Scoops of Birthday Love Card and Sweet Saturday

Happy Saturday, my sweet friends! I hope your weekend is filled with all things lovely. :o)

You know what's a bit challenging? Crafting with a newly-splinted index finger. Equally challenging is only eating one Peach Crumb Bar at a time. After being slowed down for a few days this week, I was finally able to create some goodies to share. With a few challenges in mind, I came up with this birthday card for a fellow ice cream lover. (Clearly this person is fabulous.) The dessert I made was a "Just Because" treat for my parents. I hope you enjoy both! :o)

For the card, I decided to make a heaping bowl of ice cream, bursting with our favorite flavors. Glitter and embossing helped me achieve the intended flavors, which made me sparkly happy. Along with the classic vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate, we have: Chocolate Caramel Swirl (aided by bronzey glitter glue and caramel-colored rhinestones); Cotton Candy (pink base with a ribbon of sparkling blue... my personal favorite from our beloved dessert establishment); and Fudge Swirl (white base with swirls of brown). For variety in the toppings, I used glitter paper for sprinkles as well as rhinestones for nonpareils. I coated the spoons in silver Stickles and then covered them with Glossy Accents to make it a bit more realistic. (I'd love to do this to my real silverware... but I shall resist.) Are you craving ice cream now? I certainly am! :o)

As usual where faces are involved, I did my best to draw the sweet Peachy Keen faces. The cute little bite is a bit unsettled about the events that have transpired...

Challenges entered:
 * Birthday Sundaes (shaped birthday cards)
 * Getting Cricky (Let's Face It!)
 * My Craft Spot (How Sweet it is!)

Sweet Saturday time! Who's ready for a delicious summery fruit dessert? Peach Crumb Bars... they taste as incredible as they look:

These bars are fantastic! If you're a fan of portable pie, this is your new friend. It tastes so much like peach pie in bar form. Juicy and delectable, yet surprisingly easy! My sweetheart peeled the peaches for me so I could rest my finger, otherwise this might not have been baked this week. As I was grating a leftover whole nutmeg from Christmas, my thoughts drifted to the glorious desserts of the holidays. :o) As incredible as this tasted, I know it will be even more spectacular when peaches are in season at my local orchard in August. Freshly picked peaches? Yes, please! This is also a great base for any crumb bar recipe... I think blueberry is next for me.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I'm so grateful for all of you. :o) I would also like to thank Tiffany from Sparkled Memories and Candace from My Passion 4 Scrappin for awarding me the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award! I am truly blessed to have such lovely followers... to read more about the award you can read my previous blog post. Thank you for thinking of me, ladies! Have the happiest weekend, my creative friends... and a scoop or two of dessert! :o)

Peach Crumb Bars
Yield: 24 bars

Ingredients:
For the dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the filling:
5 cups diced or sliced peaches (about 7 peaches, peeled)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375º. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Prepare the dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter, followed by the egg. The dough will be crumbly. Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan. Place the pan and the remainder of the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling, place the diced or sliced peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour over the peaches and mix gently. Spread the peach mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the peach layer.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is slightly golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

Key Recipe Components (for card):
 * Cricut Cartridge: Simply Charmed
 * Cuttlebug embossing folders: D'vine Swirls and Polka Dots (sentiment tag)
 * Paper: Core'dinations, DCWV
 * Button: My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie
 * Twine: Sew Easy in Lollipop
 * Miscellaneous: iRock, Martha Stewart glitter (lapis), Stickles