Author Archives: camberley

Jan
31

Recipe: Blueberry Syrup

by: camberley
Link to Recipe: Blueberry Syrup

Saturday I woke up feeling like a new person.  Since Dallan didn’t have to work over the weekend, he helped me out during Josephine’s nighttime feedings by changing her diapers, burping her and rocking her back to sleep.  Not only did he help me squeeze in 7 hours of sleep (3 here… 4 there…), but he woke up before me and whipped up breakfast for two.

For the second time this month, he concocted his own recipe from scratch and once again it was delicious.

Easy Blueberry Syrup Recipe

INGREDIENTS

  • 1.5 cups of fresh blueberries
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

 

DIRECTIONS

In a medium pan, smash fresh blueberries and add sugar, water, and lemon zest.  Mix ingredients together.  Next, bring ingredients to a boil then reduce heat (to medium-low) and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Makes 6-8 servings.

 

Note: You can also make blueberry syrup by simmering maple syrup and blueberries on medium heat for about 5 minutes.

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Jan
26

Recipe: Apple Pie French Tart

by: camberley
Link to Recipe: Apple Pie French Tart

One of the best things about recovering from a C-Section has been being waited on by Dallan.  He’s been really good about bringing me drinks, making me food, running errands, doing laundry, massaging my feet and shoulders… Let’s just say he’s done more for me in the past 2.5 weeks than he does in a year of marriage.  If that makes any sense (I’m sleep deprived).

About a week after I had Josephine, he decided to pull out the pastry dough and bake me up something sweet.  When unattended in the kitchen, Dallan likes to let his imagination run wild (in other words, he doesn’t like to follow recipes).  Sometimes this works to his advantage and other times it works to his disadvantage.  Like the time he threw Tabasco on Parmesan bread – what the? Fortunately, his recent attempt at French Apple Tart was a huge success.

 

Apple Pie French Tart Recipe

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 Sheet of Puff Pastry Dough (Thawed and Rolled Out)
  • 3-4 Braeburn Apples (Peeled and Thinly Sliced)
  • 1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Sugar
  • 1/4 Cup Butter (Diced into cubes)
  • 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
  • Pinch of Salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and lay rolled out pastry dough on top.
  3. Layer slices of Braeburn Apples on top of the pastry dough.
  4. Take butter, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon and salt and sprinkle these ingredients on top of the apple slices.
  5. Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes, rotating the pan once during the baking.

 

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Jan
18

Inside FHR: Surviving Life With A Newborn

by: camberley
Link to Inside FHR: Surviving Life With A Newborn

As Debs mentioned last week, Josephine Rose Woods finally arrived!  It was about time. After trying to conceive for almost a year, going through fertility, being pregnant for about 41 weeks, and 27+ hours of labor – I’ve decided the man upstairs was trying to teach me a lesson in patience.  I hope this isn’t something he wants me to learn in preparation for her teenage years.


After reflecting on my first 10 days with a newborn, I decided to write down a few of the things I’ve learned so far:

  • Sometimes you wake up in the morning with a pacifier in between your boobs.  Don’t ask me how that got there.
  • Breastfeeding is harder than labor.  I can’t wait until I hit the 3 or 4 week mark and start feeling better.
  • I’ve been doing Babywise with Josephine to help her get on a schedule and sleep through the night.  Right now she is doing 4-5 hour stretches at night so I’ve been really lucky.  Don’t know if this is because of Babywise or because she is such a good eater (she’s already 9 lbs. 4 oz.).
  • My hormones are worse right now than they were during my pregnancy.  Hopefully I won’t be so weepy when I hit the 14 day postpartum mark.

All in all, I think this little girl is well worth the pain and sleep deprivation.  Speaking of sleep deprivation, I’m going to go squeeze in a nap.

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Jan
05

Valentine’s XOXO Glitter Garland

by: camberley
Link to Valentine’s XOXO Glitter Garland

Since the baby in my belly has decided to stay put an extra week, I’ve occupied my time with house cleaning, relaxation, work and Valentine’s Day crafts.  Basically I’ve been filling my time with things that will get ignored over the next couple of weeks.

Yesterday’s crafting extravaganza include paper, scissors, mod podge, glitter, and twine.  Poor Dallan, he’s going to find glitter on his clothes for a couple of weeks.

MATERIALS:

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Print XO stencil out on cardstock and cut letters out.
  2. Using the XO stencil, trace out the letters on the back side of the glitter cardstock paper and then cut letters out. Note: you could just print out the XO stencil on colored paper and skip steps 1 & 2 altogether.
  3. With a foam brush, spread Mod Podge over the front side of the letters.  Then, dip the letters into glitter.
  4. Once Mod Podge/glitter has dried, shake of excess glitter and seal it with something like Mod Podge Acrylic Sealer.
  5. After the sealer has dried, hot glue twine or ribbon to the back side of the letters.

Bright Idea: I even thought about turning these glitter letters into ornaments and hanging them from the ceiling or a Manzanita branch.

What are some other clever ways to display XOXO Glitter Letters?

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