USE THIS Digital Scrapbook Challenge – JANUARY

January 2nd, 2012

Are you ready for January’s USE THIS Digital Scrapbook Challenge?

Get a FREE Digital Element to use:

Check out the Forum post here at SWEET BERRY SCRAPS:

http://berrysweetscraps.com/forum/showthread.php?519-January-2012-USE-THIS-Challenge

January 2nd, 2012 by Kris Mazy | Comments Off

January 1!

January 1st, 2012

At midnight on 12/31/11 – 1/1/12 we always make it a tradition to bang pots and pans. Making and having traditions is important with us as a family. We have little family traditions all throughout the year that make holidays (and regular days) a bit more FUN!Normally we watch the movie Ben Hur… But Shelby got a Karaoke Machine for Christmas, so we had a ton of finger foods and a TON of singing and dancing!

What are some of your traditions? I would LOVE to hear about them.

Today, we enjoyed the sunshine (not often that it is this warm at our house in January… but today was about 65 degrees – by the end of next week we are back to cold and possible snow) We took the kids geocaching. If you haven’t heard of this… You have GOT to give this a try.

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting that my girlfriend Kim of TheOutdoorPrincess.com introduced us to many years ago. With geocaching, you use a GPS, enter in the coordinates and search for a hidden treasure. Sometimes those treasures are as simple as a piece of paper that you sign your name on, other times there are little trinkets that you can exchange with your own. Some of the neatest geocaches that our family has found contain travel bugs or geocoins that you can take, move to another location and track online. There is a local cache just down the road from us that has a history lesson in it that includes a newpaper article. We use geocaching as part of our PE for homeschooling.

January 1st, 2012 by Kris Mazy | Comments Off

Reflection on my year – 2011

December 29th, 2011

It’s hard to believe another year has gone by… 2011 is about at a close and I have been reflecting on everything that has happened this year.

I graduated from college with my AFA in May. That was something that I wasn’t sure that I would ever accomplish being a mom of 5 kidlings. I added photography to my already established web business.

In September, Larry and I celebrated our 14th anniversary and as a gift to each other is a cruise to Alaska in 2012.

Larry and I finished our foster adopt classes in September and was award our certification from the state in November. We have gotten a few calls for out of area kids, but have not officially taken any as of yet. We are anxiously awaiting our new family members to be placed in our house.

Both of my parents old Springer Spaniels passed away this year. Harpy in May and Gargamel in October. Gargy was Larry’s and my first kid, before Shelby was born.

I finished my first of 3 semesters at Liberty University for my Bachelors in Education. I am hoping with the Christian based background of Liberty and my Art Background that I will be able to teach Christian style art to kids one day. Who knows… I may go onto get my MA in Psychology and work with special needs children in the future.

I am opening a new digital shop online at http://berrysweetscraps.com – The grand opening for that shop is tomorrow.

May God bless each of you in the coming year!

December 29th, 2011 by Kris Mazy | Comments Off

Pumpkin Cheesecake (one cheesecake in a pie pan and 20 cupcakes)

November 20th, 2011

Ingredients

Crust for cupcakes (do this recipe twice – the second one is for the cheesecake in a pie pan):

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 C sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:

In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down into cupcake papers. Set aside.

For filling:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into cupcake crusts and into the pie crust. Spread out evenly and place in oven for 30 minutes for the cupcakes and 1 hour for the cheesecake. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

November 20th, 2011 by Kris Mazy | Comments Off

I <3 homeschool days that we can … make French Bread with Bruschetta

November 15th, 2011

I LOVE LOVE LOVE homeschool days that we can take time away from books and get hands on. Dylan, the little guy who I tutor a few days a week was ahead in his work, and Grif and El needed a BREAK!

So the kids decided to make French Baguettes and Bruschetta!!!

While the bread was rising, we read all about Thanksgiving and history and traditions – Here’s a site that I found some cool information on – http://www.thanksgivingnovember.com/

Bruschetta

Ingredients

garlic, pressed
14 slices French bread (3/4 inch thick), toasted
4 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, oil, minced basil, salt and pepper, garlic; spoon about 2 tablespoons onto each piece of toast.

Here is the French Bread Recipe that the kids tried… we are still trying to find one that REALLY works well with our home-ground Flour.

FRENCH BREAD

Ingredients

6 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

Directions

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast and salt. Stir in 2 cups warm water, and beat until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
Punch dough down, and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into large rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.
Grease a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush on. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes.
With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until bread tests done. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.

French Bread Recipe found on: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/french-bread/detail.aspx?&recipeID=6882