Summer Drink Series ~ Rachael Ray's Lava Flows

My summer drink series is a way to share some of my favorite summertime drinks with you.  I have found so many great recipes after a lot of searching and experimenting that I thought this would be a good way to share some fun recipes with you and save you the time from having to search them out yourself. 

Rachael Ray's Lava Flows are one of my favorite summer time drinks.  I found this recipe in her cookbook 30-Minute Meals: Get Togethers. The first time I made these, I was hooked!  They are easy to make and always a crowd pleaser. 

You can find the recipe at

Lava Flows ~ Pina Coladas with Rivers of Strawberries

Wilton Helps Bring 4th of July to Your Celebrations

Here we are on the 4th of July
last year getting ready for the
fireworks over Lake Winnipesaukee

It is hard to believe that we are just about to the 4th of July.  As I am starting to make our grocery list and menu for the holiday, I thought I would look up some fun ideas for a themed dessert.  Of course, my first stop is always Wilton's.  You may have noticed from some of my previous posts that I really love their products, and they are a great resource for inspiration.

As with every holiday, they have plenty of ideas to choose from.  You can see all of them at Celebrating the 4th of July with Delicious Treats and Fun Decorating Ideas from Wilton.  They have plenty of ideas for cakes, cupcakes, cookies and more.  I am leaning toward the One Flag for all Cupcakes, but we will see as it gets closer.

Which of the 4th of July ideas did you like best?  Are you going to give it a try for your 4th of July celebration?

Retired Disney Cricut Cartridges

As you probably already know, I am a huge Disney fan.  So when I purchased my Cricut machine, my goal was to get my hands on every Disney cartidge they have.  I have all but one, and in a recent search to find Pooh Font, I realized it is now retired as of this month.  It is still available in many places, but I can only imagine that the announcement of its retirement will significantly increase the price on ebay (my number one source for cartridges at this point). 

Here are the Disney cartridges being retired this month (if it has a link, it will bring you to my previous posts that I used these cartridges for):

• Happily Ever After (A Disney Princess Cartridge)
• Mickey Font
• Pooh Font (the one I am still in seach of)
• Cars
• Tinker Bell and Friends

If you want to see the entire list of retired Cricut cartridges, you can find it over at Cartridge Library.  After searching ebay, and even the official Cricut site, these cartridges were all still currently available, so if you plan to purchase them, you may want to do so soon!

Which Disney Cricut cartridge is your favorite?

Wilton 2012 Yearbook Update

My Wilton Romantic Castle
Cake creation ~ Sleeping Beauty
July 2009

Good news! 

You can now order the 2012 Wilton Yearbook online with free shipping for $14.99.  The site says that if you order online, it ships within one to two days.  If you want to wait, it will be available at local retailers sometime in July.  For more information, you can head over to the Wilton website:

2012 Wilton Yearbook

Summer Drink Series ~ Konk Coolers

I am always in search of a new drink, whether that be online, searching through cookbooks or creating my own.  I've decided to share some of my favorites over the summer. 

The Konk Cooler I discovered over at Cooking with Mickey.  This is a drink served on Disney's private island, Castaway Cay.  I love that this drink is a fruity/pina colada combination that is not as sweet or heavy as drinks like this can sometimes be.

You can find the recipe at Cooking with Mickey: Konk Cooler.  While you are there, make sure you check out all the great recipes and cooking tips, as well as travel tips, Kristen shares each week.

Happy Father's Day!

You may or may not know this, but I tend to go overboard for all holidays. Normally, I have the perfect plan in place to get everything ready - food, decorations, and anything else I can squeeze into the day- but I don't always plan in enough time to complete all I want.  That's just what happened for Father's Day this year, so this is a little late.  But I wanted to share a photo montage I created for my husband last year.  It is a compilation of pictures of all three of my children over 5.5 years.  As you watch, the pictures rotate in the same order - Joey, then Hayley and then Emily.  I am very lucky to have a husband who is such a great father.  He's a softie and the kids pretty much get away with just about anything when he is around, but that is fine by me, since in the long run, the memories he has created with them far outweigh any of the things he lets slides.

So, without further ado, here is my Happy Father's Day montage!