Summer Strawberry Pie

Happy Sunday to everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your day and you weekend!

My account got hacked into!!  So if you receive any weird messages from me, please ignore!!  I am not in China, I am not stranded, and I don't need your money.  Although I'll take it, you know, if you are giving donations or something.  :)

So today is my daddy's birthday.  I love my daddy and have always been daddy's little girl.  I am the only daughter and I think that is a good thing because I don't think I could have shared my daddy with a sister.  So today, in celebration of his birthday, I made him his favorite, strawberry pie.  Marie Calendar's style.  I don't know if Marie Calendars is a national thing or just here, but he loves their strawberry pie.  So I figured out how to make it.  Here is a Natalia original!  The full recipe is at the bottom.

You start with some lovely California Strawberries bought from a street vendor.  Yum yum.

Then you have to go through and take out all the stems.  It isn't so bad if you have a stem taker-outer thing.  And we do, so perfect!

 Then make the crust.  Any recipe will do. 

 

Lay out the crust in the pie pan and trim the edges.  Save the leftovers, I have a little recipe for those too!

 

Make the pretty outer section of the pie.  These are my mom's hands, she is better at it than me.  More practice since my dad prefers homemade crust.  Spoiled, I know.  Because I was gonna buy it and it turns out that just wasn't gonna fly.  But if you don't have a picky pie crust eater in the home, buy one made. So much easier.

 Now back to the strawberries.  Throw some in a blender with some water and puree til smooth.

 If you want to sieve the seeds out, do so now.  I don't because it takes more time and you are eating seeds anyway. 

 

Pour into a saucepan with the heat on medium high.

 Pour in the sugar and mix together.  Then add the cornstarch in a little water and the butter.

 

Heat through until boiling and the sauce thickens.  Yum...

 

Pile up those strawberries high.  As high as you can get 'em!  The more the merrier and messier to eat.  But that is what makes this so yummy, right?

 

Pour the slightly cooled strawberry sauce over the mound of strawberries.  Make sure it gets into all the cracks there and seeps through.  You want to saturate the strawberries!

 

Et Voila!!!  It's complete!  Doesn't it look to die for?  And I am gonna chow on some of this tonight.  Yum-ee.  And easy, right?  Here is the recipe.  

Puree:

1 1/2 Cup strawberries

1/4 cup water plus

1 cup of sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp butter

Puree strawberries in the blender until smooth.  Pour into saucepan.  Add sugar.  Mix cornstarch with 1/2 cup cold water and add to saucepan.  Add butter.  Stir occasionally until mixture is brought to a boil and the sauce thickens.  

Pie Crust:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup shortening

8 to 10 Tbsp water

Mix together until it forms a crumb-like mixture.  DO NOT knead.  Form dough into a circle and lay out onto floured surface.  Roll out until it will fit your pie.  Insert into the pie dish and poke holes in the dough with a fork.  Bake at 475 degrees.  Remove and let it cool.

Pile up strawberries in cooled pie crust.  Pour over the strawberry sauce until covered and the sauce has been able to seep through.  Let it cool and refrigerate.  Serve with whipped cream or by itself.  It's good either way!

 And for the extra pie crust.  Throw some butter on them then some cinamon and sugar mixed together and pop those in the oven with the pie crusts.  Same amount of time same temp is fine.  Yummy little snacks to have in the meantime!  That is a secret family recipe, so shhh don't tell!  

Hope your Sunday is great!!

Have I told you lately, that I love you?  Have I told you lately, that I care??  I don't think I have.  So today, I am telling you!  Je t'aime mes peeps!  (that is called franglais, French & English together. I'm fluent.)  I hit 200 followers yesterday!  I was so excited to come back from LA to see that I was there!  A little merci to my girl Rebecca over at My Girlish Whims for giving me a shout out on Facebook.  Whoop whoop!

So you know that this means for you all?  Besides the pure enjoyment you get from reading my blog, of course.  A giveaway!!!!  I brought back some fun stuff from Le Francais and I want to give it to one of you!!  So next week, we're doing it!  Stay tuned and tell your peeps! 

Oh and today my husband is playing his first playoff game. Yikes, I am nervous for him.  I will let you all know!

Have a great Saturday and weekend!!!

Our Life in France ~ Adjusting

So part of our oh so crazy life is something called adjusting.  We have to adjust to the country we are living in, the language that is spoken in that country, the friends that we know or meet, and the customs that are 'normal'.  Do I kiss this person?  If so, how many kisses?  I don't want to leave 'em hangin' without the appropriate number of kisses, but I also don't want to go in for more when I am supposed to be done.  Can we say awkward!  It is a huge adjustment.  It is a huge adjustment for me, so I cannot imagine what it must be like for my kids.  Especially my four-year-old who understand the differences.

"Mommy, do they speak English here?"

"Mommy, is their house close?"  (we drive far to see friends in France)

"Mommy, do they have a Mc Donald's here?"  "Yes, Tae.  Yes they do."

I got a question on one of the last posts I did (cannot remember which one or where the comment is) but she asked me how my kids did with all the adjusting.  And I thought it would be nice to document.

My boys are TROUPERS. Especially my older one.  I was, and sometimes still am, hesitant about our lifestyle.  Growing up I lived in 2 houses within the same city.  We went to the same school Kindergarten to Graduation and had a very secure life if you will.  And I am not providing that for my kids.

My travel buddy doing his own thing!

If only he did this the entire time

But what my kids will have that I don't think I got until a lot later on in life is an appreciation for other cultures and other people.  A sense that we are all to be treated fairly.  An understanding that we can be different from one another, and that is okay.  Something that we don't always have in America.  I mean, you can fly 5 hours and still be in America!  It is tough to expose your kids to more culture.  Unless you live near somewhere like LA or Miami where there are more non-Americans than there are Americans!

Walking to his first day of school. Please excuse the face, apparently I can't look normal

My son Tae was enrolled in French school this year.  Can I just have a braggy mom moment for a sec?  This kid walked into that classroom, had a little pep talk from Dad, and didn't look back.  He didn't speak a lick of the language and he handled that like nobody's business.  He is a shy boy and I know things are hard for him, but he does it.  He tries.  And that is all I can ask.

Little pep talk

Bottom line here for people who are thinking we are bad parents dragging our kids across the world like this; we love our boys.  We love our family.  We are a unit, a team, and we stick together no matter what country we live in.  So when my boys have insecurities about the language or the culture or the people, mom and dad will be there 100% telling them they are okay and that they can conquer the world if they want to.  And that is exactly what they need.

French for Hand Made

Good Morning everyone!

I haven't been able to be very crafty lately, and I am sooo sorry! I know you all have been holding your breaths waiting for the next crafty post.  So take a deep breath, it is here.  You're welcome.

So in case you missed it, heck I even missed it, this post was on Eisy Morgan last week.  She was a busy girl on vaca so I helped out with a guest post.  Since I was flying cross country the day it posted, I didn't even get to let you guys know that I was over there!  So here ya go!

As you all know,  I have been dabbling in jewelry making.  It has been a ton of fun.  Actually, I am going to Downtown LA this Friday to see what else I can get... hehe
Here is my most recent completed project. 

Ain't she puuurrty?!  I was proud.  So get out your jewelry makin' kits and let's make a necklace!  I just want to say that anyone can do this with some basic things you might have around the house.  I don't even have needle nose pliers, I just used regular ones and it was fine.  Maybe easier using the correct ones, but hey, it worked.

Here is what you need:

jump rings

charms of your choice

chain

clasp

pliers (preferably needle nose)

head pins

You are gonna love how easy this is. Cut the chain the length you want.  Make sure you keep a piece for the charms.  Attach the extra piece to a jump ring and then attach that to the necklace.  I would suggest not attaching it to a specific ring, but to the chain, so it has moveability.

Add the charms how you want them, as shown above.

I used left over pearls from a necklace that was beyond repair.  I used head pins and twisted the top to make a circle. (top right pic)  Then attach a jump ring to the circle and attach the jump ring to the chain.  Comprendo?  I tried to explain it on the pics too.

I used a pearl to be between the necklace part and the chain part.  Then I attached my charms I chose.  See you can personalize it!  I ended it with a tassel. 

So what do ya think?  I think it was super easy, and that was with using the wrong tools.  So imagine what it would be if you use the right ones!

30 before 30 List

I don't know about you guys, but money is tight.  And it is frustrating.  You know what the most frustrating part is?  That I cannot financially contribute to our lives at this point in our life.  I know that there are women out there reading this who will not understand where I am coming from.  From day one they have wanted to be a wife and a mother and when they achieved those goals, their lives were complete.  Unfortunately, I am not one of those women.  While those little girls were playing with pillow cases on their heads as bridal veils (saw that in a movie), I was opening a cooking class for my younger cousins.  When they were gushing over boys in high school, I was playing sports and helping manage a business.  (don't be fooled, I also made time for gushing. I was great at multitasking!)

Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with either of these situations.  It just so happens that because I fall in the latter of the two, and happen to have two kids and never stay in any place that speaks English longer than 3 months, I can't do a thing about it.  Thankfully, I have a very supportive husband who wants me to pursue my dream.  We just don't have a very 'dream-pursing' conducive life right now. 

So as I am sitting here tonight, a bit depressed because I can't do anything about these situations, I thought I would come up with a 30 before 30 list.  I have seen them around and thought this might be a good way to set goals for myself.  I do better when I have something to look forward to, a list to cross off.  It might change a bit with time or as I get to spend a bit more time thinking about the items on the list, but as for now, this is it.  I am surprised (or maybe not) how many things involve spending money.  I don't want my happiness to be contingent on spending money and having things.  So I think I will focus on the ones that give back.

30 before 30

1.) Take a cruise with my husband

2.) Run another 10k without stopping under 1hr.

3.) Open an Etsy shop

4.) Buy a Mac computer, the one I want

5.) Visit Greece

6.) Visit Rome

7.) Find a younger woman of God to mentor

8.) Become fluent in French

9.) Become a blog designer

10.) Buy Adobe Illustrator

11.) Buy a house with my husband

12.) Invest in a nice camera (not point and shoot)

13.) Create a cookbook of my favorite recipes

14.) Grow my little blog into something more. Not sure what yet.

15.) Get in shape

16.) Find a way to contribute financially to our family

17.) Learn to sew better

18.) Figure out what I want to be when I grow up (whenever that is...)

19.) Organize a fundraiser for Great American Bakesale

20.) Sponsor two less fortunate kids through my boys so they can understand how fortunate they are

21.) Establish more of a retirement

22.) Get my husband’s stinkin’ green card

23.) Become more organized

24.) Develop family traditions for each major holiday, and maybe some fun stuff for the not so major ones

25.) Read the Bible all the way through

26.) Find my personal sense of style

27.) Go to beauty school

28.) Establish a way to keep my finances in order and stick with it.

29.) Volunteer at church

30.) Find an older woman of God to mentor me

Do any of you have a 30 before 30 or 40 before 40 or {enter age here} before whatever list?  Or just a plain old bucket list?  I would love to read about them.  Maybe inspire me to add a few to my list.  

Have a great hump day peeps! 

Tuesday Blog Tips!

Good Morning everyone!  

I am going to start a new series.  Tuesday Blog Tips!  I know that it has been done before, and that you can probably Google a lot of it, but I thought I would put it all in one place for ya!  Granted, I am not a pro, but I enjoy doing it and thought I would share some things I have learned along the way!  Today I am going to touch on some overall, simple tips for making your blog more desirable to read.  Today is more about aesthetics of your blog than content, I will touch on that another time.  So here we go!

~ Big pictures!!  People want to get a good view of that awesome craft you just finished or that super yummy recipe.  If they overflow your blog content section, think about widening it.  If you don’t know how, Google it or ask a fellow blogger who looks like they have done it.  People like to see the pictures!

~ Good quality pictures!!  Guess what, you don’t need a Nikon or Canon to take beautiful pictures.  They most certainly help, but if you just can’t drop the dough for something like that, dust off that point and shoot and give it a whirl!  Try natural light and use a free editing software like Picnik.  With a click of a button people will never know you didn’t have Ree’s camera.

~ Post consistently.  This might be hard and depending on what type of goals you have for your blog, this could look different for many of us.  If you have sponsors, you might want to make a promise to them that you will never go longer than two days without a post.  This maintains good traffic for them.  If you can’t post everyday, not a prob!  Post 3 times a week or two times.  Choose what works for you and stick to it.  Consistency is the key, however that looks for you.

~ Make your blog pretty.  Like I mentioned, if you don’t know how to do it yourself, hire someone.  If you can’t afford it, there are plenty of bloggers out there with great information who would probably be totally willing to help.  And you can Google everything!!  It’s all out there somewhere, just gotta look it up!  Just remember, clean and simple is the most appealing.  You don't want your readers to get caught up in too many advertisements or colors that make it hard to read.  Think more about what is more appealing to a wider audience than just what you might think is pretty.  Easy on the eyes!

~ Keep posts easy to read.  Honestly, if a post is super, super long without pictures, I’m skipping it.  If you have a zillion and one pictures of your weekend, I don’t want to see every one.  I don’t know your friends and I don’t care about every.little.detail of what you did.  What I might care about is a funny story to go with the pictures.  Make it interesting for the readers, because let’s face it, we’re lazy.  Make it relate-able.  If you are writing about your kids, try to tie in a story that will help other moms, or a funny story other moms will crack up at because they have been there!  Think about your audience and what they can relate to.  If you are writing to your family, then a million pictures of your kids is a great thing!  If you have a bigger audience, you might want to consider less pictures and more relate-able stories.  Just a thought!

 Have any tips to add?  I would love to hear them, and I am sure others would do!  Write them in the comments!  Do you have a subject you would like covered?  I would love to hear it, either leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail.  Have a great day!!

Traveling with Kids

I'm back!  And so glad to be here.  I hope you all enjoyed some of the lovely guest posters last week.  I sure did! 

Well, if you didn't know, I flew back from Lyon, France, Tuesday to hang out in California for the summer.  My husband is still in France and will be there for about 3 weeks while they are in playoffs and {hopefully} win it all!!  And get a sweet little bonus if they do.

So instead of bore you with my trip of traveling about 20 hours or so cross country with two kids, I thought I would give you a few travel pointers for any moms out there traveling with kids.  Because unfortunately, I'm a pro.

1.) Be even or outnumber them.  Now obviously this is only if you can.  I couldn't and it is quite tiring. 

2.) Be Organized.  The only bags I took with me on the flight were my carry-on luggage and the diaper bag.  I very strategically packed the diaper bag for optimal searching abilities.   When I needed something, I knew where it was and I made sure everything was easy to get to.  I didn't carry a purse because that was one extra piece, and I carried our passports in a little bag thing that just went around my neck. 


3.)  Be prepared.  
      ~In my professional opinion, you can never have too many diapers.  Unless of course you are traveling with potty trained kids.  In that case, any amount of diapers would be too many.  But if you are traveling with a baby, like me, then pack it up.  You don't want to be the mom unprepared when all of a sudden your baby gets explosive diarrhea mid-flight.  True story. 
     ~You will also want to have plenty of snacks.  With airlines nowadays they barely feed you, and snacks for little guys are a must.  Well, for you too for that matter.  {if traveling overseas, British Airways is THE BEST. And no I am not getting paid for this, I wish they would sponsor me!}
     ~You also will want to have plenty of toys to occupy them.  Not small ones or any balls that could roll and get lost, but books are good, soft blocks, if you have a portable DVD player it's a lifesaver.  Especially if your kid vegges out to movies like my 4-year-old.  It practically puts him in a coma.
     ~ Get lots of rest the nights before.  You will need it!

4.) Be Relaxed.  If you are all worked up thinking it is gonna be an awful trip, it probably will be.  If you can chill out and go with the flow, understanding that everything will not be perfect and that your kid will kick the back of the chair of the person in front of you and they most likely will not understand, you will be so much better off.  And just remember, even if it is the flight from hell, it will eventually be over.  Just make sure whoever is waiting for you on the other end takes the kids immediately and doesn't make you so much as look at them for the rest of the night.  Grandparents are great for this one.


5.) Ask the airlines to help you.  They offer special stuff for moms flying alone or families.  You get boarded first, they try to put you in the bulkhead seats which have a bassinet or a little crib thing for the babies.  Take whatever they offer, cuz with what you're paying you should get much more!  Once again, British Airways, awesome choice for traveling internationally. 

Well, that's about it!  My flight wasn't that bad this time, I have had worse.  I wasn't sure what to expect with my little guy, he is, how do you say, kinda a handful.  So I was thankful he did well.  My other little guy is a complete trouper.  He is already a world traveler at 4.  He carries his own bag and does his thing.  Love it.  Now if he will start carrying my bags, we're golden.

Well, I am glad to be back to normal, whatever that is for me!  And seriously, God Bless America!!!  Got lots of cool stuff in store including a giveaway coming hopefully this week!  Have a great Monday!