Thanksgiving Eve

We are very excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I wanted to post what we've done so far. The kids have helped with most of it.

Things made or are still making today:
*Grandma's cranberry jello (in a star mold no less!!) *Artichoke spinach dip (to be heated tomorrow) * Ice shapes with cranberries and berries in them (by Gretta) *Boiled eggs for Deviling tomorrow *2 Pumpkin pies (one Gluten free) *Creme Brulee

Things to be done tomorrow:
*Turkey *Stuffing *Mashed potatoes *Asparagus *Brussel sprouts *Gluten free cornbread *Cranberry ginger ale punch *Veggie plate

Purchased: *Shrimp and cocktail sauce *Homemade rolls from the Russian market (hot when I got them!)

What my friend Darla is bringing: *Banana Cream pie *Chocolate cream pie *Yams *Butternut Squash *Cheese and crackers

What are you having?!

Hawaii food

I realized how many photos I took of food or restaurants while in Hawaii. Some really cool ones. Also, I'm pretty hungry right now so let's go on a walk down my food memory lane:


Really yummy hawaiian salad my aunt ordered; I didn't taste it


This excellent vegetarian/vegan restaurant. We were making fun of the name (Ruffage) but then had a veggie burger and stopped laughing- it was fantastic. If you go there go before 6 because that is when it switches over to a sushi restuarant. Weird.


Every night my mom went either to Coldstone Creamery or Haagen Dahz. All good stuff.


Did not try this but it made me laugh


Shrimp trucks shrimp- garlicy and good


Mixed plate at the Hukilau cafe. This cafe was in the movie '50 First Dates' but only the name because the place itself is a real dive. But so good. This is mac salad, rice, teri beef, fried shrimp and mahi mahi


Hukilau Burger- a hamburger with teriyaki beef on top and a fried egg. SO GOOD


Shave Ice- very famous and super yummy. You can get icecream and azuki beans inside- delish! There are other flavors besides blue but we happened to get blue hawaiian and vanilla which are blue.


These cool tropical sodas which I did not sample


I had a veggie burger every day at a different restaurant. This one was just ok. I forgot to take photos of them all. Every restaurant does it differently- this one was kind of like a carrot and potato hashbrown. The one from Ruby Tuesday is more like rice and beans. Surprisingly Burger King's veggie burger is excellent. My favorites were from Ruffage (vegan restaurant in Waikiki) and the one at the Grass Skirt Cafe in Haliewa

Sour Cream Blueberry Pie

Earlier this week, Jane (Emily's Mom) came over to my house and watched the little babies so Sam, Max and I could hit Butler Farms for some of the last blueberry picking of this season. I LOVE blueberries...well, I should say I love blueberry baked goods. I'm not one that would eat a bowlful of fresh blueberries, although Sam, Max, Jake and Zoe are.
Sam and Max were willing to be my slave laborers in picking the blueberries....but not for very long. They where pretty much done after a little while.
When they decided they were ready to leave, I told them to sit in the shade and I would finish filling our bowls.

The result of my "hard" work. I don't think we were there for more than an hour and half.
I found a blueberry pie recipe but I was more interested in a Sour Cream Blueberry pie. And this has a shortbread crust. I guess I have a major sweet tooth. I prefer sweet pies, like pecan and chocolate, rather than straight fruit pies like apple or cherry....I should just pour the sugar down my throat but this is much better and there really are a lot of blueberries in it! I found the recipes on Recipe Zaar. Here they are:

Sour Cream Blueberry Pie
Easy Shortbread Tart Crust

Delicious! I could eat it all day! Now I think today we'll be making blueberry muffins....yum....

Fun with Fondant

I recently read about Marshmallow fondant and wanted to try it! So for Gretta's birthday she picked this crazy giant cupcake pan mom had and I thought I'd try the fondant. I made the fondant the night before. It was super easy to make and made me long for my clay wedging days [how I would love a wheel and kiln!!] anyway... Here is the cake!

I think it turned out nice but I literally threw it together! I never give myself enough time for this stuff so I was working on it right before her party started. It took me about an hour but I could have used about 20 more minutes to get the lines straight on the bottom.

I had A LOT of fondant left over so the girls and I made several colors and played with it like clay to make little do dads to top cupcakes for Sasha's last day of pre-school. Here are some of the colors...

...And the girls helped knead the color in. It is pretty sticky so lots of powdered sugar and buttered hands helps.

Here is the final product. Cute, huh? Gretta did great. It was a little tricky for Sasha but I think I had the most fun. I did several after the kids were in bed and I had some quiet. Jonah made a really great monster and skull and bones but that was after these cupcakes.

Here is Sasha with one flower she made, that survived the making!
I think I made this little lady bug. The eyes and antennae are sprinkles.
And the last of the fondant was used to make this for Gretta's baptism! I think it turned out great.
Definitely try this marshmallow fondant. I really enjoyed everything about it!!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Emily and I went to this great farm to pick strawberries last week! Yum! And we got a ton so we had to make freezer jam. I've never done it before but it was super easy and delicious! You want some? Come get it!
Here's some of the mess.
The results! Isn't it puuurdy!?
There's a million easy recipes. Here's the one we used. LINK
Lovely.....

Rustic Sugar Cookie Strawberry Tarts

The other day we needed a treat. I had some leftover strawberry glaze and lots of strawberries, so I came up with these simple, tasty tarts and then I made them again the next day, they were so good.

Rustic Sugar Cookie Strawberry Tarts

1. Make your favorite sugar cookie dough. Roll into simple balls and slightly flatten on the cookie sheet. Bake according to recipe.

2. Puree a handful of strawberries with powdered sugar to make a thick glaze. Let it sit for a bit. You don't want it too liquid-y. Then combine the glaze with cream cheese to make a strawberry frosting. Add sugar to taste but I like it a little tart since the cookie is sweet.

3. Spread the strawberry frosting on the bottom, flat side of the cooled cookie. That is the little secret. They are perfect to hold this way.

4. Top with fresh sliced strawberries. No extra sugar needed!

I could eat the whole tray! Really.

Country Pork Ribs & Cheesy Potatoes

I was talking to Mom about a dinner I made and had Nick and Emily come over. She wanted the recipes so here they are. They are good and easy...but don't burn the cheesy potatoes under the broiler like I did. :(

Country Pork Ribs

3 lbs. country pork ribs
1 c. ketchup
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce (I like mine less sweet so I add more Worcestershire & mustard)
2 Tbsp Yellow mustard (not the spice)
1/2 c. brown sugar (more if you like it sweet)
garlic salt

Put ribs in a baking dish. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt. Mix the rest of the ingredients and pour over ribs. Cover with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours.

Cheesy Potatoes

1-2 lb. bag of frozen potatoes (shredded or cubed) thawed (or as I like to say "unthaw" :))
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. sour cream
10 oz. cheddar cheese
cornflakes, crushed enough to cover top
1 cube butter, melted, divided in half
salt, pepper to taste
dried parsley (optional I add this for looks)

Mix all ingredients together, except half of the butter and all the cornflakes. Put in lightly sprayed casserole dish (8x11 or 9x12). Put cornflakes on top and drizzle with remaining butter. Bake for 1 hour at 300 until lightly browned.