Berry Pie Crisp: Self-Improvement Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his partnership is that it's not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts project, book review, and/or technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Self-Improvement.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here's a peek at what we all came up with:

I made a Berry Pie Crisp.

Berry Pie Crisp

For me, since becoming a parent anyway, self-improvement has been about balance. How could I get everything done that needed to be done in a day, many of those responsibilities at the same time, and still be able to focus on myself? Growth, I found, only came with balance. I worked on a strategy that included making lists and prioritizing tasks. If I went to bed at night feeling accomplished, I woke up a better me. Pride serves as inspiration, frustration attacks the ego.

These days, self-improvement is less about balance and more in finding success through compromise. Three things are very different now. First, the boys are grown, taking some of the pressure off in terms of what needs to be done for others on any given day. Second, there's Covid. Being in a "denial" state resulted in a self-imposed stay at home order. With lack of verifiable public information, that's not only been more strict than should been necessary, but has been more prolonged. The third is the compromise between Hubs' need for a lower fat diet and my continued need to express myself through recipe development. When it comes to being a better me, especially in this stress filled time when friendships are strained, my exposure to news needs to be curbed to lessen anxiety, and I'm desperately missing my son, pride continues to serve as inspiration.

It may seem absurd, a bit of a stretch, maybe even as though I'm missing the point, that I'm sharing a dessert recipe as a representation of self-improvement. I get that. But, back to the balance and compromise that foster self growth, this simple act of creating something satisfying for all fits the current bill. I ended the day feeling accomplished, the main ingredient for waking up the next day ready to strive to be a better me.

We love summer fruits in desserts, especially berries. I had been craving my Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie, and Hubs was asking for my Mixed Berry Pie. I was concerned about the amount of butter in the Mixed Berry Pie crust, and knew I couldn't use the cream cheese in the Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie. In the fall, I had made a pie hybrid, my Butterscotch Toffee Pear Crisp, I could use that template and create something that would satisfy both of our cravings nicely.

First, gather and prepare the fruits. Use whatever assortment you choose as long as you have about 6 cups of berries:

Make the topping:

Prepare the crust:

Then just assemble. Mix the filling and spread into the crust:

Dollop with the topping:

  Bake:

Cool, cut and serve: 

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:


 

Tamara of Part-time Working Hockey Mom shares Get more sh** done ✅. 


 
 



Sarah of The Crazy Mama Llama shares Don't Mind Me . . . I'm Just Homeschooling. 

 





P.J. of A 'lil HooHaa shares Self Improvement.

Berry Pie Crisp

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

NOTE: It doesn't matter which berries you use or the ratio you choose as long as the quantity is about 6 cups.
 

Ingredients:
1 pie crust
1 TBSP flour

3 cups strawberries
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup blackberries
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/3 cup toffee baking chips

6 TBSP butter substitute, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup quick oats 

OPT: whipped cream or powdered sugar for serving

Directions:
*Rinse and pat dry all of the fruit. Hull and slice the strawberries. Set aside.
*Cream the butter substitute, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup flour and oats. Set aside.
*Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll the crust to a 10 X 13 rectangle. Grease an 8 X 11 baking dish.
*Spread 1 TBSP flour over the pie crust, then flip it over into the baking dish so the flour is on the bottom. Gently manipulate the crust to fit into and up all sides of the dish, then fold under any excess crust.
*In a large bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup brown sugar with the cornstarch, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and toffee chips. Gently mix in the fruit and arrange evenly in the baking dish.
*Drop the oat topping, by tablespoons, onto the fruit. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and the top and sides have browned.
*Cool, cut and serve. Can top with a dollop of whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar.

Ruby Slippers and Rose-Colored Wishes: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 6 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: So, you've won the lottery. What are your plans?
It was submitted by: P. J. of A 'lil HooHaa.

We've been lucky enough to have had P. J. join us for these Secret Subject Swap posts since February. This is his 8th time sending in a prompt, so he'd have no way of knowing what subjects have been submitted since the beginning. I run these things and even I can't remember them all. In fact, this is my 109th (yes, you read that right) Secret Subject Swap post.

I do know that this particular prompt has come up a number of times before. I even got a similar prompt myself, back in March of 2013. On the occasion that someone receives a subject about which they've already written, they have the option to ask me to go back to whoever sent it in and get an alternative prompt. As I began to contemplate doing that, I realized that although the question may not have changed much from the one I received back in that 10th Secret Subject Swap, the answer most certainly has.

Back in 2013, before the world turned upside down, my answer was frivolous. It was lighthearted and fun and funny, worth a read (if I do say so myself). But it is just not where I am now. So thank you, P. J., for the opportunity to address this in a more thoughtful way.

At this point in my life, in this moment in history, what would I do with my winnings? I've given it much thought and have come to the conclusion that I'd most like to find a way to use that money to follow in the footsteps of a con man.

No, not that con man. 

Oscar Zoraster Phadig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, a circus magician and con man from Omaha, NE, to be exact. Quite a name that guy had. His initials weren't much better, although good for a laugh (O.Z. P.I.N. H.E.A.D). No wonder L. Frank Baum shortened Oscar's name to his first two initials, Oz is so much easier.


Whether directly or indirectly, The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz ultimately impacted many lives in some very meaningful ways. He was responsible for the Cowardly Lion's courage, for the Tin Man's heart, for the Scarecrow's brains, and for Dorothy's return to Auntie Em's home cooking. 

Zucchini Cornbread Bake

Somehow, some way, I'd like to have that impact too. So, however it requires me to spend that money, I'd give every penny of it in this quest:

For all those who don't believe in science, I hope to equip you with a brain.

For all those who believe their right to do harm to others supersedes their obligation to humanity, I hope to equip you with a heart.

For all those who find your courage, your optimism, faltering, I hope to surround you with encouragement and support.

And then there are those of us in this country who are the Dorothys. Be it ever so humble, we know there's no place like home. So whether it takes a fleet of hot air balloons or an Imelda Marcos sized closet full of ruby slippers, I hope to find a way for all of us to click our heels three times and succeed in making America home again.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Wandering Web Designer 
A 'lil HooHaa 
Part-time Working Hockey Mom 
Climaxed 
The Crazy Mama Llama 

Zucchini Cornbread Bake        

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 large zucchini
1 beefsteak tomato
6 mushrooms
2 TBSP chopped roasted red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 TBSP grated parmesan
1 cup shredded mozzarella
3/4 cup dry cornbread stuffing mix
1/2 cup canned crispy fried onions

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 X 8 baking dish.
*Rinse and pat dry the zucchini, tomato and mushrooms. Slice the ends off of the zucchini, then chop and add to a large bowl. Chop the tomato, slice the mushrooms, and add all to the bowl along with the chopped roasted red pepper. 
*Mix the vegetables with the salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Add in the parmesan, mozzarella, and cornbread stuffing and mix again. 
*Pour the vegetable mixture evenly into the prepared dish and bake for 50 minutes. Leave the oven on, carefully uncover the dish, crush the canned crispy fried onions over the top and return to the oven to cook, uncovered, another 10 minutes.
 

Corona-BOOM

It's coming. The Corona-BOOM. You know what I'm talking about, right? First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes being stuck in the house together for months . . . you get the picture.

If many of us started staying home in March, add 9 months and I'm guessing the first wave of births (first wave is, I guess, for those overachievers among us) should be in just a couple of months. After that though, look out, the world is a Midwife's oyster. Truth is, ready to start (or expand) their family or not, as the opportunity has exponentially increased, the options for prevention have decreased.

I mean, what are you gonna do, put it on your Walmart grocery list?

lettuce, green leaf
tomatoes, roma
rice, brown
chicken, boneless, skinless, thin sliced
milk, 1 % low fat
butter, sticks, salted
orange juice, no pulp
condoms, mint, ribbed, colored 

And you know they make substitutions, right? How, exactly, does that work? And what if it doesn't? You may have to call and talk to them. I'm thinking the only thing worse than trying to order condoms with your groceries would be having to discuss the situation with the employees:

You: Hello, Walmart, can I speak with someone about my pick-up order?
Them: Hold please.

then:

Them: Hello, this is the pick-up center.
You: Yes, I'd like to talk to someone about an item in my order.
Them: Sure, let me have your order number.
You: 12398470.
Them: OK, I have your order right here. 
You: I ordered condoms.
Them: Yes, they were included in your order.
You: I ordered mint.
Them: We were out of mint, we had to substitute tropical.
You: You know there's a big difference between candy and fruit, right?
Them: {{silence}}
You: And I wanted colored.
Them: We didn't have any colored, we had to substitute glow in the dark.
You: Glow in the dark? Like landing a plane at night glow in the dark?
Them: {{silence}}
You: And I ordered ribbed.
Them: Yes, we had to substitute . . .
You (interrupting): Yeah, I saw the substitution, what exactly is a vibrating ring?
Them: Hold please, let me get you the manager.

45 minutes later:

You (to yourself): I'm not actually on hold for the manager, am I?

One week later:

Hubs: Where are the condoms?
Wife: I ordered them again this week, but they don't seem to be here. Let me look at the receipt.

then:

Wife: It says they didn't include them, it says they were all out.
Husband: They didn't make a substitution?
Wife: No, looks like they didn't.
Husband: I wonder why.
Wife: I don't know, but I was SO looking forward to that vibrating ring.

So yeah, baby boom. Courtesy of Walmart.

And these babies will not be born with a silver spoon in their mouths. More like a thermometer in their tiny little hands.

Don't be surprised, either, if we see a few unique names among these Covid babies: Elvirus, Leisol, Maskenzie, Isolatabel, Walmargaret, Coronathan, Covidette.

Lesson learned: The next time there's a deadly virus that keeps couples quarantined together for months and our husbands are looking to . . . ahem . . . amuse themselves, follow the advice of a famous French Queen, Marie Antoinette, and "let them eat cake." 

But then, as pretty as she may have been, turns out Marie's last date was with a guillotine.

Root Beer Float Poke Cake

Root Beer Float Poke Cake

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe


Ingredients:

1 box vanilla cake mix
1 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 container (5 - 6 oz) vanilla yogurt 

1 box Root Beer Shake pudding mix
3/4 cups milk
3/4 cup root beer 1 can (12 oz) vanilla frosting

OPT: whipped cream and cherries for garnish

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 X 13 pan.
*Beat the cake mix, 1 cup milk, oil, vanilla, eggs and yogurt for 2 minutes.
*Spread the batter evenly into the pan and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the center springs back to the touch. Cool completely.
*Whisk the pudding mix with the remaining milk and root beer. Reserve 1/2 cup and set aside. Put the rest of the pudding mix into the fridge to set for 20 minutes.
*Poke the cake all over using the rounded bottom of a wooden spoon. Don't press in all the way to the bottom. Pour the pudding mix that had been in the refrigerator over the cake and allow to seep into the holes. 
*Whisk the remaining pudding mix into the vanilla frosting and spread over the cake. Garnish with whipped cream and cherries, if desired.
*Store, covered, in the refrigerator.