Recipe of the Week

This is my favorite blueberry pie recipe. I've been eating it for years, and now that I've finally learned to make pie crust (after years of failure) I can make it without having my mommy around to help me. I'll include the crust recipe as well; it's from the Crisco can, but I think it's the higher fat Canadian version.

Blueberry Pie

4 cups blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour (4 if frozen)
dash of salt
optional: ½ tsp cinnamon (I put it in)
Fill pie shell, sprinkle with 1-2 tsp lemon juice, dot with 1 tbsp butter. Add top crust. Bake at 400 F for 35-40 minutes.

Pie Crust (makes 1 double-crust pie)

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup Crisco shortening
4 tbsp ice water
Combine flour, salt, and shortening with pastry cutter. Add ice water. I like to chill it in the fridge for an hour or two before I roll it out, and I roll it between sheets of waxed paper.

Recipe of the Week

As I sit here eating my lunch of leftovers, I've been inspired as to what my next Recipe of the Week should be. Plus, I told Shauna I'd give her the recipe. It's a great summer salad and it's easy to fool your kids into thinking the spinach is lettuce.

Spinach & Rice Salad

1 cup uncooked rice
½ cup bottled Italian salad dressing
1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
2 cups fresh spinach, cut into thin strips
½ cup sliced celery
½ cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup crumbled crisp bacon

Cook rice according to package directions. Transfer to bowl. Cool slightly. Combine dressing, soy sauce and sugar. Stir into warm rice. Cover and chill. Fold in remaining ingredients before serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Recipe of the Week

Okay, so I've decided that I need to add a new element to my blog, something of interest, something that will actually encourage me to get on and post now and then. So here's the beginning of "The Recipe of the Week." I made Banana Bars this week and every time I give some away the recipients say they love them. They might be making up these favorable comments just to be polite, I can't be sure, but here's the recipe for anyone who wants it.
Oh, and this may or may not be posted weekly. Just being realistic.

Banana Bars

1 stick margarine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 ½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
1 tsp soda
2 ¼ cups flour
2/3 container sour cream (about 11 ounces)
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes in a jelly roll pan.
Top with cream cheese frosting – 1 stick butter, 8 oz cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla and 2 cups icing sugar

Totally Fab Hotel

I really loved our hotel in Waikiki, it was an Embassy Suites and since they were out of one bedroom suites, they gave us a two bedroom. Meaning also two bathroom. I've decided that a bathroom with two sinks just doesn't cut it, I want my own bathroom at home now too.
We had a fantastic view, both from our room (Diamond Head in the background) and from the balconies at either end of the hall. Unfortunately, due to my paralyzing fear of heights, I couldn't actually go onto the balcony, and had to leave the room when Jeff did. I was sure he was going over.

Married to a Chicken

An actual conversation I just had with Madeleine. It was a result of her reading her vocab sentences to me; her goal is always to make her teacher laugh.

Madeleine: Is the Easter Bunny a boy or a girl?
Me: A boy.
Madeleine: He must be married to a chicken.

My Mental Health Retreat

This month I left the kids in Jeff's capable hands and went off on what is now referred to as my Mental Health Retreat (yes, the capitalization is necessary). I went to my sister Deanna's in Oklahoma and then to see the Timothys in Phoenix. I'm happy to report that the trip was long enough to cause me to miss my family and I was happy to come home. These pictures are from the Desert Botanical Garden, where they also had an exhibit by the glass sculpture artist Chihuly.

Field Trip

Madeleine was kind of enough to invite me on her drama club's field trip to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was a lot of fun but absolutely freezing! And at the risk of sounding old, it took me two days to recover.