Hey There! It's been a while!

Finally having some down time, and looking through old blog posts, I realized that the last post was over 8months ago. WOW! It's amazing how time flies, how life changes, and how experiences lead to a fresh perspective. I had hit a roadblock with posts, but I think this spring air has revitalized my enthusiasm. Stay tuned for new thoughts, activities, and tips in the coming weeks. I can't wait to share with you some great ideas and beautiful pictures!

"Every Heart Beats True 'Neath the Red, White, and Blue" -berry Cobbler that is...

What says "Americana-Summer" more than a blueberry cobbler? It is yummy fresh out of the oven, or room temperature the day after. A cobbler consists of a thick crust and fruit filling. This specific recipe does not use the traditional biscuit-like crust. It does however, layer the fruit between a flour based, butter crust which still allows it to be considered a cobbler.  During the time of its invention, the Pilgrims that came to America would  alter the traditional family recipes to fit their new environment. If ingredients in the recipes weren't available, they would improvise. This led to the diversity of the many different recipes.  Similarly, the lack of consistent ingredient availability made way for other delicious culinary creations. A single recipe could have been used for cobblers, crumbles, pan-dowdies, crisps, Betties, buckles, crumbles, grunts, slumps, sonkers, and many other cobbler-like dishes.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe!

Blueberry Cobbler- Leinbach Family Recipe

Crust:                                                 Filling:
1 c. Hazelnuts                                     ½ c. granulated sugar
2 c. All- purpose flour                         1 ½ TB cornstarch

½ c. granulated sugar                          1quart of canned Blueberries

¾ c. chilled butter cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 450^○F. In a food processor, process nuts until finely ground. In a large bowl, mix nuts, flour, sugar, and cut in butter until the mixture crumbles. In a separate bowl, mix the berries, sugar and cornstarch until the berries are evenly coated. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Evenly spread the filling over the crust and sprinkle the second layer of crust over the top. Bake until the top is golden (Approx 30min).

Let cool and serve warm.

July 4th

 

Today is Independence Day

A day of celebration

Today is Independence Day

A time of reflection.

To those who fought and those who died,

We thank them on this day.

It is our turn to defend our rights

Our turn to protect our freedoms

Such freedoms were protected-

Sealed in blood.

May we find our strength and love our God.

May we fight hard and love hard.

May we live lives worth living

May we continue the revolution of hearts towards freedom.

Let us remember our forefathers

Let us remember our troops

Let us remember that freedom comes with a price,

But the benefit of protecting it outweighs the pain of not having it.

May we be the next generation who does not let freedom fall.

May we let it ring!

 

~God Bless you and give you strength~

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This yummy traditional favorite is easy to make and even easier to eat!

Ingredients:

1/2c butter
1 1/3c packed brown sugar
32oz sliced (or chunked pineapple)-drained
1c Maraschino Cherries- drained

1French Vanilla box mix

Preheat oven to 350F

Melt butter in a 9x13 pan in the oven. After it is melted, sprinkle all of the brown sugar over the bottom of the pan. Arrange pineapple slices flat on the bottom and put one cherry in the center of each slice. Make the cake batter according to the packaged instructions and pour over pineapples.

Bake for 35 min or until the cake is fully cooked and golden brown.

Serve warm.

(If you prepare it the day before you serve it, cover the pan and put it in the fridge. It will have a richer flavor when reheated the next day.)



From the Kitchen of Linda Inman

Easter

The past week, we had the blessed opportunity to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior. His love for us was proven by his struggle in the garden and his sacrifice on Calvary. His fulfillment of prophecies and His resurrection on the third day provides us the opportunity to repent and fully come into His fold. May we live our lives in remembrance of what He did for us. His mercy and grace is what allows us to stray and yet return to his open arms. It is through the love our Savior that we have this opportunity. Carry that in your heart. Because of what He did for us, we are obligated to treat those around us with compassion and Christ-like love (Charity is the pure love of Christ). May we remember His love for His children and keep it in our countenances.

As the LDS General Conference weekend approaches, let those who watch it feel the Spirit of the Lord and receive the guidance that they need from the voice of the prophets.

For those of you who are not LDS, may you feel Christ's love for you this weekend and take a moment to rededicate your week to Him. Try to find one thing that you can improve upon and seek His guidance to improve.

The love that the Lord has for his children is boundless- we just need to ask in earnest and He will bestow it upon our hearts and show His hand in our lives.

May you feel and see God's blessings:)

A Long Overdue post on Christmas and the New Year

Christmas was such a blessing. It provided a break from the rest of life's worries. Christmas is a holiday filled with love, family and much concern for the well being of others. The Lord's hand is ever present when we keep Him in our hearts.

2012. A year full of many anniversaries of remarkable events from days gone by- The 100th anniversaries of the sinking of the Titanic, the creation of the Girl Scouts of America, the establishment of the Boy Scout Eagle Award, the first LDS Young Women's camp and many more world altering happenings. It is amazing to think that so much has occured in a mere 100years. The lives of people today are so drastically different compared to those from a hundred years ago. 2012, like every year, was filled with ups, downs and everthing in between-but amongst the turmoil and frustration, we saw some of the greatest blessings the world has ever known. The page of such a hallmark year has turned to one fresh and ready for a new story. May you daub your pen with good ink and your story of this new year be filled with many blessed memories.

Embroidered Snowflakes



Materials:

• fabric
• small embroidery hoop (I have sewn with and without hoops, with and with out interfacing. I have found that when starting out it is best to work on a light weight, not thin, material and hoops)
• embroidery needle(again the needle you pick is a personal preference. tapestry needles have larger eyes, but the shank of the needle is thicker, milliner needles are uniform in thickness but it can be difficult to find ones with larger eyes)
• skein of white embroidery floss
• silver embroidery floss
• beads

• pull thread from the back and insert about an inch away

• insert the thread again from the back and repeat as before first in thirds
• repeat with the three new stitches in between the others. Now you have a total of six stitches

• create a fly stitch between each of the inch "spokes" (bring needle through the top of one of the spokes. insert at the top of the adjacent spoke. take a "bite" of the fabric half-way between the two spokes and slightly lower than the top of the stitches. pull tight, and fasten the thread to the fabric.)
• repeat this five times

•  at each vertex create a detached chain stitch. (bring needle from back. insert again in the same hole but don't pull all the way back through. you should have about a 1/2 inch loop. come from the back and secure the loop with a small stitch.)

•  at the top of the longer chain stitches, sew another chain stitch, but this time, split and secure the sides to create a diamond. above the smaller chain stitches, sew a fly stitch.

•  Above is what the finished white snow flake will look like.

• to embellish, sew two fly stitches over the long chain stitches and one fly stitch over the shorter ones. do this in a contrasting color- the above is in silver.

• for fun, plastic imitation pearl beads were used to hide the center.
• get creative and add your own embellishments!

Although this may seem complicated at first, once you understand the basic stitches, the snowflake becomes one of the quickest and prettiest embellishments for winter themed projects.
I hope that you have fun sewing snowflakes!

 The above is a similar concept using only fly stitches. The silver embellishment is wrapped around the "spokes"

 This snowflake is a little bit more complicated. The scroll stitch was used for the smaller spokes and the v-shape on the taller spokes. The taller spokes are created with the detached chain stitch. The silver embellishments include the fly stitch on the taller spokes, and the detached chain stitch with the two extra darts (shown in the tutorial) as the border of the scroll stitches. Wouldn't it be pretty with beads in the center to cover up the nasty middle?

This one is very simple. It involves detached chain stitches for the spokes and a french knot in the center.

***If my instructions for the detached chain stitch or the fly stitch were confusing, there are many wonderful videos on YouTube which are very clear and simple to follow.***