BUNNY BAIT

I woke up this morning thinking it was time to start making some Easter basket items. Bunny Bait is one of those things that has been around for a long time and there are many different recipes.  I will share mine which is so simple and really quite good.

Recipe

2 Cups Rice Chex
2 Cups pretzel sticks
1/2 jar of pastel colored sprinkles
1 bag marshmallow flavored Wilton's Candy Melts
1 large package of the pastel colored M&M's
1 package microwave popcorn (light or no butter) popcorn

 Pop the corn (making sure you have eliminated any un-popped kernels) then mix the popcorn, pretzels and the Chex cereal onto a Silpat lined cookie sheet. Mix it all around until you get good distribution.

 I find it easier to put the ingredients into a big bowl and then you drizzle the marshmallow white chocolate over the mix and gently mix with a spoon (plastic works best). After it is mixed, gently spread out on the Silpat lined cookie sheet.

 At this time sprinkle on the half jar of pastel sprinkles.  If you were to put them on during the time you pour on the chocolate they would become incorporated into the mix and not be colorful. After it has completely cooled then I put it back into the big bowl and add the bag of M&M's and gently mix.

 I wanted to be able to put either name or initial on each bag so my "Bunnies" would know which was theirs.  I found this adorable bunny graphic over at The Graphic's Fairy and just brought it into my draw program, sized and added the initial.  I printed the graphics out onto a full label sheet and then cut around the bunny, put on a clear cellophane bag.  Ready for the Easter baskets!

Resource

Graphic, The Graphic's Fairy 
Sprinkles & Marshmallow melting chocolate, Wilton
Draw Program, Corel Draw
Full Sheet Label, Avery Label
Cellophane bags, craft and specialty stores
Ribbon, Costco
Pretzels, popcorn & M&M's, grocery store

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EASTER CENTERPIECE

Since my children married and moved to different states it has always been my habit to send a little something prior to the holidays, just for them.  I now am fortunate to live in the same town as one of my sons and his family so I am going to deliver this little Easter centerpiece today. I mailed a rather elegant bunny to Missouri a little while ago.  I showed this bunny rack to my DIL and asked her if she just wanted the revolving bunny carousel to use when coloring eggs or would she prefer to have it decorated as a centerpiece/decoration.  She opted for the latter. This particular stand came from Tuesday Morning but I have seen egg stands at the $ stores and at all the craft stores, they are readily available this time of year.

 I gathered an assortment of plastic eggs.  I had the ones in the middle in my stash but purchased the other two bags.  The ones I had were decorative and the others are the kind you can open to put a treat inside.  If you want to do this and are able to find the decorative kind do so - you will see why later.

 Fiddle with the eggs and get them the way you think looks best in the stand.  In order for this to be stable (in other words to not have the eggs coming out all the time) you will need to hot glue them to the stand.  It was much easier to do the decorative eggs as all you had to do is to put a little dot of glue on each side of the egg holder (keep some craft tweezers on hand to pull away any glue strands that may linger).  For the ones that come apart put a dot of glue inside each egg and close to glue together and then glue the stand and insert these eggs.

It looked pretty cute with just the eggs but I can never leave well enough alone so I got out a couple of different kinds of pink ribbon and some pink sizzle. To make a bow using sizzle just grab a little handful and pull to make a length to tie some ribbon around.  I next tied the two different types of ribbon to the sizzle and glued to a leftover egg with a bamboo stick (from my wreath project) and then glued to one side of the carousel.

If this is going to be used so that both sides are visible you will need to make another sizzle/ribbon again and glue to the back.

 Now with both sides covered the appearance is that of a finished project.

 I added a cute pink edged plate and then some sizzle to finish off the look.

 Some sweet dotted Swiss cellophane tied up with both of the ribbon types and this is ready for delivery!

Resource

White plate with pink trim, Newcor

Egg tree, Tuesday Morning

Pink sizzle, Dollar Tree

Refillable eggs, Walmart

Ribbon, Michael's

Dotted Swiss Cellophane, floral supply store, Ebay

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FLAVORED VANILLA

Guest Post

 

On my last post I showed a photo of Spiced Rum Vanilla which was made by my oldest son and his wife and I mentioned that I would be doing a guest post so  here it is! They made three different kinds of homemade vanilla extract.

  This is the one that I featured on the post and I used it in vanilla bean ice cream for the added flavor of the spiced rum and it was very good. 

 

I asked my son for instructions, font, etc. for the post and this is what I received:

"1.      Slice about 20 vanilla beans length wise, and place in 1 quart canning jar (clear is best, to watch the color transformation).

2.      Add liquid of choice (whiskey, rum, spiced rum or vodka) and ensure beans are covered.

3.      Attach lid to jar.

4.      Place jar(s) in cool, dry place.

5.      Gently shake jar once per week.

6.      Pour vanilla extract into small jars after roughly 3 months. Have Lindy make labels and attach – otherwise it is duct tape and sharpie!

It really couldn’t get much easier"

I am particularly fond of his label instructions.  I just moseyed over to The Graphics Fairy  and quickly found vintage labels that would work wonderfully for this label.

 The second flavor is Whiskey Vanilla. The first use that comes to mind using this vanilla would be to flavor the sauce for bread pudding with whiskey sauce with this vanilla.  I also think it would be great in any of the fall breads like pumpkin or zucchini and how about putting it into carrot cake?  All sounds good to me.

  The third and final flavor is Vodka.  I'm thinking this would be good in cocktails and just about everything else because since the vodka does not have as distinctive a flavor as the rum and the whiskey that this one could be used in any recipe that called for vanilla.

I also think that these would be just wonderful hostess gifts in a little cellophane bag tied up with a pretty ribbon and would also be great stocking stuffers at Christmas.

I also need to add cooks notes from my son that I received on a second email:

"We’ve been experimenting with both hooch and types of vanilla beans (Madagascar, Mexico and Tahiti). I think freshness of the beans matters the most. Where they are grown seems to matter less than their age and how they were stored. I suspect temperature and humidity has something to do with it. We’ve found several sources on line and it is way less expensive to purchase the beans in bulk.

Not sure, but I may try for a second batch using the same beans. Take out the extract and immediately add more hooch. I have 5 or 6 bottles going right now, might just double the beans for the 2^nd soaking. We’ll see.

We like all 3 flavors. We have also been using good hooch. If I’d drink it, I’ll use it to make the extract, is pretty much the motto."

I will keep you updated on using the beans a second time.

Resource

Link to amber 8oz jars Wheaton W216856 Boston Round Bottle, Amber Glass, Capacity 8oz With 24-400 Black Phenolic Rubber Lined Screw Cap, Diameter 60mm x 136mm (Case Of 12)
Link to Madagascar vanilla beans Premium Madagascar Vanilla Beans 1/4 lb JR Mushrooms Brand

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