In A Nutshell

pumpkin spice pancakes

The can of pumpkin sitting in my pantry was calling my name this morning. Pumpkin spice pancakes for breakfast it was. Here is the recipe. It makes enough for four big eaters and a plate full of extra pancakes for freezing later. If you have a smaller family, you will probably want to split the recipe in half. 

pumpkin spice pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground allspice

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

3 3/4 cups milk

2 cups canned pumpkin

4 eggs

generous 1/4 cup applesauce or plain yogurt (depending on your preference and what you have available)

In a large bowl combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. If you have the time and the means, sift them together - otherwise use a wire whisk to blend the ingredients together thoroughly. 

In an even larger bowl beat the eggs until light and fluffy. Add the milk, pumpkin and applesauce or yogurt and mix well. Add in the dry ingredients, and stir until just evenly moistened. If the batter looks too thick, you can always add a little extra milk; about two tablespoons at a time. 

Heat a buttered or oiled frying pan over medium heat. About 1/4 cup of batter makes one pancake. Pour batter on pan, brown on both sides and serve warm with maple syrup. Yuuuummmmm.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe Halloween! 

a shift

This is what it has looked like around our house lately. It's been quiet, peaceful, introspective and transformational - yet always a little rough around the edges. We are growing together as a family, and I can feel that in the coming year, with the arrival of a new little life, our puzzle will be complete. I have so much to look forward to, and am thankful for that. 

Right now, I'm looking forward to our usual routine which, rather than feeling mundane, has been feeling so much more fulfilling. 

oak glen

Last week we made our annual trek out to Oak Glen. Logan and I have both been going there since we were kids. Now that we are adults of course, we look at things a bit differently and have more responsibilities... like setting a budget for the trip, trying to avoid the driver who just veered into our lane on the freeway, and making sure one the kids doesn't obliviously step on a bee/wasp/hornet infested apple lying on the ground. However, as adults, we are just as excited (if not, more) as our children to make the trip. This is our little getaway; our slice of family tradition.

We had fun meandering around gift shops and a petting zoo, then trod off to have a very relaxing picnic lunch.

We hiked up the huge hill in search for pumpkins in a field. The last time we went, Logan made the trek up the muddy hill in the freezing rain while Isaiah and I waited in the packing shed. (What a sweet daddy.) This time I had insisted that everyone bring extra sweaters, jackets, and socks... and temperatures hit the mid 80's. Go fig.

 

We found apples in trees. Who knew that's where they came from? (I kid.) I say this because Logan and I had overheard a woman exclaim "Oh look, sugar cane!" while pointing to a corn field as we passed her by. Sugar cane? At 5,000ft? Hmm...

After all that, Logan was feeling like a moth to a flame... I just wanted some food. Immediately.

notepads

I made these note pads as additions to the "grocery kits" I am putting together for Christmas, and am very pleased with they way they turned out. I designed them in Photoshop and printed them from an inkjet printer onto regular recycled computer paper. Nothing fancy. As you can see, the design was heavily influenced by these notepads which I am in love with, but can not afford to buy in large quantity. 

I cut each page individually because I was freaked out that if I cut more than one at a time that I would royally screw up. It was very time consuming, but worth my peace of mind. 

I purchased chipboard backing and special notepad adhesive (that I suspect may be ModPodge in disguise) from The Crafty PC. I cut the backing to size, placed it at the bottom of each notepad stack and aligned the papers as best as I could. I wedged the stacks between two books instead of purchasing the clamp, because lets face it, I'm trying to be frugal here.

I then applied the adhesive to the top edge of each stack with a paint brush, and let it dry for about an hour before applying a second coat. Try not to get the adhesive on top of the paper like I did. 

I can see myself making monogrammed notepads to give away as birthday gifts too, as I have a lot of adhesive and plenty of backing left. 

they're (finally) done

The sugar plums underwent a third and final soaking. I rinsed them off under cool running water, as instructed by my handy dandy tutorial. Instead of placing them in the oven (I have an electric oven) or putting them outside to dry (bugs), I opted to put them in my food dehydrator. This worked like a charm, although I think I may have put them in a wee bit too long. They're slightly dry on the outside, and I believe they are supposed to be a little more sticky so the sugar can uh... stick to them. Either way, it's not a flavor issue, just a texture issue, and I don't think it's really that big of a deal. I'm happy, and I still can't wait to try this with figs. 

still thinking about christmas

Last year I bought the majority of our Christmas giveaways through Etsy. This year, I'm going to try and make just about everything by hand. Not only will it cost less, but it's also more personal. 

It's no secret that I like to sew. However I'm not all that great when it comes to "freehand" sewing... like developing patterns on my own. So I've opted to purchase all my patterns this year through Etsy. Take this reusable market bag for instance, I purchased this pattern from OhFransson last night, and whipped up the bag this afternoon during my two year olds nap time. 

This bag is made just like a plastic bag that you get at any grocery store, gussets and all, although you can not really see them in the photos. 

I know that you can get free tutorials for this type of "plastic" bag all over the internet, but I have to say that I am really very happy I bought this pattern. I think it's safe to say the purchase spared me a lot of hair pulling. It was very straight forward with lots of detailed photos, which I love. Also, the PDF includes a pattern for making an alternative "paper" bag that can hold heavier loads. I have not seen anything like it elsewhere.

So I like the way the bag turned out a lot, and it was a breeze to put together. I'm thinking that I would like to give away sets of these as Christmas gifts, but I would like to include a few other things and make it more of like a gift package. I'm thinking reusable produce bags similar to these, and a cute shopping list note pad like this. Or maybe something else? Do you have any spectacular ideas that you would like to share with me? I would appreciate it.

BTW, thanks Melissa for the great idea. 

second soaking

The sugar plums finished their second soaking on Monday. I finally got around to preparing them for the third soaking while the sun was still up, so I was able to take them outside and photograph them in natural light. 

As you can see, some are falling apart, and some are holding up rather nicely. I'm wondering how much they're going to shrink after being dried. ??? Time will tell.

According to the recipe/tutorial I am going by, you can also do this with a variety of other fruits, including figs, which sounds utterly delicious. Unfortunately, I will probably have to wait until next year to do that. 

monstrous fingers

I would like to give a big shout out to Crystal over at Elsewhere Living for this super rad idea; chocolate covered pretzels in the guise of ware wolf and Frankenstein fingers. This looked so cool (and relatively easy) that I just had to try it with Isaiah. I think it's safe to say that this was a well received activity.

Crystal is posting all sorts of Halloween goodness on her blog daily, so if that's your bag, go on and check it out! 

first soaking

The plums finished their first soaking today, and I tell you, if the whole sugared plum thing bombs, at least I've got the syrup. It is that good. Cue the chorus of angels and the heavenly beaming light.

Here are the plums in progress. I thought this one was particularly beautiful with the glowing fruit beginning to slip out of its skin.