Blueberry Crumb Bars

Last summer we had a bumper crop of blueberries. We were diligent about picking them regularly, eating some, of course, because what is better than a handful of warm, fresh picked blueberries from your own backyard? Once we had our fill we put the remaining berries in bags and put them in the freezer. 

Our summer blueberry tally is unknown because we did not keep track but I can assure you there are many quart bags full of them in the freezer. They make for an quick and easy snack but also are wonderful to bake with. 

The past couple weeks I had been in the mood to bake something fruity so finally decided on some quick Blueberry Crumb Bars. 

They are easy to make and a favorite here so they are going fast.

That is always a good thing. It also means it will soon be time to bake again!

Happy Thursday!!

cold and cloudy with a chance of SNOW!

January is the perfect month for snow themed chalkboards. 

The forecast here is calling for {a chance of } snow at the end of the week and my chalkboards were in need of a change so of course they had to be all about SNOW.  Our family is nuts about snow so even the mere mention of it gets us excited and on the ready. 

The hello snow was pretty quick however the snowman chalkboard took a little more time and both were drawn freehand in the wee hours of the morning. 

Hopefully we will see snowflakes by the end of the week but until then we can enjoy snowflakes made of  chalk!

He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth'...

Job 37:6

Blessings!

Chocolate Chip Dump Cake

Last weekend my sisters and I were headed over to our parents house so naturally I wanted to make a sweet treat to take and share with everyone. I had not planned ahead so needed something quick and easy and ran across this recipe that my mother had given me a while back but had never gotten around to making it. 

After giving it a quick glance I knew I had all the ingredients on hand and that it would be ready in time so I gave it a try. 

After preheating the oven I put all the cake ingredients into a big bowl and mixed thoroughly. This could be done with either a stand mixer or hand mixer. 

The next step is just layering the batter, the cinnamon mixture and chocolate chips. Easy, peasy!

Then pop it in the oven for 30 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean and your cake is done. 

It really is just that simple. If you need a quick dessert you might give this a try. 

print recipe

CHOCOLATE CHIP DUMP CAKE

http://thegrandsurprise.blogspot.com

by Jennifer Stull

Ingredients

• CAKE BATTER
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups sour cream
• 10 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• CINNAMON SUGAR MIXTURE
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• CHOCOLATE CHIPS
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray
2. In a large bowl combine all cake batter ingredients and mix until well combined, 1~2 minutes.
3. In a small bowl stir together cinnamon and sugar until well combined.
4. Spread half of the batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the top and half of the chocolate chips. Repeat with remaining batter, cinnamon sugar mixture and remaining chocolate chips. 
5. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden brown and tooth pick comes out mostly clean. Be careful not to over bake. 

Happy Baking!

Happy Sunday

In the mood for pineapples recently and sketched this one while journaling last week. Then decided to add a little color. 

from my list of one thousand gifts:

:: family :: Holidays :: safe travel :: family time :: health :: friends :: Duber :: random acts of kindness :: afternoon walks ::  

Blessings!

Lets Make Bagels!

Wednesday afternoon we had a local internet cable outage so of course everyone who is working from home, learning online or doing any other cable related activity had to find something else to keep them busy until it was restored.  So, for some reason or another, my first thought was lets make bagels!  Nothing fancy, just something easy for a first timer.

That's right, I had never made bagels before however it had been on my list of things I wanted to try. Miss E had been talking about making them and then recently one of our boys said a friend of his makes them regularly which made me even more curious and anxious to give it a try. So I got started, with a goal of finishing them before dinner. 

The first thing I discovered was that Egg Bagels really are not hard to make. They  just take a little more attention than some of the other yeast breads because of a couple extra steps they require.

The process was fun and rather interesting, especially putting them in the boiling water. At that  point, as the yeast was activated, they really began to rise. They had puffed up and began to look more like a typical bagel.

After the water bath they were patted dry, brushed with egg yolk and then put in the oven to bake. 

They turned a perfect golden brown and had the classic egg bagel texture when they were finished baking. 

Mr Wonderful has never really cared for bagels, until now that is, so I would say we have a winner!

He loves these bagels.  He actually grabbed one as soon as they came out of the oven, sliced it in half and spread a good helping of butter over the top. Before I knew it he was eating another.

So,  needless to say, baking on a whim was a success and I am sure I will be making bagels again soon.

Happy Friday! 

Handmade Christmas Cards / thank you notes

After the Christmas I set out to make some primitive Christmas cards with felted wool. 

I had a good supply on hand thanks to my mother who gave me several bags of the trimmings she saved from her past wool projects, all separated by color and many pieces ready to iron on. 

The scraps were perfect for this Christmas Tree card which went together quickly because of the precut scraps. The bow on the trunk was actually made with one of the burlap strings that came off when I cut out the burlap rectangle. Too good to go to waste of course. 

Once those were finished I was still in a tree type of mood so made a paper tree card next. Since I already had the red felted wool out I cut a couple small hearts to add. Then, to make the stitching perforations around the edge of the circle I used an old rotary tool I have and added a little snow with my ink stamps and heating tool for a tiny bit of texture and dimension. 

The Washi tape and sequins were the finishing touches on this card along with the red and white bow on the glittery tree trunk.

You can never have enough buttons and these beauties came in a jar along with the felted wool scraps. It was hard to choose from so many different types however the process of elimination finally produced the perfect buttons to finish these fun primitive cards.  

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Engagement Card ~ with 3D box

A little DIY card to celebrate a big, exciting announcement! 

This 3D ring box was fun to make and was perfect for this special engagement card.

Since I do not have a template cutting machine I designed a box pattern and cut it out by hand. 

Once the box was assembled I added tissue paper and a party favor ring and then embellished the background with sequins.

Now that I have worked out all the details the next 3D box card should go together much easier and a little faster. This was such a fun card to make that I  can hardly wait to try it again using some other themes. 

Happy Saturday!