Old Fashioned Cream Puffs

Anyone who knows me, knows how important our Italian family is to me. Italians are known for their love for one another, great wine and food and those famous Sunday dinners. We may not practice "pasta Sunday" every week in our house, but we are no slouches when it comes to preparing foods, especially desserts. There's one dessert that is especially close to my heart ~ the Italian Cream Puff.
Delicate, puffed pastry encompassing a creamy, custard. YUM!!!!

I used to make them every Easter, as my mother did. It's been two years now, and those HUNGRY boys have been asking for them again, so it looks like my apron might be coming out this weekend. Pair that with a beautiful glass of wine and some Andrea Bocelli singing in the background and I'm all set!

For the Cream Puffs:

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sifted flour
2 eggs

For the Custard Filling:

2 Tbsp butters
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Begin by heating the water and butter to boiling in a saucepan. Stir in the sifted flour, all at once.
Stir constantly until the mixture leaves pan and forms into a ball (this will be approx. 1 minute). Be sure to use a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat, and let cool.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth after each addition. Beat mixture until smooth.
Drop from teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake about 15 minutes in 425 degree oven then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 10-15 minutes more.
Remove from oven, cut gash in middle to allow steam to escape.

To begin the custard filling, melt butter in a saucepan. Blend in cornstarch, sugar and salt. Gradually add the milk. Heat to boiling over direct heat. Stir mixture into slightly beaten egg yolks.
Return to heat and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add vanilla. Cool thoroughly. Makes 2 cups.

Fill cooled pastries with custard and enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars....

School has begun, practices are in full swing, nights are filled with homework and I have HUNGRY boys constantly looking for food. When they came home from school a few nights ago to find fresh Peanut Butter & Jelly bars, I actually heard squeals of joy! When they discovered Gramma's homemade jam was in the middle, well, let's just say they were ultimately pleased!

These bars are so easy to make and if you're a fan of peanut butter and jelly, well, these are for you!
Make a quick batch yourself, and you'll see......

8 Tbsp softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup jam (your choice of flavor)

Grease 9/13 pan. Cream together butter and sugar. Add in the beaten egg, vanilla and peanut butter. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and blend. Set aside 1/4 of the dough. Press the remaining dough into the pan, spread the jam on top, then crumble the 1/4 dough over the top of the jam. You may wish to sprinkle in peanut butter chips to the top layer. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Completely cool on wire racks, cut into bars and enjoy. (makes 18 bars)

Sweet Summer Days

Happy summer everyone! It's been forever since I've posted anything to my blog. I promised myself I would devote some time to blogging again, every week. We will see how that goes.

Has your summer flown by? I know ours has. It seems like just yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting the last day of school, and now we are staring down the first day of fall classes within the next two weeks! Every year it goes by faster and faster - it makes me want to hit the 'stop' button and just enjoy life, being a wife and mother, being blessed with an incredible family and reveling in the little things in life.

All that being said, I honestly don't think my brain is equipped with the "shut off switch" for projects. I'm not quite sure if it is because I come from a long line of "do-it-yourselfers" or if it is because I am just never quite "finished" designing and decorating. You would think after all the endless projects, I'd be tired, but still the list is longer than ever. But, shh, let's not tell dear hubby. I think he's almost at the breaking point. There have been some rather large projects in the last two years - New Flooring Project in the fall of 2013, followed by the The Fabulous Pool Build last summer - which then created several smaller projects - planters, grilling area, fire-pit and the newest, the fence to keep the new addition of our family away from the pool pump and pool toys. Cue - cute picture of Bella, our sweet new black lab puppy.

These are actually pictures from just days after Bella came home with us. I actually just looked at a calendar - that was back in April. Where on earth did the last three months go?

Our sweet Sophie spends her days fending off this little non-stop ball of energy, but every once in a while they stop just long enough for a quick snap of the camera lens. See how much she's grown?

We officially have one week of "summer vacation" left before the kiddos are back in school. Reflecting on the summer, I found several pictures that round up some project highlights....

I have passed down my "diy" gene to the oldest son already - he created the poolside fountain and planter, as well as the grilling area (no pic - sorry) and the firepit. He is excited about the new stone arriving at Home Depot, which he will use for the wrap around bench in the firepit areas.

Hubby and I spent a weekend making this simple picket fence and gate for the side yard to keep the "eat everything in sight" lab puppy from further destroying what we own. So far she has managed to eat her share of shoes, two sets of iPhone earbuds, one pillow and a comb, plus chewed her way through a wide assortment of "indestructible" toys from Petco. Thus, a very grateful shout out goes to our friends at Hammerzone.com - their plans for the fence to save our pool pump and air conditioning unit, were very simple to follow: http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/landscape/fence/basic1/installation.htm.

While on one of my numerous "treasure hunting" trips, I found this wonderful clock for $5.00 - It just needed a little TLC - a couple coats of Annie Sloan paint and a new battery.

Before

After

As my youngest is transitioning to middle school this year, he felt he needed an "update" to his room again. Not nearly as involved as the last time around - Tween Bedroom Reveal. However, it did involve our trusty sledgehammer and lots of muscle to remove the builder grade closet shelves.

Yes, the closet is absolutely dingy - we had previously ripped out, quickly patched the holes left behind by the enormous wall anchors, but never painted. I will call that intuition - yes, somehow I knew the closet would be updated again.

The day before the construction (rather deconstruction), we took a trip to IKEA and found a wonderful wardrobe that my budding young middle schooler just loved. We had lunch before cruising the aisles and trying out the rooms - a really nice afternoon for the two of us.


Many of us already know that IKEA instructions are very simple - in other words - no words! Just pictures and the funny looking man.....

To say that the hubby and I had fun putting this together would be a lie. Although I love IKEA for trying to make things simpler and flat packaging and all, an investment in a few words within the instruction pages would be nice to see.

Alas, we had a finished project - and a very happy young man enjoying the update to his tween room!

A couple of shots of the bookcases - both boys love collectables so we decided to display a few.

Last weekend, one of my dearest friends asked for my "design" help in reorganizing her boys' bedrooms. I just love it when people ask for my help and by now, most everyone knows, I almost NEVER say no to helping someone out. So, we set off to develop a plan to give her oldest of three his own bedroom and design a "cool" space for the two younger boys to hang out. She admired the captain's bed we built a few summers ago for my oldest and wanted something similar. I shared with her the plan from Ana-white.com for the Farmhouse Bed. We decided on a variation of this plan and set off for Home Depot. A special shout to my hubby who tried with all his might to cut down the pine plywood we bought. Our table saw simply was not being cooperative - we discovered after the first cut, that the base of the motor for the blade was cracked and causing the blade to tip in the middle of the cut. I happen to like my hubby with all his fingers, so we opted to load all the lumber back into the truck and have the very helpful people at Home Depot cut down the wood to our needed dimensions. After that, it was smooth sailing. Hubby busted out the compressor and the nail gun and off we went. One at a time, the platform pieces were built in our garage, loaded into my friend's truck and hauled off for painting in her garage.

Earlier this morning she sent me this picture.....pretty cool, huh? My husband commented that the platforms were higher than he expected, but I reminded him this is a family of TALL people. My friend is 6', her hubby is 6' 5", one of their boys is already 6' and the other two are quickly catching up, so I think these beds will be quite fitting for them.

The last week has been quite an adjustment for me. My eldest is on a high adventure backpacking trip at Philmont Scout Ranch. His trek is 62 miles long over 12 days, carrying everything he needs on his back. His dad and I are so proud of him. He is the youngest scout on their crew and having the time of his life. He has kept in good contact over the last week, except for the last two days. They had no connection over the last two days and were caught in quite the rainstorm. He sent me a text this afternoon from the top of Trail Peak.....just breathtaking!

I am anxious for him to come home, but am positive the pack will not be in the same condition as it was when it left with him....







And that wraps up our summer....we will spend the last few days poolside, grilling with our friends and family, enjoying those last dog days of summer before the school bell rings!

The Fabulous Pool Build

***   This is a delayed post from last summer ~ 

For years now, I have dreamed of spending my summer days and nights in a lush, tropical paradise of my own. When we purchased our home, we were happy to see that there was a lovely backyard, full of green grass for our two young toddlers to play. We had our share of playhouses and swingsets, too. Our favorite was the one my boss gave us......As you can see, it gave the boys endless hours of fun!

 

Yet, our yard was destined for change....much like every other square inch of our house!

We began our journey - researching pool builders, combing through photos of pools and backyards online and in magazines, finally deciding on a local builder rather than a large national company. We started with removing the lawn ourselves - not fun - and I highly doubt we would do this again. The equipment was hard to use and required much more labor than we anticipated, but it was certainly worth the savings.

Once the yard was clear of all the grass, it was time for the builder to come and spray paint the outline of the pool. That was fun - we watched the shape change as we made adjustments on the spot! And then a week later, after a very long battle with the city over a public easement resting within our property lines, the big trailer arrived........

And five hours later.....we had the beginning stage of our pool and a missing section of fencing.

 

The next few weeks were all about the electrical lines, plumbing and rebar. We made only slight adjustments in these stages and the crews moved along quickly. 

Within a few weeks, one failed inspection and one very grateful passed inspection, we were ready for the cement. The truck arrived on eldest son's birthday - pretty cool and exciting! Within a few days we had the gunite stage complete and all the cool deck poured.

Finally, the tile and pebble tech finish was applied. We moved through this stage very quickly. The wall had been replaced by the time the pebble tech crew arrived and within hours we spraying down the pool with water to keep the finish wet. It cured overnight and they came to "clean it" the next morning, washing the blue away and revealing a beautiful finish of pebble tech.

The next day, we were swimming! Note, very happy boys......and a very happy Momma! My dream has come true. We can now enjoy endless days of fun!