Sunday, 30 August 09 - Blueberry Buckle & Corkboards

Well, another weekend is rapidly drawing to an end. Today was fun and relaxing, and for the first Sunday in a long time, I stayed in for all of it (minus the brief outing I took this morning for a couple necessities). Aaron and Christy came over for brunch and a day of fun with games in the basement.

We had some farmer's market blueberries we needed to use, so I made this Blueberry Buckle:

2 c all purpose-flour (I use whole wheat flour)
2&1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c shortening (I use butter)
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 c milk
2 c fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 c all-purpose flour (I doubled to 1 c)
1/2 c sugar (I doubled to 1 c)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I doubled to 1 tsp)
1/4 c butter (I doubled to 1/2 c)

1. Grease bottom & sides of 8x8x2" baking pan & set aside. In a medium bowl combine the 2 c flour, baking powder & salt & set aside.

2. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter w/ a mixer on med for 30 sec. Add the 3/4 c sugar. Beat on med-hi until light & fluffy. Add egg. Beat well. Alternately add flour mixture & milk to beaten egg mixture, beating until smooth after each addition.

3. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle w/ blueberries. In another bowl combine the 1/2 c flour, the 1/2 c sugar & cinnamon. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs; sprinkle over blueberries. Bake in a 350 degree overn for 50-60 mins or until golden (a little longer if you double the topping) Serve warm.

Before:


After:


After dessert, I decided to be crafty. I hauled the ginormous bag of corks Tyler & Kim gave me --


downstairs and created these 2 boards:



...and now I'm beat!

Friday, 28 August 09 - Kay uses a crock pot for the first time - EVER!

I made stew!

I threw in some tiny potatoes, one huge carrot, 1 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 walla-walla sweet onion, radishes, 1 kohlrabi, rainbow chard, and a ton of green beans.

Then I added 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can tomato soup, and some (I don't know, about a pound?) lean, all-natural stew beef, followed by a bit of dried oregano, sea salt and pepper.

Voila!


Honestly, I'm not a big fan of stew. But I think that, as stew goes, this turned out pretty well! Matt agrees.

Saturday, 15 August 09 Party Lite Party!

A couple weekends ago (I've been terrible at updating this thing!) I hosted a Party Lite party. I'd gone to one Cheryl hosted a couple weeks prior, and realized I couldn't afford anything I wanted unless I had a party...and of course our house needed more stuff, so...a party I had!

What we feasted upon:

* K's killer artichoke/spinach dip - this time with the added flair of Tilamook pepperjack cheese in lieu of feta...served with soft french bread, carrots & celery
* Zucchini dip, served with costco's organic tortilla chips -
Ingredients: 1 medium zucchini, cubed; 2 tbsp. white sugar; 1 tbsp. soy sauce; 1 clove garlic, chopped; 3/4 tsp. dried oregano; 2 c mayonnaise. Directions: (1) Place zucchini in a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 5 mins. Drain and transfer to a food processor. Process until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients (except mayo) and process until blended. (2) Transfer the pureed mixture to a serving bowl and stir in the mayonnaise. Chill for at least an hour before serving.
* homemade chocolate chip cookies
* strawberries
* wine, of course!

In attendance were: My mom and sister Aimee (her first time meeting the house), our favorite new neighbor Allison, Sarah J, Heather K, Cheryl S (who has just re-become a Party Lite consultant herself. Visit http://www.partylite.biz/sites/cherylsloan to buy stuff from her!), her adorable daughter Desi, Julie, Betsy, Christy and her friend Lauren, My wonderful mother-in-law, Kathy and grandmother-in-law, Marilyn, and of course our fabulous consultant, Brenda.

Thanks so much to everyone who came and helped me score all this cool (& nearly free) stuff:

Friday, 14 August 09 - Impromptu Video Making Night

A few clips from our impromptu "You're in the Movies" party we accidentally had Friday:

Mr. & Mrs. Tortoise

Okay, so these guys do not live on Division Street, but they do live in the neighborhood, and I am too much of a voyeur to see something like this and not photograph and post it for all the world to see:

Saturday, 1 August 09 Pre-Concert Housewarming

To kick off Saturday's "Ladies' Day o' Fun", the group picked me up, bearing a gift basket of rum and mixers, which Aunt Barb transformed with haste into five delicious strawberry daiquiris. I gave a brief tour of the house, changed clothes twice, and we were off!!
Debbie, Sara, Marla Dee, Yours Truly and Auntie B.

My legs are so white, you gotta wear shades!!