The women in my family are so creative, my mom and many of my aunts are excellent cake bakers and decorators. They have made each other's wedding cakes along with one's for my two sister's and a few of my friend's. Truly amazing! I have been so inspired by them and one day hope to be able to be as talented. I have only taken one class on cake decorating, so I've pretty much got the crumb layer down! So I've been re-inspired after attending my sister's wedding in November and seeing the beautiful masterpiece my aunt put together. Then my mom gave me two books that I'm totally thrilled about, and just waiting for the day to be able to use some of the ideas. One is a cookie decorating book, the other is The Whimsicle Bakehouse by Kaye Hansen and Meredith Vieira.

This barn is super cute! Okay I need a kid to have a birthday soon!

 

  

As soon as I saw this in the book, I thought wow this looks totally complicated and hard… wrong!! SO easy, the animals/trees/clouds are just melted chocolate poured onto parchment paper with a traced design on it.

All in all, a great book to drool over!

Mary & Joe had bible study on Tuesday night, such a wonderful excuse to get mixing bowls dirty. This dessert is perfect for when you don’t want to use your oven and it is completely foolproof for those of you who don’t consider yourselves bakers. I got it from a friend of mine, thank you Donna! I will forever be in your gratitude. Done in a jiffy and is as tasty as tasty gets.

Recipe

1 Baked graham cracker crust

8 oz package of cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tub of cool whip

Frozen or fresh berries (if desired)

Soften cream cheese in the microwave. Mix sugar with cream cheese until smooth. Add sour cream, vanilla and cool whip. Stir with wooden spoon until smooth. Pour into baked graham cracker crust (8-inch). Refrigerate approximately 2-3 hours or until firm. The consistency is best if it’s refrigerated overnight. This cheesecake will not have the typical  “cheesecake” consistency. It is much lighter but I prefer it to cheesecake. Serves 8 pie size slices. Eat it plain, or topped with berries. I’ve used both strawberries and raspberries so far and both are absolutely delicious.

I love fudge and any excuse to make fudge. All that delicious chocolate as it melts in my mouth (although my favorite is still Russian fudge) brings a whole new meaning to the word “savor”. I didn’t plan enough time yesterday to make Russian Fudge but the kids and I did get to try our hands at a new recipe. Chocolate Caramel Walnut Fudge… absolutely delicious.    

Then today Lily asked for a tea party so we spent all afternoon planning and decorating for it…

With the table set, the caramel drizzled “fancy” on the plates (everything has to be fancy like Fancy Nancy), the invitations made and posted on every entry door to the house (we didn’t know which one Mary would come into), the stuffed animals/dolls seated, and accessories found and displayed… we sat in anticipation. Lily instructed me in a very serious tone that we had to hide until mom got home so that we could surprise her, and so the hunt for the perfect hiding place began. We crawled under the table and practiced several times jumping out and yelling “SURPRISE!” until Lily felt like we had mastered the skill. Then we sat (under the table) waiting... five minutes went by… ten… fifteen…the anticipation was completely overwhelming. Finally, Lily instructed me sternly to sit by the window with Hannah and watch for Mom to get home (a much better solution for an anxious 4 year old). Not quite sure though if I could handle such an important job she kept eyeing me asking every few minutes “are you watching??”.  Just when she could not wait any longer all was not lost, Mary pulled up in the driveway and I haven’t seen a little girl move so fast. When Mary walked in she properly exclaimed how surprised she was to get the invitation. Lily either couldn’t remember what to say or wasn’t sure what to do because she stayed hidden under the table! Mary kept talking while Lily tried to figure out what she was supposed to do. Mary finally asked where Lily was because she wasn't sure where she was supposed to go. This clicked for Lily and out she jumped with a big “SURPRISE!”. Mary did fabulous acting completely surprised.

Accessorizing before sitting down to tea.

           

Fancy fudge. Monkey was the guest of honor until Mom got home.

     

Hannah loved being part of the party and thoroughly enjoyed her empty plate and fork. She looked so grown up in her little chair, she hardly looked like the little baby I thought she was when I first got here. Mommy kept a hand on her leg just in case.

 

All in all a fun time to be had by everyone. Lily was quite excited about the way it turned out and had all sorts of ideas for the next one. The planning has begun and this time with LISTS!! A girl after my own heart.

My Evening…

• Make dinner (white chicken chili. yum.)... check
• Go grocery shopping... check
• Make pie with kids... check
• Read stories and shadow hand puppets... check
• Prayers and goodnight kisses... check
• Bake pie...check
• Watch Gran Torino...check
• Reflect on God's many blessings to me...double check. Children touch a place in my heart that desires above all to love.

My Grandmother Effie (my father's mother) was an award winning pie maker. Therefore my dad grew up with delicious pies and when he married my mom (who didn't make a whole lot of pies) an interesting conversation was bound to take place. Now my mom and dad were newly married and one day my grandpa got wind of the lack of pies that she had apparently not been making. The next time he came over this is what transpired. Now my Grandfather would kind of take over a kitchen when he would walk in, so I can only imagine what my mom must have been feeling to have her newly acquired father in-law in her kitchen. Here's the story my mom tells: Grandpa... "Have you made Robert any pies?"

Mom... "Nope" (Actually she said she was thinking "No way am I going to compete with his mom")

Grandpa... "Are you going to make him any pies?"

Mom... "Nope"

Grandpa (very sternly)... "I'm telling you, you have to make Robert pies"

My mom said that she was totally horrified at the "order"  she had just been given. (Lord have mercy on me and give me quiet in-laws) :D So she started making my dad pies and has (of course) become an amazing pie maker. :D Her crusts are always flaky and her lemon meringue pie is a thing to behold. Literally it is probably the most beautiful and tasty pie I have ever seen. So as a teenager I made it my goal to make a good pie and after 10 years I'm still baking them. She graciously says that there isn't any difference between hers and mine, but I still call her every once in a while freaked out that something has gone terribly wrong and if she's ever around I still drag her into the kitchen at various points of the baking and ask for her advice (mostly reassurance that I haven't destroyed it beyond repair). She always laughs and tells me that it's fine. The times when I refuse to be consoled she just cuts a little dough off here and pastes it there. Amazingly just her presence comforts me and lets me know that the pie will survive. She has been the most amazing teacher since no one has yet complained or died from eating a pie of mine. ;-D This pie is a new one for me... actually my first mixed berry pie. Hope it tastes as good as it smells...

Recipe

2 pie crusts
2 cups  Blueberries, picked over and rinsed
5 cups Strawberries , roughly chopped                                                                  1 cup Blackberries, picked over and rinsed
3/4 cups sugar, plus some for sprinkling top
2 tablespoons cup flour, plus some for rolling the dough
2 tablespoons cornstarch
zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. The dough should be in a ball in wax paper for 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half the dough, 1/8-inch thick, to fit a 9-inch pie pan. Chill the shell while assembling the filling.

 

In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, sugar, flour, cornstarch, lemon zest, cinnamon and ginger. Stir until well combined. Remove the pie shell from the refrigerator and pour in the fruit mixture.

Roll out the other half of the door on a lightly flour surfaced. Cut into strips to make a lattice topping. Arrange the dough into a lattice pattern. Crimp the edges. Sprinkle sugar over the top.

Bake the pie at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place foil over the edges because they will be browning lightly. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees. Let bake for an additional 35-40 minutes until the crust is golden and the fruit filling has started to bubble. Best served with vanilla ice cream.

Thursday was national applesauce cake day, so the kids and I tried our hands at making one. Here are a few pictures.



It turned out really yummy especially after I added the cream cheese frosting, definitely something for the recipe box. After we had fun baking I sat down at the computer and a few minutes later Jacob found me. He walked into the office and proudly announced "Auntie Esther, Auntie Esther I caught myself" So precious! Luckily I had the camera handy.