Homemade Triple Berry Fruit Strips

Yesterday my sister-in-law Rochel came over for our typical weekly domestic activity. Sometimes it has been precious sewing time, but recently it has been adventures in baking. We made cookies last time and this time we both really wanted to make dried fruit strips aka fruit roll-ups. We found the recipe on a favorite blog and decided to give it a shot.

Here we are adding the blueberry and blackberry puree into the pan of strawberry puree. Isn't that pretty? We used the Magic Bullet to blend our fruit.

Then we squeezed 1/2 a lemon and added the juice to the pan.

Next add the applesauce....and then don't forget 1/2 cup of sugar. Although the sugar is optional and I bet it would be great without it too.

Once all the ingredients are in the pan you have to get it to a boil. Then let it simmer for 30-40 minutes until it reduces down.

We poured the hot mixture onto a pan covered with parchment paper.

Smooth it out as evenly as possible.

Ta-Da!

Isn't that pretty? Well, it looks done, but now you have to bake it for 8-10 hours. Yes, you read that right, I said hours! The start time for this recipe is key. We put it in the oven at 4 pm. This meant that we would be pulling it out of the oven between midnight and 2 am. I did take it out at 1 am. So be careful. You don't want to end up waking up in the middle of the night to get your fruit out of the oven.

My daughter has been gobbling them up all day! (I have too.)

Recipe:

Approximately: 4 cups of fresh fruit (measure first, then puree)

1/2 lemon juiced

2 cups unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup sugar (optional)

Directions: Puree fruit, add all ingredients, simmer 30-40 minutes, pour in pan, bake 8-10 hours at 130 degrees, cool and cut into strips. EAT and enjoy!!!! You could share them too!

For this recipe we used 2 cups strawberries, 1 cup blueberries, and 1 cup blackberries.

Mmmm Cake!

So, no I don't really make cake all that often. This time my husband actually asked me to make a cake. I had made a beautiful dinner and then he says, "I'd really like cake. You haven't made a cake in a while." Like any other wife I whip up a yellow cake and throw on some peanut butter frosting. I used the same frosting from my previous cake post. It is sweet, but not too sweet. I have been trained in Wilton cake making and boy is that icing good, but bad, bad, bad! Since this was not going to be a fancy decorated cake I figured this frosting would be fine. So here's the recipe for the frosting. The cake is just a yellow cake mix.

Frosting:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup milk
powdered sugar
1tsp vanilla

I didn't put a measurement for the sugar because you may need to add more or less as you go. Add one cup at a time until you get a consistency you like. If I had to guess I would say I used between 3-4 cups of sugar. I wanted it to be drippy, but not watery. So this part is completely up to your personal taste.

Peanut Butter Frosting:
After you make the whole batch of frosting pour out a 1/4 of it and add a large spoonful of peanut butter and mix in until smooth. You could just add 3-4 spoonfuls to the whole batch, but I wasn't sure how my hubby would like it.

I would love to see your picctures or hear about it if you make it. It is so yummy! Thanks to my sister-in-law for finding the original icing recipe!

Just wait until you see what I made today! That will be my next post.....homemade triple berry fruit roll ups!

Ooh Ooh...PICK ME!

THIS IS SO EXCITING!
How would you like to own this Tamron lens for your DSLR camera? Well you have a chance! Go to I heart faces (Click the link above) Subcribe and enter the give away!


A Tamron 18-270mm VC
The World’s First and Only 15X Zoom Lens!
(Value $629)

As you already know I have way too many hobbies on my plate, but photography can capture all the moments we let slip by. We just got our new camera last week and I am loving it! Honestly I don't win contests, but I thought even if I don't win maybe someone I know will win. And if I can't win this awesome prize maybe you will and that will make me happy too! So go register! Also feel free to let me know of other awesome give-aways! I usually just stumble upon them when they are over!

You have until tomorrow night to get registered so don't procrastinate! If you want a shot go NOW!!!

Here's my beach photo. I wish I was there right now!

This is one of my favorite pictures from our last beach trip. I love the view of the water and her image that seems frozen in time. Truth be told she was racing to the water!

Fix it Friday: Mr. Handsome

This is the original photo.

Mr. Handsome
Mr. Handsome fix #1


Mr. Handsome fix #2

Mr. Handsome fix #3

Ooh, that was fun! I can't wait to get my new camera and start fixing my own photos!

Pink Piggies!

I fell in love with a little hot pink tutu. My daughter put it on and I got this cute picture of her pretty little toes. This picture is for I heart faces!

Petit Fores....(My first try)

Mmmm cake! Who doesn't love a new cake recipe? This recipe was a very simple and not a fancy version of the petit fore.

First, I baked a white cake in a jelly roll pan. After the thin cake was baked and cooled I sliced it in 1-2 inch squares. (The bigger squares did much better.) Once the cake is mostly cooled off you can prepare the icing. Oh, the icing is amazing! Here's the recipe so go get a pen........

Icing: 2lbs powdered sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2-3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 1/2ts vanilla.

Yep, that is it! Now let me warn you that these cakes are not the most beautiful. I am a perfectionist and it drove me crazy that these little treats were so messy and imperfect, but once you eat one you forget about the bumps and lumps. We coated the cakes 2 times for 2 reasons; the cakes were not completely covered the first time and because the icing is so yummy!

We left the cakes on the cooling racks to allow for all the drips to stop. In a perfect world I would have had the energy to make some royal icing in pretty colors and decorate them, but my 2 year old woke up and mommy's fun was over. Although we did get to eat them!!!