Shoofly Pie

Alrighty folks, so here is one of the delicious recipes we have been enjoying since my momma has been visiting us :) I'm gonna be so sad when she leaves us!

So...Shoofly pie...ever heard of it? It's a molasses-y sweet pie from Pennsylvania Amish Country (Lancaster, PA to be exact) similar in style to the pecan pie of the south but without the nuts...in other words, freakin' yummy! It can be super sweet, like makes your teeth hurt sweet, but this recipe (from none other than Martha Stewart) is juuuust right, not too sweet and the spices are right on. Would we really expect anything less from Martha? I think not!

If you've never had Shoofly pie before, here is a picture of all that sweet and yummy goodness just to get you drooling:

In case you were wondering why it's called Shoofly pie, it's cause as it would be sitting out to cool flies would be attracted to all the sweetness and the Amish ladies would have to wave their hands around it to shoo all the flies away. Cute, huh?!!

Shoofly Pie

1 pie crust of your choice (refrigerated, pre-made works well too!)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

salt

6 tbsp cold, unsalted butter cut into small cubes

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp baking soda

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Roll out pie dough into a 9 inch pie plate, crimp edges and set aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add butter and mix well with hands until you have a nice and crumbly mixture, set aside your crumb topping. In another medium bowl, whisk together boiling water, molasses and corn syrup. Add in the baking soda, beaten egg and a pinch of salt. Pour this mixture into your pie shell. Sprinkle your crumbly pie topping over the filling and bake for about 50 minutes or until the crust and crumb topping are a nice golden brown and the middle is set. Cool for about 30 minutes and then enjoy your sweet Pennsylvania Amish delight...YUM!

Okay, so first we mix up the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt...

Then, take your 6 tbsp of cold unsalted butter and cut them up into small pieces...

Then, mix your butter into your flour mixture. Using your hands, get in there and mix that butter in so everything is nice and crumbly...set aside!

Next, grab the ingredients above (plus some salt) and mix the boiling water, molasses and corn syrup together. Once that's all mixed up, add your baking soda, egg and salt...

Your mixture will look like this once you add in the baking soda!

It gets bubbly and grows in size a bit, so make sure you have a large enough bowl to accommodate for that!

Pour the filling into your empty pie crust, like so. Make sure to put your pie plate on a cookie sheet to catch any spill-over that might occur!!

Then, sprinkle your crumb topping on...I did not use all of mine, just a little FYI from me to you. Bake at 325 degrees for about 50 minutes or until the crumb topping and crust is golden brown and the filling is set...jiggly, not liquid-y!

Cool for about 30 minutes and you are ready to eat that baby up!

Looks good, eh?

Let's look a little closer, shall we?

What's that? You want to look even closer?

Okay, here ya go...

Yup, now that's a close up!

Soooo good!

Go ahead, make it tonight!!

CSN Stores

Hey all! I just wanted to let you know that I'll be doing a review for CSN Stores in the weeks to come. Ya'll remember them right? All Modern is one their fine stores and back in June they were sweet enough to give away an Ice Cream Maker on my blog :)

CSN Stores has over 200 stores with everything from baby stuff, home decor, furniture and even Le Creuset! Oh My! I'll let you know what I review in a few weeks!

:: :: ::

And in other news, I have a super yummy dessert recipe to share with you all...and it's an easy one to make too, double awesomeness!!! Hopefully I can get it up tonight or tomorrow!!

YUM-A-LICIOUS!!

Two Weeks

Ummm yeah, so my little Eloise is 2 weeks old today! I can't believe it, two WHOLE weeks, have we really had her for 14 days already? Can that really be true? Today is her actual due date too, so weird that this little cutie would have been due today!

She's already trying to lift up that little noggin of hers!

A snap of Momma and Eloise...I just LOVE this girl!

Daddy and his newest little lady :)

And of course, I can't leave out all the lovin' she gets from her big brother and sister!

In other news, MY momma has been in town visiting...we get to have her for two wonderful weeks! YIPPEE!! I'll be sure to post some of the delicious recipes we have been having the pleasure of eating now that she is here. You will love them, no lie! Stay tuned for all the goodness to come :) I'll speak to you all soon!

A Baby and Butterflies...

So, this happy little lady was born last week...

She's really a wonderful napper and sleeper in general...

She's even smiley in her sleep :)

Maybe she just feels the love from these two little rugrats:

They really can't get enough of her...begging to hold her from the minute she wakes up every morning!

But, I have to tell you Eloise wasn't the only birth we had last week...we have been nuturing some Painted Lady Caterpillars the week before Eloise was born and a few days after she entered the world so did 5 little Painted Lady Butterflies! Yes! We are just hopping in the newborn department over here :)

We usually do this fun little biology experiment every summer. I get my larvae from InsectLore.com. Although, I think I originally bought the Butterfly House kit at Wal-Mart two summers ago. I'm sure you could find one there or at Target to get you started. For about $15 you get a this in the mail in about a week's time:

A teeny little cup with 5 Painted Lady Caterpillars and some food for them to eat.

They just munch on that stuff at the bottom of the cup and you can watch them get bigger and bigger every day. Then after about a week, they promptly climb to the top of the cup, hang upside down, and make cocoons. You then get to transfer the cocoons, ever so gently, to their Butterfly House where they will hatch and be born as butterflies!!

So, about a week later you get this:

Beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies fluttering around your Butterfly House!

We feed them a sugar water mixture on a crumpled up paper towel. They also love orange slices and watermelon but each time I've run to the store I have forgotten to pick up either of those, so sugar water it is! It's pretty cool to watch them eat, the kids have enjoyed seeing their long probiscus uncurl and eat the water off of the paper towel...GO science and GO biology!!!

And, if you leave them in their butterfly house for a few days they will mate. You see, they only live for about 2 weeks so they've got to get it on quick-like if they want to keep up the species! You might even be able to watch it all go down...it's a sight to see to say the least. A few days after you might find some of these:

If you look closely at this picture you can see all the little blue eggs. They are as tiny as pin heads and there are lots of them. We are hoping to get a few baby caterpillars out of them and start the whole process over again!

The best part is releasing them from their Butterfly house...

Awww, isn't this one pretty!?!

We release them into our screened in porch so that way we can enjoy them in all their butterfly glory. After a few days the kidlets get to release them for reals into the backyard. It's a pretty fun process to hold them in your hands and blow them free into the wild!

Penny and Noah love having them land on their heads or hands.

Our screened in porch becomes a Butterfly Farm just like at the zoo!

But trying to touch them without squashing them is quite the challenge...

isn't it Penny?

Hey what do you expect from a 23-month old???

I think they'll live another day :)

Go Butterflies!!!

A Project for the Hubby

Okay, so here is that little project I made for my hubby...FINALLY! It was just sitting in my camera begging for me to download and get it on the blog for you :) Little Eloise is napping like a champ (she's ONE week old as of this morning!!!) and was sweet enough to nap with the rest of her siblings so I could put this together for you...let's just give her a little baby round of applause :)

So, the hubs was for once on the receiving end of a sewing project and right before Eloise was born I was actually getting around to the pile of other projects he has been wanting me to get done for a long time, mainly repairing clothing for him from a pile that has been sitting and growing for, dare I say, more than a few months...yikes! See, even he benefitted from all that nesting energy! I think the pile of shirt and pants is down to two now, woot woot! He is one happy guy.

Anyways, I digress...here's that long-awaited project:

Isn't it cute?

It holds one of these babies:

Yup, that's an ipad. It was one of his Father's Day presents that took me the longest while to justify buying. I mean, it's not a phone and it's not a computer...I just didn't get all the rage. I do have to say though, after playing with it for awhile, it is pretty cool. now. after having it awhile. It is especially nice to have for the kidlets, now they can play with their games and watch their shows and NOT be calling anyone by accident. That was always no fun.

So, I made him this cute little cozy to protect his ipad when he has it out and about. It's made from felt and was oh-so-easy to make. We also have a silicone jacket on the ipad (protection is key as the kiddies play with it too) so the dimensions for the cozy will also fit an ipad with a little extra something on it...just so ya know.

Etch-a-Sketch ipad Cozy

2 pieces of red fleece measuring 24" x 10"

1 piece of gray fleece measuring 9.5" x 6"

2 small circles of white fleece

1 7.5 inch piece of velcro (mine was red to match)

red thread

white thread

black thread (for any words you want to stitch)

disappearing ink pen

sewing machine

rotary cutter and mat

**I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures to this tutorial...we were (and still are) crazily working on taking a wall out of our kitchen before Eloise came so my crafting and photographing were really done in the little spurts of time I had in between all the chaos.

The basics you'll need for this project.

Ok, so first write whatever wording you want to have on the gray fleece part of your Etch-a-Sketch with a disappearing ink pen. Then using a basic straight stitch on your machine, sew over your wording. I made sure to keep my letters all connected just like they would be on a real life Etch-a-Sketch.

Then, on one of your red fleece pieces, cut a window 8.5" x 5" near one end. Center your gray fleece under it and pin in place. Sew together with a straight stitch, I did this twice around the window.

Next, sew on your two white circles at each bottom corner for the little white roll-y handles that Etch-a-Sketches have on them.

Then, with your other piece of red fleece, place your velcro pieces one on each short end about 1/2 inch from each edge. This is going to be your inner lining fleece.

Once you sew your velcro on, place this piece of fleece (with velcro facing in) against the piece of fleece with the window...so essentially right sides are together. Sew only the short ends of the fleece together. Flip right side out when you are done. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of this!! At this point you will have the right side of the window facing out and the velcro side facing out as well.

So, next just fold the long rectangle of fleece you have now in half so that the two velcro pieces are facing outside from one another and the window is in the inside. Sew down both long sides and then flip out. That's it. Does this make sense? I am a complete mush brain right now and really wish I would have taken some pictures of the last few steps since I know how helpful pictures can be. Really, if you have questions please let me know!!

A peek at the inside, you can see the velcro right there at the edge.

Looks cozy, eh?

Don't you just want to snuggle up right in there too :)

Getting stuffed with the ipad...

Yup, I think it'll keep that ipad nice and cozy!

What do you think?

Retro fun...

for Everyone!!

Just the way it should be :D

Heeeere's Eloise...

Alrighty, ladies and gents, here she is...Miss Eloise! I am finally getting to posting some pictures for you all to see, now that didn't take too long, did it? This little one nurses like a maniac so it's been challenging doing one-handed everything again, especially typing! :)

I wanted to thank you for all the sweet comments and emails about our new little girlie girl too! I am really touched by all your kind words and I just want you to know how much I have enjoyed reading every single thing you have written to me and our new family, it really means a lot!! We couldn't be happier to have Eloise in our family, she is one amazing little babe. She eats well, sleeps well and just all around fits into our family perfectly.

I just love sleepy baby pictures, aren't they just so sweet and innocent!

What a little doll!

And I LOVE this one, a bit of a yawn mixed in with some major sleepies!

And, big brother and big sister are really loving having her in the family. They can't get enough of her which is always nice for me and the hubs to see :) Eloise gets more kisses, cuddles, hugs and pats on the head than she could ever imagine. Here are just a few shots of the two of them enjoying all their big brother/sister glory!

Well, I hope you enjoyed a little bit of our Eloise!

We think she is pretty great :)

Oh, and I also have that little project I made for my hubby to show you too, I haven't forgotten, really. Nothing like having a little baby to shake things up a bit around here! So here's to hoping I can show you that in a few days, I just need to get the pictures downloaded, etc.

Have yourselves a great weekend!

A Finished Project of a Different Sort...

Whoa! Guess what happened yesterday?!?

We had a little baby!

So please, let me introduce you to our newest family member....

Eloise Margaret

6 lbs 15 oz

19.5 inches

6:41 am

12 July 2010

It was a bit of a whirlwind of a day yesterday. Labor and delivery were crazy fast...contractions started at 4 in the morning and she popped out at 6:41 am!!! I'm glad we left for the hospital when we did cause she was born 17 minutes after we arrived...talk about cutting it close!!! The hubby was more than happy he didn't have to deliver a baby in the car (and so am I!)

Okay, so more to come later, I just wanted to let you all know about our great news :) Now, off to revel in the sweet little coos and tiny hands and fingers of our gorgeous baby GIRL!!!

Going Home Outfit

So, I have been feeling a little guilty lately for not doing much for Bean III in the making stuff department. I would rather just know if the little babe is a boy or a girl before I go hog wild in the sewing arena...ya know what I mean? Well, lucky for me and my guilty conscious, I was flipping through Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing last week in my purging and organizing craze (books were organized not purged, mind you!) and saw the Lucys' Kimono Top Pattern. How cute was it!! AND, easy and fast to make...so I thought I would make one of each...one for a boy and one for a girl for a cute little Going Home Outfit.

Boy Kimono Top...

Girlie Kimono Top...

Plus, I made some matching bloomers from her Ruby's Bloomers Pattern for the Girlie top just cause it seemed like the outfit wouldn't be complete without them...I HEART bloomers! I had to guess on the sizing, since she only has patterns for 6-12 months and 18-24 months in the book, so hopefully they will fit a 0-6 months old. Although it seems to me (and the hubby) that these will definitely be fitting more of a 6 month old, here's to hoping that a fluffy cloth diaper bum will fill them nicely :)

Front of the Bloomers...

Back of the Bloomers...

...and the Completed Girlie Set.

Now, we just have to wait and see which one little Bean III gets to wear home...only time will tell...we have 3 weeks to go!

Ooh, and I also have something fun to show you on Monday that I made for my hubs this week but I gotta get the pictures downloaded first...to be continued until then!!! Don't you just love a good cliffhanger?