After we went blueberry picking last week we had enough blueberries left to make cobbler. I combined them with cherries because I had a bunch of those left in the refrigerator. They tasted really good together, I liked using the combination of two different fruits.
I recently received some samples of facial masques designed to help you relax and rejuvenate your skin. Each masque comes in its own packet and there many types and flavors to chose from; everything from mud masques to peel offs and flavored skin tonics.
On Saturday I stopped by the Regional Market in Syracuse to browse the selection of fresh, local fruits and vegetables. It was amazing to see the mounds of produce, and it was also amazing to see the crowds of people. I went at around 10am, and it was packed, and so crowded it was hard to walk. Clearly many people in the community like the fresh products available.
At Heart of the Matter is sponsoring a “Not Back-to-School” Blog Hop for all homeschoolers to join in and share what they are using this year. We don’t start school until after Labor Day here in New York, so I still have quite a bit of time, which is good because I still have some stuff to plan and buy. This year I just have my son homeschooling for 7th grade, since my oldest is off to college and my 15 year old wants to go to the local public school. Since I’ve taught 7th grade before (twice) this should be pretty easy, and I shouldn’t need to buy any new curriculum, right?
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Almost two weeks ago I posted asking for help picking a paint color for my first floor bathroom that would work with my pink fixtures. My kids and I picked three colors of paint, painted the walls with Glidden Testers, and let my blog readers vote. It was clear to me pretty quickly that my perfectly reasonable (and safe) beige color choice was not going to win. It was a close vote, but in the end the lime green color my daughter picked won by one vote over the turquoise my son liked. So I decided I would use the lime green, but add in plenty of turquoise also.
My daughter’s sense of style has evolved over the years. When she was young she would wear almost anything. Plaids, stripes, polka dots, matching colors, none of that was important. She frequently wore dress up clothes, like a Cinderella princess outfit, around the house, and even to the store. She especially loved to wear dresses, and always had something on her head. For about three months she wouldn’t leave the house without her red feathered hair band. As she got older and reached school age though, she started worrying about how other people would react to her clothes.
She quickly learned that some clothes were cool and trendy, and some were not. She also learned that trendy clothes are expensive, and go out of style quickly. Now she rarely wears dresses, and mostly sticks to the teenage uniform of t-shirts and jeans. She picks her outfit out the night before school, and will frequently try on more than one combination, and ask for the rest of the family’s opinion.
So many people make the mistake of thinking they have to travel to find exciting, undiscovered treasures, but that is not true. No matter where you live there are places you can explore and enjoy.
This weekend my family and I took a break from our home improvement project of fixing the deck stairs to visit a local park, Oxbow Falls Park. My son and I had visited this park briefly in the spring, and knew we had to go back with the whole family.
This weekend we had hot, humid weather, perfect for going out on the water and relaxing in our boat.
Unfortunately our boat broke on Friday. So my husband and I decided that instead of spending the weekend on the boat we would actually do something productive, and fix the stairs to our deck.
We saw a Great Blue Heron resting on the lake last week, but I couldn’t get too close for pictures without scaring him off. They are gorgeous birds.
My kids loved this recipe, and what is not to like, it is basically clams with bacon and butter. It is a good thing it is an appetizer and not a main dish, so you only eat a few each. We are going to the ocean for vacation in a few weeks and can’t wait to eat lots of seafood dishes, like this one.
When we bought this house three years ago there were many things we liked about the house – the fact it is a ranch, the acreage, the open floor plan and the huge kitchen. But one thing we never liked was the main bathroom. It has ugly pink fixtures, including the toilet, counters and shower insert. They are not the pretty pastel pink you see in 1950s houses either, they are a dark purplish pink that doesn’t seem to go with anything. But now I am going to repaint – and you get to pick the color!
Last night we headed out for the big midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II. My kids (and I) are huge fans, and we stayed up to buy the book at midnight when it came out in 2007, so of course we had to see the last movie at midnight too. My husband came along too for the family fun, although he has never read the books. We had a wonderful time and loved the movie. I think any fan of the series will be happy with how the movie turned out, but I wanted to write more about the whole midnight showing experience rather than the movie.
After dinner we watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, so we had it fresh in our memories. Then we got out the snacks – chocolate pretzel wands, Fudge Flies and Bernie Botts Every Flavored Beans. I also tried to make Pumpkin Pasties, but they were a major fail and weren’t edible.
We visited Old Forge NY over the weekend and took a ride from Thendara to Otter Lake on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad. It was a gorgeous day with great scenery.
No Harry Potter movie celebration is complete without hot Butterbeer to drink! So here is an easy recipe. I like this one because you melt candy to get the butterscotch flavor, so it doesn’t take long to make. It is super sweet though, since you take cream soda and add sugar and candy. It even foams up on top for the authentic Harry Potter “frothing foam”.
This is a layered relief print art project my 12 year old son did last week. This is a somewhat time consuming project (and therefore perfect for summer vacation) which involves cutting multiple layers out of one printing block, gradually cutting away the entire block. It was fun, and more interesting than just cutting one image into the block since the layers add depth and color.
The tools you need are a printing block, brayer and paint and tools to carve with. We got an E-Z cut printing block from our local art store, and the cost was less than $3 for a 4×6 block. The E-Z cut block is made of a synthetic rubber-like material that is very easy to carve. We used X-acto knives to carve the block, and they worked pretty well. We also found some chisel blades for the X-acto knife handle that fit in it and were very helpful when it came to removing lots of material quickly. We used acrylic paints, and a brayer that I had from rubber stamping.
This is a good recipe for using up extra lunch meat. My husband likes me to have lunch meat on hand for weekend sandwiches, but no one but him and my son eat it. So half the time it ends up not getting eaten, and since it is expensive I hate to buy it and then not use it. This recipe will use it up, and with this recipe you can stretch a little bit of meat a long way. You can easily vary the recipe depending on what meats and cheese you have on hand.
