Ramblings and Strawberry Lemonade {a recipe}

Hello everyone and Happy Wednesday!

A bit of celebrity chat to start the day, perhaps? Sure why not! By now we have all heard the news that the very preggo Jessica Simpson FINALLY gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  Congratulations, Jessica! Now can we discuss your choice of names?

If you follow me on Facebook or The Twittaaaa (if you think I'm a chronic Facebook poster, don't follow me on Twitter. Oh by the way.) you saw my annoyance, well more disbelief..awe..wtf???..with the name Maxwell Drew for her sweet prince.  I mean princess.  You guys!!  Let's get real here!  They totally made her a Quarterback!  I'm pretty certain I know exactly what happened. Dad had dreams of a boy and while he didn't get said boy, he still won the name battle because, and we all know it, J Simps is a loon. Absolutely beautiful and sweet, but a loon.  I completely understand wanting to use a meaningful family name and such, but could we have not paired Maxwell with, oh I dunno, Sarah.. Elizabeth... Jessica... Brittany... Alice or just about ANY OTHER female name besides Drew?  Or oh hey, use it as a middle name!  Or here's another thought, save it for when you have a boy.

Now I know I am getting some eyebrows raised at me asking "Now Kelley, you sound bitter that she is using the name Maxwell because your son is named that?"  Not at all!  First off, Max is not the only Max out there, obvs, and second, Max is just Max. Not Maxwell, Maximillion, Maximus, Max Headroom.. Just Max.  Or Mad Max as the EMT named him before birth.  Or Big Max because lezbehonest, he is not small. Or in our house, Mister Max.  Which became just Mister. Which then became Mitter.  Which then became Mitter Mitter. Don't ask. It just happened.

And yes, Milo was going to be Benny if he was a girl, but I was going to use my above logic of having paired with a very feminine middle name, so shut it.  It is my blog anyways. I can write what I want. I just wanted you to know I can hear your eyebrows raising.  I can HEAR them.

Back to the issue of social media.  Yes, I do in fact post a lot.  I was asked "Why do you post so much, are you a loser?" Ok, they didn't ask the second part but I know they were thinking it.  So no I am not a loser but here is the deal.  I am home. All day.  With two boys under two.  Sitting in front of my computer.  Working.  Don't get me wrong, working from home is fantastic. Honestly I am blessed to do what I love and still be able to take care of my babies, play with them, raise them and watch them grow.  But as lucky as I am to have a job that allows this, editing pictures isn't exactly mind stimulating so it tends to wander.  And all those random thoughts pop in my head and when that happens I like to write them down or voice them.  And voicing them to a two year old goes a little like, Hey Max did you hear what Jessica named her baby girl? and he is all PooPoo? and I am all, No Not PooPoo. But she might as well have.  And he is all Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle and yells and runs out of the room.  Leaving me to post my random thoughts on wherever I so choose and continue about my work.

There is actually a point to today's Blogginess and it is not because Twitter limits my thoughts to 150 characters.  I have a lovely refreshing drink for you guys!  Summer is in our sights and it is getting on the warm side of things here.  It is also still strawberry season so I am finding things to do with all these berries.  This is a drink for the kiddies, but will be just as yummy with some vodka thrown in the mix to make it a fun adult beverage to have after a day at the beach while sitting outside and grilling.  

I love all things about that last sentence.

This is pretty basic.

You take a cup of sugar and a cup of water, put them both in a sauce pan over medium heat stirring until the sugar is disolved. 

Let us all take a moment to admire my mad photography skillz in this above pic. Amen.

This is now your simple syrup. Set aside to cool.

Take 6-8 lemons and squeeze the crap out of them till you get 1 cup of juice.  Pour juice in pitcher.

 

Take a pint of fresh strawberries, cut off the tops, throw them in the blender and puree.  

If you are at my house this become the: One for Max, One for the Blender game, so make sure you have plenty.

Pour puree into your pitcher with the lemon juice.

Add your cooled simple syrup and about 6 cups of cold water.

ENJOY!

Homemade Fruit Roll-ups {a recipe}

If there was one thing I loved growing up, and still do for that matter, it was a good ole fruit roll-up.  I used to fold it up as small as I could and pop the whole thing in my mouth. So fruity and tasty!  And I am pretty sure packed with sugar.  And a bunch of fake stuff.   Not these babies!

I've had this recipe tucked away for awhile and finally got around to trying it out.  Actually, I was waiting until Max was old enough to eat them.

mmmmmm!

These are super easy HEALTHY and as you can see, super yummy.  

And most importantly, kid approved.

all gone!

HOMEMADE FRUIT ROLL-UPS

As I stated, these are beyond easy.  All you need is some fruit and something to sweeten the fruit a bit.  Be creative on the fruit!  Peach, raspberry, strawberry... so many yummy possibilities!  Mix and match and even use frozen fruit.

Start off with 3 cups of your fruit of choice and add about 3 tablespoons of honey and 3 squirts of lemon juice.  You can use sugar if you would like but I used honey because it is delish and a little bit good for you!

In a food processor, puree the fruit and honey mixture.  Once again, I do not own a food processor so into the trusty blender it all went.

Let's play a game.  NAME THAT KITCHEN APPLIANCE I WILL BE PURCHASING NEXT.

How beautiful and scrumptious does this look?!  I could drink it.  This however is not a drink recipe, so  don't drink the blended fruits.  Thank you.

Taste the blend to see if it is sweet enough for your liking.  If not, add some more sweetness.

Now loosely line a pan with cling wrap, leaving about an inch overhang on all sides.

I'm not really sure if this picture could be any more boring, but I needed to show you how to line the pan.  Do not press the wrap down around the sides.  The overhang is also important because the cling wrap will shrink in the oven (yes, this is all going in the oven) (no it won't burn or melt. the oven isn't hot enough for that) and you want some to stay left out.

Ahh.. before all this you need to turn on your oven to 140-170 degrees.  For me, that meant barely even turning the oven dial.

I know, another fascinating picture but do y'all have one of these?  If not you really should get one.  Your oven's built in temperature gage is probably off, ours is by 125 degrees, and most ovens, when it says is preheated, is actually not at the full temp you set it to yet.  So if you are having issues with over or under baking when you cook go get yourself a oven thermometer.

Now pour your fruit puree onto your lined pan and spread evenly with a spatula.  Try not to stick your face in the stream of fruit as you pour.

Put the pan in the oven and just let it sit in your 170 degree oven for about 6 hours.   Yes, it's awhile,  but go do laundry or something.  You are basically drying out the fruit and well, that takes time.  It smells fabulous though.

After about six hours, check your dried fruit. You will know it is ready when the fruit will not stick to your finger or leave an indention when you touch it.  Take it out and peel it off the wrapper and transfer it to some parchment paper.  Slice off the outer edges because those are hard and crunchy and pretty much don't taste real great.

Slice into strips and roll them up.  I used regular scissors for this. I found using them was much easier than cutting with a knife or even a pizza cutter. Tie the roll with a piece of string and store in an airtight container.

ENJOY!

Milo and the Peach.

Y'all.  I have so many shows to watch.  The DVR is about to explode.  At the same time I also have photos to edit, business blogs to post, recipes to try out, a house to clean and oh yeah, two Misters to play with.  And I am also trying to get a few lose ends tied up, scratch a those last stragglers off my many lists. Like order a mouse pad.  Random, but still needs to be done.

We did manage to find the time to feed our children today.  Just kidding. We feed them everyday.  Mister Milo is getting some fancy new teeth and is enjoying some big boy food with them.  Today we tried out some peaches.

Before I start, the regular comment on my bebe's are how they are always nakey.  I am always baffled by this.  My reaction is usually a long blink and a slight cock to my head while I think "Well, yes. Yes they are.  DO YOU EVEN HAVE KIDS?"  And they usually do.  So my next thought is. "Well, Sht, how do you keep them dry?"  Ya see, my kids are drool buckets.   I wasn't lying about Milo's fancy new choppers.  He busted out all four top ones in one day and that, my friends, produces a lot of drool.  And drool, just incase yours don't, comes out of the mouth, down the chin and soaks a top straight through.  Leaving my child wet and I would think, cold.  So we just don't wear clothes.  Simple.  Onward.

Hello Little Milo.

Have a peach!

Hm.

yeahhhh

This isn't really working for me.

What the heck, anyways?

yup, no.

Pass.  Thank you!

Strawberry Pie {a recipe}

I am in the middle of a very lengthy Mad Men marathon and on the last episode I watched the stunning Draper was typing a letter.  They zoomed in on the typewriter and held it for a bit and I could actually SMELL the typewriter.  The image of the typewriter trigger a smell memory of the one I had growing up. I loved the way the ribbon smelled!  How interesting that probably most reading this have no idea how a typewriter smells.

An extinct smell.  The Typewriter.

I should have declared a drinking game for that little segment.  Typewriter being the trigger word.



I have a very very VERY fabulous recipe to share with, but it come with a very very VERY strong warning.

WARNING

If you read yesterday's post and your trouble area is food?  STOP READING.  Thank you.

STRAWBERRY PIE

As you know, we took the Misters strawberry picking this past weekend.  If you didn't know, you do now and you can read all about it here.  Besides the family bonding time and the fun for the bebes, the purpose of this trip was to score some fresh strawberries for the fantastic pie recipe.

Fantastic might be an understatement.  Oh my strawberry loving word, this was the best pie I have ever made.  It did come with some flaws though.  Ok, just one flaw but it is a big one.  The Crust.  The crust is homemade and while turning out very scrumptious, was a horror to make.  I won't go into details but it resulted in my physically piecing the dough in the pie plate and smushing it all about until I got what slightly resembled a pie shell. This is not the pie crust recipe I will be using in the future and therefore will not be sharing that part of the information.  When I find a crust recipe that will be my staple, I will pass it along. Until then, go buy a pie crust.  FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GO BUY A CRUST.

Now because of my pie crust frustration that some would consider a full blown meltdown, I was too annoyed and frankly didn't care at that point to take step-by-step pictures of the pie making process.  So there are just a few and then some yummy finished product ones.  And by yummy, I mean amazeballs.

Crust 
no comment. 

Filling
2 pints strawberries, sliced
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumb Topping
2 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

Filling:

In  mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar and flour on low speed. Add in the eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed until combined.
Place the sliced strawberries in the crust.

Pour the filling evenly over the strawberries. 

Set the pie aside while you make the crumb topping.

Crumb Topping:

Mix together the brown sugar, sugar, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg.
Pour the melted unsalted butter into the bowl and mix everything together.
Add in the flour and mix until the ingredients form a crumble topping.
Crumble the crumb topping evenly over the pie.

Egg Wash:

Mix together 1 large egg and a Tablespoon of water. Brush the egg wash over the edge of the crust with a brush or your fingers. I have been known to use both methods.  It's whatevs.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 10-15 minutes.

Once the pie is done baking, place it on a cooling rack to cool completely and set. This will take a while. Cutting into the pie warm makes it a bit runny so just sit back and drool while you wait for it to cool.  

When set slice and stuff yo face.

A Real Life Post.

Happy Tuesday Evening!  Although, when you read this it will be Wednesday morning.. so Happy Hump Day.  

I am writing from bed this evening, but before I started, I was distracted a bit.

Side Bar 

You see, I walk into my room and blindly hit the power button on the TV and went about getting things organized.  Still not having looked at the television I am hearing this breathing coming from it. Breathy-breathing that makes me think I have caught a "moment" on Game of Thrones or that someone was about to power lift a weight that will win gold at the Olympics.  I turn to look and it was bowling.  IT WAS BOWLING PEOPLE! Now I am not one to criticize someones sport, but you guys, does one really have to huff and puff that much to release a ball?  Clearly, I am in awe.  And don't bowl.

Resolution, schmezolution.  amirite?

But anyway.  I am watching Biggest Loser.  You know the show, yeah we all do. The one where the contestants all start out at around 300 (plus or minus a few) and work out like effin maniacs and get down to pretty hot shape.  It's a good time. That is until they get down to my weight and then the party stops rockin.  Not because they are reaching their goals, but because I am not. At this point in the show I either

a. stop watching or

2. get depressed

However tonight it got me thinking.  Here we are almost five months into the New Year.  Five months since a lot of us, including myself, resolved to make major changes in our life.  

So how's that going for ya?

RIGHT. ME TOO.

Let me explain, I myself had visions of, at this point, rocking some super trendy skinny jeans, perhaps orange in color, or looking hot bikini skiing like one does on The Bachelor.  

Well, hot in a bikini at least.  And while I have done good with the baby weight loss, I am no where near looking like those bioches that keep getting pinned on Pinterest in boards called "THIS IS ME IN MY DREAMS"

I start to think about this, about my lack of progress and when I really get honest with myself, bleh, it comes down to me being lazy.  I eat the way I know works for me.  While it can get stricter and cleaner, I am not training so I am not going there.  I have a happy middle working right now.  The problem is my lack of physical movement, ie.. workouts.  read: LAZY 

This goes farther than weight goals though.  I am sometimes awoken (?) during the night for a slew of reasons... the baby cries, a fire truck goes by, the hubbs snoring, the dogs licking (the. most. ANNOYING. SOUND.) and no joke, last night a bird singing.  You know the old school car alarms that blast of rounds of about five different sounds, beepbeepbeep, booopbooopboop, eeeyoooeeeyoooeeeyooo, eeeechheeeeechheeeech.  Well this bird was doing the bird version of that.  AT 3:15 IN THE MORNING.  I know, I digressed again.

So right, I am a super light sleeper.  And this is the time I think.  And when all my regrets of the day hit me hardest.  Why didn't I do my workout, why didn't I put on my moisturizer, why didn't I finish my work... The other night as I lay there I came to a conclusion:

I will no longer give myself any regrets.

Easier said than done.

But at least it gives me a fresh goal.  Sometimes we all need to yell, "Wait!  I effed up and declare a do over!!" And that is what I did.

Everyone needs a support system

I am not one to ask for help.  I am also not one that responds well to nagging.  It may sound a bit like this:

HUBBS: Are you supposed to be eating that?

ME: It's a brownie, so I'm gonna go with no on this one.

Not real effective.  Unless maybe it was Gosling nagging me.  That might work. 

So maybe I don't ask because I don't want to be nagged after.  Or maybe I feel it is easier to just do it myself. But clearly, it is not.  Whodathunkit. Well all can use the support of the loved ones around us.  

Some advice, if you are failing at your goals because of time issues, ASK FOR HELP.  If you are failing because you don't know what you are doing, ASK FOR HELP.  

If you are failing because you are lazy? GET OFF YOUR ASS.  

That last one was for me.  Well, they all were for me, but that last one with the rude tone, that was definitely for me. 

And anyone else that needs a kick in the pants.

Because what it basically boils down to, is I KNOW what I am supposed to be doing.  To be fit, I know I need to work out.  To be a successful business owner, I know I need to get the job done right and on time.  To not look like I am 75, put on moisturizer and drink my water.  I KNOW THIS.  It is time for me to put on my big girl panties and do what I am supposed to do.  

***

So tell me, are you doing your best?  Are you needing to improve?  Take your re-do!  

------

image sources: melgotserved.com and google

Strawberry Fields.

In my head, there is not much better than fresh strawberries.  Bright red, sweet, juicy.  Plump little hearts of berry heaven.

I've been sitting on a strawberry pie recipe for a few weeks now.  Weeks of imagining this amazing looking pie made with fresh picked strawberries.  Because a pie that is as good looking as this one?  Needs fresh picked strawberries. More specifically, fresh picked strawberries picked by my little Misters.

I had a rare Saturday off this weekend and it is strawberry season here.  (I know, obvious as to what comes next).  THE PERFECT STRAWBERRY PICKING COMBINATION.  So while I tease you with a pie recipe for a few more days, here is our Saturday in the Strawberry Fields.  The sun on our backs, tiny fingers stained pink and a roaming chicken or two.