I told you that I would try the Cherry Cheese Pizza recipe, with our cherries off of our cherry tree, and I did! Not bad. I took it to share with all the gals at the Retiring Stamp Set party Friday night, that my good friend and Stampin Up demonstrator organized. It was a fun time for all! I and Musician attended, as well as Bassmaster's girlfriend, her sister and her sister's friend from college, as well as many others. However, Friday night I was told that when the five of us moved from table to table to create our cards, it was like a mass exodus. We had a great time creating. The college friend struck out on her own creative streak after our first card. She loved the "stickels", the more bling the better! I never did ask her if she was left handed?!?!?


We had a fun and relaxing time! Here are some of my creations from that event as well as a picture of the finished and partially eaten Cherry Cheese Pizza. I have also listed the ingredients and directions for making this below.

Cherry Cheese Pizza

1 c all-purpose flour

1/8 t. baking powder

1/4 c cold butter or margarine

2 T. vegetable shortening

(I just went ahead and used buttered flavored Crisco in 1/4c. and 2T. measurements)

3-4 T. water

1 - 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

Sweetened whipped cream (opt.)

1/3 c chopped pecans or almonds (this is also opt. but taste much better with)

Topping:

2 1/2 c fresh or frozen pitted tart cherries or 1-15oz. can tart cherries

1/3 c granulated sugar

2 T. cornstarch

1 T. butter or margarine

1/8 t. almond extract

In a bowl, combine flour and baking powerder; cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Roll out into a 14-inch circle. Place on an ungreased 12-inch pizza pan. Flute edges to form a rim; prick bottom of crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in nuts. Spread over crust. Bake 10 minutes longer. Cool.

Drain cherries, reserving 1/3 c juice. Set cherries and juice aside.

In saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; stir in reserved juice until smooth. Add cherries. Cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat; stir in butter, extract and food coloring. Cool to room temperature; spread over cream cheese layer. Garnish with sweetened whipped cream, if desired. Makes 10-12 servings.

Today I am going to write about a hodge podge of things, but this is what I have been up to since my last post.

Friday we (A and I) had our morning stamping of cards with my sons girlfriend (J) and her mom (K). It is always a great time of creating! Last week (K) and her sister (T) had come to stamp. T wasn't able to be with us this week, but sent a couple of card ideas. One was for a criss-cross card that she had found on a website that I have listed under my favorites in the left margin of the blog, Splitcoast Stampers. Here are a few that I tried my hand at:

Saturday night we went to a Bluegrass Festival in Fairview and got to listen to some really great groups! We got to hear our old favorites: Dara and The Noxie Ridge Boys, and Pastense. However, I had never heard the last group that played, Judy Coder and Pride of the Prairie. They were awesome! Check them out at the following website: ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EFqKVSJ19o

I also got to see the most wonderful sunset, wished I would have had my camera. There was a storm that was building all around us that evening, but never really developed where we were. However, the results were an awesome sunset.

Saturday, was my nieces 7th birthday! Grandma had seen the peacock watermelon that I had carved earlier in the month, and had said that J was going to have a lua birthday party (on Sunday), and wouldn't it be neat to have something carved out of a watermelon, for that event. So, I tried my hand at a whale!

I found the cool little water spray thing at Hobby Lobby. You can't really tell but it is glittery, blingy sequins, (J loves bling) thought it was the perfect touch to this whimsical little guy!
Monday, we really needed to get the cherries on our dwarf cherry tree picked. The kids did this while I and Catfishin weeded flower beds and planted some other flowers we had obtained from a friend. Last year we didn't have any cherries or pears. We had a late freeze last year that damaged a lot of fruit bearing trees in our area. However, I think this year, the little tree made up for what we lacked last year! They picked at least a half a bussel off the tree last night, and there were still more on there. The Bassmaster had picked about 3 quarts last week, and there is probably that much, if not more on the tree that we will need to pick by the weekend! I usually freeze 2 cups of pitted, cherries in little freezer bags. I try not to use them up in the summer time so that we can have a treat through the winter. Although, I think I only had one or two bags left at the start of this season. I usually make cherry crisp with them, and we serve it with ice cream. Yesterday, I found a Cherry Cheese Pizza recipe that I am anxious to try! The cheese as in cream cheese. It is like a fruit pizza type recipe. I'll try it tonight, and let you know!

Last night I also made Jambalaya. We had not had this since we had been at my mom's, almost two years ago this Christmas. We of course had fresh shrimp in that, which always tastes better than frozen. But, that's all I had for our recipe. I got this recipe off of the American Diabetes Association website. I altered it a little, and will alter it a little more when I make it again, but of course Catfishin and Bassmaster loved it. Musician and I weren't real crazy about it the first time we tried it, and still weren't this time, but we ate it. And usually, I like anything that is a little on the weird side. I think the shrimp I used were too big, and I used too many. I would have used maybe one more chicken breast and a little less shrimp. Mine turned out thick, the way the guys like it! So, here is my altered recipe of how I will make it the next time:

Jambalaya

1T. canalo or corn oil

1lg onion chopped

1 yellow or orange pepper, cored and chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

20 oz. (2cans) - Rotel tomatoes, undrained

5c. low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth (don't use bouillon-too salty)

6 oz. Tomatoe paste

1 1/2 t. thyme

1/2t. black pepper

1/2t. cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

8 drops hot pepper sauce

1 1/2 c. uncooked long grain rice

1 c. polish sausage sliced into bite size pieces

1c. boneless, skinless chicken breast cooked (I cooked mine in Pampered Chef Cajun seasoning)

6 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined

1. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, sprinkle with Cajun seasoning, cook until no longer pink in middle.

2. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the onion, pepper, and garlic. Saute over medium heat until softened.

3. Add tomato paste, tomatoes and liquid, the chicken and the rest of your spices. Add the rice; cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Add polishs saugsage, continue cooking, covered, for 10-15 minutes, or until rice absorbs the liquid. Stir occassionally. Add the shrimp for the last 3 minutes or so of cooking. Be sure to remove the bay leaf before serving.

We had homegrown corn on the cob with this. Then for desert, Musician had made Amish Friendship Bread for the first time, by herself, no help from me, it was great!!!

A little update on the Prayer Journals. I have officially punched out 1,000 scalloped circles! We made 60 Prayer Journals for the Frazzled Female study, then Musician belongs to a discipleship group of Youth girls on Thursday nights and they saw their adult leaders Prayer Journals, so one of the leaders contacted me about doing this with the D-group of girls. There are about 20 in that group. They'll be making theirs this Thursday night. Then my stepmom has a group of ladies at her church that are getting together for a devotional, fellowship time this Saturday, so I put together 20 for her also! How fun to have a customized Prayer Journal of your own!!! Each one that the ladies have made used the same materials, but were made to the specifics of the indivdual.

As you can see, we are really enjoying our summer! This is also probably why I have just finished one book for my summer reading selection, to Musician almost being through with her 4th book, and one of those books being over 500 pages! Wow! I think she has finally become my reader!!!

I am going to leave you with this thought for the day:

When God becomes our total trust,

We humbly accept our portion and our cup.

We accept what He has allowed in the past.

We accept what He has allowed today.

And we give all our tomorrows to Him.

Finally, our contentment will become an act of worship.

Linda Dillow (Calm My Anxious Heart)

What a great time all 42 of the ladies had this past week starting our new Bible study, the Frazzled Female! The prayer journal craft project, was an activity that was designed to encourage interaction of the ladies involved in each Bible study. That is exactly what happened!Some of the ladies picked up friendships right where they had left off the last time they were together, and then it also helped to spark some new friendships! I was so blessed, to see two groups of ladies this week, the Wednesday night group and one of the Thursday afternoon groups. I think I love Women's Ministry, every bit as much as I do Children's Ministry!!

"To everything there is a season." Ecc. 3:1

I was the cook this week at our Bible study. You see, these two groups that get together on Thursday afternoons, may be doing the Frazzled Female by Cindi Wood, but we are still fashioning our time together, as we did last summer, using Betty Huizenga's idea presented in the Apple's of Gold mentoring program. (See website listed under my favorite websites, to the right.)

The idea behind this is: Titus 2:3-5, "Likewise teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

This program is about women of all ages getting together outside the church walls, in someones home, to fellowship, by watching a food demonstration, then setting down to eat a meal together, then having a time of Bible study and prayer. There are six leaders that coordinate cooking, leading the Bible lesson, greeting the ladies as they arrive, and a clean-up team. The other ladies are totally pampered for 2 1/2 hours! Those with children are blessed doubly with FREE childcare. A fellow church member, and some of the Youth from the church watch the children, while their mom's are at Bible study. These two locations are close to one another, but not at the same house. In this way the mom's can really feel like they are getting away for the afternoon! To be encouraged and rejuvenated, when they get back together. Prayerfully not to Frazzled any longer!

Anyway, this was my week to cook, so, like I had said in an earlier post, I was going to use my roaster oven to cook pizza! I made two veggie pizzas that we actually cooked in the oven. Then I demonstrated a smaller pizza to put into the roaster oven. It worked! It cooked the dough evenly, and even browned the sides and tops of the pizza. The only drawback with cooking a pizza in the roaster oven, is that it can only be either a pizza that is 9" in diameter, or one that is baked in a 9x13 pan or cookie sheet. I used a Pampered Chef medium bar pan. I also tried my hand at carving a watermelon into a peacock! Yes, I'm a little weird. But really it was fun, and it didn't take any time at all. It took more time to scoop the watermelon out than to actually carve it! I found a "how to" video on the web and just followed the directions! Below you will find the recipes for making the veggie pizza, and the website for creating your very own watermelon peacock. Bon-Appetit!

http://www.answerbag.com/articles/video/Hollowing-Out-A-Peacock-Fruit-Centerpiece/8253c07c-0f51-adb4-7120-f9bc376d3a0d

Centerpiece/8253c07c-0f51-adb4-7120-f9bc376d3a0d

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1 t. white sugar 1 T. olive oil

1 1/2 c warm water (110 degrees) 1 t. salt

1 T. active dry yeast 2 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy. (I did this step in the pan of my bread machine.)

Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour, until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (I do all of this in the bread machine, letting the bread machine do all the work for me, I know, I'm lazy. I just set the bread machine on dough setting, rather than bake.)

When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crusts, or leave whole to make one thick crust. (I can get 3 - 12" pizza's out of this recipe. However, it is thin crust, but the sides are a little thick.) Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan or I use a baking stone. (I just roll my pizza dough out onto a baking stone, then let it rise for 20-30 minutes, it becomes a little thicker). Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as my homemade sauce from the recipe that follows this one, cheese, meats, or vegetables. (When I made this for the Bible study group, I used sauce, feta cheese with tomato and basil, fresh spinach torn in pieces, fresh mushrooms, whole canned tomatoes that I cut to the thickness I wanted - Romas have been contaminated with salmonella lately- then mozzarella cheese.)

Bake for 16-20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top. (Same temp. but may need to cook just a tad bit longer in a roaster oven. Awesome! You can make gourmet pizza while camping now!!!)

Pizza Sauce

1T. olive oil

1/2 a small, finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 - 8oz. can tomato sauce

1 - 6oz. can tomato paste

1 1/2 t. basil

1 1/2 t. parsley

1 t. oregano

1/4 t. black pepper

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil, until tender. Add remaining ingredients, stir well. Simmer 10 minutes. (Side note: If using fresh herbs, you will need to triple the amount of herbs you are using. Check out this website to find out more: http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftapr03.htm )

You have to try this pizza, even if you are not a feta lover, or spinach lover. You really will enjoy this pizza! After all fresh herbs are natural antioxidants - especially when home grown and no pesticides are used, and leafy greens life the spinach are high in fiber.

Nutritional Facts/Spinach

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2626/2