Bunny Butt Cookies for Easter...

Okay, are these the most adorable, stinkin cute cookies ever???????

Bunny Butt Cookies!

Seriously, even the name makes me smile:)

Pillsbury does it again...super cute and super easy sugar cookies. 

And I personally promise your kids will think you're the coolest mom for making these!;)

here's how you do it...

Bunny Butt Cookies

*Note:  This is the Pillsbury recipe but we like to make our own 

sugar cookie and frosting recipe.  

We also don't slice the cookies, we roll out our dough and use round cookie cutters. 

 For those who want exact instructions, read on...

Ingredients:

1  roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated sugar cookies

1/3  cup all-purpose flour

1  container (12 oz) fluffy white whipped frosting

Pink gel food color

22  miniature marshmallows

Candy sprinkles

Directions:

1  Heat oven to 350°F.

 In large bowl, knead cookie dough and flour with hands until well mixed.

2  Reshape dough into 9x1 1/2-inch log.

3  Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes.Remove plastic wrap. Cut cookie dough into 33 slices. Cut 11 slices into 4 equal wedges; shape each wedge into ovals for bunny feet. Place cookie dough slices and bunny feet on ungreased cookie sheet.

4  Bake 8 to 12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

5  In medium microwavable bowl, stir frosting and 1 to 3 drops pink food color until well blended. Microwave uncovered on High 10 to 15 seconds or until soft but not translucent.

6  To make bunny butt, frost 1 whole cookie slice and 2 bunny feet with frosting. Place bunny feet on bottom of cookie as shown in photo. Place 1 marshmallow in center of each cookie for tail. Decorate bunny paws with candy sprinkles. Repeat with remaining cookie slices and bunny feet. To add ears to your bunny, place pink jelly beans at the top of each cookie.

I'm pretty sure this cutie pie will be honored if you make Bunny Butt Cookies! :) 

XOXOXO

Suzanne

Today is a SWEET Holiday.........

because it's.....

oh yeah!

don't you just LOVE doughnuts???

today is THE day to chuck that boring, CLEAN diet you're on and 

LIVE a LITTLE!
(hey, i'm on a diet too so i'm not just yelling at you:)

you know that saying, 

"live each day as if it is your last"?

well, i don't know about you but this girl won't be counting calories

or cutting carbs on her last day.

PROMISE!:)

i'll be having a fat, warm, YUMMY DOUGHNUT:)

okay, okay, then how bout some things you know you were

 wanting to learn about doughnuts.

or donuts:)

Fun Facts About Donuts via H&R Block

random facts:

~many people think bagels are less fattening.

the folks at Dunkin Donuts would disagree.

their jelly doughnut has 260 calories.

their bagel, pre-cream cheese, has 320 calories.

of course, there is a bit of sugar but one day can't hurt, can it?:)

~in 1934, Clark Gable dunked a donut in the movie

"It Happened One Night".

that's how the whole dunkin thing started.

and you thought he was only famous for Gone With The Wind.

no way...something MUCH more important.

he gave us coffee and donuts:)

~Meet the original "Doughboys"

~eagerly awaiting their "taste from home", delivered by the salvation army

Doughnut Girls in WW1.

see.....doughnuts are THAT important:)

in WW2, they were renamed the

"Doughnut Dollies"

~ Entenmann's has made more than 4 billion donuts.

if you laid them end to end, they would wrap around the earth almost 9 times!

Which One are You.....

 Dunkin Donuts 

or Krispy Kreme?

i go with Krispy Kreme.

i mean, any place that flashes a sign saying

donuts HOT now.....

come and get one.....

is the place for me.

(although i haven't had one in about 5 years. boohoo.)

PLUS, they are giving away a free doughnut, any variety,

today only, just to celebrate

National Doughnut Day.

actually, my FAVORITE doughnut (donut) shop is in

Flint Michigan.

DONNA'S DONUTS!

omg.......these are the BEST counts in the world.

worth a trip.

worth smuggling home.

worth the calories.

you only live once.

i remember as a kid, 

waking up on a Saturday morning to find my dad went for some donuts.

 or as a treat on Sunday night after church.

ALWAYS on Halloween!

and always at least once with cider and donuts.

they are WORLD FAMOUS for their nutty doughnuts.

and for the record, those toasted coconut things people call nutty doughnuts are NOT nutty doughnuts.

no how, no way.

~~~JUST MAKE SURE NOBODY WITH YOU HAS A PEANUT 

or 

NUT ALLERGY~~~
(gosh, i can't handle that one on my conscience.
i'm freaked out enough:)

closer to home,

like only a mile down the road,

is a new donut place,

Trackside donuts.

and they have these GINORMOUS apple fritters that are

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

i literally try not to drive by.....too tempting:)

then, we also have

Peace Love and Little Donuts.

SUPER cute, and tasty, with flavors like;

apple pie, blueberry cheesecake, banana split, pina colada, S’more and sweet chocolate coconut doughnuts.Some are topped with items such as cherries, Oreo cookie pieces or Nestle Crunch.  The most popular are raspberry lemonade doughnuts.

look at it this way.

if going to a doughnut shop is safe enough for THESE guys......

you can do it too.

just for today.

for one little doughnut.

hahaha...what is it about cops and donuts?

maybe they just know a good thing when they see it:)

i know, i know,

you can't get out of the house.

NO WORRIES!

make your own.

like these from Christy at Southern Plate.......

Melt In Your Mouth Doughnuts

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 ten count can Texas style doughnuts (or your preference, just not flaky layers)

1 Cup Sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 stick margarine, melted

Vegetable Oil For Frying

Instructions

1. Pour oil into skillet to the depth of a little less than 1/2 an inch and heat on medium to medium high for about five minutes. In a bowl, melt margarine. In a separate bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.
2. Using a plastic bottle cap, cut the center out of each biscuit. Drop dough into hot oil, watching carefully and turning when golden. Once doughnuts are golden on both sides, remove to paper towel lined plate. Repeat until all dough is cooked, including doughnut holes.
3. Dip both sides of each doughnut into melted margarine, then press both sides into cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm.

 have i made you hungry yet?

i tried to do this post later in the day so you wouldn't hate me TOO much.

still, i made a little collage of my favorite Donnas Donuts for you.

oh man.....these look good.

i think i need a donut!:)

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

HAPPY DOUGHNUT DAY!

on a serious note, thank you SO much for all of your comments and emails about my peanut allergy post yesterday.

i'm still pulling together info for my next part of the post.

it's amazing how much i didn't know.

i hope you'll click on it when i do eventually write it,

hopefully by Sunday.

i know it affects a relatively small segment of the population 

but if we are all aware, we'll be prepared to help

if we are the ones to witness it.

big SWEET doughnut HUGS.......

Suzanne

Easter Parade...

don't you love this time year?
spring, EASTER...
it's such a beautiful time.

I remember when i was a little girl,
it also meant something else.
it was a time to go shopping with my mom for
a new PRETTY Easter dress...
there was just something about it that i'll never forget.
every little girl at church paraded in on Easter Sunday with their
Easter Dress...and sometimes a new hat/bonnet,
new little purse or matching shoes.
for some reason, i remember we could actually wear white...
before labor day...
as in white patent leather mary janes and
white sandals.

the colors were all so pretty!
i remember my favorite dress EVER.
it was a pretty robin's egg blue and white...
kind of like a "Heidi" dress.
it looked a little like this...

awwww...it brings back such memories:)

and when my own girls were little, i dressed them up...

and they were always matching:)

but i also remember it seemed to end at an earlier age than when i was a kid..

now, i'm wondering...and HOPING...

that girls still dress up for church.

in particular, Easter Sunday.

cause if they don't, they're missing out on something special.

look at these sisters from way back...

makes me wish i had a photo like this:)

truly the good ol' days!

down here in casual Florida, 

pastels and sundresses seem to ALWAYS be in.

but up north, where i grew up,

it's just one more sign of spring.

nothing like an EASTER parade to get you in the springtime mood:)

Easter Parade by shabbychicks 

 i also remember how we went to Florida when i was young...

and they had an Easter Bonnet parade.

it was soooo much fun making up cute, quirky hats.

i could be wrong but i vaguely remember dressing up one of my nieces.

memories:)

look at some of the clever Easter Bonnets and dresses in these parades...

Sweet Southern Belles...

 ADORABLE little girls in their bonnets...

WOW...these are amazing:)

they're wearing a whole Easter basket on their head!

i hope this family won...

 

and maybe after the parade, or for Easter brunch,

how about some PRETTY 

Easter Bonnet cookies!

isn't this so much fun?

tell me, did you get a new Easter dress or 

make a bonnet when you were younger?

if so, what did your favorite look like?

Happy Sunday!

xoxoxo

Suzanne

6 Things I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE...

...and that make me a very HAPPY girl!

(well, besides being back at my blog, of course:)

let's get right to it...

1.  this AMAZING, GORGEOUS, perfectly SHABBY quilt 

made by my extremely talented sister Kathy

for my sweet girl's 16th birthday.

 I know what you're thinking...

how come I didn't get this sewing/quilting gene

passed on by my Grandma!

trust me, I ask myself this SAME question:)

Isn't it PRETTY?

  oh my gosh, I fell in love with these rag quilts when I first saw them.

so COZY!!!

yes, she makes very INTRICATE quilts too, 

but when she said she wanted to make a quilt for her sweet 16,

I begged her to make Taylor a rag quilt that she would have forever!

 she loves it...we all love it!

in fact, now Jordan wants a shabby chic room 

so she can have a quilt from Aunt Kathy someday too:)

see why I LOVE this? 

2.   I absolutely adore this bag made for me by

Kellie from Bag Full of Posies.

 she makes these adorable fabric rosettes and 

prints your blog name (or whatever you like) on the bag. 

 It's big, roomy...

and oh, so SHABBY!

I get stopped everywhere I go by people who rave about the bag,

so check her out on etsy...

you'll be so HAPPY you did!

3.  I LOVE strawberry season!

 strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie, strawberry cake, 

strawberries on toast...on ice cream...

strawberries & cream...

and now, strawberry MUFFINS!!!

 these are so YUMMY...

oh my gosh, one bite and you can't stop.

so next time I write about dieting, you'll know what I've been stuffing my face with:)

4.  The English Home magazine.

 oh...this is so LOVELY!

well written articles, beautiful pictures.

I fell in love with England when we were there last Fall...

so when I saw this magazine at Borders (40% off sale you know)

I picked it up and fell in love.  

see for yourself...

 now put the kettle on for some tea and grab yourself a strawberry muffin...

snuggle under a COZY quilt and I promise...

you will ENJOY this one! 

5.  Flowers...on SANDALS!

yep...a big thing this season.

you may still be in boot mode but trust me,

when you get around to warmer weather,

you'll see all kids of shoes embellished with flowers.

now, I'm not talking about some tacky flower thingies but

PRETTY accents on sandals. 

these...I LOVE!  

since I am a jeans-wearing mama...BIG TIME... 

I think a pair of these would make me a HAPPY shabby chick! 

these are a bit dressier but SO pretty and delicate!

my girls REALLY like these...me too:) 

 6.  Cookie Brownies...

or as Jordan and her BFF Lucy have named them...

"Crownies"!

 Oh man...are these good.

I know...more food.  

hey...I send most...well, some of them...home with Lucy...5 kids there:) 

they're really simple and below I'll give you the recipe.

 but don't worry...my friend Duncan Hines has a box mix at the store:)

 every recipe I've seen calls for a top layer of chocolate frosting or ganache

but we have never done this.

we don't need to.

they're all warm and gooey with just the right blend of 

fudgy brownie and cookie dough as is.

Recipe for Crownies:

1  box (1 lb 2.4 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme Premium brownie mix
    Water, vegetable oil and egg called for on brownie mix box
1  pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® chocolate chip cookie mix
1/2   cup butter or margarine, softened
1  egg

(or you can make brownies and dough from scratch...if you're one of THOSE people:)  haha 

 1. 1 Heat oven to 350ºF (325ºF for dark or nonstick pan). Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray, or grease with shortening. Make brownie mix as directed on box. Spread in pan.
   2. 2 Make cookie mix as directed on pouch, using butter and 1 egg. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls evenly onto brownie batter; press down lightly.
   3. 3 Bake 42 to 47 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool on cooling rack 30 minutes.

 (or like I said, there's an easy box mix...if you can find it:)

 well, there you have it.

It's been a time of shoe shopping, 

going to the beach with my new bag,

reading magazines, 

stuffing my face with strawberries and CROWNIES

while curled up under a pretty quilt.

(actually, there is NO eating allowed anywhere near that pretty quilt:)

hope everyone is HAPPY and HEALTHY!

XOXOXOXOXO

Suzanne