Wordless Wednesday-Summer Is Here Again!

July Already?

Well, it's Summertime which has been official here for awhile now. Us Arizonans, especially those in the Phoenix metro know how to do Summer! My daughter is three and a half now and has been going through some three year old phases. She is very sassy often, she tests me often, and has a very strong will. I don't expect any less of her though to be honest. She has two very headstrong parent's and it's probably only natural that she be the same.

We celebrated the Fourth of July at my Brother's annual party. We always have tons of fun with family and friends and it's one of my favorite times of year. My step son has been coming for week long visits which has been nice because during the school year we aren't able to see much of him. He lives primarily with his Mom. Kaia just loves her Brother!

My girl got to go on a trip with one of her Aunt's and her cousin. She went to San Diego and did great! This is her first trip for enjoyment without either of us and thankfully she did a great job and had a blast. The only other time she has been away from us like that is when my mom passed away. I had to get a last minute flight out and wasn't able to purchase a ticket for her. She went my with Brother and his family and did really well for her first time away from us altogether. I on the other hand was a basket case. My husband couldn't come and I was separated from my daughter for the first time. Difficult times but, I got through it.

I can't deal with the heat so needless to say, I don't go out unless there's water of some sort for the kids and lots of shade. Summertime in Phoenix is for me is probably like long winter's somewhere else. I don't go out much, only when I have to. It's miserable when you're out and so I try to do things indoors as much as possible.

Kaia is gearing up to do her very first Bible school and she is pretty excited about it. She doesn't really know what to expect but, likes the sound of things ha ha. I think it will be really neat for her to experience.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Stay in the shade and keep cool everyone.

Making Tuesday Tasty-Marinade

This marinade is great for veggies, seafood, poultry, and meat! It's Summertime which means lots of grilling going on. This will zing up any meat you want to put on the grill and gives a nice Mediterranean feel.

Ingredients

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea), or to taste
4 strips of lemon zest
3 cloves garlic, crushed with the side of a cleaver or minced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil, cilantro, dill, oregano, or a mix of all four
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

Combine the lemon juice, hot pepper flakes, cracked pepper, and salt in a nonreactive (glass, ceramic, or stainless steel) bowl and whisk until the salt crystals are dissolved. Add the lemon zest, garlic, parsley and basil. Stir or whisk in the olive oil. The virtue of this marinade is its freshness: Use it within 1 to 2 hours of making. Stir again before using.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/The-Only-Marinade-Youll-Ever-Need-103749#ixzz0sGcpuXX3

Wordless Wednesday-Oregon Coast

Oregon Coast. Taken July 2009. Photo courtesy of my Sister-in-law.

Making Tuesday Tasty-Berry Cobbler

It's been awhile since I've done one of these. It's berry season! At least in places that aren't the desert. I LOVE cobblers. Simple and so delicious. They scream Summer and there are many different versions made depending on where you live.

1 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries
1 pint blackberries
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced in half
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more, for dusting
Pinch cinnamon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 recipe Blueberry Scone Dough, recipe follows
Melted butter
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, combine berries with sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and lemon juice. Stir gently to combine. Spread berry mixture out on a 10-inch tart or gratin dish. Dollop spoonfuls of scone dough evenly over the top of the fruit; leave a border around the edge of the dish for spreading. Drizzle the surface with melted butter and dust with sugar. Set on a cookie sheet and bake for 25 to 35 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit juices bubbling.

Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with heavy cream, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Blueberry Scones:
2 cups unbleached flour, plus more for rolling berries
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut in chunks
3/4 cup buttermilk or cream
1 egg
1 pint fresh blueberries
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; mix thoroughly. Cut in butter using 2 forks or a pastry blender. The butter pieces should be coated with flour and resemble crumbs.

In another bowl, mix buttermilk and egg together, and then add to the flour mixture. Mix just to incorporate, do no overwork the dough.

Roll blueberries in flour to coat, this will help prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the scone when baked. Fold the blueberries into batter, being careful not to bruise.

recipe courtesy of Food Network

Making Tuesday Tasty-Strawberry Shortcake

Since most of my belongings are in storage right now, I thought I would pull a recipe off the Internet that closely follows one I grew up eating. I grew up in Oregon, and the Northwest is known for it's great produce. I was in love with all things berry and basically most of the fruits grown there. My grandma always made her strawberry shortcake with Bisquick style biscuits. I loved them because they had a slightly salty taste which really brought out the sweetness of the strawberries. I also loved them because they would soak up that great berry juice! This has Summer written all over it!

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
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Ingredients
Strawberries and whipping cream:

3 baskets of fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
Whipping cream
Vanilla

Method
Remove the stems from the strawberries. Slice into thin (1/4" to 1/8") slices. Put into a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of sugar (depending on how sweet the strawberries are to begin with) and mix into the strawberries. Set aside at room temperature to macerate (which means that the sugar will soften the strawberries and help release their juices).

After the strawberries have been sitting for 20 minutes or so, take a potato masher and mash them a little. Not too much, just enough to get more juice out of them.

Whip the cream, adding a drop or two of vanilla and a teaspoon of sugar.

To serve, break up one biscuit per person into big pieces into a bowl. Ladle strawberries over the biscuit. Add a dollop of whipped cream.

Bisquick biscuits:

2 1/3 cups Bisquick baking mix
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp sugar

The strawberry shortcake biscuit recipe used to be on the side of the Bisquick box. For some unfathomable reason, the company has started to print the recipe on the inside of the box. Talk about not understanding your customers! If you can't find the recipe, here it is:

Heat oven to 425°F. Stir baking mix, melted butter, milk, and 3 Tbsp of sugar in a mixing bowl until soft dough forms. Drop by 6 spoonfuls on to a greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 6 biscuits.


Gluten-free biscuits:

1-1/2 cups Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Xanthan Gum
1 tsp. Guar Gum
1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Milk
1 large Egg White

Preheat oven to 350º. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or grease lightly.

In food processor, pulse dry ingredients (flour through salt) with shortening until mixture is consistency of small peas. Add milk and egg white. Blend until dough forms ball, scraping down sides with spatula, if necessary. Dough will be somewhat soft.

Place dough on parchment-lined or greased baking sheet that’s been lightly dusted with rice flour. Gently pat to 3/4-inch thick circle with hands or spatula. Lightly dust dough with rice flour. Cut into ten 2-inch circles with floured biscuit cutter. Shape remaining dough to 3/4-inch thick and cut again. If dough is sticky, lightly dust with more flour. Arrange evenly on baking sheet.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until nicely browned. Best when served warm or gently reheated in microwave oven. Serves 10. (Recipe from Bob's Red Mill)

Splash Pad!

Pediped shoes-Review

I'm like most Mother's, I love little kids shoes. I love baby shoes, boys shoes, girls shoes, sandals, etc. Things always seem to be much cuter in small versions. I received a darling pair of Pediped shoes named, Abigail. They're a pale shade of pink with a medium pink blossom sewn right onto the top. The fact that they are a Mary Jane makes them even better in my eyes. I adore Mary Janes!

The Abigail is part of Pediped's collection of FLEX footwear. They are created for toddler feet and ultra flexible. The FLEX shoes allow a young child to move, jump, and run like they are running on bare feet. As a mom, I really like the inserts for the shoes, they are very soft and supportive, I seriously need to find an adult version of these now. They even give you an insert you can put in the shoes if a child is a half size too small, for instance. I like that the soles of the shoes coordinate with the shoe color. I generally don't care for a light pink shoe with a bold, black sole on it.

The Pediped Originals are also great shoes. They are made with infants to young toddlers in mind. The Originals are made with a soft leather sole to move and bend with a new crawler and walker in mind. They are soft and move with the foot which allows for proper development while providing support.

The selection has been fabulous too. I had a chance to browse through the shoes today to see the choices and they really do have an amazing selection of Spring and Summer shoes. They have a wide variety of colors for girls especially,(you know they get all the good stuff!) and I was even surprised to see how many boy options were available. Pinks, blues, greens, metallic, blossoms, dots, eek! even cupcakes(limited edition). The boys have camo, dress shoes, tennis shoes, sandals and, boots. I'm sure you'll find something you'll love on there.

I give these shoes a thumbs up! They are fashionable, flexible, safe for developing feet and ADORABLE.