Windy and Wet

I think it is safe to say that the windy, rainy, Pacific Northwest Fall weather has arrived. It makes the wood stove a treasure, Hubby {he waxed our floors yesterday too-No! you can't have him. He is all mine.} lit it last night for the first time. No other heat source is as cozy as wood heat, none. This weather makes the homemade soups and bread taste even better. The sound of the wind and rain make me think it is time to put on the flannel sheets. Cozy Up!

Cozy, warm and wonderful unless you're getting up at 5:30 a.m. to go to boot camp. I went and I used my new weights. I am now using ten pound weights.
{insert applause}
In May 2008 when we started I had three pound weights, then graduated to fives and then eights, where I stayed for a long time.

Every time I went to Target I tried out the tens. And then put them back on the shelf barely and got outta that aisle. A really good weight test is to hold a weight in each hand at your sides and then lift up without bending your elbows, straight out the side and then try a rep of 12 or so.

The Target security team must have thought 'stop using our store as a gym, buy them and get a life'. Now I have them, used them this morning and may not be posting for a bit as I won't be able to lift my arms to the computer tomorrow.

Oh, and where were Melinda, Emily and Colleen this morning? Apparently, in their cozy beds!

Enjoy the Fall weather.

Weekend Visit

I did some baking on Saturday. My BIL John was in town and he likes a treat when he visits. He came to watch Max play football Friday night. JV and Varsity teams won their games, Max had a good night with some good hits and a few good sacks. Go #83!

I had seen this recipe on another blog and thought they were cute and pumpkin grabs my attention this time of year.

Pumpkin Blossom Cookies
I had pretty cookies but just couldn't take a good picture this weekend to save my life.

I found this recipe here.
Ingredients:
I used the small pampered chef scoop and I made over 60 cookies.
4 T. butter, softened
3/4 C vegetable oil
1/2 C. white sugar
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 C. pumpkin puree
3 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 (11 oz) bag Hershey's Candy Corn Kisses, *I found them at Target.
extra white sugar for rolling the cookies

Preheat oven to to 350 F.
Unwrap the candy kisses, place in a bowl and put in the freezer (because these candies are mostly oil and sugar, if not frozen then they melt into a puddle super fast when placed on a hot cookie).
FROZEN*NO JOKE. They melt faster than the chocolate kisses.
Cream together the butter, oil, and sugars then stir in the egg, vanilla, and pumpkin.
Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until completely combined then place in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up the dough.
Using your hands or the small scoop, quickly roll into balls and roll each cookie in a small bowl of sugar (if the dough starts to get too warm, place in the freezer for 5 minutes). I did freeze the dough occasionally.

Place sugar-rolled dough balls on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. As soon as they are out of the oven, press a Candy Corn Kiss into the center of each cookie, move to a cooling rack, and place in the freezer for several minutes.
If the kisses are too warm and the cookies are not on a cooling rack they will melt and look pretty messy.
Again! FROZEN*NO JOKE. They melt faster than the chocolate kisses.
I tried to skip the freezer steps and I just don't want you to make that same mistake. Don't say I've never done anything for you...
Max got a new exhaust system for his car and it got installed on Saturday afternoon. It went amazingly well and quickly, Hubby and Max were bragging just a bit. Uncle John thought they should at least have the sense to thank the muffler gods. But no they took all credit. That should bite'em in the butt later.

Saturday night was a cozy Fall dinner with friends. Hubby grilled a flank steak and a turkey breast and I filled in with a fresh green garden salad, potato casserole, homemade bread and sauteed onions and mushrooms for the steak. Cookies for dessert.

We continue to hear from Sam. He calls when he can but the best part for me are the letters he writes. He is a good writer and tells a pretty good story.
Danny is moving West. That makes this mama sooo happy.
We had a great weekend.
Now it is Monday with a busy week ahead and Max has the flu. He is miserable, like so many others. Sure hope Uncle John doesn't get it...

Dinner is Ready

Hubby and I were invited to a dinner party last Saturday evening, wonderful friends, beautiful table, delicious food and wine on a blustery Fall evening, perfect. Scott was given a dinner party for a Christmas gift by Shawn and Jannette. They fussed, a lot. Sometimes it's fun to have a last minute dinner with friends and sometimes it is special to fuss. Especially when you're invited and someone has fussed a lot. Michael and Barb also joined us.
I asked Jannette for her soup course recipe and she emailed me last night. I made it for tonight's dinner. It is delicious, pretty in the bowl and perfect for a Fall evening. I've copied and pasted her recipe so that it appears here in its exact state with a small insert. Because you know how I can change things up, and really this recipe needed no changes.
So, if you canned tomatoes this Summer, enjoy.
Curry Tomato Soup5 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium to large onion, chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp baking soda (do not omit the baking soda, as it counters the acidity of the tomatoes)
1 C milk (can be whole milk or lowfat), I'm a whole milk kind of girl :)
1/2 C heavy cream
salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat oil in large saute' pan or dutch oven. Saute' onion ever medium heat until tender - about 5 minutes. Add curry powder and cook until fragrant, less than 1 minute. Add tomatoes to pan, as well as the baking soda and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer, partially covered, about 5 minutes.

Stir in milk and cream (I temper my milk and cream mixture with the tomato mixture, it seems to work a little better).
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. the Blender
Jannette had a small incident during her party prep and makes reference to the very incident in the recipe. I wish you could see her and Shawn's reenactment of said incident. Oh, did I mention we had some good laughs on Saturday evening?-tami

Pour soup into a blender and puree' until creamy and smooth (don't forget to place the lid on the blender container :) it helps with kitchen clean-up ). Return to pan and reheat to a simmer, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. You can add a swirl of sour cream to each bowl.

The soup was one of many courses on Saturday evening, tonight it stand alone with beer bread on the side.

Trash to Treasure

This morning on my way to work I made a special delivery.
You may remember the feather trees. I packaged them up with some matching feather covered eggs, a good luck note and a coffee card.
Then I delivered then to Vicky.
It takes courage to disagree with all the other commenters. I know Vicky has STYLE and that she would do something creative and groovy with the feather trees.
I brought them to her workplace. Vicky was thrilled and knew exactly where she would use them. The feather trees are in a better place.

Thanks Vicky! I just know you'll make me wish I had them back.

Trading Recipes

I planned to post this bread recipe this week, after several requests. Meanwhile, yesterday I visited Janice's blog and she had posted a stew recipe from me. Definitely random but ideal for readers because my stew on her blog and her bread on my blog are perfect together for a Fall dinner.

ARTISAN CRUSTY BREAD

1 5/8 c. warm water (just make it the same temp. as your wrist)
1 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 c. flour
In large bowl, stir together water, yeast and salt, then add flour. Stir until ingredients are mixed. Place lid on bowl and let rise 6-24 hours (it doesn't raise to be huge). One to two hours before baking, scrape dough out onto floured surface (it will be very sticky) and cover with flour and shape into ball. Let sit on counter 1-2 hours.

Place glass casserole dish with lid in oven and heat to 450 degrees. The key is in heating up the dish before you put the dough in it. When oven reaches temp, take the dish out and spray w/oil and drop dough into dish, you will hear it sizzle. Put lid on dish and bake 30 min. with lid on, then remove lid and bake another 15 min. The hotter the bread the crustier it is. It is best if you can wait at least 30 min.-1 hr. It is even better if you can have it done 1-2 hours before - then the crust isn't so hard. But still crusty.

The bread leftovers make delicious French Toast the next morning for game day breakfast.

A Bit Random

*I love Fall.

*I love the cozy feel of Fall. Last night I made bread to have with our dinner, turned on the furnace and...

Lit some candles. Cozy.

Every year when I take out my Fall decorations I see these feather trees, have no idea what to do with them and put them back in a closet. They were given to me at a tag sale. They look like Fall, but the feathers kinda creep me out. Please give me ideas, tell me they are really cool, tell me to donate them to the thrift store or tell me just how badly you want them for your home. I might give them to you or trash them or use your creative idea for a lovely Fall display.

I was given the best care package and letter for a military mom ever. I hope I can do this for a mom someday.

Treasury of Memories is closing. Old news. I went, saw the line and left. It needs to be more than 20 % off for me to wait in a line for hours. Today it is 40% off. Now they have my attention. The reason I'm not too panicked is that I have several projects in mind and in my house. Stockpiling may be a strong term but I usually do have supplies on hand in case creativity strikes. I think I will miss the TOM girls more than the actual store. They always made my projects look good.


Hubby is off this weekend. Plans are made. The bridge is open and driveway is now accessible. So, I am off to Costco and TOM and Target and the mall.

And when I get home there better be feather tree ideas in my comments!