March Melt-a-ways are a different version of my Valentine Melt-a-ways -- same recipe but different frosting color. They really do melt in your mouth.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
1 tsp clear vanilla
½ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup cornstarch
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend the butter, clear vanilla, and powdered sugar together until well blended and creamy. Add cornstarch and flour to the butter mixture and blend well again. Dough will be thick. Refrigerate for at least one hour or more. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and then roll dough into approximately 1 inch round balls. Press down slightly with either the palm of your hand or a fork. The dough does not spread. I was able to get 20 on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12-13 minutes. Allow to sit on baking sheet for about 1 minute and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Makes approximately 40 cookies.

FROSTING:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp milk (or lemon, lime, orange juice)
Optional: green food coloring &/or sprinkles

Mix powdered sugar and butter together. Slowly add a bit of milk (up to approximately 1 tbsp) until smooth and spread able yet still on the thicker side. Frosting shouldn’t be too thin. If it is, add a bit more powdered sugar. Add a tiny drop of green food coloring for pastel green color, more drops for darker color. Frost completely cooled cookies then you can top with sprinkles of your choice or leave plain. Allow frosting to set then store in a covered container.

Last night before taking Daisy to get her pointe shoes my dh was in the breakfast nook looking out the window and suddenly called for all of us to come see this strange bird in our garden. Unexpected because we're use to the little birds and strange to us because it was huge compared to the other birds. The closer we looked, we realized it was devouring some little feathery object, one of the little birds who reside in the Holly bush. After doing an internet search, we think it is a Red-tailed Hawk but we're not sure. This is not a very good picture because we took it through the window of the breakfast nook which looks out into our backyard and garden.


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Dana from Simple Pleasures said:

Generally, Red Tailed Hawks don't mess with the smaller birds (although I have seen them take robins). Sharp Shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks are both known for taking songbirds, however. Not that I can really tell...both of those hawks are quite a bit smaller.

It is exciting to get the close up views of these guys once they've discovered the feast in your yard, but not so exciting when they actually begin feasting. The hawks around us seem to leery of the dogs next door to come that close, though. So we watch them at the back of the property watching the feeders and the squirrels.