Summer Treats: Strawberry Pie

Years after ripping out a Strawberry Pie recipe from Family Circle magazine, I finally decided to make this delicious summer dessert. And to my surprise, this was one of the BEST pies I have ever had (literally amazing). This no-bake (apart from the crust) treat is the perfect accessory to an outdoor BBQ or summer party and is fairly easy to make. All you need is:

Ingredients

• CRUST
  6 ounces Nilla wafer cookies (graham crackers or a package of plain cookies/biscuits works too)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• FILLING
  2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup cran-raspberry juice (I used plain cranberry juice and it worked just as well)
• 2 quarts strawberries (8 cups), hulled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

My Bucket List

I know it's not close to New Years for making resolutions, but recently I've had some revelations about things I want to do before I graduate college and have to start working in the REAL world- Yikes! 
So far, my bucket list includes:

• Plant a fruit/veggie garden (I'm thinking this is a spring time activity)
• Go to Napa Valley, California (it looks gorgeous from all the pictures I've seen)
• Make a nice looking and delicious cake using fondant (like Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss)
• Learn to play guitar really well (I secretly dream of becoming Taylor Swift) 
• Attend a Katy Perry concert (This became a wish of mine after watching her movie Part of Me)
• Go to Norway, Sweden, Finland (where my friend is going to study abroad), and Greece
• Visit my sponsor child Rejoice in Zimbabwe (After writing back and forth for two years, I think it would be amazing to finally visit her)
• Spend more time with my friends!! (This means going to Texas, Virginia & Nebraska)

What's on your Bucket List??

*Kirsten

Current Obsession:

This summer one of my goals consisted of finding the perfect tangerine orange colored shorts. When I saw these shorts from the Lauren Conrad collection at Kohls, I knew that they were THE ones. I am also in love with the recent trend of jewelry with starfish shapes, so I decided to make my own using silver starfish and silver necklace chain from Michael's; the same look without breaking my bank. As a huge fan of lace, finding a versatile summery lace shirt was a must and I can dress it up with jeans and heels for a night out on the town. Of course a pair of neutral colored gladiator sandals are a staple item for the summer season and are perfect for keeping cool in style. And last, but certainly not least is the hair flower from Forever 21 which is just plain cute.

What are your staple items this summer??

*Kirsten

Summer Drinks: Homemade Lemonade

Picture from:
http://koreeunveiled.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html

1 pitcher

3-4 lemons 

1 cup sugar

3 cups water

Ice cubes

1. Roll the lemons on a hard surface before cutting each in half (this makes it easier to juice). 
2. Juice the lemons and add the juice to the pitcher.
3. If you want to make the delicious old school lemonade then continue by adding the water and sugar to the lemon juice in the pitcher. Continue adding sugar/water to make it more or less sweet.
4. If you want to try something more adventurous, but also delicious, continue by making a syrup by boiling 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar before adding that to the lemon juice. After combining the lemon juice with the sugar syrup, add 3 more cups of water (more or less depending on the preferred sweetness)
5. Add ice cubes and slices of lemons for a cool and refreshing drink. ENJOY! 

P.s. The syrup works really well for blending the sugar and water. I tested it out the other day and it works really well! 

What are your favorite summer drinks??

*Kirsten

Happy 4th!

This year my family and I showed my boyfriend CJ how we celebrate the 4^th (he’s from Australia). We spent the day shooting hoops and grilling some delicious hamburgers and Oscar Meyer Turkey hot dogs- I’m not usually a fan of hot dogs, but these ones were pretty good! Not to mention, CJ is obsessed! He tells me on a regular basis that he is crazing hot dogs.. 

After dinner we headed to my best friend Bri's house for some tasty desserts including a fruit pizza (which Chris and I put together RECIPE HERE) and some beautifully patriotic decorated strawberries (idea from Pinterest). 

Due to the ban on basically any kind of outdoor fires, we got creative and roasted marshmallows over the stove (which to my surprise worked a charm, see above). Our smores were AMAZING! A great idea for making smores on a rainy day; just be careful not to let the marshmallows fall onto the stove. All in all, a successful & fun 4th of July! 

What are your 4th of July traditions??  


xoxo
Kirsten 

How To: Fruit Pizza

What you need:

• Any kind of fresh berries or fruit that you like (enough to cover your fruit pizza)
• Sugar cookie dough
• Cream Cheese (8 oz.) 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1-2 tsp vanilla
• Baking pan

1. Roll out the sugar cookie dough, put into the baking pan & bake for 8-10 minutes or follow the baking directions on the package
2. Mix cream cheese, vanilla & sugar until blended
3. After the sugar cookie has cooled,  apply the cream cheese frosting evenly (leaving a slight border is optional)
4. Place berries on top of the frosting and chill for 1 hour or indulge right away if desired & ENJOY!