Final Four, baby!

My Wichita State Shockers did it! They're headed to the Final Four NCAA Basketball Championship next weekend! Un-freakin'-believable.

Looking forward to being on campus next week. You can absolutely feel the excitement in the air.

Fear the Wheat!

Sweet Wheat

Make that Sweet SIXTEEN Wheat! Our WSU Shocker mens basketball team beat Gonzaga last week to make it into the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. 

Fear the Wheat! But don't fear this sweet treat. I made these chocolate WuShocks a few years ago - Rolo candies, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and shocks of chocolate hair. Wu's nose is a Tootsie Roll.

Tonight the Shockers play La Salle. Go Shox! 

April Fools Day Dessert

Need a fun idea for April Fools Day? 

How about some chocolate broccoli cookies? 

I can just hear the kiddos now "ewwwwwwwwww broccoli!"

Don't worry.... no actual broccoli was used in the making of this dessert. Just delicious no-bake cookies, atop some Tootsie Roll "stems."

Be silly and have fun foolin' your family and friends. Find the step-by-step instructions at SheKnows.com.  

Go Shockers!

WSU Shocker Fans - 2008

Today, the Wichita State University mens basketball team plays in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Go Shox!

My husband went to K-State and I went to Fort Hays State. But we live in Wichita and I work at WSU, so we are most definitely SHOCKER FANS! 

This is a photo of my family in 2008 when we dressed up as Shockers for Halloween. Bea is a WSU cheerleader. Gus is WuShock (WSU's mascot). I'm a giant foam finger, and Eric is a plain ol' Shocker fan. (Any excuse to wear a grey t-shirt and call it a costume.)

Happy Very Hungry Caterpillar Day!

The first day of spring. What a perfect day to celebrate caterpillars. And one of my kids' favorite books: The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

This is a caterpillar macaron plate I made a few years ago. Still makes me smile.

The Dragon Slayers

Gus and his Lego Robotics team participated in their first Shocker MINDSTORMS Challenge last weekend. It was a full day of trial and error and success. Two of their three robots completed their challenges with bonus points for speed. And at the end of the day, the Dragon Slayers took 3rd place out of 15 teams! Not too shabby for a bunch of beginners. Plus, they won an award for best display and team notebook. They may or may not have had some professional guidance on that part. :)

Gus doing some programing on their Ramp It robot.

Watching their first robot challenge complete it's course.

This was the 1st place trophy. Pretty sweet Lego dragon.

This was the Line Follower course.

The team, making a group decision to correct their programming or move on.

Making corrections on the course. Over. And over. And over.

A proud mom and her Lego-lovin' kid.

Some pretty impressive Lego creations made by kids.

3-D cutouts of the kids as Hobbit dwarfs, slaying the dragon.

The Dragon Slayers and coaches after their 3rd place finish!

Gus' cool Lego name badge.

Fresh from Mr. McGregor's Garden

Kids and bunnies will eat these up. Carrot-cake cookies, stacked and sandwiched between dollops of cream cheese frosting, that form the shape of a carrot. 3-D dessert veggies, ya'll. Can ya dig it? 

Just add oil, butter and evaporated milk to a carrot cake mix. Pipe cookies in sizes that range from 1/2-inch to 2 inches, and then stack them together with frosting. Add some edible easter grass for the leafy tops, and you've got yourself a tasty, springtime treat. 

Helpful photos and a step-by-step tutorial can be found at SheKnows.

Holla! Hollow Chocolate Easter Eggs

Many years ago, I remember making some hollow eggs with yarn and glue - similar to a piñata. And then I saw a tutorial for it a few months ago and I thought to myself: I wonder if you could do that with chocolate?

Guess what? You can. What I thought was going to be a disastrous kitchen experiment, turned into a really fun project. So much, that I was sad when I ran out of balloons, because I wanted to make more. The only part of the experiment that didn't go too well, was when I first attempted to make these using a water balloon. I thought it would make sense to use a water balloon because it's smaller than regular balloons. Oh my. Big mistake. Yes, it's smaller, but the latex is also very THIN. Therefore, when you pour hot melted chocolate on it..... KAPOW! It explodes. Chocolate. Went. Everywhere.

I might still be cleaning blue candy melt off my kitchen ceiling 10 years from now.

But, consider it a lesson learned. And a good laugh. Use regular-sized balloons, just inflate them a tiny, tiny bit. 

The complete tutorial is available at SheKnows. Have fun. Experiment. Enjoy. I certainly did.

Slam Dunk Snacks

Who's ready for some March Madness? I am. My bracket's usually a bust after the first round, but that's OK. I just like the excitement that builds for college basketball's big dance. Oh... and the snacks that come with all that time spent in front of the TV.

Instead of serving boring nachos, score a slam dunk with these basketball calzones. They're tiny bites of cheese and pepperoni in balls of pizza dough. (Bonus: I finally found a use for my cake pop pan! I bought it last year and have never used it.)

Make these ahead of your next game gathering and heat them up just in time for tip-off. Step-by-step instructions are available at SheKnows.


Go Shockers!

Adorably Easy and Cheesy Appetizers

Normally, my edible art comes in the form of butter and sugar. But lately I've been experimenting with cheese. It started with some cheese and olive bumblebees I made for my friend's birthday. (Barbara - who we sometimes call "B.")

Then it branched out into other forms of cheese and more fun animal shapes, like these cheese wedge and almond hedgehogs. 

And whoooo wouldn't love an owl made from a mini Babybel cheese wheel?

You can find the lists of ingredients and step-by-step photos at SheKnows.com.

Schooled in Music

Bea had her first kindergarten music concert this week. Most of the time, she was REALLY into the hand motions (as well as adding in some of her own interpretive dance moves) but I only saw her sing the words to the songs a few times. Let's just say she came in strong on the choruses. :)

It was all quite adorable. The theme was "Schooled in Music." They asked all of the kids to wear bright colored clothes and colorful socks on their hands because they were tropical "fish." Lots of funny moments. And one slightly scary moment - Bea nearly fell off the back of the risers because she was putting too much foot action into the performance. That's my girl!

Gus also got in on the act. Not really. They asked him to hand out programs. He took his job very seriously, of course.

We went out for ice cream afterwards to celebrate. Pretty sweet night.