Get Stoned at Saturday Night Alive

Every Saturday Night in June and August, Fort Lauderdale Beach comes ALIVE with tons of great food, live entertainment and great shopping with local craft vendors!   The FREE event will showcase the best of South Florida with a line up that includes more than 20 acts including Billy Bones, Taiko Dumers, and the Bahamian Junkanoo Revue.

The master mind behind the event is local crafter Leasa Brown Brinker of Get Stone Designs. She sells her blinged out items-- hats, flip flops and sunglasses! Everything is made with Genuine Swarovski Crystal!

  For more information about the event contact Leasa here!

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German Style Streusel Fruit Pie

From Mama Talks:

This is an original German recipe, which means that all the measurements were in grams.  I converted them best as I could, but they sound a little different than what you might be used to.

Ingredients for Pie

1 ¾ c. flour (not enriched)

½ c. sugar

1 stick of unsalted margarine

1 egg

For Streusel

1 1/8 c. flour (not enriched)

between 1/3 and ½ c. sugar  (right on the 3 oz. line)

1 pouch of Vanilla sugar (do not substitute liquid vanilla extract, just omit if you cannot find,  or use powdered vanilla extract)

Cinnamon

7 ¾ TBSP unsalted margarine

Fruit:  about 2 lbs of plums,  or whatever you like: peaches, prunes, nectarines

Optional: almond slivers

Wash and clean fruit.  Cut into slices, cover with cling wrap and set aside.

This recipe is similar to an American pie crust recipe, and I only know to fix it the old-fashioned way:

Pour flour on countertop, making a little “hill”, pour sugar over it, make a little “well” ( indentation) on top for egg, but add this last.  Place small margarine pieces all over.  Margarine needs to be cold. Next place the egg on top.  Use 2 kitchen knives with long blades, mix ingredients together with chopping motion until dough gets crumbly and starts sticking together.  You could probably use a pastry cutter to achieve the same results.  Briefly knead dough, maybe 2 – 3 times.  Then place it in refrigerator for about 15 min. or so.

Grease and lightly flour cake pan or baking sheet and preheat oven to  425 degrees F.

Also prepare streusels by mixing dry ingredients in bowl.  Add cold margarine cut in small pieces.  Use hands to combine and form streusels.

Take dough out of refrigerator and place on floured surface.   Roll out to desired size with lightly floured rolling pin.  Place in cakepan or on baking sheet and form about 1/3” rim.  I like using my 10” German springform.  Prick bottom several times with fork and top with a few almond slivers.  Next , place the fruit, topping it with some more almond slivers, if you like.  Now cover the fruit with the streusel.  It’s O.K. if the fruit peaks through in places.

Place in oven and bake for about 45 – 60 min.  Check after about 35 min. or so,  and if streusels get a little too brown you can adjust temp. to 400 degrees.  I usually need to do this.

If you like your pies very sweet you might want to put some extra sugar on your fruit, after you slice it.      You might need to make some minor adjustments  with this recipe, but I am sure you will love it because preparation is so quick and the cinnamon streusels complement the fruit so well.  Enjoy with a cup of coffee and some whipped cream!  Oh, and let us know how you liked it!  

Slime Time!

It’s time to get slimey this summer with Homemade Kids' Gak made from glue and borax. It’s very simple to make and tons of fun for the kids.  It take less than 2 minutes to make- but provides hours of entertainment. 

Here’s how you make your own Gak!

Supplies:

Two 4 oz. bottles of Elmer’s Glue

1 tsp. Borax

Water

Plastic Cup

Bowl

Food Coloring ( I prefer bright green!)

 1. Gather all your supplies together.

2. Begin by emptying the two bottles of glue into a bowl. Fill bottles with warm water and shake. Empty into your bowl.

3. Add some food coloring. The Neon Colors made it look awesome!

4. Add 1/2 cup warm water to your cup. Add 1 tsp. borax to the water and mix until borax dissolves. Then pour this into your glue bowl. Start stirring and you will notice how it starts becoming stringy. Keep mixing by using your hands and squishing around. You will notice after a few minutes that it has become pretty gelatinous.

5. Let the kids play with it for a bit and it will become the perfect GOOEY consistency!

Special thanks to Kristyn with www.lilluna.com for sharing this great idea.

Miami Design District’s Gallery Walk Served Up Fashion

Gallery Walk in downtown Miami is known for its artsy community. But, did you know there are tons of designers who showcase their handmade items at the monthly event. The District Factory in the Miami Design District opens their doors to these artisans, serving unique fashion finds. More than 35 local designers had a chance to sell their goodies, which included jewelry, art and apparel!

The District Factory also featured special guest and fashionista Annie Vazquez, who is known as The Fashion Poet in her online blog.

The group was founded on the belief that you can make a living doing what you love! The District Factory encourages the entrepreneurial spirit of emerging designers and artists by facilitating exchanges with the community that result in awareness, support, and ultimately commerce. 

Father’s Day Crafty Gift- Swing Batter Batter

Still looking for a great gift for dad? Here’s a crafty idea that’s fun for the kids to make. And-if your dad is baseball crazy, he will adore this creation. All you need is a bunch of old baseballs. If you don’t have any- you can buy some used baseballs or softballs from your local thrift store.

Use a drill to make holes through 10 balls. If you decided to use softballs, make sure you have a longer drill bit because of the size of the ball. 

  Get a wire coat hanger and straighten it up. You can snip the curly ends off so you have a straight wire.   

Now just randomly string the baseballs and softballs on the straight wire. Twist one side to make a loop and then curl the wreath so it creates the wreath shape and the other side of the hanger meets the loop. Wrap the remaining section of hanger through the loop you created and close so that it's secure.

Technically you are done at this point, but you can add a little something. Maybe a bow or a baseball hat!   

Special thanks to Pintrest Projects Blogspot for sharing this great project!