A is for Animals, B is for Blueberries.....

One of our favorite things to do as a family is to go and pick berries. Strawberries, blueberries, you name it, we like to go pick it! Last night after supper, we went to pick blueberries. It was the perfect time of day, too. The sun was not as hot, the bushes were shaded, and man, were they FULL! We picked a gallon bucket full in no time!We had a really good time, and those blueberries were YUMMY (not that we sampled as we picked or anything....)!

Not only were the blueberries so good, but we got an added bonus - a petting zoo!!! The guy that owns the blueberries (you know, the one that looks like he's hiding in the bushes in my picture at the top:)) also runs a petting zoo that travels around to birthday parties, etc. SO, we got to see some really cool animals. I didn't get pictures of all of them, but we saw a zebra, a camel, a kangaroo, a monkey, goats, horses, peacocks, and others that I don't even know what they were called! I think our favorite, though, was the monkey! This little guy LOVED blueberries. The kids kept going over and giving him some. He would take it right out of their hands. It was funny to watch him, though, because if you had a red one in your hand, either he wouldn't even take that one, or if he did, he would spit it out! We watched him for a long time - his name was Charlie.
After we got home, I washed some, froze some, put some back for pancakes and muffins later this week, but also kept enough out for a blueberry cobbler. YUM! Mark and I couldn't resist eating some after the kids went to bed, but there is plenty more where that came from. Below is the recipe. Enjoy!!!

Blueberry Cobbler

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup self-rising flour

2 cups blueberries

Melt butter. Whisk together sugar and flour, and then add the milk. Whisk in the butter. Pour the batter into an 8x8 baking dish. Add in blueberries, sprinkling evenly over the batter. Sprinkle blueberries with sugar (about 1/4 cup). Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve warm, topped with vanilla ice-cream, of course!!!

Valentine Day Treats

One of my favorite things about Valentine's Day is all the awesome dessert ideas out there that coordinate with the holiday! I love all the red and pink things you can buy to help make those desserts look so festive. I ran across this latest recipe in a magazine. Even though mine did not turn out looking quite as pretty as the ones in the magazine, they sure were good! Above are the ingredients that went into making Valentine Day petifores. You will need: Frozen pound cake, canned icing, and various Valentine sprinkles. Also, I used the small cupcake liners to place them in after they were made.

The directions are pretty simple: Cut the cake into 1 inch squares (straight out of the freezer). Melt your icing in a measuring cup (or other deep cup or bowl) by putting it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds at a time until it reaches the consistency of thick cream. Place your cake square on a toothpick and dip it completely into the icing, covering all sides. Let the access icing drip off and place your cake square on foil or wax paper. Immediately put sprinkles on while the icing is still soft. Continue until all of your squares have been dipped. Then, I put mine in the freezer for a little while to let the icing harden a little. Take them out of the freezer and transfer each one into the small cupcake liner. They really are yummy!!! Enjoy!!!!! :o)

Supper for "Ms. Trudy"

Tonight was night #2 of delivering supper to teachers. Tonight was Ms. Trudy's turn (Kinlee's 1st grade teacher). Ms. Trudy actually lives in Greenfield, about 15 miles from here. She offered to let us just bring the food to her at school today, but we told her that the travel there was "part of the adventure". (Besides that, it gave us a good excuse to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Wimpy's, in Greenfield.) We arrived at Ms. Trudy's house and were warmly welcomed by her, and her neighbor's dog, who Ms. Trudy said is VERY protective. She was nice, but checked us out to make sure we were not there to cause any harm. (The dog, that is, not Ms. Trudy:)). Kinlee has really enjoyed Ms. Trudy's class this year, and we have enjoyed getting to know her, as well. Mark has said on several occasions, "She's got to be the 'smilinest' woman I've ever met!" Thanks for all of your hard work, Ms. Trudy - we appreciate it!!!

Ms. Trudy's dinner choices consisted of spaghetti, shredded parmesan, garlic bread, and peanut butter pie. Kinlee helped me make the sauce, as you can see in the pictures above. (My favorite has to be the picture of her on her tip-toes because she could barely reach the stove.) Parker was glad about the pie because it is his favorite, and the recipe makes 2! Guess who got the keep the second one.....The spaghetti sauce is a family recipe, so if I posted it, I'd have to kill ya. So, to keep the violence to a minimum, I'll just post the recipe for the pie:

Peanut Butter Pie

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 c. powdered sugar

1 c. peanut butter

16 oz. cool whip

2 graham cracker crusts

Mix all ingredients until smooth. Divide into 2 crusts. Freeze at least 2 hours. Top with chocolate syrup, crushed oreos, chocolate chips, etc.., if desired!! ENJOY!!

Supper for "Ms. Sonya"

For the kids' teachers at Christmastime this year, we gave them a "Night off" from cooking for their family. They created a menu from choices that we gave them, chose a date, and left the rest to us. Tonight was the night that Parker's teacher, Ms. Sonya, picked as her night. Her menu consisted of Taco Soup, Tortilla chips, Shredded cheese, and chocolate chip pie. Parker helped me with the pie last night, and I cooked the soup today. We delivered the meal this evening, and she was very appreciative. Parker has really enjoyed Ms. Sonya this year, and she is a great teacher. We were very happy to be able to do this for her. It is a small payback for all the hard work she does....

Here are the recipes for the soup and the pie, if anyone is interested. They are both very easy, and among my personal favorites!!

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground chuck

1 can corn

1 can rotel chilis

1 can diced tomatoes

1 lg. can tomato sauce

1 pkg. Ranch dip mix

1 pkg. taco seasoning

(it calls for 1 can of pinto beans, and 1 can of kidney beans. I don't like beans, and beans don't like Mark :), so I leave those out....)

Brown ground chuck and drain. Pour all other ingredients into pot with meat. Add enough water to make it as thin or thick as you'd like. Simmer for a while. Serve with tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

Chocolate Chip Pie

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup margarine, melted

1 cup semi-sweet choc. chips

1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs, sugar, and flour together. Blend in melted marg.. Stir in choc. chips and pecans, if desired. Mix well.

Pour into unbaked 9" pie shell. Bake in preheated oven at 325 for 1 hour. Let cool and serve.

ENJOY!!!