blueberries

It's blueberry season. Or as one sign on our way to South Haven read, blue berrys.

I think blueberries with yogurt are divine. I can't get enough. I have frozen a couple cups and will likely be getting more at the Farmer's market to freeze.

Last year was the first year I tried them.

You read that right. Oh sure, I had them with fruit salads, but never on their own. I had no idea what I was missing. See? You should always try new things. You never know, you might like it.

I have to make a blueberry pie...

berry stained fingers

I have berry stained fingers.

Mom and Dad gave me fresh picked black raspberries, I have now purchased thirteen quarts of strawberries and sixteen ounces of blueberries. Mom and I made seven jars of strawberry jelly while I was there last weekend. The rest have been frozen or eaten. I ate the raspberries in my yogurt this past week. The blueberries were baked into a Blueberry Crumb Cake as a thank you to Nancy for all her help on Friday. (And yes, I realize the photo is red raspberries, I'm on my laptop and this is a picture from the Farmer's Market that happened to be on here.)

I noticed that my fingers have a purple tinge along the nail. I've used a scrub (sea salt), washed with soap, had my hands in dishwater and there's still a slight tint. Oh well. I decided this is the new look for the city girl/Farmer's Market shopper/at home baker.

Bill made it home with the youth group last night. They skidded into the parking lot at exactly 7:05pm, which is what the GPS said earlier in the day. Well done! They all have that unshowered God glow about them (if you've ever gone on a mission trip, you know exactly what I'm talking about). Bill has mounds of laundry that he has threatened to burn, but has managed to get some of it in the washing machine. We just had breakfast with all of them (because spending an entire 24 hours away from each other is more than they can handle) and now we're just going to enjoy the beautiful day outside.

total randomness, hey it's Friday!

I hope I'm not going to jump the shark.

I said that to someone not too long ago (Heather E.: was it you on our way to the HPC meeting??), and they laughed and said they knew what I meant. Hm, maybe that could be a topic on Blah, Blah, Blog. Which, by the way, is one of the most difficult things to type.

I digress, back to jumping the shark. Or maybe not because we might discuss it on that other blog. I'll move on.

Nestle Tollhouse. I love chocolate chip cookies. Every time I make them I think of Phoebe from Friends (you can click here to watch a really bad youtube video) and her grandmother's cookie recipe. I can run through the entire scene in my head, I won't bore you here with what would turn out to be a not so funny rendition. If you never saw it, find it and watch it. The rest of the episode is not that great, but the cookie scenes are. Especially if you like chocolate chip cookies. So I made some chocolate chip cookies for the Blood Drive at our church on Monday. I can't give blood, but I can bake cookies!

Support local farmers! I went to the very rainy Farmer's Market this morning. I meant to take my camera, but it's a good thing I didn't. My shoes are soaked, my jeans are soaked, my hoodie is soaked. There isn't a permanent roof up yet, they have just begun the fundraising campaign. So it will be a few more years. In the meantime, each vendor has a tarp they drape over the metal frame, in hopes that it will keep everyone dry. But the rain settles into the low spots and either cascades off the edge, or the vendors poke at the tarp to try to keep the cascades of water to a minimum. Not every vendor was there, so there were large sections of unprotected aisle-way where the rain was effective in drenching me to the core.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the rain. We desperately need it. It will just be nice when there's a permanent roof over the Farmer's Market.

It's Friday and we have a dinner tonight. We're going to Chandra and Jason's (it's their first time hosting!) and they have a pool. I was going to take my swimsuit, but since it's currently 55 degrees, and rainy, I may not swim. Unless that solar cover works really well and it's not lightning out. I don't want a pool, but I take advantage of access to a pool.

This weekend is Open House weekend. We have four. Three are tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day, but we've outlined the route and it's almost as if they coordinated schedules. We won't have to eat any meals at home. I hope I can limit myself to the cake... It doesn't help when it's so delicious!!

Have a happy Friday!!!

status update

This would have been my facebook status had I not realized how long it was. I decided it would make for a better blog.

It's Friday of a holiday weekend. I have a new car that is fantastic to drive (her name is Rosie btw, for Rosie the Riveter of WWII because she's Steel Blue -that's how my mind works), with a moon roof on a gorgeous, sunny day. I went to the Farmer's Market for the first time this season with Stephanie from the Nashville trip. I bought beautiful flowers that I can't wait to get outside and plant tomorrow when our friend Heather W. comes to visit. I'm working (after I blog this) and listening to the Police Scanner live online (it might be an addiction). It's going to be a great weekend!

See? that would have been an awfully long status. And it gave me something to blog about today. I really do like the way my new car drives (Mom, you should let Dad take you to drive a Ford. I think you could afford the Fusion and you'd like it). I'm also really addicted to the Police Scanner. It's so much fun to listen to. Who knew? (Okay, the people who listen to it knew). Is this dorky/nerdy/weird? If you think it is, try it. Google "police scanner [for your city]" (or nearest city or whatever city you want to listen to). They are entertaining. Here they call in to the hospitals as though making reservations at restaurants, "Party of three for Butterworth". (That's one of our hospitals.) Only, of course, when it's not a real emergency. I have no idea what all the numbers mean, except when it's the time. I've figured out it's code and their assigned numbers. I'm not good with numbers. But how cool would it be to be the dispatcher? That would be an intense job. Much like Air Traffic controllers. Stressful too. I'm sure it makes more sense on their end (dispatchers), but on my end it's controlled chaos. I am enjoying listening to it.

Baking with Skylar

Skylar was here for ten days. We had a great time, we went to the beach twice (and got Pronto Pups, yum!), we went to Meijer Gardens, had lunch at Electric Cheetah, and played croquet. We also went to the Farmer's Market twice.

We bought two pounds of blueberries. Then we made blueberry pie and this chocolate cake that has blueberries in it. It was delicious. Skylar took these pictures and I had to post them, because they are "Good Eats".

We also made our own pizzas, from the leftover pizza dough when I made the skillet pizza. Those were also a big hit. Skylar asked if she could made her pizza into the shape of a heart and I told her if she wanted to, she could do that.



My only regret is not truly understanding the art of pie crusts and the techniques used for the edges. I guess I'll just have to keep on making pies and will learn more each time!

All of these leftovers are gone, however there is one more thing I made, Jam Crumb Cake and half of that is in the fridge. I think it's time to go enjoy a piece of that...