Just another day!

Pretty much my life at school lately has been: school, cheerleading, school, cheerleading, school, cheerleading, school, and of course, more cheerleading.  Also a bit of hanging out with cheerleaders in stuck in there somewhere.  So this is a very random post, pretty much about cheerleading, and things related to cheerleading!  There will be a lot of shout outs to some cheerleaders in here, so watch out!  At practice I practice in the guys groups and stunt with them, and yesterday (Monday) at practice I did my own stunt! (well, with Grant helping!) I’ve known Aley (the top) since grade 5, and let me tell you, she was VERY excited to be in this blog. Here ya go Al!

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I know it looks like I’m not doing anything, but I promise I am!  I also have to say hi to Erinn, Serena, and their roommates.  I have heard stories that they talk about me in their living room after practice. So Hey Serena, Erinn and roommates!

This post is just filled with cheerleading.  But this includes some baking!  Tomorrow we have a bake sale, and I made brownies and cupcakes!  Photo 176

I decorated them with farm animals too! The pink ones are pigs, brown are cows, and yellow are chicks.

There are going to be some sister contests coming up this week, so keep reading! :)

Lauren

Pizza and Pie

I have a love-hate relationship with food. As in I used to love it, and now I hate it. Mostly because it makes me puke, and that is totally not fun. I did manage to make 2 things lately that I was able to make and eat without being sick. Which is a wonderful thing.

The first was Pesto Pizza. I made it for a family reunion we went to last week. It’s my aunt’s favourite appetizer and quickly turned into the fiveblondes favourite as well. Here’s how mine looked. Good enough to eat right?


It’s really easy to make and doesn’t take a lot of ingredients. Basil (fresh or frozen), red onion, mayo and Parmesan cheese. YUM Spread the mixture on some flat bread and bake it in the oven. So simple and so great.

I also baked a pie the other day! I have been having a craving for Peach Pie for about a week now, it’s my favourite kind of pie. So at the grocery store I bought some peaches and there they sat. Until I finally gained some energy and baked the best peach-strawberry pie ever. It’s not really that pretty, because the pie plate I used is HUGE and next time I need like double the filling that I made so it looks fuller. But that doesn’t really matter because wow it was good. And I used my Pampered Chef pie plate which totally rocks!



One thing that I am so sad to have no interest in whatsoever right now, is burgers. I used to be a total burger lover, I had to try them everywhere I went, and now the thought grosses me out. Also looking at any food in the morning will have me running to the bathroom. Oh how I miss food.

Valentines Day Baking!

Valentines Day is quickly approaching, and being the only unattached blonde here, I am just figuring out what I’m doing without my significant other (I’m watching Felicity right now, and it is SO sad…just thought I’d add that in here).  This year our three aunts are coming up to Ottawa, so that I can catch a ride with them back to the L-dot.  They are coming up on Friday, and we’re hanging out here skating (crossing my fingers that it’s cold enough!), winterluding and visiting until Saturday.  Saturday we’re going to a Citizenship party, because a certain Aussie we know is now a Canadian citizen!  On Sunday we’re heading up to Montreal to visit my aunts dancing friend who is in second year at Concordia, and from there we go home, and I am home for a whole week! I definitely can’t wait :)   So that is my Valentines weekend, what is everyone else planning on doing?

Tomorrow my cheerleading team is doing a bake sale with the AOIIs, and in true Valentines Day fashion, I made cherry chip cupcakes, with pink and red icing, and red hearts on the tops! Here are some pictures of my masterpieces!

Teensie spatula I found and used!

Teensie spatula I found and used!

The finished products!

The finished products!

The Pie Plate Search

I love baking pies, and cookies and muffins!

My favourite kind of pie is raspberry pie (which I have actually never baked), but I also adore peach pie and a good old fashioned apple pie.   For the longest time I have been searching for a nice pie plate.  Mom and my mother in law were also searching to buy one for me and both came up empty handed.

Recently I decided that I need to become more spontaneous during the week and do more then work, go to the barn, make dinner, relax/play practice/go to brownies and sleep. Time is flying by and I need to make the most of it.  So when our friend Allison decided to hold a Pampered Chef party at her house near St. Catherines, on a Thursday night, Mic and I decided to check it out!  I really wasn’t planning on buying anything but once I got there and saw Allison’s beautiful pie plate (she loves making pies!) I had to buy one.  So pampered chef got some of my money and I get a pretty stoneware pie plate and all was well!

That was until I got home and saw a value village bag on the counter and opened it to find a pie plate inside!  Mom happened to go to thrifting and was on the lookout for a pie plate, found one and happened to give it to me on the same day I bought one.  What are the odds of that?

So now I have 2 pie plates and lots of baking to do!

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Left: The Pampered Chef pie plate

Below: The thrifted pie plate

Pie time!

Friday marked the opening of our hometown’s fall fair, which also means it was our pie party!

Our friend Stef walking to the fair

Our friend Stef walking to the fair

Oma and Micaela walking to the fair

Oma and Micaela walking to the fair

Before the pie party most of us gathered together at the official opening of fair.  Our fair has been around for 151 years!  After a long day of judging the winners are announced and awards are given out.  This year we had a first for our fair, a male was announced as the fair ambassador.

Mom saying a speech

Mom was the homecraft director this year.

Once all the homecraft, school fair, and crop awards are given out, there’s one thing left… the pie auction!  Basically the pie auction is a fundraiser for the fair, to keep it running year after year.  15 pies are auctioned off- 1st, 2nd and 3rd in 4 different categories.  (Last year Micaela and I made pies and they won so they were auctioned off!).  This year we brought home 3 pies to our party (bought by 3 different families).

Expensive pie!

Expensive pie!

As you can see the pies at our party ranged in price from $230 -$300, but we also bought 2 pies that were not auctioned off for a much cheaper price ($9.00).

The line up of pies

The line up of pies

We had cherry pie, apple pie, raspberry pie, unknown (possibly plum?) pie, and peach pie.  The raspberry pie was the favourite overall.

Close up of the raspberry pie

Close up of the raspberry pie

I’ll post more about Saturday & Sunday at the fair tomorrow. (See pictures on flickr if you are interested in getting a preview!)

What’s the most you would pay for a prize winning pie?

Mmm Muffins

I baked some muffins last night and they were really good! I found the recipe from this blog: Miss Alyssa and knew I had to make it. Scott Loves blueberries and I’m quite fond of them myself.

These muffins really made me want to bake more. Mom used to make us chocolate chip bran muffins for breakfast all the time. There’s nothing better then waking up to go to school with the smell of muffins baking! (Lauren makes these all the time now and Scott raves about them)

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
Juice from the two lemons
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1 pint bluberries

Heat oven to 350°F. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, lemon zest and juice, milk and oil and add the flour. Stir in blueberries. Mix just until combined. Drop into muffin tins, lined for easy cleanup. Bake for about 15 minutes or until tops are golden and spring back when pressed.

*I used half whole wheat flour half white flour. Also I made 12 muffins and put the rest of the batter in the fridge to make more fresh muffins on the weekend!*

*Picture edited in picnik*

I added a cooking blog in my favourites, be sure to check it out because there are lots of recipes that look super good!! Rookie Cookie