tasteful

So my new cake book got a bit of a workout recently.

I co-planned a baby shower for a friend and we decided to do a tea theme, as it would be easy for decorating and would lend itself easily to figuring out food. We divvied the various dishes, which included finger sandwiches and salads, and I agreed to make the cakes.




I also brought in my teapots, linens and some place cards to label things. We went with simple flower arrangements on each table, which seemed to be the best effect.

Thanks to Karrmin for extra photo help!

Book recommendation: Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Recipe recommendation: Marbled Lemon-Blueberry Butter Cake
Game recommendation: Coffee Rush

hope

A friend recently lost her baby and the church has been overwhelmingly gracious about helping the family out, so I figured she'd need some thank you cards.

Overall, they're doing okay, especially as they remember baby Hope is in heaven and that God never gives up on His children. Their theme verse is from Romans:


May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

dehydrate

So what have I been doing the past several days?

Dealing with fruit that is ripening quickly! After canning loads of peaches, the next thing to tackle was a bucket of pears that a friend graciously gave me. I canned a few, but then decided we had enough canned goods. I remembered some other friends have a dehydrator and asked to borrow it.

So I loaded it up a couple of times and then saw that we had a box of apples sitting on the counter that were softening... the tree in our yard had been dropping a few every day for about a week, so we realized it was time to harvest! I got a few dried~the others are too soft and will turn into applesauce.

seaside

I almost wasn't going to participate in the DCM dare this week, but the weather has been warmer this week (humid!) and I saw a cute card layout on the Hero Arts blog and was inspired.

This week's dare is to do something seaside related. I went pretty basic and used seashells as my subject matter.

And I already want to change this--I think I'd like to add some pearls to the 'sea' square and ease up on the chalk on the shells. Sorry for the lighting on these, too. I was in a hurry...

jam swap

Remember all those peaches? Well, I've been whittling away at them, bit by bit. Chip's made a pie and I've put some in the freezer as well.

When I saw the Virtual Jam Swap, I knew that would be my next project. I pulled out my jam/jelly book to see what my peach options were. I decided on the peach brandy concoction, as it was simple, yet slightly different.

Because I was using Sure Jell as my pectin, and the low sugar kind, I adapted joan's recipe a bit, so if you look hers up, it will have more sugar and pectin (she buys it in bulk). I also have the cooking directions more in line with the Sure Jell instructions.

Don't you just love this font?

4 c peeled, pitted, chopped peaches
2 T lemon juice
1 pkg pectin
3 c sugar
1/3 c good-quality brandy

Put peaches and lemon juice in a large pot. Mix the pectin with ¼ c sugar (from the original 3 c) and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add remaining sugar quickly and return to a full roiling boil. Boil exactly one minute then remove from heat. Stir in brandy.

Pour jam into jelly jars, seal and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

As far as quantity, joan's recipe says 8-9 eight ounce jars, the Sure Jell folks say 5 cups. I got about 7 jelly jars full, with a tiny bit left in the pan before processing (hence I knew I could recommend this--it's pretty yummy).

We're going to have to get in a toast habit.

Book recommendation: well preserved: a jam-making hymnal by joan hassol
Recipe recommendation: Brandy Peach Jam
YouTube recommendation: Don't Stop Believing (Glee cover)

importunate

This past weekend I spent in MN. My SiL wanted to attend a scrapbooking retreat with her friends and my brother had to work, so they asked if I wanted to come up and fill in the gaps where they wouldn't be home. I said sure and drove up Friday during the day and stayed until Monday.

It wasn't always easy--D wasn't used to Mom being gone for such a long time and was a bit clingy (but so dang cute you couldn't help but pick him up every time he asked for it), which made the girls a little harder to please. Thankfully, my cousin Melody came over to help out Saturday and Sunday afternoons. She even took M to a birthday party on Saturday, afterward picking up corn for dinner!

There wasn't much time for photos, but I got a couple of cute ones: