Happy Tuesday everyone, it seems another month is nearly flown by again. T is where we share a post with friends including a photo of our beverage. Find the link in my right hand column-hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth-you are most welcome to join us. The past week has been very up and down weather here in the Ozarks-from cool to warm 60's f down to very cold. Over the weekend very very windy. I took a little video to show how strong the winds were here. and happy dancing I was able to upload it-sometimes with my slow internet it just does not work. Lucky for us we missed the wintry blizzard. If you click on the video it will enlarge for better viewing
When I have a few moments I have been working on my May fabric journal pages. There was not allot of activity that month but I did do allot of gardening. So I decided to depict that with all the fun buttons and things I had picked up earlier this year. Today I sewed on rows of seed beads hoping to capture the idea of planting seeds. On these May pages I am also working with my letter beads-so this will be a heavier page for sure with all the sewn elements. and May being the flower full moon I will add that in as well. Here is a peak
I don't have strawberries any more in my garden but we do have wild ones and we love fresh strawberries too
I pulled out buttons and beads of bunnies, gnomes, garden hoses, spade, water can etc seed buttons and a few beads to look like rocks-we'll see how it all goes together.
We started signing papers for the lake house-more to come before the closing. For my beverage share, well yesterday when I was deleting and saving photos online I mistakenly deleted my latest beverage photo. So I am going to cheat a bit. I have shared my herbal caffeine coffee like beverage in the past-but this time when I went to order-they now come in bags instead of just tea bags-so am loving that. I took advantage of the cyber sale and bought a few flavors I discovered this brand on the Vitacost site online a couple years ago, where I get good prices for gluten free items. and to go with my coffee beverage I bought myself a new mug-also taking advantage of cyber sales today. I love to support Yellowstone Forever, the non profit that supports the park and they had cyber sales going on too including a mug I have had my eyes on. This is hand thrown just for them-so I am excited to get this one and enjoy using it. For the same sale price they also offered a Yellowstone Monopoly game which I was really considering but in the end no one to play the game with me-but I will enjoy this mug.
Do you take advantage of cyber Christmas sales?? I usually buy from a couple sites that I use on a normal basis through out the year and take advantage of their sales. I did want some flannel sheets at a super price at Sams club (big box store like Wal Mart) but they were already sold out early Saturday morning. Have an awesome Tuesday and week!!
Good morning everyone, actually it is almost noon here already. I have decided to have a very slow day today. It's cloudy and a bit dreary again as the weather is changing by the hour-wind and cold coming in. So I am playing on the internet today-going through photos, playing catch up, so I decided to share a post. We had a really nice day on Thanksgiving, meeting a young family that drove up from Texas to be with their cousins. Their cousins are our friends that make the best catfish and built their log cabin home. It was interesting as the gentleman was grown up in a family where the parents did not want them exposed to other family-weird I know, so he is working on visiting and knowing his family now that he has a family of his own. I had made the sourdough pumpkin swirl bread-recipe from Erika-and it turned out beautiful, so I took a loaf along to share with sourdough biscuits I had made as well. Of course our hostess made so much food-ham, turkey, greens, baked sweet potatoes, corn casserole, dressing, macaroni and cheese (gluten free also for me), and lots of sides, pies. What husband and I enjoyed the most was conversation with the young couple-very inspiring for me. Hard working, christian family that had allot of the work ethic and strive for bettering themselves that we were grown up under. A little politics thrown in, the school system today opposed to when we all grew up in (ours in the '60s and this couple now in their '30s). We don't usually get in discussions like this-but the day was worth it if just for that. A couple photos: The sourdough pumpkin swirl bread-thanks Erika
I have been looking for recipes that are lower in carbs-this was a paleo recipe that I was amazed how good it was-no fat, the flour is almond flour, four eggs, spices, fresh pumpkin, I left out the nuts but added the dried cranberries, just three tablespoons of maple syrup. of course it did not rise as normal quick bread would but was baked through, moist, and delicious. If anyone interested I will post a link to the recipe.
I love pumpkin pie over sweet potato pie (Hubs is the opposite) so I made myself a pie with the fresh pumpkin, but decided to bake without the crust-no additional carbs and fats that way-after cooled in the frig, it slices and comes out just like a regular pie does. so was happy with this
Saturday I decided to make us a turkey dinner I made simple sides-steamed whole sweet potatoes, kale that I simmered, a big salad, and my own homemade cranberries and blueberries. Today-Sunday I am making a big pot of creamed turkey soup-from the cooked down bones etc from yesterday.
Of course I am enjoying the new Christmas movies by Hallmark channels-I think they started premiering these about nine days ago. There were a couple that I found excellent-the acting and story line, but others so so. I have also been continuing to read the first Outlander book. I looked up when this was first published and it was back in 2004. I still am enjoying the story very much-I am putting myself mentally into this time period and it really is so well written. a bit R rated in parts but if I don't want to read about some of the violence I just speed read over it. The author is describing the normal occurrence of that time period. I think this Monday the rest of the books in the series will arrive. On Friday morning I dropped off all of my Christmas cards to be mailed. So a few of you should receive a card soon. I guess I have written a long post again-Happy Sunday!!
Hi everyone, Tuesday is where we share a beverage and a post with friends. Hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth, you are most welcome to join us-find link in my right had column. We have enjoyed more of a "low-keyed" week. For me allot less cooking so far, and Hubs is doing well with his second cataract surgery. The next day his eye was feeling much better. We go in for the final check up this Wednesday morning. Up and down weather here-snow to warm to cold again, but weather promises to be warm and sunny on Thanksgiving Day and then cold and raining on Friday. This year we have been invited over to our friends home-but I plan on making up a turkey for us over the coming weekend. Along with some veggie sides and pie of course lol I have been working a bit on designing my May page in my fabric journal, so hopefully next week I will have a photo to share. Are any of you watching the Outlander series or reading the books ?? I had bought the first book for my kindle a few years ago and just hadn't gotten to it. The one time I did start to read it, I couldn't get in to the story. We had friends that raved about the series on Starz-but we had missed a couple years of it-so I was lost in the story. This week I decided to start reading the first book again and I had also found the cookbook for kindle at a reduced price.-I love the cookbook very much, and I am loving this first book. I usually find that the books are always better than the movies. So I decided I wanted to read the books first before catching up with the series on Starz I am finding that this is not a book to read fast or when tired-there is so much to absorb-an excellent writer. She is very detailed about everything-I can only imagine all the research she has done-and I am only on the first book. So being ready to read the rest of the books-there are 8 now plus a guide type book-I went online to purchase the next two-wow big surprise-the kindle edition is very expensive as are all the used books and those are plus shipping. So I went on Ebay-mostly expensive there as well but I found someone selling all 9 books with free shipping for a price less than I found elsewhere for each book So now I am definately all set for reading this winter. (smiles) Hallmark has started their new Christmas movie previews earlier this year-they started over the weekend and will continue through next weekend-so that's what I am watching this week in the evenings lol For my beverage share tonight I grabbed my favorite cup-before my Yellowstone cup-and am enjoying a cup of tea. chamomile with lavender; one of my favorite evening herbal teas
I love this cup, it was made in England. Happy T everyone!!
Our friend that has a farm up near Green Bay Wisconsin-very north in the state-brought me down some sugar or pie pumpkins last week. I was quite excited over these as they are difficult to grow here where I live now in Missouri (the summers are too hot) and they are so good for fresh baked pies and breads, even soups. I decided today was the day to do this, and good timing as one pumpkin had gone moldy on me, but the remaining 3 pumpkins were perfect. I decided to go ahead and save out the seeds and will roast them tomorrow morning in a very low oven or later on tonight. If you do a google search there are all sorts of similar ways to do this-but the consensus seems to be best in a very low oven-under 200 degrees f and you can toss them with a bit of oil or not, and lightly salt or spice-up to your preference. There are also different methods on preparing your pumpkin for baking. I like to use my big steamers-takes allot less energy to do, and they don't dry out. (note: I use oriental aluminum steamers-Hubs had a large one when we met, and I later found a matching smaller one--I love these for veggies) I take out the seeds and stringy centers, cut in pieces and place them in my steamers. When nice and soft-let cool, then peel off the skins and put the pumpkin into mixing bowls. I then get out my hand mixer and just blend it all up til smooth. Pies take 2 cups of pumpkin so I measure out 2 cups per freezer bag and then freeze. I ended up with quite allot, and the last one came out to 1 3/4 cups. lol will be good for a bread recipe In the past I have wanted to can fresh pumpkin but the USDA says this is a no no for the home canner. They claim do to the thick consistency of the pumpkin-or squash the pressure canner can not get as hot as it needs to in the center of the jars. So I just don't take a chance on that. Here are a few photos:
This coming week I plan to make a fresh gluten free pumpkin pie for me-I love pumpkin pie, and I also may make gluten free pumpkin rolls for me and I want to make that sourdough pumpkin swirl yeast bread that Erika shared last week. Do you like to bake, cook with fresh pumpkin and squashes??
As promised in my T Stands for Tuesday post (previous post) I wanted to share more photos of the tiling.
Hubs is a perfectionist on jobs like this, so even with several key mistakes-I am suggesting for him not to fret and be thankful this big space is tiled. I am thankful as this would have taken the two of us a long time-and since we are selling not concerned as much now that it's not perfect. Although Hubs is still a bit upset-he worries too much-sigh There are a couple sections where I am finding they did not rinse well and some of the grout is not coming off on some of the tiles-but I am scrubbing with a non scratch scrubbie for now. We found a row with no spacers-how did that happen? and couple other details-hopefully most buyers won't notice. This tile was a limited edition that we bought in a native american series of tiles. I loved the blotches of blues in this tile. There is also another section to the left that goes to the utility room and a door that leads outdoors. So this was a big space
Last piece with not one extra tile to spare-he forgot though to set the tile under the doors
I think once we get all the wood trim in-it will all come together. My walls are not perfect either I am pleased to have tile down after all of these years.
Tuesdays is where we gather together and share a drink related post-just show a photo of your beverage. Hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth-find link to join in the fun in my right hand column. This past week has been a busy one with our friends arriving last week Monday and leaving early this Tuesday morning. We ate way too much food (Hubs and I had just been eating breakfast and a main meal around 2 in the afternoon for several months now) with breakfast, lunch and the main meal at 5:30 pm. I think we will be eating very very light now to get our bodies back on track. I did only cook healthy meals-but I had forgotten how much large portions our three male guests can eat-lol especially after being out in the cold woods most of the day and also laying tile. The guys did not organize themselves well-which I think happens allot during vacations. It is a long drive to us and two of them are still working full time They had big plans of each getting a deer for meat to take home, and getting two large floors tiled. Several days when they first arrived the weather was much warmer and beautiful and just awesome to be out in the woods. We had sunshine and light jacket weather when they arrived. The guys enjoyed being deep in the woods observing lots of different wildlife. They were telling us about observing coyotes, bob cats, lots of deer, and also big birds too. However doing that, their scent was in the woods for too many days that the deer knew they were out and about in their woods when it came time to hunt.So they just took one deer home for meat. The guys kept telling us they had planned to tile both the bathroom and the hallway and Hubs and I thought-I don't think so unless that was all they did while they were here was to tile. We are just pleased they offered to do this for us. This is always a fun time for all of us though and for Hubs and I it is like our Thanksgiving. I will have to say that I was feeling my age by yesterday with all that cooking and baking. smiles However I do enjoy it all As usual I forgot to take photos every day of the foods-but here are a few photos-mostly from the big Friday feast where other friends joined us. For Friday, I made a large ham, my garden yellow beans with onions, garlic, and basil, roasted veggies-carrots, parsnips, turnips, brussel sprouts with olive oil and herbs, apple cider warmed with mulled spices, two pies, and more sides. the local friends that came brought a huge salad, two sweet potato pies, deviled eggs, macaroni cheese, and a gluten free version for me, the guys had brought down two cheesecakes, their salami made from bear and also venison, lots of Wisconsin cheeses-and that was just Friday lol Since this post is loaded with lots of photos-I kept them smaller- just click on a photo to enlarge all for better viewing
This table was more loaded down with foods after I took this photo, the big stove was full of food, as was the center of the two tables
I had this ham in my freezer-all meat no bone
The roasted veggies-I had roasted on a large cookie sheet for Friday-and this photo was left over for the next day's meal
Warmed mulled cider
I made a fresh cranberry-blueberry pie and also an apple pie
What is left of the two sweet potato pies
This was the whipped banana cheese cake that also had two toppings to put on top, and she made a nut crust this time so it would be gluten free
During this last week, I made grilled chicken breasts with veggie sides, grilled huge pork pieces with veggie sides, a corn beef dinner, and more. One of the guys brought down beef stew loaded with veggies. We also enjoyed the butternut squash, carrots, and potatoes that were brought down We also had a crock full of chili going everyday for lunch, I also made hot Reuben sandwiches, one day ham sandwiches.
This was just one of the butternut squashes-I baked it with the fresh maple syrup
and I made a cast iron skillet of brownies-a big hit
We had a couple record breaking cold nights and early mornings-in the very low teens-brrrrr we even broke a record held back in the '60s and Yesterday all day it snowed-wow-another 67 year old weather record broken for snow on that date It is so beautiful here in the woods after a fresh snow--I had to go out and grab the camera We ended up with around 4 inches
Enlarge further to see the cardinal sitting in the tree
I could not believe all the cardinals that were out and about-looking for bits of corn
I will do another post with just the tile photos We are so grateful for their offer to tile for us. The hallway is wide and huge so a big job. We had gotten the tile for the hallway and the bathroom mixed up-this was suppose to be in the bathroom as it has a bit of blue in it to pick up the blue in the walls-we had exactly enough tile to complete this hallway-with a little cutting ingenuity. a sigh of relief on everyone's faces
I also got into my craft room yesterday-did a little spinning with the buffalo fiber, and also started working on my Fabric Journal again. Once the hot summer temperatures arrive my ceiling lighting doesn't work in this room, so I have gotten so far behind-good thing I took lots of notes each month. I am up to May-so did the embroidery on the outside edges of my page, and started to pull beads and things to tell May's story There will be allot of gardening for this month.
For my drink reference I totally forgot to take a new photo. I was mostly drinking Bai blueberry water, hot tea, or hot cider this past week. I did also have one glass of wine. I am sharing a previous photo I had taken with my Yellowstone cup and tea-as I used this cup most every day last week
