Note: Blogger's gone wonky on me...I think they're having technical issues. At least I can still see my blog, though! Soo...I'm trying posting via email for the first time. I can't put text in between pictures...so that's why the pictures are first. And the font of my sidebars is all messed up. Come back, Blogger!

This morning I woke to the sound of squealing children, thunder (and rain), slamming doors, barking dogs, and mooing cows. Well, everything's true except for that last one.

Upon walking out of my room, I nearly ran into two air conditioning service men. I'm sure it made their day to see me in all my morning glory, complete with smeared mascara I forgot to take off last night. Not. Sorry, Air Co guys! 

Yep, we're getting a new air conditioning and furnace. The second picture (I think, I'm not sure how this email thing is going to place them), the one of the pipe, is part of our current air conditioning. Just to clarify, it wasn't like that before they came, but they had to dismantle the old air conditioning in order to put in the new one. 

As for right now, I'm back in bed, blogging and listening to my Jack Johnson Pandora station.

It's going to be an interesting day.

-carlotta

Today is my beautiful best friend Andi's 14th birthday!

Dear Andi,

Happy, happy, happy, happy birthday, dearest! I am so thankful to have you in my life. We've been friends so long, I don't even remember when we met. I've spent so many happy days with you - playing dress up (Do you remember when we pretended to be Chinese sisters and found out we were actually princesses?), playing with the goats at my house (That "famous" picture of us in out swimsuits playing on the goat's "jungle gym"), swimming (We were the mermaids and your dad was the evil pirate king), and so many other things.

Do you remember at my birthdays when Miss Manners came? We got all dressed up and had a tea party...That was so much fun :)

And then on your last birthday with us still living there, you, my mom, and I went to the Woodlands and had a girl's date. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and shopped...my mom was expecting Lilly. I remember promising to tell you the moment she arrived. 

When we moved away so my dad could go to the seminary, I missed you so much. You were the closest friend I had ever had, and without you I felt lost. At first I was eager to move to somewhere new - but I quickly started becoming lonely. I lived for our visits to Texas. Eventually, I made new friends, but I still missed you like crazy.

And then came the trip to Germany in the summer of 2008. I'll never forget it! We toured "Lutherland" in RVs, all the major sites of the Reformation in the 1500s, as well as the places where Martin Luther lived. We started our trip in Berlin, where you celebrated your 12th birthday (already two years ago!). My aunt came along too, with her dogs Nellie and Fly. We had an insanely fun time. Remember the Watermelon Man in Schmalkalden? Oh boy. 

Then we moved here, to Oklahoma. Once again I was uprooted, I was torn away from my friends at the seminary in addition to still not being able to see you very often. I was miserable and missed you more than ever. Like at the seminary, I eventually made friends, but it was still hard. 

When my dad got ordained this past August, you and your dad flew up here just for his [my dad's] special day. My sister, Amanda, was there as well - you're one of the only people, outside of our family, that know all my siblings. It was amazing just to talk with you for almost two days...we had a lot to catch up!

Since then, I've only seen you twice - for Thanksgiving and then our visit in March. I wish we could get together more often! Living apart stinks. 

But basically all I wanted to say in this incredibly long letter is happy birthday. I love you more than words can  say. I wish I could be there with you today. Have an incredible 14th birthday, love.

Love,

Carlotta

And now for the giveaway winner!

Drum roll please...

*drums*

And the winner is...

Laura! Congrats, girl. Shoot me an email, and we'll get you set up!

-carlotta

I'm trying my hand at food blogging. I'm probably not going to do it very often (There are 25 photos in this post...that's a lot of work to sort and upload!), but I'd thought it'd be fun to try out.

This was the first time I've had strawberry shortcakes (That I can remember)..,but we had strawberries that needed to be used, and my mom spied this recipe in a magazine - so strawberry shortcakes it was!

Note: The recipe I used is based on this one - I've made some changes, though.

Pour in some flour in a food processor...

Add part of the sugar...

The baking powder...

And the salt. Blend it all together in about five one second pulses - make sure it's completely mixed.

(I'm sticking a "Read more" in here...otherwise this would take up waayy too much space on the front page of my blog)

Next comes butter. Yummy goodness. Chop it all up into cubes and put everything into the food processor - which still has the flour in it.

Once again, blend in five one second increments, until the butter resembles large peas.

Note: I over mixed it a bit, but it turned out fine.

Remove the mixture from the food processor, and move to a lightly floured surface. Roll into a ball...

...and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut in half, then crosswise forming square biscuits. Be an idiot and forget to take a picture of this step. Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet (I used a baking stone and completely forwent the parchment paper), and chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

While the dough is chilling, we can get started on our strawberries. Get a whole mess of 'em and throughly wash the berries. Remove the stems and quarter.

Now we get to add sugar (Or as Lilly calls it - soo-gah) to the strawberries. Yum. Me likey. Set aside for about 30-45 minutes so the juices can be released. Make sure to sneak a couple, too ;)

Get your dough from the refrigerator and beat an egg (and forget to take a picture of that too). Brush the egg onto the top of the biscuits. 

Then sprinkle some sugar on top. Bake the biscuits - while they're baking we can get started on the whipped cream.

Pour some heavy cream in a medium sized bowl.

The recipe called for vanilla extract, but we happened to have some vanilla beans, so I used those instead. Just slit the bean lengthwise, and get the yummy seeds from the inside.

Dump some sugar in with the vanilla and cream...

...then beat the heck out of it (until peaks form) with a handheld electric mixer. 

When the biscuits are done, assemble the shortcakes - cut the biscuits in half, and fill with strawberries and cream.

Then die of deliciousness. 

Strawberry Shortcakes

For the biscuits

- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

- 5 tablespoons sugar

- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

- A pinch of salt

- 1 stick (1/2 cup) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

- 1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

- 1 large egg, beaten

For the filling

- 1 pint fresh strawberries

- 3 tablespoons sugar

- 1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

- 1 vanilla bean

Preparation

Biscuits:

Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If using baking sheet, line with parchment paper - if using baking stone no preparation is necessary. Place flour, four tablespoons sugar, and salt in food processor. Using on/off turns, process to blend. Add butter, and once again, use on/off turns until butter resembles large peas. Add cream, using on/off turns until moist clumps form. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and roll in a ball; flatten into an approximately 8x4 inch rectangle (about 1 1/4 inches thick). Cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise, forming ten square biscuits. Transfer biscuits to prepared baking sheet or stone and chill for 20 minutes. 

Brush top of biscuits with egg and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar. Bake until biscuits are golden-brown and tester inserted horizontally comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

Filling:

Wash strawberries, remove top, and quarter. Mix strawberries and two tablespoons of sugar in a medium bowl. Let sit for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Slit open the vanilla bean lengthwise and remove seeds from inside. Using a hand held electric mixer, beat cream, vanilla seeds, and remaining one tablespoon of sugar until peaks form.
Cut biscuits in half, divide strawberries, and spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of berries. Cover with the top half of the biscuit. 

I hope this wasn't too long...but I had fun pretending to be a food blogger. ;)

-carlotta

Just a reminder - you still have until midnight tonight (6/5) to enter in my giveaway! I will announce the winner tomorrow, June 6th.

I'm now leaving you with this picture of Sarge (Because, as a photo geek, I can't stand a post without at least one picture)...

...and there may be a photography related announcement later. I'll keep you posted ;)

-carlotta