McCall, Idaho

I have vacationed in McCall, Idaho every summer for as long as I can remember.  If you have never even heard of it, it is definitely worth looking into.  It is a sportsman's paradise with everything you need to bike, hike, run, water-ski, snow ski, fish, snow mobile, snowshoe, and simply relax.  Shore Lodge is a nice hotel that is located right on the beautiful Payette Lake.  We don't stay there when we go, but we went there for dinner one night and it was a lovely atmosphere.  These are photos I took from that night with my new camera.  I'm still learning, so these aren't perfect, but it was hard to make these photos look horrible given the beautiful scenery.

baby things

Naturally, much of my attention has been on baby things for the past year.  One thing I have really enjoyed doing is appliqueing on onsies.  It is fun to come up with a new design and pick out the fabrics to accomplish the look.  Here is one that I have made.

blue elephant

 

 

here is a closer look at the elephant and stitching

I think they turn out pretty cute and they make a great personalized shower gift.  I have made several and will continue to share them with you.  Have a great weekend! 

Penne with basil, tomatoes, and feta

I love finding new pasta recipes because they are usually quite easy and quick to prepare. This pasta dish is perfect for the end of summer, especially if you have a bounty of fresh tomatoes and basil you need to use up. The combination of tomato and basil is one of my favorite flavor pairings. There is so much you can do with them and it never seems to fail. This holds true for this dish as well. The ingredients are simple, yet flavorful and satisfying. Serve it as a main dish or as a side and enjoy!

Penne with Basil, Tomatoes, and Feta

12 ounces dried penne pasta (don't be afraid, try whole wheat)
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, diced
1 cup fresh basil, chopped
3/4 cup cumbled feta cheese (about 4 ounces)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Bring 2 quarts of water to boil. Add the penne and cook until al dente. Drain. Meanwhile, go to work on all the chopping. Mix the tomatoes, basil, 1/2 cup feta, garlic, and olive oil in a large bowl. Add the hot cooked pasta and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with the the remaining 1/4 cup feta.

I'm back

Wow, has it really been more than a year since I have posted on this poor blog? Let me share with you what I have been up to the past year. I've been working on my best creation yet (I can't take all the credit, but I did help)!

This is my beautiful baby girl. I found out I was pregnant with her shortly after the last post I did on here. She was born in April and she is an absolute joy and I love being her mother.

The past year I have also proposed, carried out, and defended my thesis project. I am officially done with my master's degree! It wasn't necessarily difficult work, but it took a lot of work. It provided me with great experience where I really learned the importance of persistence.

In addition, I went to school, worked, tried to take care of myself and my husband, etc. I probably could have continued this blog had I really wanted to, but it was at the bottom of my priority list. Actually, it was thrown out the window completely. But now that my schedule is more flexible, this blog has made it back on my priority list. I'm so excited to share the things I've been working on.

4th of July Craft and Dessert

A while back, I bought a cheap glass vase from Wal-Mart and have been using it for all sorts of things. At Christmastime I put ball ornaments in it. For Easter I put plastic Easter eggs in it. I also used it as a vase for some beautiful tulips on Mother's Day (or in my case, Wife's Day). I wanted to use it for the 4th of July but didn't know what to put in it. Finally, I came up with this idea.

A Picture Frame!

All I did was take some 4th of July themed paper and cut it to fit in the vase. I used a flexible measuring tape to measure the height and circumference of the vase. This works best for vases where the circumference is the same throughout the entire vase. I used a picture of us from 4th of July last year. I was really pleased with how it turned out.

Here is a 4th of July tradition from my family. We always make this flag cake. I didn't make it last year because I knew we would never eat all of it. But this year we had my sister's family staying with us to help finish it off. Here are my cute nieces who helped me make it. We dished it up while waiting for the fireworks to go off.

1 box cake mix, baked according to directions on the box
Strawberries, halved
Blueberries
Raspberries
1 package of whipped topping

1. After cake has cooled off, top it with a layer of the berries so that the cake is completely covered.
2. Top the berries with the whipped topping.
3. Use blueberries and strawberries to make the cake look like a flag.

Enjoy!

Berry Delicious Desserts

I would never describe myself as a lover of desserts or chocolate. I hardly ever make desserts. I could count the number of times I have made a dessert on both hands in the past year. And most of those times were due to party planning. But that does not mean I don't like desserts. They are especially appealing to me when fruit is somehow incorporated. So here are some beautifully delicious fruit inspired desserts.

Berry Trifle

My client gave me the idea to do a trifle bar for the bridal shower I threw over the weekend. It was fun and I think everyone really enjoyed it... because many of them went back for seconds! It was easy to pull together, which is always a plus when serving food for a party. Here is how you can do it!

Cake

• 1 box of cake mix of your choice (I used Betty Crocker's Golden Vanilla)
  
• wet ingredients in the amounts the box suggests
  

Instead of taking the time to make a cake from scratch, I used a cake mix. Several hours before your event, bake cake in a cookie sheet so it isn't as thick as a regular cake. Make sure you reduce the cooking time. Use a toothpick to determine when it is done (when it comes out clean). Mine was done in about 15 minutes. Let the cake sit out uncovered for several hours. This will help keep it from sticking together when you cut it into little pieces. About 20-30 minutes before serving, cut the cake into 1 inch square pieces and serve them on a platter.

Custard

• 2 small boxes of pudding of your choice (I used White Chocolate)

Once again, I could have made the custard from scratch. But I had cleaning and other things to get done. You can make the pudding ahead of time as well and let it chill in the refrigerator.

Toppings

• Fruit- I used strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and bananas.
• Sauces- caramel, strawberry, chocolate
• Ready whip

My client also let me borrow an assortment of fun glasses. Everyone had fun picking their own cute glass and what ingredients they wanted to include.

Berry Chocolate Panini

Since I had left over berries from the trifles, I made these treats just for fun. I would highly recommend them. Even my husband, who doesn't get excited about dessert, thought they were scrumptious.

• 8 slices of day-old-bread (or 2 day, in my case)- I used a baguette
• A couple of strawberries, sliced thin
• 8 or so raspberries
• chocolate chips or chocolate sauce
• strawberry or raspberry jam (optional)
• 1 Tbs. olive oil

1. Put olive oil in a small prep bowl. Using a pastry brush, or an unused paint brush, brush a small amount of olive oil on one side of 4 bread slices. Place on heated panini grill, oil side down.
2. Place a few chocolate chips on top of bread. This allows the heat to start melting the chocolate while you slice the strawberries and prepare the rest.
3. If using jam, spread a small amount on one side of the other 4 slices.
4. Place strawberry slices and raspberries on top of the chocolate chips.
5. Place the remaining slices on top of the berries. Brush olive oil on top. Smash with grill top and heat until chocolate is completely melted. Serve and enjoy!
   

I would recommend using a baguette for these because of the small size. These are rich, and in my opinion, good things come in small packages. Plus, they look cute when they are small. I made 4 for the two of us, but we thought 1 each was just enough. If you don't have a panini grill, you can heat them in a pan on the stove. They just won't have the attractive grill marks. Once again, these were fabulous.

Bridal Shower Invitations

One of my oldest and best friends is getting married in a few weeks and I have the privilege of throwing her a bridal shower. It is this week and I've been having a lot of fun planning it. I'm just crossing my fingers the weather will cooperate because I'm planning to do it outside. Hopefully I will have good pictures to post from it in the future. This post is just to show the invitations I made for it. I thought they turned out cute for being so cheap and so easy to throw together. This picture is pretty terrible though, so it doesn't look too exciting. I thought this style would be cute for a baby announcement as well.