My First Berry Pie

Using fresh berries from my grandmother's berry bush, I attempted my first berry pie from scratch. I made the crust too! I think it turned out pretty well.

Sprinkling cinnamon on the top is delicious!

I must share glorious, fantastic news (well at least to me)

This lady is the fridge we were given 3 years ago from a family member. It's tiny and sometimes doesn't work well. Good news.......we finally were able to buy a new fridge!!!!

Isn't she humongous and beautiful!!! It's like a dream come true for me to have a nice fridge. The majority of the items in our old fridge that took up most of the space, fits into the door shelves on the new one. We got it in perfect time for all our summer BBQs. I love that the freezer is on the bottom. No more squatting down to get my vegetables from the drawer that was broken.

woo!!

I'm still digging the ABBA. Happy Friday!!

"There was something in the air that night,

the stars were bright.

They were shinning there for you and me,

for liberty."

Guest Post: Annie from A Spoonful of Sugar

I hope you all are having a great week. I want to introduce you to my very first guest poster! Her name is Annie from A Spoonful of Sugar and she is an incredible baker! She always posts amazing recipes as well as some other fun things. 

When Lemons Bring You Hope

by Annie

I have been pining for Spring to arrive despite the fact that Central Oregon refuses to let it happen.  My mind has been spinning with the change of seasons, moving away from pumpkin, spices, and heavy desserts, and heading quickly towards light and refreshing ones made with fresh fruits and berries, meringue, and anything that evokes thoughts of the sunny season.  By the time winter is saying farewell, I'm more than ready for a new collection of dessert recipes.

Nothing says, "Hello Spring!" more than lemons.  I have a deep love of all things lemon, and was so happy to find Meyer Lemons at Costco last week.  These wonderfully delicious fruits are a cross between a lemon and either a mandarin or an orange.  They are a bit smaller than a true lemon, and their outside skin is smooth and darker yellow in color than a true lemon.  They are so unbelievably fragrant, and absolutely worth getting if you ever find them in your produce department.

With a couple of pounds of Meyer Lemons in hand, I began thinking about what I wanted to make and kept returning to a simple lemon cookie with lemon frosting.  Seemed simple and lovely, and a splendid way to ring in the fact that it IS officially Spring.  So while I watched snow fall from the sky the other day (read: "I'm so angry it's snowing right now"), I embraced Spring and got to work squeezing lemons.

These are about the most simple cookies to make.  I took a basic sugar cookie recipe and adjusted it by adding the juice of 2 Meyer lemons and about 1 cup extra flour.  Next, I rolled out the dough and cut it into cute fluted circles.  Then I made a buttercream frosting and added the juice of 2 Meyer lemons and a bit of yellow food coloring.  So simple. So full of Spring, and absolutely reminding me of sunshine on this cloudy day.

I'll be honest about this one thing.  The weather has put me in a mood the last month that has been hard to snap out of.  It's like this every year, and I conveniently forget.  Winter holds on with a grip so tight you'd think the temperature high will never make it consistently over 49 degrees, and you'll never get to put away your winter coat that's taking up way too much space in the closet.  And then we'll get a slight glimpse of a day that wants to be warm, only to have it stolen away by a blustery snow falling when it's nearly April.  But I also know this...it's the little things in life that can make you smile at such unexpected times.  In the midst of being irritated over the fact that Spring has been turned away in our area of the country, I found myself smiling this particular day.  My house filled with the smell of citrus, and my mind filled with the hope of warmth, sun, and many more lemon treats to come.

So incredibly thankful for hope.

Thanks so much Annie for taking the time to share your thoughts with us! I really wish I could taste those lemon cookies! I can almost smell the lemon in that picture. Yummy! Go check out Annie's awesome blog for great recipes as well as baking tips at A Spoonful of Sugar.

Angel Food Cake

I've been wanting to make this for weeks now because it's my husband's favorite cake (we've been married for 1 1/2 years and I've never made it!) It turned out really good!

I got the recipe here. Allrecipes.com is one of my favorite recipe sites. You can change the amount of servings you want and it will adjust the ingredients. I also like how many recipes have reviews from people who have made it before.

Ingredients

1 cup cake flour (I used regular flour)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
12 egg whites (I only had 11)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Be sure that your 10 inch tube pan is clean and        dry. Any amount of oil or residue could deflate the egg whites. Sift together the flour, and 3/4 cup of the   sugar, set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites along with the vanilla, cream of tartar and salt, to medium stiff peaks. (I used a hand-mixer, it takes awhile!)

Gradually add the remaining sugar while continuing to whip to stiff peaks. When the egg white mixture has reached its maximum volume, fold in the sifted ingredients gradually, one third at a time. Do not overmix. Put the batter into the tube pan.

3. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven (I cooked it for 30 minutes), until the cake springs back when touched. Balance the tube pan upside down on the top of a bottle, to prevent decompression while cooling. When cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a plate.

Tada!

I think you need a little cuteness to brighten up your week. Here ya go!!

Weigh-In, Pumpkin Muffins, & Mini House Tour

Had the day off today so I did some baking and cleaning. These pumpkin muffins turned out delicious!

Weigh-In

Lost: 0 pounds

At least I didn't gain any!

My husband I are very lucky in that we get a lot of free furniture from friends and family. The only pieces of furniture we bought in the 4 1/2 years we've been together are two couches. Not only has most of our furniture been free, a lot of it is antiques, score!!

We got this dresser from his parents. They said it was probably made in the 1930's. Look at the awesome vintage paper I found in one of the drawers. I want to make something with it!

This is a dry sink that we got from my husband's grandmother when she passed. I'm not sure how old it is, but they used it before their plumbing.

This is another piece from my husband's grandmother. 

The flag is my husband's grandfathers for his service.

My grandma gave me this piece. It's supposed to a kitchen cabinet, but I put it on my nightstand to give me some extra storage. I love the vintage flowers on it.

We keep things simple at our house. We're not too picky, which is important if you want to have free furniture. Our house does have a country feel to it. Lot's of brown and red. It's not what I pictured my house to look like, but I like it!

Late Night Baking

After I got home from school this evening, my husband was craving something with blueberries. He asked me if making pie crust was hard. That was when I knew he wanted me to make him something. We decided to make little blueberry pie pockets. 

 I made the dough. Found the recipe here.

Rolled out the dough and cut out little circles.

He made the filling: mashed blueberries, sugar, cinnamon, and flour.

Cooked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Yummy!!

Don't forget to check the new weekly words :)