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We had a great Easter this year – Ruby was old enough to actually “hunt” for eggs in the front yard, and she got to wear an adorable dress! Of course, she was spoiled by her grandparents with multiple baskets, and mommy + daddy might have gotten a few things for her, too… :)
When we heard Umami Burger opened up a new location in Costa Mesa, we knew we had to get there ASAP. If you’ve never heard of Umami Burger, all you need to know is there’s no other burger quite like it. These folks don’t take their craftsmanship lightly. In a nutshell, “Umami” is an experience, a specific taste. (Click here to learn all about what umami is!) Anyway, we hadn’t been in a few years and we certainly had never taken Ruby, so we figured that was reason enough to get over there today!
We met up with our friends Mark, Lisa + Ollie and had a great lunch date! We started things off with the house pickles. I particularly loved the pickled cauliflower. Then I ordered the original Umami Burger, which comes with shiitake mushroom, caramelized onions, roasted tomato, a parmesan crisp 
+ umami ketchup, and Ed ordered the Hatch Burger which comes with 4 types of green chilies + house cheese.
Ruby was a big fan of the umami ketchup – and she didn’t hesitate to help herself to Daddy’s Hatch Burger either! You should check out the list of burgers and see which combination of umami sounds best to you!
After seeing this recipe for Easter Candy Bark, I just knew I’d have to make it this Easter. I can’t help it, Easter candy is just so pretty, and this stuff looked divine. The best part? It was SUPER EASY to make. (I’m not kidding, either!)
I loved how simple it was to make the marble effect with the white chocolate. After the dark chocolate is melted and spread on wax paper, all you have to do is put dollops of white chocolate on top and use a knife to swirl it around to get the effect. I think that’s what makes it look so fancy!
After you marble it up, just sprinkle your Easter candy on top (I used chopped mini Cadbury eggs and M&M’s) and let it dry for atleast 2 hours. The final step is to break it up when its all set.
I kept the packaging simple and made my own little tags, and then folded the top of a ziploc baggie down, and hid it under a folded piece of scrapbook paper. I punched holes and secured it with white wraphia. If I really wanted to make it perfect, I would’ve bought some clear plastic square treat boxes and wrapped it up like a present. Guess I’ll just have to be sure to do that next year!
Our friend Amber had a great idea to try out some natural food dyes on Easter Eggs for the kiddos this year. We were lucky enough to be on her egg dying invite list, and we had a great time!
The ingredients used to make the dyes were turmeric, paprika, beets, blueberries, coffee, chai tea, spinach + raspberries!
We also let the kids color on the eggs with crayons prior to dying. Had I known the crayon would show up so well after being dyed, think I would have drawn on them more! Here’s Ruby doing a little work of her own on one of the eggs before coloring …
I think the end result was so cool! They look so rustic and sophisticated. I could see them in a basket at an Easter brunch with breads, spreads and wine.
Disclaimer: these take a long time! They sat in the dye from about 9:30am to 4:30pm.
We’re so grateful to Amber + Nora for hosting such a fun day!
The ZDX was a real looker, and I always give good marks for good design. But wow – there’s jus no way I could ever endorse the purchase of one. Read my review to find out why.