June Foodie Penpal Package

The anticipation is over to see what my foodie penpal, Kristin Frisnia of Per L'Amore Di Cibo, sent me.

The package included:  Stonewall Kitchen: Curry Dip Mix, Pelican Bay Ltd.dip mix, Basil Balsamic Dip, whole vanilla bean pods, Old Dominion Butter Peanut Crunch, and a bag of Farmyard Jelly Beans 

As I am writing this post, I am munching on the jelly beans. I have used already tried the dips as I mention further down. I have decided that in the upcoming weeks, I am going to use the peanut crunch in a peanut butter cookie recipe. And then there is the vanilla bean pods, well I am saving those for something really special.


If you would like to know how I liked the dip mixes continue reading :)


Last Sunday, I walked around the Woodstock Farmer's Market on the hunt for locally produced products. Besides a few sweet goodies, I purchased 1lb of natural ground beef from Willow Lea Stock Farm. Later that evening, we decided to make burgers but with a twist. I made up the Stonewall Kitchen: Curry Dip Mix to use as a topping on my burger. I loved it!!!!!!

Pelican Bay Ltd.dip mix, Basil Balsamic Dip, was amazing. It only requires 3 additional ingredients to make this warm spreadable dip. It was a nice compliment to my meal made with McCormick Gourmet Recipe/Seasoning Mix: Creamy Parmesan & Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Penne.

I just want to say how appreciative I am for Lindsay, The Lean Green Bean, for organizing the monthly foodie penpal exchange!!! If you would like to join in the monthly foodie penpal, you may sign up on The Lean Green Bean blog site.

Flea Markets, Thrift Stores, Oh My!

I cannot believe how many amazing items that I have found during the last month at flea/ antique markets and  thrift stores!!!!!!!

Homemade Fresh Strawberry Pie

Homemade Fresh Strawberry Pie

recipe adapted from Heart of Home

This strawberry pie is amazing! My fiance has deemed this his favorite pie now.

Ingredients:

1 baked 9 inch pastry shell ( I used the a frozen one and baked it according to the directions)

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/4 cup strawberry gelatin (about 1/2 a small box of jello)

4 cups fresh strawberries cut into small pieces and placed in a bowl

whipped cream for topping

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, bring the sugar, water and cornstarch to a boil over medium heat, stirring     constantly until the mixture has thickened. 

2. Stir in the strawberry gelatin until dissolved.

3. Remove from heat,  pour into a heat prof  bowl, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour.

4. Spoon a small amount of mixture on pie crust.

5. Add some of the mixture to the bowl of strawberries, stir until all strawberries are coated.

6. Pour the strawberries into the pie dish, and spoon remaining gelatin mixture over the berries.

7. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

I actually doubled the recipe to make 2 pies. One was just strawberries and the other was strawberries and  blueberries.

Also shared on 

Aunt Sabra King’s pudding bars

 The recipe this week was Aunt Sabra King's pudding bars from the cookbook: Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. I strongly encourage you to purchase the cookbook, but you may also find the recipe on Baked Sunday Mornings.  Instead of making a pan of bars, I made a dozen individual cups.  I also used milk chocolate because I was lazy and did not feel like running out to pick dark chocolate up at the store. The recipe called for whiskey of which I did not include for my taste preference.  I am still amazed that I was able to make homemade pudding :)

My favorite baking cups!!!! They peel off the sweet extremely easy :)

Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bars

Raspberry crumb bars from the cookbook, Baked: the New Frontiers by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. The fresh raspberries added a good tart flavor to this recipe. I strongly encourage you to purchase this cookbook!!! If you want to check out the recipe you can also visit  Sweet Pea's Kitchen for the recipe.

Fresh Strawberry Hand Pies

Nothing like spending a Saturday morning shopping at the Kenosha Farmer's Market :) I could not resist the large sweet smelling basket of newly picked strawberries. I was not sure what to make that evening until I  saw Heather's  recipe for strawberry hand pies. I used store bought pie dough to make mine. They were delicious!!!!

Lemony Cool Whip Cookies

My fiance's grandma bakes a few dozen cookies every week. Some are labor intensive and others consist of a few ingredients. These lemony cool whip cookies only have 4 ingredients ( 3 in the cookie and 1 to roll the cookie ball in). You use a box of cake mix ( I have used lemon, chocolate and spice cake mixes), a small container of cool whip, an egg, and powder sugar to roll the dough in. If you would like the recipe, check out Tidy Mom's recipe here.

June Open House

Keep your fingers crossed that I have a good response from my open house last weekend!!! I left some homemade goodies for visitors to try as they toured my house. It also gave me a reason to finally use my cake stands I have purchased at flea/ antique markets. 

Wilton Tent Sale 2012

For the past 6 months I have been hearing all about the infamous Wilton tent sale. I was so excited to experience it that I went on opening day with my mom. We began our day parking across the 5 lane highway at the Jewel. After fueling up at McDonald's, we grabbed a basket (mom had my giant IKEA bag) and stood in line. We were in line for about 45 minutes before entering the ginormous tent. 

We went up and down the long and crowded aisles tossing items in my basket. Eventually the basket was full so my mom opened up the Ikea bag and started filling it. I am so grateful for my mom joining me not only to help carry my bag but to persuade me not to pass up great deals :) She even splurged and bought a few things. Luckily the check out line was not too bad when we entered it. Just shortly after the line went all the way down the sidewalk to the end of the warehouse building. 

I am going back one more time but this time with a small list and small bag!