Happy Birthday Doreen!

Today is my beautiful Mother-in-Law's birthday.

She's the blonde one!

She's a pretty great woman and I am so so beyond lucky that I got to marry her son.  She did such a good job raising him!

We were supposed to go camping this weekend and I was looking forward to 1.  Doing that for the first time ever (Ya, I know, it's ridiculous.  I live in the Midwest and haven't camped.  You'd think I live under a rock for crying out loud!), 2. Spending time with family/church family and 3. Having some cute camping pictures to post.
Welp, that's not going to happen due to some projected crummy weather.  We are going to be able to get some much needed landscaping done before we sponsor the youth group next Friday for dinner and Fireworks.  This makes me very happy, considering I spent an hour and a half the other morning pulling weeds.  Sheesh.  I also need to desperately refinish our outdoor patio set (which I will do this weekend.. maybe tonight?!) and refinish a desk and bookcase for my "office" aka sewing equipment, supplies, notions, and remnants (which will not happen this weekend).

I've been working my tush off at sewing, which has been so fun, but I took a bake-break.  I was inspired by my friend Erin over at Honey Nougats (she's another FACS teacher in our district and is A-to the-Mazing) and my mother-in-law's love of blueberries/her birthday and made some...

Yummy!  Here is the recipe:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup flour (Erin used whole wheat, but I didn't have any and was too cheap to go buy some!)
• 1 -2 teaspoon cinnamon (Where there is cinnamon, let there by Nutmeg!  I added a little bit)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup blueberries, frooooooozen! 
  

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. 
2. Beat in egg and vanilla. 
3. Combine oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder. 
4. Gradually add to the creamed mixture.  
5. Stir in blueberries. Because they are frozen, they shouldn't bleed on your batter!

 6.  Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets, OR use my BFF:

I did not own one of these until Cheryl bought me one for my bday because I kept going on and one about how much I loved the ones we have in our kitchens at the school.  LOVE IT.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.  Remove to wire racks to cool.

 So. Good. 
We even took some to Uncle Dan Dan and Aunt Kaleigh to thank them for babysitting Oscar during VBS last week while I was in Charleston!  They weren't home =(

Can you get enough of him?  I can't!

Did you know that if you don't have baking powder, you can mix 1 part baking soda to 2 parts cream of tartar and use it immediately?  Baking powder is basically baking soda + an acid.  Baking soda needs something acidic in a recipe to react to (doesn't necessarily mean that's something like lemon juice.  Eggs are acidic!).  Baking Powder already has the acid in it (like cream of T), so it will react to a liquid, like water.

Hey, Honey.

If I don't have baking powder, I sure as heck don't have Cream of Tartar!

Thank you Erin for having such awesome recipes!
I've got a cuddle date with a handsome guy and don't want to waste another minute.  See you tomorrow!