Happy Halloween ~ Got Plans?

Do you have special Halloween plans?

I plan to shop for new winter boots this morning then meet my friends for lunch.

That's always special to me.

 

 

Then tonight, I plan to cook chicken wraps for supper and maybe try out the Pumpkin Muffin recipe that's been flying around Pinterest lately.

I apologize for not posting a link for the recipe but there was no link included with the Pin.  I wonder how many Weight Watcher Points one of these muffins would be.  I need to budget my points today so that I can enjoy one tonight  ~  guilt free. 

Hope you have a wonderful Halloween!

 

 

Edited to add:  I calculate the muffins to be 4 points on the older Weight Watcher's point system.  ?

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Dreaming in Full Color

Like always, when winter comes knocking on my door I'm ready to brighten up our home for hibernation.  I'm thinking of doing that with a new quilt for our bed this year.

I thought about making one similar to the table cover I made a couple of years ago, just a little bigger.

When I walk into my breakfast room the bright colors always make me happy.?

I love piecing quilt tops BUT here's a little secret,

 I don't really like to quilt.

I've saved this tutorial on my Pinterest board for months now. 

I could quilt the pieces (on the machine) as I go and when the top is finished, the work is done.

TA-DA!

 

And goodness knows, I've got tons of pretty cotton scraps just waiting around to be made into something useful and cheery.

 

 

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When Life Hands You Lemons

A friend gave me a HUGE bag of lemons the other day.  I love lemon in my water so I pulled out my old-fashioned juicer and started washing, slicing, and squeezing lemons.  It took quite a while!

I strained the juice, put it in ice trays and popped them into the freezer.  Later, the frozen cubes were transferred to a large zip top freezer bag and now every night I have a refreshing glass of ice water with fresh frozen lemon juice.  It's quite a treat!





 

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Book Review with a Recipe

Read any good books lately?
Well, if you know me well, you know I love to read.  Mostly what I call "fluffy" books.
Books that make me smile, mostly.
Especially books that speak to my heart and that I can relate to in my career ~ homemaking.

So, how could I not love a book with a picture of a homey little cottage on the front?

The picture is from the front of the book, The Tale of Holly How by Susan Wittig Albert.

 

It's book two of a series of eight from

The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter.

 

They're cute little tales with a mixture of characters of humans and their animals that can speak and reason.

It took a bit of getting used to, the animals talking, but it seems sort of natural after a while.

And the great part of each book is the recipes at the end!

I just had to try this one.

 

Sarah Barwick's Lemon Bars

 

 

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

grated zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup lemon juice

2/3 cup butter

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup old-fashioned oats

candied orange peel for garnish

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9" x 13" pan.  Pour condensed milk into medium-sized bowl; stir in lemon zest and juice.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Add flour and baking powder in two additions, beating very well.  Mix in the oats.  Spread about two-thirds of this mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan, making a smooth, firm layer.  Pour milk-lemon mixture over bottom layer.  Spread remaining oat mixture evenly over lemon layer.  (This is easier if you "dot" it in place, then smooth.)  Bake for 30-35 minutes, until lightly browned.  Cool in pan; refrigerate for one hour.  Cut into 16 squares.  Decorate each square with a bit of candied orange peel.  Refrigerate.

 

 

And I must say that this is delicious!  The piece pictured above is being eaten as I type.  Yummy!

 

I'm currently reading book 3 of this series, and the more I read, the more I enjoy them.  They are very well written.  Here's a sampling of Ms. Albert's writing that I especially enjoyed (maybe because I have a little something in common with Parsley).

"Stop, Parsley!"  roared the badger, but in a kindly way, for he knew that it was Parsley's habit to talk all the way around a story or two or three times before she could manage to open the front door and step into it properly."

 

 

So, leaving you with that, I'm closing the door and stepping out of this posting.  :)

 

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Oh, except to say this, the author has a wonderful website with such cute drawings, lists of her books, and even a free newsletter!  Hope you visit and enjoy it.  Now I'm stepping out again.  :)

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Great Pumpkin Dessert...

... that's its name and it lives up to it.

I mentioned in a post earlier this week (here) about all the specialty pumpkin products I saw on my weekly trip to Aldi.  It really got me wanting something, anything pumpkin flavored so I bought a can of pumpkin and after returning home, started searching for a recipe that sounded gooey and delicious and pumpkiny. 

After searching Pinterest ( for waaay too long), then pulling out all of my cookbooks,  I found it in one of my favorite cookbooks, Taste of Home's 2000 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes.  I knew I had found The One as soon as I saw it.  So, for your enjoyment, if you so choose, here's the recipe compliments of Taste of Home.  ( You can find the recipe and a picture at their website .)

 

Great Pumpkin Dessert

1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice *

1 package (18 1/4 ounces ) yellow cake mix

3/4 cup butter, melted

1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts (I used pecans)

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream

 

In a mixing bowl, combine the first five ingredients.  Transfer to a greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan.  Sprinkle with dry cake mix and drizzle with butter.  Top with nuts.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. 

Yield:  12-16 servings

 

*I didn't have pumpkin pie spice so I substituted with 2-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon,

1/2 teaspoon each ginger, nutmeg, allspice

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And here's the dessert in her (almost) full glory.?

Note:  My daughter and I both have this cookbook and we like to let the other know when we try out a new recipe in it.  So Heather, this recipe is on page 74 and earned my Great! rating.  :)

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