Monday, September 19, 2011

Raspberry Syrup




We have raspberry plants in our yard.  Every other day I go out and pick a big cup full.





What do I do with that many raspberries?  Well mostly I freeze them. It's the easiest thing to do, just wash and stick in a freezer bag.  We use them for smoothies or muffins.

But last year I decided to make some Raspberry Syrup and it was soooo good that I had to make it again this year.

I used this recipe from my Ball Blue Book of Preserving - except I substituted raspberries for the strawberries. (I have made it with strawberries too and it's delicious)




 First wash your berries.  



 Then place them in your pot with half of the water.




Bring to a boil for five minutes. This is what it should look like.





Then strain through cheese cloth or jelly bag.




 You will end up with just the juice.




 Bring the rest of your water and sugar to a boil and bring to 260.  Then add the juice and corn syrup. Boil 5 min.



Skim off any foam and ladle into jars.




 Place lids on top and place in boiling water canner. Bring to a boil and process 10 minutes. (Adjust for altitude)





 When ready to eat pour a pint into a pan and add 2 Tbsp. cornstarch. Bring to a boil.  (This step is not necessary but it makes it thicker.  DO NOT add the cornstarch before canning.)


Pour over your favorite waffles or pancakes. Delicious!!




  

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Bookshelf

Last week I showed you the bookshelf I built.  This is the reason we needed it.
 
Here's the before of one of the bookshelves that's in my living room. I told you we had tons of books.  The basket in front is all the library books and that diaper box is full of board books. 



I went through all through all the books and reorganized everything.  
Here's what it looks like now. 

The whole bottom shelf will be for the library books. That small tin box on the bottom corals the bookmarks and the wood planter box holds some board books.  Much better!  Having four kids, I am under no illusions that it will stay this way for long;)



Here is the new bookshelf.


It fits perfectly between the two beds. Do you see that "pray" block on top? My son painted it himself.  It actually turned out kinda cute.



Thursday, September 15, 2011

My New Old Church Bag

 Have you ever bought something only to find that many others have the same thing?

Well that's what happened to me. I bought this cute canvas bag at Seagull Book months ago. It was only $4.  I thought "what a great deal". 

 


This bag is huge too, which is a must for me.  I love it.  The last month or so I've noticed more and more people have my bag;)   Well, it all became to much for me when I literally picked up someone else's bag thinking it was mine.  Here's what I did to fix the problem.

On my last trip to the store, I picked up some colored Sharpies.  Wow! I found that you can spend a lot of money on Sharpies if your so inclined.  The pack I bought was only $3.




First I laid the bag flat. I stuck a notebook inside to catch any bleeding through, but I didn't need too. Better safe than sorry, I guess.


Then I set to work coloring. I found that I could only do 2 or 3 flowers before needing a break.  (Marker fumes are NOT good for you)


 


Here it is all finished.


Before using, stick it in the dryer for 20-30 minutes to "set the stain", so to speak.

What do you think?


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Darling Skirt


Over the summer, my mother-in-law, the queen yard sale shopper, found this cute fabric for a quarter.  That's right a quarter!  There was about two yards.  I set to work making some skirts.

I used this tutorial I found at Not Just A Housewife. She did a series called Sew with Me Saturdays hosted by Tammy.   I love this tutorial - it's very detailed and yet simple. It teaches you how to do the math so that you can do any size.  I made one for all three of my daughters.

I love how they turned out!  (Sorry no pic for my 9-yr-old's but it's just as cute)







Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Carrot Cake

Early in our marriage, my husband had to practically force me to try carrot cake.  I did not want to.  To me it just sounded gross.  I finally did try it and I really like it.  It's basically a spice cake. You can't even tell there are carrots in it.

Be sure to check out  more of my favorite cake recipes.




Carrot Cake


Mix together sugar, oil and eggs.
(I always use applesauce in place of some of the oil. The recipe calls for one cup of oil, so I'll put in 1/2 cup of applesauce and 1/2 cup of oil. In theory you could substitute the applesauce for the oil, but I haven't tried that yet.)   I did add the sugar although it's not in the picture:)



Then sift in the dry ingredients and vanilla.  




Stir it all up and add the carrots (I use my food processor to grate them) and nuts. My daughter insisted that I not put nuts in it. So that's what I did, although I prefer it with nuts.



Stir well and place in greased pan.



Bake.





Frost.



Cream cheese frosting freezes very well. I use it for lots of things - from cakes to cookies to cinnamon rolls.  I only use about half of the frosting for this cake - I think it's plenty.  So stick the other half in a freezer bag and it'll be ready when you need it.




You can also substitute shredded zucchini to make zucchini cake.  I like to shred up lots of zucchini this time of year and stick it in the freezer.  If you use frozen zucchini, you should thaw it first and then drain about half of the liquid before using. 


Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake

Servings: 15
Author: Rachel
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 50 Min
A yummy carrot cake topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients

Carrot Cake
  • 1 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 c. vegetable oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 c. flour
  • 2 t. cinnamon
  • 1 t. baking soda
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 3 c. carrots, shredded
  • 1 c. walnuts, chopped
Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 c. butter, softened
  • 2 T. milk
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 4 c. powdered sugar

Instructions

Carrot Cake
  1. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, oil and eggs.
  2. Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and vanilla and stir well.
  3. Stir in carrots and nuts.
  4. Pour into a greased 9 X 13 pan.
  5. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.
  6. Cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. Add cream cheese and butter to a bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat well until combined.
  2. Add milk, vanilla and powdered sugar and mix well.
  3. Spread over cooled carrot cake.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

495.47

Fat (grams)

23.93

Sat. Fat (grams)

4.19

Carbs (grams)

68.06

Fiber (grams)

2.03

Net carbs

66.03

Sugar (grams)

52.15

Protein (grams)

4.50

Sodium (milligrams)

226.22

Cholesterol (grams)

47.35
carrot cake
Dessert, Cake
American

Monday, September 12, 2011

Home Grown Carrots


I came back into the kitchen the other day, after putting the baby to sleep and this is what I found in my sink.

 I'm glad that my husband picked them for me so that I didn't have too. But I didn't really have time to do anything with them right then.

I learned a few weeks ago that you can't leave them out. They get very rubbery and bendy - not what you want in a carrot.  So I broke off the stems and washed them and stuck them in the fridge for a few days.

Most of the carrots were actually pretty long and straight but here are a few crazy ones.

I love the ball carrot in the middle!

We have tried to grow carrots every year in our garden and they've never grown.  We just kept trying and we must have done something right this year.  We had too many to just eat so I decided to can some of them.


I've never canned carrots before, but it was really easy.  You do need a pressure canner though.

I just peeled and cut up the carrots and stuck them in the bottles with salt. Then filled up the jars and pressure cooked them. 


Now in all honesty, I can't see my kids eating these - but I do have a plan..... 

My Grandma had a super yummy recipe for carrot cookies. (I'll share it sometime)  Everyone just thought they were orange cookies because they have an orange glaze on top.  I never make them because you have to cook the carrots and then mash them to add into the batter. Who has time for that?  But with these already cooked - all I have to do is mash them up.

So there's my adventures in carrots. Tomorrow I'll show you what else I did with some of the carrots.



Saturday, September 10, 2011

I Built It Myself - Bookshelf


At our house we have tons of books.  It has gotten to the point that we don't have enough room for them all anymore.  So I decided to build a bookshelf for my son's room.  I went to Ana White's website.  She has tons of free building plans for everything - beds, bookshelves, tables, chairs, desks - anything you can think of.  If you haven't visited her site go check it out.  It's amazing.

I used the  loft bed, small bookcase and desk plans, but I only made the bookshelf portion.  


I used a special jig we bought for another project and drilled pocket holes for the screws so they wouldn't be visible.

Here's a tip:  When placing your shelf, measure and draw a line. Then line up the shelf on the line when you screw it in.  Just make sure your on the correct side of the line. Yeah, I screwed it in on the wrong side of the line and the shelf was sloping to the left.  Luckily I noticed before the glue had dried and it was easily fixed. 

I had some baseboards that I used for some trim to add a little more detail to it.  I think it just makes the piece.  Then I filled all the holes and sanded everything down.





Then I painted it a flat black that we had left over from something else.



I think it's easier to paint it before you put the back on.



I decided that I didn't like the flat paint.  So I sprayed on some clear glossy spray paint. 

Total cost for my project? 
Since I had the paint, backing, glue, and baseboards on hand, it only cost $20 for the wood and some screws.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Sea Breeze Dress


Awhile back I got to test out the Sea Breeze Dress pattern for Amy over at Naptime Crafters.  I loved how it turned out.  I love the ruffled bodice. To make this dress yourself just head on over to Amy's PeekaBoo Pattern Shop. When you buy the pattern you get sizes 3 months through 6T.  She has tons of other cute stuff too. 




I just had to make my 4 year old one as well. I did the straps a little bit different for hers - just for fun. (Don't you just love the shoes? She has white but it really wasn't worth the fight:)


I found that the hardest part was getting some good pictures.



I got a lot of this...

And this...



But I did get a few good shots. Isn't she just a doll?