Free Summery Cupcake Wrappers

I finally gave my blog a makeover.  I've been wanting to do it for a while and now that school is out, I had some time!  Yeah!

To celebrate the makeover, I decided to make some new cupcake wrappers.  I've done them a little differently this time.  I created some flower centers which you can cut out and glue or pop-dot onto the flowers on the toppers.  I made the flower in the top left corner with the though that you could put a little brad or a pretty crystal sticker in the middle.

Hope you enjoy them.

Remember, in order to save them, you must click on them first.  This will make them full-sized so you can print them. Make sure you choose "Size to Fit 8 1/2 x 11" on your printer if you have this option.   Enjoy!

Grandma's Strawberry Freezer Jam

My friend Janet MADE me make my own jam.  I've never done it before, nor did I really want to make it.  But SHE made jelly and sent it home with me in the cutest ever little teensy tiny jar with a bow on it.  I had just gotten a loaf of fresh bakery peasant bread and popped the jar open after school so my boys could have an afterschool snack.  I handed them the fluffy bread with the pretty red jelly on it.  One bite and you would have thought I had given them a huge banana split with everything on it!  They LOVED it so much that I had to 'SAVE' the rest for their lunches the next day.  I did lick the knife and I will say, it was awesome. 

Well, Janet picked her strawberries so they were nice and fresh.  I hate to pick strawberries so, on a whim, I had my husband pick up strawberries from a farm stand on his way home.  He also went to the store and bought pectin for me... oh and jars!  What a good husband I have. 

I pulled out my grandmother's recipe and holy cow... I can't believe how easy it was!!!  Seriously, who would have known?  So, now I have this.

Here is the recipe if you'd like to try it.  If you click on the recipe, it should open larger so you can read it better.  I don't know why my grandmother says not to double it and she is no longer with us so I can ask her.

Enjoy!  It is super simple!

Tami

How To Shuck Corn (ie Peel Corn!)

This may seem like an inane thing to blog about, but when I was young, my mom would buy corn by the dozen and I would get the annoying job of  shucking the corn. Bleck.  I would peel it one piece of husk at a time and it was so annoying!  No one ever told me how to do it this way.... I saw this technique somewhere.... maybe on Food TV?  Perhaps Emril Live or Martha Stewart Living. 

On the stalk end of the corn, feel for where they corn ends and the stalk starts.  Cut here.

It should look like this....

Now turn the corn and feel for where the tip of the corn is and cut there.

Now slice through the husk the long way.  Don't worry about cutting through the corn itself.  It isn't going to hurt the corn at all.

Turn it over and do the same thing on the opposite side of the cob.

Now you can just pull the husk off easily!

To take all of the silk off, I run it under cold water against the

way the silk is growing.  It takes most of it off.

If you have any other easier methods, let me know! 

I'm always interested in making things easier!

Tami