The SimpleThings Challenge

Oh how true.

I like to read Rebecca Coopers blog Simple As That. 

She has tips on how to take better pictures.

She has fun ideas to do and this week it is the Simple Things.

I started my pictures last night, but didn't have a chance to upload them yet.

I love taking pictures!!!

I will post them on my other blog Reflections of Life.

Stuffed Summer Peaches...

I saw this recipe and I thought YUM! I got it from Our Vintage Home Love.


If you haven't noticed, I am so into fruit right now.


And Biscoff cookies.  So good....

First, take half the package of cookies and put them in a food processor to crumble them up.  Or you could just stick them in a ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to smash them up until they look like this.

Set the crumbs aside and grab 3 fairly large, firm peaches.  Make sure they are firm as they will be going in the oven and they need to be able to hold their shape.  Slice the three peaches in half and remove the pit and a little bit of the flesh around it with a melon baller.  Place the 6 peach halves in a buttered baking dish.  Spoon a tablespoon of crumbs in each peach.  Sprinkle with sugar and top with a little butter.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes.  While those are baking up, whip 1 cup of heavy cream with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer.  Whip until you have stiff peaks but before you have butter.  :)

Picnic Pies...

So... This year my strawberries are looking good...and tasting good so, I thought I would find some tasty recipes for these juicy bits of heaven. I have been craving them everyday and even have strawberries as my screensaver. I am so weird...LOL

*****************************************

Picnic Pies

I found this recipe Here at thefarmchicks

Crust:
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/2 cup cold water
Combine the flour and graham cracker crumbs in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles course meal. Whisk the egg and water together and mix into the flour mixture until just combined. Transfer to a clean work surface and gently press to form a dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, press into a disk shape, and chill for at least one hour.
While dough chills, prepare Strawberry Pie Filling.
Strawberry Pie Filling:
4 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered (cut into eighths if the berries are huge)
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all ingredients into a medium bowl and stir together until flour and sugar are mixed in. Set Pie Filling aside. Line two large baking sheets with foil or parchment and lightly grease.
Roll out dough onto a floured work surface and roll out to a 1/8" thickness. Use a cereal bowl for a guide, and trace with a knife.

Repeat until the dough is all used up. (Should make about 16-18 dough circles). Divide pie filling evenly between the dough circles, folding and pressing each one closed as you go. Press edges with a fork and prick center for steam to escape. Place the pies on the baking sheets.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filling is oozing out from steam holes. Remove pies immediately to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely. (They will harden up as they cool to room temperature).

Strawberry Creamwiches...

Strawberry Creamwiches

Recipe found also @ thefarmchicks
Cookies:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth - 2-3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until well combined. Lower the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually beat in the flour. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap and pat into a square disk. Wrap with the plastic and refrigerate for one hour.
Place the dough between two sheets of wax paper and roll out to 1/4" thickness. Cut out the cookies using a cookie cutter of your choice. Place the cookies about 1" apart on ungreased baking sheets and refrigerate for 15 minutes. While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake until firm, but not brown - approximately 12-15 minutes. While the cookies bake, prepare the filling.
Strawberry Filling:
1/2 cup butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup strawberries, finely chopped
Beat butter until softened. Add powdered sugar and strawberries and beat until well combined. Set filling aside.
Remove cookies from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Once cooled, spread filling on a cookie and top with another, creating a cookie sandwich.




Note:
I used these wonderful cookie cutters from William Sonoma, but any cookie cutters will do.
P.S. Did you know it's Strawberry Week here at The Farm Chicks? Would you like to share your favorite strawberry recipe with The Farm Chicks reader community? If you're on twitter, you can tweet your recipe link to #strawberryweek for all to see! If you're not on twitter, you can share your recipe in the comments here or blog about it and then share your link.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies...

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
recipe from Martha Stewart 
Got the idea from bunsinmyoven.com

• 2 cups (12 ounces) hulled and diced strawberries
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• vanilla ice cream, optional

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the strawberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and lemon juice and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. (I forgot to add the remaining sugar and these were still amazing...more like a biscuit than a sweet cookie. It worked really well with the sweet ice cream sandwiched between two of the not-so-sweet cookies.) Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the cream until the dough begins to come together and then stir in the strawberries.
Use a tablespoon to drop cookie dough onto baking sheet lined with parchment. (I found it easiest to just use my hands and form golf ball sized balls of dough.)
Bake until golden brown, about 24 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
If making into ice cream sandwiches, flip half of the cookies over and top with a tablespoon or so of vanilla ice cream. Place the remaining cookies on top and press down lightly. Freeze for 30 minutes to allow the ice cream to firm back up before serving.

Spotlight Blog...

peachykeenrecipes.blogspot.com

Check out this fun food blog. This cute girl from work, who is skinny, started it and I think it is fun. I have already found things that I am going to try. Then... I am going to diet.

A Question Answered...by a stranger

I love to read this blog.http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

I find so many fun ideas and mostly rustic. She is my hero. Then she posted this today. I felt that her message should be shared. Yes, I copied it from her blog, heaven help me, but it helped me a lot. So here it is....

How do you get through tough times?

 source

Oh no! Flowers caught in the snow! Do you think they'll make it?

Lately, it seems no matter where I go or what I do, I'm finding flowers in the snow. Or should I say, good folks going through a surprisingly tough time.

Is it the time of year? Are we suppose to be happy happy joy joy because everyone is suppose to have the perfect upcoming Christmas?  Have you too noticed many stories surfacing this time of year like I have?

I really don't know if it's the season to blame or the expectations we put upon ourselves. But here's a newsflash. There is no such thing as a perfect life on earth. But I do believe you can improve your given situation 10 fold with a slightly different outlook.

First and foremost, I'm not trained in this sort of help. I don't even fully understand why I have a need to post this. I'm just led to. It comes easy for me and it feels right.

Now, just so you don't think I'm immune to ugly and nasty stuff happening, here's my own current list I'm chomping on which happened in the past 2 weeks. Please don't feel pity for me. It's simply a means of getting a point across which I'll make shortly.

source

My ugly list

The last power surge killed a work computer and I'm hacking at a disabled system daily to save my business. $$$ Yikes.

My son has been sick for a VERY long time to the point where I needed to run him in to the Dr.

On the way to running him in, I lost my brakes on my truck and ran a 3 way stop.

I'm late in all my work projects due to staying home so much.

I took my truck in and now scratch my head at the crazy train bill. There goes the new camera fund!

I'm busy mourning loved ones during one of the most family oriented seasons ever.


So, what's one to do when hard times hit?

Survival guide for flowers in the snow

 source

Own it.

Own where you are. Now, blaming yourself for everything under the sun is NOT the same as owning where you are. By owning it, I'm simply saying, you are where you are because of your choices.

That's a hard one to swallow, isn't it?

Yes, there are victims in this world. But once you reach adulthood, you are responsible to make sound adult decisions. One of the greatest lessons I've ever learned is, if I own where I am, I'm capable of making the changes necessary to better my situation. Continue to blame others or circumstances and you'll never dig your way out, because you haven't allowed yourself to come to terms with WHY you really are where you are.

source

 Find the good

Would you believe I can find a good reason for every one of those bad things happening to me? Here's what I mean:

Truck brakes went... bad
It happened on a quiet street, VERY close to home and I didn't die... good
Reason - My truck had been wonky for some time but I ignored it... thank goodness this finally happened when and how it did!

I'm late in all my work projects due to staying home so much... bad
I started working on things that needed my attention at home... good
Reason - Being forced to stay home led me to finally getting productive on mandatory overdue tasks I would never have taken the time for otherwise.

Search for a bigger meaning for whatever happens to you. And sometimes a reason won't even come to light. Yet. But it eventually does if you search for it. I truly believe there's a season for everything.

 source

 Be productive

I remember when one of my relationships with another ended.  It was a devastating time in my life. And while needing to mourn was mandatory, I found it equally important to stay productive in order to stay sane.

 I can sulk and do nothing or I can sulk and get stuff done. A no brainer, however, know what being productive really did?  It gave me a kick start in the right direction and kinda caught on. Just like what my Christmas decorating did for me this season. I still felt lousy, but I would have been far worse curled up in bed for days on end.

But more than that... my son needed me. And I did something about it. This was my problem, not his. So I didn't allow him to suffer.

 source

 Allow others to be involved

Do you wanna know who one of the most stubborn people on earth is? You're looking at her blog right now.

I don't like asking for help. I don't like bothering people. I want to be self sufficient and do it all on my own!

But know what?  Not only does it hurt me, it hurts my son. I deny him opportunity if I don't allow others in. And I also deny the others wishing to help.

One of the greatest lessons of all is when I allowed friends help me fix my house. I had hit bottom where everything was breaking and I couldn't get out on my own. Once I allowed others in to help, not only did it fix what was broke, it taught me valuable life skills on how good humanity really is.

Trust is earned over time. So give it a fighting chance.

 source

 Allow happiness

Every so often when I think of my mom passing, I'll either break out in a smile or a frown. And for some reason, I'm more comfortable when it's a frown. I ought to be miserable and miss her, right?!?

Why oh WHY do we deny ourselves happiness? Remember the good things and smile! Teach others around you how you deal, by allowing happiness back in. Be good to yourself. Say yes to invites. Do things that make you happy. Allow happy back in and your heart will soften. Who knows.. you may even find happiness. :)

source

Appreciate the simple

Everything sure is expensive to buy these days, isn't it? I mean, all the good things in life cost a bundle!

When was the last time you took a walk during a new snowfall? How about watching leaves spiral off a twiggy tree? And then there's the cuddly purring cat on your lap or the hilariously snoring dog by your side. One of my favorites? Dust motes floating in a sunbeam.

Breathe, look, smell, appreciate, hear, love, hug, smile. All free. Put the visa away and go have yourself a merry little simply free day.

 source

 Escape

Running away is never the answer to anything. However, a short escape can save you from time to time.

I remember a time when I felt deep sorrow, the only thing that made me feel better was picking up a good book on the very topic that ailed me. It was if the words reaffirmed I had done everything I could.

Reading a non topic book was helpful too. It took me to another world far away from the one I was in for a brief time.

Naps and enough rest are helpful too.

source

Believe

 Imagine waking up in the morning dreading what's ahead. And then there's waking up in the morning believing it's a new day with brand new opportunity. Which would you choose?

Believe you can make things better. Believe in a higher power that will help you through the dark moments. Believe in others. And believe in yourself.

Because if I can do this, so can you.

Any tips on getting through hard times that have worked for you?

tangible.love.designs: Today is your lucky day...

tangible.love.designs: Today is your lucky day...: "Because it's the official launch of Still need to order your Christmas cards? Just click on the store link to the right to take a peek a..."


Check out this creative young lady and her talents at the link above. She is also doing a giveaway so hurry up!

Fun Decorating ideas...

freckledesignstoo.blogspot.com

Gina and Melanie are relatives of mine.

They come up with these cool crafts and vinyl.

I thought these were really cute.