Storybook Woods

A Golden Picnic

 

I know it is a bit late but happy October. Here in WA it has been just beautiful. Very cold mornings, but warm and sunny afternoons. The colors in the trees are starting to turn, the smell of wood smoke in the air and a golden cast in the sun light. We decided to have a fall picnic before we could not picnic anymore. We went to our favorite beach in Seabeck.

A simple tea of carrot flowers, apples, sharp Irish cheddar, bread and my favorite, dates stuffed with cherve` and toasted hazelnuts.

Of course a thermos of hot tea, complete with sugar and milk.

We had a beautiful view of the water and our favorite old house. Nobody was there. It was sooo quite and peaceful. We were ready to move in !!!

The beach was full of pearly oyster shells. We found some with holes to make necklaces. I would say it was a perfect golden tea. If you have not had time, I encourage you to find a pretty place and have a fall tea xoxoxox

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Menu

David works on Thanksgiving, so we are having ours tomorrow. Then we will have a second Thanksgiving at my moms.These recipes are similar to what I will be making. I tend to play and tweak at the last minute. So who knows what I will end up with.

PS. Well hubby is sick, so who knows now what will be happneing, nothing maybe. But I hope my menu inspire you xoxoxox

Stuffing  

Pecan Browned Butter

Mashed Potatoes

Glaze:

Mix 1/2 cup whiskey, 1/2 cup rapaduraor brown sugar, 1 TBL. chopped fresh rosemary, 1/2 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper.

Cranberry Salad, I added walnuts. Thank you Abby and Jody for the reminder of this salad.

Pumpkin Cheesecake, I am making this again, because I can make it a week ahead, freeze it. I like ahead cooking.

Butter Tarts

Thankful Ornament

 

I always like to have a little something for my guests to take home. Auberne' and I cut out these crosses from pretty card stock. Glued small acorns in the center (thank you, who sent me these, you know who you are. You are the sweetest xoxoxo) Also small pine-cones, leaves, corn kernels would work. I will have pens on-hand and let each person write what they are thankful for on their cross. I plan after dinner, to punch a hole in the top and add a ribbon, so they can hang them on their Christmas tree.

Turquie and Tom

 

I am starting to think Thanksgiving and wanted place cards. But all the turkeys are so, well, male. I needed a girly, blinged turkey. So I created Turquie (French for turkey). She is all fannied-up for Thanksgiving. But for you who do not want a blinged turkey, I also made a Tom for you. Just click on the image and save in your pictures. I actually think they make a very handsome pair xoxoxxo

 

A Leaf Day

 

We had a leaf day the other day. Which is perfect because I have to say the fall color this year is amazing. We waxed leaves that we had pick and pressed, a couple of days before. We put them on our window with museum wax. We also made Spiced Semolina leaves. They were really good. The semolina and corn starch give them a nice crisp texture. They are spicy, but lightly. The coriander gives them a slight orange flavor. We will makes these again.

Spiced Semolina Leaf Cookies

3/4 cup white flour

1/4 cup semolina flour

2 TBL. corn starch

1/2 tsp. ground coriander, ginger, cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 stick of butter, softened

1/2 cup evaporated cain or sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together flours, spices, corn starch, salt and set aside.

In a mixing bowl cream together butter and sugar. Scrap down bowl and add vanilla. Scrap down bowl and add dry ingredient. Mix till comes together.

Roll out 1/4 inch think, cut with cookie cutter and set on a greased cookie sheet. You can re-roll a second time. Set cookie sheets in fridge for 1/2 hour to re-chill butter (this is important or you cookies will spread too much)

Pre-heat oven 350. Bake 8-10 minutes. Till edges lightly brown. Transfer to cooling rack. When completely cool ice.

Make about a dozen cookies

Icing

1 cup confectioners sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and drops of water till you have a thick but creamy constancy.

Stove-Top Simmers

 

Well I was suppose to be doing a fall nature sketch, but my mind always wanders back to cooking. I am really allergic to perfume. It makes me sad I can not have those yummy, scented candles in my home. So I am always looking for interesting alternatives. I love these stove-top simmer. They smell delish, can be reused and use things I always have around my house. I did want to say, it probably does not sound very frugal to you to use vanilla beans. They are a precious commodity. But where I buy mine is such a good deal, I usually buy like 30 at a time (read about it in the link above). So I can afford to use a vanilla bean in a simmer xoxoxoxox 

 

 

Apple & Vanilla Stove-Top Simmer

In a sauce pan, set 1 sliced apple, 1 vanilla bean, 1 TBS. fresh ground nutmeg. Cover with water and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Orange & Ginger Stove-Top Simmer

In a sauce pan, set 1 sliced orange, 4 whole coriander's, 2 thick slices of fresh ginger. Cover with water and simmer of 1/2 hour.

*Both of these can be strained, saved in fridge and re-simmer.

Squirrel Pattern

 

Here is a squirrel pattern from an old children's teacher manual I own. I was thinking it would make a wonderful embroidery pattern. Enjoy xoxoxox

Merryville Sketchbook

  

Oh, you must go check out A Happy Miscellany's Sketchbook 's. Mrs. Stagg has made the most charming sketchbook from an old book. She copied it onto fabric and sewed the book together. Here part two. This really looks like an interesting fall project and a wonderful way to inspire anyone with their sketchbooks. Thank you Mrs. Staggs for the fun inspiration, Mrs. Clarice Fox-Hughes xoxox

Apple Night Clarification

 

Well I have gotten a several e-mails asking me when apple night is. I am so sorry for the confusion. I am not good at this writing thing (how I have a blog defies logic !!) There is not an official date for apple night. It is just what is good for you. We do not have a specific day we do apple night. This time of year is very crazy for David and we just do it when he is around. We were not going to do ours for another week or so but had an impromptu apple night last night.

I thought I would share how casual, fun but very thrown together it was. I ran to the store and got sausages (maple for the girls, potato for us), different yummy Cheddar's (we loved the smoked Cheddar wrapped in smoked paprika), a loaf of rosemary bread (no I did not make it ;-p, seven different apples (see the slips of paper under the apples saying what they are), different mustards, cider to make hot cider and hard cider for mama !!! I was not up to dealing with yest, so no donuts. Instead I made apple fritters. Which I loved because you make the batter 2 hours ahead of time and put it in the fridge. Thank you Miss. Kelly for the recipe. Wish you had been here to enjoy them with me xoxoxox

We pulled out every fall picture book we own, lit candles, ate and read next to the wood stove. It was a veryyyyyyyy stormy evening, so it was perfect. I was thinking why do we do this evening besides having a dinner to honor the apple. I think it is to be thankful for all the bounty that we have. We have family, a warm fire, a full fridge, a summer harvest, a freezer full of berries. Lots to be thankful for. I really think that is the spirit of apple night. If you do have an apple night please let me know. It thrills me to no end to encourage others to spend time with their family and make memories.

                                      

Apple Night

 

I was just talking with a fellow blogger about apple night and though I should write a note to remind everyone to celebrate apple night. You know it is my mission to make it the next big fall holiday : -)

If (shock) you do not know what apple night is, you can read about it here and here. It does not have to be a big deal (or can be if you are into that). I think we will make donuts this apple night and seek out a new cheddar to try. So light a candle, grab an apple, gather the family and let the celebrating begin !!

If you decided to do apple night and post about it, feel free to use the image above.

This would be fun to do for apple night By Sun and Candlelight 

PS. I have a surprise for you ladies (which you will love) I will share about it soon !!!

Jonny Appleseed Day

Thanks to Dawn at By Sun and CandlelightI was reminded of Johnny Appleseed's birthday (the 26th, this Wednesday). We decided to make an impromptu day of it. We had so much fun. We read Johny Appleseed by Will Mosesand looked at his Great-Grandmothers art work. We had an apple tea. We did soft-pastel drawings of apples and a fun craft. Paper quilts called Apple Core. We just used the template below and cut out papers and glued them till we filled a page. I printed up small version using wallet size on my printer. For a dinner we cooked baked apples and apple sausages with caramelized onions.

I wanted to say that my quilt represented Grandma Moses (right), Aubern'es her favorite colors (middle) and Chloe's is half her girl side and half her tomboy side (and her inner-struggle ;-) left). I think this may become a tradition. This is the type of day I homeschool for !!!!!

Baked Stuffed Apples

4 apple's cored

1/4 cup softened butter, 1/2 stick

1/3 cup rapadura sugar (it has a molasses flavor) or brown sugar

5 dried figs, cut into small cubes

1/8 cup raisin

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 cup toasted, chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon and ground ginger

Pre-heat oven 350%

In a bowl mash together everything but the apples. Fill the core of each apple with butter mixture. If extra make a mound on top of apple. Drizzle each apple with a bit of maple syrup and 1/8 cup of water. The water will help the sugars not burn.

Bake uncovered 30 minutes or till apples are tender. 

                                             

Autumnal Pin

Well this is my last Autumn Bliss post and I had such fun doing it. I want to thank each of you who stopped by and those who joined in the fun. It made it all that much more enjoyable. I know I am much more in a fall mood now. So thank you again.

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I wanted to share some lovely fall posts I have been enjoying,

Gumbo Lily has the most yummy Sunday Autumn Dinner !! 

Princess Nimble-Thimble Autumn Annie Embroidery Pattern

Thank you Dannielle for sharing with all of us xoxox

You have to see the pumpkin with the fairy door at Chez Fifi

Oh my gosh a cupcake with a donut on top !!!!

Mrs. Staggs easing into the season xoxox

Kelli's wonderful acorn embroidery

Rosespetitiemison lovely post about Half Moon Bay

I love this post because when I was a little girl every October we would go to Half Moon Bay to pick pumpkins. If you do not know about HMB, it is the little farm town on the ocean. Imagine fields of pumpkins growing by the sea. I know it it has changed in the last 40 years. But when I was a little girl, it was this small Victorian farming community. I have sweet memories. Thank you Rosemary for the reminder.

After I posted about the fabric leaves and mentioned making a pin out of them, I thought I would actually do it. I cut flowers from felted wool and one from wool felt.

How I cut a flower is to cut a square and fold it in half and then in half again. I trim the edge in a heart shape. Do not worry about it being perfect (as you will see above mine is not) because I then go around the edge and trim it more. Plus you really only see one side, so do not try for a perfect round flower.

I cut two small leaves. I glued the leaves, a length of ribbon and topped with an acorn.

If you do not have any pin-backs, you can glue a safety pin and cover it with a bit of ribbon.

You know pine-cones, dried leaves, berries, feather would be wonderful. I am thinking these would be so charming pinned on a ribbon package.

 

                                       

                                              

A Row Of Pumpkins

 

I was inspired by these wonderful tea cups at {MINuTia). I wanted to do something similar with the girls but with a autumn theme. I found a pumpkin silhouette (below). I cut out pumpkins from cereal box and painted them white. We had lots of fun embellishing them and as you can we each did our pumpkins very different. I just glued them on a length of ribbon and hung the garland in our front room.

I know this is suppose to be my last Autumn Bliss post but I have one more fun post for tomorrow xoxox

For a final post Junie Moon is talking about love letters

and not what you think. Thank you June for all the hard work and wonderful posts you have written this week. It was lovely to get to know you better and you are a veryyyy creative gal xoxoxoxo

You must go and check out Gumbo Lily charming front porch

a wonderful use for those fabric leaves !!!

 

                                                                                                

Caramels and apples

 

This Autumn meal was a big hit last weekend. I cooked apple chicken sausages (from Costco) in a caramelized onion sauce with lots of mustard. It would be very good over mashed potatoes, but I made an oven baked risotto. Which is not as yummy as real risotto. But the real thing is a bit too rich for this dish. Think of this recipe as an easy and delish rice dish.

To keep in the apple theme I made an apple slaw. I made it with a vinaigrette instead of a mayo dressing because the sausage dish is rich and a  vinaigrette would balance the meal.

Dessert is fun and veryyy easy. A quick caramel sauce is just melting caramels with heavy cream. You could use anything for toppings, but we love toasted pecans and chocolate !!

There is a wonderful fall bounty at Gumbo Lily

A lovely post about the importance and beauty of journaling at Junie Moon

Apple Sausages with Caramelized Onions

1 large (or two medium) onion, thinly sliced

1 TBL. olive oil

2 TBL. butter

1 TBL. Balsamic vinegar

3 TBL. Dijon mustard

1 tps. of maple syrup

8 apple chicken sausages

salt and pepper to taste

In a sauce pan over medium-low heat saute onion in butter and olive oil till very soft and caramelized. About 1/2 hour. Add balsamic vinegar and sausages and turn heat up to medium. Cover and cook till sausage are cooked. Pull sausages out and set aside. Add mustard, syrup, salt and pepper. Taste sauce and adjust to your liking. Should be very mustard with a slight sweet taste. Also if it does not seem saucey enough you can add a little water. Serve sauce over sausages.

Baked Sage Risotto

Apple Slaw

1/2 head of cabbage, finely shredded
1 apple, grated
1 large carrot, grated
1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

2 green onions, finely sliced

Quarter the cabbage, remove and discard the central white core. Shred the cabbage by cutting very thin slices along the length of each quarter. You can use the shredding disk of the food processor for this. Place shredded cabbage, carrots, apple, green onion in a large bowl and toss. In a small jar combine maple syrup, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Shake vigorously, pour over veggies and toss.

Apples with Caramel Dip

Put in a sauce pan 20 unwrapped caramels and 1/8 cup of heavy cream.

Set sauce pan over medium heat and stir till caramels are melted.

Serve warm with apple slices and a bowl of chopped toasted nuts and a bowl of chopped chocolate or mini chocolate chips. Dip apple slice in caramel and then in nuts and chocolate.

                                                                                                

Corner Of My Home

 

I thought I would share some Autumn corners of my home. A fairy chair on moss and chest of drawers under glass. 

A gift of pine-cones and hazelnut shells from a very sweet boy !!!!

I was good mama this year, I let Chloe decorate the china cabinet. I usually hog all the decorating, I am so bad :-)

 

Wormy apples from our only apple tree.

Chloe also has her doll house ready for fall. I love the leaves and the leaf garland over the door. She will be adding her pumpkins soon.

 

You ladies are just blowing me away with all your wonderful Autumn bliss ideas. Thank you so much xoxox

Ohio Farm Girl has a lovely fall corner

Pearl Maple has the most delish looking maple cookie

The girls and I will be making these this weekend, thank you.

Junie Moon, lovely Autumn card idea

I wish we were neighbor, oh the fun we would have !!!

La-Te-Dah, what can I say the prefect woodsy Autumn Bliss Tea

It is just killing me I could not be there xoxoxoxo

                                                                                                            

Leaves, leaves

 

I am hoping you can see these fabric leaves well in these pictures. They are so darn charming and easy !!! I made a garland out of them but you could do a zillion things with them. Make a small wreath, add them to a package or make tiny leaves and make a pin with them. The sky is the limit.

You must check out the yummy pumpkin-cream cheese filled bread recipe and cinnamon/cider soap (Cathy makes soap) giveaway at Cranberry Cottage 

Thank you Cathy for contributing to Autumn Bliss week !!!!!!

Today Junie Moon is offering a lovely Victoria tea

I am making my little corner of bliss right now. Thank you June for the inspiration xoxoxo

      

How to make fabric leaves

1. To make a leaf pattern, find a leaf or feel free to use one the the silhouettes below (click on picture to make bigger) and cut a leaf shape and size you want out of paper for a pattern.

2. Cut two squares of fabric a little bigger then your leaf.

3. Cut a square of double-sided iron-on HeatnBond paper, 

the same size as your fabric squares.

4. Cut a 5 inch length of thin wire.

5. Take your bottom (or underside of leaf)  fabric, wrong side facing you. Set wire in middle of square, only half way up the leaf. Cover fabric and wire with heat-bond paper. Follow heat-bond directions. But you set heat-bond with paper side up and iron. When cool peel off paper and set top fabric right side facing up on heat-bond paper and iron again. You should have a square piece of fabric, with wire and heat-bond paper sandwiched in-between.

6. Now hold or pin leaf pattern over square. Make sure your wire is at the bottom of the leaf and cut out leaf. I have found after doing a couple, it is better to free-form cut. Then each leaf is a bit different and looks more natural.

7. It is important to have the wire in the middle of the leaf. Being able to bend and manipulate the leaf makes a big difference. These are wonderful and I encourage you to try just making a couple. I think you will be very happy that you did xoxoxo

     

                                                                                                

How The Leaves Came Down

 

How The Leaves Came Down

"I'll tell you how the leaves came down," The great Tree to his children said: "You're getting sleepy, Yellow and Brown, Yes, very sleepy, little Red. It is quite time to go to bed." "Ah!" begged each silly, pouting leaf, "Let us a little longer stay; Dear Father Tree, behold our grief! 'Tis such a very pleasant day, We do not want to go away." So, for just one more merry day To the great Tree the leaflets clung, Frolicked and danced, and had their way, Upon the autumn breezes swung, Whispering all their sports among— "Perhaps the great Tree will forget, And let us stay until the spring, If we all beg, and coax, and fret." But the great Tree did no such thing; He smiled to hear their whispering. "Come, children, all to bed," he cried; And ere the leaves could urge their prayer, He shook his head, and far and wide, Fluttering and rustling everywhere, Down sped the leaflets through the air. I saw them; on the ground they lay, Golden and red, a huddled swarm, Waiting till one from far away, White bedclothes heaped upon her arm, Should come to wrap them safe and warm. The great bare Tree looked down and smiled. "Good-night, dear little leaves," he said. And from below each sleepy child Replied, "Good-night," and murmured, "It is so nice to go to bed!"                         By Susan Coolidge

                                                                              

Well Junie Moon did it again with a wonderful post about how to paint a gourd

I think she should be hosting Autumn Bliss, she has such perfectly fall ideas !!!

Toasted Almond Milk

I always like to come up with some new recipe for each season. It is sort of how I mark my years. Since I will never remember your name but will remember what we ate 20 years ago. So when I have lavender hot chocolate, I remember that Christmas. My recipe for this fall is Toasted Almond Milk. Now I did see this idea some were and now I can not find it. I had to make up my own version, so now it is my recipe ;-)

Do you remember in the lavender chocolate mousse recipe I talked about how you infuse the milk with the lavender. This is basically the same thing. You toasted almonds in the oven, infuse the milk with it and make hot milk from that. If you have not infused milk before, this is a great way to add a bit more to your recipes. Also if you are on a food budget like me, it is a fairly inexpensive idea. Now I remember in the recipe they threw away the almonds away after they infused them. Horror, almonds are expensive. You can save the almonds (they still have an almondy taste) for your oatmeal the next morning (store in fridge) or I just ate mine with my hot milk as a yummy snack. This milk does taste like toasted almond, but it is a soft taste, not strong. If you want it more almondy, add more almonds. Enjoy on a nice gray day.

Oh you must go see the beautiful grateful page at Pearl Maple

There is a wonderful pumpkin pie recipe and poem at Priscilla's Cottage

A pumpkin grown in a pot, who would have thought !!!

Today Junie Moon's Autumn bliss is homemade furniture polish and the most adorable cleaning clothes

You go girl !!!!

                                                                                                               

Toasted Almond Milk

2 cups milk

1/2 cup almond, toasted and very coarsely chopped

pinch of salt

2 TBL. maple syrup

fresh grated nutmeg

In a sauce pan add milk and almond. Scald milk and set aside for half an hour. Stain out almonds and add salt and maple syrup. Reheat on stove. Fill two mugs and top with a dash of fresh nutmeg.

* A shot of amaretto added is lovely too !!!

Schoolhouse Wash-Cloth

Welcome to Fall Bliss week,

I am busy cozying up my home. I always crave the color red in the fall. I do not have a lot of it, it seem to strong for my home but in the fall I am pulling it out what I have. Dear Alicecommented on mysmelly sponge post, how one  could write on such a subject and make pretty was beyond her. Well I am attempting to do it again Alice  ;-) I have to thank everyone who commented on my last post. I am putting my sponge in the dishwasher about every 3 days. I also try to nuked it once a day. But I am still playing with what will work best for me. I also decided to use my sponge for only scrubbing and use washclothes instead for general cleaning. But I only had one, so I have been knitting away. I have knitted several and want to knit some more. (But now I am knitting a shawl, so soon I will get back to the washcloths )

Being fall I need some fall inspired washclothes. I had seen this pattern for little house clothand knitted it up but I was not happy with it. So as usually I tweaked the pattern. I used Lions 100 % cotton yarn in poppy red. I see Debbieloves the same color.

                                                     

You must have a look at Dollie Dille's wonkey halloween bags !!!!

Also there is a wonderful list of favorite fall things, including a yummy recipe for cranberry orange muffins over at Aubern'e Ancalimon

Check out the wonderful Acorn Project at Junie Moon

 

Schoolhouse Wash-Cloth

Materials: 1 ball Cotton yarn, Size 5 needles, US.

SSK: (Slip, slip, knit.) Slip the first and second stitches knitwise, one at a time, then insert the tip of left-hand needle into the fronts of these two stitches from the left, and knit them together from this position.

Directions:
Cast on 49 stitchess or a Multiple of 12 stitches +1

Knit 3 rows for border.


Begin pattern: Row 1: Purl. Purl all wrong-side rows.
Row 2: K1, *yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k1, repeat from *.
Rows 4, 6 & 8: Repeat Row 2.
Row 10: K1, *yo, ssk, k7, k2tog, yo, k1; repeat from *.
Row 12: K2, *yo, ssk, k5, k2tog, yo, k3; rep from *, end last repeat k2.
Row 14: K3, *yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k5; rep from *, end last repeat k3.
Row 16: K4, *yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k7; rep from *, end last repeat k4.
Row 18: K5, *yo, sl1 – k2tog – psso, yo, k9; rep from *, end last repeat k5.

Knit stocking knit for 4 rows.

Repeat pattern 2 more times.

Knit 3 rows for border.
Cast off

Autumn Bliss

I am getting quite excited about Victoria magazine being published in November. At first I was a bit dubious about a new Victoria magazine, especially hearing that Hearst was not actually publishing it. But the few pictures I have seen, have given me cause to hope.

So in celebration and anticipation I would like to host a Autumn Bliss week. I have several autumn crafts, recipes, ideas. I plan on having Autumn Bliss the week of 10th through the 16th of this month. If anyone feels like joining in, send me a link to your post and I will post it. It can be any idea, craft, poem, corner of your home, recipe, ect. Also feel free to use the image above.

I have been nomiated for Nice Matters award. Thank you very much. It means so much to me that you think I am nice  (and have a pretty blog) xoxoxox

Dear Sharon at Violet Cottage

and

Oh Night Divine