Happy Birthday!!!

     Sixteen years ago, on October 30th at 2:12 am , our youngest was born. We  brought him home to the house we live in on October 31st. (They really do rush you out!)  His sister and brother came that morning with their Dad, met him and we packed up! We arrived home on a rainy, Halloween Sunday . Needless to say, the doorbell rang every few minutes!

        He grew into the sweetest, funniest liitle guy and is a wonderful person. Everyone who meets him says he is so polite, friendly and helpful. He goes out of his way to help the older folks on the street...brings up their papers and pails...amazing. He's a very good student, plays three sports and  is on several service groups at school (Key, SPARC,SADD). That's what you wish for...that they grow to be a good person. He has good examples in his sister and brother, too. His dad and I are so proud! Am I bragging? Well, I get this day to do it, right?

        

Happy Birthday, Todd!!!

Pumpkin Dinner-Pumpkin Dessert!

I linked up to  Foodie Friday!

      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 15 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!)

Delish!!!!!

With it, I had gotten an email from Boston market, so we had this!!!

Go to:

http://cts.vresp.com/c/?BostonMarket/45e8befc6b/fcb58b23b8/5fcf297c1c

Where you can get a meal for a dollar! Click on online coupons. This is over 11/1 (if you can't get it, email me and I'll send it. It says to forward to a friend!!)

      Then, I was feeling the pumpkin, so I decided to make these. My son wanted Pumpkin bread but these cookies are like cake or bread-soft and sweet!!

Pumpkin Cookies


2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup canned  Pumpkin
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease baking sheets.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

(sorry my silpat did not know there was a photo op or it would have cleaned up...works great, tho')

Bake  for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle Glaze over cookies.

For Glaze:
Combine 2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth. ( I made much less! I used about a 1/4 cup c sugar and a liitle milk, etc. and had enough for a thin glaze).

They are really soft -like little cakes!

Where's Waldo

      It takes me forever to post, but I had to put this up.....College kids have all the fun at Halloween...party on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday &  Saturday!!! Of course he needs  several  costumes! I will update!!

...and try to get a better pic! He bought a white hat, white sweatshirt, painters tape and red spray paint to make the shirt and hat...He's got his mom's spray paint skills!  Mail bag and Harry Potter glasses complete the look! Don't overlook the piles of laundry in the background! Thanksgiving break can't come soon enough! This is his real look, by the way!

Mom's Clam Sauce -a little different

I am linking up to:

Foodie Friday &

Southern Hospitality Recipe Party

southern hospitality

designs by gollum

Here is my Mom's clam sauce recipe. It's probably a depression recipe from her early married days. It is the clam sauce we very often had on Fridays....sometimes with a fish stick or two. (They must have been bigger then because now my boys can eat 10!)

Clam Sauce
1 chopped onion
vegetable oil
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1/4 tsp.salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp ground cloves
dash cayenne (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't-if you like a kick-do it!)
bay leaf
1 can chopped clams (I usually use 2 or 1 chopped and 1 minced)

Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil and saute  chopped onion about 10 minutes. Add can tomatoes and paste and broth from clams putting clams aside. 
Add the rest of the ingredients but not the clams yet.

Cook about 20 minutes while getting linguine cooked and ready.

After pasta is ready and sauce has been cooking, add the clams to the sauce and heat through right before serving. Take out the bay leaf!
Serve over linguine with Italian or French bread-sopping up the sause is heaven!

Glass of wine, crusty bread-YUMMMMMY!

Look at my Banner! White Wednesday,too!

     My banner used to be very simple, but pretty.  Now I am so lucky to have this beautiful statement of my motto in a gorgeous sign!

A few weeks ago, I was so fortunate to get this sign from the very, very talented Rita at  Mamabellarte.  She was looking for new ideas in her 100th post for her beautiful signs that she creates for her shop.  You have to follow the link and read it! She has chickens and...well, you should see!

When she made this for me, it was so special because, besides being a nice "slogan" seen everywhere, it has special meaning to me! When I was 21 or graduating college, my parents gave me this pendant...

Looking back, I can't believe they even had pendants with Live, Love, Laugh.  My parents liked it because  of the song, "Blackbird"., "..live, love, laugh and be happy".  They are both gone now -something I still can't believe-and I think of them when I wear  the pendant -which is all the time.

When I had children, I would sign cards with live, love laugh, too. So, after all these years it is important to me and how surprising when I see signs in stores with that line!

     Now to find the perfect spot for my beautiful sign! Go to her etsy shop or her Mercatino and see the amazing work that she does. She is such an wonderful artist and had gorgeous pendants that she solders...she gives classes if you are fortunate enough to live near her and goes to market with her wares! You can click on the sidebar or in this post to enjoy her blog!

Curbside Treasure or trash???

a little curbside dicovery...
 
M y family is so great....they check out curbside treasure for me! My son will be out with friends and text me that there is something worth looking at around town. On the way to school on the morning we drive slow looking...looking. My other son will check out the curb of a recent garage sale. My husband has joined in by throwing stuff in the car and asking questions later! His recent find was this....

He knew that I was obsessed in finding a bakers rack but would not spend the $200 plus shipping for the one I liked.at  at  Art And Artifact.

Size and shape was a problem in the kitchen, too. I found a plant stand at Kohl's at the end of last season for $15 from $65!!!! It is heavy and bronze and small enought to fit my space, so I like it.

So, he saw this and thinking it was free, maybe I want it somewhere else. What do you think? It is light and hollow, but could hold baskets maybe in the guestroom/deskroom? I could put my millions of Country and BHG magazines in baskets or mag holders? What color should I hit it with the paint? The desk is black, the room is staying yellow...for a while... trim is white.

Now here's a little treasure someone shared with me...it sounds like a lot of you...I think

A poem by May Angelou

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...




A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a youth she's content to leave behind....
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age....
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry....




A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ........
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a feeling of control over her destiny...
how to fall in love without losing herself..


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship....


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW....
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents..
that her childhood may not have been perfect....but it's over....


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more....
how to live alone..... even if she doesn't like it...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW.. .
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table..
or a charming Inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing.....


EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
What she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

Metamorphosis Monday-Remodels Along the Way & Touches of Autumn

I am linking in to Metamorphosis Monday at BNOTP!!!

     Just a little look back at the Metamorphosis of our home since we moved in.  We are here 22 years..oy! This is how it looked when we bought the house:

Sorry, this is from my camera phone because it worked better than the camera! Yellow, shingle 3 bedroom ranch -3 bedrooms is generous...the 3rd bedroom was tiny. It did havea den off the back that many other homes did not have-so we were happy with that! Overgrown landscaping, too

Then, after living here for about 3 years, we decided to do new siding and a new roof-that was a killer expense!  The shingles were aspestos, as many were then, and the roof was in bad shape. So, this was the next look.

The roof is gray brown -not white! The shingles were cedar shake-vinyl.- we wanted real, but the coast factor was out of reach, since we had to do the siding and roof- and had the 2nd baby on the way! The lanscape shrubs are cut back, but not looking too good.

     Then, it was 14 years and another child later ( they were 17, 13, and 6) we decided to build the house UP! We looked around the neighborhood-we didn't want to change schools- and saw that we could do our own reno for less than the house prices in our own neighborhood-to get what we wanted. So, seveal months and floods and holes in ceilings with water pouring through and awful electricians- we had our dream house.

We just did the paver driveway last year and we are happy with it. The path goes to our yard, where we have a patio and deck...pics another day.

  So, that brings us to this weekend when we morphed into Fall.  I am still having a hard time letting go of summer. I think it is because our summer was so unusual this year...so much rain, no 90's and ubruptly over. We usually have an Indian Summer, too at this time, As I feel it get chillier, I don't think that will happen. I do love Autumn, but I wanted my full dose of summer first! So the flowers are still in waiting for the frost, but we picked the green tomatoes and set them on the window still, in hopes that they will ripen. I haven't taken in the patio furniture. Shells are still all around inside and out.

Since I know it is really fall and time to give in, I did this...


I think I can give in now...

at night...

Ooops, forgot to put out the pumpkins!

Hope youlike what you see...looks a little busy, but the fam likes it...

For fun you should go to BHG and carve a pumpkin!

You can send cards to friends and print the stencil of your idea to carve your real pumpkin!

They also have stencils for your favorite dog breeds at this site !!!! Who wouldn't want a labkin?

You can print these, too!