Homemade Concord Grape Jam | Pinterest Thursday | Fayetteville, N.C. Photographer

 Ladies and Gentlemen! Presenting .... Sharilyn Wells Photography's Southern Bell Kitchen!  No, not really ... It's just Pinterest Thursday! Not saying Pinterest Thursday isn't exciting or anything, but I just have been lazy and not actually attempting the pins I've pinned! LOL

Anyway, I FINALLY attempted a pin and I sorta cheated. I pinned it AFTER I picked grapes with my family ... lol. I had to figure out what to do with the 4 pounds of grapes my son and husband picked since when I tried the purple concord grape I almost spit it out. (of course I didn't because I didn't want my son not liking the grapes just because I didn't -- there's something about that tough outside skin and the mushy inside. Blah).

 First, look at my cutie and his bunch of grapes! He was having a blast snipping away at the vines at Millstone Creek Orchards. We picked apples a year or two ago here and loved it ... so we came back for grapes and more apples ... we wanted peaches too, but they were already picked over. Oh well, next year!

Four pounds of grapes, can you believe it?! I was so pumped to just eat them, but I've never had concord grapes before and well, I am not a fan of just popping them in my mouth and eating them. So, we washed them, I pinned a simple recipe from Chef In You  (Pinned HERE) and we made delicious grape jam! And here's how we did it:

Basic Information

Prep Time: Under 30 min

Cook Time: 30 min to 1 hour 

Ingredients

• 4 lbs ripe Concord Grapes
• 4 cups Sugar

My assistant for the afternoon ... I love him. (missed focus on him, but he still looks adorable).

1) First we washed the grapes in cold water in a strainer.

2) We then had to squeeze all the insides out of the skin. Pretty gross visual ... son said it looked like alien brains ... I say they looked like boogers ... either way, it wasn't a pretty visual. But, it had to be done.

(My son and I wore gloves so that we wouldn't dye our hands purple/pink from the skins.)

3) Make sure to set aside the skins for later use. The skins are what give the jam a purple tint ... and I 'think' the sweetness ... but I'm not expert on that.

4) In about 30 minutes (me gagging and my son complaining it was boring) all 4 pounds of grapes were skin less and into a huge pot. Next, you need to bring the skinless grapes to a boil. You want them dissolved and REALLY mushy --  I mean, more mushy than ever!

5) Next, you want to pour the mushy grapes into a strainer and mush it through into another bowl. This ensures that you have no seeds in your jam. (If you pick/buy seedless grapes, I'm assuming this part can be skipped.

6) Pour the seedless mush back into your pot and then pour in the skins.

7) Bring to a boil, stir occasionally.

8) This is when you add your other ingredient ... SUGAR. I'm sure you could do without or substitute it with something else, but I followed the recipe to a "T" and didn't deviate (which is unusual for me LOL). Any way, the recipe called for 4 cups of sugar, she used 3. I had an extra pound of grapes than her, so I used 4 cups.

You want to warm the sugar in the oven at 150 degrees for like ... 4 minutes, just enough to warm it. I put it on a cookie sheet and placed in oven. Pull out sugar from oven and in cups, slowly stir in the sugar as the grapes boil (should be a "rolling boil").

9) Continue stirring constantly until jam is thick. The recipe has great tips on how to tell if the jam is ready or not ... I used the fridge test:

"Keep a plate in the freezer and remove it when I want to test. I then pour a small amount of the boiling jelly/jam on this plate and let it sit in the fridge for few seconds. If the mixture gels /mounds and wrinkles when you push it with your finger, it's done. If runny and it does not have a body to it, then continue to cook the jam for few more minutes until it clears the nudge test."

It took me about 40-45 minutes for my jam to be ready. I think it could'av been done earlier but I wanted to make sure those skins were mostly dissolved! LOL
 

10) Now comes the part I was a little nervous about ... the canning process. I've never canned before but guess what, Chef In You has an awesome canning blog about it as well! Look HERE. (Scroll to the bottom for the process).

I sterilized the jars in the dishwasher and as they were still warm, I funneled in the HOT jam. Watch your hands! You will burn them!

11) Once the jars are full, place lid on top and flip it upside down. I dunno why ... I just follow the directions. (I found that when I flipped them, the jar wasn't all the way full. I dunno how to fix that ... You guys have suggestions?)

12) With jars still HOT, boil another pot of water and place inside. This is the sealing process. I don't have a canner and didn't plan on buying one for my first attempt at canning. I mean, how did our ancestors do it without a specialized canner?! LOL That's why I loved this blog!

13) VERY carefully pull out the jars after about 5-7 minutes. Don't leave in too long or your jam will become soupy ... but leave in long enough so that the lids seal. I just left in for 5 minutes and made sure the lids didn't pop when pushed down. I used an opened jar lid to feel the difference. I also used a rubber, clapper looking oven mitt to grab the jars out of the water. I tried thongs ... but that was a disaster waiting to happen. I placed on a cookie cooler for about 3 hours to set.

14) I placed one in the fridge and the others in my pantry. The web site says they should last 4-6 months if sealed correctly ... but I don't see me going through that much jam. The neighbors may be getting nice homemade concord grape jam for Christmas this year ;-)

This recipe only has two ingredients, but wow! This jam is awesome! It's nice and sweet and *gasp* my son actually enjoys eating it (he's not a jelly/jam person).

Enjoy!

Don't forget to:

*** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Thanksgiving dessert | Pinterest Thursday | iPhoneography

 In honor of Thanksgiving ... I'm sharing this SWEET dessert! It's not too late to make!

I found this PIN, and knew I had to try it out! So I headed over to Gimme Some Oven's blog to get the recipe. I was not disappointed. The directions were simple, easy to read, and I wasn't left scratching my head. I made these in the morning for my coworkers. We were having an early Thanksgiving feast and as usual, I offered to bring dessert — sorta my trademark with them.

Ingredients

Gingersnap Crust:
• 1 cup gingersnap cookie (or graham cracker) crumbs
• 1/4 cup (half stick) unsalted butter; melted
• pinch of salt
Cheesecake:
• 2 bars of cream cheese (8 oz each), room temperature
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
Pumpkin Pie "Frosting" (**recommend cooking this first**):
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

There wasn't any weird ingredients, everything you'd pretty much get to make your own regular pumpkin pie. So, it was easy for me to get into the spirit at 5 am! LOL

I'll let you read her instructions, (<--- Click on link) because really, they are that simple to follow. LOL I used gingersnaps for the crust which added a lil' extra flavoring. But just wanted to let y'all know that my cowrkers LOVED them. I heard, "Wow, this is awesome." "Those were damn good!" and "That cupcake was awesome for a morning breakfast!"

We made a full cheesecake pie for today!

So there you have it folks! Perfect lil' twist on a traditional dessert! Happy Thanksgiving and make sure you spend all this time with family and friends. Also, take note of all the wonderful things you have in your life and be thankful that you're breathing and spending time with family and friends.

Please don't forget those who are overseas defending our country on this holiday, be sure to thank them and any veteran you see for their service and sacrifices!

All my  photos were taken with an iPhone and copyrighted by SWP.

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies | Pinterest Thursday | iPhonography

So, my buddy Annie and I were bored one night .... and we were like, "Let's hit up Pinterest to get some ideas to bake cookies."  <--- That's how all good nights start right? ;-)

After swinging by McDonalds for a late night treat, we searched our pins for a fantastic (and quick/simple) recipe in the parking lot of the grocery store. We both happened upon the same pin, Oreo Cheesecake Cookies. I mean hello! You can't go wrong with that combo right?


Here's the original PIN and recipe from Table for Two:

Yield: 12-15 cookies | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup crushed Oreo’s (it took about roughly 10 Oreo cookies)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, crush the Oreo cookies until they’re fine crumbs. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and well combined.
4. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat until well incorporated.
5. Gently mix in the flour and stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
6. Using a medium sized cookie scoop, scoop the dough and put it in your hands to roll it into a ball. Roll the ball in the Oreo crumbs and cover the dough well.
7. Place on cookie sheet and repeat until all the dough has been used up.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes (I had to bake mine for longer because my balls were a lot bigger so it took 20 minutes to bake).
9. Remove from oven when you see that the edges are getting browned. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to cool completely on a wire rack.
10. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

 My take on it:  The recipe was simple, easy to follow, and with drink in hand ... we were able to nail this dessert. However, don't eat them fresh out of the oven, they are a different kind of texture and I wouldn't recommend eating them so quickly. They left kind of a weird after taste in your mouth. BUT, fear not. Both Annie and I tried them the following day and viola, they tasted amazing. My family thought so too.

All my  photos were taken with an iPhone and copyrighted by SWP.

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Crescent Ham & Cheese Rolls | Pinterest Thursday | iPhonography

Sooooo ..... I may have miss last Thursday. I'm sorry. Did you guys go through withdraws like I did? I'm seriously addicted to Pinterest and I haven't even logged onto Pinterest since ... well, a while. My life has been consumed with kindergarten drama, photography (which I'm not complaining) and Army Reserve duties. BUT I'm here, I'm back and I'm sharing a Pinterest Thursday!!!

A while back ago, I had a guest blogger, ANNIE, who share with us her crescent roll PIN. She said it was okay, but wouldn't try to make it again. The cheese tasted weird and the bread didn't cook all the way. So, I took her suggestions and decided to try it my way.

I used thin slices of ham, pepperjack cheese and cooked it for a lil' longer than what the directions on the crescent roll package said. And viola! It was awesome! My son, who is very picky, loved them and ate 4 of them. Not to mention, us adults enjoyed them too and they filled us up. Quick and simple.

Little side note: We enjoyed them so much that they've become a regular staple in our dinner choices. However, I did run out of pepperjack and used American cheese on one of our dinners. Bad decision, this meal really does need the pepperjack to make it work.

Also, because I totally dig quick and simple meals ... I saw this PIN just recently and now have to try it! Crescent rolls taste yummy alone, throw in food inside it and you've got a masterpiece!

All my  photos were taken with an iPhone and copyrighted by SWP.

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Failed | Pinterest Thursday | iPhonography

I know ... why is this a fail. Looks pretty darn good right? Wrong. Let me explain ...

It all started when I found this PIN. It looked soooo good and when my husband said he was going to go to Burger King for some Cinnabons ... I was like, no way. I can make some of this pull a part cinnamon bread. (Side note: it's a good thing my husband insisted on going to BK to get the cinnamon rolls, cause we ended up eating those.)

Any how, Joy the Baker, who's blog the pin came from, gave really good directions and the photos were excellent. My mouth was watering as I started to get the ingredients together. I suppose my trouble started here, when I discovered you needed yeast to make this wonderful bread. I figured, "eh, yeast only makes bread rise, I can deal with flat bread." So, I continued on my way with the other ingredients.

According to the BLOG:

Makes: one 9x5x3-inch loaf

Recipe adapted from HungryGirlPorVida

Print this Recipe!

For the Dough:

3  cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned

I followed the directions to the tee ... until I got to the cutting part. My second mistake, I sliced the strips too thin. Third mistake, I cut them into weird squares; not like the perfect rectangles she had. Next, I piled all my jacked up squares into the bread pan ... again, wasn't as pretty as hers. Here is where I started to worry. I tasted the dough before putting it into the oven. If tasted like rubber ... like chewing on a tire. I was like, "eh, maybe the oven will soften it up a lil'."

After it cooked in the oven, and me eating one of BK's cinnamon rolls, I pulled out my masterpiece. I let it cool, and then I piled my not-so-stick-together squares into a bowl. And I tasted the bread. It tasted like a chewy, cinnamon and sugar plastic toy. But it wasn't unbearable. So, I wrapped the bread up in saran wrap and set it aside.

Fast forward to next morning, I unwrap the bread and attempt to pull me off a piece. And attempt again ... and again. With not avail, I couldn't pull apart my pull apart bread. I could however, probably break a window by throwing it at it.

Lesson learned: Use yeast.

All the comments on the blog explained how amazing the bread was and I believe them. I am not giving up on this recipe. I will attempt it again, and this time use yeast. This mishap has nothing to do with the recipe ... it was user error. LOL

And there you have it folks!  I hope you enjoy these as much as I do and don't forget! 

All my  photos were taken with my iPhone and copyrighted by SWP.

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Pinned it, Did it:Part 8 | Pinterest Thursday | iPhoneography

You know, I look forward to every Thursday because i get to share with you a fun pin I've down with my son. I mean, think about it ... I always seem to do a baking thing with my son. I've done crafts for my son, with my son, and loved every minute of it! Thank you Pinterest Thursday!

Today's PIN is super duper fun and any kid would love to bake these! The original pin is from www.i-am-bored.com, submitted by "fancylad." I want to thank "fancylad" for the wonderful idea of making Pizza Cupcakes. I mean, hello!

Photo from fancyland at www.i-am-bored.com

Things you need:
Cupcake pan
Butter biscuits (I used the Great Value brand)
Pizza sauce (I used spaghetti sauce)
Cheese
Mini pepperoni
Oven

Seriously, it's that simple. All we did was peel the biscuits in half, stuffed one side in the pan and put the other to the side. Filled the biscuit with sauce, added cheese and pepperoni and then rolled the other side of the biscuit, flattened it and placed it on top. (Really, it's not needed, but we followed "fancyland's pictures to the tee). We baked the pizza cupcakes for a lil' longer than you would the biscuits. We just went by look and I also poked a toothpick inside to make sure the dough was cooked all the way through. And viola! Done. We did these really quick and ate them on the road. Very portable and my son's reaction? "Awesome! We did a good job!"

Next is a lil' hair play. It's basically the same hair do I did last week ... but it came out WAY better this week! LOL

And there you have it folks! My pins for the week! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do and don't forget! 

All my personal photos (except the Revolutionary reenactment photos) were taken with my iPhone and framed together in Photoshop.

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Pinned it, Did it: Part 7 | Pinterest Thursday | iPhonography

Okay, so I said I was going to be a crafting, hair doing, cooking/baking fool while my son is on vacation with Gramma. Well. I. Was. Not. Sorry to disappoint. But I wasn't a complete failure, I managed to do TWO pins this past week! WAHOO! And they're keepers!

First up -- Hair.

I got THIS pin just recently:

Photo courtesy All Women Stalk.

I decided to go with it this morning ... Though, again, I made it my own. Instead of starting farther down my forhead, I took it over putting my bangs into the braid as well. I also made it into a messy bun in the back because my hair is too short for a pony like this. I also did an outside braid, 'cause well, that's how my braids go when I do them on my own. (It's strange because when I do french braids on other people they are inside.) Here's my attempt:

Cute right?! I love how it came out and look! My french braids are getting better! Practice does make perfect.

Next, when I saw THIS pin I knew I had to try it. I figured it would be cute for my son, but I didn't want to wait that long! So I did a test run and the hubby and I LOVED this!

The actual recipe is from Ginnerobot's Flickr site. I wanted to share her photo, but it just didn't fit right in the blog. SO, I'll share mine. :-)

The "recipe" is fairly simple:

Mini tacos: Won ton wrappers in muffin tins filled with taco seasoned ground meat, cheese & bake for 8 minutes at 350. Top with favorite taco toppings!

I used the seasoning I made HERE and also made some of Walmart's (Great Value) brand spanish rice. Looked good, tasted good, and it way fun to make! I'm sure my son will get a kick out of these the next time I make them!

And there you have it folks! My pins for the week! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do and don't forget! 

All my personal photos (except the Revolutionary reenactment photos) were taken with my iPhone and framed together in Photoshop.

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Pinned it, Did it: Part 6 | Pinterest Thursday | iPhonography

Well ladies and gents, it happened. I only did one Pin this week! I know right?! I've been crazy busy editing photos for clients and getting my son ready for kindergarten and well, I just didn't make any pins or PIN anything! I mean, Pinterest was put on the back burner and I never got to it this week! Crazy!

But, my mom came into town and I couldn't settle for ordering pizza for dinner. So, Pinterest to rescue. I had pinned THIS a while ago, and figured this was as good as any time to try it out.

Photo courtesy Food.com

 Easy Garlic Chicken

Servings: 4 

Ingredients:  4 boneless skinless chicken breasts; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 4 tablespoons brown sugar; 3 teaspoons olive oil 

Directions: 1 Preheat oven to 500°F and lightly grease a casserole dish. 2 In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender. 3 Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. 4 Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture. 5 Add salt and pepper to taste. 6 Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes.

That's it! I mean, simple, quick and an easy way to impress mom and show her all her cooking and baking lessons paid off! Viola!

Again, I varied the recipe 'cause I didn't have all the ingredients. But I guess this shows you that you don't have to have all the ingredients in a recipe to still make it delicious, because BOY! It was GOOOOD and I super impressed myself.

I didn't have garlic gloves to "mince", but I had jar garlic that looked minced. :-) I sauteed that with vegetable oil instead of olive. I did notice though that even though the recipe said the seasoning would be good for four chicken breasts ... I had to make more to cover all four. 

We also have buttered noodles (a boxed meal) and asparagus sauteed in butter and lemon. I'm super happy how it came out and like I said, it was GOOD!

And there you have it folks! My pin for the week! I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I do and I will get to some more pins this week. My son is visiting gramma for two weeks, so I should have time to craft, bake, and style myself till my hearts content! And don't forget!



All my personal photos were taken with my iPhone and framed together in Photoshop.

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***

Pinned it, Did it: Part 5 | Pinterest Thursday | iPhonography

Well ladies and gentlemen, it's that time again! It's Pinterest Thursday and I've got some doosies for you! (Actually, I almost panic yesterday when I realized it was going to be Thursday and I hadn't even attempted any pins!)

But, I did refer to my Photography Inspiration board a few times during my photo sessions this past week. You should definitely check it out. There are so many wonderful photographers out there and it's always nice to refer to something when you get stuck in a rut with posing and what not.

I'm going to start with THIS pin. My husband, yes - you heard me right, my husband wanted to make some chili. He'd never made chili before and guess what he did? He logged onto my Pinterest account and searched "ground turkey chili" and he found this pin from a great blog, SkinnyTaste.com.

Photo from SkinnyTaste.com

It was fairly simple to make, I mean, it's a Crock Pot recipe.  My husband threw in a lil' extra beans and spices ... not sure what. Even he doesn't know what he put in it. But below is the original recipe:

Crock Pot 3 Bean Turkey Chili
 Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 12 • Serving Size: 10.8 oz • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 206.3 • Fat: 1.4 g • Protein: 16.8 g • Carb: 31.8 g • Fiber: 9.0 g  

• 1.3 lb (20 oz) fat free ground turkey breast
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 (4.5 oz) can chopped chilies, drained
• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, undrained
• 1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, undrained
• 1 (15.5 oz) can small red beans, undrained
• 2 tbsp chili powder

Our picture isn't pretty, but the food was Ahhhhhmazing! I mean, my mouth is watering just looking at it again! hmm..... I still have leftovers in the fridge....

This was a quick, "crap, we want tacos but don't have taco seasoning." Pinterest to the rescue. I used this PIN and it was awesome!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (Aleppo peppers would add a wonderful depth of flavor)
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp cumin
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

Next, something I did yesterday special for you guys. I wanted something sweet, but didn't have much in the cupboards for ingredients. This PIN just had my name allllll over it:

Photo from Cookies & Cups

 I mean, look at that! A cook muffin with cookie dough inside?! And chocolate chip?! Yes please!

Here are my steps, I followed this recipe fairly close ... though I used Nestle mini chip's ingredients on the back of it's bag for cookies. It's close to this recipe. And for the ganash, I just added milk to the recipe until I like the consistency of it. (don't use eggs in the ganash!)

The consencous on this sweet treat?

"It's the best thing I've had ever," said coworker1. "Girl, don't give up baking! That was delicious," said coworker2. "You still have you ass backside? Cause, you baked your ass backside off!" exclaimed coworker3. "Wow," said coworker4.

I can go on and on, all I know is when I was baking them ... I ate so much cookie dough that my stomach was as happy as a frog catching a mosquito. Let me tell you, it is delicious!
 
And there you have it folks! My pins for the week! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do and don't forget!



All my personal photos (except the Revolutionary reenactment photos) were taken with my iPhone and some were edited with Instagram and framed together in Photoshop.

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***