There Must be a lot of Us Not Baking Much Anymore

because in the last two hours I have had 8 people come to my blog while searching for "how to get lumps out of brown sugar". They were from:

1. Topsham, Maine
2. Saginaw, MI
3. Chicago, IL
4. Sdewickley, PA
5. Columbus, OH
6. District of Columbia
7. Clementon, NJ
8. Berkeley Heights, NJ

I had to chuckle a bit because, I, too, bake way less than I used to and I often have lumpy brown sugar.  It's good to know so many others have similar problems.  Good luck to all of you trying to save your brown sugar in the last hours before your Thanksgiving feast. I wonder, are you making sweet potatoes with brown sugar or pumpkin pie? For those of you in distress who find this post when you search, I have posted my  method of dealing with lumpy brown sugar  here .

Right after work today, I threw a load of laundry in and went out to cut down some greens for my holiday decorating.  It is supposed to snow/sleet/rain for the next few days and I wanted to get the greens before all the branches are weighed down.

I headed right to the big pile of branches left from the recent tree that fell down. I snipped a lot of  nice little branches of different greenery.

 Then I clipped some of the shrubs near the house that I grow just for this purpose.  I ended up with two nice pails full of assorted greenery.

Sometimes procrastination pays off.  Since I have never cut down all of my dead flowers, I have tons of interesting seed heads, like these black-eyed Susans:

I snipped a few of these, some Sedum Autumn Joy and some .......oh, my.............

what is that white feathery stuff......I just hate when I forget the name of a plant......it happens every fall/winter. .. as soon as I am done gardening, my mind moves to other things...............ahhh...it just came to me.........astilbe!

At the moment I have no idea what I will do with all of this.  I am posting it now so that I will be forced to do something with it.  That is one of the great things about a blog. In order to have something to post, I must actually turn all of these branches into some sort of decoration now that I have said I will.  I am hoping to create a few beautiful arrangements soon.  Right now I have to go check on the laundry.

I Resisted as Long as I Could (over a week)

Last week I received an email with a spend $200/get $75.00 off and free shipping offer. Many of you know I live for offers like this! :)  Since my clothing space is all filled, I decided I did not need any more clothing even with a deal like that.

This morning I decided to take another look and found all kinds of new jewelry items were added since last week. Every time I wear a certain blue jacket, I remind myself that I need a blue necklace.  I think this sterling silver one will be perfect!  With the price of silver skyrocketing, this was a steal at something like $30.

Just in case that shade of blue is not quite right, I picked up a couple more

Hammered metal discs--I have had my eye on the hammered metal necklaces since last spring--they were in the $100 range and I was not about to pay that for costume jewelry! They finally were marked down to more than 50% off - again in the $30 -$35 range, if I remember correctly--

at that price I could afford two!

I spent an hour filling my shopping cart with 8 items -only two pieces of clothing.

My birthday is less than two weeks away--Happy Birthday to me! I will let my dear husband know that his gift shopping is complete. :)

Miscellaneous Musings

Yesterday, Patti, from Osage Bluff Quilter, left me this message:

Me again, Do you get Country Living Magazine? I got mine today and they have stockings made from tissue dress patterns! You iron it onto bondable vinyl. Weird!!
Mon Nov 22, 08:33:00 PM 2010

I read the comment early this morning and since I no longer get this mag, I googled it to see if I could find a picture.  After not too much effort, I found it.

How creative is this?!! I sent Patti a reply stating that I could see these used for a gift of notions for someone in a sewing/quilting group.  What a unique packaging this would be for a gift!  I only wish I was in such a group so I could use this idea. 

If you are in such a group and want to make one of these stockings,  you can find the directions here at Country Living's site.  If you use the idea, send Patti a thank you email. :)

Speaking of magazines, I got my December issue of Southern Living today.  I have not opened it yet, because I have been busy setting my Thanksgiving table (you can read all about it here.)
Back to the magazine...........today I sent in my $20 for 13 issues of Southern Living. What a bargain!  I don't live in the South, but I really enjoy this magazine.  At less than $2 an issue, I could not pass it up.

Before going to work this morning, I spent about 15 minutes sewing on the 'Ho Ho'  banner.

 I am going to make the reverse side say "Noel" so this one takes double the work of the Thanksgiving banner.  I hope to have it done by the weekend.

Tomorrow is hump day. I can't believe how fast these weeks go by!

Birch Candle Centerpiece and other 4:30 a.m. Inspirations

I was up early again (I wake up every morning at 5 a.m. without an alarm clock. But since the time change, I have been waking at 4 a.m.) That's O.K. because it gives me a lot of surfing time before I have to get ready for work.

I love this Pottery Barn centerpiece.

I would add a lot more greenery to it.
You can buy the candles here.  I picked up two pieces of birch bark that had blown into my flower beds last weekend. Normally I would just walk by, but something made me pick them up and actually save them.  Maybe I will just wrap them around a candle or two and come up with a centerpiece.  I need to go outside tonight and see if there are any more nestled against the flowers I never got around to cutting down.

As I sipped coffee and meandered through hundreds of holiday decorations on Google Images, I found my way to Horchow.com. I clicked on the tree skirt category.

Wow! Is this not spectacular?

It's $650.00

Here are the matching stockings:

They are $195.00 each.  These would go so nicely with my new green walls. But I don't think you will find   these as part of my Christmas decorating any time soon. 

I found these silver pine cones interesting. They are quite the bargain at something like $168.00.

I have pine cones that look very similar to these. I also have metal candle holders....hmmmmmmm....you may see a knockoff of this one in a few weeks.

I need to get moving on Christmas decorating this weekend. Betty R. already has 2 trees up---way to go Betty!

Not much Happening around Here

I have been thinking about the table I will set for my Thanksgiving dinner. I am pretty sure it will be this Vintage china. The dinner plate is a pattern called 'Windsor Fruit'.  from Johnson Brothers England. Of all the dinnerware I own, I think 'Windsor Fruit' is my favorite.

The vegetable bowl behind the dinner plate is a different pattern from Vernon Kilns. It is called 'May Flower'. I think the two work beautifully together. They are from the 1940's - 1950's.

Here is a close up of the 'Windsor Fruit' plate.

The pic is from replacements.com. I went there to find out when the china was made. Whoa, was I impressed when I saw the price of this dinner plate! Let's just say I made a very good purchase about 20 years ago when I bought this nearly complete service-for-eight set.

I am not even cooking on Thanksgiving Day. We are going to my MIL's for dinner. We already have a turkey, so I plan to cook it on the Saturday following. I will do the whole turkey day shebang all over again. The best part will be having leftovers for a big turkey/dressing/fresh cranberry sauce sandwich the next day.

I am not even cooking anything to take to  my MIL's.  I found this 14-slice variety pack of cheesecake and that is my contribution--every piece is a different flavor. Can you imagine making 14 different cheesecakes and assembling this?
You have to love those huge food distribution stores--in this case, Gordon Food Service.

Other than working and getting my hair cut, I have not accomplished much this week. 

I did start a new banner for Christmas. It will be a 'Ho Ho Ho' banner, but so far I have only completed two H's.  It took a bit less than 10 minutes before work one morning. 
I guess I am just not in the mood to sew this week.

I have also been ordering library books. The Country Decorating one I had last week was a Dud--other than the sunflower tree, there was not a thing I was interested in. I already have a pic of that tree in my files. I got it off the net a few years ago--more proof that the net is the place for ideas!

 Now I have three novels to read.

 I had better get started--a couple of these are pretty thick!


So that was  my week--not too exciting--I hope yours was better!

It's Been a Good Weekend

Thank you for all your kind comments on the bake sale items. I guess they all sold. I just dropped them off and left  yesterday morning. I hope those who bought  enjoyed them.

Right after work on Friday, I ran to Joanne's Fabric store because I needed some magnetic snaps to finish my latest denim handbag.  It is rare that I go into Joannes and leave with just one item!

Friday was no exception. I came home with all of this fabric--just a yard of each--  and two little bundles of turquoise and black/white fabric. Each bundle has 8 pieces of 9-inch x 21-inch  coordinating fabrics. It's a good way to get a nice assortment of different patterns in the same color family.

.

Today I went back to Joanne's because a new sale started. They had purse handles for $4 each--original priced at $6.99 to $13.99 each.  I could not resist! I also picked up more magnetic snaps because I already used up the ones I bought on Friday.

Early Saturday morning I finished my latest bluejean purse with the black accent vinyl.  I used it all weekend. 

Ever since I began making these denim bags, I have been wearing jeans on the weekends.  You may remember that I said I almost never wear jeans...well, now that I have quite an assortment of bluejean bags, I had to buy some jeans to go with them!

 Last week I ordered a few Christmas decorating books from the Michigan Electronic Library. I picked up the first one today.  I think I am going to spend a little time browsing through it tonight to see if anything inspires me.

I have been doing sunflower trees for the past 6+ years (at work). Maybe I will do a bluejean/burlap/sunflower tree this year at home.... anybody have their tree up yet?

I would like to share and answer a recent comment. Since it's anonymous, I can't send an email answer.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Thanksgiving Decorating--still at it":

anonymous said:
You're very real and personable. Your home reflects your enthusiasm, unique skills and love of home and family. I return as often as I can to catch up and oftentimes get a bit of inspiration for my own home. Too often all the other blogs just look the same, hard to tell the difference. You're one of my favorites and I enjoy my visits and truly appreciate you sharing.
Willow

Thank you, Willow.   I am so glad you find some sort of inspiration reading my ramblings. I would love to hear about your own home projects inspired from something I posted! 

That goes for all of you out there--It would be a thrill to hear about something you made because I wrote about it.

Bake Sale

First I would like to thank all of  you who left a comment thanking my dad for his service. It means a lot to any veteran when he/she is thanked.

 Just last week at work I we did a wedding for a young (20-yr. old) groom who had already spent one tour of duty in Afghanistan and, in just two months, he will be going back for his second tour.  As he was ready to leave my office, I shook his hand and said, "Thank you for your service to our country."  I could tell he was pleased that someone thanked him.

Tonight I am baking for our VFW holiday bazaar tomorrow morning.  I am an auxiliary member, but, much to my mother's chagrin,  I really do little to help out.   My Mom is a two or three-time past president of the auxiliary and I am sure she wishes her daughters would be more involved, but we all work full-time and really have little energy to attend meetings, etc..  So when one of the ladies called me last week to contribute to the bake sale, I felt it was the least I could do.

Believe it or not, I have never contributed to a bake sale....it's a bit intimidating......... what if they hate the stuff I baked?  How embarrassing that would be!

 Last night I decided to make Aunt Mary's caramel corn - I think you can get the recipe on this old post--if you click the picture to enlarge. I used the microwave to pop  enough corn to fill this roaster:

 Then I made the caramel sauce and baked it in the oven.

 I added peanuts, walnuts and M&M's to the caramel corn and called it "Crunchy Munchy" (sorry I forgot to take a pic before I bagged it all up).

Then I made some Chocolate Decadence Bars--they have a center layer of ooey- gooey milk chocolate and are topped with pecans.

 I cut them into bars and boxed up 4 per container.  I am thinking that selling just a few pieces at a low price is better than trying to sell a dozen at a higher price.  You can see the label I made for these in the Crunchy Munchy picture above.

I don't think I have ever posted this recipe, but I think if you google "Chocolate Revel" bars, you will find something very similar.

Tonight I made these mini-pumpkin bread loaves with chocolate chips and walnuts.  I used my original recipe, which I posted a few years ago (was it really in 2006!?) here.

I think I am having the most fun making labels and boxing up the baked goods.  I just printed off these pumpkin bread labels. I was pretty pleased with them, then when I went out to apply them, they were too big and I had to cut them in half!  I guess if I had not told you, you would not have known that these were half a label. LOL.  I had no idea how I was going to box these up. I pulled out a chair so I could reach way up in my cabinets where I store items such as this and was so surprised to find these black to-go containers---they were just perfect for two mini loaves! 

 

So now I am done baking. I will have to get all my goods to the VFW hall before 9:00 a.m. tomorrow.  I just hope someone buys them!

Say Thanks to a Veteran Today

I would like to say thanks to my father, a Korean war veteran, and to my husband, a Vietnam veteran. It is because of millions like them that we enjoy so many freedoms today.

Today a special honor was bestowed upon my father.  He was our county's Veteran of the Year, an award given to someone who has gone above and beyond in service to the VFW.

On the 11th day of the 11th month, at the 11th hour, my Mom and Dad were among  VFW members across this great country placing wreaths in rememberance to those who have served. Here they are placing the wreath for the Korean war. 

This is my father at the podium, behind the tomb of the unknown soldiers, accepting the award.

Unfortunately I was not able to attend because I was in a training class at work.  At least my husband was able to go and took these two pictures.  I really should have missed that training class and went anyway. I am so sad that I was not there in person to see my dad get this honor. 

Thanksgiving Decorating--still at it

It's not like I am spending a lot of time decorating for Thanksgiving. I showed you the banner I was working on last week.  That took a while to sew and figure out what to do with. But today's decorating took very little time. ( I sometimes wonder WHY I post pics of my humble abode for all to see.  It is nothing compared to the half-million dollar homes on the decorating blogs I surf each morning.)  I guess I feel that most of us do not live in those homes and some of you may  be interested in seeing real decorating in humble homes, like mine.

This pic shows where the cabinet is in relation to my family room and kitchen.



Basically if you walk through the dining room and turn right, you are in the family room.  Turn left and you are in the kitchen.
Today after work I wrapped some faux leaves and pine cones around this rooster on the opposite side of the dining room --

I love this rooster candle holder! I think I am the only person  who does. Nobody has ever commented that they liked this bird! I am talking about people who have seen this gorgeous fowl in real life (LOL). 

Anyway I embellished him with fall leaves and some pine cones.

  Then to balance it out,  I added a  some leaves, grapes and pine cones on the knob where you open the curio cabinet.

I wanted the curio to complement the china cabinet I showed you on Sunday. Here you see both of the  cabinets in my dining room:

They flank the entrance  to the family room.

It took me only about 15 minutes to do the curio after work today. I am now happy that both cabinets have a little Thanksgiving/Autumn decor.



I made some chicken noodle soup on Sunday.  I was stirring the bow-tie pasta in and it seemed like I needed more pasta. So I added more.........and then more..................When it finally was done---Whoa!, I had hardly any chicken broth! It was more like chicken/pasta stew!


DH says he likes it this way.  Personally, I like a little broth in my soup!

I Accomplished a Lot on this 25-Hour Day

Every now and then we need to stay home and spend an entire day working around the humble abode.  Today was one of those days.

I was up early and used my extra hour to read blogs and sew.

 This is what I was sewing.  I started it last week and posted a small blurb on my sewing blog, Perpetually Piecing. I don't know if any of you (other than Patti) ever read it. I don't post much there during gardening season, but in the winter, I post quite regularly.

Anyway, after sewing this morning, I spent about five hours doing rather strenuous necessary cleaning chores, like scrubbing floors on my hand/knees, laundry, vacuuming.......helping DH carry the glass deck table down to the basement...............all sorts of boring jobs.

When all of that was finally done, I got to putz a bit with my sewing project...a FUN project, not another chore!

Here is what those little bits of fabric morphed into:

A banner for Thanksgiving.

Here is a close-up of the bottom:

and the top:

When I first finished it, I had no idea where I would put it. In fact it was so long that I did not even think I had a place where it would fit!  I was quite pleased when I finished this.

I also changed my bed quilt this morning after I washed and made up the bed with those 1200 thread-count sheets. I put my multi-colored log cabin on the bed.

It's a bit heavier than the one I had on.  With the heavier sheets, we should be all set for the colder weather.

So I have had a good Sunday.  I hope you all did, too.

I am Skeptical--People Want to Pay me MONEY to Advertise on my Blog

What?  This makes no sense to me. Why would someone want to pay me $100 to advertise on my label of "Purple Flowers"?

Does anyone else get this stuff?

I am all for American Capitalism, but I think these emails are really spam. I ignore and delete them.  Am I being foolish?

I continue to see bloggers that I have read for the past few years, suddenly writing books, appearing on TV and probably making money.  I shake my head in awe, because I know they did not invent anything new --- sometimes they don't even post anything but memes and picures that someone else sends them! Oh, and a ton of giveaways that sponsors like C*S*N* stores give them for free because they have followers in the thousands. 

I really don't get it.

Many of you mentioned getting one for $1000--I got one of those this week, too!

It is amazing how many scammers are out they just waiting for a bite!

I Voted, I Removed my Fingernails (Ouch!), and I Made a Delicious Pasta Dinner

all in one day! LOL.

Early this morning I lost an acrylic fingernail. It was the third one since Saturday. I decided I was ready to remove them all and go with my natural stubs. I called my nail technician and told her to cancel my 4:00 p.m. appointment today and all of my appointments for the rest of the year, as I was going 'au natural'. She said the reason they were falling off was the change of weather....Yeah, whatever the reason, I am not happy with paying for a service that seems to be going downhill....I have been going every two weeks for at least 15 years and I feel that they should last the full two weeks.
So instead of getting my nails done after work, I went to vote. Then I came home and prepared a nice pasta dinner with hamburger,onions, pepperoni, red and green peppers....,

mushrooms....Ragu tomato sauce and cheese sauce...

Rotini pasta and a heaping spoonful of the Big Kahuna's special seasoning (I think it's Emeril's recipe).

I made two casseroles so I could freeze one for later. I am all about cooking once and eating 5 times!

YUM! It was so good. 



Sorry, I do not have a recipe. I just tossed in whatever I thought looked good!  We had it with green beans.

I can tell that Thanksgiving is almost here.  Why?

Because my 'Christmas' cactus is ready to bloom! It always blooms near Thanksgiving.

Waiting for the Window Man

We are waiting for the window man to come and replace this top window. You can't see it here, but there are fingerprints between the two windows!

The little square to the right has about 5 fingerprints between the two windows--the person making the window must not have been wearing those little white gloves like they are supposed to wear!

It takes the guy less than 5 minutes to remove that window and put in a replacement.  We know because this is the second window he has had to replace.  We are very happy with the prompt service from this company.  Don't you love when a company really does stand behind their product?

Did you notice my new lamp down there in the corner?

The second lamp goes on that end table in back of the sofa. We had to move it so the window man could get to the window.  I am pretty pleased with those retro-looking lamps.  As you can see, I have not yet purchased a red sofa-the ones I have are like new, so it may be a while before I make the big change in this room.  I need to do the family room first.

I need to find my old picture files that I put on a CD when I changed computers.  I had a lot of headers made up and I really want to change the one I have up there now.  I really hate when I take pictures off my computer and put them on a CD--they are so inconvenient on CD's----much, much easier to keep them on your computer--don't you all agree?

Last night we had only 5 trick-or-treaters--all from one family.  Now I am left with nearly full bags of  Hershey candy bars and Reese's peanut butter cups--just what I need! LOL.