Snowman in July-Christmas in July part 1

We are coming up on our one year arrival into our new home. Moving last year at the end of July - in Arkansas- hot and sweaty work indeed. One of the guest rooms was used to store unpacked boxes for a few months. Funny- I am not embarrassed about that- we were also starting our first year homeschooling last year as well - just shortly after moving in..... so getting to those non-essential boxes was not high on my list to do. Also-not a priority was decorating for the holidays.... this year I promise to be much better decorating - plus - I have a very eager helper in getting ready - how much longer will that last !!???!!!

Okay- enough with my ranmbling commentary. First up for project Christmas in July- adding some seasonal color to Lauren's yellow, lime, orange, yellow and pink bathroom. Got the idea from another friend on a sewing forum- Bridget- when she made the cutest santa's out of of her precious colors handprints-we will do that later as well. Instead of a Santa- we made a snowman- by painting an artist canvas with the selected colors and adding buttons for details. We will be on the lookout for a little metal or feather tree to add to the bathroom as well as a few more of these canvas' for fall and Christmas along with some embroidered towels. Lauren's patience was tested as she had to wait for the paint colors to dry with each application-she was way to anxious to get this completed.

Our snowman is embracing somewhat of a minimalist style- sans hat and scarf -both for fashion sense and necessity-Lauren reminded me that we lose a great deal of body heat through our heads and if he was sporting a hat and scarf he was in danger of becoming a slushman and we just cannot have that.

Grandma Jean and Clint duet

My husband's family assembled together at his parent's farm in Northwest Arkansas. Over sixty of us attended. Some of the family brought their instruments to play- Grandma Jean played the accordion and Cliff's twin brother- Clint played the fiddle. Lots of fun and hand cranked ice cream rounded out the day and even the weather was very pleasant considering we are in Arkansas.

Easy Cherry Cake

I have a friend who does not cake much- she wanted to make a cake from scratch and was concerned about making a layered cake and did not wish to make a sheet cake either.

This is the recipe I sent her- a simple one layer cake with a cherry glaze on top- simple and rustic and soooo easy and good!!!

1 cup ap flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 large eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 TB butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 (14.5 oz) can tart cherries, drained and reserve juice

Glaze

2 ½ TB cornstarch
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract


For the cake: place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350. Spray 9 inch cake pan with Pam. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a med bowl; whisk eggs and vanilla in a small bowl.

With a mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy; about 2 minutes. Reduce speed and add flour and egg mixture alternately in two batches, beating on low until combined. Gently fold in drained cherries and pour into pan-bake 30-35 minutes- toothpick in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan.

Combine reserved juice, cornstarch, sugar and almond extract in small saucepan and stir over medium heat until just bubble- about 4 minutes. pour over cooled cake.

Cliff requested a fresh cherry pie with lattice cream cheese pie crust. I am not proficient at rolling out the dough- much less weaving the strips. You can see that I cheated making the lattice- just laid them across each other and did not weave them-next time I will chill the dough strips before picking them up to weave. It's nice to know my husband has confidence in my abilities.

The cherries had to be pitted by hand- Williams Sonoma- my best chance at finding a pitter- was sold out of them. So I pitted 3 pounds of cherries by hand. Took quite a few hand washings to get all the stains from our my cuticles. Good thing I love my husband.

The pie was delicious and the cream cheese was a nice addition to the crust- good flavor and very flaky. And- Hubby was most thankful and commented several times on how much better this pie was instead of using canned filling and the addition of cream cheese to the crust.

I have to add- we do not often eat such decadent desserts- but my husband had a cherry pie craving and it was father's day.

Water Balloon Fight

The temperature was just a bit under 100 when the girls said they were sooooo hot. They spotted the helium tank and balloons in the garage and decided to have a balloon fight- I had to laugh when I realized how they interpreted an actual water balloon fight.

Olive bread from Marcy Goldman's Passion for baking.  Usually, I am not a big fan of olives, but baked inside this tender bread- I am a HUGE fan- the recipe made two large loaves- absolute perfection.  Will experiment next time with a variety of black olives - even if I have to pit them myself. 

Katie's Dance Recital

This Sunday past, cousin Katie, performed in a dance recital.  She was dressed as a cute little mouse, complete with tail and ears.  They were super adorable and Katie knew her stuff- especially the little hip shake part- it was really cute to watch.  Lauren, my dad, Judy, Sam, Jennifer, Becky, McKenzie, Katie and myself watched the two plus hour recital at UALR- Lauren was tickled about being on a college campus for the first time. 

Here are a few pictures of the girls together- the darkend auditorium was hard to phototgraph- the photos were very blurry-sorry there are none to share from the actual dance.