Fresh Fruit Crock-Pot Cobbler

We are full fruit season which I'm so loving right now.  

We are definitely at fruit loving family.  

If my crisper drawer ever runs low of fruit, I hear about it... loudly.  

I don't mind though because whenever the kids reach for a snack it's usually a piece of fruit.  

My oldest will complain once in a while that we don't have anything unhealthy in the house.  

Sorry bud.  

Just doing my job! ;)

For family dinner last Sunday I wanted to do something fun with some of the fruit I recently got. 

After looking through most of the online cobbler and crisp recipes I discovered that most of them used pie filling which I didn't want to do, and very few used fresh fruit.  

Plus if there was fresh fruit, it was only one kind of fruit.

I think I have what my husband calls "The Architect Syndrome."

Let me explain.

My Dad is an Architect.

If you have known any architects and have been to their homes you will know what I'm talking about.

My dad had friends that were architects.

Their houses were very different from the tradidional design.

One looked like it had sails instead of a traditional flat or gabled roof.

Another house looked like they built the house square, then set the roof on 30 degrees off kilter.

Super weird.

So we decided that since the Architects have to design things the same way every time, 

when they get to design something for themselves, it's very 'outside the box' kind of a design.

Think Frank Lloyd Wright.

That being said, I in no way compare myself to Frank Lloyd Wright,

just the idea that I don't ususally do things the 'tradiditonal' way.

It's always my spin on the norm.

So here's an Architect's daughter's version of Cobbler.

Fresh Fruit Crock-Pot Cobbler

Core and dice:

4 peaches

6 pears

No need to peel them, but that's a personal preference.

1 dry pint blueberries

In a separate bowl combine the following:

2 Tbsp Cornstarch or Ultra Gel

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp molasses

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

Mix well to distribute molasses and cornstarch.

Then pour over diced fruit and stir to coat fruit.

Pour fruit into crock-pot.

In another bowl combine:

2 cups rolled regular oats

(I use Honeyville's Rolled 6 grain)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cube cold butter diced into small pieces

Stir to distribute butter the pour topping over fruit in crock-pot.

Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.

Let cool slightly and serve.

Ice cream would be a lovely addition, but the only kind we had was Cookies and Cream.

Not the combination I was willing to make.

Super easy and yummy!

Spiced Muffins

Muffins are always a hit at my house and blueberries were a screamin' deal last week so of course I had to make blueberry muffins.  

However my King Arthur Flour Baking Sheet magazine had just come in the mail and one of the first recipes was for spiced peach muffins.  

So I thought, what the heck. 

Lets substitute blueberrys for peaches.  

I can honestly say it was still fabulous.  

So here's my adjusted version of KAF's Spiced Peach Muffins.  

I will give you the original along with my changes.

Spiced Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and prepare muffin tins with cooking spray or paper liners.

In a mixing bowl whisk together the following:

2 cups KAF Unbleached All purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

2 tsp molasses

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

(The original asked for 1 cup dark brown sugar.  I never buy brown sugar because it's just white sugar and molasses.  I always, always make my own.)

In a stand mixer combine:

2 large eggs

1/4 cup applesauce (The original is Vegetable Oil)

3/4 cup milk

1 dry pint of blueberries

(or 1 1/2 cups diced peaches with/without skin)

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined.

Spoon into prepared muffin tins.

(Optional: Sprinkle tops with course sugar)

I omitted this step because really, my kids don't need an extra sugar in the morning.

Bake for 22 to 24 minutes for regular sized muffins.

My mini muffin pans only took about 18 minutes.

 Let cool slightly and serve.

MMMmmmm.... Yummy!

A Bit More Wall Art

I'm super excited about my stuff in a new space.  

It's all over at Twigs and Twine in Zinnia's in Phoenix.

Here's a pic of the things I did last time.

You can see her Facebook page here.

I wanted to try some new techniques for the next batch of signs 

so I tried the steel wool/apple cider vinegar method.  

It turned out so easy and super cheap to do.  

I definitely will be doing more.

I've wanted to try this method for almost a year 

but I couldn't ever find plain old steel wool anywhere.  

It always had the soap in it.  

aka.  SOS pads.  

I knew I didn't need the soap so I bided my time and kept looking. 

Finally by a crazy random happenstance, 

I was walking through the paint section of Walmart and struck gold...  

Well, steel anyway.  

It's super cheap and doesn't have any soap in it.  

There were two grit sizes.  

I got the one with the smaller grit size.  

Now to dash home and try it out.  

Since I knew it would be a chemical reaction, 

it had to go into a glass bowl.  

Metal would never do, 

and I'm afraid it would ruin anything plastic so I stuck with a glass pyrex bowl.

I just poured some apple cider vinegar into the bowl 

and set one steel wool pad in the vinegar.  

I made sure the vinegar covered the steel wool.  

Then wait.

24 hours later.

Since life got crazy all of a sudden, the steel wool sat for at least 24 hours.  

I think the longer you leave it in the vinegar, 

the darker the result of the 'stain'.  

So it's up to you how dark you want to go.

I cut and screwed my pallet boards together.

Gave them a good sanding, and grabbed my gloves.

Be sure to wear gloves and work in a well ventilated area.  

I was in the garage with a fan blowing, but outside would work too.

Just dip the steel wool pad in the vinegar and smear it on the wood.  

It goes on like stain, but you don't need to wipe any excess off.  

It seeps into the wood on it's own.

You can see the huge difference as I'm wiping the vinegar on the wood.

Let dry completely.

Next I got out my trusty Con-Tact paper and my sister's Cricut.

{J} over at Twigs and Twine wants clean lines, 

so I made some stencils with the Con-Tact paper.

This time it's LOVE.

Put the contact paper on the mat paper side down and cut at a low depth.

Next I laid the negative contact paper on the wood and pressed firmly.

Sponge on a little paint, remove the stencil and you're done.

I was able to do 3 boards with one Con-Tact paper stencil 

before the sticky-ness wore off.

It was a little tricky to place the stencil, 

but just work from one side to the other 

smoothing out the Con-Tact paper as you go.

Super easy.

Clean Lines.

I gave it a light sanding to weather it a bit, then a wax coat to finish it off.

Some hanging hardware and it's done!

I love it when a pinterest idea really works.

I've got some holiday ideas floating around in my head so hopefully you will see some soon!

Be sure to come back often!

Happy Crafting!

Wall Art Week - Part 3

Day 3 is upon us already.

This will be a short and sweet post of another piece of wall art.

Just like the birds from yesterday, I screwed pallet wood slats together 

and added this fabulous key image I got from The Graphics Fairy.

I put the image on the wood using an opaque projector and a sharpie.

Then a light walnut stain, and a wax top coat to finish.

A little hardware in back and Done!

I will definitely be pondering other ways to use this great key image.

The Graphics Fairy has several skeleton key images on her site.

Have a look around.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

I've had several coments asking me about my blog background.

I do make it myself.

I'm creative and cheap that way.

Next week I will show you step by step how I did it.

Cheers!

Wall Art Week - Part 2

Today is part 2 of Wall Art week.

I can't tell you how much the little hampsters are toiling away 

in my head right now with ideas for more wall art projects.  

Most of them go into my inspiration book to save for later.

If I don't write or draw them when the idea comes, it's usually gone forever.

Some are persistent enough to come back to me, and usually those get made right away.

But this bird image from Graphics Fairy still hangs around in the back of my mind.

I love the image and there are so many ways to use it.

You betcha I'm going to be doing some Christmas Trees with this.

But for today I just played with some pallet boards and one line of birds.

The pallet wood already had some color to the slats which I'm totally fine with.  They are all approximately the same length, I just staggered them when I screwed each slat to a wood picket.

Then I followed the same method as this project with my image and projector.
Next a little walnut stain.
The pallet wood soaked up the stain more than I wanted
so it was slightly darker than I had anticipated,
but with a little sanding, I'm pleased with the result.
A wax paste topcoat finished the piece.
Some Arizona sun to dry, and hardware on the back and it's done.

Tomorrow I will show you the key image I did with the same type of pallet wood.

Just as a side note, as I was dropping my son off at school today,
I noticed 3 pallets in the dumpster next to his school.

I'm so going dumpster diving today!
I know all the other parents are going to think I'm weird, but I don't care.
All that wonderful pallet wood going to waste?
Not on my watch!

Wall Art Week - Part 1

I have been working on stuff lately, just not getting around to posting about it. 

Sorry about that.

So I've been commissioned.

What?

Well I posted a couple of my birds and burlap and pallet wood pieces on a local Facebook group.  One of the ladies on their found me and asked if I would want to put some of my pieces in her store.

Um.. YES!

So now I finally get to play and make a little cash to support my crafting addiction.

Totally a WIN - WIN!

So I thought I'd try doing a little chevron and burlap combination.

It turned out to be way easier than I originally imagined, especially since 

I am extremely math challenged.

So let me show you how I put this little beauty together.

First I covered a few pieces of particle board with burlap and stapled them in place.

Next I pulled out a piece of contact paper.

I'm beginning to really love this stuff.

There are so many ways you can use it.

Today was just one fabulous example.

So I knew there are the little squares on the backing of the Contact paper.

This would greatly help my math challenged brain to make perfect chevrons.

Well almost.

There aren't the squares all over the backing, they take it out for the instructions.

Darn.

So as you can see by my lines I muffed it up a few times trying to get them even and straight.

That's ok.

You don't need the backing really anyway.

After I was happy with the chevrons, I cut them out.

Next I laid them on the burlap and gently pressed them in place.

Here's a close-up.

They are long enough to wrap around the board which was exactly what I wanted.

While strolling through my local Lowe's I found this little tub of paint sample.

$1.25.  Sold!

Now just use a sponge brush and pounce the paint on.

Keep going, moving the contact paper further down as you work.

This contact paper worked for at least 3 boards.

I love it when stuff is re-usable!

After a few hours in the hot AZ sun to dry, I created this word graphic. 

I added the word graphic with my projector and a sharpie.

Easy peasy.  Just like the one I made here.

I love how it turned out.
Happy Crafting!