Easter excitement is building

It is quite nice to be celebrating Easter for such a long time.  Must be that since Amelia's arrival, Easter has been in March, giving us little time after her birthday to enjoy Easter festivities.  I have realized that when Easter is in April we do not have enough Easter books, each has been read at least 3 times, not to mention the abundance of painted eggs in the fridge (deviled eggs for Easter appetizer is a must).  

So, we boiled another batch of eggs and went at it with sharpies and watercolor pens. 

Amelia's new favorite color is ...

Blue.  I am sure Elsa has nothing to do with it.  I did one egg an she did the rest.  I encouraged her to do another color, but she insisted she wanted all of them in blue.  Ok.

We did try a few new recipes this week as well.

Amelia hammered the graham crackers for the crust with her toy hammer...worked like a charm. 

Trust me...you only need a slice about this big.

  

NO BAKE CHOCOLATE PIE

For the crust:

 ¾ cup graham cracker crumbs

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons melted butter

For the filling:

1 ½ cups HERSHEY’s Special Dark or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

11 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup sugar

¼ cup butter, softened

2 cups frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed - plus additional for serving if desired

 Instructions

Crust: 

Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar and brown sugar in a bowl. Mix until completely combined.

Pour the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and spread, pressing down firmly, so that you have an even layer in the bottom of the plate and about ½ an inch up the sides. Freeze the crust while you are preparing the pie filling.

Filling:

Pour chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at medium power for about 1 minute. Continue to microwave 15-30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating until the chips are completely melted. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment and at medium speed, beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar and butter until light and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and with the mixer at low speed, slowly drizzle in the melted chocolate. Mix until completely blended together. 

Replace the paddle attachment of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, and at low speed, fold in the softened whipped topped until well blended. Spoon the mixture into the pie crust. (I made this in my kitchen aid, but a hand mixer would have been fine too).

Refrigerate until firm – about 2 hours. 

I had several pitas in the fridge and saw a few pins on Pinterest about these cinnamon sugar pita chips.

CINNAMON SUGAR PITA CHIPS

Cut a pita into wedges, brush each slice with melted butter (you could use spray I would imagine) and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on them.  Place on baking pan and bake 350 for 5 minutes.  

Crunchy and just the right amount of sweetness.

We were also out and about this week.  First to Jitters after dance (seems to be a ritual now) for our hot chocolate fix.  Then to the Dimond Mall for ice skating. 

  

I mentioned our rink here in Eagle River was being redone for the summer and not wanting Amelia's ice skating skills to go by the wayside, we figured we would try out the ice rink at the mall.   This mall is on the south end of Anchorage and not nearly as nice (my opinion) as the 6th Avenue Mall...but ... THEY HAVE AN ICE RINK!   

Truly I thought it would be kinda run down, but wow we loved it!  Our rink is geared for heavy duty hockey and plexiglass covers much of the area.  This rink is great as we could stand and see them with only a 3 foot wall keeping us apart.  Great to hold onto for beginners if needed.  Seems once you learn to skate...you don't forget...Amelia did smashing.

Our friend Vivvy came along too.  She has had one session of ice skating with Amelia and did great considering she has had a couple weeks off.

We are planning weekly trips throughout the summer...keeping our skills sharp for classes in the Fall.

Our walks continue...

this one was called the Princess Walk.  Elsa, Rapunzel, 2 Ariels, Mulan and her doll Liz (named after cousin Liz as it looks like her).  

Liz, you didn't realize you were a princess did you? And in doll form at that! :)  

Will surely post early on all our Easter fun.

The happiest Easter!