Patriotic Fruit Pizza

Posted on Sat 4 Jul 2009 at 1:27 AM by GrandmaRosie - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Patriotic Fruit Pizza

1 (16 1/2 oz.) pkg. refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 C of sugar, divided
2 T of cornstarch
1/2 C of orange juice
1/4 C of lemon juice
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1 T of milk
1 t orange peel, grated
2/3 C of heavy whipping cream
1 apple, peeled and sliced thin
1 1/2 C of fresh strawberries, halved
1 C seedless dark purple grapes, halved
1 banana, sliced thin
1 C of fresh raspberries
1/2 C of fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the cookie dough and let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Carefully spread the dough onto an ungreased pizza pan. Bake the dough 15 minutes or until a golden brown. Remove and allow the dough to cool on the pan.

Dump half of the sugar into a small saucepan. Add the cornstarch and toss slightly to combine. Pour the orange and lemon juice into the mixture.

Place the pan over medium heat bringing the mixture to a steady boil.
Continue boiling for 2 minutes stirring constantly then remove the pan from the heat, setting aside to cool. Cube the cream cheese and place in a large mixing bowl. Pour the milk over the cream cheese. Add the orange peel and the remaining sugar. Beat the mixture until blended together well and smooth.

Place the whipping cream into a small mixing bowl. Beat the whipping cream until soft peaks begin to form. Fold the whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture until blended in well. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. Place the apple slices around the outside edge of the crust.

Next layer the strawberry halves around the crust. Circle the halved grapes on next. Add the bananas to the ring. Place the raspberries onto the crust next. Finish the ring with the blueberries. Spread the reserved glaze evenly over the all the fruit. Place covered in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or until chilled.

Makes 12 servings

Preparation Time: approximately 30 minutes

Firecracker Cupcakes

Posted on Sat 4 Jul 2009 at 1:20 AM by GrandmaRosie - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Firecracker Cupcakes

1 (18 oz. ) box of devils food cake mix
1 1/4 C of sour cream
3 eggs
1/3 C of canola oil
2 T instant coffee crystals
1/2 t ground chipotle chili pepper
1 (11.5 oz.) pkg. semisweet chocolate chunks
2 t flour
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 C butter, room temperature
1/2 t vanilla
2 1/2 C of powdered sugar
Red and blue food coloring
2 oz. semi sweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 C of whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Dump the devils food cake mix into a large mixing bowl. Add in the sour cream, eggs, and oil. Sprinkle in the coffee crystals and pepper.

With an electric mixer on low speed beat the ingredients for 45 seconds.
Adjust the speed to medium and continue beating 2 minutes making the batter thick.

Place the flour in a small bowl. Add the chocolate chunks and toss to coat.
Fold the chocolate into the cupcake batter. Fill the prepared muffin cups 3/4 full of the batter.

Bake 20 minutes or until the tops bounce back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then remove to wire racks to continue cooling.

Place the cream cheese and the butter into a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until the mixture reaches a frosting consistency.

Separate the frosting into 3 small bowls and tint one bowl with the red food coloring and 1 bowl with the blue food coloring. Frost the cupcakes dividing between the 3 different colors.

Place the chopped chocolate into a small mixing bowl. Heat the whipping cream in a saucepan over low heat to just boiling. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes then whisk until smooth.

Place the mixture into a sealable baggie. Snip one corner of the baggie and drizzle the chocolate over the frosted cupcakes.

Makes 24 cupcakes

Fourth of July Plans & Menu

Posted on Friday, July 3, 2009 at 06:23 by blessed mom - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

                              I have been planning our weekend.  Tomorrow we will enjoy a quiet day at home.. just family ( all 12 of us!).  We always enjoy a special meal on America's B-day.. so this year I will be making grilled steaks ( a rare treat) , baked potatoes, homemade baked beans, watermelon & homemade apple pie! It's not the fourth w/ out homemade apple pie! 

      Sunday our Church is holding an evening meeting and then a potluck meal. I'll be brining watermelon, lemon meringue pies and spinach salad. The girls are making cookies & cupcakes.  We are also going to bring a pinata & water balloons!  It should be a fun evening!

      Fourth of July is one of our favorite holidays!  We sure enjoy celebrating and taking time to remember how blessed we are in this land of the brave and home of the free!  I am also thankful for the freedom and perfect law of liberty thru Christ our Lord ! Jesus died so ALL men could be set free!  How grateful  I am for that!  We are no longer under the bondage of the law -- but are free thru the grace and liberty in Christ! Thank you Jesus for your precious blood shed on calvary so all men can be free!

  Hope you all enjoy a blessed Holiday!

Gloria

Summer Vacation is on.

Posted on Friday, July 3, 2009 at 06:08 by Schatzi - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Well, our summer is underway and I'm already tired.  It might just be the heat.  Today it's 33 degrees Celsius.  Thankful the pool is warm as I've been swimming a bit.  I'm not complaining that's for sure because we get enough rain and cold in the winter so this is awesome weather we are having right now.

My favourite fruit is in season right now and we are enjoying an abundance of "raspberries". Yum.  I have made raspberry cheesecake...raspberry viniagrette...raspberries and cream...just plain raspberries...raspberry shortcake...you get the picture.  Plus, I put 40 pounds in the freezer to make raspberry jelly later. I am not doing much this summer...I am still working on this "tennis elbow" thing and so any amount of work causes pain...and trying to use my left hand for everything is also difficult....so I am taking it easy this summer and just sitting around doing only what absolutely needs doing...and with five kids still home, that's busy enough.

We took the kids to the ocean and for ice-cream...and now Anika says she has touched her feet in the North Atlantic Ocan and now the Pacific Ocean..it was exciting, not to mention we all had our favourite ice-cream...mine is "tiger"...delicious!  The tide was out so we were able to walk quite a ways out.

Dh and I also made our first "beer can chicken"...or others call it, "beer up the butt" chicken.  It turned out amazing.  Next time though we will leave in on the barbeque 1/2 hour longer..but the flavour was unbelievable.  I went on the internet to look up recipes and there were hundreds of them, so dh and I just came up with our own rub and everyone loved it.

The boys got the go-kart out from the garage and pumped up the tires washed it and even got it started on their own.  Last year they couldn't really touch the peddles very easily but this year well.....my boys are growing up too quickly for "this mama"....but it was fun watching them tearing around the grapes and through the long grass.  They had a blast....so did dad!!!!

We are reading Daniel Boone right now...and because the weather was so great today we took our blankets and I read to the kids under the big tree in the back yard...I sat in our wonderful Muskoka chair and the kids laid on the blankets...it was fun.  I finally got a sore throat from reading so we all laid on the blankets while the kids  talked about all kinds of things...we all told story after story until I got a whopper of a headache...so Anika decided to massage my head so I wouldn't go inside...she loves listening to my stories...she even braided my hair.  It was a fun afternoon.  Of course every once in a while the wind would blow a certain way and it was "chicken poo smell" everywhere....then thankfully the wind would shift and it was beautiful trees and grass smell.  Oh the joys of living in the country.  God is so good!

Our cherry tree is producing lots of fruit this year...but unfortunately the birds are getting more than we are. Any ideas how to keep the crows away? 

Well, that about sums up our past week....looking forward to the weekend. 

Happy "4th of July to all my US blogging friends

and

Happy Birthday to my sister!

New things in the shop...

Posted on Friday, July 3, 2009 at 08:09 by Chas - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Some new things have been added to my shop as of this morning...
Positively Patriotic Quilted Tote
Simply Beachy
And I am working on one now with a vintage flour sack.
I think it is going to be adorable! :)
Just added!
Vintage Flour Sack Bag of Thistles

Thanks for looking and may you have a Fabulous Fourth of July!

These are the days of the harvest.

Posted on Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 9:08 AM by Mommy of Two Little Blessings - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

   Last night we went out to pick more blueberries.  We take both of our children with us so when we go were are there for about fourty-five minutes and get about a bucket full.  It's about ten pounds for $20 and the kids get the experiance of picking berries.  They may eat more than they put in the bucket and they get time outside with Daddy and Mommy away from the home.  We all enjoy our time out in the field. *smile*  They do put some berries in the bucket, our two year old daughter puts more green ones in than blue, but she puts some in. *smile/wink*  And our four year old son adds a good little bit. *smile*  We get the berries home, rince them in a colindar, and spread them out on cookie sheets to freeze.  Once they are frozen we put them in gallon sized freezer bags and they are ready for munching or baking.  I hope to can some for a couple reasons...I like the look of canned goods the the glass jars, and so they don't take up freezer space. *smile*  I have some pictures for your enjoyement now. *smile*  Please don't steal my pictures, rather make the time to enjoy them here and leave them.  Kind of like a visit to the forest, take out only what you bring in. *smile*

   I hope you enjoyed your time at the blueberry patch.  It took us four years to find this one and thank the Lord we finally did.  There are some others and I am excyted to learn about more. *smile*  Have a great day knowing God loves you and remember to pray always. Summer Blessings.-me-(Mommy of two little blessings)

Ground Cherry Fruit

Posted on Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 08:19 by hopefulheart77 - 4 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Good morning everyone,

I am slowly recovering.  I am still not sure what I have.  I am using coloidal Silver now and it seems to be helping.  I am up and around but on "limited duty" so to speak.  I went to two sewing classes this week.  I have learned so much!  So what if I had to rip out my side seams several times.  I had to get the tension set on my new machine and I had to sew straight!!  I have never had a problem sewing straight lines before..........hmmmmmm.  I learned plenty of things.  I am sure the things I learned are so easy for people who already sew.  However, they are very exciting to me.  I am learning to cut out a pattern, read a pattern and cut out a garment,  I am learning how to make a skirt!  This one is an A line skirt that includes a waist band, zipper and interfacing.  I bought enough material to make a matching shirt. Yesterday, I even learned how to change the foot on my new machine.  Everything is so much easier when you have someone to show you and let you just "do it".

Today, I must do housework, laundry and make bread. After two days if sewing classes and looking for a new washing machine...........I have things to do. Hubby is off work tomorrow for the holiday .  Our family plans to spend the 4th at the lake watching the fireworks display as we always do.

Here are the promised pictures of the ground cherries.  They are quite tasty!  They have a mild tropical flavor. 

May the Lord bless and keep you each and every one!

A Morning Walk

Posted on Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 7:26 AM by Kitty - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Avocado Salsa...I could eat this all by my self

Posted on Thu 2 Jul 2009 at 6:47 AM by GrandmaRosie - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Avocado Salsa
Yield: 4 Servings
Sort of a combination of salsa and guacamole, this dip is sure to please lovers of both. If you like your salsa hotter, add another jalapeno or a few drops of Tabasco sauce.

1 avocado, peeled and diced
1/2 c Tomato, Chopped
1/2 c Red Onion, Chopped
1/4 c Green Bell Peppers, Chopped
1 Jalapeño, Finely Chopped
1/2 t Garlic, Minced
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T olive oil

Combine the vegetables in a medium bowl. Mash the garlic with salt in a cup or small bowl. Add the vinegar and oil to the garlic. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss to combine the ingredients. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Snagglepuss

Posted on Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 06:29 by Chas - 4 Comments - Post Comment - Link

Snagglepuss is a term of endearment that I use to anyone that I love who has lost baby teeth...
Yesterday afternoon. I had two first time snagglepusses
By the end of the evening... these two (Carlie Jean and Eli) had lost TWO of their front two bottom teeth and Cameo lost one of her eye teeth.
:)
What a fun evening.