Recipe... Avocado Muffins.

Some friends and I had a mini dinner party the other night and I was left with a nice handful of ripe avocados! They just so happen to be one of my favorite foods, so I was not at all mad about it. I had never baked with them before but i figured it would be a good way to use them up before they went bad. So I made these sweet little muffins.

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour

1cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup of butter or shortening

1 tablespoon of lime juice

1 1/2 cup of mashed avocado

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15-20 min.

Mix together all dry ingredients first and then beat sugar & eggs until fluffy. Add in avocado, lime, butter, & vanilla. Add wet mixture to the dry and mix together. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin wrappers and bake!

They were quite delicious.

-sarah

DIY Grocery Bag.

Recently Jake and I upgraded from a twin bed (all the better for cuddles) to a full, so now I have been left with a pile of sheets that I can not longer use. I decided to do a little repurposing and make some cloth bags to use for the grocery store. Very simple!

Materials:
2 pieces of fabric 20x15 inches
2 pieces of fabric 29x4 inches
scissors
iron & ironing board
sewing machine

Once you have cut an ironed out your 20x15 inch fabric pieces, hem & pin 1" at the top (15in. side). Sew down the folded edge of both pieces.

Next, take the two 4x29 inch pieces of fabric and fold them lengthwise with the good side facing  inwards & iron the along the crease. 

After you have sewn the straps from end to end, trim the edge and turn right side out and iron.
Pin the straps onto the panels (approximately 3 inch down) and sew them on by using a box or an x stitch.

Once your strap are completed, pin the edges of the panels together (good side facing inwards) and stitch all around. Turn right side out and you're done!

Happy grocery shopping!

-sarah

DIY Idea Jar.

My sisters, Shiloh & Hannah, came to see me a couple weeks ago and we had a little craft night where we put together some "idea jars". Our dear friend, Rachel, also joined in on the excitement. While Shiloh & Hannah went with the standard idea or bored jar, Rachel and I made our's into "date jars". I always seem to have a plethora of mason jars laying around as well as plenty of fabric scraps & other little crafty items, so we were pretty much set.

Supplies needed:
Mason jar.
Glue.
Ribbons, bows, buttons, or anything else you want to use for decorating.
Papper scraps to jot down your ideas.

I don't know about any of you but I'm definitely guilty of wasting time, simply because I can't think of something to do. I think this is a great little motivator. So whenever I have an idea for a date or something else I really want to try, I just write it down and drop it in the jar. And, anytime I need a little push to do something I can just pick from those ideas. Plus, it looks pretty cute on my living room desk. 

Hope you find this helpful!

-sarah

Fresh Berry Muffins.

Here is a quick & tasty little recipe for berry muffins. Since it is right in the middle of raspberry season I have been baking with them a lot. This was one of my favorites so far (along with a crostata but i'll save that for a later day.)


Fresh Raspberry Muffins:


6 tbs of butter
1/3 cup of milk
1 egg + 1 yolk
3/4 tsp of vanilla
1 1/2 cup of flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
3/4 tsp of salt
1 1/2 cup of berries

Mix together all ingredients and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 min.

Enjoy! And remember that you can use any other type of berry in place of raspberries.

Have a beautiful weekend!

-sarah

One Year!

One year ago today I married the greatest man on the planet! I'm a lucky girl. It has been quite beautiful. It has had many ups and a few downs & we have grown up and grown closer together because of it. I can't wait for the many years that we have yet to experience with each other. Thank you to all of our friends and family for being a part of this past year with us. We love you guys!
Here are a few of my favorite photographs of our wedding day:

Now it is time for me to go celebrate with my husband!

-sarah

A Strawberry & Apple Pie.

As a part of getting to know our new little neighborhood, Jake and I went shopping at the family owned Italian grocery, Donatelli's, that is just down the road from our place. It was such a great discovery! For the first time I felt relaxed as I shopped for our food plus everything was significantly cheaper than the dirty chain grocery store that we forced ourselves to go to when we lived in south side. Such a sweet change. I picked up the apples for Jake's apple pie that I had promised a while ago and adding strawberries sounding like the prefect idea.

Recipe:

3-1/2 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples

1-1/4 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

3 to 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)

Bake for 10 minutes @ 450 then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes.

I also used a simple crumb topping.

Crust recipe from Andrea's mom <3 

Turned out to be quite delicious!

-sarah

Old Fashioned Summer Raspberry Jam

Summer is well on its  way and one of the things that I am most looking forward to is going berry hunting to make homemade jams! Last summer Jake & I went out with our friends, Sam & Sarah, and gathered tons of delicious wild raspberries for jam.

Here is the recipe we used:
Ingredients:
4 cups of raspberries
4 cups of sugar
Steps:

-Use a large pot.

-When the jam reaches a full rolling boil it will double in volume.

-Heat mashed berries until they reach a full rolling boil.

-Boil 2 minutes.

-Add sugar.

-Stir well.

-Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, boil for 2 minutes.

-Remove from heat.

-Beat with rotary beater for 4 minutes

-Pour in sterilized jars and seal.

Once raspberry season is well under way I will write a more detailed post with step-by-step photos :)

Happy Thursday!

-sarah

Honey Butter Recipe!

Idea for a sweet and simple valentine gift!
I made some of this recipe around Christmas time and it was a pretty big hit so I decided to re-use the idea for a Valentines Day Craft show that is coming up in a couple weeks.

Here is that very quick and easy recipe:
1 cup of butter at room temperature
1 cup of honey
1 cup of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
(makes six 4 oz jars)

Whip butter and then add sugar, followed by honey and cinnamon.

So delicious on an english muffin!

Try it out and let me know what ya think!

-sarah

Braided Apple Bread

Hi all, just wanted to share a fun little recipe with you! I've had a little bag of apple just hangin' out in my fridge waiting to be used; and what better way then to be made into an apple braid! This was my first time making bread like this so I was pretty proud of myself when it came out half decent.

Filling:
3 to 4 medium sized apples
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Peel and slice the apples and mix with sugar, cinnamon, and lemon. Place in a baking pan and bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and put aside.

Bread:
2 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of instant yeast
3/4 tablespoon of salt
2 1/4 teaspoons of vegetable oil
1 cup of warm water

While filling is baking mix, knead, and roll out dough into a 12x16 inch rectangle.
Cut each side into strips about 1 inch wide down both sides and then fill the center with the baked apple filling. Fold strips over and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Glaze topping:
2 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of softened butter
3-4 tablespoons of milk
pinch of nutmeg

Enjoy! It's quite yummy.

-sarah