Christmas Bows Now on Etsy....

Look at how cute these are.....

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7755511

Autum F.H.E.

We had a GREAT F.H.E. We decided to do a picnic on the family room floor. I put a big blanket on the floor and had finger foods for dinner. We did BLT's cut into quarters, little smokies wrapped in breadstick dough (smaller version of pigs in a blanket), Velveeta salsa cheese dip and chips. It was easy and good.

Afer we ate we read a few stories from th September Friend and then....we played AUTUM Bingo. For the markers I got some of the Branch's Autum Mix (Candy Corns and Pumpkins). It was a lot of fun. Shaelee won the game.

There is this GREAT website called DLTK Kids. It is a great site for all sorts of kid friendly crafty ideas and agreat place to make custom games, such as BINGO, Dominos, Memory. There is a ton of stuff here and it's all FREE!! So...this is where I got the AUTUM BINGO. I printed up 12 so had extras. I laminated mine so that they would last longer with my kiddos. Check it out!!!

http://www.dltk-kids.com/

Libby's Old Fashion Soft Pumpkin Cookies

So, left over from the Pumkpin Gingerbread recipe (which I still need to post) I had canned pumpkin that needed to be used up so I made these cookies....they are so good. Not too sweet, but I should have added some chocolate chips or rasins to them. They are still good though. Here is the link...and there are a ton of other yummy sounding pumkin recipes :)

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?id=32364

More Bows, Bows, and More Bows....

New Bows Now Listed on Etsy....

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7755511

Banana Bread.....mmmmmm, GOOD!!!!

I had some bananas that need to be used up so I made some banana bread and it is GOOD!!! Here's the Recipe...

Ingredients:
1 cup (optional) chopped walnuts or pecans...(I used pecans)
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking poweder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled (I only have salted butter so I used that and omitted the 1/4 teaspoon of salt)
3 ripe bananas (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place oven rack in middle. Spray or grease and flour bottom and sides of 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nuts. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, lightly foild the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combinded and the batter is thick and chunky. Don't over mix the batter or the bread will turn out rubbery. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Place on wire rack to cool and then remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature, or freeze to use at a later date.

Deep Dish Apple Pie

Something about baking and fall!! MMMMMMMM!!!! I found this recipe for a Deep Dish Apple Pie and it sounds so yummy :) I am going to make it tomorrow when I have more energy.

Ingredients:

9 medium (about 3 pounds) Golden Delicious or Newtown Pippin apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/8-inch-thick slices
2 tablespoon(s) coarsely chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 cup(s) sugar, for filling
1 tablespoon(s) sugar, for crust
3 tablespoon(s) all-purpose flour, for filling
2 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour, for crust
1 teaspoon(s) salt
3/4 cup(s) butter-flavor shortening
2 tablespoon(s) (1/4 stick) margarine or butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. In large bowl, toss apple slices with ginger, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 tablespoons flour.
2. In another large bowl, mix salt, 2 1/4 cups flour, and 1 tablespoon sugar. With pastry blender or two knives used scissor-fashion, cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With fork, stir in 6 to 7 tablespoons cold water until dough is just moist enough to hold together. (If dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time.) Shape dough into 2 balls, 1 slightly larger than the other.
3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll larger ball of dough into a round 2 inches larger all around than inverted 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate. Gently ease dough into pie plate; trim edge leaving 1-inch overhang; reserve trimmings. Spoon apple mixture into pie crust; dot with margarine or butter.
4. Roll remaining dough for top crust into 11-inch round. Cut short slashes or a design in round to allow steam to escape during baking. Center round over filling in bottom crust. Trim pastry edge, leaving 1-inch overhang; reserve trimmings. Fold overhang under; bring up over pie-plate rim and pinch to form high edge, then make decorative edge. Reroll trimmings. With knife, cut out apple shape and 2 leaves; arrange on pie.
5. Place a sheet of foil underneath pie plate; crimp foil edges to form a rim to catch any drips during baking. Bake pie 50 to 55 minutes until apples are tender when pierced with a knife. To prevent overbrowning, cover pie loosely with tent of foil after 30 minutes. Cool pie on wire rack 1 hour; serve warm. Or, cool completely to serve later.

Oh goodness....sounds even better with some good vanilla ice cream :)

Preschool Taday...Letter "D"

Today is my turn for preschool and the letter we are working on is "D". So we here is what I have and with the "D, d's" that are cut out we are going to decorate with dots....sticky dots and dots out of cardstock that we will glue one or just color them! We are going to read Dr. Sues ABC... book and do some other fun stuff!!! Our snack is going to be dougnut holes and apples with fruit dip. I hope the kids enjoy it :)

Ok...Now that it is over with, it was well worth the time put into it. All the kdis had a good time...I think! We did the "D" book that I made, a little worksheet that required some good listening skills and they all did really well. Then we read Dr. Suess ABC... After that came the fun stuff...decorating the "D,d's". For me that was the best part!! The kids all had fun with that. Then we played with DOMINOS...it was noisy but fun! And finally...snack time!! DOUGNUT holes and apples with fruit DIP!! It was all good!!! Looking forward to the letter "H". That's my next letter!!

Butterfly Birthday Party

WOW...I am like way slacking in posting pictures. Here are the pictures from the butterfly birthday party for the Butterfly Shaelee.....

Grandma's Apple Bread

This bread is a new recipe that I made last week. It is really yummy. I had to make a couple of changes but it still turned out GOOD!!

Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup rye flour*
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup unsweetened apple juice**
3/4 cup sweetened applesauce**
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 chopped pecans

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, cinamon, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk the egg, apple juice, applesauce and oil until smooth. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in pecans.

2. Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Coolf for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

* I found the rye flour at the Whole Foods Market. I looked at Von's but did not find it. A few days later at Smith's I looked just out of couriosity and they do have Dark Rye Flour.

** I was unable to find unsweetend apple juice and I already had sweetened juice so I used that and bought unsweetened applesauce instead of sweetened.

With the changes in the Juice and the Applesauce the bread still turned out good and it is not super sweet either. It is a good breakfast bread!!

Sugar Cookies and F.H.E.

Ok, so last Monday for F.H.E. I planned a lesson about family in the home, and how our home can be a happy place. This is the first time Shaelee has ever sat through the entire thing. So we had a little lesson, then played a game and THEN...earlier in the day I made Sugar Cookies and for each family member I made a set of cookies that spelled H O M E. So, we all decorated our own H O M E sugar cookies. It was quite fun and the kids had a great time. We had a variety of frostings and sprinkles. But, before making the cookies I was looking for a recipe for the very yummy Lofthouse Sugar Cookies that can be bought in the grocery store. Well, I found a recipe, but they are not the same. They were good with frosting though. Here is the recipe.

Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe
Roll Them Thick For Cake-Like Cookies!

Mix:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar

Add:
3 beaten eggs (or egg substitute)
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift and mix with sugar mixture:
3 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Roll dough on lightly floured surface and cut with a simple cookie cutter. I cut these cookies thick, about 1/2 inch. *This is a really soft dough, try not to add too much flour so your cookies will stay soft and moist.Bake @ 425 for about 10 minutes* or until lightly golden.

I rolled my cookies pretty thin and only baked them for 4-5 minutes. They were very fast!! The ones I baked for 10 minutes were crispy....yuck!!

And....more bows....

These are not Holiday-ish but they are going on Etsy too!! They are cute (I think, but I could be partial)...

Halloween Bows...

I am hopelessly addicted to making hair bows....but these ones are so stinking cute!! Halloween Bows! Every little girl needs Halloween bows :) I will be listing them on Etsy on Friday. Take a looksy at how cute these are!!

Diaper Stock-Up...

Since the move....I am now officially all unpacked in the house. The garage is a totally different story. So lastnight I finished organizing the TJ's/Baby's room. I got all the diapers put where I want them and look at my supply I have started. I have to say I am very proud of myself but I need to keep it going. Having this many diapers on hand at all times would be so nice. I gotta keep watching the sales and keep my supply up. Every pack of diapers here I have bought on sale plus used coupons and CVS Extra Bucks. It is pretty nice to see this supply in this closet :)