Lemon Tarts

Last week I went to Springville to learn how to make Lemon Tarts. They have been a family tradition at Easter for as long as I can remember. I've been craving all things lemon/lemon/sour/tart during this pregnancy, so they definitely hit the spot.

My grandparents work in the kitchen together, which I think is really special. My grandpa helps with all the food prep and my Grandma does the actual baking. My Grandpa zested and juiced at least 15 lemons for these lovely tarts. There are three separate parts to the lemon tart recipe, and making a batch is definitely a labor of love. My Great Grandmother used to roll out each individual tart shell, and so did my Grandma until my Mom gave her Tart Dough Tamper. It makes the work far easier, especially when you are making 4 dozen tarts.

I am determined to have more cooking/baking experiences with my mom and grandma. And I am also determined to start hand-writing my favorite recipes. I love seeing tried-and-true recipes that are so beat up you can barely read them (I think there will be a fist fight over my mom's brownie recipe that looks a lot like the recipe below)

I'm now on the hunt for some lovely, classic recipe card design. If only I had a typewriter.

That's Utah...

I love spring. I don't love that it's warm and lovely one minute, and then freezing cold and snowing the next.

I was visiting my grandparents and captured this whirlwind snowstorm followed by sun in a 15 minute span.

Easter Decor Made Easy

I grew up in a home where every holiday was important. Decorations, activities, meals planned around festive color schemes, my mom made every season special and it seemed that there was always something to look forward to. Always a reason to celebrate. I want to do the same for my children.

I used up a whole bunch of fabric scraps from my stash and made yards upon yards of mini bunting and fabric eggs to make our home feel festive for Easter. We'll probably leave the bunting up for a few weeks after Easter because it's so springy and festive.

I added 6 fabric eggs/bean bags to our collection we started last year. I love having decorations out that do double duty as toys. Click HERE for the link to the tutorial I used- the bean bags are stuffed with mostly batting, but the centers are filled with rice to give them a weightier feel.

I also made 10 smaller eggs that I turned into ornaments.

For the bunting, I made a simple triangle template out of card stock, cut up coordinating fabrics, then sewed all the triangles together on my sewing machine to make bunting.

One fabulous aspect of apartment living is that you can spend a few hours and only a few dollars to decorate the whole space. Add three $1.25 containers of wheat grass from the produce aisle and we've got quite the festive space to enjoy:





for the tutorial from last year, click on the image below:

Garin + Elijah {Mother and son}

I think I want some portraits with my baby for Mother's Day too- what a lovely idea, don't you think?

Finally

I have been waiting for the craft bug to bite. I have been stashing all kinds of projects and tutorials hoping that I'd find the motivation to get crafting. I am excited to finish a few projects I've started and share what I've been working on for the past few days... stay tuned!

Abigail {Portrait of a One Year-Old}

It's amazing how quickly time flies. I took pictures of this sweet baby girl when she was 6 days old, and it's hard to believe that a year has passed by already.

One year ago:

and Abigail the one year-old:

It's a Boy!

Everything looked great at our ultrasound and we are pretty excited that we have a little boy joining our family this summer. We are very excited!

We immediately went shopping after we heard the news. Kyle picked out this outfit for our little guy and I think it's going to hang in our living room until July- it's that cute.

Coconut Cupcakes

I'm not really a cake/cupcake girl, so it takes something special for me to make a recipe once, and most especially to make that recipe again. Within a week or two of making it the first time :)

Ina Garten's Coconut Cupcakes were perfect for the baby shower I helped with, and we made them again for St. Patrick's Day. Yesterday we omitted the coconut since we didn't have any on hand, and they were just as good. I swear, I could have consumed that whole bowl of batter.

The cream cheese frosting is to die for too...

Find the full recipe HERE

Embellished T-Shirts {easy sewing project}

I made embellished t-shirts for my sisters for Christmas last year. It was the perfect handmade gift because I knew there was a pretty good chance they would use them. I bought the t-shirts from the Old Navy Clearance rack (shhhh don't tell) and really lucked out with the ruched sleeve detailing. Wish I would have thought to take pictures of all three before Christmas. Oh well.

This is a really really easy beginner sewing project that doesn't require a sewing machine. I have grand plans for embellishments like these for summer dresses I'm making for my little girl.

I can post links to the embellishment tutorials I used if anyone is interested. I'm feeling lazy at the moment.

KensingtonBlue.com {Website Updated}

All the galleries have been updated, and I have added new galleries for:

Bridal
Wedding
Maternity
Personal Work

The front page slide show has been updated too, so take a look!

Postcard Art

My rambunctious two year-old just discovered the joy of painting. She went through a whole painting book and a whole bunch of white paper, and then I had the idea to have her paint postcard-sized paper to mail off to our family members. I feel awful throwing away her little creations, so this was a fun way to share her art.

I cut 12x12 inch white cardstock into 4x6 inch postcards and let her paint them individually. It was just as much fun for me to watch as it was for her to paint. She would carefully paint each one and then hand me her little work of art when she was done and ask for another piece of paper.

I kept my favorites for her little book of art I've compiled, and then we wrote on the rest and mailed them to family.

I let my little helper stick the postcard stamps on them too. She got a huge kick out of that.

Try it!

Ethan {Blessing Day}

Can you believe the color of this little boy's hair? Amazing.

And I found his little sister's booties from the day she was blessed... I think the Mama of this beautiful boy will have to start a series of blessing shoes with babies to come

Easy Hors d'œuvres {Yum}

These are our go-to hors d'œuvres. They are also a frequent snack because we nearly always have all the ingredients on hand.

What you need:

• Crackers- our favorites are mini toast (at most grocery stores with a decent deli) and Breton multi-grain crackers

• Grape tomatoes, sliced in half
  

• Garlic and herb cheese spread (our favorites are Boursin and Rondele)

• Shaved or grated parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano is best)

• Freshly ground pepper
  

Layer the cheese spread, the sliced tomatoes, parmesan cheese on top of the crackers, then top with freshly ground pepper.

Half Moon Bay: Cowell Ranch Beach {California}

We made a quick trip to CA to visit my sister over the weekend. Our day at the beach was perfect. I wanted to wrap it up and put it in my pocket for rainy, cold days like today. These pictures make me feel warm... and make me want to move to California.









The walk to and from the beach was absolutely beautiful... fields of flowers, beautiful trees, and a long, lovely, leisurely path to walk...