Strawberry Picking and Cinnamon Strawberry Muffins { Recipe }

Last week it was finally strawberry season here in Illinois!  My husband was out of town for the week on a fishing trip with his dad, so the girls and I decided to head to our local strawberry farm to pick some fresh berries.

At the farm they give each child their own small basket and then they give each adult a larger basket.  It's not a fancy place, but it was just the perfect place for this mama and two little ladies.

The girls were very busy picking their berries.  Savannah stayed very focused and picked a ton.  Matilda, however, eventually decided it was best just to eat all the berries she was picking that way her basket would be empty and she could wear it as a hat.

We ended up with a huge basket of berries.  Both the girls started just filling up mama's basket and we filled it to the brim!

Once we had all our berries picked, it was time to head home and figure out what to do with all these gorgeous little red berries.

Cinnamon Strawberry Muffins

Makes 18-24 muffins

So we had picked all of these berries and I knew we needed to make something with them because, especially with my husband being away, there was no way we were going to eat this whole basket.  I thought about strawberry scones and strawberry cake, but settled on strawberry muffins.  I added some cinnamon to make these a little different than your average muffin and oh.my.goodness - they are delicious.

If you have any berries lying around, give this recipe a try.  It's heavy on the cinnamon and heavy on the sugar - two of my favorite things.  And the tops get super-crunchy and delicious.  You're going to love it!

Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, melted
1 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Prep your strawberries by taking the tops off and cutting them in half.  Some of our berries were pretty tiny so I just left those whole.

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, except for the sugar.  In a separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine.  Toss your strawberries with the sugar.

Add strawberry/sugar mixture to the muffin mixture and fold in gently to combine.

Spray two muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray (you could also use muffin liners, if you prefer).  Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and fill each muffin tin just about to the top.

Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean.

Allow muffins to cool and then remove from pan.  If you do not plan to eat your muffins that day, I suggest freezing them.  Strawberries tend to make baked goods kind of soggy if they sit too long.

Place them in a freezer bag and lay them flat in your freezer for the initial freeze.  You can pull the muffins out one at a time when you are ready to eat them, microwave for about 45 seconds and they literally taste like you just pulled them out of the oven.  This is also a great technique if you have guests coming for a visit and you want to bake prior to their arrival or for a quick breakfast before work or school.

We only have one of these muffins left and looking at this picture is making me think, I need to walk immediately into the kitchen and pull it out of the freezer.  YUM!

In The New Beginning

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3

In the New Beginning!
By Rev. William Dohle

In the beginning...the house was a mess! Boxes had just arrived and everything was out of place. The beds hadn't even been put up and the movers were just moving the last of the things in.

And God said... Let there be order!
And there was order!

But the order took a while to come to pass. Slowly things started happening. Beds and dressers were covered and filled. Books started moving to the shelves. Pictures to the walls. Slowly the chaos that had first overcome the little house and the lives of the pastor and his family started to subside...and order came upon them all.

I love these first verses from Genesis because it reminds me that things don't start out all in order. In the beginning there is chaos! But also in the beginning there is God! Chaos is seen in the waters of the deep. But God is present moving over those waters. Organizing in his mind what will soon become an ordered and structured universe.

Then God speaks to the chaos: "Let there be light!" And the chaos responds! Light comes from darkness. A dome appears in the midst of the waters, separating them from each other. Earth appears. Land! The land itself starts to generate life! God speaks to the earth and the earth responds! And all of a sudden...life and order come from chaos!

Our lives are filled with endings...and beginnings. Endings come and things become a mess. Our possessions are thrown literally into boxes at times. Everything is out of place. Endings come and our lives literally fall apart at times. Our things...our families...our health is ripped away from us. And we're left wondering what we should do with all this chaotic mess.

But then God speaks to that chaos. God speaks to it...and miracles happen! Life is put back together in a new and a different order. Light appears out of darkness. A new hope is born. And suddenly we realize that God has been with us this whole time. Through the ending that was, at times, painful. And now as this new beginning takes birth. God is with us, hovering over our chaotic waters, putting right that once went wrong, and giving us a hope and a future.

He did it at the beginning. And God will do the same in every single one of our beginnings now and forever! Amen!

Almighty God, your Spirit hovered over the chaotic waters and breathed life and order into what was death and chaos. Give us that same Spirit that our beginnings might be like the beginning and we might hear our voice speaking life into all our darkness, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

New Blog Sponsor: Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns and Giveaway

I'm so excited to introduce our newest blog sponsor here on The Cottage Home -

Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns!

I know many of you love, love, love downloadable PDF sewing patterns and Tie Dye Diva is loaded with just that! They have downloadable PDF sewing patterns for diaper covers, girls and baby dress patterns, ruffled rompers & more.   These are sewing patterns that are emailed to you and you can print out on your home computer.  Patterns are typically sent within 8 hours, if not sooner, so you can get sewing as soon as you find a design that you want to try!

Tie Dye Diva Patterns are very user-friendly for even the newest sewer.  You can save up to 25% by purchasing a bundle of three or more patterns which makes these sewing patterns some of the most affordable on the market.

Here are some of my personal favorite patterns:

Ruffle Back Romper Pattern for Girls

Sweet Summer Halter Dress Pattern

Ruffled Diaper Cover Pattern

Big Bow Dress or Top Pattern

And for the boys.........

Cargo Pocket Shorts

So those are just some of my favorites, now it's your turn to head over to Tie Dye Diva's etsy shop and let me know what are your favorites.  I just love anything with ruffles on the booty so that Ruffle Back Romper is calling my name!

Today Tie Dye Diva is giving away two PDF sewing patterns to two lucky The Cottage Home blog readers.  

Here's how to enter..........Please leave a separate comment for each entry. You can enter up to four times. Do one or all of the following:

1) Visit Tie Dye Diva's etsy shop and choose your favorite pattern (click HERE to do so).

2) Become a fan of the Tie Dye Diva on Facebook (click HERE to do so).

3) Become an official follower of The Cottage Home blog.

4) Become a fan of The Cottage Mama on Facebook (click HERE to do so).

Giveaway will be open through Friday, July 8, 2011 at midnight (CST).

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of The Cottage Home blog, please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com for rates and more information.

From Grandma with Love.....Cowgirl Princess Quilts and Ruffle Pillows

I love my mom.  I know I've told you all that before, but she really is the best!  So thoughtful, kind, understanding, a good listener and I could go on and on, but I know she reads the blog and I don't want her to get a big head or anything.

She has really been taking a lot of time lately sewing some fun things for my girls and I just had to share her most recent creation with you.

My mom lives in Texas and she said that when she found this Cowgirl Princess fabric she knew she MUST make these quilts for the girls.  

Isn't that fabric just adorable?

Mom made both Savannah and Matilda each a Cowgirl Princess quilt and a matching ruffle pillows.  I love the piecing and framing she did around the border of the quilt.  It really makes the fun cowgirl princess fabric stand out in the middle.

My mom quilted the center fabric with what she calls her "lasso" technique.  She used her free motion quilting foot to make the stitching look like little lassos.  She said she thought something was missing when she finished the quilts so she went back around the center panel with this decorative scallop stitch.  Genius!  I've used this same stitch on the edging of dresses, but would never have thought to use it on a quilt.

The pillows are adorable and are perfect size for little toddlers.  Because she made the pillowcases smaller, she also made an interior pillow to fit inside each case.  My daughter, Matilda, refuses to sleep with any other pillow right now.  This is the one she loves.

I love handmade gifts and I love that my mom takes so much time to make fun things for my girls.  And honestly, even though my little ladies are young, they really appreciate handmade.  They love getting things from Grandma and tell anyone who will listen all about the fun things that have been made for them.

Thanks for the adorable Cowgirl Princess quilts and pillow sets for the girls.  They love them and we love you!  Yeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaw!!!

PS:  Since I took these pictures, we have since received the most adorable cherry picnic dresses from my mom - I can't wait to share those with you next!

Happy 4th of July!

Birdsong Bows Giveaway Winner

And the winner(s) of the Birdsong Bows Pattern Giveaway are............

Congratulations to you both!!  Please email Lindsay at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com with your contact information and we will get these patterns out to you as soon as possible.  Thank you so much to everyone who entered! 

We've got a great PDF sewing pattern giveaway scheduled for this next week from one of our new sponsors, Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns, so stay tuned.  If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of The Cottage Home blog, feel free to email me for rates and more information.

Playdate Outfit Sew Along: Day 5 - Capris/Shorts

If you've made it this far, I want to say thank you for staying with me.  I've had a lot of fun sewing with you all so far!  And I hope you guys are having fun too.

So now we are moving on to the capris/shorts.  I decided to make the capris for my little lady, so I will be referring to them as such through this post.

First we need to add the cuff to the capris.  Place the cuff on top of the bottom of the pants, right sides together and sew together at the bottom edge.  Do this on all four pant pieces.  Press seams open and then press the right side as well.

If you notice, I marked my back pant pieces with a safety pin so I can easily tell them apart from the front pieces......sometimes it's really hard to tell.

Next line up a front and back piece, right sides together and sew down the long center curve of the pants.  Press seams open.  I opted to use my serger here because the pants were not lined.  If you don't have a serger (which I'm sure a lot of you don't), then just be sure to use your pinking shears to finish the edges to prevent fraying.

Open the pieces you just sewed together.  Line up the front and back pieces with one another, right sides together and sew around the crotch area.  Press seams open.

Now you have what pretty much looks like a pair of pants.  Stitch both side seams, right sides together, but make sure to stop before you sew the cuff as the pattern instructs.

Next, press the cuff to make the seams for the side slits.  Pin in place and stitch according to pattern directions.  I'm not 100% that I did this correctly, but it seemed to work out well.

Above is what the cuff side slits will look like after you have stitched them into place.

Next we need to hem the capris.  Turn the hem up 1/2" and then another 1/2" towards the wrong side of the pants and stitch into place.  This is where I love to use my hem gauge - it comes in very handy for this step!

Now we move onto the waist-band.  Stitch the front and back of the waist-band, right sides together, at the side seams.

I don't know if you recall, but I think the back waist-band piece (H) was labeled incorrectly as front waist-band, so don't let this confuse you.

Press your waist-band side seams and then press your waist-band in half.

Open your waistband back up and sew your elastic into the back waist-band piece at the side seams.  Make sure to stitch this back and forth several times so it is nice and secure.  Again, this is another spot where I think I did what the instructions called for, but I'm not 100% sure.

Once you've sewn in the elastic at the side seams fold the waist-band back in half.  Place the raw edge of the waist-band in line with the raw edge of the top of the capris.  Stitch into place and press seams open.  I found this to be slightly tricky with the elastic already sewn in, but just work with it and it will turn out just right.

Here is what your waist-band will look like once you have pressed your seams.  It will be nice and flat on the front and gathered with elastic on the back.  A flat front pant gives a really nice look on a little girl because it reduces any of the bulk in the front that elastic might cause.

So, that's it!!  We're done.  If you have your own labels, now would be a good time to sew one into your garment!  And now it's time to try your outfit on your little lady and be proud of all your hard work.  There is nothing better than having my girls LOVE one of the outfits I've made for them.  It makes all the time (and sometimes frustration) well worth it!

So here's my completed outfit for Miss Savannah Rose.  I added a woven trim at the bottom of the top just to add a little interest.

Thank you guys SO much for joining me on this sewing journey.  I hope you had fun and maybe learned a little something along the way.  I know, I did! 

And don't forget, click HERE to add your pictures to The Cottage Home Flickr Pool to enter The Cottage Home "Sew Along" contest.  Next week I will reveal the finalists and then the readers will get to vote on their favorite look.  The prize is a $50 gift certificate to Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops to use on anything in the shop - who wouldn't want that, right?