Year: 2009 (page 3 of 9)

A Turkey Sat…

A Turkey sat on the backyard fence and he sang this sad sad tune.

Thanksgiving day is coming Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble and I’ll be eaten soooon.

Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble
I’ll be eaten sooon!
Wishing you all a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow, and safe travels on your way home.

(Retro recipes courtesy of: The Retro Press)

Time for Pumpkin Pie

Its time for pumpkin pie! This is my favorite part of Thanksgiving, as much as I love turkey and dressing and sweet potato souffle oozing with marshmallows on one 1/2 and pecans on the other, I live for Thanksgiving dessert!

Especially, pumpkin pie! I am a Libby’s canned pumpkin kinda gal and fortunately for me, I am able to get this at my local grocery store. I make my pumpkin pies the day before Thanksgiving. I love rolling the dough out and picking one of my mini pie cutters to cut out shapes that will decorate the edge of the crust. I usually use the maple leaf or the star shape to encircle the pie in a wreath of autumnal beauty.

I love the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves being folded into the creamy batter and then gently ladling it into my pie shell and finally placing it into the oven. The smell of it slowly baking permeates the house with the first smells of Thanksgiving. I make my whipped cream while it is baking, beating in sugar and vanilla, to taste; in preparation for the Big Day; as the timer goes off and I pull the pie out of the oven to slowly cool, I can only hope it survives the night and greedy hands and taste buds that can’t wait don’t get the better of it before Turkey Day arrives!

(Images from The Retro Press)

Pumpkin Pie Update (11/27/2009):
It was delicious! I had a slice with whipped cream for breakfast this morning!

Crazy Holiday Ideas

I have these crazy Martha Stewart ideas at times, I see something and I think, “Oh, wouldn’t that be the cutest idea, all made, decorated, beautifully wrapped and lined up in neat rows to hand out…”, the idea I am thinking of, are Thanksgiving goody bags, or boxes in this case.

Whether we had Thanksgiving at our house or someone else’s, everyone always left with a bag of goodies, especially (my mom being an original New Yorker before she moved below the Mason Dixon) if cookies had been sent down from New York, you can’t beat a good bakery! Divine cookies with sprinkles or nuts or a little cherry stuck in them; shaped like leaves and hearts and circles, they were a box of pure happiness!I was looking for something this morning and went to the Bake it Pretty website and saw their turkey cupcake picks and that started off my whole wave of crazy thinking. I thought wouldn’t it be cute, if you made little pumpkin bread cupcakes, iced with mountains of cream cheese frosting (in these retro Sound of Music looking liners), stuck in a little turkey pick, whipped up some acorn shaped sugar cookies while you were at it and had everything all beautifully packaged in a box with some bakers twine or raffia tied through the handle, with something cute stamped on the box.

These are my Martha Stewart moments, the ideas that I would be insane enough to do, but will not. I just love the idea of it!

(Images from the Bake it Pretty website)

P.S. I heard my 1st Christmas song of the season on the radio this morning, I did a Charlie Brown Peanut’s dance of happiness!

Good Morning, Good Night

I am laying in bed on this frosty night going over some vintage knitting patterns I want to try.I have found the most adorable one for a 50’s style “pixie cap”; it looks like something Doris Day would have worn in Moonlight Bay.

It is late here and everyone is asleep. It is so blissfully quiet outside that I can hear the church bells from the other side of the common chime the hour, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding they say, it is just after 1am.

scraopologie angels

 

I feel like the little girl from the Golden Books story, “Good Morning, Good Night”.She isn’t tired and wants to stay up, even though her parents tell her that everyone else is in bed.

She doesn’t mind being alone and goes to play with her toys, but they are sleeping. She is so determined to stay awake and decides to go play with her dollhouse instead, but everyone inside the dollhouse is in the land of as well.

In the end she concludes that it is time for her to go to bed, which is what I need to do to, but my mind is just buzzing with ideas tonight and I am enjoying the quiet.But, since there is no one to play with, I guess it is off to bed I go….

(Church image copyright Scrapologie, the vintage knitting pattern can be found for free download at: Baby Dee Vintage Patterns)

Home for the Holidays

Unfortunately, we do not get to go “home” for Thanksgiving, but we celebrate with each other in our house. It doesn’t seem quite the same at times; no shuffling around in your pajamas, no breakfast casserole, no Macy’s Day Parade on TV and no parents in the kitchen laughing and talking while they make stuffing and get ready to roast the bird.

We make our own holiday memories here in England. I still prepare a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings and pumpkin pie for dessert of course! Some years we have had friends round to join in with the festivities, but, this year, it will be just the two of us, a romantic Thanksgiving.

macys parade float

It wouldn’t be the season if I didn’t get to watch Home for the Holidays. What a movie! My family and I love this movie! There are moments you can relate to, even if you, like me, are close with your family, you can relate it to other family members.

There is a great scene after the parents pick their daughter up from the airport and as they are driving home, with the mom chatting away in the back they pass another car with a fellow “kid”; his mom is leaning over the seat going on and on, and the two “kids” just stare at each other through the car windows, in this perfect moment of understanding. So much is said with that look.

I know this look. My husband and I have been with some people where that look between us gets used a lot. This movie sums up all the craziness of this one day. Days, that some people use not to be thankful for, or to see the blessings in, but as a forum for themselves to just act as nutty as a fruitcake.

So to everyone, who loves going home (I do!) and for those who are ready for Thanksgiving to be over with already and back in their own homes away from their families, this movie is for you!

home for the holidays portrait


10 Little Bears

10 Little Bears all in a row

when they are made
it is of to RosaBlue they go!

This is my WIP (work-in-progress) on this blustery day. It is so windy I had to take my lantern in from its little hanging perch by my front door for fear of it blowing away. It is silvery gray outside and has been pitter-pattering with rain every now and then.

So, I am staying cozy indoors and working away on my little tooth bears. I am also creating another tooth animal to tuck away treasures in for the tooth fairies…

They are patiently waiting for me to sew on their faces and tooth pockets so I won’t keep them any longer!

Je reve en Francaise

Je reve en Francaise, or I dream in French. I was starting a little Christmas shopping this morning and as I was looking at French General’s website, I saw these stickers and they made me smile! We pretended to be French last night and made Julia Child’s “Chicken with mushrooms” for dinner with garlic whipped potatoes and steamed green beans.

It was the most wonderful comfort food for a cold day and it made me long for Paris. I wanted to wash the dishes, grab our coats and scarfs and head out to one of our cafes along the river, for a glass of wine and a little jazz.

One of our favorites is a little place called, Le Petit Pont. They give you baskets of hot salty popcorn to munch on while you imbibe and there is usually a good jazz singer at the piano. It is wonderful sitting outside under the toasty warm lamps and just taking in Paris.

I dream in French, I dream of France; especially this time of year when the weather has turned and the Christmas markets will soon be up. The joy of Christmas shopping in Paris, where your gifts are beautifully wrapped and stopping at Angelina’s for a hot chocolate is a must in the frosty weather.

But, Paris is not in the cards at the moment, so I will just have to continue to reve en Francaise.

Visit French General’s website if you have not before. Kaari Meng’s books are so beautiful , I have given them many times as gifts, they are a treasure to go back to again and again.If for nothing else than to just stare at the sumptuous images.Click on the Image above to go to French General’s website.

(All Images copyright French General)

Gobble Gobble

I was looking over the Gooseberry Patch Blog this weekend and this post was at the top of their list. It made me think of being little. We made little apple turkeys just like this in elementary school, sans the cereal feathers, they were all marshmallows going up our little feather toothpicks.

I loved celebrating holidays in school. At Thanksgiving we paraded around with our construction paper pilgrim hats or Indian headdresses upon our heads. We brought canned goods in for the needy and made turkey pictures out of our hand prints.

There are times when I think we forget how simple our world’s were when we were little, that there is something to just taking in life, having fun in the moment and just breathing. Looking at the Tom Turkey apple made me think of just that. I think I am going to hunt up some apples and mini marshmallows and have a little fun of my own!

tom turkey gobbler

Click on the picture above for a How-To, to make your own little turkey apples.

(Images copyright to Gooseberry Patch)

Baby Boom Dream House

I love my little cottage, it is the perfect size for the two of us! But, there are times, especially when I am in crafting mode, that I wish our house was bigger, to accommodate the two of us each doing our own projects.

I would quite happily move into the “Baby Boom” house. I have always loved this yellow house with its blue shutters. I love the quaint country kitchen with the fabric lined cabinets and the fireplace, which I would have cheerfully lit and burning bright in the winter, while I was putting up my applesauce, of course!A house that looks perfect any time of year, and has such Christmas potential. I know when we do buy a house it will have to have Christmas potential, we can fix up anything, but I have to know it will look magical with wreaths hanging from every window and candles lit and a tree by the front door… It will be so hard to find the right house for us, we love so many different architectural styles, but, the right one is out there!

As much as I crave space at times, we are truly blessed with what we have and how much do you really need? So, there are days when I wish I wasn’t the dishwasher and I had more room to spread out my projects, but as evening comes sooner now and I close the curtains and light the candles, I can’t think of a cozier place to be than right where I am; cooking dinner, enjoying life and snuggling up on the couch with my adorable husband after a long day. Because, it doesn’t matter where you are, it is who you are with!

All Images used were taken from HookedonHouses.

Cath Kidston Happiness

I had to run some errands this morning and just as I was locking the door my jolly postman came by and delivered this wonderful catalogue into my hands. After, doing the few things I needed to do, I picked up a coffee and a cupcake treat to enjoy while I poured through the pages of this little book of happiness.

I had some spending money I brought with me to Cornwall and did not really spend any of it, so I am treating myself to a Cath Kidston Christmas item. I think possibly a Christmas tablecloth, as I don’t have one.

I have placemats and runners and fabric that I use but not an official Christmas tablecloth and this one is too adorably retro, I LOVE it! And, it will make my kitchen table look really cheerful.

I am now going back to cozy up on the couch, thumb through those pages one more time and then force myself to put it down and carry on working on my little bunny blanket.