Baking Pies for Noah's Heart Fundraiser

This past Friday I spent the evening baking some pies for a fund raiser.  (Read about Noah's Heart here)

I decided to make two pumpkin and one apple.  Since I was baking these to raise money I opted to buy an inexpensive but cute pie plate instead of the disposable foil ones.  I found this really cute one at the local Marshall's store.  It said "Stay Calm and Make a Pie" along the rim.

The other had an apple pie recipe printed on the inside of it.  Cute, cute!

My favorite recipe for pumpkin pie comes right off of the Libby's can but I have adapted it and changed it up a little to suit my taste.  I posted it last November.  This time I used cinnamon, allspice, ginger and pumpkin spice.  If you want to you could just pour the recipe into a glass baking dish minus the crust.

This year I also used an old recipe I have had written down on a little piece of paper.  I believe it came from one of my Mom's cookbooks.  It is a really fool proof pie crust recipe.

Never Fail Pie Crust Recipe (from my Mom's Amish cookbook)

The secret to a good crust is to use ice cold water and don't over mix or handle the crust too much.  Just combine until the ingredients are mixed together. I like to mix up the pie crust ahead of time (the day before) and then refrigerate it in round discs ready to be used.  The recipe makes two pie crusts.

Silouettes in the evening

Silhouettes and sunsets... one of the many things I'll miss about summer.

This time of year I am usually driving home right at sunset.  The dark silhouettes contrasting against the painted sky make for a beautiful picture.  I will miss this next month when the time changes and I'll be driving home in the dark.
  

A sweet little girl turns 4!

This past Saturday my friend's little girl turned 4.  To celebrate we had a little birthday party at the beach!  Kate is a little miracle and a big blessing from God.  She is growing up so fast.

Her little friends were excited to celebrate with her...


and so were her bigger friends!

Lighting the candle with the ocean breeze going was a bit of a challenge but daddy got it done.

I think her favorite gift was a guitar which she immediately began to play and entertain us all!  

Happy Birthday dear Kate!!!

Rescue Tape to the Rescue!

If you are at home and you hear water dripping or running somewhere nearby it's never a good sign.  Last week sometime I was at home by myself and heard some kind of water spraying noise outside.  I didn't pay much attention to it because I thought it was just the neighbor lady who has been coming over to feed the birds and water the plants in the front yard.  So off I went that afternoon and didn't get back home until quite late and I forgot all about it.  The next afternoon I heard it again.  Then the neighbor knocked on the door and informed me that the hose that waters the bird feeder had sprouted a big leak and did I know who to call...

Uhhhh.....

my landlady is away for the summer in Vermont...

her son is off on vacation in Mexico for two weeks...

Uhhhh....

Do I know who to call??

NO!   Help, anybody?

....insert cricket sounds here....

So I went up and took a look.  Sure enough there was the leak arching beautifully across the lawn and hitting the awning.... spray... drip... spray... drip...

OK, I can do this!  So off I went to the laundry room /garage in search of...   What am I looking for?  What could I use to fix this?  Duct tape maybe?

And then, there it was hanging oh the wall! Imagine a beam of light coming down and and a chorus singing...

Rescue Tape!   Where have you been all my life.  This stuff is great!  Why had I never heard or seen this stuff before!  There it was in black and white 

"...excellent for emergency hose repair..."

So here's to whoever invented this great stuff... THANK YOU!

Now go to the store and get yourself a package of Rescue Tape right now.  You never know when you'll need it!

Testing... testing...

This is the "test cake" I made for my friend Michelle's wedding which is coming up in a few weeks.  What better way to test the cake than by making one this weekend for her bridal shower.

Since she wanted Chocolate Cake I looked for recipes and ended up using The Pioneer Woman's Big Chocolate Birthday Cake recipe which has quickly become my new favorite.

You don't even need a mixer to make it!

That's right!

No mixer required!

I made three layers, cooled them and then covered them with a basic buttercream icing that I Am Baker recommended.  I also added raspberry extract to the icing for a little flavor.

I wanted to do something different than the fondant cakes I've decorated in the past.  I had come across the Rose Cake from I am Baker a few months ago, loved the look of it, and really wanted to try my hand at it.

And here is my first attempt at it...

I think Michelle likes it!

I'm pleased by the results too!

I learned a few things and now I think I'm ready to make the one for the big day!  Can't wait!

30 days of J's in June {A list of daily observations about my June}

June 1- Jacarandas. June is the month where jacaranda trees are in full bloom and covered in fluffy beautiful lavender dresses. 

June 2 - Jubilee. This weekend the Queen of England is celebrating her Diamond Jubilee. 

June 3 - Joy. Is what was on the faces of K & S when I picked them up at the airport today! I missed you girls! 

June 4 - Jarring (or Jackhammer). The dictionary defines it this way "Jar - to produce a harsh, grating sound; sound discordantly. To vibrate or shake." This is what we have been hearing in my office all day as they remodel the downstairs floor of the building. 

June 5 - Job. I am right in the middle of reading the book of Job today as he ponders the brevity of life (Ch 14). 

June 6 - Java. Part of the enjoyment of getting my java every morning at the same coffee shop is having the barista know exactly what I want without having to tell them. 

June 7 - Jim. Jim forgot to bring the jars today. 

June 8 - Jamboree. Jamboree was the exit I took today to get to Irvine Ranch Historic Park. 

• June 9 - June. On this day in June fifty years ago Mom and Dad got married. 
• June 10 - Junk Food. Is what I crave sometimes (well, a lot of times!) 
• June 11 - Jogging. I want to do (jog) a 5K in October with some friends from work. Time to plan! 
• June 12 - Juggle. Trying to juggle everything I have to do this week...eek! 
• June 13 - Jolt. Apparently what everyone but me felt a little while ago. I was driving at the time so I totally missed it. 
• June 14 - Jars. I made guac & salsa and filled some jars full 
• June15 - Jail. Is where the man with a gun south of campus today will most likely end up. 
• June 16 - Joints. My joints (knees) ached after painting for 5 hours today. 
• June 17 - Jesus. My heavenly father when my earthly father is no longer here. 
• June 18 - Joker. Watched the Batman movie with the creepy joker in it tonight. 
• June 19 - Jammies. What I'll be wearing after my massage tonight... mmmm! 
• June 20 - Jazzed. I am so jazzed that today is the first day of summer! 
• June 21 - July. My birthday is one month from today. I'm in denial! 
• June 22 - Jaunt. I took a jaunt (or two) around the park with Titus this afternoon. 

• June 23 - Jangled. Jangled nerves after waking up to Duncan's incessant loud barking! 
• June 24 - Joined. Joined my Grace Group poolside for a BBQ. 
• June 25 - Joke. Corny joke posted by Brian for western themed Adventure Week: What kind of horses go out after dark? Nightmares. 
• June 26 - Juicy. Juicy slices of watermelon is what I served to everyone today in the food line at Adventure Week. 
• June 27 - Jennifer. My therapist. Going to miss our weekly meetings. 
• June 28 - Jo. Going to see her today and get my hair done. 
• June 29 - Junk drawer. We all have one. I need to clean/organize mine... maybe this weekend =) 
• June 30 - Jane. Listened to several chapters of Jane Eyre while on the road this weekend to and from Imperial.

Bird of Paradise

Did you know that the bird of paradise is the official flower of the city of Los Angeles?

More things I love about the summer... the annual Biola Bookstore sale!  I walked over this afternoon and browsed around the bookstore.  As staff, we get an additional 40 % off for purchases this week.  Yay!  That's the kind of sale I like!  I picked up a few little gifts for friends and couldn't help getting this super cute, adjustable ring for myself for just a couple dollars.

Just the thing to wear this summer!

Summer Dresses...

Another thing I love about summertime is wearing summer dresses.  I found this colorful beauty on zulily a few weeks ago.  Wearing it makes me feel quite happy!  What does your favorite summer dress look like?  
All dark colors in my closet are hereby banished to Winterdom... Long live Summer!

Happy first day of summer!

I really love summer! 

 One of the things I get to do more often is hang out with these cutie pies.

 Last Friday we went to Huntington Beach and had a bonfire, roasted weenies, and made s'mores.

 

     Fun times!

Adventure Week Is Just Around The Corner!

It's that time of year again!  I don't get to paint or draw very often so when an artistic opportunity comes around I make the most of it.  The theme for Adventure Week (VBS) this year is "Saddle Up".  My friend Kim and I have worked on a couple of these projects together.

Last year we were up to our ears painting all kinds safari animals

From 2011 June 11 - Monsters and Lions and Elephants... Oh My!

but with the American western theme this year our main project is to paint a stagecoach that can also be used for a photo booth.

We started tracing the image onto the plywood last week so today we were ready to break out the brushes and paint and get to work.

Got a couple of hours of painting in today before running out of day light so we will tackle it again Saturday.  I'll post another photo once we're all done.