Mmm...Blackberry Pie!

I love making pie...have I said that yet? If not....I will say it again...I love making pie!

So, I always make strawberry pie or raspberry pie, just because those are easiest, but this time, I made a blackberry pie using a blueberry pie recipe. Here it is for you to enjoy:

Blackberry Pie

2 Pie crusts (find my strawberry pie post....that is the best crust ever!)
2 pints blackberries (or blueberries)
2/3 c. plus 1 T sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1 tsp. lemon zest (don't have a zester? use a potato peeler and chop the lemon peel fine)
2 T. lemon juice
1 egg white lightly beaten
Vanilla ice cream

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place pie crust in pie plate.
2. In bowl, toss blackberries with 2/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and juice. Stand for 5 mins.
3. With the second pie crust....cut the crust into strips to create a lattice.
4. Transfer blackberry mixture into pie plate...cover with lattice crust.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 mins. Then drop the temperature for 350 mins for another 45 mins.
6. Serve slightly warm with ice cream....Ala Mode!



It was yummy! Even my brother who doesn't really care for fruity desserts enjoyed it. Jeremy thought it was a bit lemony....suggestion for next time would be to cut the 2 T of lemon juice down to 1 T or 1 1/2 T.

I hope you enjoy it! Say a little pray for those who you are making it for....and brighten your day...and theirs! God Bless! :)

Prayerful Encouragement

I received the best gift yesterday evening....prayer. My pastor asked if there was anything that he could pray for Jeremy and I about....just the usual is my common response...but he knew exactly what was on my heart and mind as many people do these days. He said to me "we are wearing out our knees in prayer for you". What a visual...wearing out our knees, physically getting down on the ground to pray to the only one who is in full control of our lives. What a blessing and an encouragement. So prayer...one of the simplest things that we can do anytime and anywhere but often we forget to...myself included. Here are a few verses that I hope to commit to memory when it comes to prayer...

Philippians 4:6-7 "Don't worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Romans 12:10-13 "Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When Gods people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality."

Romans 8: 26-28 "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that can not be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

Have a blessed day... :)

Prayerful Reflection

Philippians 1:6 states that "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus". Mary, mother of Jesus knows this full well...Luke 1 tells the story of the Angel of the Lord speaking to Mary about the birth of Jesus Christ. In this powerful retelling of that glorious day, we see that Mary has apprehensions and concerns about what God is doing in her life. Many of us feel the same way as Mary did. We are unsure what God is doing and there are so many things we want to ask him and complain to him about in our lives. But Mary shows what God's children do when we are confronted with things we don't understand...Luke 1:39-"I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true."

Mary trusted. She trusted. And she trusted. She did not lose sight of who God was no matter how crazy he made things seem. She trusted him. She looked to him. And she obeyed. How often do we obey? How often do we trust? I know that for me, it is not often enough. I want to run my own life, I want things to go my way. I want to be heard! But God sits back and carefully watches. He knows every little detail of my life. He is in control. I have to be like Mary. I have to trust. I have to believe. The angel continues...Luke 1:45 "You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said." Do you believe? Do I believe? The answer needs to be yes....but sometimes it is a resounding NO! Lord help me to believe. Help me to do your will and to answer your call in my life!

Join me as I reflect on these things occasionally. As I use my blog for prayer and questions, please feel free to respond and pipe in whenever you have something to say!

Luke 2:19 "but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often." Won't you join with me in the call to know Gods' will for your life? For my life?

Haha...Watermelon Cake Mistake!

So I have decided that I am not a cake decorator! I am very good at making dessert, but the decorating part is HARD! So I will just stick to things I can do well! Here are some pictures of my sad attempt. I started out just fine....Icing the base was easy....well kinda. My only thought the whole time was, how am I going to put this up and ice the bottom?

Then I started to do the colors...that went ok too.

But then it went down hill from there. I noticed a little crack in my cake that I had already iced. And I also remembered that I needed to rotate it so that it would be sitting on the green rind. This did not work...and my fingers were full of icing. But hey, I love icing!

Finally, I just gave up on it. I have still half a cake that i just ended up icing with the pink and green. But it does look better when you get some raisins on there in place of seeds!

So, I guess it turned out kinda ok. I did not get it standing straight up and it really doesn't look like the picture. It was fun and frustrating to do. If you feel like giving it a try....it is just a cake mix and then icing. Actually, you are also supposed to use a pack of pudding...maybe that is where I went wrong... :)

Love to Scrapbook

One thing that I am truly passionate about is scrap booking. I love taking a picture and making it look beautiful on a page. I try not to use a lot of extra embellishments as those can be very costly. But I do love layering my paper to make certain things stand out. This afternoon my mom and I spent some time scrap booking. This was our mess throughout the day:

The best part of scrap booking for me is being able to remember fun times with friends and family. This page is one of my new favorites:

Last but not least...sometimes to make a point, you have to use a few embellishments! I love this one with all the picnic stuff! Perfect for my Memorial Day Party Pictures!

An afternoon of scrap booking is so relaxing....anyone looking for a full time "scrap booker" for their pictures? I was thinking today that it would make the perfect business for me! I just need to find some customers! :)

Yum....Strawberry Pie!

Jeremy loves pie....especially fruit pies. And what do you know...I LOVE making pies! This is probably my favorite pie recipe. It is so easy to make and it tastes SO good! Plus if you need to, you can always substitute sugar substitute for sugar (and I ALWAYS use sugar free gelatin-no one ever seems to know!). But I can not take the credit for this one...this is my mother-in-law, Ruth's, recipe. Now you can see why my hubby likes it so much!

Strawberry Pie

Pie Crust

(This is THE BEST pie crust recipe I have ever found! It always works and it tastes good when you are eating it as you roll it out!)

1 1/3 c. flour
1 1/2 T sugar
1 stick butter (cut into small pieces to make it easier)
dash of salt
3 T cold water

Save the water for last. Mix the first four together...I like to use a fork to mash it all up. Then add the water. Mush it all together, form a ball and put in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. Roll out using flour. Maxes one crust. Cook for about 10 minutes at 450 or until golden.

Let cool and add 4 cups strawberries.

Pie Filling

1 1/2 c. water
3/4 c. sugar (can use sugar substitute)
2 T. corn starch

Cook in a saucepan until boiling. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and add 3 oz jello packet.

Blend and let cool. Add to the strawberry pie and chill. DONE!

Best thing with this recipe is you can change the fruit and the jello packet for whatever fruit is on sale that week! Use with strawberries, raspberries, peaches, and more! Just match your jello flavor and your fruit!

Enjoy! I hope you find that it is SUPER easy and REALLY yummy!

Are you feeling HOT, HOT, HOT?

Last night I made some chicken enchiladas...changing just one ingredient...something that usually works well for me...this time, it did work well, but it left my mouth burning for hours! But still DELICIOUS!

As you can see in the recipe below it calls for diced green chiles, well I used diced jalepenos...haha, saved one for my friend Dan...we will see what he thinks since he loves jalepenos! It was a good change, they were still great, but I definitely think next time I will use the chiles just because I can't handle a HOT, HOT, mouth all night!

Chicken Enchiladas

1/4 c. unsalted butter
1 onion sliced and chopped
1 pound chicken chopped
1 can (4oz) diced green chiles drained (make it HOT-use jalepenos)
3 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 c. vegetable oil
tortillas
1 c. shredded cheese

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 inch pan.
2. Melt butter in large nonstick skillet. Add onion, cook for 5 mins. Add chicken, cook another 5 mins. Turn off heat, stir in chiles (or jalepenos) cream cheese, and salt.
3. Heat oil in skillet add a tortilla and cook till tortilla becomes limp. Repeat. (I skipped this step...they still turned out great!)
4. Spoon 1/3 c. filling down the center. Roll and set in dish seam-side down. Sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 23 mins. Cool before serving.

This and my last recipe came from Family Circle Magazine....but as always I make my own fun changes! Especially when there is an ingredient I don't have on hand!

Enjoy...and remember if you like things HOT....give those jalepenos a try!