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Easter is a fun time to make floral crafts! All the beautiful flowers in the craft stores, and outside, have inspired us to create this sweet Floral Bunny Headband for Easter and the dress-up box. If you already have a set of old bunny ears, you can jazz them up with some flowers for a new look. We decided to create our own bunny ears out of wire and lace, for a soft and sweet look. Gather up your supplies below and let’s get started. Supplies: Headband - plain Floral wire Lace Fake flowers , assorted Hot glue + hot glue gun scissors 1. Attach two pieces of floral wire to your headband, creating bunny ear shapes. 2. Lay out a piece of your lace, and cut it to the length of one ear. Wrap your lace around the ear shape, hot gluing to the back of the wire as you go. Trim off any excess lace. 3. Decorate with pretty flowers! Using scissors, or by just pulling off the flowers, remove the flower heads from the stems. Hot glue your flowers along the base of your ears and headband. Adding a variety of different flowers and colors will make your floral bunny headband really pop! Have fun playing around with different colors and flower combinations. I could make about 38 of these; I got a little excited buying flowers at the craft store! You may also like our: DIY Wildflower Seed Bombs Flower Garden Parfaits

Spring and Earth Day are perfect times to discuss protecting and caring for our beautiful planet. We have curated some of our favorite Earth Day Books to get kids thinking and talking about our beautiful world. From looking at our world from space to learning about bees, rainforests, conservation, recycling, and the beauty of trees, these books are perfect conversation starters for kids. Earth Day Books for Kids Earth! My First 4..54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty - Learn about Earth from Earth's point of view! Meet April by April Martin - Learn about the special events that occur in April, including Earth Day. Hello World! Planet Earth by Jill McDonald - Easy to learn facts about Earth, perfect for toddlers. The Magic and Mystery of Trees by Jen Green - Kids can learn just how special these mighty organisms are and how they are all connected. Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers - A note to Earthlings about living on Earth and loving it, and the people that live here. The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins - The true story about how one tree-loving lady changed a city! Save the Scraps by Bethany Stahl - Learn the importance of composting. The Bee Book by Charlotte Milner - Little readers will learn about the wonderful world of bees. A perfect introduction to bee conservation and their importance. Earth Ninja by Mary Nihn - Learn about recycling, reducing, and reusing. Heroes of the Environment by Harriett Rohmer - The 12 real-life stories of people who have done great things for the environment. Zonia's Rain Forest by Juana Martinez-Neal - Learn about the wonders of the rain forest following a young girl who discovers part of the rain forest has been cut and she decides to save it. What a Waste by Jess French - A book that teaches about pollution, renewable energy, and recycling. Little Turtle and the Changing Sea by Becky Davies - Explore the problems of plastic waste in our oceans. You are a Wildlife Warrior by Bindi Irwin - Uncover your inner conservationist and help save the planet and all the animals that call it home. We Planted a Tree by Diane Muldrow - A poem book that reminds kids of all the benefits of a tree! Other ways to celebrate Earth Day: Play outside Make a bird feeder Plant a fairy garden Make a flower garden parfait to eat Make some wildflower bombs Start a kitchen scrap garden

It's finally Spring! Let's plan a party to celebrate. Here are some fun and festive Spring party ideas, from food and activities to decor, we are sharing our favorites today! Spring Party Food Let's talk food first. You'll need a signature drink or main food that's the center of the food table. Here are some fun ideas. Lavender Lemonade Mini Flower Tarts Greek Pasta Salad Veggie Pizza Cheshire Cat Tails Seafood Pasta Salad Flower Garden Parfaits Banana Pudding Spring Party Activities We always have a fun craft or activity to do at the party. We are sharing a few fun ideas from fairy gardens to butterfly crafts. Fairy Garden DIY Candle Painting Bird Feeder Craft DIY floral bunny headband Coffee Filter Butterfly Craft Puffy Sidewalk Chalk Paint DIY Wildflower Seed Bombs Flower Jar Craft Spring Party Decor Set the right vibe with these floral Spring party decor finds. Of course, don't forget the fresh flowers. I prefer wildflowers in the spring, but daisies, tulips, or roses are all stunning! Floral paper plates Floral backdrop Wildflower banners Fresh flowers Hello Spring Porch Banner Tissue Paper Flowers

No-sew Blanket This no-sew blanket is a perfect easy craft to do with a friend or by yourself while you watch a movie. Supplies: Fleece - 2 large pieces, however large you like, see below for sizes Scissors Measuring board - optional Step 1: Choose 2 coordinated pieces of fleece . We choose this gorgeous watercolor fleece fabric (currently out of stock) and a matching minty green to be the back. **I suggest using 1.5 yards to create a child-size blanket. 1 yard makes a good-sized blanket too, but would only work for a smaller child or baby. Of course, you could always go bigger and make a 2 yard blanket which would be good for an adult size blanket. For fleece here are some good places to start shopping - here , here , and here . Step 2: Layer the two pieces of fabric together and trim your edges to even them up, remove any fabric info and to make sure they line up correctly. Step 3: Cut out a 4 x 4-inch square from each corner of your blanket. Step 4: Cut strips – about 4 inches long and 1 inch apart, along all four sides of your blanket. Kind of like a fringe. Step 5: Fold your “fringe” back at the base and snip a small cut in the middle of each fringe piece. Maybe 1/2 inch, just big enough to loop your fabric through in the following step. Step 6: Fold back both layers of the fringe and loop through the snip. Step 7: Pull your fringe loop tight. My daughter calls these little fortune cookies. They help your blanket lay flatter and then you don’t have knots around the edges. Kids are great helpers for this part. My daughter and I sat across the table from each other and just talked while we worked on this blanket.

As we move into the new year there will inevitably be new trends that pop up. We are taking a look back at trends we noticed from 2024, that we are keeping in 2025. Beauty Trends Red light therapy - items like this facial massager that offer multiple color therapies as well as heat and massage, are great for lymph drainage, reducing fine lines, as well as increasing muscle tone and product absorption. Satin pillowcases - satin pillowcases aren't a new thing, but they made a comeback in 2024 and we are keeping them around for our skin and hair! Hydrating masks - keep your skin hydrated with this overnight hydro mask that turns white as the nutrients are absorbed into your skin. We're still obsessed with this. Pimple patches - No more picking at our skin, pimple patches can be cute or demure and help prevent scarring from skin damage. We like the discrete Mighty Patches or the cute StarFace patches . Home trends Air purifiers - help keep your home air clean by removing dust, smoke, and pollutants in minutes for better air health. Dopamine decor - Out with the beige mom aesthetic, we are creating spaces that bring us joy and are full of life. Find your style and embrace it in your home. Cozy wear - Being comfy in my own home, say less. Does anyone else immediately change when they come home? Whether it's my favorite pajamas, cloud shoes , buttery soft leggings , or a cozy blanket , I'm bringing comfort into the new year with me. Smart Homes - Adding things like the Echo Dot to create a smart home where you can dim lights with voice commands, listen to your favorite music, or ask questions. Smart homes are making things easier and I'm here for it. Being more sustainable - Whether it's through laundry sheets , reusable beeswax wraps , or creating a kitchen scrap garden, we're making small changes that we hope will have a big impact to our world. Food trends Chopped salads - Chopped salads went viral in 2024. With the help of gadgets like this vegetable chopper , we intend to keep chopped salads around for a while. They are easy and healthy and perfect to meal prep for lunches. Coffee at Home - Unless I'm having a really busy day, I focus on making my coffee at home. I know the savings aren't going to pay for a vacation or buy me a house but I enjoy making my personalized coffee at home. Would you like to see more coffee recipes? Cucumber salads - We are going to be keeping around all these bright and crisp cucumber salads that trended in 2024. Fun with food - whether it's cooking from a new cookbook, making your own pasta or bread, or trying new cuisines, we're going to keep having fun with food in 2025. Lifestyle Trends Hygee - learning it's okay to slow down and embrace and enjoy life's simple pleasures. We shared 10 ways to hygee this winter last winter and we're sticking to it again this winter. Micro-learning - Adding more books , podcasts, or classes to learn throughout the year instead of always doom scrolling. Mental health - embracing mental health, being aware of our boundaries, and realizing it's okay to say no to things if you are feeling burned out or overwhelmed. Saying yes to things you know would be good for you. Also, embracing self-care (see cozy, hygee, and beauty trends above) What trends will you be keeping in 2025?

My friend gave me this potato soup recipe years and years ago. I tweaked it a little over the years, however, it still remains one of our rainy-day favorites. I use heavy cream in my recipe, but you could substitute it for milk if you have it. I usually use whatever cheeses I have on hand. I usually have cheddar, swiss, and mozzarella cheeses in my fridge so that's become my base recipe. In the past, I've used a variety of different cheese combinations. That's the great thing about cooking. You can totally make changes to a recipe to suit your likes or use up things you have in your fridge. Three Cheese Potato Soup Ingredients: 1 onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced smoked sausage, sliced olive oil 2.5 cups chicken broth 4-5 medium potatoes 2.5 cups heavy cream or milk 1 cup cheddar cheese 1 cup mozzarella cheese 1 cup Swiss cheese Directions: 1. Start a large pot of salted water on the stove to boil and cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Boil in salted water for about 10 mins or until tender. 2. Meanwhile, in a large pot sauté onions, garlic, and sausages in olive oil over medium heat until the onion is slightly browned and soft. 3. Stir in chicken broth. Dump in drained potatoes and mash with a potato masher until smooth, some lumps are okay. 4. Add in salt and pepper to taste (I've added smoked paprika before) and stir in heavy cream or milk. 5. Stir in cheeses, leaving a little for topping. 6. Feel free to adjust the milk and chicken stock if the soup is too thick. 7. Once it's heated through, scoop it into bowls, top it with cheese, and serve. These Soup Bowls are my favorite for presenting cute soups and stews! Shop them here: I like to serve my potato soup with a big German pretzel or some crusty bread and a cold beer!

I'm a creative person at heart and that carries on into the kitchen. I like creating and cooking new and novel meals for my family whenever I have time. Recently, I decided to try my hand at homemade pappardelle. I had a craving for luscious noodles and a rich beef ragu sauce with lots of parmesan cheese (check back soon for the sauce recipe). So, "for fun" I decided to try my hand at making my own pasta. It can't be that hard I thought, and they weren't, and let me tell you, they were delicious. You don't need any fancy tools for this recipe, just a clean counter, rolling pin, and knife. This is more time consuming so make sure to save it for a weekend night when you have more time to devote. I would say it took 15 minutes to create the dough, 20 minutes for it to sit, and then about 30 more minutes to roll it out. Overall, set aside at least an hour or even 1.5 hours of time to create this pasta. It's totally worth it though! Homemade Pappardelle *makes 8 servings Ingredients: 4 eggs 3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/4 teaspoon salt small bowl of cold water plastic wrap Directions: On a clean counter, create a large mound with your flour, make a hole in the middle, and add your eggs, olive oil, and salt right into the hole. Make your bowl of cold water and set it nearby to have while you make your dough. Slowly, with a fork, start adding in flour little by little into your eggy middle. Once the side of my flour pile broke, but I just scooped it all together and started using my hands to mix it. It will look kind of fluffy and jagged. Keep working it together. Add about a tablespoon or two of the cold water to your mixture until it starts to form a dough. I think I added about 6 tablespoons to this batch. Using your hands, create a ball with the dough, kneading it until it's smooth and slightly elastic feeling, about 10 minutes. It should look like this below. If it's too sticky add a little flour until it's more like a playdough texture. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or covered in a bowl, and let sit for about 20 minutes at room temperature. Once it's sat, take a knife or bench/dough scraper and cut the dough in 4 pieces like a pie. Place the unused dough back in the plastic wrap until you are ready for it. On a clean, floured surface (I used the counter) use your hands to slightly press down the dough and use the rolling pin to roll it out. Make sure to keep dough, counter, and rolling pin floured to keep it from sticking. Roll out your dough slightly thinner than you think because it will puff up a bit when cooking. I just eyeballed this part. Once you have it rolled out as thin as you like it, take a knife and cut strips about 1 inch wide and about 12 inches long. It's okay if they aren't perfect that makes it more homemade. Add a little bit of flour to a bowl, baking pan, or space on your counter, grab the noodles in the middle and drag them in the flour to lightly coat them. Swirl noodles into "nest" on a cutting board or baking sheet until ready. Repeat the same process with the remaining 3 mounds of dough. * I've found that each "nest" makes about 2 servings of pasta. Lastly cook or store your pasta (see below) and serve with your favorite sauce! Cook: To cook the pappardelle, boil a large pot of water. Cook for 3-5 minutes (depending on thickness) in boiling water until al dente. You can finish off the noodles in your sauce of choice. Store: I usually cook my pasta the same day, but you can store it, covered, in the refrigerator for a few days or lay it flat on a baking sheet in the freezer for a few hours, and then transfer it to a plastic bag for storing in the freezer. I think I doubled the cooking time when I froze my last batch, but test the doneness to your liking.

We made some Puffy Sidewalk Chalk Paint with the kids as a way to spend some time outdoors creating art on the sidewalk in front of our house! Puffy Sidewalk Chalk Paint Supplies: 1/3 cup flour 1/3 cup water 1 tsp liquid dish soap (I used Dawn) 1/2 stick of sidewalk chalk, crushed 8oz squeeze bottles Plastic baggie for crushing chalk Hammer for crushing chalk Small bowl for mixing ingredients Knife and cutting board for cutting chalk Funnel Scissors (some of the paint was too thick for the holes in the bottle so I cut the tip off a little to make the hole bigger.) Note: This recipe is for making 1 color of chalk. Repeat this recipe as many times for as many colors of chalk as you want. Directions: Cut your sidewalk chalk in half and place it in a plastic baggie. On a hard surface like the sidewalk, use the hammer to crush the piece of sidewalk chalk into a powder. 3. In a bowl, mix together the flour, water, soap, and chalk powder. Stir until well combined. 4. Using a funnel, pour the mixture into squeezable containers. 5. Repeat steps as many times as needed to create several different chalk colors. Have fun creating art! The kids loved writing and drawing with our new paint. Shop Puffy Sidewalk Chalk Supplies:

It was recently my birthday (yay, me!) and now I'm fully regretting not throwing a Taylor Swift-themed birthday party with my friends. We listen to Taylor a lot in this house and I'm always down for a fun party! Would it be too late to throw a party with Taylor Swift, singing at the top of your lungs, and heart-shaped glasses as the theme? Regardless of if I end up pulling my life together enough to do a party, I wanted to share with you my ideas for a Taylor-themed bash! This would be the perfect opportunity to have a 1989 TV album listening party! You could go all out in a specific Taylor album-themed party, but this party inspiration board is for an all-around Eras Themed Party. Eras Tour Tapestry // Disco Balloons // Bracelet Making Kit // TS Guitar Banner and Cupcake Topper s // Inflatable Guitars // Pastel Rainbow Party Plates // Champagne Problems Banner // Number 13 temporary hand tattoos // Holographic Garland // Instax Camera // Butterfly Drink Markers // All Too Well Wine Label // TS Birthday Banner // Heart Glasses // Karaoke Machine // Disco Cups // Confetti Poppers // Fake Microphones Shop our newest Taylor Swift-themed gift guide! We've got TTPD inspired gifts for the tortured poets! Looking for more Taylor Swift ideas for your party?! We've got cookies, drinks, gifts, and crafts that would add that special touch to your Eras party! Make sure you bring your Swiftie a fun gift! Shop our Swiftie Gift Guide for ideas! You've gotta have the Chai Cookies that Taylor Swift made during her secret sessions for 1989! Let's talk cocktails. We were inspired by Midnights to create this Lavender Haze cocktail . It has a soft lavender color with a frothy egg finish to look like her lavender haze clouds. Want something non-alcoholic, this Lavender Lemonade is just the thing. Floral and refreshing, it's the right balance of sweet and tart! Make an Eras Tour shadow box to display your concert or party pictures! You could frame some of the party pictures you take with your Instax camera. Make the friendship bracelets and then make this Lover House Bracelet Holder to store and display them in! Have so much fun at your Taylor Swift Party!

It's no secret to my close friends, that I'm a HUGE Swiftie! Most of the time, if you get in my car, Taylor Swift is playing, and I'm not sorry about it. My daughter and I were lucky enough to be able to attend night 2 of The Eras Tour! It was the best time and we traded so many friendship bracelets. When we came home, we created this DIY Lover/Folklore House Friendship Bracelet Holder to store all my daughter's Friendship Bracelets from the show. Supplies: Clear birdhouse (this one or this one) Lover House printable (Just search for this on Google) Friendship Bracelet printable Eras tour printable Moss Hot glue gun Scissors Glue dots pencil Directions: 1. Print your Lover House background and lay your birdhouse over the house and draw an outline of where you want to cut. NOTE: First, using Word, I cropped my Lover house to the edges of the house. Then, I resized the house to as big as I could get the actual house on the paper by opening it as a Word document, putting it on the landscape, and then using the ruler at the bottom to see how big I needed to print the image, based on the size of my birdhouse. For example, if the bottom of the birdhouse is 6 in, resize the width of your birdhouse to 6 inches and the height will auto-adjust to keep the house to scale. The dimensions of the house aren't quite the same as the birdhouse (the pitch is steeper) so you'll have to cut the top corners of the 1989 and Lover rooms but it doesn't really affect the overall look. Also, since the pitch of the roof is much steeper on the birdhouse so you'll probably have to include some of the sky at the top instead of cutting right along the roof outline. You can barely notice once it's all put together. 2. Once you've cut out your house background to fit how you like, use glue dots to glue the paper inside the birdhouse. I had to add a little tip of the night sky around the Lover House to the top of my house because the dimensions of the Lover House don't exactly match the dimensions of the birdhouse but you can't tell once it's all put together. (See the tip of extra sky I tapped in the top of the room by my fingers below) 3. Print the friendship saying printable and the eras tour printable (linked below) and cut to fit inside your birdhouse on the front and sides. I laid my birdhouse down on top of the paper and then outlined it and cut it to fit inside. Resize as needed to fit your particular birdhouse. Glue those inside your birdhouse using glue dots. *I created the Friendship lyric printable using a font called Taylor Swift based on her handwriting and created the Eras Tour stars to match the colors in the Eras Tour collage of images. Friendship Bracelet Lyric Printable Eras Tour Stars Printable 4. Now add a touch of Folklore! I measured and cut this moss mat to fit on the roof of my house. I glued it down with hot glue. Now, you can fill your Lover/Folklore house with your friendship bracelets, tickets, or other mementos from your Eras Tour concert! We had so much fun making our friendship bracelets for the concert! We went the opening weekend, so we were nervous that people wouldn't be trading them, but we traded with SO many nice people and had such a blast doing it! I highly recommend making bracelets for your concert night too! For our friendship bracelets, we mostly used colorful beads and these alphabet beads to spell out song or album names. We also used these glow-in-the-dark alphabet beads for some of our bracelets! We added charms to several of ours. One of our favorite bracelets that we made multiple ones of was this "Karma is a cat" bracelet with these cat charms on them! I hope you guys have as much fun making this project as I did! Do you have plans to go to The Eras Tour? Let me know in the comments! Shop Friendship Bracelet Supplies: beads alphabet beads If you're in a Lavender Haze mood, check out our Lavender Haze Cocktail recipe, the Lavender Lemonade, a refreshing mocktail, to sip on while you are crafting! And keep the craft party going with our Eras Tour Confetti Shadow Box DIY and DIY Friendship Bracelet Glasses Throw your own Taylor Swift Party with these fun ideas! Check out my party post.

This easy breakfast casserole has all the savory breakfast favorites, in a casserole form. I enjoy making and serving this on Christmas morning. It's perfect to make ahead and keep in the fridge until you're ready to cook it. Just make it up the day before and then it can be baking while everyone is opening presents and nobody is stuck in the kitchen cooking and missing the fun! We have made many varieties of this casserole by swapping out the meat and cheeses or adding other things like mushrooms or tomatoes. This one is a classic and one that I come back to year after year. Easy Breakfast Casserole Ingredients: 28 oz bag of frozen Potatoes O'Brien (potatoes with onions and peppers) 1 lb breakfast sausage, cooked (I used Jimmy Dean regular) 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated 8 eggs 1 1/3 cup milk 1 tsp Italian seasoning salt and pepper cooking spray Directions: Spray a thin layer of cooking spray in a 9 x13 glass baking dish or pan. On the stove, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the sausage. Be sure to break up the sausage as it cooks and cook it until no pink remains. Drain off any excess grease. Add the frozen hashbrowns to your sprayed dish. Top the hashbrowns with the cooked sausage and grated cheddar cheese. In a large bowl, crack the eggs and add in the milk, salt and pepper to taste, and the Italian seasoning (or other seasoning you prefer). Whisk together well. Pour your egg mixture over the hashbrown mixture in the pan. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight. When ready to bake, set the casserole out for 30 minutes ahead of time to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Uncover and bake for 50-60 minutes or until middle is cooked through. I put mine on broil the last few minutes to brown the top. We served ours with a little sour cream and fresh chives. Refrigerate any leftovers. Note: This can also be created and baked immediately. You can swap the sausage for bacon or ham and can use any other type of cheese you would like to mix it up.

My dog's name is Ollivander Hamilton Waffles. We call him Ollie for short, and a variety of random nicknames, as you do. Yes, he was named after a Harry Potter Character, Alexander Hamilton, and breakfast food! Since it was recently Ollie's birthday, I'm sharing a few of our favorite dog finds that he loves! Bark Box Subscription - He has gotten these on and off over the past few years. I've gotten them in different subscription lengths for his birthday or Christmas and he's always excited to open the box. It's fun to get doggie mail! The treats are hit or miss for him but he loves getting the toys out of the box and they're always a cute theme! He barely waits for me to cut the tags off of everything! Santa Toy - This is Ollie's favorite toy that he's had since his first Christmas. It's such a beloved toy that he keeps it out year-round. Does anyone else rotate their dog's toys? Licky Mat - Great for freezing a treat for later. We like to freeze Greek yogurt, blueberries, peanut butter, and a few nibbles of random treats or dried sardines on ours. Cactus Chew Toy - This is one of the chew toys that has lasted the longest. He had a different chewy cactus toy, but this one has stood the test of time and is the one he goes for when he's the most hyped up and really wants to play. Donut Dog Bed- He has 2 of these beds, one for his kennel area where he stays if we are gone for the day, and one in our room. He loves snuggling in this and I've even caught our cats sleeping in from time to time. Nosey Nose Game - This is a fun interactive game that stimulates their mind and gets them engaged. It's scentwork training and eventually, once they learn the scent you can hide it and they will find it. Did you see our DIY snuffle mat, that's fun for their noses too! Cactus Dog Baggie Holder - This cute cactus baggie holder was a gift from a friend when we first got Ollie and it's still our favorite to attach to our leashes for walks. Gotta be a good pet owner and clean up after them on walks! Portable Water Bottle - Perfect for trips to the dog park or hikes with your pup. We like that it's got a space for water and treats. It can be locked when not in use and then unlocked to fill the drinking reservoir for your pup to get sip. It also has a handle for easy carrying. Cooling Mat - This is a must-have for those hot summer days! Ollie loves laying on this when his donut bed is too hot. Waterproof Jacket - We don't get many really cold winter days here but when we do we like to wear this cute jacket, especially when it snows! I adore the plaid! Edible Dog Bubbles - You know how dogs are basically toddlers? Well, bubbles are a hit with both toddlers and dogs! Ollie likes chasing these peanut butter-flavored bubbles. Treat Puzzle - We like to keep him entertained and this tornado treat puzzle is a fun one we pull out every few weeks. It has multiple layers and he has to use his paw and nose to move the layers to get the treats underneath each section. There are even little bones that you can use to "cover" treats to be discovered. ZukesTreats - Of course his absolute favorite treats were a seasonal find at Petco that I bought one year around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Luckily, I can get these turkey + cranberry tree treats year-round on Amazon. Ball Blaster - He loves chasing tennis balls in our backyard and he goes bananas when we pull out this ball blaster from Nerf. We got the one that comes with 3 balls because even though he loves chasing them, he doesn't do a very good job of bringing the balls back. And just because he's my absolute baby, here are some photos of him enjoying some of the items listed above. He truly does love all these dog finds and that's why I'm sharing them with you, because maybe your pup will love them too! Be sure to check out our DIY dog snuffle mat and if you're a Harry Potter fan, you may like our Butterbeer Milkshake recipe too!