Tasty Tuesdays: Blueberry Crumb Bars

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Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

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Michigan blueberries are at their prime right now so I knew I wanted to bake something this week with blueberries.  I found this recipe for Blueberry Crumb Bars on one of my very favorite sites, Smitten Kitchen.  This recipe was so quick and easy - the bars almost taste like a Blueberry pie without all the work.  Mine turned out more like a crumble than a bar though.  They would be delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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.{ fresh blueberries courtesy of my Mom who went blueberry picking last week! }

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Ingredients:

- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 3 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)

- 1 egg

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- Zest and juice of one lemon

- 4 cups fresh blueberries

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 4 teaspoons cornstarch

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1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

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2.  In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

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3.  In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

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4.  Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

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Fresh out of the oven:

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So, these definitely aren't going to be winning any awards for the prettiest dessert around, but their flavor will win you over!

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What did you cook this week?

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{ Please add a link in your post back to this post or add the Tasty Tuesdays button to your post which can be found on my sidebar.  Thanks! }

.Sharing this post at another great recipe link party:

Dad's 60th Surprise Party: The Decorations

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My Dad turned 60 this Summer and my sister & I threw him a surprise party.  Everything went surprisingly well, right down to the big surprise...he had absolutely no idea!  It was really nice being able to do something for my Dad, as he is the one always doing things for us!

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Last week I posted about the initiation & envelope wrapper.  We originally had a different color theme in mind, but after we found the invitations we switched to a blue, yellow, and brown theme.  Of course, there were so many things I wanted to make for the party, but only a small fraction of things got done.

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We jumped on the tissue paper pom pom band wagon and made these following the instructions on Martha Stewart.  So, so easy to make. 

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The only problem with the pom poms is that I only left myself a half hour to open them up and hang them right before the party.  I didn't have a lot of time to get them up and arrange them the way I wanted to!

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We also hung poms in this area along with a photo display.  I bought a 24" x 36" bulletin board and covered it with fabric that matched our color scheme.

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I bought the dresser last Fall and finished it just in time for the party!

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I went to the scrapbook store one day with the invitation in hand and bought lots of different patterned paper to match our colors.  I used it to make paper garland and bunting.

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I hung the bunting on the fireplace mantle and in a large archway.

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Super easy and really inexpensive!

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Have you ever made paper garland out of little paper circles?  I made some of it at Christmas and loved it.  It couldn't be easier.  Buy a circle paper punch and punch 'til your heart's content.  Then run the circles through your sewing matching leaving a little bit of space between each circle.  You will be amazed at how fast this stuff sews up.

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I would have put up more of the garland, but I ran out of time!

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Way back when I posted about this bulletin board.  I took all my things off of it and added pictures of my Dad along with the "60".  I also posted about making letters (or numbers) like that a while ago.

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We set up a drink station in this area too.

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I printed out little signs for our drinks and the two different types of wraps we made.  The little frames are from Michael's.
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You'll have to trust me on this, but the salty dogs looked pretty good in that pitcher!
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I have absolutely no photos of the food!  We didn't put it out until my Dad arrived and by that time it was to hard to get blog-worthy photos!
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{ The Menu }
- roast beef wraps with cream cheese spread -
- turkey wraps with avocado -
- spinach & artichoke dip -
- caprese salad -
- boneless buffalo wings with blue cheese -
- humus with pita chips and cucumbers -
- antipasto tray -
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I did manage to get a photo of these two cuties in front of the food:
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And the last photo of the night:
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It was a great party!

Sharing this post with:
Show & Share Day @ Just a Girl
Simply Link Party @ Simply Designing
Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Craft Link Party @ Polly Want a Crafter

Home Decor By Me - Product Review

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Recently I was contacted by Home Decor By Me to become part of a focus group to test out their site.  Home Decor By Me specializes in products using your photos - photo books, canvases, posters, murals and many other products.  As you may have noticed, I love taking photographs and I was more than happy to try out a few of their products.
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I chose two 11" x 14" canvases to hang in my guest bedroom.  I used two photos I took while my sister and I were in Positano, Italy.  I love how they turned out and am so happy to finally have something over the dresser in that room.
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{ Wall color in the guest room is Benjamin Moore; Stratton Blue #HC-142 }
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I love having vacation photos out where they can be seen to remind me of fun adventures.
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The guest bedroom is also home to my Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair.  Love that little chair!
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I also ordered a photo book.  I love, love, love making photos books to remember a special occasion like a vacation.  For this book I decided to document my week at Lake Michigan this Summer.
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I love how this book turned out!
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There are several different page layouts you can choose from, but I have to say, my favorite is the full page photo.  It's nice to be able to highlight a special photo.
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If you are looking for a photo product to personalize your home, head on over and visit Home Decor By Me.
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{ Fine print:  I was offered products by Home Decor By Me in return for a review.  The opinions here are 100% mine }

Tasty Tuesdays: Zucchini & Eggplant Pasta with Goat Cheese

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Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

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I came up with this recipe last night to use up a zucchini and eggplant - both from my garden plot!  I have three eggplant plants and this was the first one of the year.  The zucchini have been in full swing for a while now and show no signs of slowing down.

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Ingredients:

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 3/4 cup onion, dicedn (approx. about 1/2 of a med. onion)

- 1/4 cup olive oil

- 2 cup zucchini, sliced and quartered (approx. 1/2 of large zucchini)

- 1-1/2 cup eggplant, peeled and cubed (approx. 1/2 of large eggplant)

- 1/2 cup basil, chopped

- 2 tablespoons Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

- 1/2 pound pasta (I used spaghetti)

- 3.5 oz container crumbled goat cheese

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1.  Start large pot of water on stove for pasta.  Cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain pasta and set aside.

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2.  Add olive oil and garlic to a large sauté pan and cook on medium heat for one minute, stirring occasionally.  Add onion and cook for two minutes more.  Add zucchini and eggplant and cook until tender - 6 to 8 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Add more olive oil if needed.

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3.  Add zucchini and eggplant mixture to pasta.  Stir in basil and parsley. 

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4.  Divide pasta onto four plates and top each with a drizzle of olive oil and 1/4 of goat cheese.

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I think this recipe would be great with any Summer squash.

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What did you cook this week?

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{ Please make sure to add a link in your post back to this post or add the Tasty Tuesdays button to your post.  You will find the button on my sidebar. }

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Dad's 60th Surprise Party: The Invitations

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Last weekend my sister and I hosted a surprise party for my Dad's 60th birthday.  We had been planning this party for months - I can't believe that it's over with!

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The first step to any good party is choosing the perfect invitation, right?  I had high hopes of making the invitations myself, but realized that of all the things I wanted to do, the invitations just weren't going to get done.  We searched and searched and my sister found the perfect one on Shutterfly.  The one we chose is called "Big Celebration Cocoa".  I'm so happy with how they turned out.  I really like that we were able to use two photos of my Dad and we loved the quality of the paper and envelopes.

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{ I've taken out the last name on this one, obviously!}

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I still wanted the invites to have a personal touch, so I made these envelope wrappers {which are very similar to the ones I made last year for my Christmas cards.

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The invite wasn't specifically a "surprise party" invitation so we wanted to make it clear that the party was a surprise!

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I purchased the digital chevron paper from Katie's Wish on Etsy.

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I printed the labels on 8-1/2 x 11 adhesive paper from Avery.

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Here's how the back looked:

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My sister and I were originally planning on using green & blue as our colors for the party.  We changed to blue, yellow, and brown once we chose these invitations.

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Back next week to share other details of the party and decorations!

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{ P.S. Just wanted to let you know that Shutterfly has no idea who I am, and did not give me these invitations in return for posting about them!  I am just a happy Shutterfly customer - I've been using them since 2000! }

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