Got ticket stubs?

I saw this on Pinterest and felt I finally had a good way to display and store all those ticket stubs I've been accumulating for... a long time.  Michael's had a 40% off sale on shadow-boxes, so with the additional teacher discount, the frame only cost me about $3!  My dad made a clean slot for me in the top for the tickets and I drew a ticket using my Word skills (and a favorite font :).   Here it is!

Peach-Raspberry Crisp!

Last week, I made this Peach & Raspberry Crisp again for my family!  Peaches are in season and I bought a tray at Trader Joe's (they were so yummy).  I also made this about two weeks ago when we went camping - I made the whole thing ahead of time, baked it, and let it cool.  I wrapped the whole thing in a few layers of foil and kept it in the cooler until dinnertime at the campsite.  Putting it over the campfire for about 30 minutes made it hot, bubbly, and just the perfect camping dessert!

It has an oatmeal & whole-wheat flour crust which was a really good addition to the fruit filling.  I also added chopped walnuts to the original recipe, so the topping was especially crispy and delicious.  As usual, Ina Garten's recipe doesn't fail!

Peach & Raspberry Crisp

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 pounds firm, ripe peaches (10 to 12 large peaches)
• 1 orange, zested
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 to 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 pint raspberries
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
• 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the inside of a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch oval baking dish.

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds, then place them in cold water. Peel the peaches and slice them into thick wedges and place them into a large bowl. Add the orange zest, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the raspberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. If there is a lot of liquid, add 1 more tablespoon of flour. Pour the peaches into the baking dish and gently smooth the top.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, and the cold, diced butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is pea-sized and the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of the peaches and raspberries.

Bake for 1 hour, until the top is browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator and reheat in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until warm.

William & I are going camping!

We're going camping soon and I'm really excited!  We went once when we were in college, but that was totally last minute, no proper supplies, college camping.  I'm prepared now.

I heard on KPCC (NPR) about the California State Parks that are closing - there were filmmakers from "The First 70" documentary that were on and they talked about how they visited the 70 state parks that are slated to close.  One of their favorites was Limekiln SP up in Big Sur.  I've always wanted to camp in Big Sur so since the park was closing, this seemed like I was being pushed to go.

Check out this beautiful coastline, I'm really looking forward to this trip!

Good news, Limekiln (and Palomar, another one of my favorite parks) have recently been saved through lobbying efforts and partnerships with other organizations.

Congratulations Class of 2012!

I made magnets for some of the seniors I was closest with to congratulate them on their graduation.  I thought magnets for their dorm fridges to remind them of how much we love and support them might be appropriate.  Each magnet is personalized with the student's name.

  

The printables are from the incredible "Anything But Perfect" blog here.  She intended them to be used as chocolate bar wrappers, but I've re-purposed them as bag labels.

I got to hand them out today at the graduation - this was one exceptional group of students and there are many that I love with all of my heart.  They have made me so proud over the years (some I have had the privilege of teaching for three years!) and I don't think I can possibly convey to some of them how excited I am to see them go off to do the amazing things they're going to do.  Congratulations, my beloved students, you have been an utter joy to teach and I felt like a proud mom watching you from the stage today.  Thank you for all of the wonderful memories and all of your hard work!

Since summer started, I'm making up for lost baking time.

This year was... busy.  Something that probably made it even sadder was that I didn't have the time to bake things for my friends, an outlet that helps remind me that I'm not just a teacher, but a real person too.  I think in the week since summer started, I'm making the most of lost time.

Here are the macarons I made for Amanda's going-away :(

Then the pistachio macarons for Father's Day (recipe from Tartelette):

Finally, the flan I made for William (Tyler Florence's recipe here) - first time making flan!

When I get more on top of things, I'll use my DSLR to take these pics... until then, I'm just getting this blog out there with my iPhone pics.  Here's to the start of my recovery from a crazy year!

Macarons!

I'm planning on making macarons for Amanda's going-away party, so this has me going crazy on Pinterest and the blogs that I've been reading.  This one is not realistic, nor am I really sure I'm so keen on the vertical cone idea, but ombre has been growing on me lately so we'll hold on to this one for someday...

Source: somewheresplendid.com via Katie on Pinterest

Finally got the first lack shelf installed! Countdown to the summer!

This has been a saga getting even just one of these installed (and I want to install 5 total!).  But I finally did it.  Finally got the right screws, finally got a stud finder so I wasn't drilling into drywall... it's a start to the organization of the summer and helps me count down the days until I finally get to take care of me instead of all my students.  I swear this will look much nicer when I figure out what I really want to put on this shelf.  I'm also really excited that I got my main sewing/crafting supplies organized into this portable box so I can take it easily with me when I visit my parents over breaks!

Then I also made a charging tray inspired by this one from Jenn at I Heart Organizing.  She is amazing, by the way - I could spend hours looking through the amazing ideas on her blog.  Very proud of this one too, I too a cheapo tray from Ikea and turned it into this: