Blueberry Muffins

After I went blueberry picking I got right to work cleaning the berries so I could start using them. I had all the ingredients on-hand to make my blueberry muffins so I just jumped right in. My recipe has a sturdy enough batter that you don’t have to worry about coating fresh berries with flour to prevent sinking, the berries just stay put on their own. If you don’t have almond extract you can easily substitute vanilla.

While cake itself in some form or another has been around since ancient times, cupcakes first came about in America by chefs using small silicone cake moulds. It is thought that the first ever reference to ‘a cake to be baked in small cups’, rather than as a layer cake, was in Amelia Simmons’ ‘American Cookery’ in 1796. Cupcakes give you the chance to offer multiple flavors instead! This simple detail helps you make the party way more fun. It gets people talking about all the delicious flavors you’ve brought and it gives you the chance to pair certain foods together if you’re really trying to show off your culinary skills.

blueberry muffins

Blueberry Muffins

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 18 muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 stick butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 cups blueberries
  • For the Topping:
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Line 18 cupcake pan spaces (or 12 regular and 12 mini cupcakes)
  2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, stirring after each one. Mix in almond extract.
  3. Add baking powder, salt, and half the flour and lightly mix. Pour in half the milk, stir, then the rest of the flour and milk and stir till just mixed. Fold in blueberries and spoon into cupcake liners.
  4. Stir together the sugar and nutmeg for your topping and sprinkle on each muffin.
  5. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes for regular muffins and 15 minutes for mini-muffins.
http://www.thehyperhouse.com/2012/06/blueberry-muffins/

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Blueberry Picking

Last week I invited my friend Wendy and her mom along with me to go blueberry picking. I had gone last year and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to go again this year.

blueberry picking

I go picking at Wind Ridge Farm in New Melle, Missouri. They also have blackberries and peaches depending on the season. They aren’t open for picking every day but they do update their website, twitter account, and facebook page to help you plan your next pick date. This method ensures that the plants aren’t overpicked and that guests have plenty of picking options.

blueberry picking

When we arrived this year we could see the blueberries hanging off the bushes before we even entered the field. You just grab a bucket, listen as an employee tells you the best places to pick, and have at it. We spent less than an hour picking casually and ended up with about 2 1/2 pounds each. The blueberries are $2.99/lb and they even take credit cards if you have your whole family out there picking.

blueberry picking

Their next pick date is on Sunday from 8 AM to noon or until the field is all picked. You could celebrate Father’s Day with some blueberries or even some blackberries since they will have a small batch of them ready to go. After we went picking we did a scenic drive along Missouri’s wine country. There are several wineries out in the area so if you time it right you could pick one day and stop for some lunch at a winery before shopping (like we did).

blueberries

I’ve been planning out all sorts of delicious blueberry treats since I saw the fields were open and you can see them and other berry treats on my Berry Picking pinterest board. Coming up tomorrow I’ll show you my first cooking project or you can check out my favorite blueberry buckle recipe on my travel site.

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Birdhouse

michaels birdhouse makeover

I had wanted to build a birdhouse for quite a while. And by “build a birdhouse” I really meant decorate one so when Michaels had a sale on their plain wood birdhouses, I picked one up and got started on the decorating part.

My goal was to make the birdhouse coordinate both with my house, which is red, white and blue, and my garden, which has a lot of copper pieces in it. First up was painting the house white, those at AlexTrendPainters are simply some of the best painters when you’re looking to repaint your house. I wanted just a light coat to let the wood grain shine through so I used a spray primer. Next was my plan to tie in those copper influences. I found some kitchen backplash tiles at Lowes.

I bought a whole sheet and used only 2 panels so I have plenty leftover for another project up my sleeve. You see those extra inches on the left without any detailing on them? I used them to make a nice front for the birdhouse’s roof while I used the actual panels to cover the roof. I just used some scissors to cut and hot glue to adhere it all to the birdhouse.

I decided to paint some red accents on with some basic acrylic paint. I just painted the perch and the base. Now the next most important part was to drill a hole in the top of the birdhouse so I could hang it outdoors. I just drilled a hole directly across the top with a small bit. To help it stay more decorative, I added some grommets to cover the holes but I needed a larger bit to make sure it fit. I just hot glued them in place when I got the hole the right size.

Now I wanted to protect all my hard work so I sprayed on a clear lacquer before putting it outside. I let it dry 24 hours because of the high humidity here. I didn’t want any haze in my topcoat. Here’s the final look.

Don’t you just love how well it matches my new windchime? I also included a secret pop of red right at the entrance. While I don’t really expect many birds to make this their home, I do think I’ll drill some small holes in the bottom just in case so rain can drain out.

How have your projects been going?

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Milkiest Chocolate Ice Cream

Jeni's chocolate-ice-cream

I’m back with another Jeni’s ice cream recipe. After making Salty Caramel ice cream, I wanted to try a flavor that was much more simple. A classic chocolate recipe sounded perfect. I decided to try the recipe for The Milkiest Chocolate in the World Ice Cream.

I don’t want to keep republishing all of Jeni’s recipes since I think her book deserves the credit and it explains a lot of the process in it but I will show you the ingredients and say the process is very similar to that of the first recipe I tried. One note, Jeni’s recipe in the book has a small typo so make sure to check her website for updates to the book. In this case you need 1 1/4 cup of cream instead of the 1/4 cup that is printed in the book.

ice-cream-ingredients

In this recipe you don’t use cream cheese, instead you use evaporated milk. Jeni explains that the goal is to keep the chocolate taste more pure which I’d say she accomplished in this recipe. The change in ingredients leaves the ice cream tasting a little sweeter too. My husband described the flavor as chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. That enhancement made this ice cream taste anything but simple. I wished in a way that the flavor had more distractions because chocolate was the star and a whole bowl might be a tad overwhelming.

ice cream churn

The only problem I’d say exists with this recipe is how thick it gets. With cocoa, cornstarch, and chocolate there’s a lot of chance for clumps to form in the ice cream. To remedy this I suggest sifting the cocoa before you add it to the pot. Then run the ice cream base through a sieve first as you add it to the chocolate and again as you put it in its chilling bag. You want this ice cream to be as smooth as possible to get the purest taste. Also, Jeni suggests freezing this ice cream for at least 4 hours but I’d recommend going overnight. The ice cream really solidifies and the flavors enhance overnight. I know waiting is hard but trust me, it’s worth it.

chocolate-ice-cream

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Shower Curtain Pillows

I recently bought some resin Adirondack chairs (in blue) for my front porch. My house is white and my front door is red so I wanted to tie the color palette together with some Americana influences. I decided that pillows would be the easiest way to do this. My shopping trip left me disappointed. I could only find really expensive pillows or those with an old fashioned feel so I decided I’d just have to make my own pillow covers. I bought some waterproof amazon pillows. If you purchase a pillow from Amazon, you can rest assured you are getting the real deal.

pillow tutorial

The solution: a Target shower curtain. The modern rugby stripes matched my color scheme, the size of the fabric meant I’d have fabric leftover for future projects, and the shower curtain would add some waterproofing making the pillows more durable. I also came up with a pillowcase design that resembles a sham. That way you get a seamless look from the front but you can just pop the cover off and throw it in the wash.

Supplies

This design can be made in under an hour. The main skills you need are measuring skills and the ability to sew in a straight line. You’ll sew 4 straight lines per pillow. You’ll need a flat surface, yardstick or ruler, a cutting device (rotary or scissors), washable fabric marker, an iron or pins (check under “making the hems” to see which you need), matching thread, and a fully stocked sewing machine.

Cutting the Fabric

First up, you’ll need to make the cut. Well, cuts. I have 2-16 inch square pillows so I used a simple bit of math to calculate the size of fabric I needed to cut out.

pillow height + 1 inch = fabric height
pillow width + pillow width + 8 inches = fabric width

If you want to cheat and avoid some grade school math, just get 16 inch pillows like I did. My fabric height was 17 inches (16+1=height) and my fabric length was 40 inches (16+16+8=40). I marked the first 17×40 inch section on the fabric and cut it with a rotary cutter, though scissors will work just fine.

pillowcase cuts

Since I was using striped fabric and I wanted the pillows to match, I cut off some excess fabric before cutting out my second pillowcase section so the stripes would start at the same position for both fabrics.

Making the Hems

You’ll want a finished edge on these pillows so step #2 is to hem some edges. If you use a normal fabric you can use your iron to hold your seams but since my polyester wasn’t holding an ironed hem, I used pins to hold the edge.

hemming pillows

Place your fabric right-side down. You’ll first want to fold over both of your short edges 1 inch and iron or pin it in place, then fold that same edge over 1 more inch and iron or pin this edge securely. You’ll want to sew each of these hems in place by topstitching through all three layers of fabric. I sewed about 3/4 of an inch from the right (folded) edge. Make sure to repeat this step for all the short edges on your pillows.

Creating the Pillow

Place your fabric right-side up. You should have something resembling a placemat in front of you right about now. You’ll want to measure out the halfway point on the long side of your fabric. I started with a 40-inch length of fabric and used up 4 inches making the seams (2 inches per side) so my fabric should be at 36 inches long now. I’ll want to make my center mark at 18 inches.

This next part is a little counter-intuitive so make sure to read it twice before attempting. My pillow is 16 inches in length so half of that is 8 inches. Place a ruler next to the edge with the 8 inch mark (or half the pillow length) of the ruler at the center mark on the fabric. Make sure your ruler is facing with 0 on the right end of the ruler for this part. Watch the images for clarification.

center of pillow

You’ll want to take the left (short) edge of your fabric and pull it toward the center. Pull the fabric until the folded edge lines up with the 16 inch mark (or your pillow’s length) on your ruler.

pillow fold-1

Now take the right (short) edge of your fabric and pull it toward the center. Pull the fabric until the folded edge lines up with the 0 inch mark on your ruler. Your fabric will overlap near the center.

pillow folds

Now you’ll need to pin the bottom raw edges together. Repeat with the top raw edges.

pinning pillows

Sew a half inch seam along the bottom edge. Then sew a half inch seam along the top edge. Repeat with your second pillow.

inside out pillow

Turn your pillow case inside out, pushing out the corners firmly.

pillowcase

Now you can just slide the pillows into the pillowcases and you are set! The hardest part of this project is just the measuring. With 4 straight lines even a beginner can sew these pillows. See how they add that pop of color my front porch needed.

porch pillows

porch

Linking up:

Thrifty Decor Chick
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Car Headlight Challenge

How many of you drive an older car? I have one really new car and one really old car. How old? I bought it my senior year in high school and my 10 year reunion is coming up soon. It was already used when I bought it and right now it has over 241,000 miles on it. The car is likely to fall apart before it stops running. I’ve lost a gas cap and a door handle but I still get better gas mileage than most people I know. I also can’t handle the idea of saying goodbye to the car that lasted me through my first job, senior prom and the glitter from my forest green prom dress I swear is still in there, those crazy Hello Kitty decorations I put in it, all those trips to and from college, the trips with friends,  and the memory of taking my little puppy home in it.

In an effort to make my car last just a little bit longer, I decided to do something about my front headlights. If you’ve ever driven an old car you know that they can grow hazy thanks to oxidizing. It isn’t just a pain; if I can’t see the distance that could mean hitting a deer on the rural roads I live on. I saw on Pinterest that you could use toothpaste to clear off that haze but I didn’t know how great it would work. I decided to test a different method on each headlight, toothpaste for one and baking soda for the other. For the baking soda, just add enough water to it until it forms a paste. Here’s the results:

It might be hard to see how it ended up so I made a detailed comparison for you.

And a quick before and after of each of the lights

While I didn’t see any miracles like the original pin showed, I did see an improvement from both methods. It may be a bit hard to see on your screen (click the images to enlarge) but the baking soda paste ended up getting the haze off just a touch better. It also used less product making it the more cost effective solution as well. I think I’ll keep applying baking soda to the headlights each time I wash the car until they look like new or until the car gives up and goes to car heaven.

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Pesto Chicken Skewers

chicken pesto skewers

In the summer there’s nothing better than throwing food on the grill and eating leftovers for days. Just because I like to eat some tasty food doesn’t mean I don’t love an effortless meal. When I saw the idea of these Pesto Chicken Skewers that La Kocinera shared, I knew I had to try them.

chicken pesto skewers

To prep for this recipe I soaked 7 skewers in water so they wouldn’t catch fire on the grill. I also pulled out 3 of my frozen pesto cubes to thaw during the day. The only other ingredients you’ll need are 2 chicken breasts and a half pint of grape tomatoes. Just cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and alternate the pieces on the skewer with the tomatoes. Brush on some pesto and grill until the chicken is done. That’s it! It’s so easy you barely even need a recipe.

chicken pesto skewers

I served this recipe with some sirloin skewers and some of my frozen twice-baked potatoes along with a salad. Like I said, my goal is to eat off a meal for days and we had a weekend’s worth of food with this meal.

Pesto Chicken Skewers

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 7 skewers

Recipe from La Kocinera

Ingredients

  • 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2 pint grape tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup prepared pesto

Instructions

  1. If using wooden skewers, soak in water for at least 20 minutes to prevent burning on the grill.
  2. Alternate sliding chicken pieces and grape tomatoes onto your skewers. Brush with pesto.
  3. Heat your grill to a medium heat and cook about 5 minutes per side until the chicken juices run clear.
http://www.thehyperhouse.com/2012/06/pesto-chicken-skewers/

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June Task List

It’s time once again for this month’s Get Organized Now checklist. As usual I’m mapping out my favorites on the calendar and then scheduling all my other projects around their list. Up for me this month: finishing my closet, starting on my flower garden, and a lot of summer fun.

I wanted to share this great method of tackling these chores that Emily from Becoming the Wilmi has been doing. Each month she chooses 3 or more tasks from the list and blogs as she tackles them. I love how she uses her blog to keep herself accountable to each task. I had some issues keeping up last month so I just might follow her example.

June calendar


Source: Scout Creative-Download the free monthly calendar

June’s list seems to focus on recycling, repurposing, and reexamining what we own. Last June I did a huge purge of my house so I could probably use a yearly check-in so things don’t get out of hand. I also sold some items that still had value to scrap metal dealers. Here’s some of my top items to tackle this month:

  • June 2: Donation time! If you’re anything like me you have a few piles of goods to be donated. Books, electronics, clothing, household items–they all take up space. Clear some valuable real estate and do a good deed by packing it all up in your car and going on a donation spree. Better yet, see if a charity does pickups in your area.
  • June 10: Consolidating isn’t just about goods. Try to plan your day by taking as few trips out as possible. You’ll be more purposeful in your shopping trips and you’ll save gas, both leading to savings in the wallet.
  • June 11: Consolidate your cleaning approach. Break down your cleaning routine into 10-minute sequences. This way you won’t get overwhelmed with cleaning and you know that whatever you need cleaned it can be done in 10 minutes or less.
  • June 18: Eliminate superficial clutter. If you keep ads on the table to read for a week at a time you’re just wasting good deals and cluttering up your home. Learn how to decide “trash or keep” with just a glance so you don’t waste time making so many little decisions.
  • June 23: Today’s the day to tackle desk clutter. Throw out old pens, toss those scrap notes that mean nothing and clear your workspace.
  • June 30: Clean out your fridge. Now you’ll be ready for all your 4th of July foods. Here’s some tips for cooking with the odds and ends you find in your fridge.

How do you make time for the little things?

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Corner Flower Bed Plans

My front flower bed wasn’t the only eyesore in my front yard. I have a second flower bed that sits on the front corner of my house that is just as bad or worse. My husband and I had pulled out all the eyesore plants but the remaining dirt and weeds became an eyesore themselves.

corner flower bed

You can see that we’re testing out pavers for yet another retaining wall and we have one bush we plan to save. We’ll also be making a second rain barrel base for our other rain barrel.

We also would love to see a pathway to walk on, one that would connect our front door to our side door. We’re not sure if we’re thinking concrete or stepping stones or some other material but we know a path of some kind is in order. Excon Group are the best concrete contractors in Geelong. Our team is made up of experts who specialize in all aspects of construction and we’re dedicated to providing you with the highest quality service possible. Whether you need a new roof, driveway, or patio, our expert team has got you covered.

corner flower bed

Our plans include designing an inner and an outer corner flower bed and adding a pond with an aerator (available from companies like www.LivingWaterAeration.com) to keep our garden alive. You can see where our tentative dividing retaining wall would fall between the two but that bush would be in the outer ring. Then we’d build a sidewalk that would curve around the house to the side yard. We’ll dead end it where we hope to build a patio in phase 2 of this project. Phase 2 will be at some point in the future, probably next summer. Then we’ll expand the shade garden to follow the curve of our new path.

corner bed plans

You can see it all on my super-awesome guide. The blue area is the front flower bed we just finished. The orange will be the new corner flower beds, the brown will be our path, and the yellow is phase 2 of the project.

I’m still working on the timeline for this project and it’ll probably take a bit of a backseat until we get the closet done. It’s been bumped up the list though so we’ll be working on this before our fireplace. I’ll keep you updated on the progress of the garden but for the most recent updates, make sure to follow my facebook page. I usually include progress pictures along the way over there.

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BLT Salad

My current job has me working later than my husband. He gets home about an hour before I do and our dinner time has shifted an hour later than it used to be.  Our meal planning has changed around. I now prep meals the night before or when I stop in during my lunch break as I often do. We’re really utilizing all those freezer meals I’ve stocked up on and we’re taking advantage of the crockpot too. Some nights we just want a quick and filling meal without all the work so that way we can switch to project mode as soon as our plates are clean.

BLT Salad

That’s where the BLT salad comes in. If you like BLTs then this salad is almost a clone of your favorite sandwich. You can make croutons from old bread ahead of time; just drizzle some olive oil, salt, and pepper over some diced bread and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. They stay crunchy and fresh for days but if you make them fresh then they’ll be chewy just like the bread of a BLT. Then you’ll toss some bacon, lettuce, and grape tomatoes together with those croutons. Last up is the dressing; the combination of mayonnaise and buttermilk is the perfect touch for the salad. Just toss and serve with some french bread. If you’re a little hungrier, serve this salad with some soup or a sandwich, maybe even a BLT if that’s not a BLT overload.

BLT Salad

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

    For the croutons:
  • 1/2 baguette, sliced into cubes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • For the dressing:
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
  • For the salad:
  • 1 pound romaine, chopped
  • 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Instructions

  1. Start by making sure your bacon is cooked. You can do this on the stovetop or in the oven with the croutons by baking for 15 minutes.
  2. For the croutons:
  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss bread with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  4. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and bake until golden, around 20 minutes.
  5. For the dressing:
  6. In a medium bowl whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese and vinegar.
  7. For the salad:
  8. In a large bowl, mix together lettuce, tomatoes, and croutons. Toss with dressing, sprinkle with bacon and serve.

http://www.thehyperhouse.com/2012/05/blt-salad/



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