Insomniatic Jam

It was a productive bout with insomnia about a week ago. Not so much tonight. Oh well, I'll just eat the jam instead of make it this time. :)

Strawberry Freezer Jam made at 1:00 am

It's tradition! May wouldn't be May without freezer jam.

Brownie Pecan Pie

I wish I could take credit for this brilliant idea, but I saw it on TV one late, insomniatically charged night. Some chef was helping this woman with 1600 kids make a homemade dinner and this was their dessert. It looked so easy that I had to try it.

Here's how I made it:

Ingredients

• Box of brownie mix
• oil, water, eggs as directed on the box of brownie mix
• 1/2 cup more water
• Pecans
• Pie crust

Directions

Combine brownie mix, oil, and water (all of it!) in a bowl and pour into the prepared pie crust. Put the pecans on top and bake in the oven as directed on the brownie mix box, but add about 10-15 extra minutes. It maybe more or less depending on your area so keep an eye on it. When it starts to look like brownies do when they're done and/or a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean then you can take it out of the oven.

Play around with it. Let me know what you do. I think this would be good with some raspberries or maybe even some coconut  flavoring? Hmm....chocolate goes with so many things...

We Love it Outside

My family loves it outside so much that we took a trip to the river to cook some hotdogs and roast marshmallows. We explored and ate our first s'mores of the season. It was fantastic.

I love summer.

Backpost Series Post 3: April

Ah, April.

The beginning of melting snow and warm months. The sun feels really nice after the cold, dark winter. Also, the moose use our property less in the summer. Added bonus for me! :)

In the last installment of the Backpost Series, I'm sharing the month of April with you.

Check it out!

A Case for the Nook

This lucky girl got a Nook (electronic reader in case you're like me and had to look it up the first time you heard about it) for this past Christmas. I've been needing a case for it and decided to sew my own instead of drop $30 buying one from the store.

I just adapted that good old reversible pouch tutorial (again) to fit my new favorite gadget. 

See that? I'm sewing a zipper. After that first zipper, it's all gravy. I was intimidated by zippers and then I sewed one on a bag. Sure, you have to pay attention when you're doing it, but I already do that to avoid sewing over my fingers--hey, it's a totally real possibility; I've come pretty close a few times over the years. Don't get me wrong. Mistakes are still made, stitches are still pulled, and swear words are still uttered.

But zippers aren't as scary as I originally thought they were.

From start to finish, it took me about 3 hours to complete with my somewhat proficient sewing skills and my should have been tuned up 5 years ago sewing machine.

Here's what I came out of the whole deal with:

The hard case for the Nook pictured above was gifted to me with the Nook (minus the mushroom sticker which I added to make it more my style), but I wanted something soft to protect my precious in addition to the hard case. This fits those wants quite nicely.

Don't be scuurd. Try it out for yourself! Then stop by here and share your creations with me. I'd love to see them!