It's Spring Peeps

The Peeps Bunnies are out which means it must be Spring time. Tonight they showed up in the dessert bowls at our house. I warmed up some walnuts on the stove and sprinkled them on top of some vanilla ice cream along with some blueberries for our guests this evening. I'm thinking that a bright orange carrot would have topped this little dessert off nicely, maybe next time.

What do you do with these little peeps?

Received this note from the daughter last week before her Spring break. She is a lot like me and likes to garden so she started some of her seeds indoors as well. Since she was coming home for Spring break it occurred to her that she couldn't leave her babies at home since there wouldn't be anyone there to water them. She called and asked me what she should do with all her kids? I told her to get some car seats and bring them all home to grandma!!

So this is what my dinning room looks like for Spring break. I must admit, they sure are easy to babysit!

If a task is once begun, never leave it till it's done.
Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all.

~enjoy

Blueberry Bliss

There are some summers that these blueberries actually never make it to my kitchen. I find myself just standing in my back yard eating these luscious berries, by the hand fulls, right off the branches of my blueberry bushes! The more I'd eat, the more bushes my husband would plant!



Luckily for my family, this years crops were so bountiful, that I was forced to share with the rest of the tribe. I'm not real sure but, I think that we have close to twenty some bushes, maybe more. I also think that not only are blueberries one of the friendliest berries to pick, they are also the easiest to clean and eat.


They make fabulous jams.....




.....and amazing pies!


Blueberry Pie


Preheat your oven to 400^o F and bake pie for 40-45 minutes or until crust is slightly browned and blueberry filling is bubbling.


For the crust: (this fits a 9" deep dish pie plate)
2- cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons vinegar
6 Tablespoons iced water (I put water in with ice cubes to make sure is ice cold)

For the filling:
6 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour or corn starch
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon


Measure flour into bowl. With pastry blender, cut in butter until particles are the size of giant peas. Sprinkle with iced water (with your two teaspoons of vinegar) a Tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with a fork, until all flour is moistened. Gather dough together with fingers so it cleans the bowl. Press firmly into a ball. Then turn out on lightly floured board.

Divide the dough in half and flatten one of halves with your hand. Roll out not quite 1/8" thick. Roll lightly being careful not to add extra flour. Keep rounding edge of pastry, if it begins to break, pinch edges back together.

Keep pastry circular and roll it about 1" larger all around than pie pan. Fold pastry in half and carefully transfer to pie pan. Unfold pastry and place loosely into pan, being careful not to stretch it out (stretching causes pastry to shrink during baking). Press the dough gently into the pie pan so that no air remains.

For the filling, in a large bowl gently mix blueberries, sugar, flour or cornstarch, lemon zest and juice until berries are completely coated. Pour blueberry mixture into pie pan evenly.

Roll out other half of pastry and place on top of pie filling. Crisp edges together tightly to form a seal with the bottom pastry dough, crimping the edges. Make sure to make slits in the middle of the pie to allow the steam to escape while baking.

Preheat your oven to 400^o F and bake pie for 40-45 minutes or until crust is slightly browned and blueberry filling is bubbling.






I usually let the tribe know, well in advanced, the day I am making blueberry pies so that they know not to be late..as they all know far to well, when it comes to Blueberries, mom can not be trusted!


~enjoy

Thrift finds for Kelli's show and tell and a Yummy Pie

A couple of you have asked for this and thought I'd just post the recipe here. I actually found this recipe in a free recipe Jello Pamphlet, full of really yummy desert recipes, at the grocery store. It was quick and very yummy!

What You'll Need!

~ 1/2 Cup Almonds, toasted.
~ 1 Tbsp Sliced roasted almonds to sprinkle on top of your pie

(I used whole raw almonds, chopped them up and heated them in a pan on the stove until they were toasted. A little fyi ~ Trader Joe's has the lowest prices on almonds that I have found thus far)

~ 50 Nilla Wafers, finely crushed

~ 6 Tbsp. Butter, melted

~ 1 Pkg.( 3.4 oz.) Jell-O Vanilla flavored instant pudding

~ 1 Cup cold milk

~ 1 Cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

~ 1 Cup mixed fresh fruit ( blueberries,raspberries,blackberries, halved strawberries etc.)

Now Let's Make It!

Take your finely chopped almonds; mix with the waffer crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom and up the side of a tart pan or shallow pie plate.

Beat pudding mix and milk with a whisk about 2 minutes. Stir in Cool Whip. Spoon into the crust.

Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Top with fruit and the remaining almonds just before serving.



( Penni, This is what I did differently the 2nd time I made this dessert for Easter that Kathy told you about.) I made up a batch of "Cook and Serve" vanilla pudding. I made it in advance and refrigerated it. When the pudding was ready I added the cool whip and followed thru with the rest of the directions. ( I made this the night before, so it was easy and out of the way for Easter) I am not a big fan of instant pudding. But I will admit, it is faster. I also added a tsp. of Vanilla extract to give it that little extra vanilla flavor. I would of even thrown in pure vanilla if I had it or even better yet a vanilla bean.)

I liked the instant one and it was faster yet I really do prefer the cook and serve puddings...but both were yummy! And if I am in a hurry, believe me, I will use the instant again.



Thrift store goodies.....Joining in on Kelli's show and tell Friday.

I found these adorable little dessert cups for .28 cents. Served our dinner guest the "Dangerous Chocolate cake" in them.

Oh and as some of you may already know I used the ties for my Easter Egg decorations.


Came home to find this sweet card and a packet of seeds in the mail from Mary , thank-you so much for this. Going to plant them by my pond in the back yard. Will be able to see them every time I do the dishes! =O)

Celebrating Spring with this little guy for only .99 cents.

Found these two glass vases as well. I filled one with jelly beans and the other with water and daffodils. It is making a nice Spring center piece for the kitchen table.

Most Dangerous Chocolate Cake Ever!

Do you know what is better than one of these dangerous cakes?




Two of them!

Why? You ask, is this the most dangerous chocolate cake?

Because you only need one mug....

A few ingredients...

And only 3 minutes in the microwave! Now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!


OK, you have been warned...... If you are like me and weak when it comes to chocolate, (I have eaten chocolate covered garlic and ants, and would probably lower the bar to eating my old running shoes if someone dunked them in some chocolate) you might want to stop reading right now and leave this post if you think this will ruin your calorie intake for the day!


So here it is ...the recipe for 5 minute chocolate cake in a mug aka "The most dangerous cake recipe in this world!"

Chocolate mug Cake

Add these ingredients into your mug;

4 T. Flour
4 T. sugar
2 T. cocoa
1 egg
3 T. milk
3 T. oil
3 T. chocolate chips
A small splash vanilla extract

Now mix well.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for three minutes at 1000 watts. (mine is a little less than 1000 watts so I added another minute and it was perfect. Looks a little wet on the out side and that is fine. The cake will rise over the top of your mug but don't be alarmed. Allow to cool , and tip out onto plate if desired. Add some vanilla ice cream and you are set to go!

Now I need to go on my three mile run that has been increased to 6 miles today since I didn't share mine with anyone!

~ enjoy


Thanks Barb, for lunch Tuesday and this recipe - I loved it! Hugssss