Thursday, May 31, 2012

Beautiful Blueberries!

We went blue and blackberry picking today with friends at a little jewel of a farm just outside of Booneville, AR.  The morning was still cool and the kids were excited to fill up their buckets!  We haven’t been picking in about 5 years, but Michael still remembered the last time when he was little and was eager to get to work. We picked for about 2 hours and had a ball.  My friend Liz has five children under 11 years old, so she had plenty of help.  Her girls were berry scouts who sought out the "jackpot” bushes for us that were loaded with fresh, plump fruit!  We had a ball and got a good visit in at the same time.  The boys went fishing at a small pond us girls picked blackberries and talked about what we were going to make with the fruits of our labor!  Here’s what I decided on…Blueberry Crumb Bars.20110013

20110017Blueberry Crumb Bars

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. (This took an extra 10 to 15 minutes in my oven.) Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!  So happy to have lots more berries in my freezer and frig to make smoothies, pancakes, muffins…

Flickr Tags:

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Randomness

20110112

Love this lamp shade my friend saw on Pinterest and decided to try it out with her mother’s old slides!  What a statement piece!

20110053

I noticed that the statue of the Blessed Virgin had been crowned with a lovely rose crown by our Church’s Ladies Auxiliary on May Day!!

2011006720110069

I chaperoned my son’s class trip to a Civil War battlefield and we all had a great time.  This huge and beautiful moth landed on my leg and hung out there, then to my foot, for about an hour while I visited with other parents and kids.  Cool!

20110071

I took this little summertime goodie to my friend for hosting a “Mom’s Night before School Get’s Out” (aka my surprise 50th birthday party)…would love to get this!

20110076

Here’s my gorgeous birthday cake…it was from our favorite bakery and everyone was excited to get a taste!

20110092

But!  It started to break apart as they were separating the layers

20110094

and took a beating…

20110095

no problem, though…Mark was there to save the day! 

20110103

It wasn’t a pretty sight, but tasted even better that we remembered!

Makin’ Memories for Memorial Day

We had an old fashioned Memorial Day get together this year complete with BBQ, barefoot kids, mosquito bites, and Nascar/Indy Car!  (Not proud of that last category, but it’s my husband’s latest favorite thing on tv next to Game of Thrones and The Hatfields and the McCoys.)  Knowing the bugs and skeeters are gonna be killer this year, we bug bombed the back yard, burned citronella torches and sprayed down the kids.  The kids played croquet, bocce and lawn Twister.20110001

20110002

20110004

20110010

20110008

20110005

20110006

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Summer Time Celebration for Sarah!

Miss Sarah has something to smile about!  She turned 18 and graduated with honors from high school all in one week, so her family wanted to celebrate her milestones with family and friends.  We chose bright citrus colors of orange, lime, lemon and fuscia.  I didn’t get many pictures, but I think you get the picture!  Congratulations, Sarah!

102

063(1)

061

“Wild About You” Graduation Reception

20110032

Just finished the graduation reception for the class of 2012 at Michael’s school.  I chose the theme “Immaculate Conception is Wild About You” and it was a fun theme the kids and parents enjoyed.  Take a peek at the food, décor and fun!

 

20110035

20110028

20110030

20110037

20110043

20110047

20110053

20110056

20110062

20110065

20110067

20110076

20110078

20110079

20110081

20110085

20110086

20110096

20110097

20110099

Immaculate Conception Elementary School, Graduation Reception decorations, Wild About You theme, Animal print theme decorations, Fort Smith

Friday, May 25, 2012

Clueless at Fifty!

My sweet, sweet husband pulled off the impossible!  He and my wonderful friends truly surprised me with an early 50th birthday party.  I thought I was going to my girlfriend’s house for a Mom’s “almost the end of the school year” get together…instead, I walked into a beautiful New Orleans themed soiree with plenty of fantastic food, drink, and music including my favorite freshly boiled crawfish and shrimp, purple, green and gold birthday cake, king cake, souvenir cups AND all of the faces I love!  It was a perfect night and so much fun.  They really went all out and I will never, ever forget it!  I should have turned 50 years ago!DSC_0587

DSC_0614

IMG_8472 IMG_8479

IMG_8478

IMG_8475

IMG_8477DSC_0630DSC_0598DSC_0576DSC_0580

DSC_0582DSC_0624DSC_0625DSC_0626DSC_0637DSC_0628DSC_0640DSC_0654