October Berries ~ A Fantastic Country Raspberry Pie

*This is my actual pie--Isn't she purdy :-)
With fall underway, I find myself missing the fresh berries of summer. There is one berry, however, that is harvested into October and continues to be readily and deliciously available at the grocery store-- The Raspberry.

My mom and I both enjoy a gem of a magazine titled COUNTRY. Not to be confused with COUNTRY LIVING and other decorator magazines, COUNTRY magazine is simply an organic look at true country living. Real people on real farms send in their stories, photography and recipes and I study each page like a kid reading a holiday toy catalog!

I enjoyed some farm fresh raspberries on my parents farm in August. I also enjoyed one of the best raspberries pies I've ever tasted.  I came across this Very Raspberry Pie recipe in a summer issue of COUNTRY, and the moment I saw it, I knew this pie was going to be special. Kathy Jones of West Winfield, New York submitted her Very Raspberry Pie recipe made from the raspberries she picks along a 130-year-old train track. The flavors in this easy pie are pure, fresh and delicious.

Quite frankly, this one knocked my socks off! Hope you love it to.

Very Raspberry Pie
by Kathy Jones

Raspberry Topping:
6 cups fresh raspberries, divided
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Cream Filling:
1 pkg. (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup whipped topping
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 graham cracker crust (9 in.) *I use the recipe on the graham cracker box.

1. Mash about 2 cups raspberries to measure 1 cup; place in a small saucepan. Add the sugar, cornstarch and water. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Strain to remove berry seeds if desired. (I skipped this step). Cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

2. For the filling, beat the cream cheese, whipped topping and confectioners' sugar in a small bowl. Spread in bottom of crust.

3. Top with remaining raspberries. Pour cooled raspberry sauce over top. Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.

4.  Store in the refrigerator. Garnish with fresh mint if desired.


~The Lemonista

Shades of Grey ~ French Farmhouse Chalkboard Tutorial

Don'tcha just love chalkboards? There's something so vintage and nostalgic about them. Chalkboards have lovely shades of grey that fit the rustic elegant farmhouse style popping up in so many magazines and catalogs. You can reinvent your chalkboard design daily, so no worries getting tired of the look. And with the new chalkboard paints on the market, they're an inexpensive way to decorate just about any wall. . So if you have wall space that you'd like to give that vintage feel for cheap, listen up, cuz I've got the project for you!

This chalkboard is made from a slab hollow closet door bought at the Home Depot for $28.  I had a large wall to fill so I bought the largest closet door available. It measures 80" x 36". Like I said--BIG.
Since I used a slab door, there were no pre-drilled holes to worry about, so this door was purchased prepped and ready to paint! Yay! Here are the paints I used:


The paints cost $10 each. I used three coats of magnetic paint and then two coats of chalkboard paint.
I found the magnetic paint difficult to work with, and honestly, I wouldn't bother with it again. The chalkboard paint, however, went on like a dream!


Working in my art studio, aka the garage, I elevated the closet door on a couple of drink coolers (yes folks, it's pretty high tech around here). I used a foam roller to paint and I followed the directions on the cans for drying times between coats.


Once the paint had dried I brought my new chalkboard into the entry hall. It had to cure for a couple of days (per directions on the paint can) then I needed to rub the entire chalkboard surface with white chalk . Now my chalkboard was ready to rock!


Using a stud finder I screwed two large wood screws (about 3" long)
into studs on either side of the wall. Then I mounted D-rings on the back of the chalkboard, using plastic anchors, since the door is hollow and I didn't want the little screws pulling through from the weight.
Finally, I hung the D-rings on the back of the chalkboard on the screw heads mounted into the studs.

The chalkboard looked nice just like this but I couldn't resist a little more flair.

I added two antique reproduction cast iron Fleur De Lis soap dishes found on etsy by Alacartcreations. Aren't they the cutest chalk holders you've ever seen! Since my chalkboard is made of wood, I just screwed them right into the board. Grin.


Better, but it still needed more pizazz.
I thought about topping the chalkboard with some type of molding, sort of like a crown, and came across the perfect wall plaque at Ballard Designs.

The Pruvost Plaque was exactly the shape I had in mind and it even came in an 80" width! But at $269 plus shipping, the price was a little more than I wanted to spend, so I did the only thing a girl could do--I searched the net for knock-off blog tutorials to make my own plaque.

Here is the best tutorial I found:
Ballard Wall Plaque Knock Off Tutorial

Then I drew a pattern on brown craft paper. Once I had the design I wanted, and my instructions in hand, I knew it was time to solicit my retired father for help. Grin.


I printed up the knock-off tutorial above and shipped Dad my pattern. Next, I explained to my Dad that I wanted the wood to have a weathered grey look, so he stole a few of my mom's boards from the horse pasture fence, tee-hee (sorry Mom).
*Weathered boards from old wood pallets would also work well to achieve this look, or you could just stain some new boards. Wink.

When I got my wall plaque back from Dad, I was almost speechless (almost). It turned out even more fabulous than I could have imagined and added the perfect finishing touch to my new chalkboard.


I am in LOVE with my chalkboard wall!


I find myself doodling new pictures and messages all the time.




The best part is you can re-create this chalkboard and decorate a LARGE wall on a budget!
Slab closet door: $28
Chalk board paint: $10
Mounting hardware: $6
Cast iron soap dish: $21 each

Wood plaque: Cost of materials (which was free for me since we used boards from an old fence).




Hope this post inspires you to give a chalkboard project a try.

~The Lemonista

Linked to Feathered Nest Friday
Linked to At The Picket Fence
Linked to Show of Saturday
Linked to Project Queen

Rainbow Jello, aka Seven Layer Jello Salad

• Want to make people smile? Want the perfect summer treat to delight grown-ups and kids alike? Then feast your eyes on this jiggling blast from the past. 

• Yep. The one, the only--Seven Layer Jello Salad.
•   
• Perfect for Birthday parties, picnics, and barbecues, this cool sweet Jello salad somehow completes a big summer gathering. My great-aunt Zelva would make this for every Pennsylvania family reunion. I loved the rainbow colors and creamy tutti frutti flavor as a kid and would load up my plate. As an adult, I still love it and I'm so glad to have great-aunt Zelva's recipe. Making this brings back memories of lazy sunny days, relaxing on lounge chairs in green summer grass, while chatting with family members, who are now long gone. 
• 
  
• Seven Layer Jello Salad
• 
  
• 1 (3 ounce) package lime gelatin
• 1 (3 ounce) package lemon gelatin
• 1 (3 ounce) package orange gelatin
• 1 (3 ounce) package cherry gelatin
• 4 cups boiling water, divided
• 2 1/2 cups cold water, divided
• 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 
  
• Dissolve lime gelatin in one cup of boiling water. Stir in ½ cup cold water. Pour into 9”x13”x2” glass baking dish.  Refrigerate until set.

In a small saucepan, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over ½ cup cold water. Let stand for 1 minute. Stir in milk and sugar. Cook and stir over medium heat until gelatin and sugar are dissolved. Remove from the heat. Whisk in sour cream and vanilla until smooth.

Spoon 1 ½ cups creamy gelatin mixture over the first flavored layer. Chill until set. ***HINT: You do not want your extra creamy mixture to set while you’re waiting for the fruit layers to set. I leave my creamy filling on the kitchen counter and stir it before layering it on each time until it is used up.

Prepare lemon flavor gelatin as directed for lime gelatin. Alternately layer flavored gelatin with creamy gelatin layers, allowing each to set before adding the next layer. Top with cherry gelatin. Refrigerate overnight. Cut into squares. Serve with a spatula right out of the glass dish.

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

Peach Sweet Rolls

The power of suggestion.

That's all it took to send my tail spinning down the path of the dark side to these mouth watering peach sweet rolls.

 

My amazingly gifted friend, Dustin Hansen, innocently posted on Facebook, "What if cinnamon rolls and peach cobbler had a baby? " And that did it. That got me searching the Internet for recipes and rummaging through my pantry for ingredients. 

The result--quite possibly my favorite breakfast treat of all time. I made 12 of these delicious peach rolls. TWELVE. And my family of 4 (two under the age of 8) inhaled them all. It was a peachy feeding frenzy. Seriously, once these rolls touch your lips--it's over. So consider yourself warned. 

The core ingredient of this recipe is good peach jam. I make my own, and honestly, it's not difficult. So if you have access to fresh peaches, click on this link for my easy Peach Jam Tutorial. If fresh peaches are not within your grasp, or you're shaking your head sayin', There's no way I'm making my own jam, Erin, then try your best to get your hands on some good peach jam at a farmer's market. I did find Pearson Farm online sells their own peach jam. I haven't ordered from them, but it looks yummy! I'm sure if you look around, you can find jam somewhere.

Peach Sweet Rolls
Allow one loaf of frozen Rhodes bread dough, white or whole wheat, to thaw in the refrigerator over night.
Butter a 9"x13" glass baking dish.
Roll out your thawed dough to around a 9"x13" rectangle.

Rub rolled out dough with 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon over the butter.

Spread a generous 1/2 cup good peach jam on your dough, over the cinnamon and butter.

Roll everything up into a long tube-like jelly roll.

Slice your roll into 12 equal coins.

Place coins sliced side up into your buttered 9"x13" baking dish.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise in a warm place until rolls are double in size.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15-18 min or until tops of rolls are golden.

Remove rolls from oven and immediately spread peach icing (recipe to follow) over the top.








Peach Sweet Rolls
1 loaf Rhodes frozen bread dough, thawed
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup good peach jam

• Butter a 9"x13" glass baking dish. 
• Roll out your thawed dough to around a 9"x13" rectangle.
• Rub rolled out dough with 1 tablespoon melted butter. 
• Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon over the butter. 
• Spread a generous 1/2 cup good peach jam on your dough, over the cinnamon and butter.
• Roll everything up into a long tube-like jelly roll. 
• Slice your roll into 12 equal coins.
• Place coins sliced side up into your buttered 9"x13" baking dish. 
• Cover with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise in a warm place until rolls are double in size. 
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15-18 min or until tops of rolls are golden. 
• Remove rolls from oven and immediately spread peach icing (recipe to follow) over the top. 
• Serve warm :-)

Peach Icing
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons half & half
1 tablespoon peach jam
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

• Whip butter, cream, vanilla and peach jam until combined, then whip in powdered sugar.  

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

Garden Cake Tutorial

This is one of those desserts that is sure to dazzle people.
 
The cute colorful marzipan vegetables against the black Oreo cookie dirt simply delight the eye.

This cake is fantastic for a summer garden party or darling as a Peter Rabbit cake for Easter.  You can scale this cake to any size you wish and be as basic or decadent as you desire with the decorations. Here's a large version of  a garden cake I made for my daughters 5th Birthday.

Please don't be intimidated with this cake. If you can work with Play-Doh you can make these little vegetables, and you have my tutorial to help you every step of  the way, so let's go to Garden Cake School 101!

Garden Cake 101
Bake any cake you wish and allow cake to cool.  A carrot cake with cream cheese icing is especially fun for this cake, but I'm using a yellow cake today with custard filling and whipped icing.


Cut 9"X13" cake in half and stack with your favorite filling between the two layers.


Just look at that extra filling! YUM. I almost ate it myself but took pitty on one of my little helpers.

Frost cake

Pipe a decorative trim if you wish.

Add pre-made fence pickets to cake. I rolled out white fondant icing on parchment paper and used a ruler and a knife to cute my pickets.  I let them sit out for a couple of days to dry hard, but you could pipe them out of royal icing, or even bake them out of sugar cookie dough. The cake is still adorable without the pickets, so feel free to skip this step all together.



I tucked my pickets into the icing bottom trim and stick against fresh moist icing.








Remove icing from Oreo cookies and crush the cookies in a food processor to the consistency of dirt. CAREFULLY and neatly spoon Oreo cookie dirt on top of the cake.  You don't want to get any black dirt on the sides or piped edges of your cake.








Using a #133 tip (great for making grass or hair), pipe grass around the top and bottom of cake. (Optional)





Pipe decorative vines growing up the fence and embellish your cake with royal icing pansies and bugs found at Fancy Flours. (Optional)





I piped a few leaves on the vines.




Using a fork, sow your garden rows.  I like to do a grid, with my rows changing direction in each grid.




Apply your marzipan vegetables to your garden. (See vegetable tutorial below)  I like to group my vegetables in each grid, but you can arrange them any way you wish.




We added a sugar butterfly fluttering over the garden. Click here to see my post with sugared butterflies.

Stand back and look at your amazing creation.
*It was a humid rainy day when I made this cake so my pickets started to get a little wobbly/soft. I piped little dollops of frosting behind eat picket to keep them standing straight. You would not need to do this if using royal icing or sugar cookies.

Boxed up and ready to go to my daughter's teacher for Teacher Appreciation week.


Marzipan Vegetable Tutorial



These little vegetables are so fun to make. There really is no wrong way to do these. Working with marzipan is much like working with Play-Doh, only a little stickier. I found that keeping my hands slightly damp helped keep the marzipan from sticking to my skin. I also found that washing my hands with each color change with super helpful. I used gel food coloring to tint my marzipan. Remember marzipan is made from almonds, so if you have someone with a nut allergy, try making your veggies with fondant icing.

I used one tube of marzipan for the size cake I'm making today. If you are going to do a larger cake, then you will need two tubes of marzipan.


Purple Cabbage or Lettuce
Tint some marzipan with your food coloring but don't blend the color all of the way. Use purple for cabbage and light green for lettuce. You want some white spots left to make the leaves look lifelike.


Roll some marzipan in a small ball.



Pinch little pieces of marzipan between your fingers to shape petals


Apply petals in a circular pattern around your ball until you get your desired size cabbage.








Carrots
Tint some marzipan orange.


Roll with one finger to make a carrot shape.


Using a toothpick or a blunt knife, score lines around your carrot.


Poke a whole in the top of your carrot and add a little green marzipan leaf.




CornTint marzipan golden yellow and roll into shape of an ear of corn.


Using a knife mark you ear of corn with a grid pattern to make kernels.


Pinch small amount of green marzipan to make two leaves and apply one to each side of your ear of corn.




Tomato & Pumpkins
Tint some marzipan red and roll into a tiny ball. (Use orange for a pumpkin and make your ball larger)

Puncture a little hole on top and make 5 little lines. (Score the lines from top to bottom if making a pumpkin).

Roll little squiggle stems out of green marzipan and push them into the top of your tomato.


Watermelon
Roll an oval out of red marzipan.

Roll out a flat circle of green marzipan and wrap it around your red oval ball.






Cut your watermelon in half and add black seeds with a black food color marker (found at most art and craft or cake decorating stores).




Peas & Frogs
See my marzipan cookie tutorial to learn how to make cute little peas and frogs! The peas photographed here are cookie dough. You'll be using marzipan candy and making the peas a smaller scale for a garden cake.


Your creativity is the limit with other fruits and veggies you can make. I like to make my veggies the night before I decorate the cake. Then I store them in an air tight container until I am ready to use them. It's a great project to work on while watching a movie or favorite show. 

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista