Sweet Red, White, and Blue

Hello Sweets,

Can you believe that we're already half way through our week?  I don't know why it feels like time is just flying by me, probably because I am counting down the days until I return to Texas and am reunited with my love :)  Has it been flying by for all of y'all too?  I am very thankful to feel more like myself today, not in as much pain as yesterday and actually got out of the house for a change too.  My version of "getting out of the house" is pretty minuscule compared to most people, but I picked up my prescriptions and some groceries so it's a win in my books :)

I am super excited about today's post, as I explained yesterday this specific recipe was completely out of my comfort zone and I was successful so I just couldn't wait to share it with all of y'all.  I don't know about y'all but I love me some pie, specifically cherry pie so I was super pumped when I came across this recipe.  It's not an apple pie, which is uber American, but it's pretty comparable in my books and very patriotic ;)  But enough talk, let's get to this delicious treat already!

Old Glory Cherry-Blueberry Pie (from My Recipes)

Ingredients

5C fresh sweet dark cherries, rinsed and pitted

3Tbs lemon juice

1 1/2C fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

1C sugar

1/4C cornstarch

2Tsp butter, cut into small pieces

9" pie pastry (see tomorrows blog for recipe)

 

 

I wanted to show the monotonous process of pitting cherries lol

Directions:
1)  Preheat oven to 400F.  In a large bowl, mix cherries with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.  In a small bowl, mix blueberries with remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. (yes I squeezed a fresh lemon lol)

 

   

 

 2)  Combine the sugar and cornstarch, gently stir 1 cup of the mixture with the cherries and the remaining 1/4 cup with the blueberries (I tossed it with my hands to be more careful).

 

 

 

 3)  Spoon cherry mixture over 3/4 of the pastry in the pan, leaving 1quadron free.  Spoon blueberries into the empty space.  Sprinkle the butter evenly over the fruit.

4)  Top with the stars and strips (I made an extra batch of pastry and cut it by hand).

 

tah dah! My stars are a little crazy looking lol

5)   Set pie in a foil lined 13"x17" baking pan.  Bake on the bottom rack until the fruit in the middle bubbles and the pastry is well browned (checking at the 1 hour mark).  If the edges brown too quickly (check after 40 minutes), cover loosely with tin foil.  Let pie cool on a wire rack for 3 hours, and can be left on the counter for 8 hours (max).  Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream or whip cream.

 

so proud :)

So not only does it look like a mini flag, it also embodies the red (cherries) white (pastry) and blue (blueberries) aspect.  This was a very time consuming process, but that's not going to stop me from doing it over again and again.  This is going to sound a little crazy but an hour before this I made another pie, lol yes another one.  Nathan's coconut meringue, see :)

 

I know what you're thinking; 1) I'm crazy for doing two pies in one day and 2) I spoil him rotten.  Well I would have to say yes to both lol, since I made the pastry from scratch I had to make his with it as well (plus I love seeing him smile).  The cherry-blueberry pie isn't overly sweet at all, I was actually worried it was going to be tart because of the cherries (they can be sort of tart) but I had nothing to worry about all along :)  This is officially the "Canuckette Forth of July dessert", and I am going to make it every year from now on :)

During the middle of me writing this post my roommate came home and handed me a package that was sent to me by Nathan's aunt Cindy.  She told me she was sending me something to remind me of home while I'm here in Canada, yes I know I live in Canada but Texas is my real home.  Anyways back to presents :D, so I had no idea what to expect but I knew it would be great.  Considering the type of gift it would only be fair to share with all my lovely readers, yup it's a kitchen goodie.

 

Aren't they amazing!?!  I am so in love with them :)  Every since I met Cindy we've been pretty close and we have very similar taste.  Apparently when she and her husband (Nathan's uncle Michael) saw them they immediately thought of me and picked them up.  I am so very blessed with amazing people in my life, and could never thank them enough for the thoughtful gift.  Well I'm going to try and say thanks by baking something chocolate for her :)  Tomorrow I will share the pastry recipe with y'all along with a recap of our celebrations, it's a very good recipe that my bestie shared with me and now I'll share with you too!  Until next time......................................................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Honey I'm Home!!

Hello Sweets,

Greetings from the great state of Texas (the greatest state).  I landed here this morning and have been in heaven every single moment.  Tonight's post will be short again but that is because I've had such a long couple of days, and honestly would really like to have some quality cuddle time with my love :)

So this morning I caught the red eye flight to Dallas, and anyone that knows me knows that I DO NOT do mornings well at all, which means I've had very little sleep.  The one thing I do love about early morning flights, is watching the sun rise in the sky.  Check out some of the beautiful pictures I managed to capture :)

Goodbye Canadia, so pretty before sunrise 

I love the fluffy clouds! 

Getting closer to the one I love 

Honey, I'm home <3  

So you know how I am constantly bragging that my soul mate Nathan is THE BEST boyfriend ever?  Well he has managed to completely amaze me again with some amazing news and a fabulous birthday gift, and I wanted to take this post to share the news with all of my lovely readers, and then I promise I will get back to baking and cooking up a storm tomorrow lol.  Anyone that knows Nathan knows he is extremely proud of his service within the US Army, specifically the US Cavalry, although he is retired, he will and always will be a part of them.  Now Nathan and  I have talked about spending the rest of our lives together, but what he surprised me with this afternoon is something I never expected, or even knew I could be apart of.  I am officially part of the "US Cavalry Order of the Garter", that means that Nathan and I are forever bonded through cavalry tradition of a declaration of the link between the woman and her trooper.  I am duty bound to forever display the traditional yellow garter if and when he is deployed, and until his safe return.  To me this a gesture of equal value as if he were to propose to me, as it is a reflection of our love and commitment to each other, forever and always.  Needless to say I cried tears of joy and couldn't be happier to accept such a wonderful token of our love.  God I have a fantastic man!

My official US Army document :)

I honestly didn't think my day could get any better than that, but I should have known that Nathan wouldn't have stopped there.  For the last six months at least, my little net book has been on it's last legs.  Well for my birthday, Nathan got me a snazzy new Sony Vaio laptop!  So next blog post will be done on my new toy :) For now we are setting it up and transferring all my essential files over.  Here's a peak at my new laptop;

Going from a 10" screen to a 17.3" screen, is amazing on the eyes, and I think Nathan is most excited to teach me how to be a "gamer" (I am too to be honest, just means more time with my man ;) ).  

So that is all I have for tonight.  Have any of you guys had any exciting news lately?  Maybe a new toy?  I always love to hear from you guys so please feel free to drop me a line, or even just say hi!  Until next time.....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo