nearly every day. However, if we get really specific we see that while it's constantly drizzly, not many days are absolutely rainy, as today is- The kind of weather that makes you want to curl up in your house, stay in your sweats, drink tea, and eat something fragrant and carb-filled.

Cinnamon scones popped into my head, and presently I was working on this recipe. I made a few changes; I used agave nectar instead of honey. Also, I learned a trick at a B&B in Ireland to not spend time cutting the butter into a scone. Melting it in the microwave and mixing it into the flour is really enough for the desired texture. Before you put me in stocks and stone me as a baking heretic try it yourself. Biscuits yes, always cut in the butter for a flaky biscuit, but scones? Meh. The glaze, in my opinion, is not necessary but certainly makes the scones more of a treat.

Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a date with some Irish Breakfast tea.