Yay! Another year has come...

 It's time again for TSO's concert! This will be year 3 for us and we are so excited.
And it's such a great way to start off the holiday season! We only have 3 more days to wait.

Take a listen , I think you'll like it!

1st attempt...

Last year I had bought some small pie pumpkins for us to decorate. My thought had been that after Halloween was over I would scrub off the paint and cook it to make my own pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. Well...that didn't happen. So I bought some more pumpkins this year. They didn't get painted, but I did make my first attempt at a pumpkin pie today.

Here's the pumpkin pieces after they were baked in the oven. 

There was a sticker on the bottom of the pumpkin with pie directions, so I followed those.

It was pretty easy too.

The pie sure looks good. It baked really well and making it was a lot easier then anticipated. I did use a ready made pie crust. I've mentioned before that I haven't mastered pastry making and wanted to make this easy. (Maybe next time I'll try making my crust too?)

I have tried a piece of the pie and it's not bad...but needs a little more seasoning with my next attempt for Thanksgiving I think.

 I'll let you know how that one turns out.

Here's another of my easy recipes, just in time for Thanksgiving...another recipe from my childhood.

Easy Stuffing 

3 tbsp chopped onion

1/4 c. butter

4 c. cubed bread

1/2 tsp ground sage

2 to 4 tbsp or chicken broth

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1 1/2 c. celery

Cook onion in butter until soft. Combine with bread and seasonings. Toss with enough broth to moisten.  Bake at 350 degrees.

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How I like to make this recipe: We like onion around here, so I actually use more onion, usually about a 1/2 cup and I don't use as much celery. When cooking the onions in butter I add the celery to cook it a little bit too. For the bread, I usually used a combination of both white and wheat breads. I have never cooked this inside of a turkey so I'm not sure how it would work. I like my stuffing a little toasty/crunchy but not too dried out, so I put it in a casserole to bake. Oh...and I'm not sure about the baking time. The recipe I've written down doesn't have a time. I just keep an eye on it and when it looks done to me I pull it out, about 20-30 minutes if I remember right from the last time I made it.

So if you need an easy stuffing recipe for this year. Maybe you'll give it a try! If you have any questions, let me know!

Hungry??

Here's another easy recipe for you. This is also another recipe that I grew up with and is now a favorite of the Hepworth's.

Spanish Rice

1/2 lb hamburger

1/4 c. chopped onion

1/4 c. chopped green pepper

1 can tomato soup

1 c. uncooked rice

2-3 cups tomato juice

dash chili sauce

dash worchester sauce

salt and pepper

Brown hamburger and onion. Add pepper, soup, juice and spices (I don't use the chili sauce, I just shake in a little chili powder). Add rice. Stir all together. Bring to a boil cover and simmer until done. (I stir occasionally throughout cooking and add more juices if you notice it needs it. I usually start with the 2 cups and add from there.) Done in about 45 minutes.

Great served with tortillas and grated cheese. Enjoy!!

Here are some pics of the kids enjoying theirs...

1st Christmas project...started!

So I have officially started sewing for Christmas. I do have a few projects that I want to get done before December, so I am starting them now in the hopes that I can finish them on time. Here are the fabrics that I have chosen for my advent calender...

 And with all of them laid out, ready to be sewn...

I have started putting the numbers on them. It's turning out really cute so far. It will be sashed in white. I'll hopefully be posting more pics soon! 

Something fun...

I decided that since I was done with Halloween costumes, and before I started my Christmas sewing that I wanted to take the time to sew something for myself. Something that I could enjoy sewing and using. So this week I sewed up this...

and I LOVE it. It's the first time I've taken a charm pack to make something.

A charm pack is a set of 5 x 5 inch squares that you can find at most quilting stores when a new line of fabric comes out. Each fabric square is a different fabric. I used a little over half of my charm pack to make this table runner so I still have some more pretty fabrics to play with from the set.

I used the instructions here. I of course did not do a quilt, but loved the idea and actually ran across another person who made a table runner and thought it was a great idea.

I still have some work to do on it. Haven't decided how to quilt it and I've got to find some fabric I want to use to bind it, but I will have it done in time for Thanksgiving.

I will be starting on all things Christmas next. I have a few Christmas stockings to make, I am going to finish the Christmas table runner that I started last year and an advent calendar that I want finished before December. And of course in two weeks I have the Festive Friday I'll be helping with.

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So if you can't find me, come see if I'm burried under a pile of fabric. That's probably where I'll be for the next little while.