Blueberry Bliss

There is only one way to eat blueberries: FRESH.  Imitation blueberries don’t taste like blueberries at all. I won’t eat anything ‘blueberry’ that doesn’t have real, fresh blueberries in it. I feel the same way about most fruit. Fresh is best.

I recently made two edible items over the weekend for my husband’s birthday and I would like to share them with you.

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Find a good recipe that you can make from scratch, like this one here. Use fresh blueberries – not frozen (those don’t count).

Every year I make blueberry cheesecake for our anniversary (since it was our official wedding cake) and for my hubby’s birthday (because it is his favorite thing in the whole world). The first few years I was buying blueberry pie filling to use to top off the homemade cheesecake. And didn’t like it. Until this year…

This is my recipe (which you probably can find anywhere) for fresh blueberry topping.

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and drained
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon corn starch

Directions:
Wash blueberries -drain all excess water.
In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, water and sugar.
Bring to a simmer for five minutes then add lemon juice.
Sprinkle in corn starch and cook until slightly thickened.
Allow to cool before serving (unless using as a hot topping).

Any other blueberry recipes I should know about? Pass them along!

Bring It On!

I really like to take on projects that make me think outside of the box and stretch my imagination some. The me before would shy away from odd color combinations or techniques that I didn’t have patience for or really cared for. Since I became unemployed (and still looking) I have made myself participate in design challenges (whether it was related to color, photo editing or other).

Today I was really, really challenged by Kristina Werner’s Color Inspiration #55. The color combination was hard for me to work with. I started one card, hated it, started another, threw it out, came back to number one, added a little somthing then walked away. A few hours later I had passed the card laying on the table and decided that I actually liked the results. I am not sure why I was so annoyed with it to begin with. Hm. So here it is, the challenging challenge that challenged me to a challenge that I wasn’t really up to but ended up liking anyway.

The better challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed today was this photo editing tutorial/challenge that Sideoats & Scribbles posted. I am a recent follower of this blog and have really learned a ton about photo editing. This challenge was centered around sharpening – which I had done before – but the tutorial took it a step further for me. I love learning new things This is my before and after – which doesn’t seem all that different, but if you look closely you can see the buttons are sharper and more defined (click on the image for a larger view).

Father’s Day and Cards

Fathers: strong, brave, hard-working, fearless, generous, fun, honest, gentle, kind, loving.

This year my Father and my husband are receiving matching cards, minus the framed picture. The inspiration for the cards came from one of my favorite designer’s blogs, KWerner. I had some great patterned paper and chipboard frames so I went a wild card making spree!

For a few months I went through a dry spell with my creativity. I would pull out my favorite colored paper, my favorite pattern (designer) paper, my favorite embellishments and ribbons and just stare at it all wondering what to do. The way I got out of my slump is that I spent more time looking at other websites that showcased all sorts of crafts from cards, to scrapbook pages. I even looked at different decorating sites – you’ll never believe how many great ideas you can get for a card from a home decorator I think I got my groove back!

When I Am Bored…

…I make large, gooey cinnamon rolls topped with cream cheese frosting. Then eat them. All. Until I’m sick.

Want to make them too? My recipe is very similar to the famous ‘Clone of a Cinnabon‘ recipe from Allrecipes.com.  After baking I always flip the rolls over to let the gooey stuff seep to the bottom Mmmmm!

I recommend eating them with a tall glass of cold milk (or soy milk if you are lactose intolerant, like me).