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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Girl or Boy...It's All the Same!

I'll never forget my big 20 week ultrasound during my first pregnancy.  Before finding out the gender I thought and would even say I want my first born to be a son.  Then I found out we were having a girl.  My reaction to finding out I was having a daughter and not a son probably didn't make sense.  I was ecstatic - through the roof excited!  Easily one of the best days of my life! 

I don't know why I ever said I had a preference.  Suddenly all I wanted was a little girl.  


And having a girl is perfect!

And shopping for a girl has been fun.  Just ask LKB.

Girls look cute in headbands.


You can really deck a girl out in fur - faux fur!


What girl doesn't look stunning in pearls?


Or wearing dresses.



That was all just a long winded introduction to my point.  I have my perfect girl and now I couldn't be more excited we're having a boy!  (Actually, based on experience, I would probably be just as excited no matter what the gender happened to be.)

I've been getting super great deals planning ahead for this little guy.  The deals online are incredible and the close couldn't be cuter!

One of the too many blogs I stalk follow posted, i don't know why everybody says that little girls are the most fun to shop for.  The blogger linked to so many adorable little man clothing and items that will drain my bank account our son must have. 

These little manly items are so cute I can't stand it.

Seriously, check out the link above to the blog if you're ever going to have a baby boy, a grandson, or have a friend who will have a boy, or a neighbor that will have a boy, or have an unfortunate husband that wears 0 - 3 month clothing and likes sock monkeys.

In short, all genders are perfect.  Deep...  I know.
 

Strawberry Fields Forever!


 It's time! The strawberries are ready for picking!
Hana and I had a fun morning this week picking LOTS of berries.
We went to some fields just south of our house.
The sun was warm, nice breeze, the air smelled like berries... it felt good.






We ended up with a lot!!! Now the fun begins- what to do with them all. 
I made some into sauce, for peanut butter and jelly sundaes!

I strained the berry mixture after mixing it with sugar, pureeing them and let them simmer on the stove awhile.

Peanut Butter Sundaes
1 2/3 C. half and half
1/2 C. light brown sugar
1 TBL. light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 C. peanut butter (creamy)

Vanilla Ice Cream and strawberry sauce

Bring the 1/2 and 1/2. brown sugar, corn syrup and salt to a boil over moderate high heat.
Whisk until smooth.
Remove from heat and whisk in peanut butter until smooth.
Transfer to a glass jar and cool slightly.
Serve over vanilla ice cream with your homemade strawberry sauce.



Hana made strawberry cupcakes, with strawberry cream cheese frosting!!!! WOW!!!!
Delicious!!

Strawberry Cupcake Recipe
makes 12 cupcakes
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped strawberries
1-2 tablespoons milk, if needed (I did not need/use this)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add flour, baking powder and salt with the mixer on low speed, then gradually increase speed. Add in chopped strawberries and beat on medium speed until the strawberries break down – about 1-2 minutes. At this point, the strawberries most likely have enough liquid that you don’t need to add any milk to the batter. If you batter seems dry and is not like typical cake batter (see 1st picture above), then add milk 1-2 tablespoons at a time, beating until incorporated.
Pour into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 of the way full, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake is set. Let cool, then frost.
We used the fresh berries in it.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients

  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Hana added some of the fresh fruit- pureed in it!
enjoy!

In case you have a  few berries left, here is another recipe that I want to make this weekend.

Strawberry and Whipped Cream Pie (makes one 10-inch pie)
Crust:
1-1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
6 Tablespoons melted butter
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Mix everything together by hand, and press firmly into a 10-inch springform pan.  The crust should also go up the sides of the pan about three inches.  Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, until it has firmed up a bit.  Let it cool while you prepare the filling.
Filling:
5 cups strawberries, washed and stems removed.
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon gelatin powder, soaked in 1/4 cup cold water
Roughly chop one cup of the strawberries and place in a small saucepan with the sugar.  Cook until reduced to a puree.  Remove from the heat, then stir in the soaked gelatin.  Mix with the remaining strawberries, then immediately pour into the cooled crust.  Spread the out so the top is level, then prepare the whipped cream topping.
Topping:
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon gelatin powder
2 tablespoons milk
Whip the cream and sugar to stiff peaks.  Soak the gelatin in the milk for two minutes, then heat gently until dissolved.  Gradually fold the whipped cream into the gelatin, then spread on top of the strawberries.  Chill for several hours before removing from the pan and slicing.

Have a Great Weekend!!!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Do you do Pinterest?

Have you heard of Pinterest?
I know, another way to spend too
much time on your computer! Well,
maybe it can save you time.

Here is what  it is: First of all they
say you have to be invited, really
it is just signing up.
Then you create boards, like- crafts,
home, music, fashion, music etc.
 You then "pin" things you see on
the internet and  you share them
with people that "follow" you.

This is an example of something
I pinned- an idea for a craft-
 so
it's on my crafty-ness board.

Where it comes in handy is when my son says-"hey I saw this really cool shirt"- I can look on his "fashion" board and go to the website. Or my daughter can have something on youtube she wants me to watch, so I can just go to her music board.
I have tons of folders on my desktop, and bookmarks a mile long on my computer. This is another way to save ideas and share them.  Oh.... and you can have a recipe board too----share recipes--- really cool!
I KIND OF LOVE IT!!!!!  Look for me on Pinterest   and follow me!
cute
cute
Picture of Linda Bachman
Pinned by Linda Bachmanonto Crafty-ness