October, my old friend...

Happy October!  

My favorite month of the year!  Now if Mother Nature will gift my region with autumnal temperatures and turn off the furnace, that would be much appreciated.

Today I thought I'd share some photos from previous Octobers.  I don't know what this year will bring, but it is sometimes fun to look back.

October 2010 at my little cottage with the blue door.  Oh how I miss that cottage and the land that it sat on.  The wooden witch was made by my Grandfather.  He used to make these elaborate holiday displays for their yard and I was lucky enough to get the witch and two black cats.  They are probably as old as I am. 

From the Haunted Halloween Tea of 2013.  I still lived at the little cottage and had the best time setting up that party for one (and the blog).

2015 Witches Tea Party.  I'd moved from the little cottage, but was able to have a nice little party. (I think that year I actually had people over.)

2016 Halloween decorations. I did a small little thing for myself and shared on the blog. 

2018 Halloween party.  This was an actual party I threw a few days before Halloween.  I invited neighbors over and it was quite fun.  I'm trying to decide if I want to do it again this year.  

Do you have plans for October?  Anything big going on?  I'm not sure what plans I have yet, except to be here more.  

We'll see how it goes! 

Happy October!
Thanks for stopping in for a read...
love & blessings
~*~
 
 

 

December...

 (twinkle light reflections on the black marble surround of the fireplace)

(twinkle lights reflecting on my scratched, dirty readers - plus the reflection of the lamp has some pretty cool shapes to it)

December is here...  

Most people probably think of December in reds and greens and bright glittery colors.  Me... I see it in greys, blues, and whites and of course twinkle lights.

I love a lot of things about this time of year.  Things like when the weather turns cold, the skies grow dark and daylight is very short.  I'm not sure why winter calls to me so.  I was a springtime baby and grew up in the south.  Still...winter has a special song it sings to me like no other season.  

I'll talk about what I don't like another time.

I've been glancing around, finding odd little things to photograph.  I'm hoping it will help me keep coming back here.   

Autumn has come down at my house.  Although I still have pumpkins through the house.  I think only one is a cook-able pumpkin (that will happen next week), all though, shouldn't they all be cook-able?  Oh well...

Santa flag is on the pole out front, my greenery winter wreath went on the door today and my Yule tree came out. (I'd mostly decided not to bother this year but...) It's up, but has yet to be decorated.  That's on tomorrow's list.

Tell me, are you ready for December?  Do you go all out with decorations or do you prefer a more subtle look?  Do you celebrate Yule or Christmas or is December just another month in the calendar for you?  I'd love to hear.

Thanks for stopping in for a read...
love & blessings
~*~

 

Comfort Food - a recipe...

Do you have a favorite comfort food?

One of mine is Hamburger Helper.  I used to live on that stuff.  In fact, I probably had it at least once a week for years.

I know.  Not a great idea, right?

Anywho, I came across a recipe for a chicken and noodles that looked good so I tried it.  It was okay, but very bland.  However, while I was making it I thought maybe I could convert it to hamburger.

I gave it a try and it was delicious!  Honestly I though it was much better than HH.  (This is like the beef pasta flavored version of HH).

So here is my Homemade Beef Pasta recipe.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (I use ground sirloin)
1 TBLS minced garlic
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp basil
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp seasoned salt (I use Crazy Jane's)
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 tsp beef boullion base (I use Better than Bouillon)
2 TBLS butter (cut into 4ths)
3 cups beef broth
4 oz egg noodles

In a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot, brown the ground beef along with the minced garlic. Drain fat (if necessary). 

 Sprinkle with the spices and top with cream of mushroom soup. Place the butter on top.  Add the bouillon the the broth.

Stir. Cover and cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes.

Add the noodles and cook another 10 minutes (or until noodles are tender). 

 Mmm.. yum. 

It's cold today and I'm wishing I had the ingredients handy to make this.  But, I have lots of turkey day leftovers to eat.  Maybe I'll make a batch this weekend.  


I'd love to know if you give this a try.

What's your favorite comfort food?

thanks for stopping in for a read!
love & blessings
~*~

quiet...

It's been a pretty quiet day.  I took my walk and then went to the grocer.  I found a few of my favorite things....clementines and cherries.  mmmmm....

I picked up a couple of new teas to try.  I'm a bit of a sucker for holiday flavors.  Caramel Apple Dream and Candy Cane Lane.  I've already tried the Caramel Apple and it is pretty good and it smells wonderful. 

I just downloaded Elizabeth Gilbert's newest book from the library and will start it tomorrow.  For now I'm going to go play with my sketchpad and pens.  

What are you reading?

thanks for stopping by!
love & blessings
~*~

My Grandmothers Banana Bread

I love to bake and cook.  Being in the kitchen creating delicious foods is one of my favorite things.  Today I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes.  This recipe is for my Grandmothers Banana Bread.  You can substitute any fruit (I think) for the bananas and make a delicious bread.  It is very rich and sweet, more cake like I think, but yummy none the less.  I use this same recipe for peach, apple and pumpkin breads.

I apologize in advance for some of the photos.  I'm going to work on taking better photos to share here, especially food photos.  :-)

For this recipe, you will need:  flour, salt, sugar, eggs, ripe bananas (I always use the overly ripe ones that I can't eat fast enough), baking soda, oil (I use canola oil, but I've also used vegetable oil), nutmeg and cinnamon.  
Side note: I only made a half recipe this time, but I'm giving you the ingredients for a full recipe.

Sift 3 & 1/2 cups of flour into a bowl.  
Side note: I always mix this batter by hand.  The one time I used a mixer the batter turned out too stiff and didn't make a good bread.

 Next add 2 teaspoons baking soda.

 

 Add 1 teaspoon of nutmeg. Also add I teaspoon of salt (I forgot to take a photo).

 Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Then add 3 cups of sugar.

Add four eggs. I take my eggs out of the refrigerator early and let them come to room temperature before adding to the mix.

Add 1 cup of oil.

Lastly, add 2 cups of mashed bananas.

 

Stir together until well blended.  (Sorry for this super blurry picture.  I didn't realize until too late!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  While the oven is preheating, I grease and flour my baking pans.  This recipe will yield 2 regular sized loaves.  This time I made 2 mini loaves and 1 regular size loaf.  (However, the regular loaf ended up a little thinner than usual.  I should have just done 4 mini loaves.)

A note on greasing pans for baking.  I used to use those name brand cooking sprays but every time would have to fight to get the bread/cake out of the pan.  I finally started using the old fashioned butter and flour combo to fix the pans.  Now the breads/cakes just fall right out when I flip them over.

Once pans are ready, fill about halfway with batter.  (More forgotten photos)

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes (if making 2 regular loaf sizes).

When they are done (I use the toothpick/knife test), turn out of pan onto cooling rack or plate. Let cool completely before serving or wrapping for storage.

Doesn't that look yummy!

 And it tastes great too!  

One more little side note about this recipe: My Grandmother's recipe calls for 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and it is good that way, but I always thought the cinnamon ended up as the main flavor that way.  A few years ago I toyed with the recipe a bit and changed my version to the 1/2 teaspoon.  I think there is more fruit flavor with less cinnamon.

Here is the full recipe.

My Grandmothers Banana Bread:
Yield: 2 loaves
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon each salt and nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups banana (or fruit of your choice)

Mix and bake at 350 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

If you give this recipe a try, I would love to know what you think.  It also freezes really well.  I wrap a loaf in plastic wrap, then wrap tightly in foil and it stores in the freezer for months.

Hope you enjoy it!  

love & blessings
~*~

ps...I'm going to be doing a little housekeeping here at the old blog so if things start to look wonky please bear with me.  Thanks! ~*~

a few favorites

Hello out there.  I hope you are doing well.  I've been playing around more and feeling a bit better.  There has been bread made (Pastor Ryan's Bloomin' Herb Bread) and an Amish Friendship Bread starter, well...started and my Grandmothers recipe for banana bread.   There have been trips to the farmer's markets, flowers, beautiful sunsets, dragonflies and signs of Autumn.  

This morning it was 63 degrees when I woke at 6:30.  I have been sleeping with my bedroom windows open at night and loving the cool air.  About an hour was spent out on the patio yesterday pulling weeds and cleaning up.  I spent another hour this morning before heading out to the grocer.  That seems to be a good amount for me.  I can get a fair bit done and not have my body revolt.

I seem to be fascinated by light lately.  I watch as the sun moves across the sky and I follow the patterns that it creates on objects in my home.  There was an amazing sunset the other night that I almost missed.  I was working on my practice crochet blanket and happened to look up.  A hint of orange caught my eye so I went to the front windows.  The sight that met my eyes was stunning.  Streaks of orange against gray and pink.  It was beautiful.  The bottom photo above is from that sunset.  It doesn't do it justice, but it is a nice image to help me remember.  

August is almost over.  It is always my most difficult month to get through, as so many that I love have passed over in this month over the years.  I did small remembrance posts on Instagram on the appropriate days for my Grandparents.  I wanted to do something, but wasn't up to Facebook or even a post here.   

That is about all I have to share today.  I have a couple of ideas for posts in mind that I'll start working on to share in the next few days.  I really want to be here more and am going to work towards that goal.  

What is your current fascination?

blessings
~*~

a few favorite things...

As I sit here typing I'm watching snow flakes fall outside of the studio window.  I've been out already twirling and soaking them in.  They are tiny (almost like mist) and then they become larger.  I posted a quick status about how excited I was to see snow on Facebook and my uncle commented that it won't last.  That right there, my friends, exemplifies my whole life.  Of course it won't last, it isn't meant to, but I can be excited that it is falling from the sky. Ugh!

Anywho...

Here are a few sights from my weekend just past.  Things that made me smile, grin or just sigh with happiness and joy.

 My Grandmother's Apple Pie.  I love this recipe.  I've never been able to get the crust to fit on just right (probably because I use the frozen kind).  But it is always delicious and just hits the spot on a cold day.

These guys.  Top to bottom: Faith, Snowball and Spirit.  I don't have words to describe what it was like being so close to them.  I haven't been near a horse in over 30 years and getting to visit with these three was just heaven.  Faith is skittish and didn't seem to like me too much.  Snowball was aloof.  But Spirit, oh Spirit was my friend.  He got so close he was practically hiding me.  I hadn't realized at first just how big he was (I was on the up slope of the hill).  But when he came up closer and raised his head to his full height.  Wow! 

He followed me around, letting me pet him, nudging me with his nose.  He just was so wonderful!  I hope next time I go I might get to ride him.  I was too nervous to do it even though my cousin offered.

Then there was this:

She was the biggest reason for the trip.  We went to Southwest Virginia to have Thanksgiving with my Cousin and her family and my Uncle.  This little nugget of preciousness is my cousin's newest daughter.  Oh my word!  The sweetest thing.  So worth the 6 hour trip.  And it was good to see my other young cousins and family.

Now this, I spotted through my back door while pie making the other day.  I hope my neighbors weren't looking out their back window as I'm sure they'd think I was being a peeping tom.  It took several tries to get a decent shot, although he sat there for the longest time.  I turned away for a second and he was gone as if he'd never been.

Sometimes I wish we didn't have televisions and movies, etc.  There are so many beautiful things to see in nature that we miss when focused on the other. 

Well, I'm off to get ready for a visit from my Sis-in-Law.  We are experimenting with a recipe for our Thanksgiving meal desert this afternoon. 

I hope those that celebrate have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday with family and friends; and that those who don't celebrate Thanksgiving have a wonderful day. 

blessings
~*~

a little bliss to brighten my week (and maybe yours...)

I just wanted to pop in to say I made it home a day early from hospital.  It was a difficult week with loads of ups and downs but with some possible answers and potential for hope.  I thought I'd share a few photos I took before I left home.  I was allowed my laptop so I played around online some but mostly just slept.  When I was awake I would look through the photos I'd taken so I could have some bright spots to remind me of why I needed to take that step.

My Russian sunflowers started to bloom.  I loved watching this bee searching for pollen.  Go little bee, bring your friends and tell them there is lots to find in my garden.

Cosmos are one of my favorites.  I really have so many favorite flowers it seems unfair to pick one or two out and say they are my favorites.  But I do love cosmos.

Another tiny sunflower, called Moonshadow.  It is such a pale yellow and so pretty.

One of my dahlias (I have two).  I can't remember the name of it, I planted it a few years ago and this year it has three giant blooms on it.  Lovely.

I was so happy to come home last night to find the garden still growing well.  In fact, things are just shooting up.  Practically the first thing I did was go out to check the garden, particularly the pumpkin patch.  I've still got a lot to weed around some of the pumpkins, but am giving myself a few days to recover before trying to get right out there again.  (Today would have been a perfect day, it is mostly overcast with temps in the mid 70's and we had a really good rain last night so it would have been perfect weed pulling time.)   I can't take the chance of overdoing and ruining what little progress was made at hospital. 

I went out a little bit ago and snipped some of my hydrangea blooms to bring in.  They made such a sweet little bouquet.  So, today I'm resting, futzing around the house and getting things finalized for tomorrow's Tea Party.  I do so hope you'll be able to attend.  I'm hoping to go to farmer's market tomorrow morning early (I haven't been in weeks) and then coming home and spending the day party hopping.  It should be grand fun!

I'm off to finish getting it all together.  Have a wonderful weekend!
blessings
~*~

ps...did i mention?  there are blooms on the pumpkins!  on almost all of the plants!!  yay!!