Weekend Work

My thoughts are with everyone who experienced the devastation and disruption of Super Storm Sandy. Our church took up a donation for UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) to help with disaster response yesterday. It's such a small thing but I hope those affected know how much support there is for them throughout the country.

October was just a mess for me. I got behind early in the month and could never catch up.  My craft room was a mess; I couldn't find all the right threads for a project I'm working on; I never had the right food in the house to make dinner, whine, whine, whine. So I finally used this past weekend to get caught up and reorganized. I cleaned up my craft room and assembled a sewing project, found the threads I needed for my projects and kitted them up so they're all ready to go and made a big pot of kale and bean soup so I have dinner ready to go for at least the next few nights. I'm so proud of myself to finally be starting a week without feeling behind. LOL!

I also put my Halloween decorations away and pulled out my turkeys. I have a "thing" for turkeys. It started innocently enough with the purchase of an old chalkware turkey and has grown from there. I still love the old turkeys...

But I also love the ceramic ones from Japan which probably date back to the 50's.  Some of them have very faniciful colors.

 

Some are more realistic.

And then there also a few from my artisan friends like this ceramic one from Chris Farr.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Happy November!

No Simply Primitives Update for Me

Between fighting a virus for a week and a half and attending a missions conference in Atlanta there has been little time for crafting over the past couple of weeks. However, my talented artist friends at Simply Primitives have many new offerings this month and I hope you drop by and check them out.

Conference Host was McEarchen UMC, Powder Springs, GA

Ready for Another Day of Workshops

I love attending conferences and hearing what other churches are doing missionally and how they deal with the challenges we all face. We came home from the conference energized and full of ideas.

Fall is in full swing here and, despite the drought, the trees are almost as pretty as ever. I'm trying to take time every day to get outside and enjoy the glorious weather and quickly changing colors and I hope you're enjoying fall in your area too!

Christmas in October

Kansas City hosts this annual event that helps low income, elderly homeowners with needed home repairs. Yesterday teams worked on over 200 houses across KC. Homeowners apply early in the year, and the house captains choose a house to work on. Projects range from painting to replacing a roof. This was my husband's first year to lead a team, so he picked a home that mostly needed painting and some minor repairs. The homeowner, Marie had lived in the home since 1948.

Many years ago, Marie herself had replaced the porch railing but time had taken it's toll. Rob and Chris replaced it using Marie's original design.

One team member tackled a variety of fix-up projects in the house, but most of us spent our time scraping, caulking and painting.

Some us were braver about heights than others.

It was probably the coldest day we'll have in October this year but hopefully many homeowners around KC will be a little warmer this winter because of the work done yesterday by hundreds of volunteers.

Early Work Mercantile Update

Early Work Mercantile has been updated for October! I hope you'll drop by and see what everyone is offering this month.

It was 16 years ago this month that we adopted Cookie, our little mustachioed kitty. This cat definitely has nine lives. Her previous owners moved away and left her as a kitten to fend for herself and she managed to survive. She has survived several mysterious illnesses (cats never tell you what's hurting them) and if you follow my blog you know we thought we were going to lose her earlier this year when she stopped eating for several days. Now she is blind and pretty disoriented and, since they don't make kitty Depends we find ourselves carrying her to her litter box several times a day. She's really not the cat she used to be but I can't bring myself to let her go. I thought it would be easier because we've never had a cat who enjoyed such a long life, but it's not. She still enjoys eating and purrs when we pet her, but spends the rest of the time sleeping. How do you know when the time has come to say goodbye?

Something for Me

Like many of you, I give away or sell most of the things I make, but this sampler is going on my wall! I stitched this in record time (for me), beginning it on our trip last week to Colorado and finishing it last night.

It's a Notforgotten Farm design from Country Sampler's Primitive Sisters club. I was really intrigued when I received the kit and saw the thread colors...

I would have never picked such bright colors for a primitive piece!

The cooler temperatures make me want to put on my apron and get baking! I've certainly pinned enough pumpkin recipes to keep me busy through Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd better try one of them.

Pumpkin Apple Bread with Apple Cider Glaze

by Nancy Creative

Streusel Topping:
1 T AP flour

5 T brown sugar (not firmly packed)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 T unsalted butter, not softened

Bread:

3 cups AP flour (I used 1 cup AP and 2 cups whole wheat)

3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

3/4 cup canola oil

2 1/4 cups sugar (I used 2 and though that was plenty)

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups peeled, cored and finely chopped apples (about 2 medium sized)

Apple Cider Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 T apple cider or apple juice

Streusel topping:  In a small bowl, blend steusel ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork until mixture is crumbly; set aside.

Bread:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour two 9 x 5" loaf pans. In medium bowl, blend together flour, salt baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.  In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, canola oil, sugar and eggs.  Add flour mixture to this mixture and stir until well combined.  Fold in apples.  Divide batter between two loaf pans and sprinkle each with half of the streusel topping.  Bake 50-55 minutes, or until knife inserted in center of loaves comes out clean. Cool loaves in pans on rack for about 15 minutes, then remove loaves from pan and leave on rack to cool completely.

Glaze:  Mix the powdered sugar and apple cider together, blending well. Drizzle over cooled loaves and let glaze set before serving.

I'm taking part in Mix it Up Monday.

Simply Primitives Update

Simply Primitives has been updated! If you haven't yet checked out the new offerings for September you'll want to drop by and see what's new.

Sold-thanks!

Brenda Gervais Designs

Sold-Thanks!

After sending in my listings for Simply Primitives we hopped in the car for a whirlwind trip to Colorado to visit our son. I am happy to say that I got my fill of mountain awesomeness!

Lake Loveland

Being in the mountains leaves me awestruck and fills me with thanksgiving for being just a little piece of God's amazing creation.

Pumpkin Sticky Bun Muffins

Don't you just love pumpkins? I can't wait until they make their appearance at the grocery stores so I've already got a few of my faux pumpkins out.

Pretty much any recipe with pumpkin in it catches my eye and I'm stocked up on pumpkin puree, so here's the first pumpkin recipe of the season:

Sticky-Bun Pumpkin Muffins

(from Southern Living)

Makes 24 muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2 cups pecan halves & pieces
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

3 1/2 cups AP flour
3 cups granulated sugar (I used 2 because to me 3 would be overly sweet)
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
2/3 cup water

Bake pecans in a single layer on a cookie sheet 8-10 minutes, stirring halfway through and checking frequently, until fragrant and slightly toasted.

Stir together melted butter and next two ingredients.  Spoon 1 rounded tsp. of butter mixture into each muffin cup and top with 1 rounded tablespoon of pecans.

Stir together flour and next four ingredients in large mixing bowl. Whisk together pumpkin & next three ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the pumpkin mixture, stirring until just moistened.

Spoon batter into prepared muffins tins.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Invert pan immediately to remove muffins and spoon any topping remaining in cups over muffins. Try to let these cool at least five minutes before tasting!

 

I don't buy a lot of cooking magazines because I already have a lot and find most of the recipes I use online, but Southern Living's Fall Baking issue was a must for me. I like that it includes savory recipes as well as muffins and desserts. The muffin recipe above came from this issue. Happy baking!

I'm sharing on Mix It Up Monday: