Fall Inspiration

With the advent of October, Fall is in full swing. The leaves are beginning to change, the weather is cooler (60's) and the sky is that brilliant, October-blue! Everyone I talk to just loves Fall!

Last week I attended a bridal shower for an upcoming wedding. The food was all fall-themed and very inspiring:

Check out these beautiful fall sugar cookies! Don't they inspire you to think about making some?!! (That's all I did -- just think. But, one of these years, I just might make them!)

Fall decor is so beautiful and lovely too -- the mini pumpkins, gourds, leaves, candles, etc.

The shower food was a perfect assortment: sugar-toasted pecans, goat cheese with olives and nuts to go with French bread,

moist bread pudding with caramel sauce, rich cranberry creme brulees, and a beautiful pumpkin bread braid stuffed with almonds. It was a lovely party!

My newest idea for organizing all the inspiring information I've been coming across is to use a three-ring binder and some sheet protectors.

I've been tearing pages out of magazines left and right and decided I had to do something if I was going to FIND these pages and then USE them! I think I'll make a binder for Christmas when that comes around, and then for Spring, etc.

Not only have I clipped fabulous pictures, but recipes and decorating ideas too. These photos give you an idea. Hiding in my notebook are instructions for Curry Pumpkin Soup, Easy Pumpkin Mousse, Vertical Pear Salad, Grape and Rosemary Focaccia, A Fall Dinner plan that I've already cooked once, and a recipe for Sugared Pumpkin Seeds, just to name a few.....

Another inspiration came in the form of cupcakes. The children and I visited friends on Wednesday and Bethany had decorated a plate-full of these adorable sunflower cupcakes. I couldn't believe I'd not brought my camera! However, Rachel decided she would bring her cupcake home to save for later and thus we now have a photo! (Thank you Rachel!)

Guess what? Bethany used ziplock bags with the corners re-enforced with tape into which she cut various shapes to serve as icing tips! Can you believe you can do all this with no decorator tips!

My zinnias continue to bring me inspiration. I love looking at them out the windows in the dining area. I don't pick very many (contrary to what I imagined) because I just love looking at them. I do insist on a tiny vase in the downstairs bathroom and one in my bathroom. It feels luxurious. :) And here's a picture of a bigger bouquet I picked for a friend:

Tonight is Bible Study (we're doing Romans) and tomorrow is a day with nothing on the calendar! Yeah!

David's Wedding

My cousin David's wedding was delightful! It was so good to see our extended family, to go away (if even just for one night), and to be at a joyous celebration.

Mom and Aunt Georgie try to soothe the Bride prior to the rehearsal:

Everyone enjoyed being reunited again:

The sweet Winslow mothers:

Rachel gleaned flowers from Grandma to make her own little corsage for the wedding:

Aunt Georgie, despite living in Texas for many years, has not lost any of her British charm, nor her English accent:
The ceremony was held outdoors at the Audubon State Park in Henderson. What a lovely setting!
And here is the happy couple -- Mr. & Mrs. David Winslow!

The weather was perfect!

Everyone looked beautiful!

And here are Mom and Dad:

Rachel had so much fun playing with my cousin Anna (who, incidentally, was the flower girl in my wedding!):
Time to cut the cake:

Enjoying food at the reception:

Girl Cousin Time!
Dancing:
It was just so fun to see everyone together:

And then the beautiful couple went off to begin their new life together!

And we are back to normal life here at home. We have a week to rest before the last wedding of the season. There are actually several evenings this week to stay at home! I'm looking forward to that.

Have Talent, Will Travel

We had a wonderful time this weekend at our cousin, David's, wedding! There are lots of pictures to share, and I will have to choose just a few to post (more are on Facebook).

Here are a few pictures of the flowers that my mom and sisters worked on. Upon our arrival in Henderson, we found mom in her hotel room surrounded by flowers (and greens collected on a little shrub-clipping excursion outside the hotel).

Here is an arrangement she made that showed up at the rehearsal, wedding, and reception:

One never knows what can happen in a hotel room...... Here are the flowers that mom brought down with her in a big box:

Here are the sisters hard at work the morning before the wedding:

Tying up the Bride's bouquet:

And here is the beautiful result:

Next up will be pictures of the event itself!

Kayak Party

Today is James' 4th birthday. We began celebrations earlier in the week with a Kayaking Party. Grandpa has been wanting to take the kids kayaking for a long time. We met at the reservoir just down the road from us.

Note the flag Grandma made to add to the festivities:


Michael and Grandpa did the paddling and the kids took turns sitting in the hatch:

While some were out paddling, the rest of us explored the water's edge:

Sand Castles were even attempted! Those are birthday candles sticking out of the top of Baby Cake's castle. :)
Mommy and David even took a short ride. David was SO excited that it was his turn but then he turned all quiet and somewhat stiff when he was put inside the boat. I think he was scared but was determined to be brave. :)

Here we are on our paddle:

Then we enjoyed a picnic dinner:

With the park closing early, we headed back to our house for "strawberry cake." I came up with my regular white cake that I flavored strawberry, filled it with our homemade strawberry jam, and attempted to make my regular icing but added food coloring and strawberry flavoring. Let's just say it didn't work like it usually does (I'm blaming something in the food coloring/flavoring for keeping it from getting stiff):

James was happy enough:
And had fun with a few presents from Grandpa and Grandma:

Michael and James are off for the traditional birthday breakfast at Bob Evans. We'll have more presents when they get back.

We are headed to Kentucky today for my cousin's wedding. I am really looking forward to seeing extended family. I have yet to pack, so that's what I'm off to do. I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Applesauce 101

It's time now to report on what happened to all those apples! I decided applesauce would be the best idea and borrowed everything I needed (except the apples) from friends.

Here's what we started with:


While at the dentist last week, I discovered that the dark green blotches on the apples can be scrubbed off. (The dentist's wife had gotten her apples from the same source.) That meant that I had to clean the apples before making applesauce. That turned into Friday's job.

Let me just say that it was a very time and muscle intensive job to wash apples. I finally decided on just washing the red apples, since they were more oddly shaped, and sending the green ones through a peeler (which I also borrowed). Here are before and after washing pictures:

Also on Friday I started in on some Crab Apple jelly, which I could not resist trying to make. After boiling the cut up crab apples, they had to drain for 12 hours like this:
Also on Friday's list was Black-Raspberry Jam, since I had the canner borrowed and could therefore process my jam. This jam is very, very precious. The 14 1/2 cups I made represent many walks to the woods and dozens of terrible chigger bites.

Saturday morning the applesauce process began in earnest. We set the pots to cook with half red and half green apples, with a bit of apple juice thrown in for extra sweetening:

The kids loved the apple peeler and actually spent most of the morning helping me:

Once the apples were cooked, we sent them through the Victorio Strainer (in my childhood it was known as the Squeezo). It was so wonderful to see that first bit of applesauce coming through! It brought back so many childhood memories!

Michael had to join in on the fun by jump-roping with some of the apple peels -- they were that long!
And here is what the kitchen looked like all day.

I started around 8:30 and by about 3 had the last of the applesauce made and the jars in the canner. We made about 34 quarts of applesauce, most of which were canned in quarts and pints -- a few frozen.
It took me the rest of the afternoon to clean up! The floor was still sticky even after I mopped it! And there was the Crab Apple Jelly to finish -- isn't it beautiful?! I only got two jars, but next time I'll know I can attempt a bigger batch.

And now I'm done in the kitchen with major fall projects like this, at least for the present. We'll see if any more produce comes our way. I've still got frozen raspberries to make into jam at some point.

Note for my British Readers: I wonder if applesauce is a bit of an American thing. When we were in Scotland I could only find it in very small jars in the condiment section, and of course under the name "Apple Puree". I did see it in baby food jars, but of course those were too small to feed a family. Over here in America we seem to eat applesauce in great quantities! :)

What do we eat it with? Well, usually we serve it as a side dish at dinner -- kind of like one would serve a green salad. My kids love a bowl of it plain, or sprinkled with cinnamon for a snack. We also serve it over plain yogurt for breakfast or lunch. It can also function as a simple dessert.