Pumpkin soup

     I just finished baking some very yummy soft pumpkin cookies.  But, first let me tell you about the dinner. Pumpkin Soup. Delicious, creamy, buttery...mmmm. The 17 year old gave it 2 thumbs up and did not tell me to pack my knives and go! The husband loved it, but I figured he would.
Here it is:

Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped (I used garlic salt/powder as I didn't have garlic)
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
1 can (14 1/2 fluid ounces) chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 can (15 ounces)  Pumpkin
1 can (12 fluid ounces)Evaporated Milk
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions


Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and sugar; cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until soft. Add broth, water, salt and pepper; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Stir in pumpkin, evaporated milk and cinnamon. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Put mixture into a food processor or blender (in batches, if necessary); process until smooth. Return to saucepan. Serve warm. (I think a dollop of sour cream would be nice as garnish-I had riccotta, so I went with that and it was good!)

Totally Skipped Summer and Enjoyed Every Minute!

     
       Well, Autumn is here and I haven't posted since June!  My youngest is off to college and spent the summer getting ready...Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.! He is settled and very happy. I hear from him everyday but he doesn't talk for too long, which means all is well!! Second son got a job right out of college as a teaching assistant at a wonderful school for children with developmental disabilities. He is doing great! 

     Please go to Petit Coterie.......Michelle had a wonderful giveaway which I was so fortunate to win, My prize? Her beautiful pillows! I have 4 out of 6 so far! I can't tell you how amazing  they are! Here are pics:

This is her latest post at Petit Coterie and please go to her online  shop having the most beautiful items!!!
             The months are just flying by as evident by my last blog post.  We have just had so many exciting things going on and one of them is our new cutting boards. Of course we had to take one of our original pillow designs, the Cafe de Madaline and add it to a beautiful maple board.  We are now offering these boards as custom wedding gifts, with the bride and grooms name and date of their wedding as well as anniversary and house warming gifts. I think it's great when you can customize a gift. 

We are also offering our Burlap Christmas stockings and our holiday pillows so please stop by our website.

I hope all of you have a wonderful week ahead.



            Something very special about these pillows besides the beautiful workmanship and fabrics, are the little medals she attaches to the corner...a blessing for me and a sweet addition for others....and her simple tags and  a surprise in the box!

I cannot thank her enough for these lovely pillows and I do hope you will pay her a visit!!! 

Please go  visit her and when you do  please say "hi" for me!!!!

~Nancy

Absent with Excuses

Yes I have been absent since Valentine's Day...and before that-Christmas. My intent in February was to start up again. If I have the time, I have been visiting, leaving as comment here or there, but mostly reading up on all of you. Too much has happened in this house to tell...pretty bad and then good, so I will just jump to the present.


            Our older son just graduated from college with a BA in English-his hope is to become a special ed teacher ~so off to start the Master's degree. He had been interested in Physical Education when he started, but changed his major-and ECSU did not have a Special Ed degree. He did get his wish to play college baseball and we enjoyed many games. He works with autisticchildren during his college breaks and will continue there while he gets his degree. He is a very special guy and we are sooo proud. He is the one on the far right...with his college budddies.

More to come ~but I must send a huge thank you to the beautiful Michelle at Petit Coterie.

While reading my google reader one day, I came upon her blog and a giveaway for gorgeous pillows...so i entered...never dreaming I would win....so I was so luck and I did! With my luck -not so lucky lately, it was a blessing!

The pillow arrived and it is so much more perfect than you can imagine! The workmanship is unbelievable! The fabric is strong and sturdy yet looks so delicate!

This picture does not do it justice! I have visited all of these places on Cape Cod and couldn't believe it when it arrived! It was wrapped so beautifully and a secret little medal is sewn in the corner. A sweet little burlap wrapped scent was included, too. How lucky am I -extremely!!! I want everyone to go to her blog and especially her Etsy shop and get one for yourself!

She also has the most beautiful catalog of work!!!! Go to her shop catalog and feast on these beauties!

Her pillows were recently seen on Martha Stewart and if that is not a positive accolade

-what is?!

Michelle says, "We pride ourselves on our workmanship as well as having the ability to offer our customers custom designs. Our primary fabric, burlap has been a huge success allowing us to have flexibility in the designing process. Our grain sack fabric is a medium weight cotton/ linen blend that has also been extremely popular. We have now added bedding to our line as well as tea towels."

Please spread the word!!!!



her button!!!



Thank you, thank you!!!!



~Nancy



Happy Valentine's Day!

Just in to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day!  Still no posts....I visit all of you,but haven't been writing....but I would make you these...

and bring you these!

And I wish my favorite

a very Happy Hearts Day!

Love,

Our Christmas Card

Traditional Damask Red Christmas

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Go to Shutterfly and have fun making a beautiful card!  I store all of my photos there and feel safe because my computer could go at any time! You can also make photo books that are better than a photo album. I also made a Season's Greetings version and you can do great montages. Now to write the envelopes!
~Nancy

Almost Too Hard to Start

     My youngest is a senior in high school this year. As if that is not hard enough, right away the guidance dept. wants you to start the application process. With many schools having early action (if they accept you, you have an answer by the holidays and its a non binding agreement) you really need to get going and have it done by November 1. The problem is, everything is on line and you spend hours on the computer. My son did a lot, but I helped out with filling in the forms as he also has to go to school and the AP classes are pretty rigorous and time consuming after school.  We also had Football season in there! That is why my blogging got shelved. It was too much time on the computer!  I even had a really bad problem with my neck, sitting hunched over the computer which cut a week out of my life, also!
           If I go to my Google Reader, I spend time reading and I enjoy visiting all of your blogs and then have no time to write! Then with these applications, I hardly got to read any blogs...I missed out on a lot and now find it hard to get back in. It also seemed that every weekend we had a full house with my college son and moved-out daughter to go to my son's games and then big dinners..Those are the days I love when we are all together so I had to put the blog away and concentrate on my real world! I am so thankful for my family and all the fun we have and I also enjoy visiting in on your lives that I feel I have friends all over the country! It will take some easing back and some moderation, but I will try to fit all of you in, also!
             When I took this photo, it reminded me of the O Henry story "The Last Leaf" so my son said take a picture and put it on your blog....so here it is and the story is on the link.

Well the last leaf is there, but of course I paid more attention to Logan!

So, the leaves have fallen and the applications are in  and now we wait with fingers crossed! I'd like to hold on to every day of this year and slow it down!   I do hope to visit your blogs a little more and try to write...we'll see!

~Nancy      

Now Summer feels like it is over...

   My oldest son goes back to college tomorrow..... After a very cool week it feels like summer has come to an end. My youngest has been at pre-season since last Monday. Since then we have tried to cram in all the things we wanted to do before it all comes to and end.  (Vacation will be another post!)

I love summer. This week my son took out the kayak for the last time here and the 2 "boys" took turns going out in it. There is a nice cove with a beach on the North Shore where I can sit and they can go out without me getting too nervous!

When he takes it up to school, I can only imagine what he does! There are beautiful lakes in CT and he says there are always lots of people out in their boats...We also went "out east" to the Hamptons and Montauk for the day. It can take about an hour and a half, but it is worth it as you feel as if you have been away! We go to Southampton to a pretty park to break up the trip...

to the many shops,

then hang on the beach in Montauk (one of the prettiest places in the world-to me),

eat a a place called "The Lobster Roll"

and finish up with ice cream in East Hampton.  

Tonight I am making the requested last meal! Tomorrow we will go to an early football scrimmage to start off the season. My youngest plays center, field goal defense and is the long snapper (I think that's right?)-don't get me on my lack of football knowledge. I finally understand the game!

"The End" (a Long Islander's inside joke)