Friday, September 24, 2010

Practical Magic Blog Party

Blood on the moon
Foretold that trouble was coming soon.

Sally woke to Gillians call;
raced off to save her sister once and for all.

Jimmy was an evil man-
What else could she do but
hit him with that frying pan?

Buried by moonlight-
daylights roses quite the sight.

Mom, Who's that man out in the yard?
Sally looked.
She squinted hard.

Jimmy's boots rose from the ground,
a frog perched upon his gravely mound.


The Practical Magic Blog Party is underway. (Follow the link to find other fun Practical Magic posts from many other fans of this great movie and book.) 

 I had such fun staging this little scene from the movie.  I ended up planting "Jimmy" under a rhododenrum bush, since my rosebush is in the side yard and our neighbors had a deck full of people.  I felt a little silly digging a hole and partway burying boots while half the town was watching me and wondering what the heck I was doing.  The tequila bottle may have given them a clue, but Jimmy ended up under the rhodie bush instead.

Last October I had written a Practical Magic post as well, with a video from the movie.  Click here to see that post.

"There's a little witch in every woman"

Fabulous Fall Foods Friday - Week 1

Blueberry Pie, Blueberry Pie-
I love you so
Oh Blueberry Pie.

To me, blueberries are a fall flavor. I'm not quite sure why that is or if they say fall to anyone else, but nevertheless, I choose Blueberry Pie as my first Fabulous Fall Foods Friday post.

A blackbird was baked in this pie
but when the pie was opened the bird began to....
take a nap??
Oh well, it would be mighty hard to remain standing in a hot oven for an hour. 
I would probably choose to lie down myself.  He still got the job done, and that's what counts.
The pie was wonderful and the recipe came from my OLD red and white Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  I love that cookbook.  Everyone should have one!


Blueberry Pie

2-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup enriched flour
Dash salt
1 tblsp. lemon juice, fresh
2 tblsp. butter
1 double-crust pie dough

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. 
Combine blueberries, sugar, flour, salt and lemon juice.
Fill 8-inch pastry-lined pie pan.
Dot with butter and adjust top crust.
Bake in hot oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!

I hope you will join me for Fabulous Fall Food Fridays.  I want to see what you're making and try out your recipes.  You have until Wednesday each week to post your fall foods, then make sure and leave me a comment so that I can add a link back to your post on here.  Each week that you participate will get you a "ticket" in the pot for the drawing for the Gooseberry Patch "Homemade Harvest" cookbook that I talked about in the post below this one.    Come on, join in!

For this weeks Fabulous Fall Foods, take a peek here:

Friday, September 17, 2010

Fabulous Fall Foods Friday

Fall is my all-time favorite time of the year for many many reasons, one of which is the incredible flavors of pumpkin, spices, apples, roasts, chili's, soups, ciders and so many other fall foods.  When leaves are blowing through the air and a chilly wind is blowing, I love to spend time steaming up my kitchen windows. 

Starting next Friday, September 24th, and running through the last Friday of October, the 29th, I will be hosting Fabulous Fall Foods Friday.  Each Friday I will post a wonderful fall recipe and hopefully a delightful picture of two of the finished product before it's gobbled up. 

I would like to ask all of you to join me and share your favorite fall recipes.  Now, I am the first to know that sometimes you can't always get something done on a specific day, so each week you will have from Friday to Wednesday to post your recipe.  When you do, please make sure and let me know so that I can add a link in my Friday post.  Each week that you participate will get you a "ticket" in the drawing forthe new Autumn Gooseberry Patch "Homemade Harvest" Cookbook, featured below.   Come on, who doesn't want a copy of that??   I certainly do!  So get cooking, girls.  I can't wait to see what you come up with! 

From the cookbook description:
Whether you're spending sunny Autumn days among the changing leaves or looking forward to a cozy evening snuggled up by a crackling fire, Homemade Harvest has the best recipes of the season. Barbecue chicken sandwiches and fast-fix tomato-basil soup are perfect for tailgating and little goblins will love boo-tiful pumpkin cake at Halloween. No matter what size feast you're planning, tried & true favorites like Gran's stuffed turkey rolls, sweet potato casserole and cinnamon-glazed apple pie are all sure to please. We've even included recipes like peachy freezer jam for preserving autumn's fresh bounty. With a cornucopia of decorating and cooking tips tucked in, plus a chapter of crafts for handmade gifts...it's the season of homecoming and homemade goodness! 

Thursday, September 16, 2010

If Wishes Were Fishes...

we'd all have a fry!

My mama used to say that quite a bit when one of us kids would be wishing for something, instead of doing something to make that wish happen.

 Christmas knitting has begun at my house with the very first 2010 Christmas project falling off of the needles a couple of nights ago.  Oscar the fish hat jumped right off my needles and into my heart.  He turned out so darn cute, if I do say so myself, that all the little boys in our family (and maybe some big one's), will be having a fish fry on Christmas morning.


                                  
Mom also said, "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."  Hmmm....mayhaps someone will have a horse on their head come Christmas morning as well...

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Just Me and My Sister

sis*ter
From the Slang Dictionary:Noun:  A (female) friend. (Originally underworld. Sometimes a term of address.) : Come here, sister. I gotta have a word with you.

My sisters are my best friends.  (Click here and here) Who else knows you so well and still puts up with you?  Not that they won't kick your butt and smack you upside the head from time to time when you need it.  Not that I've ever needed it...no.  Not me.

This summer I was lucky enough to spend a weekend with my sista, Susan in July and then a couple of days with my sista, Stacey in August.  Susan and I live in the same big state, but we are 6 hours away from each other so sometimes the visits are few and far between.  Stacey lives in North Dakota, a mere 28 hour drive from our home on the Oregon Coast.  Riff and I went to Wyoming to celebrate his parents 50th anniversary in late August.  Since we were that far, we decided to drive the extra 9 to North Dakota for a couple of days, and then, heck, why not drive through northern Montana and Glacier National Park on the way home?  It's only a few hours out of the way and what's a few more hours of windshield time?  I'll try to post more about the rest of the trip later, at random times, but this post is about my time with my sister, Stacey.
Stacey and Willie moved to North Dakota just about a year ago and this was our first trip.  I've always thought of this country as just flat prairie land with not much to see in any direction.  Not at all so for the area where my dear sister lives.  Beautiful rolling hills with lots of trees and lots of blue blue water - ponds and lakes.  Beautiful farmland.  The lake right outside their front door takes your breathe away the first time you drop down the hill into their home place.
We only got to spend a couple of days, but Stacey and I chatted, giggled and down right laughed the time away.  Their ranch came with everything that the previous owners (3 0r 4 generations of the same family) had either gathered or thrown away in the previous 100 or so years.  The barns, the house, the silo's - all the outbuildings -  were full of incredible priceless antiques as well as just plain garbage. 


 Stacey, Willie and Dawn have done an incredible job of cleaning everything out, and Stacey showed me a lot of the treasures they have found.  Some incredible things.  There is still one silo that is packed.  A pickers dream.
("Kaw-liga was a wooden Indian standing by the door."  He is also one of the many treasures that came along with  the ranch.  I think I love him.)

 We started pulling a few things out, but the haphazard way it's all been thrown in there over the years is quite daunting.  A momma mouse and her babies gave me a start when I popped open the money drawer of an antique cash register.  Stacey and I hee-hawed over the squeal that I let out.  Then we decided to go berry picking instead.
We rode four-wheelers to find the berries, stopping at the highest point of their land.  You can't see the house from here, but you can see how large the lake is and keep an eye on a couple of Willie's fields.
Stacey is trying her hand at making Wild Plum Wine, so we initially went looking for plums, only to find a patch that weren't yet ripe, so we picked choke-cherries instead.  They make increcible jams and jellies.  Yummy!  (Oh, did I mention that we like to eat a lot when we get together too?)
Wild Plums, not yet ripe for the pickin'.



A bit of sight-seeing was squeezed in as well.  Here Riff and Willie check out the history of Lake Sacajawea.
At the fish hatchery, we learn that not a single trout is native to North Dakota waters.  Every single trout that swims in the rivers and lakes in ND is hatched and raised right here.  Who woulda thunk it?  They also raise white sturgeon as well as several other species of fish.  Quite interesing, indeed.
There is one fish however, that you will not find anywhere else but in Garrison, North Dakota.  Are you ready to meet him?  Here he comes.........
Wally, the World's Biggest Walleye.
Whew!  What a long morning of sight-seeing!  We even squeezed in a bit of shopping at a cute gift shop and an antique shop in Garrison and now it's time for a snack.  Willie, being a generous guy, would like to offer you a taste of his ice cream.  It is rude to eat in front of people, you know.
Back at the ranch it's time to get some work done.  Do you think my tractor's sexy?
I haven't driven a tractor in years.  Boy how things have changed.
Next time I'm swathing a field, whether it needs it or not!
Our time was too short, but we put all into it that we possibly could.  I'm so glad that we went and got to see the beautiuful place where my sister lives.  I know now why she loves it. 
Until next time my dear sister....save some plum wine for me.

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Pillowcases Collected!

Knot Just Knit-Wit's met tonight to collect the handmade pillowcases that we all made as part of the latest Craft Hope project.  We ended up with 21 cases for the Doerenbacher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon.  Yeah!  What a great project that is made extra special knowing that it will bring smiles to the faces of children right here in our own lovely state.
One of our very own Knit-Wit's has a nephew who was treated at Doerenbacher's twice as a young boy, so the project touches very close to home.
Thanks, Knit-Wit's, for jumping into this project with both feet.  Awesome!

(Knit-Wit's pictured above - Sheila, Becky, Denise and Alli.  I'm in the top picture and Diane and Stacey are not pictured.  That's what happens when you go on vacation or live in far away places like North Dakota.)

UPDATE:  25 pillowcases now.  Thank you, Reggie!