TGIF and Happy Birthday, LilSis!

April 17, 2009

The weather has been cool, windy and cloudy here in southern California this week, so we’ve gotten a lot of our technical work done indoors.  We won’t bore you with the details, but we did make a lot of progress and we’re pretty ding dang proud of ourselves!

After all that mental exertion, we’re taking the weekend off for some R&R and sister time.  Our plan for the warmer sunnier weekend is beaching, boating and boozing book-reading!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

TGIF you all!  Saturday is LilSis’ birthday, so we’ll be celebrating it in some funtastic way with SirHoney, Big T, Hay Hay and SisMama.  We’ll see you back here on Sunday!  Have a great weekend!

~BigSis

Thursday Thoughts

April 16, 2009

We hope you’ve all had a chance to check out the Potato Ho Down by now!  If not, wander over to dlynz.com to see all of the great spud dishes.  We had a ton of fun putting together our Pink Potatotini!

While BigSis and LilSis have been in the same town and same house this week, we’ve had a chance to work on our blog a little bit, and are working on some enhancements.  Nothing too fancy, since neither of us are techies, just a little tweak here and there.

  • You’ll notice that you can now subscribe to the comments on a particular post, which is something we really like being able to do.
  • We’ve also changed how we show our book list.  Instead of a list of our favorites, we’ll be posting a link to the book we’re currently reading (or cooking or baking from) in our left sidebar.  That featured book will change from time to time.
  • All of our recipes will soon be on a separate page that you can access from the top Navigation Bar.

We have some other things in the works, so keep your eyeballs peeled for those, and let us know if you like the changes (or not!).

~BigSis

Potato Ho Down: Pink Potatotini

April 13, 2009

potato-ho

Anyone who knows us knows how much we love pink, so does it come as a surprise that our Potato Ho Down entry this month is a Pink Potatotini?

Pink Potatotini

Pink Potatotini

We served the Pink Potatotinis for Easter Sunday, and had tons of pink fun with them.  We started with our Make-Ahead Potato recipe, and just added a touch of red food coloring.  We then piped them into martini glasses, added a sprinkle of chives and a couple of olives. Viola!  Pink Potatotini!

Dlyn is the host for this month’s Ho Down, so be sure to visit her site on April 15th to see all of the Potato Hos and their recipes!  Thanks for hosting, Dlyn!

~BigSis

MAC and Miss Chevious Video Makeup Tutorials

April 13, 2009

Good morning, everyone!  We hope you had a most egg-cellent Easter, as we did!  It seems like it is officially spring now, since Easter is behind us, and kids are on spring break or just finished their break.

There’s something about spring and vacation time that makes me want new makeup.  I don’t know why, it just does.  Maybe it’s that spring is like a fresh start or a new day.  At any rate, it can be really helpful for me to see a visual tutorial of new makeup, rather than just trying to wing it myself, which sometimes ends badly!

I found this cool video tutorial on MAC’s sculpted eye on their web site.  There are 4 other tutorial videos you can view, all from MAC Makeup Artists.  There’s one on a smoky eye, a perfect red lip, a sculpted lip, and classic eyeliner.  The tutorials are very easy to follow, and they provide a list of the products and tools that you need to recreate the look.

I also found a great tutorial on a spring eye from Miss Chevious. You might remember that we featured some of her videos on fun eye looks a while back.

Check out these videos and get some new spring ideas!

~BigSis

Hoppy Easter!

April 12, 2009

In observance of Easter, BigSis and LilSis are taking the day off to spend time with family.  We send our wishes out to you for a wonderful Easter, and will see you back here tomorrow.  Until then, enjoy your Easter dinner, egg hunts, and chocolate bunnies!

Hoppy Easter!

Hoppy Easter!

~BigSis

More Fun with Peeps

April 11, 2009

Oh no, Mr. Bunny! (Something about this is just wrong). This little pink bunny is just too cute to eat!  He looks like he’s all tucked into his cozy little graham cracker bed for the night, but little does he know he’s about to be liquified!  Oh nooooo……

pink-bunny-smore

But if you really get a kick out of this, check out CakeSpy for some fun ideas for leftover Easter Candy. I love this Malted Milk Shake.  It reminds me of a Peeps hot tub.

malted-milkshake

For all the cupcake fanatics, Baking Bites does some crazy cute Peeps cupcakes.

peepscupcakes-1

And if this just leaves you wanting more, check out the Peeps: Recipes and Crafts to make with your favorite Marshmallow Treats.

peeps-book

As for me, I’m about “peeped out”!

~LilSis

How are Peeps Made??

April 10, 2009

peeps1

Why eat just yellow peeps when you have this selection?

Have you ever thought about how all those little Peeps come to be? Wonder no more. The Chicago Tribune has provided a Peeps slide show that reveals all of the secrets about the sugary little guys.

Freshly Hatched Peeps

Freshly Hatched Peeps

The Washington Post got in the Peeps Game too.  They have an annual contest called the Peep Show, that features the creative work that folks do with Peeps.  You have to check this out.  I love the Peeps in bikinis, Project Peepway, Peeps Idol, and SpongeBob SquarePants Peeps!

Personally, I’m a chocolate bunny or Cadbury Egg kind of a girl, since only chocolate is worthy of the calories spent on candy in my opinion, but to each his own!  Enjoy the Peep Show!

~BigSis

Crazy Colored Easter Eggs

April 9, 2009

Flickr Photo by Barefoot Kitchen Witch

Flickr Photo by Barefoot Kitchen Witch

If you haven’t seen The Barefoot Kitchen Witch’s twist on Coloring Easter Eggs, you’ve gotta check it out! I love these! She used a method similar to making Chinese Tea Eggs and they turned out awesome!

carton-of-colored-eggs

She even made deviled eggs out of one batch. You can read how to make these crazy colored deviled eggs here.

deviled-easter-eggs3

I bet the kids would have a blast making and eating these!  I hope I have time to make these or my pastel colored eggs are going to look awfully boring in comparison!

~LilSis

Sponsor a Homeless Easter Bunny!

April 8, 2009

So are you looking for a unique, meaningful Easter gift for your kiddos, or maybe another family member or a friend? Are they animal lovers?  I have the perfectest idea for you!  Sponsor a homeless bunny this Easter!

Eddie Rabbit 2

Eddie Rabbit 2

Best Friends is the most incredible animal sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, and they are one of my top 2 favorite charities (the SPCA is the other one).  If you don’t know about the wonderful work they do, please check out their web site.  This Easter, you can sponsor a bunny who is at Best Friends waiting for a furever home.  For $25, you can sponsor one of these little bunbuns.  Your gift will go toward updating and expanding their Bunny House at Best Friends.

Ellie

Ellie

A $25 gift sponsorship comes with a personalized e-card from you on Easter (or any other day you like), along with a photo and story of the bunny you’ve sponsored. How about printing out your sponsored bunny’s photo, and placing it in your child’s Easter basket?  How fun would that be?

Dakota

Dakota

Thank you for considering a bunny sponsorship with Best Friends!

~BigSis

Easter Baking and Easter Bunny Cakes

April 7, 2009

Thanks for all those links for great Easter Baking ideas, BigSis. And you’re right when you say they’re from brilliant minds. Your list includes some of my most favorite food blogs! I’m consistently impressed by their amazing talent!

Since you and SisMama will be here in CA for Easter, maybe my guys will persuade you to bake something sweet for them. You know how deprived they are!

I haven’t even had time to think about the Easter Dinner Menu yet, so I think I’m going to leave the dessert up to you!  I do LOVE Easter Bunny Cakes, though.  I’ve always remembered that one year when my birthday actually fell on Easter and SisMama made me a fabulous Easter Bunny Birthday Cake. I was probably only 7 or 8 years old but I’ve never forgotten it!

This Easter Bunny Cake from Betty Crocker is really cute.

easter-bunny-cake

Wanna make me one for my birthday? Pretty please? It’s so cute!

~LilSis