Mmmmm....

'Tis the season for fresh berries! I've been trying to take full advantage of u-pick farms and getting some berries in the freezer. So far my friend Kara and I have picked blueberries and raspberries, and I even got Adam to pick blueberries with me one day and we picked 12lbs! At a farm only 1 mile down the road, Blueberry Meadows, they sell u-pick blueberries for $1.25 a pound! The Raspberry farm we found sold u-pick for $1 a pound! Can't beat that when at the grocery store a little pint of berries costs at least $3+  Since I have all these berries on hand I've been trying out some new recipes and making some delicious summer treats!

My favorite cobbler I've made so far was made from a recipe I found on allrecipes.com It is called 'Apple Blueberry Crisp' Mmmmm... so good!

2 Granny Smith Apples {peeled & sliced}
1 Cup Blueberries {I added more}
*1 Cup Raspberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 Cup sugar
1 Tbs Cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 Sugar
1/3 Cup Butter
*The original recipe didn't call for raspberries, but I am glad I added them
 
Mix the apples, blueberries, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, and salt in a baking dish. In a bowl combine the flour and sugar. Using your fingers, blend the butter until the mixture resembles course sand. Spread the flour mixture over the fruit evenly. {I doubled the recipe in this picture to share with our favorite aunt & uncle to thank them for taking care of Charlie and Hamilton when we go out of town :-) }

Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees until the filling is thick and bubbly.

Serve with frozen yogurt! Yum I want some right now!

Another recipe I recommend is for Healthy, yes Healthy, Banana Cookies. My sister Jesi originally shared this recipe with me and I decided to try it out with Blueberries!

Here is my version of the recipe:

3 ripe bananas {make sure they are ripe, getting black}

2 cups oats

*1 cup blueberries

*1 tsp cinnamon

*1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*handful of chocolate chips

 *the original recipe calls for dates instead of those four items.
Another idea, Jesi adds apples into hers when she makes them - Yum!

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Stir in oats, blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, oil, and vanilla. Mix well, and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown.

YUM! Super easy and super good!

I also made a Apple, Raspberry, Blueberry Crisp. Still delicious, but not my favorite.

And, Blueberry muffin tops! Mmmm!

We're having company tomorrow, I think I might need to make some more treats!

Front door vamp up

I am WAAAY behind on posting about our recent DIY/fix-it-up projects we've been working on, but actual summer weather has finally arrived so we've been taking full advantage of it! One quick project I did about a month ago was I painted our front door apple green! I had been wanting to paint the door some color for some time, but was unsure what color would look right with our ALL white house with blue/gray trim. I originally wanted to paint the door yellow; bright, fun, cheery, welcoming... But then I thought "what would a Christmas wreath look like on a yellow door" hmm. Then I thought black would look nice, but that seemed a little boring for me. To help me decide on a door color I took a picture of the front of our house, brought it into Photoshop, and colored the door!
Here were my choices:

{only kidding, our mailbox is already pink, I can't push my limits too much} :-)

 

And, I decided on the green! It's a natural color that looks good with grass, trees, dirt... my car! and come Christmas time it will be the perfect shade to hang a wreath on! To make this even better I already had this shade of green that we bought last summer off the "opps" rack at Home Depot for $5 - I forgot about it, $5 we spent last summer well spent!

{before}

{after}

 

While I was painting Charlie and Hamilton were caged, and Trudie sun bathed!

 

I really like how it turned out, it gives our house some much needed outside character.