Let The Blueberry Baking Begin

First up is an experimental Blueberry Sour Cream Pie. This is a new recipe for me, I am usually a traditionalist when it comes to things like this, but I thought I would change things up a bit. I love sour cream, so after giving it a try (and another try, and maybe one more sliver of a try) I am happy to report this recipe is no longer experimental - it is a keeper. The filling is really delicious; it's kind of like a light custard with blueberries suspended in it. To me, it tasted like the vanilla ice cream that usually goes on top is inside.

The recipe appears to have a lot of steps, but it really is easy - it is just a lot of in and out of the oven and don't forget to reduce the temperature after the pie crust is partially baked. Being the person that I am I always have to change things a bit, so here is what I did for he Oh Me, Oh My Blueberry Pie:

Oh Me, Oh My Blueberry Pie

adapted from the recipe found at cookiemadness.austin360blogs

Crust

1 (9 inch deep dish unbaked pie crust). I made mine using Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee recipe. It is the only pie crust I ever make - it is that good! You can also use a store bought one if you don't have time.

Filling

1 cup sour cream (I used Light because that is just what I do...like I can make a pie healthier?)

1 large egg, slightly beaten

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups fresh blueberries

Streusel Topping

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Preparation of Crust:
Prepare crust and refrigerate until chilled. After the crust has chilled, (Just 5 -10 minutes - when the crust is chilled it prevents it from shrinking too much) press a piece of foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray over the pie crust. Weight the foil down with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 12 minutes and remove foil.

Reduce heat to 350 degrees.

Make the Filling:
Mix together sour cream, egg, sugar, flour, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Stir until well mixed. Fold in blueberries. Pour into partially baked crust. Bake for 30 minutes.

Mix up Topping:
While pie is baking, mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Spread over pie and bake 15 minutes or until topping is lightly browned.
Let cool on a rack for at least two hours. Refrigerate after serving. It is good cold too - don't ask me how I know this because I didn't have more than a sliver.

Okay, this may look like more than a sliver, but the kids wanted some too. They did - really!

Round and Round the Blueberry Bush

It's blueberry time here in Michigan and we are lucky enough to have a u-pick blueberry farm about 20 minutes from us. It really is the perfect thing to pick with little people. The bushes do not have thorns and the blueberries grow at varied heights which allow everyone to be successful. Here are a few photos from our outing:

Get Ready

Get Set

Go

Don't pick the pink ones!

How many did you pick?

Together we picked 5 1/2 pounds of blueberries and spent a whopping $7.50. Can you believe it? Two bag bags of blueberries for such a price - amazing. We left a bit extra for the few that were squished, the many that were dropped and for the 89 that were eaten by Sam along the way.

A Funny Friday Find

In the last 24 hours we have had a tremendous amount of thunder, lightning and rain. Of course, the worst always comes at about 12:30 am when you are in a deep sleep. This storm did not disappoint - the lightening started around 10:00 pm and rolled across the sky for hours. The thunder was unbelievable and received my triple B rating (Bounced my Bottom out of Bed) at the usual 12:30 am. Shortly after the window rattling crack that sounded like it was less than a block away, I heard a thump in the boy's room. I went in to make sure they were okay, but didn't see Owen in his bed. I did, however, see a lump under the blankets. Owen (four years old in October) is known for wrapping himself up in his covers like caterpillar in a cocoon. I gently pulled back the covers only to find a very awake Owen who in a panicked voice said, "Hide, Spencer - it's scary!" The whole exchange was so funny I went to bed giggling.

The laughs continued later into the morning when Laney picked up a kaleidoscope and spent 5 minutes trying to look through it. Have you ever seen a 21 month old try to look through a kaleidoscope? It really is funny - she would close both eyes and try to look, she then tried keeping both eyes open and when neither of those worked, she closed her eyes and pressed it against one eye.

In light of the funny events that have started my day, I thought for the Friday Find I would recommend Spencer’s favorite funny book. Arnie, the Doughnut by Laurie Keller does not disappoint. We stumbled upon it at the library and loved it so much we bought it. I'm not sure how we overlooked it before because it has been on many recommended book lists, but we did. Just in case you missed it too, have a look.

A Confession

I have a proposition for all you bloggers...you see, I was tagged by Katie yesterday and, although I find myself quite interesting, you may not agree. The game is great fun, but I was tagged earlier in the month and don't want to scare anyone away! So, instead of revealing 8 facts, how about 1 confession? I think there should be a rule that if you have been tagged within the last 30 days, you may opt out and make one confession, so I am making one (a rule and a confession that is). I'm kind of bossy hunh? No, I'm not counting that as my confession because most of you probably already knew that!

Here it is...my dirty little secret...I have a subscription problem. Okay, that's not all...I keep them - those magazines, I can't part with them. It's just that I might neeeeed them. What if the school has a bake sale and I need that shortbread brownie recipe? What if someday we decide to travel to Iceland? I know I have no sun in my garden, but what if we move and I can finally plant that featured vegetable garden? What if I decide to change my hair style? Crazy isn't it?

Cherry Almond Granola

I promised Anna at Thimbleanna that I would post my Cherry Almond Granola recipe. It is really delicious over vanilla yogurt, but is also good in a bowl with milk. Sam takes baggies full of the stuff and eats it plain on his way to work.

This recipe came about after many, many batches of varied ingredients and this ratio seems to work the best. You can, of course, make this with different nuts (pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc.) and dried fruits (dried apricots, raisins, dates, etc.) and vary the amounts. You can also make a 1/2 recipe, if this seems like too much.

Cherry Almond Granola

1 stick (1/2 c) butter, margarine, or vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons regular salt
6 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup sweetened coconut

1/2 cup unsalted slivered almonds
1 1/2 cups dried cherries

1/2 tsp cinnamon, if desired

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray and set aside. In large bowl, melt butter/margarine in microwave. 2 1/2 minutes on defrost works with my microwave. Stir in brown sugar, honey and salt; mix until combined. Add oats, coconut, wheat germ and almonds; mix until well coated. Spread mixture evenly over the two coated cookie sheets and bake for 15 minutes, or until a light golden brown. Rotate the cooking sheets during cooking to get even browning. After the initial 15 minutes of cooking, add cherries and bake an additional 5 minutes. The cherries I used were huge, so I chooped them up to up my cherry per bite ratio. Remove from oven and carefully loosen the granola - I try to be careful to not break the granola because I like to get some clusters. Once cool, store in air tight container, or Ziploc bag.

Has She Had "Work" Done?

Well, you might think she is a natural beauty, but don't check behind her ears. After a rough assembly that left her with some creases and unsightly folds, she went on "vacation" to remedy the problem. I must say that after the whole procedure she was looking pretty good, but like I said, it's best not to look under her leaves.


Before:


After:

The Magic Misto

I lost a day this week - for some reason I thought yesterday was Friday. It might have had something to do with the 3rd degree flurry that was going on earlier in the week...Sam's parents are visiting and, for whatever reason, I decided I needed to wash the windows, touch up some of the paint on the exterior trim and make pizza dough, chocolate chip cookies and a big batch of cherry almond granola. Anyway, after realizing that today is actually Friday, I thought I would get busy and post a Friday favorite. Without further ado, I would like to present... the Misto.

This thing is really great and I use it all of the time to coat my pans and, of course, make bruschetta. You put your oil in the chamber, screw on the top, give it a few pumps and you have your own chemical free cooking spray. I found mine at the Maxx, but you can also get one at Amazon.com.

We Have a Winner

The fate of the felted bag has been decided:

No 6 (25%)
Yes, Flower 4 (16%)
Yes, Flower & Leaf 12 (50%)
Yes, Ribbon Bow 2 (8%)

It looks like I am going to be doing some more knitting - I'll get to work on the flower and leaf and, hopefully, I'll have something to show you soon. While you are waiting, why not give this pie a try - talk about a winner. I am not a big pie person, but I do like this key lime pie from Paula Deen.
It is very easy to make, but I should tell you that I omit the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar because I don't make the meringue - I prefer whipped cream. I know, I know, but it's pie people, not polenta and there is no such thing as diet pie no matter what Kirstie Alley tells you. Have a great weekend!

The Quasi Gardener

This is the Sahara; a little herb garden to the side of our house. We call it the Sahara because it is the only place in our yard that really gets any sun. The rest of the yard is shaded by giant maple trees. With all of the plants on sale, I decided to fill in the herb garden a bit. I bought some different sages, hyssop and winter savory. I'm not sure what I am going to do with the last two, but I wanted a section of the garden that smelled good. That it does! I also have lavender, chives, oregano, mint, etc.

I love lavender and, after our crazy winter, our plants are looking a bit shabby. The other day, my mom and I stopped by a nursery to see if they had any left. While I was there, I told them about the chocolate an orange mint I had just planted. Well, let me just tell you that if your ever want to send a real gardener into orbit just tell them you planted mint! I knew it spread, but being the quasi gardener that I am I thought it would make a nice ground cover... Oh well - live and learn. I might be a little slow, but eventually I get it.

Climbing the Walls

Literally - they are climbing the walls. They are so excited about the outcome of the poll they can't contain themselves!

Okay, maybe Spencer called me over the other day to show me his "new trick". Looks safe doesn't it? How do kids come up with these ideas? Did he just sit there, look at the doorway and think - I bet I can climb that? Around here it's monkey see monkey do - crazy kids!

To Embellish or Not to Embellish...

That is the question. I made this little felted purse the other day and have been going back and forth about adding an embellishment. I could add a felted flower, a flower and leaf, or a ribbon bow, but I'm just not sure. I am leaning toward nothing at the moment. The bag is not all that big (8 1/2" wide, 5 1/2" tall and 3" deep) and it does have the busy floral lining... What do you think?

I thought it might be fun to try the new poll feature blogger just added, so let me know what you think. All you have to do is select one of the options in the poll - it's in the sidebar under the cake pictures. It is easy peasy, so let me know what you think by voting.

The Red Carpet

Picture me: Dressed in this:

Photo From Amazon.com

Saying this:

Wow, I am so honored. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kim at Today's Creative Blog - without her, this post would not have been possible. Her blog work is, well, inspirational.

A big thanks to my family - my husband and my three wonderful children for eating all of the dinosaur chicken nuggets I serve you to make some of these posts possible.

I would also like to thank my mother (my voice would start to quiver here) who bought me my first pair of scissors. I know I cut George Washington's head out of the dollar bill you gave me, but it was that experience that lead me to where I am today.

Thanks to my fellow bloggers for giving me the time of day...Catherine at Red Shoes, what? (the orchestra would start to play here) I'm out of time...

All joking aside, thank you Kim for featuring my blog. If you haven't been over to Kim's blog - head over there and check it out. She has a whole lot of goodness in one spot!

A Friend of Mine

I use Bar Keepers Friend on my stainless pots and stainless sink to make them shine, shine, shine. Because I keep my pots on a pot rack and I like them to look spiffy, I use this cleaner on them so I don't have to order out every night.

This stuff removes those watermarks from boiling water too long, the stains from the spoon that rusted in the pot because you were too tired to do the dishes and they sat in the wet sink, and it even works on the bits of burned food that got stuck to the bottom of the pan because you had to walk away from the stove to keep the 1 1/2 year old from dumping out all 5 pounds of flour. The only downside to this stuff is it doesn't keep the dust from coating my pans on the pot rack, but other than that it is great.

Give it a try on your stainless steel pots and pans, but PLEASE don't use it on polished stainless - it WILL scratch. You can find it in the grocery store, hardware store, or even Amazon.com.

I'm It - I've Been Tagged

Cammy from freckledfarm tagged me. I guess this is my newbie initiation - how fun! I must admit am a bit leery of giving 8 bits of factual random information about myself. Read on and you'll see why:

1. I am redhead with 3 children - none of which have red hair. Bummer.


2. I am a flurrier (i.e. a compulsive clutter picker-upper). We can be running late and I will have to put the glasses in the dishwasher, pick up the toys, stack up the magazines, etc. before I can leave. Inevitably, in my flurry, I stash something and walk around in circles for days looking for it. See number 3.


3. I will search for lost items until I find them or am forced to declare they no longer exist. Unfortunately, I do misplace a lot of things especially keys. Keys are a problem. So if you ever see a redheaded woman walking around talking to herself, just go about your business - she is looking for something.


4. I love both chocolate and coffee and have both every day, but never in the same bite or sip. I don't think those two ingredients should ever be combined. Yes, I'm a Mocha hater and I'm not ashamed to say it.


5. I don't like the word "panties" - how is that for random? Thought I would throw that one in the middle to see if you were really reading this. It is true though - I just don't like that word.


6. I don't like people walking up stairs behind me; it gives me the creeps and I have to run.


7. Before my life as a mom began, I worked as a forensic accountant (I am not a CPA, my major was Business and my minor was in Art). That's when I really learned that I like to be in charge. How is that for honesty?


8. I met my husband when I was 17, a freshman in college - he married me anyway.

Well, I hope you will all still be my blog friends now that you know how strange I really am. See why I was worried?

The rules are that I am now supposed to tag 8 people, but how about 6? Ladies, consider yourselves tagged (play if you like, post your responses on your blog and tag (?) more):

Katie at MKHKK

Linda at Restyled Home

Leeann at Is It Morning Already?

Marianna at Cardinal Acre

Trudi at Trinkets and Treasures

Stephanie at GreenieGardens

FYI

Just wanted to let you know that my mom is officially a blogger. Cool hunh? She is going to wow you with her beautiful roses, amazing quilting and sinful foods, so check her out blog at:

No First Aid Necessary

The fireflies are out here and as a "treat" the boys got to stay up late to see them (it doesn't get dark until about 9pm). I am not sure if they were more excited about running around pretending to be nocturnal creatures, or actually seeing the fireflies. Maybe the excitement came from watching their mother run around the yard like a lunatic trying to take photos of fireflies lighting up - not sure? For some reason, the fireflies kept landing on Spencer and when Owen was finally able to get one to land on him, he said, "Mama, one lighted up on me and I didn't even get burned!" Man I love three year olds.

The Near Perfect Food

I truly believe tomatoes do not belong in sandwiches; really, they just make everything soggy. Tomatoes are fine in salads and pastas because everything is already wet. In my mind, tomatoes go from being a meal accessory to the star of the show in one dish - bruschetta.

It is nearly the perfect food. I say "nearly" because there are some other top contenders out there: ice cream, grilled chicken burritos, homemade granola with vanilla yogurt, Chicago style pizza... bruschetta is definitely in the top 10 though. Actually, it should probably be in the top 5 because it is soooo healthy. When you think about it, is there really anything else that is as healthy as this tomato mixture and still tastes so good? Honestly, I can eat (our) bruschetta until I get hives.

Bruschetta is one of those foods that is easily customized to specific tastes. Some people add a little extra basil, some go wild with the garlic, ahem - mom, and others add crazy things like olives, cheese, or, gasp, red peppers.

Here is our version:

Tomato Mixture
Sous chef Sam (gotta give him credit) cut up about five of the best looking on the vine store bought tomatoes you have ever seen into a medium dice.

Added about a 1/4 cup of fresh basil. I like to use the stack, roll and cut approach here - you get a nice chiffonade cut and you don't have basil stuck to every surface of the kitchen.

Mixed in about 3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or EVOO for all of you Rachel Ray fans.

Pressed 1/2 clove of fresh garlic and saved the other half for rubbing on the toast. Yes, just 1/2 clove, so as not to OVERPOWER the other flavors - mom.

Salt to taste.

A pinch of sugar is needed to bring out the flavor of tomatoes.

Lastly, the ingredient we add that makes my mother cringe - balsamic vinegar about 1 tbs.

Mix it all together and let sit while you get the toast ready.

Toasts
Sliced the Zingerman's sourdough bread into 1/2 inch thick slices and rubbed them with a clove of garlic that had been cut in half.

Sprayed both sides with Extra Virgin Olive Oil via my Misto.

Sprinkled a little salt on the bread.

Grilled the bread slices on my cast iron griddle and smoked up the house.

Toasted the bread until golden and crispy around the edges, but not hockey pucks.

Assemble like so:

Friend or Foe?

Cute?

Just a scurrying rodent?

We have these little critters scampering all around our yard. I guess they are kind of cute and, in some ways, better than all of the squirrels. When I say "all of the squirrels", I talking about the gray squirrels, the black squirrels, the big fox squirrels a.k.a. barges and the feisty red squirrels. Really, a Nature documentary on squirrels could be filmed in our backyard. Feed them and they will come - they eat like kings and queens in our yard.

Most of the time I don't even get to sit down to eat - enjoy Mrs. Squirrel.

Okay, back to the chipmunks who are far more polite with their yard manners than the squirrels - they don't dig like their bushy tailed friends, nor are they as forward with their food requests. What they are is louder; they chirp at one another like cardinals on steroids. Plus, there is the whole size issue; they are getting down to mouse size. I really am conflicted about these guys, so what do you think - rodent in every sense of the word, or cute backyard buddy? Just curious.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Favorite Rodents

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seeing this picture, I was reminded of Ralph S. Mouse and his motorcycle. Sadly, the boys and I are on the last book of the series. It seems fitting that a chipmunk would have a 4x4 truck doesn't it?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Done with the rodent randomness now.

Sometimes a Box is Best

The only thing I ever remember my Opa cooking is pannenkoeken. I would visit my grandparents in their small flat in the Hague and my Opa would serve giant pancakes for dinner. As a kid, not only was it a thrill to get breakfast for dinner, but these pancakes were the size of dinner plates. They are not like our American brick-in-stomach pancakes. These pancakes are thinner and chewier - more like a giant thick crepe.

This mix is in our grocery stores in the pancake section and is the closest thing I have had to the pancakes my Opa used to make. The vintage looking box says "Swedish" - guess they didn't know he was Dutch.

I like to serve them with powdered sugar and lemon. The old standby is still a good choice for you traditionalists who need syrup. Although you will never find it on a pancake of mine, you could go the jam route. Heck, you could even walk on the wild side and go savory - they are that versatile.

How Mu$h Did You Blow Up?

Oh how boys love to blow things up! With Laney tucked sweetly in her bed, the boys headed outside to watch some sparks fly. As you can see, we added to the 2007 profit margin of the firework tent guy who, apparently, likes to blow things up too - firework guy was actually smoking near his arsenal. Go figure.

A Little Red, White and Blue

Happy 4th of July!

Chocolate cupcakes with butter cream and fondant.

The Big Event

As promised, here are some photos from the tea party, a few pages from the scrapbook I put together and the goody bag: