There is a First for Everything

I tried my hand at embroidery. See I was motivated by a contest that Prudent Baby was having on their blog Called Use Your Words. The Prize for this contest I would LOVE to win!! It's a  Brother Project Runway Limited Edition LB-6800PRW Sewing and Embroidery Machine! Will I win? Who knows but it was fun trying :) Below is my entry.

I embroidered the last line from the story "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney.  It's one of our favorite books. Now when he goes to sleep I can read him the line from the book :) I know it's not perfect but I didn't really want it that way. I just wrote the words with chalk in my own handwriting. I thought that it's more from me that way.
 I think I will do more embroidery in the future. If I win the machine I will defiantly be doing more but I think doing it by hand has a very nice quality :)

How do you think I did for the first time?

From Scrach Gluten and Corn Free Blueberry Pie

 I don't know about your family but in mine there are a few of us with food allergies. So when we all get together for a dinner we have to work with what everyone can have. I have used this crust for a few different pies now and it has always turned out great! It's so good that the gluten eaters don't even notice :) and the kids like it too, which is always a plus! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does :)

 

 

 

Ingredients: For Crust

• 1 1/4 cup white rice flour
• 1/2 cup arrowroot starch
• 1/4 cup amaranth flour
• 1 tablespoon cane sugar (OMIT sugar if making a savory filling)
• 1/4 teaspoon  guar gum
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ice water
• 1 large, lightly beaten egg
•  3/4 cup of unsalted butter

 Directions

1.  Measure dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Use a large whisk to thoroughly blend ingredients.
2. Add the cold butter and mix with a dough blender until the butter is reduced to the size of peas and the mixture looks like coarse, dry crumbs.
3. Add the lightly beaten egg and mix just until egg is incorporated into the flour-butter mix.
4. Add 1 tablespoon of ice water and mix till incorporated. Squeeze a small amount of the dough in your hand. If it holds together don't add more water. If the dough is too crumbly and dry, add 1/4 teaspoon additional ice water and continue mixing. Check the consistency of the dough again. If the dough holds together and you can form a ball don't add more water. Adding too much water will make the dough sticky and harder to roll out and shape.
5. Scrape the dough, which will look crumbly, on a clean, gluten free work surface covered with waxed paper. Gather the crumbly dough into a ball. Flatten to a large disk shape. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least one hour before rolling out the dough. At this stage, the dough can be frozen. Place wax paper wrapped dough in a freezer bag, label and freeze for future use.
6. To Roll Dough: Remove dough from refrigerator and place dough between two sheets of waxed paper. Let dough sit just until it's soft enough to roll. When workable, roll lightly from the center outward, working to make a circle about 10-inches in diameter and about 1/8-inch thick. If the dough should get too warm and sticky, place it in the freezer for several minutes and then continue rolling it.
7. Peel top sheet of wax paper from the dough and carefully flip the dough, on the remaining sheet of waxed paper, over pie plate. Gently peel the waxed paper from the dough.
8. Gently press the dough into the pie plate.
9. Trim edges with knife and crimp edge with a fork or using your favorite method.
10. Pie crust is ready to fill or par bake (partially bake) as desired.
11. To par bake the crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a fork to pierce the crust- this will prevent the crust from bubbling up while baking. Or, line the dough with parchment paper and fill the plate with dry beans or pie weights. Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.

how it should look like after adding and mixing all the ingredients

nicely rapped up

When you roll it out you will find that this dough has a tendency to split don't worry when you get it into the pie plate you can make it beautiful :)

see all pretty and ready for the filling

Ingredients: for Blueberry Filling

• 3 cups of blueberries fresh or frozen
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
• ½ cup unsalted butter or margarine

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large saucepan combine blueberries, sugar, starch, and butter; bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer. Simmer the mixture for approximately 5 to 10 min. just until thickened. Pour berry mixture into the unbaked pie crust and bake for 35 min or until golden brown.

What the cooked mixture looks like

Ready to go into the oven

Mmmmm..... It smells, looks and tastes so good :)

Happy Mothers Day

 

Wishing all you Mothers out there have a Wonderful day! With at least a little break today :)

My New Find

So lately I have been hitting the thrift stores. When you don't have a lot of money but want to buy things it's, in my opinion, the safest place to go. Today on my travels I found this silk (I think) fabric that I love! Cost me only $2 I couldn't pass it up.

Now the dilemma what to make with it! Pillows? Bag? Skirt? Dress for my little girl? If anyone has any ideas please don't be shy :) I will of course post pictures of what I make from it.

Interesting Things with Parenthood

One of the interesting things that have happened to me since having children is the “Platinum Blonde” hair’s that have started emerging in my red locks. Now it isn’t really Platinum Blonde that has come in but that is what I like to call the gray hairs that are there. For me they seem to be quite white. It’s funny, you know the old saying that maybe your mother said to you “You put these gray hairs here” I guess she was right. With the stress of childbirth and the lack of sleep that a woman (and sometimes the significant other) goes through seem to have created them. I have never felt my age so to get these hairs emerging is slightly troubling. Do I pluck them out or start dying my hair? A hard thing to do when you are a redhead. Or should I just leave them as a mark of parenthood? In a way, I like many others, have earned every one of them.

Easter Fun

OK folks I don't get excited about easter stuff, most of the time, but I was at Walmart today and ran into these fun little eggs. They were about five dollars each for me and I only got two of the four designs they offered. (think I might have to go back and get the other two they are so cute)

So cute aren't they :) It's the ultimate Egg hunt. All you have to do is find some hiding places for these little beauties and turn them on. They say lines like "yoo hoo I'm over here" or  "I'm hiding"  and make noises.  When the child find then they get to open the egg and there is a little character in it.

 The little pig oinks when you are trying to find him and the bunny (who's name is Jojo) makes a bonging noise along with  the sayings.  When your child finds them and in turn open them they both say "Surprise you found me!" or the green one says "you found me!" and the orange one says "it's me Jojo!" I think they are great! My 2 1/2 year old loves them! The great thing is that you can replace the batteries in it so you can use them for years. There is a whole line of toys with these and a few other characters. You can check them out at http://ouaps.com/usahome.html

A great program for photos

At FileHippo (a great place for freewear and trials of programs in a range of categories. I highly recommend them) I came across a fun and easy to use program for editing and altering your photos. It's called ACDSee. With it I can put boarders and text on my images in no time flat! It has a bunch of fun things that you can do to your images :)  
The company has a down loadable FREE 30 day trial! (I love when I can try things out before I buy them) There is even another 15 days you can get after that if you try to down load it again by just filling out a few simple questions. I don't know about you but with two kids and a household to run I needed the extra days. The program is only $70 to buy, which isn't to bad if you consider how much Photo shop can run you and how difficult it is to get things done in it unless you have taken a class.

Here are some examples of what you can do with the program.