Pinterest Epic Success!

 Ok, so I had in mind to get out our ice cream maker 

and make some homemade ice cream

when my family came to visit this summer. 

I was on Pinterest looking at ice cream recipes,

when I kept seeing "2 ingredient no churn" ice cream.

I had to try it!

This stuff was SO easy and SO good!

No ice cream maker needed.

Literally all you do is whip 16 ounces of cream.

Add in 1 can of sweetened condensed milk.

And freeze over night.

Took me 10 minutes to make two batches.

The first batch I dropped in some Nutella :-) and swirled it around.

The second batch I added some fresh peaches 

that I cooked in a little butter, cinnamon and sugar for a few minutes on the stove.

Both varieties were delicious! 

The possibilities for mix-ins are endless. :-)

I highly recommend trying this Pinterest idea!

Sunshine for the Laundry Room

Kind of like I wanna have a green thumb,

I also wanna be a seamstress. ;-)

I'm far from it, but I did get out my sewing machine last week 

and worked on some sunny yellow gingham curtains for my laundry room. 

I have to use my little instructional cd that came with my sewing machine every time I get it out.

Every. Time. 

I really had to laugh when I looked at my fabric!

July 11th 2014.

I had bought it two summers ago planning to make curtains for the laundry room. 

I thought a little curtain over my laundry supply shelf

would bring some sunshine into the room. 

I also replaced the brown curtain I had on the laundry room back door

with a matching yellow one.

They're certainly not perfect, but I like them! 

*Really* Simple Granola

I'm an oatmeal girl.  

95% of the time, my weekday breakfast consists of either 

hot oatmeal, overnight oats, or granola.

I have several good granola recipes -

Gingerbread Granola

Pumpkin Granola

Simple Granola

Summer Granola

But I was wanting to find a really simple granola recipe, 

even more simple than my simple granola. :-)

And this is it!

To make 8, 1/2 cup servings - 

combine 1/2 cup raw honey in 1/4 cup hot water

add a teaspoon of vanilla, a sprinkle of cinnamon, 4 cups of old fashioned oats and mix well

bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, stirring once halfway through baking time

That's all!  Enjoy!

Summertime Strawberry Jam

I love to make some strawberry jam in the summertime!

So quick and easy.  I use the Sure Jell recipe. 

Two pounds of strawberries for $3.

Seven jars of delicious strawberry jam.

Great on toast, biscuits, even ice cream! :-) 

Summertime in a jar!

Sandwich Bread

you will need - 

4 1/2 teaspoons yeast

3/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

5 tablespoons butter, divided

2 2/3 additional cups warm water

9 1/2 cups flour

makes 3 loaves

Dissolve yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of the sugar.

Let sit 5 minutes.

Add the rest of the sugar, salt, 3 tablespoons of butter and additional warm water. 

Slowly mix in 5 cups of flour until smooth.

Gradually add remaining flour.

Knead on low speed for 10 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl and turn to coat.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour. 

Punch dough down, divide into three loaves and place each in a lightly greased bread pan.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for one hour. 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Place risen loaves in oven and bake 15 minutes.

Cover tops of loaves with foil to prevent excessive browning, and bake another fifteen minutes. 

Remove from oven and brush with melted butter.

Let cool before slicing. 

*Patriotic Berry Trifle*

Ingredients needed -

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups whipping cream

1 angel food cake, cubed

1 pint blueberries

1 pint strawberries

Whisk cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until fully combined. 

Slowly add cream and continue to whisk until mixture is fluffy.

In a trifle dish, layer half the cake, half the cream, and half the fruit.

Repeat a second layer of cake, cream and fruit.

Keep refrigerated until serving.

Enjoy!