Sweet Melissa - Page 3 of 7 -

Fandom Mail Art: Harry Potter & Avatar the Last Airbender

What's mail art you ask? It's basically just super fancy envelopes and letters. Think almost scrapbooking or collaging except with mail. One of my many hobbies is pen paling and I love to take the time to decorate each and every letter I send out. Each letter has it's own theme and recently I've made a couple fandom related mail arts that I wanted to share with you, from two of my favorite fandoms: Harry Potter and Avatar the Last Airbender. I find that my creative process has a mind of it's own when I create letters. I get inspiration…

Post published:October 5, 2020
Post comments:2 Comments
Post category:Lifestyle
Post author:Sweet Melissa

Living Dairy Free—Brand Recommendations & Dairy Free Substitutes for Recipes

When I was young, my mom had my brother and I tested for food allergies and we both ended up being allergic to dairy woo hoo! So that means no more milk, cheese, heavy cream and all their variations. But living dairy free isn't as hard as you think. There are so many great alternatives out there now, it's a piece of cake to make all sorts of dairy free confections and sweets and even in my cooking too. I thought I would post about what dairy free alternatives are out there and what I use in my kitchen for…

Post published:September 28, 2020
Post comments:1 Comment
Post category:Lifestyle / Recipes
Post author:Sweet Melissa

Fruity Smore’s Bars—No Bake, Gluten & Dairy Free

After I made the Smore's Ice Cream, I had some leftover chocolate ganache and almond flour graham cracker crumbles. I vowed to try and make a new recipe with them instead of eating them. I thought what if I made smore's but in bar form, maybe with an extra flavor added in? Then the fruity smore's bar was born. It's a layer of graham cracker crumble, chocolate ganache, raspberry jam, and finally toasted italian meringue on top. YUM. I forgot to mention to, it's no bake! The only thing that has to be "cooked" is making a sugar syrup in…

Post published:September 21, 2020
Post comments:3 Comments
Post category:Recipes
Post author:Sweet Melissa

Bronx Zoo: Jungle World Langurs Pt. 1

I told you, you would be in for more photos from the Bronx Zoo! Besides the Gorillas, I love going to the Jungle World building and of course my favorite animals in there are the Langurs. These were not taken with my old Canon, not the new DSLR. Still really good pictures I think, but I can't wait until all the exhibits at the Bronx Zoo open again. I love this photo. He almost looks like he's getting ready to smile. This one is the product of patiently waiting in the exhibit for a half an hour, as other visitors…

Post published:September 14, 2020
Post comments:0 Comments
Post category:Photography
Post author:Sweet Melissa

Chocolate Birthday Cake—Dairy Free

Years ago, my mom made a chocolate cake for my birthday and she used this recipe. We never turned back after that. This is truly the best chocolate cake you will ever eat. All credit goes to Robyn over at Add a Pinch blog where we found the recipe, but I simply had to share this with you all. This is the cake I turn to for a lot of special occasions because I am a huge chocolate lover, and what's better than a classic chocolate cake? I dress it up with raspberries and some raspberry jam in the middle.…

Post published:September 7, 2020
Post comments:0 Comments
Post category:Recipes
Post author:Sweet Melissa

Camping Staycation Weekend

We were supposed to use our vacation to go to California to visit friends, but due to the COVID travel advisories we unfortunately had to cancel it. So my husband and I planned some fun activities to do during our staycation instead. We started with camping! We stayed at a quiet small campground that had a small pond with a hiking trail around it. Can you spot the frog in the first picture? Here's his close up shot. This guy was the biggest frog we saw in the pond! He just chilled out and let me photograph him. I think…

Post published:September 3, 2020
Post comments:1 Comment
Post category:Photography
Post author:Sweet Melissa

Pen Paling—Where to Start & Why It’s So Fun

I vaguely remember having a pen pal as a child. I think it was a temporary activity we did in elementary school. I haven't had a pen pal since... until last year. I had this idea in my head that I wanted one so I started doing some online research and I found a website where I could find pen pals. That's how it all started. I now have 10 pen pals. I do stationery swaps with people. I send postcards out to people all over the world. The past month or so is when I really fully committed and…

Post published:August 31, 2020
Post comments:2 Comments
Post category:Lifestyle
Post author:Sweet Melissa

Lemon Blueberry Torte—Gluten Free

Great Baking Challenge Recipe #10: Great British Bake Off/Baking Show, Series 3 (UK) Episode 4: Signature Challenge– Torte Cake The requirements for this signature challenge was to make a torte cake which has no wheat flour and more than one layer. I decided on a lemon blueberry almond meal torte cake with whipped vanilla cream cheese frosting. I decided on the lemon blueberry flavor because I always gravitate towards chocolate and why not try something different. I made 2 almond meal torte cakes flavored with lemon zest and vanilla. In between the two cakes is a layer of lemon curd…

Post published:August 27, 2020
Post comments:2 Comments
Post category:Great Baking Challenge
Post author:Sweet Melissa

Sparkling Ginger Lemonade

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine years ago when I got it in the mail. It had a section filled to the brim with lemon recipes (which I love!) and I decided to give this sparkling ginger lemonade a go. Turns out this recipe is a keeper. I love the little bite at the end from the ginger. You can taste the honey too which is different from the traditional sweetness of a lemonade made with a simple sugar syrup. The lovely little fizz from the sparkling water is an added bonus. I always use this…

Post published:August 24, 2020
Post comments:1 Comment
Post category:Recipes
Post author:Sweet Melissa

My Favorite Food Blogs

So I thought it would be fun to share my favorite food blogs. These are the blogs of people I frequently go to for inspiration and read just because I love to read anything they have to write. 1. David Lebovitz David's blog has been around for a long time, I think he might have started it in the 90's if I remember right. He's a Pastry Chef that lived in California, then moved to Paris and has been there ever since. He's big on ice cream, chocolate and desserts. I randomly came across his biography while at work a…

Post published:August 20, 2020
Post comments:2 Comments
Post category:Lifestyle
Post author:Sweet Melissa