Tuesday, June 24, 2014

A Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

Hey Y'all!! Welcome to another Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop! I have nothing new today because our air conditioner recently went out and well let's just say it got up to 89 degrees in here! Seriously, who likes to cook in all that heat?! More on all that later though. On to the party!!!

Hi there and welcome to our party!
Our blog hop reached another all-time high last week: 359 links!!! So many great shares: recipes, DIY projects, crafts, blogging tips, kids activities, decorating reveals, crochet and MORE! And you viewed them A LOT! The more views, the greater success for everybody. We LOVE it!!!


Our most viewed post truly was the MOST viewed of any post on any party we've hosted!!! Ocean Exploration Finger Puppets got 22 views! Now, that may not sound like a lot but her post was number 355 at the party. She was a "late-comer" and still got the most views! WOW!!! This is a blogging land of opportunity. (Now remember, getting viewed is just the beginning. Views lead to pins, likes, follows, comments, shares. And, it gets a feature on the next party that will lead to more of the same!)


Most Viewed

Very Popular


Editor's Pick

Love this party?






So let's party!  Simple Guidelines:
  • Please follow our host and co-hosts in as many ways possible (social media links below) 
  • PLEASE TWEET THIS PARTY !!!!  We want everyone to know about it!
  • Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like, no giveaways please.
  • Visit three or more others. Let them know you've been there!
  • When you are PINNING, remember to do it from the original post. 
  • If you are new, be sure to let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. 
  • Thanks for joining us!
Tammy of Creative K Kids
and…The Ultimate Linky

Nicole & Susan from Flavors by Four

Diane Recipes for Our Daily Bread

Carrie of A Mother’s Shadow

Shari of Pure Grace Farms
Blog / Bloglovin’ / Facebook / Google+  / Pinterest / Stumbleupon /Twitter

Elie of Organizer by Day

Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row
Blog / Bloglovin’ Facebook / Google+ / Pinterest  /Twitter

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

A Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

Hey All and thanks for stopping by another Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop! Last week had some amazing link ups and I can't wait to see what you've got in store today!

In case you missed it, here's what I've been up to!


It's super moist and crazy delicious. That's enough about me! Let's see what you got!

Welcome to Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop. 
Last week we had 343 wonderful posts and we're lovin' it! Can hardly wait to see what you have for us THIS week. Take a look at what you LOVED at our previous party.
Most Viewed
10 Ways to Score Garden Freebies by Living Frugal with Erika

Very Popular


Editor's Pick
Chocolate tool party favors by The Partiologist #parties
DIY Chocolate Tool Party Favors from The Partiologist

Our co-hosts have been having a blast with this party. They are promoting your posts and sending you lots of love. 
Remember to do the same for them --visit their blogs, follow them, let them know you care!


Love this party?


So let's party!  Simple Guidelines:
  • Please follow our host and co-hosts in as many ways possible (social media links below) 
  • PLEASE TWEET THIS PARTY !!!!  We want everyone to know about it!
  • Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like, no giveaways please.
  • Visit three or more others. Let them know you've been there!
  • When you are PINNING, remember to do it from the original post. 
  • If you are new, be sure to let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. 
  • Thanks for joining us!

Carrie of A Mother’s Shadow

Shari of Pure Grace Farms
Blog / Bloglovin’ / Facebook / Google+  / Pinterest / Stumbleupon /Twitter

Tammy of Creative K Kids
and…The Ultimate Linky

Elie of Organizer by Day

Nicole & Susan from Flavors by Four

Diane Recipes for Our Daily Bread

Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row
Blog / Bloglovin’ Facebook / Google+ / Pinterest  /Twitter



Saturday, June 14, 2014

Not Your Typical Strawberry Shortcake

Hey All and Happy Saturday to ya! Yesterday my sister and I went up north to see my grandparents and had an amazing time! It seems time is just flying by so I made sure to embrace every minute I was with them. They are wonderful people and I'm so lucky to be 29 and still have both of them. 

So like I mentioned the other day, my sister and I recently went strawberry picking at a local farm. It's an annual event and my nephews at that age where he really gets into it and loves finding the biggest berry! It's adorable and melts my heart watching his face light up. 

One thing we usually make with our berries is homemade jam, which I will share that recipe soon I'm sure. Another recipe I love to make is Strawberry Shortcake!
But this isn't your typical Strawberry Shortcake. It's not super crumbly and like a scone. It's more like a cupcake texture but with all the shortcake taste. I personally like mine this way, and that's why I love these little shortcakes!
And the fact that I was using fresh picked strawberries put these over the top! I'm just in love with how vibrant the colors are!

These cakes are already pretty moist, but to top them with juicy sugary strawberries makes these little babies ah.ma.zing!
But I LOOOVE the whipped cream!!
Ingredients:
1/3 Cup butter, softened
1 Cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 Cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Cup milk

1 1/2-2 Cups strawberries, hulled and sliced up
1/2 Cup sugar

Directions:
Stir together the cut up strawberries and sugar in a bowl and place in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease your muffin pan or a 9 inch round pan.

Combine butter and sugar in a mixer. 

Add in the egg and vanilla until combined.

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Alternately add in the dry ingredients and milk until both are completely added. Don't over mix though. As soon as the ingredients are all added in, stop mixing. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

Allow to cool on the baking rack. Before you remove the cakes, run a knife along the edge to make for easier removal.

Top the cakes with the strawberry-sugar mix and dive in. Feel free to add a huge amount of whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream to your plate!

So are you a crumbly scone type person, or more of a cakey shortcake lover? Hope your summer is going great!

Thanks for stopping by!

**I linked up to amaze me monday, much ado about monday, frugal crafty home, the scoop, titus 2 tuesday, simple supper tuesday, create link inspire, creative buster, whats cookin wednesday, wicked awesome wednesdayfull plate thursday

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

A Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

Hey All and welcome to another Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop. I can't wait to see what you all have been up to! In case you missed it, here's what's been going on at Organizer By Day:

Enough about me, now on to the ParTay!


Hey there, welcome to our party! Last week's Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop exceeded 300* posts once more. This is getting to be a habit (yipee!) Goal this summer? To get more than 400 posts each time. With all the shares, tweets ... I know we can do it. :)
*For the statisticians in the group: 2275 views, 335 posts, 506 clicks!!!

Let's take a look at what YOU liked the most from last week's party:
MOST VIEWED


Extra Popular


We can hardly wait to see what you have to share with us this week! Let's visit each other's blogs and give them LOTS of love. Tweet this party, too? Your tweets do help!

Love this party?


So let's party!  Simple Guidelines:
  • Please follow our host and co-hosts in as many ways possible (social media links below) 
  • PLEASE TWEET THIS PARTY !!!!  We want everyone to know about it!
  • Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like, no giveaways please.
  • Visit three or more others. Let them know you've been there!
  • When you are PINNING, remember to do it from the original post. 
  • If you are new, be sure to let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. 
  • Thanks for joining us!

Sinea from Ducks ‘n a Row
Blog / Bloglovin’ Facebook / Google+ / Pinterest  /Twitter

Carrie of A Mother’s Shadow

Shari of Pure Grace Farms
Blog / Bloglovin’ / Facebook / Google+  / Pinterest / Stumbleupon /Twitter

Tammy of Creative K Kids
and…The Ultimate Linky

Elie of Organizer by Day

Nicole & Susan from Flavors by Four

Diane Recipes for Our Daily Bread







Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Hey All and Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having a great week so far. My sister and I just got back from strawberry picking. It's an annual tradition with us and we had a blast! I'm already dreaming up all the wonderful things I can make with my freshly picked berries.

Before I do that though, I wanted to share with you the amazing cookies I made for our family get together this past weekend. Surprise Surprise they're a mixture of chocolate and peanut butter :) My favorite! This time I wanted to use brown butter, to give these a real WOW factor. Mission accomplished. Say hello to my amazing Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies!
I started off with a traditional peanut butter cookie recipe...
added in a few of my favorite things like chopped up Reese Cups and graham crackers, and voila! I had to kick them up just one more notch and add salt to some of them. Yum!
They were such a hit I decided to make a batch for our friends we had over Saturday night and a batch for the family on Sunday. Needless to say, we almost ran out because our friends couldn't get enough! Total compliment for me :)
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup peanut butter
1/2 Cup white sugar
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup brown butter (start off with 10 Tbsp butter)
1 egg, room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 Cups flour
1 graham cracker, crushed
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Cup chocolate chips
2 Reese cups, chopped up

Directions:
Combine the peanut butter, sugars and brown butter in the mixer on high. Add in the egg and vanilla.

In a medium bowl stir together the flour, graham cracker, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt. 

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on high until everything comes together. 

Stir in the chocolate chips and cut up Reese's with a wooden spoon. Place the mixing bowl in the fridge for about an hour. I didn't cover mine.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or a silpat.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop out the dough and squeeze it into a tight ball before placing on the baking sheet. Use a fork to make a crossed pattern on top. If the cookie crumbles apart during this, grab up the dough, squeeze it together more and try again.

Bake each sheet separately for 10 minutes and allow to cool on the baking sheet on a cooling rack. Remove and add salt if you want. Pour a tall glass of milk and enjoy! Both times I made these I was able to get exactly 27 cookies. Weird, right?! Hope you love these as much as we did!