Feature Friday: Waxing Leaves

Well, I started to pull out the fabric I needed to make the fabric pumpkins I featured last Friday, but then I reminded myself that I have a baby due in a little less than 2 months and that I have many projects to finish for her nursery before she arrives. This coupled with the fact I really have no additional space to store any extra decor when the season is over caused me to put the project on hold for now. So, as much as I’d like to make some fabric pumpkins for this fall, I’ll have to stash that idea away until next year.

This week’s feature is a tutorial I’ve had saved in my favorites since last fall, and while I’m going to wait and do it next fall for the same reasons mentioned above, I thought some of you might like to do it now.

Go find yourselves some beautiful autumn leaves, a block of Gulf wax, a disposable pan and some newspapers and then hop on over to Clover Lane to learn how to make these beautiful Waxed Leaves:

Waxing Leaves at Clover Lane

If you make these, leave a link in my comments so I can check out your finished project. And, don’t forget to leave a comment on Clover Lane thanking her for the easy and affordable tutorial for autumn decor. While you’re there, why don’t you let her know I sent you.

Tutorial Tuesday: Homemade Caramel Apples

This past Sunday hubby & I hosted the leadership meeting for our church. Thankfully it was a cool fall day so a giant pot of chili with cornbread and salad was a perfect meal to feed 20 people cheap and heartily. I made homemade caramel apples for everyone to enjoy for dessert.

Want to make your own caramel apples? Just follow these simple steps:

I used a mix of Jonamac & Macintosh apples because they were the most affordable to buy in bulk. If I wasn’t making 26 apples, I would have used Granny Smith because I like the contrast between sweet caramel and sour apple much better.

I used thin sticks I found in the kid craft area of my local craft store. Place the stick in the BOTTOM of the apple to help it sit better once covered in caramel. Chilling the apples until you’re ready to use them helps the hot caramel stick better.

…and unwrap…and unwrap…and unwrap. I used three bags of Brach’s Milk Maid caramels. Two bags would have probably been more than enough. Place your unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Resist eating any. Oh, alright, go ahead and enjoy one. You have to make sure it’s good caramel after all.

For each bag of caramels, add 1 Tablespoon vanilla and 1 Tablespoon of water. Microwave, stirring after 90 second intervals, until caramel is melted.

[Unfortunately my camera battery died so I couldn’t get a picture of Step 5]

Dip the chilled apples in the hot caramel. Swirl the apple to let the excess caramel drip back into the bowl. Set dipped apple on a lightly greased sheet (with Pam spray) of waxed paper. Repeat. Reheat caramel as necessary. If desired, dip apples a second time once they have set.

[I found more batteries!]

Once your apples are covered to your liking and the caramel has cooled, place each apple on an upside down cupcake liner (I found these in the $1 section at Michael’s) and tie a ribbon around the stick. Chill until ready to serve.

Check out the other great tutorials posted today over at Hope Studios Tutorial Tuesday.

Feature Friday: Fall Fabric Pumpkins Tutorial

In an effort to help me be more consistent with blogging and to help me keep track of different projects/recipes I want to try, I’ve decided to start a new thing called “Feature Friday”.

This week I’m featuring a craft project I found at The Cottage Home. I don’t remember how I came across her post, but I knew it was a “must-try” the moment I saw it.

How cute are these fall fabric pumpkins she made?

I have some upholstery fabric scraps that have been sitting around waiting to be put to use. I think this will be the perfect project for them this weekend.

Go visit Lindsay at The Cottage Home (don’t forget to tell her I sent you) and check out her awesome tutorial for Fall Fabric Pumpkins.

Hopefully I’ll be able to make some this weekend so I can post pictures next week. Happy crafting!

Fall Mantle Decor

A couple weeks ago I finally took down the stuff that has been on my mantle since before the 4th of July and replaced it with cozy fall stuff.

Money is TIGHT right now so I decorated with items I already had. For not spending a dime, I’m very happy with how much it cozied up the room and helps to welcome fall.

I think my favorite thing on the mantle is the pear wreath. It was hanging in my craft room, but in the conversion to the nursery it was taken down. What a perfect place to display it for now.

 
The Indian corn I picked up on sale last year at Michael’s. The metal wall hanging was another thing I had laying around. I think I got it and the yellow ceramic vase on sale at Michael’s a couple years ago too.

This purple glass elixir bottle belonged to one of my hubby’s great aunts. I thought it was a neat bottle but never had a place to display it until now.

These items are sitting on the coffee table. I picked up the copper container and the garland on sale a few years ago at Michael’s as well. The potpourri inside the container is colorful and smells so good!

So, it’s not much, but for free it works for me to bring a touch of fall to our living room.

Pumpkin-Ginger Waffles

If there is one breakfast you must make this fall, it is Pumpkin-Ginger Waffles.

I found the recipe a couple weeks ago as I was going through my 50+ magazines to be recycled and knew I had to try it. I figured when I couldn’t sleep past 4:30am this past Sunday it would be the perfect time to surprise my hubby with some homemade breakfast.

I topped mine with pure maple syrup, a dollop of whipped cream and chopped pecans. They were delicious and definitely made the “make again” list.

PUMPKIN-GINGER WAFFLES
Makes: 10 waffles (1/4 cup batter each)

1-1/4 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Combine first six ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs (avoid having one roll onto the floor and causing a big mess), buttermilk, pumpkin, sugar and vanilla. Combine with flour mixture. Stir in butter but do not overmix. Let sit for about 5 minutes while your waffle iron heats. Make waffles using about 1/4 cup batter per waffle. Keep warm in 200 degree oven, if desired. Top with syrup, whipped cream and chopped pecans. Enjoy your delicious fall breakfast!

I’m linkin’ up to Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios. Go check out other great projects and recipes!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

(Sorry for this unappetizing photo. The guys at work got to the cake before I could take a picture. It tastes MUCH better than it looks. Promise!)

Yesterday was yet another birthday at work. In trying to stay in theme with fall I decided to go for something pumpkin flavored.

The recipe was really simple and the guys enjoyed it thoroughly.

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP BUNDT CAKE

1 box yellow cake mix

15 oz. canned pumpkin
2/3 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 can cream cheese frosting

food dye

cocoa powder

Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips together for 2-3 minutes or until fluffy. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in pan and then invert onto serving plate.

For icing, I used 1 can cream cheese frosting and added cocoa powder to it to give it a brown hue and a little bit of a chocolate taste. If I had more chocolate chips, I would have prefered to melt those and drizzle those on top or use a jar of chocolate icing. I zap the frosting in the microwave for 30 seconds until it gets to a pourable consistency and then just drizzle over cake. I normally only use about a half a can. I then mixed up some powdered sugar, a little bit of milk and vanilla and some red and yellow food coloring to make an orange glaze to drizzle on top of the cocoa frosting. To decorate, I picked up some pumpkin spice candy corn from Walmart and sprinkled those around the cake. In hindsight, I should have just separated a bit of the cream cheese frosting and dyed that orange before I added in the cocoa to the rest, but my mind was a little distracted. Oh well! And, I'm not a fan of candy corn or Walmart, but this stuff was good! They also had chocolate caramel and caramel apple flavors.

Hope you all have a great Halloween today if you celebrate that or else Happy Reformation Day to the rest of us. Seeing how my hubs is out of town until tomorrow, I'm going to celebrate with a bowl of pumpkin soup, my tivo'd shows and some cross stitch.

Parmigiano Pumpkin Soup & Rosemary Onion Rolls with Blue Cheese Topping

Lately I've fallen in love with making yeast breads.

It all started with the craving for homemade, fresh from the oven pitas and has expanded to include pizza dough [for our weekly Sunday night pizza night], apple cider doughnuts [not technically a yeast bread, but still in the general category], and now fresh rosemary and caramelized onion rolls with a blue cheese topping.

This latest recipe I found while reading The Pioneer Woman. I just recently discovered her and oh my does her food look downright delicious. I mean, you gain 5 pounds just looking at some of her recipes! Plus, she's an incredible story teller and I love reading her story of how she and Marlboro Man fell in love. Forget Martha Stewart, I want to be Ree when I grow up!

When I found the roll recipe I knew it would go perfect with the pumpkin soup recipe I found while flipping through American Lifestyle magazine last time we were out working on the house. This magazine was sent to us courtesy of our realtor and most time I just throw it away after a quick flip through, but this time the section on crockpot recipes caught my eye. I sure am glad I stopped to look because this soup is perfect for a crisp fall evening.

In fact, both these recipes are so good that they'll result in marriage proposals. No joke. I know because it happened to me yesterday. And not from my husband. Shh! Don't tell him!

PARMIGIANO PUMPKIN SOUP
(recipe and photo courtesy of Art of the Slow Cooker via American Lifestyle magazine)

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil (I used 1 T of butter because I was out of oil)
2 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into thin strips (I used 4 strips of crumbled bacon)
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (about 28 oz.) Libby's 100% pure pumpkin
2 quarts chicken broth
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper (I used black because I was out of white)
1/2 cup cream (I used light, but a full 8 oz. to make it creamier)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I forgot to put it on, but it tasted fine without it)

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the prosciutto, and saute until crisp and frizzled. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. If using bacon, I do mine on paper towels in the microwave. Cover with another paper towel and microwave on high approx. 1 minute per slice. Cool and crumble.

2. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion and saute until tender (do not brown). Add the garlic, and cook for a few seconds, until aromatic. Stir in the pumpkin, broth, nutmeg, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Transfer to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, cover, and cook for 3 to 4 hours on high, or 6 to 8 hours on low.

3. Stir in the cream and Parmesan and heat through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and serve with crumbled bacon or prosciutto on top.

ROSEMARY ONION ROLLS WITH BLUE CHEESE TOPPING

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 large yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups bread flour (I used regular because that's all I had)
2 teaspoons kosher salt (more to taste)
Freshly chopped rosemary to taste (be generous!)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Saute sliced onions and minced garlic in 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Cook them until brown and caramelized, about 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

Pour warm water into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top. Add sugar and olive oil, then stir gently with a fork until combined. Set aside.

Combine flour and salt in a separate bowl. To the yeast mixture, add flour mixture, onions, and rosemary in alternating ingredients, stirring gently until dough is combined. (It’ll be sticky!)

Generously flour a flat surface. Knead dough 15 to 20 times, adding flour generously to make it easier to handle. (Keep it sticky, though!)

Drizzle olive oil in a separate bowl, then add ball of dough, turning to coat. Cover with a tea towel and place in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.Divide dough into eight portions, and form a rough round from each piece. Place on a baking mat or parchment paper, then cover with a towel and allow to rise for 15 to 20 minutes.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until brown. Brush with butter halfway through baking time.To top with blue cheese, either place crumbled blue cheese on completely baked rolls and allow it to soften naturally, OR remove the rolls with five minutes baking time left, top with cheese, and return to the oven to bake/allow cheese to melt.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

To round out the soup and rolls, I added a salad with crumbled blue cheese, apple slices, craisins and walnuts. It was a delicious and light fall dinner!

Apple Cider Doughnuts

I was blog stalkin' the other day and came across a recipe for apple cider doughnuts. They sounded and looked downright heavenly, and my hubby loves special treats for weekend breakfasts, so I decided to make them this past weekend. What could be better for a crisp fall morning?

My dough was a little too sticky to work with the biscuit cutter, so I just used two spoons and dropped in dough balls to make tiny fritters. Next time I'll try adding more flour to my dough. I also didn't take the time to make the glaze the recipe calls for, but they need just a little something extra so I'll make it next time as well. Here are the steps in photos:

1. Chop two McIntosh apples.

2. Add cider and cook over medium heat.

3. Cook until apples are softened and most of the cider is absorbed.

4. Puree apples and cider in a food processer (or blender) until smooth.

5. If necessary, return sauce mix to stovetop to reduce further. Set aside to cool.

6. Combine all dry ingredients except sugar. Set aside.

7. Combine some of the sugar and the shortening with mixer until it resembles coarse sand.

8. Add eggs and blend.

9. Add cooled apple sauce.

10. Mix in 1/2 the flour mixture, the buttermilk, vanilla and the rest of the flour mixture.

11. Combine to a sticky dough...do not overmix.

12. Place dough on lightly floured piece of parchment (I didn't have any as you can see) and shape into 7 x 11 square 1/2" thick. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

13. Heat 2" of oil until a deep fry thermometer reads 350. Drop doughnuts in a few at a time and turn frequently until browned.

14. Remove to a paper towel to drain. If wanted, drizzle with glaze and cinnamon sugar.

Here is the recipe I used (according to the blog I took it from, it's courtesy of the Food Network):

APPLE CIDER DOUGHNUTS

Ingredients:
1/4 t. baking soda
3 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1 2/3 c. granulated sugar
3 T. vegetable shortening
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 c. confectioners' sugar
Vegetable oil, {for frying}
2 red apples {such as Cortland or McIntosh}
2 1/2 c. apple cider
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour {more for dusting}
4 t. baking powder

Directions:
Core and coarseley chop the apples {do not peel}. Combine with 1 1/2 cups of cider in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cover and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the apples are tender and the cider is almost completely reduced, about 5 minutes. Pureee with an immersion blender or in a food processor until smooth. Measure the sauce; you should have 1 cup. {Boil to reduce further, if necessary}. Let cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.

Beat 2/3 cup granulated sugar and shortening in another bowl with a mixer on medium speed until sandy. Beat in the egg and yolk, then gradually mix in the applesauce, scraping the bowl. Beat in half the flour mixture, then the buttermilk and vanilla, and then the remaining flour mixture. Mix to make a sticky dough; do not overmix.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper and pat into a 7-by-11 inch rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: Simmer the remaining 1 cup cider in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 cup. Whisk in the confectioners' sugar until smooth and glossy, then set aside. Mix the remaining 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a shallow bowl; set aside for the topping.

Heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until a deep fry thermometer registers 350°. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Cut the chilled dough into 12 rounds, using a floured 2 1/2 or 3 inch biscuit cutter, then cut out the middles with a 1 inch cutter {or use a doughnut cutter}. Slip 2 or 3 doughnuts at a time into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side, adjusting the heat as needed. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Dip one side of each doughnut in the cider glaze, letting the excess drip off; dip just the glazed side in the cinnamon-sugar or roll all over in cinnamon-sugar, if desired. Serve warm.

Now, here's the photo of what they're supposed to look like (photo courtesy of Food Network magazine):

As you can tell, mine didn't turn out like this, but they were still very delicious!

Fall Decorating

Just like everybody else around blog world these days, I'm so ready for fall. It's absolutely my favorite time of year (besides Christmas or my birthday or vacation...) and I can't wait for it to roll around.

A couple nights ago I was finally bitten by the crafting bug again (that or I decided it was time to clean out some of the "junk" taking up space in my craft room) so I decided to do a mini makeover on the living room.

Now, I consider myself a member of the P.O.O.P.I.E. club (shout out to the Nester), but for some reason when I came across these at Michael's fall clearance last year they were just calling out my name.

I'm still not 100% satisfied with them - some times I look at them and really like them, other times they just scream, "Look at us! We're FAKE!". What do you think keep or give away on Craig's List?

(Tangent: What is up with my camera? I definitely think it's time to get a new one. The flash just loves to wash everything out when it's on and if it's off everything just looks grainy. Ugh!)

I also did a mini redo on the mantle. The gun is a must stay - past done through the fam' from the Civil War, but I did add the books, vases, jars filled with acorns and rearranged the dried hydrangeas in a new vase and added some faux leaves. I love the Shakespeare print that I picked up on the cheap a few years ago and leaned that up there too. Still not the best mantle scape, but much better than the mini bunny I still had sitting up there from Easter! Yeah. Guess I've been a little busy.


Now give it to me straight. The flowers on the side table...bad or good?

Fall Weekend

I love fall.

The trees are bursting with color. The air is crisp. You get to wear all your cozy clothes. The smells of cider and pumpkin are amazing.

This past weekend we had perfect fall weather. Hubby and I took advantage of it by enjoying an hour walk through one of the local revolutionary war battlefields. It was so fun to walk through corn fields and peach and apple orchards and just imagine the soldiers fighting there. It was more a treat, though, because we went with the intention of hubby running while I walked which meant we weren't going to be together. What a treat when hubby grabbed my hand and decided to just spend the hour walking with me and enjoying the perfect fall day.

Fall and walks with my husband...just two of the things I'm thankful for.