Going BANANAS....Banana Split Dessert, Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake and...Easter Fun!

Hey Y'all......thought I better stop by and send a shout-out to my PEEPS:)

I hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for SPRING!!

I didn't mean to be gone so long but with a few health problems,
birthdays and busyness in general............life happens.
I promised myself that I would try to do more frequent, 
short posts but I find myself
 with a ton of stuff to share and I figure I better
 cram it all in, once again:)
So here we go..........

First up, one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE desserts,
and perfect for Easter!
Banana Split Dessert 
We've made this in our family for years and I cam across it recently in 
one of our old cookbooks.
Everything about this is pure YUM. 
 TRUST ME:)

Seriously, this is so good I think you just need to try it:)
Banana Split Dessert

2 cups graham crackers 

1/2 cup butter melted 

1/2 cup butter 

2 cups sifted powdered sugar 

2 eggs 

5 bananas 

1 15 1/2 ounce can crushed pineapple, well drained 

1 8 ounce container frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed 

semisweet chocolate, shredded 

1/3 cup chopped nuts optional 

maraschino cherries 

In a mixing bowl toss together the graham crackers and the melted 1/2 cup 

butter.  Press crumb mixture onto the bottome of a 13X9X2 inch baking 

pan.  In a small mixing bowl beat the remaining 1/2 cup butter about 

30 seconds til softened.  Add powdered sugar; beat till fluffy.  Beat in eggs. 

Spread egg mixture over crumb mixture. 

 Slice bananas lengthwise into halves 

and arrange over egg mixture.  Spoon pineapple over bananas.  Spread with 

dessert topping.  Sprinkle with chocolate and the nuts, if desired.  Cover 

refrigerate at least four hours before serving.,  Cut inot squares to serve. 

Top each square with a cherry.  Cover and chill to store.  Serves 15. 

From the Avon International Cookbook 1983 

Ready for more banana goodness?

How does Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake sound?

Pretty good if you ask me:)

So here you go........

Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup butter, softened and cut into pieces, (divide 1/4 cup for sauce and 1/2 cup for cake)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 large bananas, yellow but firm, sliced diagonally into 1/4-inch pieces

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sour cream

Place brown sugar, 1/4 cup of the butter and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Heat over medium low heat until butter is melted and mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally.

Pour into a 9-inch round cake pan or a 9" square pan.

Arrange banana slices over brown sugar mixture.

Place remaining 1/2 cup butter and sugar in a large bowl; 

beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

At low speed, beat in flour mixture in 3 parts alternating with sour cream,

 beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Spread batter over bananas.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 min or until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack 15 minute.

Run small knife around edge of cake; carefully invert cake onto serving plate. Serve warm.

Before we get to the fun stuff,
here's another cute idea for Easter.......Deviled Egg Chicks!

Simply make your usual recipe for deviled eggs but instead of slicing the egg
lengthwise, slice it horizontally and scoop out the filling that way.  

(Does that make sense?))

Add peppercorn eyes and a tiny carrot nose and you have the perfect brunch dish:)

Okay.......moving on to some fun stuff!
I think I am desperate for little kids again.
I know this for sure.......
if i did have a little one, I would grab some cotton balls, 

cut out bunny shapes and make a bunny photo frame of my kiddos!
Like it?

Using those plastic eggs and some pipe cleaners, make some egg bunnies to hold
a little treat.  This would be a great way to share treats with the rest of the class:)

Next is one of my favorites.......
Now you can "egg" your neighbors (without getting in trouble:)
I made this one because to me, it's the perfect combo of Easter Bunny fun
with a lesson/reminder on the TRUE meaning of Easter.
The reason we celebrate...........our risen Savior.

The obvious thing to do would be to share this with families with children.
However, I think the opposite would be a wonderful treat.
Do you have an elderly couple or someone living alone, who may like to wake up to some eggs in their lawn on Easter?
Now that would be a special treat:)

If you do a search online for "you've been egged", you'll find many variations on this.

Easter treats.........

these are so adorable!

I tried looking around for the exact instructions but came up empty.

However, it looks like these cute faces were made with pumpkin cookie cutters!

CLEVER!!

 Oh gosh, I have to share these EVERY year..........
Bunny Butt Cookies!
 
Here is the link with instructions: Bunny Butt Cookies

Kids would LOVE these straws.........
PEEPS Straws!

How about some bunny pancakes?

This is sooooo cute:)

Need a last minute favor?

These are super cute and easy...Cotton Tail donut Holes.

Follow the link for the free printable:

Bunny Tails

And who couldn't use advice on life once in awhile?

Especially if that advice is from the EASTER BUNNY?

Here's something just for fun........

What's your Easter Bunny Name?

My name is Bubbles MacDoodle!

Okay, told you I had some fun stuff:)

But now I leave you with this.

It's great to have fun............

but it's more important to remember this:

Happy Spring and may God Bless You!

XOXO Suzanne

A.K.A Bubbles MacDoodle

Jelly Beans, Jelly Bean Cookies and Magic Jelly Beans. . . .

ahhhh. . . . .i love me some bright, colorful jelly beans.

they're just plain fun!

i have a board on pinterest called "fun food". . . .

and for sure, jelly beans qualify!

so i was just tickled as could be to find some

 cute jelly bean ideas out there.

read on for a few great ideas.

but first, check out this jelly bean cake, costume and my favorites. . . .

jellybean happy pills:)

oh gosh, i almost passed out when i saw these jelly bean sugar cookies.

sign me up for a double batch. . .please!

the recipe for this is at :sallysbakingaddiction

or here's another one from

  simplyklassichome.

magic jelly beans anyone?

this next idea is seriously too cute!

full instructions can be found at nothingbutcountry.com but in a nutshell,

in a pail with some wheatgrass or even easter grass,

have your child "plant" a few jelly beans.

the next morning,

you have replaced the jelly beans with a giant rainbow lollipop.

get it?

the jelly beans turned into a lollipop.

soooo cute!

and the lovely lady behind this at nothing but country provides you with a printable 

magic jelly beans seed packet to make it oh. so. real!

when i taught Sunday School for the little ones years back,

i just had to find a way to give out jelly beans.

so we used something like this attached to a cute bag of jelly beans:)

meaningful, clever and YUMMY:)

wait. . . .

we need more jelly bean cookies, don't you think?

 here are simple, colorful cut-out sugar cookies.

Thank you to Partiologist for the idea!

No jelly bean cookie cutter?

well. . . .buy a tin of jelly bellys and use that!

works awesome!!!

these look super good. . . .

and i think will be made in this house tomorrow!

Jelly Bean Blondies

Jelly Bean Blondies

Ingredients

1 Stick Butter or margarine Melted (1/4 cup)

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract Pinch salt

1 cup all­purpose flour ( or Gluten Free Flour Mix) 1/4­1/2 cup jelly beans

Instructions

1. Butter an 8×8 pan

2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. 3. Add salt, stir in flour.

4. Pour into prepared pan, and sprinkle top with Jelly Beans.

5. Bake at 350°F 20­25 minutes, or until set in the middle.

6. Cool on rack before cutting them.

Recipe by A Few Short Cuts at http://afewshortcuts.com/2012/04/jelly­bean­blondies/

have a beautiful Easter weekend!

be back tomorrow:)

Suzanne

Marshmallow + Bunnies & Chicks =

PEEPS!!!

gotta love those little sugary peeps, right?

or are you one of those people who pretend not to like them,

as my husband does every year.

 (although they do seem to disappear.  hmmm. . .)

well, on this i am totally honesty.

i love my peeps:)

i mean, they are amazing little things.

you can eat them, bake with them, decorate with them.

and they're so cheap. 

cheap, cute, yummy. . . .

what more could you want, right?

and as this preschool church sign shows,

apparently i'm not alone:)

(it IS for 3-5 year olds so very cute:)

and they look so darn cute in an Easter basket.

so be warned. . . .even if you hate them, they will be in any basket i make

cause they're just so bright and fun.

you can throw them away. . .

or better yet, throw them MY way:)

 i know you're holding your breath to see all the cool things you can do with them,

so let's take a look.

you can

DECORATE with peeps.

 how CUTE are these ideas?????

you can make "peep" kabobs. . . .

or "peep" pops!

anyone up for s'mores?

maybe you want your peeps dipped in Chocolate.

one bag of chocolate chips will dip about 20 peeps.

don't ask me how i know this:)

but the grand finale of peep ideas is this. . . .

a "peep" mobile

i tell you, some people are SOOOO creative!!!

i found most of these on pinterest and many were hard to track down.

however, a number of the ideas can be credited to

Misty Kearns, CEO of Me.

i almost forgot!

i've talked about how much i LOVE caramel popcorn.

have i mentioned how much i love 

marshmallow popcorn?

i don't make it, because i would eat it.

all of it:)

now you can make marshmallow popcorn with PEEPS!

Yum, YUM!

well, my peeps. . . .
that's it for me today.
xoxo
Suzanne
linking up with pink saturday:)

Aloha...Palm Sunday, Bunnies, Bunny Bait and Hawaii

Happy Day, Happy Day...
it's Palm Sunday!

like i said...
HAPPY DAY!

ordinarily, i wouldn't make clog up a Palm Sunday post with
other stuff...
but i'm not sure when i'll be able to post again so here goes...

 we are off to Hawaii tomorrow!

the NorthShore...

surf capitol of the world...

and the place we were married 20 years ago:)

we always promised the girls 

we'd take them back to the place it all began...

so away we go!

we'll do a bit of this...

and this...

(shopping on the north shore:)

and this...

(horseback riding on the beach)

and we will celebrate Easter Sunday morning services on the beach with

North Shore Christian Church.

Our Prayers are with you and your ohana!
May your testimony be sweet praises to God!

you might remember it as Bethany Hamilton's church

in the movie Soul Surfer.

it should be a very special Easter morning!

now, let's talk about BUNNIES...

get ready to say "AWWWWW"

i think SOMEBUNNY has been eating too much

BUNNY BAIT:)

what's bunny bait?

THIS is bunny bait...

and it is YUMMY!!!!!

according to Sing for my Supper, here is all you do...
Bunny Bait
1 bag popcorn, popped
6 oz. white chocolate candy coating
1 bag Easter M&Ms
pretzel sticks, broken into small pieces (if desired)
colorful sprinkles, (if desired)
Place the popped popcorn in a large bowl with the broken up pretzels and M&Ms. Heat the candy coating in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until melted and smooth.
Drizzle the candy coating over the popcorn mixture and stir to coat. The pretzels and M&Ms will sink to the bottom, so make sure to get those stirred in and coated with the rest of the popcorn.
Spread out on a large piece of wax paper, top with a few sprinkles (if desired) and let cool. Break into pieces and serve in a large bowl.

(pinterest)


and to make an ADORABLE bunny bum cake...

 go to Betty Crocker for directions.

well friends,
i'm outta here!
have a BLESSED Palm Sunday and Easter...
and be sure to whip up a bunch of that bunny bait:)
God Bless...
Suzanne