Strawberry Parfaits

Cooking is one of my favorite pasttimes. I love to spend time making elaborate meals, but only if I'm cooking for friends and family. Last weekend, I made food for a baby shower for a friend. I wanted to do something fun and special as a dessert. So, since strawberries are just getting to the point where they are small and sweet, even though they are still California berries, I decided to make Strawberry Parfaits. Now, don't misunderstand me, just because I like making elaborate dishes, doesn't mean I don't take a short cut or two if possible. So, I went to Costco to see if they had some ingredients to use - after all I was making 15 of these things - and Jackpot! I found a huge container of strawberries and a three pack of poundcake loaves. Perfect! I was hoping for a giant container of cool whip, but alas....Costco has lots of cool stuff, but not always everything you are looking for. Of course you can always find stuff you aren't looking for...like a pair of pants, a skort, a carton of my favorite Orbit gum - sweet mint flavor, but that's another story for a shopping blog, which I won't be starting. And two dozen roses for $15.99 - amazing!

So, I had to go the regular store for pudding, milk and coolwhip. I went to Kroger, simply becuase it was on my way home rather than going to my preferred store, Giant Eagle. Once I had everything I needed I headed home to cook up a storm. I found some cool tall glasses at Kroger, so the parfaits looked good, but the "dishes" could be thrown away after. I decided to prep everything and then make the parfaits. I cut up two of the pound cakes, washed and sliced strawberries, thawed the cool whip and made the pudding. I was ready to go:


I tried to make sure that the sides of the cup didn't get all icky as I filled the bottom. I started with pudding, then cake, then strawberries, then cake, cool whip, a few more strawberries and a little pudding for the top. I saved 15 small strawberries to use as a garnish. The morning of the shower I put a dollop of cool whip on the top and added the strawberries. They turned out very pretty and they were delicious. Just looking at these pictures makes me want to make them again. I did freeze the third poundcake, so maybe if you're invited to my house for dinner you'll have a strawberry parfait for dessert.

Yummy!

Scrapbooking - making photographs better, one page at a time

When you start scrapbooking, the way you take pictures changes. You find yourself taking pictures with thoughts of scrapbook page designs in your head. You find yourself taking pictures of signs to show where you were. You find yourself carrying your camera everywhere you go....just in case.

And then, probably by increased picture taking, your pictures improve.....and if you do it right, they are enhanced by how you design the page around them. I enjoy taking all kinds of pictures, but pictures taken at Drummond Island are some of my favorites. I took this picture below in July 2006:

And then, I scrapbooked it:

It's about way more than the pictures though, in scrapbooking, or at least in my version of it your double page layout has to match, or at least coordinate. This layout was slightly difficult, mostly because I couldn't find a page to match the family paper, of which I had only purchased one sheet. Important Lesson.....always buy two pieces of paper, unless you are 100% sure you will only need one.....and then buy two anyways.

auspicious beginnings

Every year at Thanksgiving, my mother insists on putting these "THINGS" on her kitchen windowsill. This year it might be different since she'll have a brand new fancy kitchen - but I'm not getting my hopes up. In case you haven't been able to discern what you are looking at, those are two of the ugliest pine cone and pipe cleaner turkeys ever created. I never promised that all of my creative endeavors would turn out to be successful.... Luckily, I, like most only children have a mother that loves whatever I create, even the most hideous of creations. I think these turkeys date back to circa 1976, Kindergarten creations, no doubt! Hopefully, I've honed my skills considerably since that time.....this blog will tell the tale.

inspiration

So, I've been inspired by my friend, who started a food blog recently. You should check it out at http://sopressata.blogspot.com/, it's quite good - and you might discover a new dish or restaurant or two in the process. I'm additionally impressed with the fact that she is including photos of the food she's prepared - and they look really professional. Okay, enough gushing about the food blog.

I've been thinking about what I would like to have a blog about and here's what I've come up with - I have many creative endeavors, which I indulge in - scrapbooking, cooking, photography, card making, stamping, cross-stitch, knitting, etc....so why not write about some of those, share some photos, release my creativity into the universe. Now, I have great aspirations here, and we'll see if I actually follow through with them. - this could be my only posting.

Until next time.....