{ Summer Berry Pie }

Hey there!

So many things have happened in the last few weeks. Sorry I haven't been around, but to name a few: prom, graduation, anniversary, vacation, first day of college, etc, etc, etc. Now here we are, officially into the season of summer!

Soon I will be sharing the graduation party I had for Bean, so keep an eye out for that.

Today though, I'm posting the pie I made for Father's Day. Actually, this recipe makes TWO pies, so, huzzah!

This beautiful pie is all that is right and wonderful about summer. It starts with a graham cracker crust, then has a layer of cream cheese, then gorgeous summer fruits bathed in a sweet strawberry gel. Yum.

This is very simple. The hardest part is waiting for it to cool and gel.

This is a great recipe for all of your summer picnics and get togethers, make some up and never let them know just how easy it was. You deserve the accolades!

This is also a gorgeous pie for the 4th of July.

Enjoy!

Tina

Summer Berry Pie

by Tina @ Sugar Bean Bakers

This makes two pies. You can also add all ingredients into one crust for a 'mile high pie'.

Ingredients:

2 premade graham cracker pie shells

2 pounds of strawberries- cleaned and dry

1 pint of blackberries- cleaned and dry

1 pint of blueberries-cleaned and dry

1 package cream cheese- softened

2 cups sugar- separated 

4 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons strawberry jello powder

1 cup water

To make the gel:

Add 1 cup of the sugar, 1 cup water, 4 tablespoons cornstarch, and 3 tablespoons jello power into a heavy sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, allowing to boil. Stir constantly. As the gel thickens, it will darken to a bright red. When thick and red, remove from heat and allow to cool for about 30 minutes.

To make the cream cheese layer:

Beat the other 1 cup of sugar into the softened cream cheese until creamy and well mixed. Spread 1/2 into each pie shell.

To make fruit layer:

Arrange fruit on top of cream cheese layer starting with the strawberries. Add the blackberries and blueberries on top of strawberries.

Slowly pour cooled gel over the top of the pies coating each pie evenly.

Place in refrigerator to chill and gel for several hours.

Place leftovers back in refrigerator. Will keep for about 3 days.

{Disney-Inspired Dole Whip}

If you are a regular reader, you'll know this story I'm about to tell. If not, well... you soon will.

Last summer, we went to Disney World. I never knew I wanted to go to Disney World... until I was there. The Bean and I (and our friends) had THE BEST DAY. It was true magic for us at The Magic Kingdom. Since that time, I've become a little obsessed about Disney. I've amassed a collection of Disney items, clothes, purses, and an unhealthy amount of earhats. People, I need HELP. We just LOVED it. You can read all about it in my post (it's a Magic Kingdom walk through guide with prices, etc).

We went in September. By November I decided to have a Disney themed party. This was a simple, little party, but believe me people, there WILL BE MORE. Well, speaking of more... I did just host this Alice in Wonderland party last week!

Then, for Easter, I made some Mickey Mouse Easter Egg Cookies. Because. I have no other reason.

The one thing I really wanted to try at The Magic Kingdom was the Dole Whip. I'd read so much about them! It is available at Aloha Isle in Adventureland. We finally got around to it mid-day. I just sat down to take a bite when Bean SPILLED EVERY DROP of it. I was upset. He was upset. Annoyance ensued. However, all was set right in the world, because we were at Disney! Who can stay  mad there? My friend Bobby went and bought me another. He didn't need to, but I was glad he did, because, hello yummy!

As soon ate it, I knew I'd make this at home. However, I found many, many recipes which all called for massive amounts of heavy cream. Oy. The actual Dole Whip is non-dairy and comes in a powder that they mix there. You can actually buy the powder. It comes in a HUUUGE 70 serving bag though.

I was surfing around the net when I stumbled upon this YouTube video by The Disney Diner. I liked her recipe. Simple. Good. Score.

So,  her's is what I decided to make. She has a full website of ALL KINDS of Disney treats! Shuffle on over there, Disgeeks and tell her I sent you! I know I'll be referencing it again!

Oh, did I forget to mention the Mickey Mouse silverware I now own?

The Dole Whip itself is a pineapple soft serve. You can actually get a Dole Whip in pineapple, vanilla, orange, or swirled. The BEST thing to get though, in my (any many other people's) opinion is the Dole Whip Float. That is the Dole Whip with a bit of pineapple juice poured over. Yummeh.

My friend, Steph, loved it SO much she wanted another. I can't wait to make this for her!

This is a light, refreshing treat that is so great for summer!

Give it a whirl...

Tina

P.S. If you haven’t already,  you can ‘like’ my Facebook page here, and follow me on twitter here, and you can follow me on instagram here.

Dole Whip
adapted from The Disney Diner

4-5  cups Pineapple Sherbet (softened, but not melted)
1 (8 ounce) Tub Cool Whip (thawed)
4 tablespoons pineapple juice, chilled


In a mixing bowl, add the sherbet & cool whip. Mix together. Add pineapple juice. Mix again. Scrape down sides and make sure the cool whip is well incorporated. You can also use  food coloring to achieve a yellow look (like at Disney). I opted not to do this.

Pour into a 1 gallon zippered bag. Freeze for 2-3 hours. It will still be a soft serve consistency. Snip one corner and squeeze into serving dish.

Enjoy!

OR... for a 

Dole Whip Float 

Recipe of Dole Whip
Pineapple Juice
Sugar

Sweeten a bit of pineapple juice to your liking so it is not too sour for your Dole Whip. I used about a Tablespoon for 1 cup juice. You can use more or less to your personal taste.

Pour over Dole Whip.

Enjoy!

If you have any Dole Whip left, place your snipped zippered bag into another zippered bag and return to freezer. It will freeze solid, but place on your counter for a few minutes to return to a soft serve-like state.

{For the Fourth}

A quick recap of some fun and easy treats for the Fourth of July.


Red, White, and Blue Strawberries

Layered Drinks

Homemade Snow Cone Syrup


Did I mention easy?

Cause yeah.

Tina

{Homemade Snow Cone Syrup}

It's finally feeling like Spring around here. Let me tell you, it was a long time coming. Winter seemed to start early this time and lasted well into April. As much as I love snow, cocoa, and cuddling up by the fire, I was ready to move ON.

The Bean's 16th birthday, as I mentioned, was in April. We wait until late May to have the party so I'm not over run by 20 teenagers in my house. No and thanks. Some years the weather around his birthday is perfect. This year? Yeah, totally glad we are having it in May. It was COLD. Now, I just have to wish the rain away for that weekend.

I'm having food 'bars' for his party. It's his 16th, it's going to be pretty major.

I will have a full report on his party later this month, but one of the bars is a Snow Cone bar!

Snow Cone syrup is pretty spendy, and I figure we'll go through quite a lot. I did some snooping around the internet and found homemade syrup.

ALL of it called for 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water. That seemed like a LOT. So, I tried it with 1 1/2 cups of water to 1 cup of sugar. Still SOOOO sweet. SOOOO sweet. I can't imagine the 2 Cups.

In the end, I settled at 1 cup sugar 1 cup water... and, it's good.

I have one of these

and it works great, but it's totally not necessary if you have a blender that will crush ice, or a fridge that spits out crushed ice. Bean won this in a costume contest at church (80's Party, whut's up!).

So, you need just a few things for this: Sugar, Water, Crushed ice, & Koolaid packets.

I recommend heating your water in the microwave instead of on the stove top. If you let it boil with the sugar in it, it will thicken. It's just easier to heat a cup of water in a microwave save bowl/mixing cup.

Once your water is boiling (takes under 3 minutes in my microwave), remove it (carefully, cause it's boiling!) and add sugar. Whisk until dissolved. Then add in 1 packet of Koolaid (or other drink mix). These are the little packets that cost like 20 cents. Whisk until dissolved.

Allow to cool.

That's it!

I like to boil/mix/cool mine in this. It's easy to pour into the bottles when cool.

Oh, and the bottles? Just water bottles with squeeze tops (I saw this idea online somewhere).  I dressed mine up with scrapbook paper.

To fill a water bottle this size (24 ounces), you will need two recipes per bottle.

This is super yummy & so easy. Not to mention inexpensive! Instead of $3 on a small bottle of syrup from the store, you are looking at around 75 cents for a large bottle. Woot!

An excellent summer treat, of course! Just think of all the different flavors you can make.



Can't wait to share the rest of the party with you, it's happening in a couple weeks!

UPDATE, the whole party is now posted here.

Tina


P.S. If you haven’t already,  you can ‘like’ my Facebook page here, and follow me on twitter here, and you can follow me on instagram here.

Linked up at 30 Handmade Days Pity Party 

Homemade Snow Cone Syrup


1 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup water
.22 ounce packet koolaid drink mix
(store brands are usually .15 ounce and work fine too)


Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a microwave safe bowl or large measuring cup. Remove it carefully and add 1 cup of sugar. Whisk until dissolved. Then add in 1 packet of Koolaid (or other drink mix).  Whisk until dissolved. Allow to cool fully. Serve over crushed ice. Store leftover syrup in refrigerator.

{ Layered Drinks: For the 4th }

Yessterday, the drinks I made were red, blue, and yellow,

Since the 4th of July is in a few days, I thought I should substitute the yellow for white!

I was out today, while the Bean was at his Summer Drama Troupe practice and grabbed a Mt. Dew White Out from the gas station.

This is Mt. Dew White Out- 30 grams of sugar

V8 Splash - 14 grams of sugar

Propel (with blue food coloring) 0 grams of sugar

There are also plenty of  Gatorade & Powerade flavors out there with the medium & no/low sugar contents, so they are great for the middle and top layers.

 Full instructions in my prior post here.

Tina

{ Layered Drinks }

I saw these drinks a long time ago. I want to say it was on a TV show, but I could totes be wrong.

I know, I'm just as shocked as you are, but it's been known to happen a time or two (or a thousand).

They are SO cool. Iknowright?

Easy and so much fun.

And yes, that is a jar. I love jars for drinks. This tall, skinny jar is from my favorite olives.

Mmmm... I love those things a big gooey lot. So much love.

But enough about those little green gems, on to the drinks!

All ya need is this: 

• Clear glasses- the taller, the better (or jars if you like)

• Ice, and lots of it

• drinks with differing sugar contents

You can use more than three, but these were what I had in the house at the time.

Just check the sugar grams on the label.


For these I used:

• Mt Dew - 46 grams of sugar (YOWTCH!)

• V8 Splash- 18 grams of sugar

• Propel- 0 grams of sugar 

The Propel is pretty much clear, so I added a dash of blue food coloring.

Then add your ice, allll the way to the top. 

Pour in your heaviest (aka most sugary) drink.

Mt Dew for me

Then pour in your second heaviest drink, the V8 Spalsh in my case, slowly, and through the ice.

Here is another I did with a tiny bit of the 2nd liquid it in so you can see the separation

I've found it's easiest to pour from something with a spout. I used a measuring cup.

Then, pour in your lightest drink (Propel here), again, slowly, and through the ice. You can add a little more ice before adding the last color if you need too. Make sure it's all the way to the top.

As I said, you can add more layers, just make sure each color has a significant sugar difference and ending with the 0 sugar drink. 

This drink has 100% Bean approval. He may have drank 2 of them.

These are great for summer get togethers, parties, holidays, or.. just whenev, ya know.

The Bean thinks I should make these for our Harry Potter party next month. I think I might could do that.

  Potions anyone?

Tina

P.S. If you haven’t already,  you can ‘like’ my Facebook page here, and follow me on twitter here, and you can follow me on instagram here.

shared at:
Everyday Mom's Meals
Mandy's Recipe Box 
Sugar Bee Crafts 
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam 
Michelle's Tasty Creations

{ Quick & Cute for the 4th }

I saw these cuties a week or so ago when I was pinning my little heart away on Pinterest. 

I knew I had to try them.

They are cheap, quick, and hello, EASY to make for the upcoming holiday.

And your guests will think you are super clever.

Simply wash and dry strawberries, melt up some white chocolate per package instructions, dip into the chocolate, then dip into blue sprinkles, and let dry.

Congratulations. You’re a genius.

 I did these two ways.

First with blue sanding sugar.

and again with blue sprinkles.

The sanding sugar is my favorite, but the sprinkles are a more “American” blue.

Either way, they look really cute!

And taste even better.

~Tina

PS, for overuse of the word “cute”, you may now cyberslap me. k,thanks.