Raising Hands

After a cold hard Winter it seemed like strawberry season would never come. It's been a heavenly few weeks slicing fresh berries on cereal and salads but nothing compares to Strawberry Shortcake.  I love making bakes goods from scratch. I specially love to use family recipes. But I'm also not ashamed to take a little help from the store. In this case doing it just like Grandma means using Bisquick. She used the Shortcake recipe right on the box! The light and slightly sweet biscuits are perfect for soaking up all that wonderful strawberry juice and take me right back to my childhood.  Bisquick Shortcakes What you need: 4 cups sliced strawberries 1/2 cup of sugar (I use half that amount) 2 3/4 cup Bisquick 3 Tbl granulated sugar 1/2 cup milk 3Tbl melted butter whipped cream What to do: Sprinkle sliced berries with sugar. Mix well, cover, and set aside. Combine ingredients until a sticky dough is formed and drop six biscuits onto an ungreased...

Blueberries are in season here on Delmarva which means blueberries are on sale at the supermarket. I'm generally not a fan of blueberries but I'm trying really hard not to pass my personal food aversions on to my kids and I don't mind blueberries in some baked goods.  My Grandma made a killer Lemon Blueberry pound cake. If I ever track down her recipe from an Aunt I'll gladly share it. So what to do with my blueberries today? I'm not afraid to take a chance on recipes found on the Internet. This recipe from SouthernFood was just what I was looking for. It combines blueberries with my love for sour cream coffee cake and begins with a stick and a half of butter. I followed the recipe as written. The only additional step I took was to dredge the rinsed berries in a bit of flour before folding them into the cake batter. It helps with even distribution and stops some of the color from bleeding into the cake. I also made a quick glaze to pour over top (butter, powdere...

This week we traveled back up North to the A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children to follow up with Dr Connor, the Orthopedic  surgeon caring for Jacob's broken collarbone. Jacob fell out of bed in the middle of the night (no horse play involved;-) and broke his collar bone almost four weeks ago. We learned on Tuesday that Jacob is healed and free to resume all of his regularly scheduled activities. Jacob was devistated at his first visit when he was told he had to stay out of the pool for three whole weeks! It's been tough for him to watch his brother and sister at their lessons. It's been difficult for me to keep a six year old boy in a shoulder sling with his two feet on the ground:-)  In the car on our way home and not yet off the hospital grounds Jacob asked if he could write a thank you note to Dr. Connor. He said he wanted to thank him for taking such good care of his bone.  Steve reached over and grabbed my hand because he knew I'd just burst into tears behind my sun...

Thanks to Kellee and   The Country Chic Cottage my bacon is saved! I never know what to do for teachers at Christmas or the end of the year. I don't know how our mothers did it without Pinterest! Anyhoo, I was procrastinating housework (likely) and on Instagram looking to see what my friends were looking at. I saw this picture and I heard angels sing. I just so happen to own four or five dozen mason jars as a result of a little party I helped throw . A quick trip to the local garden center over the weekend and I'm SO ready for the school year to be finished! If you find yourself in the same gift giving rut. Head over here and print these cute tags throw something in a cute mason jar and wow your friends. 

The last few weeks have been busier than usual. Stephen has been traveling, my in-laws have been traveling, my parents came to stay for a week, and I stayed right here. I had a nice visit with my folks. We stayed very busy doing all the fun beach things around here. Even with all the fun we were having we missed Dad. Lucky for us Steve is home to stay for a while and his folks rolled back into town a couple days ago too. Steve was more than a little jealous when he learned I made both of these dishes for other people while he was away. To make amends I got busy in the kitchen and invited his parents over this morning for a big Welcome Home breakfast.  On the menu were Cinnamon Rolls ( Thank you Jan, for this awesome recipe ) and Egg Cassarole. The best part about this menu is that the prep all happens the day before so all I had to do this morning was turn the oven on.  The Egg Cassarole is a breakfast staple in all the Hand houses. It's another one of those...

Last Tuesday Isabella and I ventured to Wilmington to meet with a pediatric surgeon. We are very blessed to live so near one of the best children's hospitals in the nation. We met the surgeon to discuss treatment/repair of an umbilical hernia defect she's had since birth. We also learned that she has not one but two hernias. The second is located above the bellybutton called an epi-gastric hernia. I'll cut to the chase. She doesn't need surgery now and best case scenario she may never need surgery. The goal is if surgery becomes necessary that she only need one surgery to repair both defects. Are you confused? Simply put, Bella is great and we'll be meeting with Dr. Murphy (who totally reminds me of Mr Rogers) annually for the next several years to keep an eye on things. Fresh off a trip to see her Ped where she received a few immunizations Bella was naturally a little nervous to be heading to another doctors appointment. (But doesn't she look fabul...

I downloaded an new app a couple months ago and have been trying it out in the hopes of finding new things to write about. Have you heard of BrightNest? It's a fun app to help you clean, organize, and beautify your home. Through the profile you create you are provided with weekly cleaning, organizing and decorating suggestions sent straight to your smart phone. In case you think, "I don't have time for that!" It even has a suggested amount of time each task should take to complete. I honestly don't do most of the things they suggest. My organization needs require professional help at this point. Or my mother. But I have taken some of the quick cleaning suggestions and now have a fool proof and great smelling no chemical solution to cleaning my microwave. This seriously works! I've done the same procedure with vinegar. But then the house smelled like......vinegar Haven't you always wanted to clean with coca-cola? You inspec...