Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Strawberries and More Strawberries

Today I planned on making strawberry freezer jam and I did SO much more. I am going to be sharing some recipes for the stuff I made (except the freezer jam). For the freezer jam I used the Sure Jell Pectin (the pink box not the yellow one) I like less sugar in my jam.

This is what it looked like when I was done. Now it's in my freezer waiting to be used.
I also made Strawberry Rhubarb Jam in my water bath canner. That was the last thing I did and I used up the rest of the strawberries and rhubarb. Here is where I got the recipe and directions to make this jam. She also has a video of how she did it.
Now. On to the pies. My mom made a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and my sister and I made a Strawberry Pie. Here is the recipe for the strawberry pie filling (I used cherry gelatin since that is all I had and it was yummy too. I also used the pie crust recipe below).

First I am going to share the crust recipe. It was so easy. I am the kind of person that likes fast and easy. I have branched out lately to recipes that take extra time because I love flavor. I never wanted to make a pie because the crust took FOREVER to make. Well, look no more. This recipe is easy and really good.
A close up of the crust. I didn't make it pretty. I'm sorry that I didn't take a picture of the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. It was really good though.
Best Ever Pie Crust
"The most important tip for making a good pie crust is to keep the dough cold. Using chilled butter, iced water and a food processor all help with this. Returning the dough to the fridge prior to baking makes sure the fat is solid before going into the oven. The dough could be made by hand but be sure to work quickly and avoid handling it too much. An option would be to substitute 1/2 the butter for shortening. There are many claims to the advantages of shortening to the texture of a pie crust while butter contributes the best flavor. I still prefer all butter."

1 cup flour
1/2 cup chilled butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons iced water

Cut butter into flour, sugar and salt in a food processor just until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add iced water bit by bit until dough pulls away from bowl and forms a solid mass. This process goes very quickly. Remove dough, shape into a disc on a floured surface. Roll out to a 12-inch circle. Fold pastry into fourths and place in a pie plate. Unfold and prepare edge (if doing a single crust). Chill for 20 minutes before filling and/or baking.

If prebaking shell, bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Pierce bottom of crust with a fork and weight with pie weights or line with foil and fill with dried beans or rice. Remove weights for the last few minutes to allow browning.

Makes one 9 inch crust.


Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

3 cups fresh strawberries
3 cups rhubarb
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup tapioca
1 Best Ever Pie Crust (recipe above)

Prepare strawberries by hulling and cutting in half. Cut rhubarb into 1-inch pieces. Toss with sugar and tapioca. Place filling into prepared unbaked pie crust. Dot with butter and top with another crust or top with a crumb topping. Place pie on a cookie sheet while baking to prevent spills. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, cover edges with foil and bake and additional 25-30 minutes.

Serves 12
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Thursday, May 20, 2010

A Garage Sale Find and a Key Fob

I found this cute little broach and earrings at a garage sale. At first I only bought the broach because I didn't want clip on earrings. I wouldn't know what to do with them. Then as I sat there and looked at some other stuff I got an awesome idea. Why not take the backs off of the earrings and make something else out of them? So, I bought the earrings and what I plan to do is make one of the earrings into a ring and the other a hair bobby. I'm a little excited to be doing it but I have to find the rings first. Kind of bummed that the local craft store doesn't have them and the bead store went out of business. I guess I'll have to buy online.
I have been wanting to make myself a key fob for forever and I finally did it. Actually I did make one a couple months back but I had it attached to something that wasn't holding. This time I just got something from the purse making section and sewed it onto that. I think it turned out pretty cute. It's nice and bright so that I can see it in the depth of darkness I call my purse.


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Sunday, May 16, 2010

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge

So here is my entry for the Faces and Flowers Challenge at I Heart Faces. (Yes this is the picture from the previous post.) We were at the park one day and the clover flowers were all over the place so I had to have a little photo shoot with my daughter.

Do you ever remember making head wreaths out of them? I do them for her now. It makes me think of those carefree days as a child when all we had to worry about was a stubbed toe and cooties.

Do you like the sparkly jelly shoes she has on? She wears them all the time. All hail the 80's!
Here is what I made this time.

This is just for laughs. I put this flower in my daughter's hair and she proceeded to just add more to "pretty" herself up. You like how the right side (her left) looks nice and in place while the left side (her right) has some issues?
By-the-way, this picture was taken with my point and shoot.
For more awesome photos of Faces and Flowers go to I Heart Faces. Click on the icon below!!!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Photography

So, here are a couple photos that I have taken and messed with on Photoshop. These were taken before I knew anything really about my DSLR. I'm starting to get the hang of it now.


My little boy just turned 2 and this was his little church outfit. Isn't he so handsome?

What pointers do you have? I am So open to any suggestions and critiques. Thanks!

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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Flowers Beautiful



I am going to be teaching a bunch of women how to make different types of hair accessories and here is the list that I have compiled for their information. There are so many different flower tutorials out there and I'm sure I have missed a bunch but this is a good list to start with.

On top of these wonderful sites I also LOVE Girly Things Bows. I think they have the best tutorials on making ribbon bows. They have over 30 different tutorials. It's wonderful. Check them out for sure.
The other place that I have found is Make Bows And More. Both are great resources.

Ribbon (Burlap) Flower Clip from That's So Cuegly
Flower Corsage from V and Co.

Ribbon Flower Headband from Get Your Craft On

Silk Flower Clips from Pebbles and Poppys (That's Me!!!)

Crochet Flower from Little Birdie Secrets

Rounded Petal Fabric Flower from Pink Paper Peppermints

Fabric Flower Clip from Annies Cupboard

Petite Felt Flower from Or So She Says

Silk Flower Bobbies from Refabulous

Crochet Flower Hair Clip from Floral Showers Crafts

Simple Ribbon Hair Clip from The Paper Seed

Fabric Flower Headband from Creation Corner

Dainty Flowers from Mrs. Priss

Felt Flower from A Hoot and A Holler

T-shirt Flower Headband from Crafty SchemesThis last one came from a comment and I am happy to add to my list if anyone else has a cute flower or hair accessory tutorial. Thanks!!!

A Lace Flower
from Aly & Ash


Also check out my other post with a couple more fabric flower tutorials.
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Monday, April 26, 2010

I Heart Faces "Smiles" Photo Challenge

So here is my entry in the I Heart Faces Photo Challenge. I just love how this turned out.


If you want to check out the other entries go to I Heart Faces Smiles Challenge.

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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Fabric Flower Hair Clip

For church I had bought my daughter a cute little red and white dress. (I'll put it on later.) I was looking at the hair accessories she had and wanted something different than the flower I usually use. I decided to raid my fabric stash and found a fat quarter of this fabric. It was a perfect match so I cut a 3 inch strip, folded it in half and ironed it, did a gather stitch on the raw side, pulled it in so that it gathered and glued it into a circle. Then I added a decorative button.
On the other side I cut out a circle in fleece and cut two little slits in it. then I glued that to the bottom of the flower and added a lined alligator clip through the two slits.

It turned out so cute. What's funny is that when we got to church we found that one of Caelan's friends had the SAME dress on. Now the mom wants a clip like I made and I just might have to make one for her so that the girls can match.

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