Blueberry Harvest and Blueberrry Pie

 Don't forget to link up to my Marvelous Mess party.... I'll be choosing one project to feature on my sidebar for a week!! 

The Blueberries are here in Maine. Big time. :-) We always buy our blueberries in bulk from an organic farm called Red House Farm. We, along with family and friends, bought a bulk order of 190lbs of blueberries. Can you imagine??

Here is what one box of blueberries looks like (and it's half full!!):

Here are the rest of the (emptied) boxes:

Most of the berries were picked up immediately. We froze quite a few for people who couldn't pick them up right away. Here is a fun view of our freezer:

Good thing we have a chest freezer, is all I can say. When we get these berries, we freeze most of them and eat them throughout the year. Some, we use to make frozen Blueberry Pies to eat at a later date!! Instead of a craft article today, I am going to give you an easy blueberry pie recipe!!

You'll Need:

4 cups Blueberries

2/3 to 1 cup Sugar (depending on your taste preference)

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon Lemon juice

1. 5 Tablespoons of butter

2 pie crusts

~Mix dry ingredients in medium size bowl and mix thoroughly.

~Add four cups blueberries to dry and coat them entirely.

~Pour them into a pie shell

~Squeeze lemon juice of the blueberries. (For pies that will be frozen and eaten over winter....switch the lemon juice for cinammon....it makes it perfect for that time of year!!).

~Place little pads of butter over the top of the pie.

~Put other pie shell on top of blueberries and press down sides to seal it. It might not look as fancy schmancy as Martha's but it'll get the job done. :-)

~Pop some holes in the top for ventilation and pop that sucker in a gallon ziplock bag. Zip up most of the zipper....leaving a little space of you to suck the air out. Put it right in the freezer (don't put aything else on top of it until it is frozen solid).
~When you are ready to bake this pie....cook it at 425 until the top is golden. I judge by the smell, not the time!!!

This is what we try to do in our house during the major fruit harvest. Especially blueberries and apples. We get an over the top amount of fruit, make a ton of uncooked pies, and freeze them for later....then when we want a quick and fun dessert all fall/winter/spring we've got fresh pies ready to be chomped!! Or, you could bring it to a party during the holidays!!

I make a whole bundle of these during any fruit harvest

I shared this recipe at these funky linky parties:
Show and Tell@ Blue Cricket Design
Sundae Scoop

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Fotobounce: Share Your Photos With Security

I have taken a lot of vacations in the past couple of years. Lots of family time and SO much fun....I would love to share all the pictures of our trips with all of my friends and family. There are times when I take a picture and think, "I've GOT to send this to Mom....." or any other variation on that theme. Everybody loves looking at pictures and seeing what other people are up to. 

Have you read my Who, Moi?? tab up above?? In it, I tell you that I have OCD. Not the silly oh-I-need-to-fold-my-socks-just-right OCD but the kind that makes me check the locks constantly and doubt myself everyday. So.....something that really gets my OCD all revved up is having *everyone* see my photo's. I feel like I can't share pictures on Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket.....because it freaks me out that the whole world can see them and not just the people that I intended.

Enter Fotobounce. 

Fotobounce is a photo sharing site that gives you control over who see's your photo's. It is local to your computer, not part of some web photo storage site. You can invite only family and friends, if you please. Or, lots of people. But, you decide!! Fotobounce will even help by importing email contacts.

Here are some of my favorite fun facts:

*You can send emails invites with sneak peeks of the photo's you want to share.

*Great Security!! Fotobounce encrypts all photos with 128bit SSL....so, only the people you intended can see the photos. 

*You can see whether your friend/family "Bouncers" are on/offline like skype!!

Fotobounce also offers a handy "Face Recognition" feature that will tag the faces it knows accurately in your albums. Not only does it help to tag them....but if you were to decide to put some photo's on Facebook, it would transfer the tags and save you the time!!

 You can download Fotobounce for FREE for PC or MAC!!

Download Fotobounce here

All in all, I am completely happy with Fotobounce. It has helped to ease my mind....and in my book....that is BIG. I heart Fotobounce. :-) 

You can find Fotobounce here:
http://fotobounce.com/
Facebook
Twitter

I was compensated for this review by Fotobounce. All words/opinions are my own!!!

I'm The Duck Duck Goose Champion

You better believe it baby. I rock at Duck Duck Goose. :-) Actually, if I could remember very well that far back, I would probably recall that I kinda sucked at "The Goose". I got all my height really early on....long legs, long arms, long chin (if you knew me, you'd chuckle at that one). But, all those characteristics make for a very awkward kiddo. Duck Duck Goose eluded me much more so than I ever eluded the kid I tapped goose. 

So, this Duck Duck Goose shirt (which can be found in the Vintage T Shirt category) from Nacho Mama Tees is my opportunity to win back some of the pride that I lost in gym so many years ago. :-) Think it'll work?? I'm sure people will believe me. You believe what you read right??

Something fun I did with this shirt at well was to make it a rough scoop neck from a tutorial I found on A.Steeds.Life. She gets some great results turning a plain tshirt in to a fitted, scoop-necked shirt. 

 I will be using this tutorial a lot in the next few weeks. I can just hear my husband now:

"Where are all my T-shirts!?!?"

If you are looking for more funny t-shirts.......check out Nacho Mama Tee's!!

I was compensated for the post by Nacho Mama Tee's....all words and the opinions behind them were written in my own words.

Atlanta's Great

Contribution by Saul Martin

My parents live in Atlanta and it’s a great place to go down and visit. There’s so much to do there for the kids from the World of Coke to the Aquarium and they just like walking around in the city with all the big buildings. It doesn’t take much to make them happy! Anyway, I went to http://www.atlantahomesecurity.com/ before I came down last time because my husband had showed me a few articles from the paper talking about how their neighborhood was having some break ins and it got me spooked. Anyway, I hope they never move since it’s such a great place to go down to and they seem really happy there and that’s all you ever really want for your parents anyway, you know? I try to be a good daughter and they make it easy for me to want to visit when they live in a cool city – it’s much better than my husband’s parents who live all the way out in Kansas!

Evora Plus Review and Giveaway!!

EvoraPlus is New and Improved!! For those of you who missed my review from last summer of Evora Plus........I'll let you know a little about this fantastic product AND about what they have changed for the better!!

EvoraPlus is the first ever probiotic whitening system to be offered on the market. Not only does it whiten your teeth....it promotes optimal gum and teeth health....as well as improving your breath!! When placed on your tongue, the freeze dried probiotics are melted and they affix themselves to your teeth AND below the gum line.....helping to rid you of the harmful bacteria in your mouth, while leaving the good bacteria alone. 

I have used both versions of Evora Plus. The first version you had to take twice a day and it was pushed out of a little foil wrapper....like gum. This new version is mintier and more powerful. It only needs to be taken once a day. It is also in a more convenient and eco-friendly (bottled) package. 

For my part, I can tell you that I totally believe in the power of this little probiotic mint. I used it for the first time last summer, beginning two weeks before a wedding I was to attend and by the time of the wedding my teeth has whitened several shades. This new version is much more easy to use and just as effective....I totally recommend it if you are looking for a natural and HEALTHY way to whiten your teeth!! 

For all my readers Evora Plus has decided to offer this great coupon code for $5 off an order on their site HERE (Good Until August 31st, 2011) . Here is the code you'll type in a checkout: EPLUS811
 They have also offered to have me host a giveaway for a one month supply of the new Evora Plus!!

Unfortunately, This contest (and the $5 code above) is only for people living in the US

4 Possible Ways to Enter (Leave a comment for each):

*Leave a comment on this blog

*Like Marvelously Messy on Facebook

*Like EvoraPlus on Facebook

*Like Marvelously Messy on Twitter

This contest will end on Monday the 22nd of August at 11:59!!

Good Luck!!!!

A Birthday Chocolate Fondue

Don't forget to link up to my Marvelous Mess party....each week I pick a new post to feature on my sidebar!!!!

For my Sisters birthday I made (instead of the usual cake) a Chocolate Fondue. For dipping we had strawberries, apples, bananas, cheesecake, and raspberries (with little chocolate chips inside them).

This is such a fun dessert and a great way to shake things up at a birthday party!!

Seriously. Awesome.

The chocolate chip raspberries came from an idea off the site Saucy's Sprinkles:

These were a big hit with Munchkin, who got to place most of the chips in the raspberries.....one for the raspberry.....and one for me.......

This dessert ended up being much better for you (in terms of fat and calories) because you only need a small amount of Chocolate fondue to make your fruit taste decadent.

Here is my Quick Chocolate Fondu Recipe:

Strawberries (rinsed and dried)

Rasperries (rinsed and dried)

Bananas (diced)

Apples (rinsed and medium thickness pieces)

Pre-made Cheesecake

1 12oz bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

8oz Heavy Cream

~Prepare fruit and place on platter just before you serve. Dice cheesecake and place on platter.

~In a double boiler on medium heat, pour in the heavy cream and cook until little bubbles begin to appear.

~Add all the Chocolate chips to the cream and let them melt.Whisk to mix them completely (you want the fondue to be entirely smooth).

~Immediately add mixture to a fondue pot and keep heated. If the fondue starts to get firm, add a tablespoon of the cream to help it thin out and whisk it again.

*I bought my cheesecake in the frozen food section (it may have been a Betty Crocker brand?) .....and I was pretty disappointed with it. It was NOT a good Cheesecake for Fondue......it was way too loose and crumbly. And Melt-y.....in my book, cheesecake should never *melt*. I recommend buying one from the bakery section of the grocery (or make your own) instead.*

*To go with the fondue, we had some Moscato d'Asti wine....the perfect dessert wine for Fondue*

I Shared this post at the following funky parties:

Sundae Scoop

Show and Tell @ Blue Cricket Design

What I Made Wednesday @ Sweet Peas and Bumblebees

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Ebeanstalk: A Great Place to Find the Perfect Gift!!!

Don't forget to link up to my Marvelous Mess party....each week I pick a new post to feature on my sidebar!!!!  
 
Have you ever seen a Rody?

This has, arguably, been one of the funnest toys we've had in our house. We got it for Munchkin at 2 years old....and this Rody has been used heavily since. By every child that has entered out house. It's not just a rocking horse (but it can be if you buy the base for it) it is a seriously fun bouncing horse. It is incredible study and very well made....this horse can outlast so many other toys!! And, most importantly....it holds the interest of children of all ages and stages. I recommend the rocking base for young children (1 to 2) years of age and make sure you're using it on a carpeted area to lessen any accidental falls. This toy is such a blast. A great place to find this guy (and other Children's Learning Toys)  is Ebeanstalk.

Ebeanstalk is a site I found when I was looking for great toys for a 2 year old. I had a birthday party to go to and it had been a while since I had shopped for that age group. So, using Ebeanstalk, I narrowed my search down to the age group and catagory:

Isn't that INCREDIBLE?!?! They give you so many ways to narrow down your search and find exactly what you're looking for. Toys for dexterity, emotional development, to encourage imagination......toys that have to do with animals, ride on toys, building and stacking, arts and crafts.....

I Heart Ebeanstalk. 

Not only did I find 2 year old gifts......but I got a lot of ideas for older ages and stages too!!

I definitely recommend going to Ebeanstalk to shop for kids of all ages. 

This review was written entirely by me and all opinions are my own. I received compensation for this review.