Raspberries

We received a call from our neighbor ("Neighbor Jim" as Amelia calls him) to come pick raspberries!  So...we did.

Amelia quit after she got pricked by a thorn.  After that she ran around telling me which ones to pick. 

And now I will admit...I never have made anything with fresh raspberries...never.  Thank goodness for Pinterest and All Recipes :)  I had to whip up something fast as it was getting late and desserts late don't really go over big with Amelia.  Correction...they don't go over big with Mom and Dad who like to go to sleep early. 

So, here is what I came up with: 

 One for us and one for Neighbor Jim.

I already had a pie crust in the fridge that I was just about to put in the freezer.  

Raspberry Chocolate Tart

1 pie pastry (for a 9 inch pie)

1 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups raspberries, rinsed and dried

Sifted powdered sugar

- Divide your pastry into 2 balls (you wouldn't have to unless you were giving one away like I was) and roll into circle.  Fluke edges anyway you wish or just tuck under like I did. 

- Prick pastry with fork

-Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 10-12 min or until golden brown. 

- Cool completely (I always have a hard time with this as it requires patience).

- Microwave chocolate and condensed milk in medium, microwaveable bowl for 1 minute. Stir.  Microwave at additional 10-sec intervals stirring until smooth.

- Stir in vanilla.

- Spread over COOLED crust and refrigerate for a few minutes until chocolate is set. 

- Arrange raspberries over chocolate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  

Ta da.

p.s.  I saw heart versions of the above using the whole pie crust...however, I was on a time restraint AND making two and really didn't think Jim wanted a heart shaped dessert. :)

So, Amelia got her dessert...and....she took off all the raspberries and ate the now Chocolate Tart.  Thankfully, and unlike her aversion to all veggies, she likes ALMOST all fruit.  Lil' stinker. 

 Now we are I am hooked on raspberries and when another neighbor stopped by (we will call her Neighbor Renee), I told her of Jim's raspberries.  She and her husband are my main source of gardening advice for our arctic climate and she said she had TONS of them and would I want a few plants.  Would I want a few plants??? OF COURSE!  

Walked down, picked them up (chatted a lot of course) and planted that day!  Now I am in the midst of making a "The Raspberry Patch" sign.  Found a great spot in the garden and had a few extra blocks from our steps that I used. 

Here they are on a cloudy day (not sure when the sun would be out so snapped a couple pics regardless).  Couldn't go much lower to get a better shot as that is where the "wilderness" of fireweed is and a steep slope.

More happenings: 

Thanks to another new favorite blog,  Cozy.Cottage.Cute. for mentioning these AWESOME books (Printsagram) that I immediately ordered for my favorite Instagram pics.  They came today and I LOVE THEM!  I bought the spiral bound, the 3 mini's and 2 sets of stickers. Perfect little book of your instagrams! 

Seriously, that small and cute.

Very easy to order as well and they have lots more designs and products that I will now go back to and order more.

Lastly,  Rob was gone for a few days to the North Slope (aka Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean) brrrrr.

Whenever he goes somewhere we have a camp out.  This time we actually broke out the sleeping bags!  Amelia LOVES sleeping bags...hers is still out in front of the TV.  Did our nails, ate popcorn, watched Bugs Bunny and gave ourselves tattoos :)  

One word:  Fun.  

Have a great Labor Day!  We plan on no labor that day :) Well...except my raspberry sign. 

Summer Continues

Summer continued with another tag-a-long trip with Rob to the Kenai.  August is the rainy month in Alaska, so we came prepared, however, the first day we barely needed a jacket for a stroll on the beach for some good ole rock throwing and shell hunting.

We stayed for nearly two hours.

Off we went to the Visitor Center which houses a small museum and bookstore.  We stayed to watch a movie on Alaska that Amelia said was "awesome".  Getting hungry, we trekked out to find a place to eat along the Historic Kenai Trail...where we found The Burger Bus!  Amelia's two favorite things...a school bus and hot dogs!  Amelia zonked out in the car while I drove around trying to find new adventures.  

The Salmon were running so I thought I would attempt to get a few fishing pics at the mouth of the Kenai River..no luck as I would have had to leave Amelia in the car to hike down to the lucky fishing spots.  Oh well...maybe on the way home and her awake.   

Apparently there are a few herds of caribou.  Didn't see any, except for the sign :)  
Santa...come on! Keep your  reindeer at bay!  

The next day after an evening of swimming in the hotel pool (we did this EVERY day ... she is quite the pool lover), the rain returned.

No matter!  We headed to the Soldotna Playground...the best  playground ever!  Uh...it was closed...due to recent bear activity.  Sigh.  

No matter again!  We headed to the Moose is Loose Bakery!  Where the donuts are delicious and they told us a mom and cubs were romping thru the area and the reason why our beloved playground was closed.  The playground sits right where the river takes a bend and I guess it is a favorite place to catch fish for fisherman and bear alike.  

We did some shopping and found a unicorn for sale!  Actually a stuffed half horse that the taxidermist figured he would turn into a magical creature and sell for $2,500.  Hmm...not magical enough for us.  Amelia kept asking where the body was and I was just kinda creeped out. :)  

Next morning, after dropping Dad off to work again,  Amelia did some busy work and watched the Disney channel ... until the pool opened at 9am (LOVES the pool!) 

Dinner at St. Elias Brewing Company one evening for pizza (slow with the food, but delicious!) then Buckets Sports Grill  where they taped Amelia's drawing to the wall!  How exciting!!  Food was so so, but with 8 different TV's, we watched a great game of the Little League World Series.

Next... the Challenger Learning Center.  I was told prior it is really not for 3 year olds, but give it a try.  Actually, it was more for school groups to come learn in classroom settings.  Nevertheless, Amelia found magnets and was occupied for  a good hour. 

More swimming.  

Then headed home.  Not the pic I wanted, but did get a shot of what most come to the Kenai for...salmon fishing. 

Next day...THE FAIR!

It says something  when asked if he really is up for the Fair after a week of travel and work, my loves to stay at home husband says YES, OF COURSE.  I mean really something.  He actually likes the Fair.  Yes...seriously...he likes it. It helps to have a daughter who loves it too and that it is the AK fair and nothing bigger. 

First up the merry go round where she sat on a bench. 

Silly girl.

Games.  She won a pixie stix and a duck princess key chain and carried them around the entire time. Then dad got her a purple balloon after I just got her a green one...she likes purple he said...and another purple one from Taco Bell booth...mom carried all of them.

Their beloved Farm Building...cookie making and petting zoo.

Cabbage and Zucchini.  Why she is smiling so big, I have no idea as she eats neither, but would love to eat her pixie stix.

Too much fun. 

Lets go home. 

Some Days We Just Like To Make Stuff

I have an extensive list of projects.  One I crossed off my list this past week...woo hoo.

Amelia's Summer Scrapbook.

The problem...it was from 2012. :P  

Since I am a collector of pamphlets, brochures and ticket stubs, I figured doing a quick album of our Summer travels would be a fun day or so project.  I just got carried away.

GOOD NEWS:  Now I got the idea...this years summer scrapbook should be completed that much quicker...eh...I think.  Stay tuned. 

Another project is almost completed.  My niece Katie's daughter Olivia's 2nd birthday bash invite.  Used her dog as the theme and dolled her up in Powerpoint...complete with a bone.  Only need to finish making the envelopes and can check that off the list too.  Quite cute I think!

Oh...have I mentioned we love the 

Knee Hi Class at the Eagle River Nature Center? 

Even with the clouds, I knew it was going to be a great class as we saw this big guy just before entering the center.  There were actually 2 males munching on leaves...probably ready to fight at a moments notice. 

Every Wednesday her backpack waits at the door.  Usually filled with binoculars, her ladybug magnifying glass, a hat, a toy phone and her lunch. 

This week they learned the art of Salmon Printing.  Ms. Ute said it began as a Japanese custom to prove how large a fish was really caught.  There wasn't a real fish for this project...but a rubbery one was just as cool.

For this project they used fabric paint (pink sparkly that Amelia loved) and strips of cloth.  A dot of black for the eye and we headed outside for our hike, letting the salmon prints dry, to get a glimpse of the real thing.  The Salmon had returned to the Nature Center! The kids saw them swimming by and their heads and fins popping up every so often.  

A bear sign was posted for the Albert Loop trail...alerting all  that the trail was closed. The bears have been waiting for this day to arrive all summer :)  

Funny thing I have noticed.  There are 2 ways to hike this short circle trail down to the Salmon Viewing Deck and back...to the Right or to the Left... and we have done both.  Amelia gets VERY whiney at the end if we go to the left first.  If we go to the right first, she makes it all the way around in a relatively jovial mood...as do the other kids.

I now know the reason...it is more uphill on the way back if you go to the Left.  To the Right (although still uphill), not as steep.  

Left = Grumpier for sure :)

She even went into the hollow tree (usually only looks at it).  
Yes, that's a fashion scarf (mine to be exact) and new sparkly hello kitty shoes.  What you don't see is the purse she is carrying on her left shoulder. Yep...she is all about nature.

She got to keep one of the Salmon Prints and when we got home we were inspired to make some of our own prints.  

We have been gathering leaves like crazy for our leaf press, so we grabbed a few more for our painting project that afternoon. 

We used acrylic on watercolor paper.  Worked like a charm.  You do need a clean piece of newspaper to put the painted leaf on so you get a clean print. (I kept forgetting this step :P)

Can you say "Awesome"?

We dabbled with Dot Paint Markers.
Hmmm...what else can we paint? 

Yep ... great day.

And here is the book we put together of all our prints!  
Made one for Ms. Ute too.

AND ...

Our first strawberries in the strawberry patch!!!

She got to eat the very first one.

And another big Milestone...

Her first trip to the movies...to see Planes!

Popcorn...Jr. Mints...and half way thru the movie....goodnight.  Still...she was very excited :)