Cherry Preserves

On Saturday I was able to whip out my canning stuff and make some Cherry Preserves. My Grandma was kind enough to donate some cherries from her garden so that I could make some.
Here I am cooking the cherry mixture up and flushed because I am SO HOT!!! It is not fun standing in front of a hot stove constantly on a hot day. Blech! I do have to say that it was worth it though. It is so yummy. I got the recipe from Recipe Zaar. It's called Best Cherry Preserves.

With this recipe I didn't cut up or pulverize the cherries. Instead I just threw them in whole (minus the pits). I did crush them a little with the potato masher but that was it.
Everything is ready for the water bath canning. That is another thing I did different from the recipe. I heard that it's not as sterilized the other way so I did it this way.
This is what it ended up like. I did have one jar that didn't seal and I think it's because I didn't clean off the top that well. Oh darn. I'll have to use it up. I have something in mind for it. Something that has to do with pork. Mmmmm...
What do you do with the rest of the cherries you don't use? We froze them. I put them on a cookie sheet and stuck it in the freezer. That makes sure they freeze and don't get stuck together. Then I transferred them to a freezer bag all ready for a smoothie or whatever I decide to use it for.

If you are really into canning I would try this recipe. I really really like it. The tartness of the cherries and the sweetness of the sugar make it a yummy treat.

Camera Strap Cover

I made this camera strap cover after getting this tutorial from Everything Etsy in my email. The tutorial is done by Priddy Creations. LOVE it! The only thing wrong is that it's just a tad too short. I think the tutorial may be for a Nikon camera strap. I have a Canon. My strap is longer I guess. If you do this then just make sure you measure your camera strap first.

I think I am going to make a couple more just because it's so easy. I may even do a ruffle just because I can. So there.
There is a giveaway going on at Everything Etsy on this post. It goes on till the 10th. Pop on over to enter.

Flowers

The other day I had another get together with a bunch of ladies to show them how to make flowers for their hair. It was a fun night and got some people hooked. Check out Stacy's post that she made for her friend. She did a tutorial and did a good job.

Here is what I made the next day. Not much for me to do while I'm teaching but I had everything out so why not dabble?
I made this burlap ribbon flower for my hair. It's huge.
I wear a lot of bobby pins and so I made some more. I'm a little hooked.
I am really into lace and ruffles so I made some cute little flowers with both and I also did the burned satin which I love too.
Here is another lace flower that I turned into a broach and a fabric flower. It's bigger than the other ones I have made. I did it with 4 inch squares instead of 3 inch. I made some bobbies with tiny squares and it turned out so cute.
So! Check back later for a giveaway on two of these flowers. It will actually be two giveaways so there are two chances of winning. I am going on vacation and after I come back I will do the giveaway!

Linking up at:

Senior Portrait and Head Shots

I was able to do two photo shoots in one shot. I did my youngest brother's senior pictures and graduation card and also my other brother's head shots. It was a spur of the moment thing but it went well enough. I hate to say that it was right at noon but that's when it happened. I did get some pretty good lighting bouncing back from the white house. Not great on their eyes but great on their skin.
My brother Tyler has been doing a lot of acting in the area as well as some movies and commercials too. Check him out at IMDb. Not much on there as far as local acting and internet but there is a little bit. Here are three pictures I have been messing with on Photoshop. If you want to see more go to my family blog. They are the unedited versions though.

I Heart Faces Photo Walk

On Saturday I went on a Photo Walk in Downtown Sacramento. I Heart Faces put it on and I was so excited to do it. It was a great learning experience and it was awesome being able to photograph a model. Marina was great as our model and it was fun working with her. Oh to get her by myself. *sigh* Katrina Kennedy (our leader) was awesome and had lots of great tips. Thanks Katrina! You're awesome!!! To see more photos from other cities too go here.

Here are a bunch of photos that I took. I now need to narrow them down to my favorite three. Which would you choose?
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I was able to hang out with some other awesome people and get some photos of them. Here is Kathleen. Isn't she beautiful? Thanks for hanging out and letting me take pictures of you. I love your hair.
I came to the photo walk with Stacy and her daughter Teryn. I got a couple photos of Teryn and I loved this one. I just love her smile.
Could anyone have more gorgeous skin? I don't think so! This is Charisse. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. We seriously should of done more of you. Thanks Charisse for being in front of the camera.
The rest of the pictures are just what else I shot around Sac. This was an older lady who we passed that was drawing the flowers and we asked if we could take a picture. She was really nice but didn't want us to take a picture of her because she thought she would "break our camera." I thought it would have been an awesome picture with her in it. She did let us take a picture of her drawing. Thanks!!
I was really digging the sun coming through the trees so I had to take it. This was at the end of the walk. "It's a tree star!" (shout out to Land Before Time)
Gotta love me some sun flare!
Just the wall. Trying out my lens and seeing what it can do.
And.....last but not least.....me. Now you know it's me behind the camera.

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

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.