Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Happy Christmas! And a Merry New Year!

I love how in the Harry Potter movies they say Happy Christmas instead of Merry Christmas. I don't know why but I guess it's because it just fits with the British accent better. At any rate, I hope you had a Happy/Merry Christmas. :)
My Christmas was grand as it is every year. I love that it was on a Sunday. It just seemed fitting that on the day we celebrate the birth of Christ we should be at church, focusing our attention on and worshiping the God man that came to earth to be born to die for us. My wonderful sister and her lovely family got to be with us Christmas morning and we had a big yummy breakfast. We were supposed to have Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls...but...ummm...I kinda ruined them. They were pretty stupid....and I don't mean the good kind of stupid. I was supposed to half the recipe because the original recipe feeds 12,263 people (exaggeration). I halved everything but the milk so the dough was more like runny cake batter rather than dough that could be rolled. :/ It was too late in the game to start over so, alas, we settle for pecan squares at breakfast. Tragedy, I know. :P Any-hoo, after breakfast we opened stockings. I don't know why, but stocking have to be my favorite Christmas tradition...next to food that is. Stocking stuffers are just sooooo fun and stuff that I wouldn't buy myself but love to get. Mine was full of owl stuff along with a couple other things that weren't owly. :) I think I'm set for owl stuff for a while. I am by no means tired of them but my collection is growing fast. :P After stockings, we all donned our church apparel (fa la la fa la la la la la), and headed to church. It was fun seeing all of our church family on Christmas day. There was a fun festive feel in the air and all the kids were giddy with excitement and eager to tell all who would listen what presents they opened that morning. My cousin Olivia didn't even say hi to me. She just ran up to me screaming, "JESSIEEEEEE!!!! I GOT ROLLER SKATES!!!!!!" :) After church, we headed back home to don our comfy apparel (fa la la fa la la la la la), pack up the presents and food, and head to Aunt Cheryl's and Uncle Kirk's for the evening festivities. My ridiculously cool Aunt Cheryl had a hot cocoa bar along with the rest of the typical holiday finger food feast. Super fun! For some reason we ate before we opened presents, which I didn't mind much, but I think Ross was about to hyperventilate. We draw names at our house instead of each person buying a gift for each person. It's super fun to focus on one person to get a gift(s) for and waaaay cheaper than buying one for each person. I had my Sister's name. She's kinda hard to buy for but easy to please....don't ask me how she manages that. However the brilliance of wish lists helped me out :) My mother had my name and just wait till you hear what she gave me!!!! Actually, you probably already know since everyone this side of the equator heard me scream with glee. She got me the......wait for it....Owl City album Ocean Eyes on.......(drum roll please)......VINYL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  As many of you know I am A) Obsessed with Owl City and B) obsessed with my record player/records. So needless to say this was THE BEST GIFT EVER!!! It's kinda cool how they still make vinyl. I even found a Michael Buble' album on Vinyl too. Mom also got me a new iPod docking station. Score! My old one was shot and this one is way cooler. My aunt pointed out how ironic those two gifts are together :P My awesome brother-in-law just happened to have his record player he just got in the car so he brought it in and we played my new record.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you how insufferable I was....singing every word and swaying back and forth to the music, with a stupid, giddy grin on my face.
The evening wore on and we ate till we said, "Ugh I'm never eating again" and played games that made us do embarrassing things we won't go into, and pretty much had the bestest, happiest, merriest Christmas ever! :) 

Overloaded with sugar,
JRae

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Copy Cat Day

I'm christening today...Copy Cat Day. Where instead of using your own brain power to blog about an original thought, or recipe, or what you did for your date last night, you commandeer someone else's brilliance/ thoughfulness/ good thought of the day and post it on your own blog. Of course please, by all means, tell the blog world who you "stole" it from.
Today I shall commandeer from...wait for it...The Rabbit Room. To those of you who know me well, this is no surprise. I copy cat from these people quite often since they are so very brilliant/thoughtful/full of good thoughts. This post is about the true meaning of Christmas and how as Christians sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the presents and stress of the season that we forget to celebrate our Prince of Peace, our Emmanuel, our Jesus Christ. As I read the article I was struck by the thought that we humans are prone to this same mistake every day of the year...not just Christmas time. Each and every day is a battle to put away selfish desires, worries,and meaningless things and put Christ at the center. So read this article and rejoice in the birth of Christ today, and Christmas day, and Boxing Day, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and St. Patrick's Day, and "OMG I have no energy" day. :)
Merry Christmas, Ya'll. :)

Give Away!

Re-posting this give-away so I can maybe win it. Never mind that I haven't had a legit blog post in a while.
Lazy,
JRae
O ya, here's the link.

Monday, November 28, 2011

I Heart Children's Books

I love reading children's books. Sometimes when I'm reading to my 3 year old cousin or my 1 year old niece, I realize that they are on the other side of the room and have long ago lost interest in what I'm reading and moved on to something else. And yet I keep reading because I want to know the ending even if they don't. I'm a kid like that :P But according to this article on the Rabbit Room by Jennifer Trafton, (author of "The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic) it's perfectly ok to be childlike (not childish). It's a rather lengthy article but definitely worth your time. I hope you read it then go color, or read Moo Baa La La La, or play hide and go seek. :)

Child at heart,
JRae

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Best Birthday Ever!!

Every year on my birthday I always say that it's the best birthday ever. They just keep getting better...or maybe better is not the right word. But each year my awesome family finds a way to make the day extra special in some way or another. And this year was no exception. :) My birthday was Sunday, November 20, and while I was getting ready for church I heard the soundtrack from The Sound of Music coming from the dining room. My thought process went something like this, "What? Wait...I don't own that soundtrack....unless you count the record I have of it...but my record player has never worked because the stupid cartridges and needles are extinct.....wait a minute!". I then proceeded to run into the dining room to find my record player working just fine and Julie Andrews voice coming in loud and clear!!!!!! My brilliant mother had done some serious research and found the right cartridge and needle for it so now Skippy (that's what I named him) works beautifully :)
After church my Aunt, Uncle, cousin, and best friend came over to open more presents and eat dinner. I received a plethora of wonderful gifts, the majority of which had something to do with owls....owl measuring cups, owl recipe card box, owl ornaments, etc etc. I also got a couple of new records and a new hat that had nothing to do with owls.:)
Then it was time to eat! We had homemade fajitas, with homemade tortillas, homemade salsa, and...wait for it...homemade guacamole. YUM! We finished it off with the Laura Scott's famous chocolate cake and ice cream. It was the best birthday ever and it made me so thankful for such an awesome family!

Hope all you peeps in blog world had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading my blog. :)

The Owl Gal,
JRae

Friday, November 18, 2011

Venice Baby

A few years ago I worked as a counselor at an all girls camp in North Carolina. I taught cheerleading (don't laugh) and track (don't laugh). But that's beside the point. The point is, while I was there I met this super fun, creative, funny, crafty, girl and her two daughters. They did the arts and crafts class and we stayed up till 2 in the morning one night watching Pride and Prejudice and chatting it up about everything. Any-hoo, since then she has moved to the Nashville area and we go to the same church and my family has really clicked with her family and we've all become awesome friends. Did I mention she's SUPER talented?? She sews, she makes chandeliers,  she makes paper flowers, and bunny rabbit banners and I know not what! O and her lamp shades ARE SO CUUUUUTE! There is currently one in our living room. Long story short: She makes stupid cute stuff. And I think you should check out her blog and go buy something. She's got some ADORABLE stockings that would make super cute gifts or additions to your fireplace this Christmas.  Her name is Shulamith and her blogspot is called Venice Baby and you should go there right this second. Before you even finish reading this post.

Disclaimer: Shulamith did not ask me to post about her awesomeness. I just wanted to because I think she's awesome.

Happy Shopping,
JRae

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

It's the Little Things...

Ya know those seemingly insignificant things that make life more fun/beautiful/easy...?
Thanking God for these little things:

-Pretty cupcakes
-a clean windshield
-granny coffee mugs
-scraps and scraps of fabric
-Coming home from church on Sunday to a clean kitchen because I had gotten up 15 minutes earlier to clean it before we left
-Music in the car ( I sometime take this one for granted. It's just automatically on when I get in my car. But my friend's car got broken into and they stole her radio and I thought...O, I am so thankful for my car radio. Just sayin.)
-Duck ponds
-Andy Griffeth at lunch time
-Waking up to the smell of coffee
-Unexpected, fun, coincidentally matching, free, adorable, room decor. I am speaking of the most adorable magnetic shabby chic calendar ever. Thanks Laura! I squealed for hours about it.
-Even more amazingly coincidental matching paper that I already had that is perfect for writing events down for my calendar.
-Clippies
-Morning hugs from my family
-my fountain pen
-Stayin in my pajamas all day
-Leftovers at lunch time


Dizzy with gratitude,
JRae

p.s. I'll give a quarter to the person that tells me what the line "dizzy with gratitude" is from. :)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Pumpkin Stupidness


I made these cupcakes for Ruth Anne's birthday party and they were a hit! (Everyone at church today loved them too) They were soooo moist and the cinnamon icing added a nice flavor to the pumpkin. They are actually more of a pumpkin bread consistency (dense/heavy) rather than a cake consistency (light/ fluffy). I found the original recipe from http://gimmesomeoven.com/ but I reduced the sugar and used a different icing so it is therefore now a JRae Stupid Good recipe. :) 

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Icing
Cupcake Ingredients:
  • 2 cups canned pumpkin
  • 2/3 cup oil
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. each – ground cloves, nutmeg, and ginger
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
Frosting Ingredients:
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2- 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2tsp. vanilla (I like a strong vanilla taste so if you prefer 1 tsp that works too)
  • 1 Tbs. whipping cream (or more to make the icing the right consistency)


Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line muffin pan with 24 cupcake liners.
In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Gently whisk by hand until just combined, don’t use an electric mixer or overmix the batter as it may become too gummy.
Fill liners with 1/4 cup batter (cups should be approximately 2/3 full). Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.
To Make Icing:
In an electric mixer bowl beat your butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Add your powdered sugar gradually or you will choke on a cloud of powdered sugar. Gradually add the whipping cream until the icing is your desired consistency. Then beat on medium/high speed for 3-5 minutes. This makes your icing really fluffy and wonderful. Taste it and decide if you want more cinnamon or anything else before frosting your cupcakes. :)

ENJOY!!!! These are SO STUPID!

Happy Eating,
JRae

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Speechless....

The Pioneer Woman posted this on the Home and Garden section of her site today. They are the most adorable owl pillows ever seen on the face of the planet. I kept shouting "O MY WORD!" as I scrolled through all the pictures. The sad part.....you can't buy them because someone just made them for her out of the goodness of her heart.....and she doesn't sell them. Sigh. But you should go look at them..SO STUPID CUTE!!!! If you know how to sew, and were planning on getting me a birthday present, feel free.

I realize this post is polar opposite of my post earlier today. I'm a yo-yo. What can I say?

-Owl Obsessed,
JRae

Confessions of an UN-perfect Christian

My name is Jessie Rae and I am a selfish human being. As of late I've been stuck in my own little bubble and in His grace, God has used the people closest to me to burst my bubble and open my eyes to the fact that there is more to this world than my own little world. Christ has not been the center of my little world and because of that things have been threatening to unravel, relationships in particular. My selfishness has hurt people and caused deep wounds that the love of Christ and time can only heal. I've been willingly blind to this particular heart issue for a while now and last night in a conversation with a very dear friend, God opened my eyes and I was broken. But God didn't leave it at that. He also used this friend to preach Christ to me. So, this morning I woke up and went to Christ, thankful for his selflessness that He lived out so perfectly, thankful that He continues to put up with me, and overwhelmed by His faithfulness I was eager to read His word and spend time with Him in prayer, rather than read and pray out of a sense of duty or out of the guilt.
I'm not blogging about this to show you how together I have it. I'm blogging it to stay open, to share my struggles because I know I'm not the only one who struggles...even though sometimes it does feel that way. And I want this blog to point to Christ. Isn't it ironic that I'm writing about *selfishness* on a blog about *me*?
Anyway, to my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, go to Christ today with your struggles and look to Him alone.

Growing in Grace,
JRae

PS. I enjoyed this blog post from my friend Amy.

Monday, October 31, 2011

A Handsome Pirate, Some Candy, and a Stupid Hoop Skirt

Reasons why I like Halloween are as follows:
-Candy
-Ya get to dress up (and who doesn't love a fun costume?)
-Candy
-The opportunity to get together with friend who also like candy and dressing up in fun costumes
-An excuse to eat insane amounts of candy
-The opportunity to use accents
-Did I mention candy yet?

This Halloween weekend was especially fun :) I went to a costume party with Ben.....who's Ben you ask? Only the most awesomest, handsomest, sweetest guy ever! *refrains from gushing further*  We went to the RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) costume party at his college. He was Jack Sparrow and I was Elizabeth Swan.....see?

Ain't we cute? :) We won Best (couple) Costume and I won Prettiest Costume. The RUF leader's little daughters were smitten by my dress and followed me everywhere.I borrowed the dress from my friend Carmen and her sister Gen provided the hoop skirt. Have you ever worn a hoop skirt? I pity you if you have. They are ridiculous! I couldn't fit through doors, or crowds of people, and getting in the car was quite an ordeal. We won't go there. Ben's costume was courtesy of local thrift stores at the last minute because he had no idea I was coming....I love surprises. :) I had already bought the long Jack Sparrow wig at Wal-Mart which was kinda scary seeing him in long hair, but it definitely added to the costume. He had a nerf sword already and one of his friends helped us rig up a scabbard made of duck tape...huzzah for the nerd college. We also scrounged up a jar of dirt (movie reference), however he dropped it in the parking lot before we even had a chance to get to the party :P But it still looked really cool with his costume. Anyway, the party was super fun and the other costumes were really creative. There was a Death Eater, Raggedy Ann & Andy, Mayhem from the All State commercials, Cardinals players, a lady bug, and Tinker Bell and a bunch more I can't remember. The guy who was doing the costume judging had a judges robe and an awesome white wig made out of cotton balls. It was super fun and we ate lots of candy and danced and took pictures and just generally goofed off. :)

Best Halloween party EVER. I vowed to never wear that dress again, however, I'm breaking the vow tonight to give out candy to the kids in our neighborhood, but after that.....never again.

Addicted to Candy,
JRae

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

On the Menu

We have potluck at our church every Sunday. I'm planning to make these in addition to my weekly traditional meatballs. I have a feeling I'll be able to add these to my list of "Stupid Good" foods. O and did I mention it's a Pioneer Woman recipe? She's my hero. Follow the link to see why.

Happy Eating,
JRae

Monday, October 24, 2011

Whew! I just customized the look of my blog. That's tiring...or maybe I'm just a wimp? At any rate, it's way more interesting than before. I love the font! Makes it look like I'm typing to you from an old, awesome, type writer, :) Hope you like it! Aaaaaaaand, for those of you who may not have noticed, on the left side of your screen is a cute little link for a FREE owl calendar. *squeals of joy!*  It's from this super amazing owl blog that I'm addicted to. I downloaded and printed the 2011 one and I can hardly wait to take the time to make my 2012 calendar. There's all this beautiful, creative, owl artwork to choose from and you can decide which picture goes with which month. UH-MAZING! I heart owls.

Owl see ya later! (hardy har)

-JRae

Mr. House Robe

I have a best friend. I always travel with him. I have him handy at all times. I would be lost without him. His name..is Mr. House Robe. He is fleece and burgundy. He is warm and cozy. He is always there when I need him, when I'm cold and want a blanket but don't feel like carrying a blanket around, Mr. House Robe, is just like a blanket to me. Every morning I wake up, I yawn, stretch, pop my collar bone (don't ask me why it pops but it just does), I roll out of bed, and I walk to the hook on my bathroom door where Mr. House Robe is ready and waiting like a faithful friend. Come to think of it I go find Mr. Robe before I go get Mr. Coffee....wow...Mr. Robe is even more important than I realized until now....
Mr.Robe has his flaws, don't get me wrong. He has no pockets and the tie isn't adjustable, but I still love him. :)

Obsessed,
JRae

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Apple Cider, Birthday Girl, and Cardinals

Today is my niece's 1st birthday :) Hard to believe for sure. I went shopping for her present today....while she was with me. Great plan I know, but it's not like she'll remember what it is. I got her a sock money and an adorable owl shirt. :D For those of you who know me at all, that's not surprising since I am obsessed with owls. A quick looksie at my Amazon wish list will testify to that. On our way to the store for Ruth Anne's present, her momma and I stopped at a local coffee shop and she bought me a Caramel Apple Cider....Oy. The Bucks of Star ain't got nothin on these folks. It was, in a word, epic. Stupid Good at it's stupidest.
Have you ever tried going shopping with a ridiculously adorable 1 year old??? You get stared at like mad from people going, "OMG that child is so freakin cute!". It's rather entertaining.
Currently we're watching the second game of the world series...GO CARDINALS! I've decided that people are desperate these days for good commercials. Most of them are pretty dumb. Matt seems to really love the local commercials the best...Not. :P
This week has been super fun. I've spent the entire week with my Sis and my Bro-in-law, and my Niece. We've ate, we've drank, we've been merry, we've watched Lost, we've laughed, it's been fun. :) But, I miss my family and It'll be nice to go home and get back to normal life. :)

Later,
JRae

Snuggle Time

Can't believe she's 365 days old....She is just so darn cute.

-JRae 

Friday, October 14, 2011

Sittin' at Tae Kwon Do


Blog post written October 13, 2011:
I was right. The Mac N’ Cheese was epic. Mom added a bread crumb topping to it that added a nice crunchy texture to it  and just made it all the more epic. I like the word epic…can you tell?
I love being at home. I just recently quit my job at a local restaurant  and I’m so glad I did. If I didn’t want a cell phone or a car or shampoo, I would just stay unemployed and eat my parents food in exchange for cleaning the house. :P But I like my phone and my car so instead of another job where there’s drama and a schedule I don’t want, I’m going to nanny J This makes me happy. I heart kids. They’re so fun and imaginative and easily entertained and ….fun! The nanny gig is very part time so I still have a lot of time to cook, and bake, and clean house, and do fun stuff like plan church picnic games and go out to coffee with friends. I also love being at home in the evenings with my family, See, my family is kinda the best ever and I love spending time with them.
Today, was grand and productive and I feel the need to make a list of all the things I found myself being thankful for today. So today I am thankful for:
-Coffee with an old friend (as in we’ve been friends a long time…not as in her age)
-My organized mother
-Bowing our heads at the dinner table and hearing Dad pray over our food,
-A not so little anymore brother who isn’t your typical 14 year old that won’t hug his big sister
-Super yummy home cooked meals
-The opportunity to watch Ross at Tae Kwon Do…he’s really hard core
-Fun carved pumpkins lit up on our front porch.
-Mini laptops that I can take to Tae Kwon Do and blog while I watch my brother kick butt :P
-Clean bathrooms
-Seeing my phone light up with “1 New Message from Ben “J
-In Christ, I have everything.

Oy, my brother is taking swings at some green belt. I’m resisting the urge to shout, “Get ‘em Ross!!!”
I gotta go so I can watch this….catch ya later, Blog World.
-JRae

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Middle Child Syndrome

I'm a middle child. I go through phases. All you middle children out there know exactly what I mean. The baking blog phase didn't last very long. Sorry guys. However! Do not despair. This blog shan't be abandoned. I'm turning it into a "post about whatever I feel like today" blog. Ya know, the kind where you write about a really yummy meal you just had, or about some cool outing you went on, or share a picture that's fun/cute, or about something funny your cousin said...about the stupid good stuff of life...which will undoubtedly include some recipes from time to time. So having said that, I must go so I can eat my stupid good dinner...Pioneer Woman Mac n' Cheese. It's gonna be epic. Later ya'll!

-JRae

Monday, September 26, 2011

Epic Fail Post #1

My previous blog had several of these, "I'm sorry I'm such a horrible blogger, I'll do better this time and post more often-er" posts. I am no longer in denial that I will change my ways. Instead I shall just warn you now that this is a blog phase. They hit from time to time with no warning. I will slack off again. But as Julia Child would say, "Never apologize!" So I shall join the ranks (assuming there are others like me) of Sporadic Bloggers and where the badge with pride. As with all Sporadic Bloggers, I have an excuse as to why I slacked off. My excuse is long work hours. However I hope to change that this afternoon, to be precise, and I shall bake (& blog) again!  How long this phase will last, no one can say. Only time will tell.

And by the way, I tend to burst into British accents without warning in my everyday speech. In fact, I even type with a British accent in my head from time to time. So whenever you read this blog, please read it with a British accent for the full effect. No, I'm not British but who cares? :) Anyhoo, hope to see you again soon, Blog world!

Happy Eating,
JRae

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Blueberry Goodness

Thanks to my awesome brother-in-law, I have some pretty sweet pictures to post and a fun title. :) This is the perfect dessert if you want good old fashioned pie for a crowd. And homemade ice cream goes splendidly with it....what doesn't go splendidly with ice cream?....Don't answer that

Blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, salt.....

Mixed by the lovely Sister :)
I had to remind Matt to take pictures of the baking since that's what this blog is about. He got distracted by his beautiful wife and his fancy new camera.
Say CHEESE...er...pie!
Ahhhh, the most important ingredient of any recipe.
????Chicken????....Like I said, Matt kept getting distracted....

Making the crust. The recipe for this crust is essentially the same as the apple pie crust only it makes more so it can fit in a jelly roll pan.

Again, food processors are awesome.

And yes I am still in my pajamas. And no my clothes don't match each other or the apron. Do I care?

The lovely Ashley assisting by getting the pastry board for me to roll the dough out on.

A cool shot that I just wanted to post cause it's cool.
Poppy and Ruth Anne came to see how the pie was coming. :)

Doing a few dishes and...smiling??

Yes that is a tape measure..also courtesy of matt's.

Don't mess with me.
The dough was not cooperating....
But I showed it who was boss and managed to get it in the pan without tearing it. WOOT!
Add the blueberries...


Rolling out the top dough....

Pinching the dough. A certain photographer was fascinated by this part and I had to weed through like 20 pics of me just pinching the dough.
Poking the dough.
Brushing the crust with whipping cream.

I sprinkled it with sugar and threw it in the oven :)


And this beautiful thing came out of the oven. Then we cut it up, and put homemade ice cream on top, and then savored every single wonderful bite. Sigh.

Happy Eating,
JRae

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Love Thy Neighbor....with Apple Pie

I love loving people with food! So for this recipe we decided to invite our next door neighbors over to help us eat our apple pie. And, of course, we had to have ice cream and coffee with it too. :)

Mom gets the credit for all these really cool pictures :)

Apples...







Peeled, sliced, and sugared and spiced by the lovely Rita :)


Time for the crust, made by yours truly.
 The key (or one of them) to a good crust is keeping everything cold. We even refrigerated the flour.
 Food processors are grand inventions....
 Adding the ice water to my crust and reading and re-reading the directions to make sure I don't mess up..



Cute little ball of dough...
Me, flattening the dough into discs to refrigerate.

Messy Jessie...

Rollin, rollin, rollin...
It is perfect! If I do say so myself....

I love the chunks of butter on top! It's the inner Paula Deen coming out.
 Top crust! Brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with sugar. Oy.
 At this point my house smelled fabulous!
 Me and my two best friends.
 My other best friend, Ice Cream...
Mad waitressing skills..

The pie was fabulous! The coffee grand! The ice cream heavenly! And the company enjoyable! :)

Happy Eating,
JRae and Rita

Here's the pie crust (Pate Brisee) recipe for you brave souls who wish to try making your own:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed


In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt; pulse to combine. Add the butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in butter with a pastry blender.)
With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of the dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 Tablespoon at a time.
Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface. Divide in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into flattened disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least an hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Strawberry Shortcake in Seagrove by the Seashore.

The first recipe of the blog is Martha Stewart's Baking Powder Biscuits, the Strawberry Shortcake  variation. :) Mom and I whipped it up while we were on vacation in Florida. I learned two very important lessons while making this recipe. Lesson #1- Never bake a new recipe in a strange kitchen, Lesson #2- Never make biscuits without a pastry blender....drink blenders were made for frozen concoctions...not cutting butter into flour and Lesson #3- when making biscuits you need a biscuit cutter. End of story,. Nothing else works. Well it works but it takes ages and ages to use a sharp knife to cut a million circles and Martha says it's important to use a sharp biscuit cutter so you can't just use an inverted juice glass, but I also can't cut perfect circles *huge breath*.....just buy a biscuit cutter, trust me.
So here's me with my ingredients and my trusty cookbook...I'm thinking about naming it....


This is mom..... :) I should point out that I put off my little baking excursion till after dinner. And the afore mentioned biscuit cutting was taking longer than expected and we were all kinda tired from a hard day of sun bathing Mom was kinda tired and ready for dessert to be done so she could go to bed.


Aaaaand this is why you always bake in your own kitchen.....whipping cream with an egg beater is not exactly...um....efficient. :P



Before



After.....






And the Other After :)


Bon Appetit! The recipe is easy to find online and it's soooooooo yummy! The biscuit was the perfect sweetness, So ladies and gents, here's the first of many Stupid Good posts :)

Happy Eating,
JRae