Luck O' The Irish Cupcakes

As with most of the smaller holidays, when I think about St. Patrick's Day I much prefer the childhood version to the adult version (similar to my views on Halloween and Valentine's Day). I'll take wearing green, jokingly pinch people, and sprinkling shamrock confetti over a drunken parade and green beer any day! So, in the spirit of a light-hearted St. Patty's celebration, I whipped up a batch of green cupcakes topped with Lucky Charms: Luck O' The Irish cupcakes!





To add the first dose of green to the the cupcakes, I sprinkled the batter (plain white cake mix from a box!) with two colors of green jimmies. When they bake into the cupcakes, they come out like leprechaun-inspired Funfetti.





See? I loved the unexpected pops of green on the inside. And the lighter green didn't show up as well, so you could certainly use one color of green if that's all you can find. I made up a batch of my new favorite frosting, swiss meringue buttercream, because it's not too sweet. But all these really need is a vanilla frosting base + green food coloring, and you're ready for the "lucky" part.





Lucky Charms! They're crunchy & sweet, so they add a fun texture to the cupcakes. Plus, have you ever met a person who doesn't like Lucky Charms? Initially, I just used the colorful marshmallows. But after a taste test, my taste tester agreed that a little bit of the cereal pieces added a nice flavor.



And there you have it! Luck O' The Irish cupcakes. I'm pretty sure if you're holding one (or a box) of these, you can't be pinched :)

Spring Forward

Is it starting to feel like spring where you are? We've had an extremely mild winter in NYC, so I've already seen lots of crocuses and daffodils in bloom here and there.



Here's hoping that a late snowstorm doesn't come in and ruin the fun (although I have missed snow this year). Don't forget that we set the clocks back on Sunday! And the days start getting longer, which is just fantastic. Happy weekend, friends.

Images: 1, 2

Last minute Easter ideas

Make some Hot Cross Buns. See if you can do it without getting the song stuck in your head.



Make confetti eggs: fill hollowed eggs with confetti, and one with glitter. Have an Easter egg hunt, then smash the confetti eggs over people's heads to see who "won" the glitter egg.



Whip up a batch of bright, spring-y lemon curd. Eat it on scones, biscuits, or muffins at Easter brunch. Or just right out of the jar.

Decorate eggs without getting your hands messy, or smelling like vinegar. Use string, beads, buttons and washi tape like these lovely eggs in Styled magazine.



Yes, Peeps will be half price in a matter of days, but Rachel's homemade ones are so much prettier.



Hunt down an assortment of eggs. How much fun would it be to dye an ostrich egg? If you have kids, I bet they'd be fascinated with all the different types of eggs.

And if you're in NYC and looking for a place to celebrate Easter, my church has two Easter services and a Good Friday service tonight. I'd love to see you there!

Photos: (1) The Pioneer Woman, (2) Robyn Kessler for Oh Happy Day, (3) The Pastry Affair, (4) Trent Bailey for Styled Magazine, (5) Heart of Light, (6) Jamie Magazine