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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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August 17, 2011

A Big Welcome to Val So Cal!

Hey there, this is Val from ValSoCal, a Southern California food/life blog. I’m thrilled to be guest posting today At The Picket Fence. I adore both Vanessa and Heather.  Summer is here and I love to entertain and whip up easy and delicious recipes. Hop on over to my blog and lets have some yummy fun! Here are a couple easy recipes! Enjoy.

                  
   This sweet dip is the epitome of what Summer is all about!!  Refreshing and oh so good! Do you have a Summer get together that you are going to? Are you about to have a party at your own house? I beg you, Like, pleading with you to make this. Turn on some Jimmy Buffet or maybe Bob Marley and have a little fun.

Pina Colada Dip

1 package ( 8 ounce ) cream cheese, softened
1 jar ( 7 ounce ) marshmallow crème
1 can ( 8 ounce ) crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 pound cake or angel food cake, cubed
strawberries
fresh pineapple, cubed

Directions:          

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and marshmallow creme until fluffy. Fold in pineapple and coconut. Cover and chill until serving. Serve.

    
      There are very few things in life that I love more than butter….It just make me happy. I love full fat with salt butter. I could slather it on everything. I wish I could indulge more often but my thighs would not like me. Everything in moderation, right? You need to make this…like today!!



Blueberry Butter

1 pint blueberries
1 stick salted butter
4 to 5 tablespoons of powdered sugar
lemon zest ( optional )

Directions:

In a small bowl mash blueberries and set aside. In a another bowl mix butter and sugar until well combined. Mix the blueberries and butter together and place in a canning jar or bowl. Refrigerate or sever room temp and thoroughly enjoy!

blueberry butter

I came up with recipe because I needed to use up the berries I had!  This is perfect for a hostess gift. I like to smear some on croissants any carb will do. The possibilities are endless. Enjoy!
Thank you so much Val for guest posting at the picket fence today! We encourage you to run… er um well…actually… type your way over as quickly as you can to Val’s fabulous, gorgeous blog and browse through all of her other amazing recipes! You will drool on your keyboard. we swear it!
Thanks for meeting us and Val from Val So Cal...at the picket fence!
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17 Comments Filed Under: Appetizer, Guest Posts, Recipes

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Inspire Me Heather says

    August 17, 2011 at 1:53 PM

    Looks so yummy – thanks!

    Reply
  2. Honey at 2805 says

    August 17, 2011 at 2:06 PM

    So nice to meet Val! The blueberry butter sounds so yummy!

    Reply
  3. Tammy says

    August 17, 2011 at 2:15 PM

    Yum! My stomach is growling 🙂

    Reply
  4. Debbie says

    August 17, 2011 at 2:28 PM

    I absolutely MUST try the pina colada dip!

    Reply
  5. Val says

    August 17, 2011 at 2:29 PM

    Aww, I’m smiling big! Thank you ladies. You made my day!

    Reply
  6. Marina @ Yummy Mummy says

    August 17, 2011 at 2:34 PM

    Yay! Love seeing Val being featured around the blogosphere! She’s the best! xoxo

    Reply
  7. CraveCute says

    August 17, 2011 at 3:04 PM

    These both look and sound delicious!

    Reply
  8. Ginger Zuck says

    August 17, 2011 at 4:09 PM

    Yum, looks pretty too.

    Reply
  9. michelle says

    August 17, 2011 at 6:06 PM

    Love Val, she is so sweet and all her recipes are YUMMY!!!!
    xo

    Reply
  10. A Cozy Cottage in the City says

    August 17, 2011 at 6:38 PM

    Great to meet Val!!! I too am from southern Cal!!! 😉 I will have to go and check out her blog now!!! I do love me some “food posts!” 😉

    XOXO’s,
    Jessie

    Reply
  11. Liz says

    August 17, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    I love Val, too! She is so talented and in so many ways, not only with her great inspiring recipes, but she is a fabulous decorator and photographer. Thanks for sharing! XO ~Liz

    Reply
  12. Coley says

    August 17, 2011 at 7:44 PM

    seriously, you need to stop! My tummy is hungry after seeing those photos and I just ate lunch!

    Reply
  13. Elizabeth says

    August 18, 2011 at 12:43 AM

    I love flavored butter! We frequent a tapas restaurant that serves flavored. Utter and hot crush bread. Delicious! I must try this blueberry butter.

    Reply
  14. Leslie says

    August 18, 2011 at 1:05 AM

    I love Val’s blog, and I’m so glad you featured her! These recipes look D’lish!!! I’ve got to try them before the summer is up. 🙂

    Reply
  15. Light and Voices says

    August 18, 2011 at 2:10 AM

    So do you dip the cake into the dip?
    Joyce

    Reply
  16. Not Your Ordinary Agent says

    August 19, 2011 at 3:37 PM

    these are perfect for summertime! i cannot wait to try the blueberry butter! will you link it to foodie friday? https://notyourordinaryrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/foodie-friday-2.html
    can’t wait to check out your blog!
    https://www.homesandbabies.com
    https://notyourordinaryrecipes.blogspot.com Oh and congrats for being featured here… what an honor!

    Reply
  17. Tanya Anurag says

    August 19, 2011 at 4:31 PM

    Cake… creme… pineapple… aahh so yummy!!

    Reply

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I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 y I've been watching our cherry trees bloom for 12 years now and every year I ohhhh and ahhhh over the blossoms like it's the first time I've ever seen them. I gush and I take photos (that look exactly like the ones I took the year before and the year before that) and I make my family come outside and look at them with me which you know they just LOVE to do. 😉 I think that is one of the main reasons why I love spring so much. On the one hand, it's predictable and yet, on the other hand, it still feels like such a surprise after the long months of barren branches.

And yesterday, as I was staring at the gorgeous blossoms for the umpteenth time, I couldn't help but think that I hope this is how I feel when our lives return to some semblance of normalcy.

I hope that the predictable feels special and that the typical feels anything but. I hope that I ohhh and ahhh over the simple things I've realized I've taken for granted. And, most of all, I hope that feeling doesn't go away for a very, very long time! 💗
Are you living with great expectation friends? Bec Are you living with great expectation friends? Because He is risen!

Happy Easter from my home to yours!
Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to Lemon bars all ready for tomorrow! It’s going to be a different kind of Easter for sure but some things don’t change. Have you been baking and getting ready for tomorrow? What’s one thing on your menu that you have to have every year?
If this is Good Friday, why doesn’t it feel so “good”? It all seems backward doesn’t it?

What could be good about the unspeakable pain he suffered? What could be good about the shame and betrayal?

Easter Sunday is so joyful, bright and cheery. Shouldn’t that be the day we call “good”? It just feels so much better!

But, I don’t know how to rejoice over His resurrection, unless I have felt the pain of His death. I have realized that in life the sweetest victories are the ones which were realized after a pain-filled journey.

And, so it is with Good Friday. I know there will be victory over death, but I can’t skip ahead in the story.

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew what he would experience. And he knew why he would go through it. He did it for me. He did it for you.

Do you know that? Have you felt it down in the very core of your soul? 
Sometimes it makes me squirm a bit. Why would anyone do that for me?

Well, because, I can’t do it for myself!

There is nothing I can do to earn that kind of love and mercy.

That is why it is called GRACE.

His grace is freely given. We don’t have to pay for it. He paid the price for us already.

Do you remember that movie from years ago called “Ransom”? A couple’s young son was kidnapped and the parents went to hell and back trying to find him and pay the “ransom” demanded by the kidnappers.

Well, Jesus is our “ransom”. (1 Timothy 2:6) His life was the payment.

Why is it called “Good Friday”? Because that wasn’t the end of the story….
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…It was just the beginning!
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Where are things collecting in your house right now?
“Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every si “Sighing, tears, frustration, anger.” Every single one of these emotions has made their way through our home in recent days and, my guess is, they have in your home too.

I SO needed this reminder today from the new book ‘Adore’ by @sarahagertywrites.

Adoration isn’t just sitting at His feet gazing longingly with stars in my eyes. It’s bringing my fears and my sorrows and gray roots in my hair that desperately needs to be colored and my messy house and all of the things that threaten to send me over the edge right now and laying them down before Him, soaking up His word and His presence so that when I stand back up, I am changed for having spent the time adoring the ONE who is... Healer, comforter, peace-giver, deliverer, redeemer.

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