Hope for my Recipe Box

For those of you that might need an updated recipe box, you simply must hop on over to The Farm Chicks blog (in case you haven't already seen it). Serena shares how she is revamping hers. Mine is in such a dreadful state; but this gives me hope that this amazing feat really is quite possible. Perhaps after Christmas ......

Photo from The Farm Chicks Blog

The Amazing Pumpkin Muffin

This time of year it is hard to beat a warm pumpkin muffin for breakfast. The other day I came upon this recipe; and I have to admit - it is absolutely amazing! I made them this morning, and it was all I could do to resist reaching for a second one.

Little Pilgrims

This week I set out my few Thanksgiving decorations. I don't have many, but the one that always brings a smile to my face are my little Pilgrims. I don't even remember exactly what year I made them. I do remember though that my mother-in-law and I both made them at the same time. So each year when I take them out to grace my livingroom for a couple of short weeks, I can remember making them with her, and am very thankful for such a wonderful mother-in-law.

Creative Inspiration

As a seamstress and crafter, I enjoy sitting down with a good book filled with ideas. Quite often I will check them out at the library; and if I find a particular one that I enjoy, I will splurge and buy a copy of my own. A couple of years ago I came across a new book at the library entitled, Sew Pretty Homestyle, by Tone Finnanger.

I enjoyed flipping through the pages so much that I renewed it for a second round. After that period of time was over, I came to the realization that it was time to return it to the library so that someone else could enjoy it; however, I just wasn't quite finished with it. So I turned to Amazon and purchased my very own copy. Since then, I have purchased two more of her books: Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle

and Sew Sunny Homestyle.

Now at this point I must confess that I haven't ever actually made anything out of them quite yet; but whenever I find a free moment on my hands, and want to be inspired, I reach for one of them. And besides, who could even possibly resist not wanting to make this little guy:

(you can find him in Sew Sunny Homestyle)

Toasty Toes

Once the weather turns chilly, so do my toes. We don't wear shoes in our house, so it is a necessity for me to either don some heavy wool socks, or wear a pair of slippers - especially on my kitchen tile floor - it can get downright freezing cold! The slipper part gets tricky though because if they have hard soles on them, they tend to scuff up my hardwood floor. So I will only wear soft soled slippers. Any more, those are almost an impossibility to find. I have instructed my oldest daughters that if they ever find soft soled slippers to just buy them for me no matter what they look like. Recently one of my daughters brought these home to me, and I think they are pretty cute.

New Traditions

This past Saturday was of course Halloween -- and it marked the first time in 21 years that I haven't had a little one to take trick-or-treating. Last year I knew that it would be our final year; however, I wasn't sure what this year would bring. It was kind of bitter sweet. I didn't miss the racking of our brain trying to figure out what costume we would put together this year. After putting 21 years worth of costumes together, ideas were beginning to run thin. I did miss though the lack of excitement in the house. The morning wasn't filled with comments such as, "I can't wait", "I hope it doesn't rain", and "do I really have to wear my coat under my costume?" And I also missed the rustling of new candy as it would always spill out onto the living room floor after the trick-or-treating was over, just waiting to be sorted into various piles. Instead, my youngest daughter and I spent a quiet afternoon carving pumpkins, and a warm evening at home without having to go out into the cold, windy, dark night. That part was very pleasant.

A Favorite Sewing Tool

A couple of years ago, my sister, Molly, gave me a most useful gift. She said that it was by far her favorite sewing tool. It was a "Purple Thang". Yes, it has a very funny name; but I have also found it to be the first sewing tool I reach for when I am working on a project. It makes turning projects extremely easy, pushing out little corners without tearing a hole in the fabric, very handy for taking a quick 1/4" measurement, using it to push stuffing into small spaces, and even finger pressing to name just a few. If you haven't tried one of these, I highly recommend it. And of course it would make the perfect stocking stuffer for a seamstress or crafter when Christmas time rolls around.

Creative Gift Giving

With Christmas fast approaching, it is time once again for me to turn my attention to gifts for family and friends. One of my favorite gifts to give, are gift baskets. They are so much fun to put together. I like to fill each one with special items that I know will bring a smile to the recipient's face.

I try to pick up various sized baskets throughout the year when the stores are having sales. The best times that I have seen are after Christmas, and in the spring when Easter is near. You can also pick up the cellophane to wrap them with during these sales as well as the shredded paper for the basket filling. But just in case you haven't stocked up earlier in the year, all of these supplies are readily available any time of year.

Baskets aren't the only vessel that can be used for gift giving. You can be very creative with how you present your gifts. A large salad or mixing bowl, a wooden crate, tote bags, pretty pots, or even cookie jars. The ideas really are endless. A great resource for some fun ideas is the book, Southern Living at Home Beautiful Containers. My sister-in-law, Jill, gave me this book as a gift this past year. It is filled with some very creative and beautiful ideas. The book itself makes a great gift, and look how cute she presented it to me:

Easy Apple Cake

I have really been enjoying my abundance of apples these past couple of weeks. It is so much fun to either throw a bunch of apples into my largest pot to make applesauce, whip up a pie, experiment with apple crisps, and make apple cakes. And I can do all of this at a whim. I simply look around my kitchen at the numerous boxes of apples, randomly choose which variety will be my lucky subject for the day, and I am off. One of my experiments this past week was an apple cake. I found the recipe on the King Arthur Flour blog; and since I have also been recently fascinated with baking in my cast iron skillet, I knew I just had to try it. It turned out great! The only modification that I made was instead of using the boiled cider that the recipe calls for, I substituted maple syrup. This substitution was made mainly because here in northern Idaho, I don't even think anyone sells boiled cider.

(Please note that this picture is from the King Arthur blog. The lighting in my kitchen isn't always the best for taking pictures; and their picture really does this cake justice - of which it highly deserves).

Christmas Stitchery Patterns

I just happened upon a new blog this evening. It is called "Among the Gum Trees". At the present time they are offering a free stitchery pattern each week until Christmas. Nine very talented ladies are each contributing a design. From the looks of the first three weeks, I'm quite certain that I'm going to join in the fun, and hopefully stitch one or two of these.