09-04-2012

Au revoir summer 2012

Today’s the first day of pre-school and our oldest one, Dale Esau, is starting 4K!

And, I’ve learned some VERY shocking news…Next year, we’ll have to be at elementary school by 7:25AM! Are you serious? I guess that means my half sleeping on the couch from 6:30-8:30ishhh is probably not going to be happening so much in 2013. Therefore, I need to really appreciate these lazy morning hours, while I have ’em!

This summer we’ve had our share of lazy morning (okay, okay….all day) hours! We’ve been busy enjoying all the things summer brings… like popsicles, icecream, kettle corn at the farmer’s market, jaunts to the beach and pool, and playing tourists in our town.

So I wanted to share some photos with ya’ll of what we’ve been up to. I know I’ve posted extremely little and I’ve missed it. But there was just so much fun to be had with the computer turned off, that sometimes it was too hard to turn the computer on. This business of summer is winding down with our re-entrance into school and schedules, so here’s to hoping I’ll be blogging more often.

Sharing…is there anything more precious between siblings?

Road trip enthusiasm!

Inspecting dirt for worms, seriously…what we spent every single day doing this summer!

Catching fish together…the crazy outfit on DE is a make-shift trash bag poncho!

I’ve pickled probably 16 pints of okra so far and am hoping to put some more up this week. I LOVE pickled okra!

Berry Licious Lime Yogurt Popsicles

For the first time ever, I was able to can tomatoes from our garden!

Dale Esau planted these, unbeknownst to me, when I was working on another part of the garden. It was a pretty cool surprise to see them sprout and flourish. Since he planted them, they were his favorite veggie to eat all summer!

Chocolate Toffee Cupcakes for my birthday!!!

I cannot wait!!! to share with ya’ll this granola bar recipe. It is so delish, so addictive, and so gluten free!!!

Is there anything else that says summer better?

I hope you & yours had a fantastic summer!!! Here’s to being thankful for football season, falling leaves, pumpkins, and relishing this last year of sleepy mornings on the couch!

Love,

Jess

06-09-2012

Blackberry and Blueberry Crumble Pie

I just have to say…I LOVE berry crumbles! They have to be one of the easiest desserts to make…Whip together a few ingredients, and voila! Today I used fresh from the farm berries but even in winter, crumbles taste great with frozen berries.

To try something different though, I added a pie crust which soaked up some of the juices and was still flaky and delightful.  And the ginger in this recipe adds a spicy kick for a little something more.  Hmmm…life is good!

Recipe Cost
Since most of the ingredients are on stock in my pantry, I only added the price of berries and a pie crust to come up with a total of $8 for this amazingly delish dessert. To buy a dessert this yummy at your local bakery, you’d spend close to $20. Quite the savings to make at home!

Ingredients
For the Pie Crust:
Knock yourself out making one from Grandma’s scratch recipe, or do as I do and buy refrigerated dough. One of these days, I’m going to figure out how to make a crust but for the moment, I am pretty intimidated on that front and blame it on my baking roller.  If you are just as intimidated with the daunting task of dough rolling, make sure to buy refrigerated not frozen pie crusts. Frozen pie crusts in those tin pans produce mushy crust; whereas a refrigerated one placed in your glass pie plate will produce a flaky and delectable crust.

For the Filling:
4 cups fresh blackberries and/or blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons lemon juice (~1/2 of a lemon)
1/2 Tbsp fresh minced ginger or 1 1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh mint

For the Crumble:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup coarsely chopped hard nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnut, etc.)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 ounces butter, at room temperature
dash of kosher salt

For the crust ~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place pie crust in a glass pie plate and add dry beans to the top for a weight. Blind bake the pie crust for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove beans or dry weights and allow to cool.

Don’t do like me and forget to add the weights/dry beans…the middle will puff up and the sides collapse into the middle!

For the filling ~ In a large, non-reactive bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, lemon juice, ginger, and mint. Next, gently mix in the berries and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes.

Pour into crust once crumble topping is made.

The berries took on a shiny sheen all by themselves. No matter the lighting, the photo looked like steam was rising.

For the crumble ~ In a mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and then whisk in the butter.

You can also use a fork or your fingers. Basically, as the name implies, you just want the mixture to be crumbly looking. Place crumble mixture on top of berries in pie dish.

Bake in preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes, until golden brown.

ENJOY!!!

XoXo, Jess

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
For the Pie Crust:
9″ refrigerated pie crust

For the Filling:
4 cups fresh blackberries and/or blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons lemon juice (~1/2 of a lemon)
1/2 Tbsp fresh minced ginger or 1 1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh mint

For the Crumble:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup coarsely chopped hard nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnut, etc.)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 ounces butter, at room temperature
dash of kosher salt

For the crust ~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place pie crust in a glass pie plate and add dry beans to
the top for a weight. Blind bake the pie crust for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove beans or dry
weights and allow to cool.

For the filling ~ In a large, non-reactive bowl, gently mix together the sugar, flour, lemon juice, ginger,
and mint. Gently mix in the berries and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes. Pour into crust once crumble
topping is made.

For the crumble ~ In a mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and then whisk in the butter. Y ou
can also use a fork or your fingers. Basically , as the name implies, you just want the mixture to be crumbly
looking. Place crumble mixture on top of berries in pie dish.

Bake in preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes, until golden brown.