My Favorite Pie Recipe

I have been into making pies lately. I find it a new challenge especially with how temperamental the crust is. I recently found a strawberry and rhubarb pie recipe from my food network magazine. I am going to share this link because this recipe is fabulous,  and if you do not have rhubarb on hand or easily accessible, I have an alternative recipe with just strawberries listed below.

Here is the link to the strawberry and rhubarb pie (use the crust in this recipe for the pie with or without rhubarb): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nancy-fuller/strawberry-rhubarb-pie.html

Here is my strawberry rhubarb pie: 

Note: If you have never baked or cooked with rhubarb, it is a super cool ingredient. It taste bitter before you bake it but once you bake it you barely even notice it because it becomes sweet with a small tart taste. Delish! 

Here is my pie without the rhubarb where I used the same crust from the link listed above but for the filling I used the recipe listed below the picture:

-5 1/2 cups of strawberries (sliced) 

-1 1/4 cups of sugar 

-1/3 cup of all purpose flour 

-1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon 

Simply mix these ingredients together for the filling and once the crust is made and set in the dish pour in this mixture. 

My loved and cherished Granny.

As this summer truly begins with the passing of memorial day, my blogging for the summer will soon take off. This summer began differently than expected as my sweet Granny passed away just two weeks ago. My heart aches and my eyes fill with tears as I write this post. Granny did not lose her battle to cancer but fought until the end and WON because she now is rejoicing eternally with our Heavenly Father. I could sit here for hours and list my favorite memories and stories about my Granny but instead I will share one moment and one precious little gift I have to remember this lady who my heart longs to be with again. 

Granny getting her pedicure. 

 In february, Granny was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and began chemo soon after that. On my spring break, in the beginning of march, I was home and took her to get a pedicure. I helped her to the car, got her to the nail salon and watched her get a pedicure while I got one too. My eyes filled with tears when I looked over and saw her eyes softly closed and her face relaxed as she got her stubborn, worn out feet cleaned and rubbed. The woman giving her the pedicure had no idea what she was doing in that moment, but as I looked on I saw a beautiful lady losing her hair and her strength to an awful illness have a moment of complete peace and relaxation. It's in recalling this moment that I see the goodness of the Lord and that even in this nasty illness she had many moments of peace and relaxation like this one. I believe God gave her moments like this with my cousins, mom, aunts and uncles to show to us all that one day (sooner than we expected) she would be in heaven and those little glimpses of peace, relaxation, and joy are now permanent. 

My Granny's cameo. 

Lastly, 3 years ago my Granny gave me  her cameo that was her grandmothers. On the day of my Granny's funeral it was the only jewelry I wore. This cameo is the first piece of jewelry in my life that I will hold onto and never let go of. It is not because it is worth a ton of money but because it is from my granny a woman who knew and loved her children and grandchildren so well. She gave us all gifts perfect for who we are whether they were time or special trinkets. We will all hold on tightly to these gifts and never let go. So, thank you, granny for the gifts of all kinds that you gave your 5 children, 16 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren, they will be cherished and held onto tightly until we rejoice along side you in heaven.

xoxo, 

Anna Crew 

Happy Summer! Easy Shrimp for the Grill

    It is finally summer for me, and the true blogging journey starts. I NEVER again in my life will live in a dorm so I will forever have a kitchen, and I could not be more excited. I will be living at home until August WITH a kitchen, and then I will be moving into a house in Charleston WITH a kitchen. Okay, I have gotten that excitement off my chest, so now time for the kick off recipe for this lovely summer.

      My dad, who only cooks on the grill, and I cooked a kick off summer dinner the other night. We made  grilled shrimp, grilled vegetables, grilled red potatoes and homemade cornbread. It kills my heart to make cornbread because nothing about it is healthy or good for you. I pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients with much resistance. I actually did not eat it because I try and steer clear of anything with dairy especially when I am out of Lactaid... So here is the "how to" for this yummy dinner: (disclaimer- this is not my healthiest recipe ever but it's delicious.)

My dad and I bought shrimp (deveined and shelled). We marinated them in a  recipe from my uncle that is super easy and they only need to sit in the marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.
Here is the recipe for the marinade for 1 lb of shimp:
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/6 a cup of mayo
1/6 of melted butter
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper  
Just whisk all the ingredients together.


After the marinade is ready pour it into a ziplock with the skewered shrimp and place in the fridge for 30 min. Once you take out the fridge place on grill until pink (5ish minutes on each side but keep a close eye on them).


Along with  the shrimp I sliced squash and zucchini and cooked them as long as I did the shrimp.
I poured a little olive oil on them along with Nature's seasoning (my go to seasoning- not fancy at all).

The potatoes need to cook a bit longer than the shrimp and veggies. I cute them up into slices and wrapped them in foil (camping style) and cooked them on the grill for about 45 minutes. I  covered them in olive oil and nature's seasoning but you could add a different seasoning to spice it up













Lastly, the glorious cornbread. It is one of my favorite recipes from Pioneer Woman. Like I said it is not healthy and you end  loading it with honey to make it even more wonderful, I like to call it a dessert to make myself feel better about it. Check out the link for the recipe:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/10/skillet-cornbread/

Oh boy, It's Joy! My first friend feature.

This is my first feature on my blog and I couldn't think of a better person. Joy (in the pic on the left) is one of best friends in college. Her name sums her up perfectly as she brings joy to so many people. Thankful for this sweet friend who shares my love for gift giving and crafting. Enjoy this little recipe box she made and make one of your own. Thanks, Joy for letting me share.

xoxo,

Anna Crew 

Here is the precious, little recipe box. 

 She painted the inside and outside of the box and cut card stock for the recipe cards so they would fit perfectly inside. 

 All you need is paint which are less than a dollar each, a stamp and ink pad, paint brush, and a plain wooden craft box. All of this can be found at your local Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or JoAnn's. This craft is super cheap but a great idea for a gift or for your own kitchen. 

Go Granny Go!-easy goodie bag idea

    My sweet little Granny is undergoing chemo right now and since my love language is gift giving that is how I like to love her during this time. She is a fighter and keeping us all smiling as she is undergoing a major physical and mental challenge. I visited her Monday while she was undergoing a  chemo treatment and brought her a little goodie bag. She kept me laughing and smiling the whole time I was there. She truly inspires me as she finds joy in her fight. Go Granny Go! 

     I LOVE the target dollar section and can always fine fun goodies there. I bought these three at target to fill a little burlap sack with Milano cookie, post it notes and Peeps lip balm( why not?). 

I bought these notecards from Michael's. If you are ever looking for cute stationary check out Michael's in the discount section. I have gotten a lot of cute stationary for there for $1-5. 

I am always saving Antrhoplogie tissue paper for future crafts, so I used that to fill the burlap sack ($1 from Target also). I put everything in the burlap sack and tied a simple knot on the side of the bag. Done, done and done. Total 5$. 

Note: These burlap bags are great for gift bags to put jewelry in or to just fill and give someone a little treat bag full of goodies. Also, they could make great Easter gifts or Easter basket fillers. They are definitely a new favorite find of mine! Go get a few from your local target. 

Molasses Oatmeal

    I like to research random foods or ingredients  already in my pantry and Saturday morning it was Molasses. My interest with this started  when I recently bought a new bottle of molasses for a recipe. My granny and I had a conversation about it. She told me it was her dad's (my great grandfather) favorite  thing to add to any food to make it sweet and they always had it in the house. So suddenly, I became interested in molasses and if there were any benefits to eating it over some other sweeteners. Her father ate it for pure taste and was not concerned about the health benefits but I was…

     First, let me inform you molasses contains a lot of sugar! I am a sugar revolving girl. I am trying to decrease my sugar intake because I eat way too much but it was saturday and I wanted to treat myself with a semi-sweet breakfast. I did learn through research online a few things about molasses:
1. What is it? It is the by-product when sugarcane is refined.
2. It contains a pretty good source of iron, magnesium, copper, and potassium. Copy and paste the link below if you are curious about the health benefits. http://www.livestrong.com/article/262769-molasses-nutrition-information/
3. Molasses is not some super food but it is a great alternative to add to oatmeal for a "sweet treat" breakfast. This is not a normal daily breakfast but its better than a doughnut on a saturday.

I was looking up breakfast ideas on Real Simple's website and came across some ideas for oatmeals and that is where I saw the idea for Molasses oatmeal along with many other great ideas for oatmeal. Here is the link to copy and paste if you are interested in creative types of oatmeal:
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/quick-easy/oatmeal-recipe-00100000099427/index.html

Ingredients you will need:

 I added a little cinnamon for flavor. 

 Cook oatmeal according to its directions without the bananas and molasses. 

 Add chopped banana and molasses. 

 I spent my morning bird watching with my dad in our sunroom while eating my oatmeal.
Pure happiness! 

I changed the recipe slightly from the Real Simple idea or my molasses oatmeal. I used the instructions on the back of the oat box to make the oatmeal. I make my oatmeal with just water because I steer clear of dairy when I can because of my mildly lactose intolerant stomach...
So all you need is (for 1 serving):
-1/2 cup of oats
-1 cup of water (milk if you choose)
-dash of cinnamon (optional)
-Little less than a tablespoon of molasses
-Chopped banana

*I did not add any other sugar or anything. The molasses is very rich and provides plenty of flavor. You could add some type of walnuts or pecans if you desire.

Cute little card.

I have a bit of an obsession with yarn and tissue paper so I made this simplistic card for my mom. I used card stock, yarn, tissue paper and my favorite yellow string.