Tea on Tuesday: Glazed Gingerbread Cake

What a fabulous fall Tuesday! Beautiful crisp leaves falling all around, a chill in the air, pumpkins & scarecrows decorated everywhere! What could be more lovely than a gingerbread cake with a cup of tea??

GLAZED GINGERBREAD CAKE

recipe.com


Ingredients:
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup shortening
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup mild-flavored molasses
* 1 cup water
* 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
* Lemon juice
* Crystallized ginger strips (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease a 10-inch fluted tube pan; set aside.

2. Stir together flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl; set aside.

3. Place shortening in another large mixing bowl; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add eggs and molasses; beat for 1 minute. Add flour mixture and water alternately to egg mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely.

5. Combine powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Add additional lemon juice, if necessary, for drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cake. If desired, garnish with crystallized ginger strips.

Makes 12 to 16 servings.

~~yummy recipe and photo from:  Recipe.com~~

OH YEAH...it feels like Monday

You ever have one of those days? I mean MONDAY especially. Thank goodness my husband got up before me and fixed the coffee this morning. (Just proving that miracles still happen! ha!) I spent the ENTIRE weekend cleaning the house...in-laws arriving this afternoon. The worst part? I didn't even get to work on the memo board that I had planned to! A beautiful fall weekend with no crafts...can it get any worse? :)

I hope you had a great weekend and here's wishing you a good week!

YIPPEE...it's Friday!

No big plans for the weekend here. How about you? I'm just going to spend Saturday cleaning the house a bit, since the in-laws arrive from Cincinnati on Monday & so you know we want everything to look good. :) OK, "perfect" would be great, but if you know me, that's never going to happen is this lifetime. ha! I hope to work on one of my (many!) craft projects this weekend too, so hopefully I will have some pics to share. I have a memo board "in the works" for my secret sister at church. I hope she likes it!

Lovely autumn day here. Raining a bit which is causing all the golden leaves to make a beautiful carpet everywhere. This truly is my favorite time of year.

Have a great crafty fall weekend!

Blog Addiction

So...Is a bad sign when you can't even stop reading your blogs while sitting in a restaurant? I am constantly checking the latest entries on my fav blogs, even if I'm not at home or work--now I even check from my Blackberry! I wonder if there is a program for people like me? Or maybe I'm just becoming the "norm"? :) My husband sure thought this was funny at dinner!

Tea on Tuesday: Pumpkin-Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake



Vegetarian Times Issue: November 1, 2006

Oh how yummy! I love pumpkin anything this time of year! Wouldn't this be great with a cup of tea?


PUMPKIN-CHOCOLATE SWIRL CHEESECAKE

Ingredients:

Chocolate Crust
1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
4 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
2 8-oz. pkg. Neufchâtel cheese, softened
2 cups light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 15-oz. can pumpkin
1 1/2 Tbs. ground ginger
1 1/2 Tbs. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. To make Chocolate Crust: Coat 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in medium bowl. Press into prepared pan, and bake 10 minutes.

2. Melt chocolate in bowl in microwave on medium power, stirring every 30 seconds to heat evenly. Set aside. Blend cottage cheese in food processor 3 minutes, until smooth. Add Neufchâtel cheese, brown sugar, eggs and flour, and process until smooth. Add pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg, and process 1 minute, or until smooth.

3. Whisk 1 cup cream cheese batter into melted chocolate. Pour remaining batter into crust. Spoon dollops of chocolate mixture onto batter, and swirl with knife.

4. Bake cheesecake 1 1/2 hours, or until top is firm and cake is beginning to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely on wire rack, then chill well before unmolding and serving.

Serves 24.

Nutritional Information per serving:
Calories 218
Protein 6g
Total fat 9g
Carbs 29g
Cholesterol 47mg
Sodium 177mg
Fiber 1g

~~yummy recipe and  photo from: Vegetarian Times, 2006~~

2nd Anniversary Getaway

I always save part of my vacation time from work to take an entire week off in October that includes October 7th, my wedding anniversary. Jeff & I were married in TN in 2006, spent our 1st year anniversary at the same cabin in TN last year, and this year we stayed in the cabin next door to our "original" but an exact copy and layout. I guess I like tradition. :)

It was just wonderful to get away from work for an entire week and not have scheduling headaches, budget concerns & lay-offs, and a nagging co-worker who spends most of her day hanging over my desk tattling on her co-workers and griping about the job EVERY SINGLE DAY. UGH. Don't even get me started. Let me just say that, as I 've stated before, this particular person is at the top of the list of why we play the Mega Million. Yeah, seriously. Oh I know, someone is thinking, "why don't you just get another job?" Well, I have a state job and I'm not giving up my benefits. Even if I could find another job working at the university (and allowing me to keep the benefits), I would not find one that allows me to set my own schedule around school and such. (I work a really odd schedule). SO...I can only hope for now that she quits (oh please, oh please, oh please) OR I win the Mega Million. I figure they both have about the same chance of happening so it's a toss-up.

My vacation was sooo wonderful. I know many people who say "how can you keep going back to Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg....there's not that much to do there". Well, not being a Dollywood person or liking country music, I could agree with you. But we've actually gotten to know some locals and we like seeing them every so often (which explains our day-trips out of the blue). And being a crafty kind of person, it is FULL of all kinds of shops that specialize in whatever craft you're looking for. I think you could find a shop with just about anything. I tend to migrate towards the needlework (needle punch/sewing), decorative painting, and just handmade home decor. I could LIVE in the 8-mile-loop Arts & Crafts Community. Yeah, really I think I could. And of course, it has my favorite little bistro/tearoom THE WILD PLUM with Kacy and all the girls. Did I tell you my husband is taking me there for Thanksgiving dinner this year? I am so excited! And not just because I don't have to cook! OK, and not because it get also gets me away from the in-laws. :) AND we're going back for Christmas dinner again this year on Dec. 12. (A combo of being a birthday/early Christmas gift for me).

Our cabin, "Splish Splash", was about 2 miles off the Pigeon Forge Parkway, behind the Dixie Stampede Dinner Theater. It has an indoor pool and great Smoky Mountain views since you have to drive uphill to get to it. But it's close to downtown Pigeon Forge too, just off the main highway, so you're right at town & close to anything. Yes, if we win the Mega Million, we've decided we're buying one of these places to own. Perfect size for just a getaway. I love the hot tub & I think ours here at home is the best thing we've bought, but I spent most of my time in the pool. Your very own pool in your cabin....how cool is that!

We had planned to eat our anniversary dinner at The Old Mill like we did last year, but the volume of food there is just enormous (even if it is delicious and yes, it is worth the 2 hour wait). So instead we went to PF Chang's in Knoxville. I LOVE PF Chang. I wish we had one around here, but the closest one to us is probably the one in Charlotte NC which I had eaten at before. My husband was in for a treat as he had never eaten at one before. It really is terrific food (even if pricey) and has a lovely atmosphere.

I couldn't believe how beautiful the trees were so early in October! Usually when we go down, the leaves are just turning a golden yellow and maybe some orange, but this year there was just a beautiful array of colors and crimson red too! Really, really beautiful driving through the Great Smoky Mountains!

MY teacup from MJF teacup exchange + an adorable tea quilt

Well I can't believe I forgot to show you my teacup that I received from a farmgirl on Mary Janes Farm website. There was a teacup & saucer exchange last month and I just had to join in the fun! I was so pleased with this teacup as it is the Wilow Blue pattern which I have an entire cupboard full of! But this is a darling octagon shaped saucer and the teacup is also an octagon shape coming up to a round circle at the top. It really is quite unique to me, yet it does match my china. I love it! Thanks Debra! :)

AND.....here's an adorable teacup quilt project from Debbie Mumm's website!

http://www.debbiemumm.com/Projects/Quilting/2007/05/

Sweet childhood memories of Halloween

I always loved Halloween as a child. I can remember excitedly picking out my costume every year. Uusally I was a gypsy girl, rummaging through my mother's closets to find those 70's skirts and tops all colorful and oh so loud (smiling here) with a headscarf and lots of dangly jewelry and chunky bracelets that were so popular...the gypsy girl is still my style today I suppose as I do love long flowy skirts and bangles even now! :) But I vividly remember one year I was Raggedy Ann and I have always loved her! I still have a fond place for her in my heart, even now as an adult. When I think back on those young years I can remember that I adored the times in elementary school when I would get to assist the teacher with changing the bulletin board in the classroom--it was such a treat and I felt so special to be selected to help...maybe it was because I was trusted with a stapler! LOL But whatever it was, I can still remember the times I was stapling away the fall leaves or the feathers on the turkey for fall-time. Isn't it funny the things that make you smile from your childhood?

On Halloween day, or the Friday before if it fell on a weekend, we would bring sweets and treats for our classroom "party" and listen to scary stories on records (oh dear...dating myself there a bit, aren't I?) while we did a Halloween craft project at our little party. On Halloween night, I went with a friend trick-or-treating (usually a neighborhood girl that I played with all the time after school) and our moms would trail behind us as we went door-to-door. Of course, I remember how happy my dad was when I got home with a bag of candy, too, ha-ha. I clearly remember he stole all the "Mary Janes" from the bag, his favorite. (Do they even make those candies anymore?)



celebrating-halloween.com

Halloween never was a scary time for me although I can remember the paper skeletons blowing in the breeze that people would hang on their porches, the glow of carved pumpkins sitting on porches, & the crunch of leaves under our feet and we skipped along giggling and enjoying our fun. I suppose Halloween isn't quite the same for children nowadays as parents have to be so careful and watchful...taking their children only to houses where they know the owners. But I think it could still be fun, perhaps having a "safe" Halloween party at your home for your children and a few of their friends! Oh, the sweet and delightful Halloween ideas you could prepare and fun games for the children! I hope I have that opportunity one day! But I am sad at Halloween now because I go to a church that has deemed Halloween the "devil's day" or something similiar and "oh so sinister" and they don't celebrate "Halloween", but rather have a "fall festival". I suppose it can be fun for the children as they still get Halloween candy and play games, but I just don't see the evil in Halloween. Of course, on a funny note, my husband told me early on that there was one day out of the year that I was guaranteed I would never have to cook and would get a dinner out.....Halloween night! He hates handing candy out to the kids! :) Well, heck, mama didn't raise no fool, I'll take a free dinner out any time!

I stumbled upon this website and thought it looked like fun!

CLICK HERE FOR THE WEBSITE: celebrating halloween website

I love October

October is by far my favorite month. I may be a bit biased since my wedding anniversary is October 7, 2006. :) But I love the fall colors and the fall weather. Today it is "raining" leaves all over our yard everytime the breeze blows. I noticed our neighbor, Loretta, setting up her front porch for fall and Halloween. She does an excellent job with pumpkins, gourds, scarecrows, and fall mums every year! It just really puts me in the mood for fall & pumpkins!

Tea onTuesday: Cranberry-Herbal Tea Granita

bettycrocker.com

CRANBERRY-HERBAL TEA GRANITA

INGREDIENTS
*5 whole cloves
*1 slice orange
*2 cups water
*1/2 cup sugar
*1 stick cinnamon
*3 tea bags red zesty herbal tea flavored with hibiscus, rose hips and lemongrass
*1 1/2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
*1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
*Fresh fruit, if desired
*Thin almond wafer cookies, if desired

PREPARATION
1. Insert cloves into peel of orange slice. In 2-quart saucepan, heat water, sugar, cinnamon and orange slice to boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; add tea bags. Cover; let steep 5 minutes. Remove tea bags, cinnamon stick and orange slice.

2. Stir cranberry and pineapple juices into tea. Pour into 2-quart nonmetal bowl or 8-inch square glass baking dish. Cover; freeze about 2 hours or until partially frozen. Stir with fork or wire whisk. Cover; freeze 3 hours longer, stirring every 30 minutes and breaking up any large chunks.

3. Remove granita from freezer 20 minutes before serving. Spoon into stemmed glasses.

Garnish with fruit and cookies.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition facts per serving:
*Calories 100 (Calories from Fat 0)
*Total Fat 0g
*Saturated Fat 0g
*Trans Fat 0g
*Cholesterol 0mg
*Sodium 0mg
*Total Carbohydrate 26g
*Dietary Fiber 0g
*Protein 0g

~~ecipe and photo from: bettycrocker.com~~

100 things about me

1. I am married to the most wonderful, funny, sweet man who makes me laugh daily (ok, everyone else thinks he's cranky, especially his parents, but what do they know)
2. We have no children, but I have a cat who's about 15 years old now (she's my "little senior citizen")
3. I love old, vintage, and pretty things from the Victorian age thru the 50s
4. Antique malls are my favorite place to shop, while I detest the mall (everything is just too new & pricey!)

5. I eat too much cheese--way to much, well a girl has to have some vices, right?
6. I also eat too many sweets...trying to work on cutting that way down...hello Weight Watchers
7. My favorite flower is the rose, but all flowers make me happy

8. I can't choose a favorite color- how could one be so much better than the rest? But I admit I adore PINK! And my husband would say I adore GREEN! (must be the Irish in me)
9. I enjoy looking at all the talent on Etsy & wishing I had time to do more crafts
10. I enjoy scrapbooking, decorative painting & cross stitch
11. I would like to try collage art...I find mixed media awful and yet intriguing at the same time

12. I'm shy, but not nearly as shy as I was when I was younger
13. I don't like talking on the phone--probably because I work at a switchboard :)
14. I sometimes think I miss my 20s, but then I realize I was confused, immature and didn't know who I was
15. Old men who walk around whistling songs to themselves make me smile
16. Old ladies with red lipstick and too much rouge make me smile
17. I do cook, but I want to learn more variety...I get tired of the "same old"
18. I wish I was taller (I'm only 5'6")
19. White cake with white buttercream frosting is my friend
20. Fall is my favorite time of year

21. My guilty pleasure TV show is "House"
22. I have a love/hate relationship with computers & most technology
23. I love living where it snows in the winter-time...but only on the days I'm not driving

24. I'm not athletic and I'm not at all interested in sports
25. I'd like to learn to be a great photographer (and all my blog-readers agree I need to learn!)
26. I love God (this list, by the way, is NOT in order of importance!)
27. The smell of anything pork or chicken makes me sick
28. I am a "pescetarian"....I eat fish but no "meat" (not a raving PETA person here...I miss the taste of steak...I just can't digest it)
29. I love vintage material and vintage buttons
30. I loved shoes with a passion till my feet grew to size 9 and it became too difficult to find cute shoes in my size
31. I love the outdoors, but I'm a hotel person, not a camper
32. One of my dreams is to travel to Ireland (my family is Irish)
33. I'm addicted to tea & coffee
34. I love decorating and decorating books, especially Rachel Ashwell
35. I love cottage/shabby chic/vintage styles
36. Nobody tagged me to do this list, I just felt the need to talk all about myself! :)
37. I don't leave the house without makeup
38. I'm addicted to ebay
39. I have to have nail polish on at all times...toes too!
40. I won't swim in any water that I cannot see through...I did when I was little and cannot stand wondering what is brushing against my feet under the water! :0
41. I think clowns are evil and creepy
42. I want to paint every room in my house a different color
43. My first job was at a fast food place while in college, that only lasted 6 months...too much work between college & work-study too...and I hated smelling like food! YUCK, but it made me appreciate how hard those people have to work for little money
41. I don't have a favorite movie, but I love romantic comedies and action comedies best
42. I enjoy the internet and I'm thankful for all the lovely people I have met here
43. I don't have any brother's or sisters
44. I have developed a recent love of prim items
45. I believe fairy tales do come true and there is a happily ever after, if you help them along and work hard to keep it
46. I love animals

47. I love pretty much all types of music (ok, except country or bluegrass, sorry honey), but classical & jazz inspire me the most
48. I'm 39.999 and feel like I'm finally getting to know my true self and what I enjoy and want from my life (you didn't think I was going to tell that true # did you?)
49. As soon as we win the MegaMillion, I'm quitting my job and staying at home to work on all my crafts :-)
50. I am a "farmgirl at heart"....I hang out at maryjanesfarm.org

51. I am "back in college" part-time taking classes in Deaf Interpretation while working full-time at a large University...not easy to do!

52. I tried to learn how to crochet a dishcloth and just kept going...it became a scarf and now I can't stop crocheting scarves! :)

53. I love aprons

54. I am NOT a morning person--Do not test this one

55. Since I type so much now I find I can barely write in cursive anymore. When I try I mess it up so if I must use a pen and paper – I print. Usually in all caps

56. Reading blogs that are dark with light print is difficult for me

57. I love tea and anything tea-related

If anyone actually made it all the way to the end of this, thanks for reading! :) I may finish the 100 someday, but for now this seems like plenty. A girl has to keep an air of mystery about her, right? Geez, I can't let out ALL my secrets at once!

MJF: Teacup & Saucer Exchange 2008 cont'd.....

I shared a few posts back that I had joined my first teacup & saucer exchange on Mary Jane's Farm. I did finally find the perfect teacup & saucer for fellow farmgirl, Ally, in California. I loved this teacup and saucer and had to buy it when I found it! Being a lover of chinese food & tea, it was a delight when I spied it! I love the light blue & royal patterns...it has a chinese dragon in the middle of the teacup inside & on the saucer as well.

I included a few goodies for my new farmgirl friend. The latest issue of Tea Time magazine, a must if you love tea! It always has great articles on different tea rooms both in the U.S. and abroad, tea ideas, and lots of tea party recipes. Of course, I also included a box of tea and some tea biscuits...got to have those with tea! I even made a cute little cellphone "dangle"...it's a tiny blue teapot! :-) I made one to hang on my cell phone and I just love it. Nothing like announcing to the world your love for tea.

I hope she enjoys these as I have enjoyed this teacup exchange...my first! I can't wait for the next one! I think I will start looking for another teacup & goodies! :-)

Back to School



Taken in Gatlingburg, TN, Smoky Mountains

How can it be this time already? No, I don't have children going back to school, just myself! And how can I be behind in classes in only 2 weeks? My textbook finally arrived Friday--after the first assignment was due Tuesday! Oh well, it's a good thing I'm on good terms with my instructor. :-) So I have spent the last two days buried in this book playing catch-up. My husband says he'll see me in December when the semester ends. :-) The Stokoe system vs. the Liddell-Johnson Hold Movement is NOT my idea of fun! I don't want to learn the morphology and syntax of every lexical unit is American Sign Language! Yes, I am whining.

I could be doing so much more in my craft room! I have to admit I have been taking "breaks" and working on my crocheted scarf. WOW--I never knew this could be so addictive! I will have to post a pic when I am finished.

It's hard to believe it's practically fall. The weather sure isn't cooperating here--it's an amazing 89 degrees today! But, it's supposed to drop in the 70's later this week...and for that, I am grateful. I have already put a fall tablecloth on the kitchen table and started poring over fall recipes...apples, pumpkins, cinnamon. I love the colors of fall & the scents of fall! I love the sound of leaves crunching under my feet. I just LOVE Oct to Dec, well, maybe after March. After all, I am Irish too. :-)

The Granny Palace

I have always wanted to crochet. I can remember as a little girl studying over a booklet that had directions for crocheting, knitting, embroidering, and tatting. I never did learn to do any of it except a bit of embroidery-work, but I did have all these neat little rolled up balls of yarn in different colors. :-)

I finally decided to learn how to crochet! I may be a bit ambitious...I started making a simple dishcloth, but for once my rows have turned out quite nice and so it has evolved into a scarf! Who else but myself would decide to make a scarf for a first project?! I have never finished a dishcloth in my life, because they always ended up with these horrible crooked edges. But a woman on MJF forum suggested I try using a N-hook or larger. Well, I found a N-hook at my local Wal-mart and wow! I can't believe the difference. I can't stop crocheting!

My husband is thrilled to see me take up a new (I think he means "inexpensive!") hobby and especially since it looks like I might even finish this one! :-) At this point, I have so many "craft" things started, I figure I'll have to live to be atleast 100 to finish them all!

I am obsessed with this scarf...I find myself crocheting while I'm waiting for anything. My husband now thinks I'm nuts. OK, nuttier. We were in his truck the other day and he made the comment that he needed a cover for his laptop and immediately, before I could say anything, he says, "and I don't mean something you crochet!" ROFL. What?? Did I give the impression that I was going to cover the house in everything imaginable that can be crocheted? He did tell me that he didn't want to live in a Granny Palace! I thought I was going to die laughing. What is a Granny Palace? Apparently it's one of those homes you walk into and everything right down to the toilet paper is hiding in or under something crocheted! Well, I don't think I'll be that bad...but I did threaten to crochet him a Nilla cookie box "cozy". :-)