Cupcakes!

Tomorrow night marks the first night of AWANA, the scripture memory program at church.  My friend and I help out with the 5th and 6th grade girls.  It's such a great age to work with.

I worked with this age group last year and had a blast.  The girls are so sweet and just want to have a good time.

So, anyway, there's nothing special about these cupcakes.  They're just funfetti with vanilla and chocolate frosting.  But, my friend and I found some super girly cupcake liners to make things more fun, because girls just wanna have fun!  Ok... I'll stop the cheese.

I think these girls are going to have a sugar high tomorrow night.  There's nothing better than giving kids lots of sugar in the evening and sending them home to their parents. ;)

Strawberry Pancakes

I recently went on a trip and had some delicious strawberry pancakes.  I love pancakes.  But, this took it to a whole new level!

Better yet, they were healthy.  They were so yummy, I had to come home and figure out how to make them.  I looked up a few recipes and made a few modifications.  So, here's what I did.

Strawberry Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon Splenda
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup milk (I used skim)
1 medium banana, mashed
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1 tablespoon canola oil

Additional sliced strawberries for garnishing

Mash the banana until it is liquefied.  Next, mix in all the wet ingredients.  Once the wet ingredients are well combined, add the dry ingredients.  Finally, add the sliced strawberries.  Cook the pancakes on a griddle or a skillet over medium heat.

This will make 8 - 10 very thick and fluffy pancakes.

I love thick pancakes.  Do you?  Or are you on the other side of the fence and like thin ones?  If you are, I'll work on converting you to the good side.

Charmed

Alright, if you were like a billion other people in the world, you watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics last night.  I was also one of those billion. 

As I watched, I was reminded once again how charming London and the surrounding area truly is.  It brought back a flood of memories of my recent excursion over there.  Caroline and I would like to plan a trip back, if you would like to join us. 

If you have ever had the pleasure of going over there, you may be able to relate to my being charmed.  There is just something so fun about a red telephone booth.  I know these pictures scream, "we are tourists!", but you have to have a picture like this.  Preferably one after you have just gotten off the plane and are very tired and dragging your luggage through Trafalgar Square, but excited to be there.

Maybe it's something about the palaces and castles that are hundreds of years old that you cannot find here in the US.

Or walls and towers that were built as a defense weapon instead of just for looks.

The Queen's soldiers make you feel like your toy box became life size!

The flower shops...

The streets adorned with patriotic bunting...

The window displays at Harrod's...

The mummies... uh, well, maybe not them.

Visiting the place where kings and queens are married, crowned and buried...

Fighting the crowds at the changing of the guard in 200 degree weather... Yes, we had amazing weather while we were there.  Very unusual weather for London.

I don't think I could pick one thing to be my favorite.  It was all so lovely.

And in case Bob Costas does not give you an up close view of those Olympic medals, here they are.  We checked them out while we were there and made sure they were real gold.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July, y'all!

I am the queen of kitchen gadgets.  I looove kitchen gadgets.  This one that I used today is one of my favorites.  You can buy it here at Williams-Sonoma.

They have different shapes, but I think the star is so fun.

I've found that the store bought pie crust is perfect for making these.

The possibilities for filling the pies are endless.  I used blackberry jam and a few blueberries today.

Before baking, brush the pies with egg and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.  Don't be alarmed if they explode.  They'll still taste super good. 

After letting the pies cool for about 10 minutes, serve with frozen yogurt.  Yum!

Hope y'all had a great day off to celebrate!

(PS The real reason that I love these so much, is that there is so much pie crust.  Let's be honest, that's what everyone loves!)

Stunned

Stunned. 

Yes, stunned might be the right word to use to describe how I felt about the European countryside.  I was inspired by the food in Paris and was like a kid in a candy shop, never sure what I should get since I wanted it all.  But, when we were in the countryside, I was speechless.  It was so peaceful to be in the outdoors, to smell the flowers, to hear the birds and to have the gentle breeze.

We took a day to soak up the English countryside.  We wanted to get up to the Chatsworth House.  But, instead we found this cute little town with the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, Hever Castle.  We had a nice walk from the train station to the village where the castle was.  There were a few sheep along the way.

Hever Castle was purchased in early 1900 by an American and was redone and had beautiful gardens planted.

We had a lovely picnic there on the grounds.

I could enjoy having a garden like this. 

I know for sure I'd enjoy this bench.

 I'll also take a lake in my backyard.

I would need a boat though.

I know that I would enjoy the lovely walks around the lake.

Chess anyone?

I think I could live here.  How about you?  I also think I'll get into gardening some day when I have a yard. 

Well, that wasn't the only countryside that we saw.  In France we went to Versailles and Giverny.

The Versailles gardens are a public park.  So, you can walk around and admire the beautiful buildings, trees, flowers and canals.  This is Marie Antoinette's cottage.  The palace got a little too busy for her.

But, this was my favorite part of Versailles.  This is a country village that Marie Antoinette had built so that she could experience the life of a common person.

Just look at the irises on the ridge of the roof.

I felt like I was in the world of Belle from Beauty and the Beast!  Life doesn't get much better than that!

And then we went to Monet's gardens in Giverny to see the water lilies.

And we walked across the Japanese bridge.  It was just gorgeous.

It was also kindergarten day at Monet's gardens.  So, there were about 200 kids skipping along the paths, while all the old people there meandered.  I think along with the kindergarteners, Caroline and I brought the average age down to approximately 50. 

I could have stood here for much longer than we did to take it all in.

As we walked through town, we came across an obliging poppy field.  I think this is where the lady stood with her umbrella while the wind was blowing her hair and dress that Monet painted. 

Well, this might be longer than the Constitution.  I'll stop here for today.  If you haven't gone berry picking, time is running out!  Go.  Go get some berries.  I'm going in the morning.  Can't wait to have my freezer stocked with yumminess.

Blueberry Muffins

Well, hello.  I've been around around the world and back again.  I'll have to tell you all about it.  But, for now I will tell you what I made one of the first nights home.  You know me and baking.

It's time for picking blueberries and blackberries.  Fresh fruit is the essence of summer to me.  I've been counting down the days until I can go pick more berries and pick some fresh peaches.  But, until I get to go and do that, I figured it was time to use of the last of the frozen berries from last year.

I just love blueberry muffins.  They are delicious warm from the oven with some butter on top.

Blueberries, too, I'm sure you know, is one of the best foods out there.  I picked these last year and froze them in the proportion needed for this recipe.  They are perfect for putting in this super simple muffin recipe.

I usually just add them to the recipe while they are frozen.  But, be sure to give them a good rinse to make sure there are no little critters or leaves in your muffins.  I prefer to get my protein from eggs and the like. :)

If you like batter, this is a good one to eat (in small quantities)!  So delicious with the butter, sugar and vanilla.  I keep coming back to these three things...

My mom would always make these muffins and keep the batter in the fridge for a few days and bake fresh muffins in the morning.  It'll keep for five days or so.  Just think, a whole week of fresh muffins!

Ok, but really, I don't need a whole dozen muffins.  I could eat them all, but I figured we would all be better off if I enjoyed one or two and took the rest to the office-- served up with style on a good old fashioned paper plate!

 

Now, go make these muffins, and come back to enjoy stories from Europe.

Blueberry Muffins

From: Ms. Colleen

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Beat butter, eggs, salt and sugar in a large mixing.  Sift flour with baking powder and add it alternating with the milk.  Next, add the vanilla.  Finally, fold in the blueberries.

Line a muffin tin with muffin cups.  Full each cup 3/4 of the way full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  This recipe makes about a bakers dozen.

Enjoy!