Our Newest Family member
Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 06:19 by PrairieMouse's House - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Ok ok I know,,, we really have enough dogs already but this one just had to join us. Isn't he just to cute.  His name is Adam and his is full blooded Cocker Spaniel, two years old and a total spaz. Now all you prayer warriors out there, pray for me. I agreed to keep him but told my hubby and my children that the time has come for a large kennel to be built. We have seven dogs now and well., only two can stay in the house. My precious P-Lee and Blair. Those are the only two that are house broken and well, calm! hehe
Adam does not get a long with our Beagle (which is the only one of the dogs that are NOT fixed) and well, he has tried fighting for the death. There has to be a line drawn somewhere so we are going to spend the rest of the week building a kennel for five dogs. Wish us luck.
Simple Woman's Daybook
Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 05:35 by PrairieMouse's House - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Ahhh another Monday. I woke early this morning (around 6am) and wasn't feeling to great so I decided to rest for a few more hours. I woke again at 9m and decided I had better get busy with our chores and lessons, I wanted to get this week off to a good start. Soooo, lessons are over, the chores are done (with the exception of caring for the horses which the girls are doing now) and now I have time to play. What better way to spend my play time then to update my Simple Woman's Daybook, so here it goes....
Outside My Window…The sun is shinning, it is about 73* and the view is breathtaking. The colors of Autumn surround me. Golden yellow, firebrick red, cinnamon brown and a hint of green. Ahh God's pallet is so elegant.
I am thinking…about all the things I have planned for this week. For lessons, artsy stuff, and all the friends I am going to write and catch up with.
I am thankful for…all that the Lord helped me to accomplish today. Lessons, cleaning, canning applesauce and the time I spent with my children just talking!
From the kitchen…I can smell the the cinnamon applesauce simmering in the canning pot.
I am wearing…a blue t-shirt with a prairie mouse the front, white and brown diabetic socks, and my black shorts. I really need to get some new clothes:-(
I am creating… more cupcakes, some ATC's and a few new seasonal post cards.
I am going…nowhere today.
I am reading…nothing at the moment (other than Bible study)
I am hoping…that this week will be a lot of fun for us and that we will accomplish everything we set out to do.
I am hearing…The loud sounds of my children singing as they dance around the house acting like children. :-) ahhh the wonderful sound of laughter.
Around the house…there is still work to be done but that is a never ending task. I need to do a couple more loads of laundry and then prepare dinner.
One of my favorite things…Cute MICE, Cuddly Mice, brown mice, white mice, and umm did I say Mice!! :-)
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Visiting Williams Orchard, sharing time with Deb and her family, doing something artsy at the park.
Here is picture thought I am sharing....
Newest Creation
Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 05:23 by PrairieMouse's House - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Hello everyone, sorry I have been away for awhile but I am here to update things and show off my newest creation. I joined a swap over at SWAP-BOT that required me to make a handmade cupcake. Now my partner said she didn't want a small cupcake, nor did she want a medium size cupcake, but she wanted a LARGE cupcake so this is what she got....  It is made from an empty peanut can, fabric and stuffed with Autumn Spice potpourri! I had a fun creating this guy. It stands 8" tall and is about 6" wide.
After showing a few friends before I stuck it in the mail I received orders for 6 more!!! Eeekkk They offered $20.00 each for them. Isn't that awesome! Thanks Chocolattkato for the inspiration.
HAPPY FALL YA'LL
caramel apple cupcakes
Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 04:54 PM by Michele - 2 Comments - Link
I made these cupcakes a couple of weeks ago, and they were a BIG hit! I gave some to a couple of people i work with, and I gave a few to my mom and sent 1 along for my grandmother. I got the recipe out of a cookbook called Cupcakes and Other Goodies by Publications International.
Caramel Apple Cupcakes
1 package (18 1/4 ounces) yellow or butter cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix
1 cup chopped dried apples
Caramel Frosting (recipe follows)
Chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 24 standard muffin pan cups with paper baking cups.
Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Stir in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpicks inserted into centers come out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes to racks; cool completely.
Prepare Caramel Frosting. Frost cupcakes; sprinkle with nuts.
Caramel Frosting: Melt 3 tablespoons butter in 2-quart saucepan. Stir in 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/2 cup evaporated milk and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; cool to lukewarm. Add 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar; beat until frosting is of spreading consistency. Add 3/4 teaspoon vanilla; beat until smooth. Makes about 5 cups.
Making your own money- Pirate money that is
How to for Gold Doubloons
First we cut a piece of cardboard into circles. We all helped with this task- even the Peewee Pirate himself. Not-quite-circular circles add to the authenticity.
Next we used good ol’ white glue to make designs on the cardboard disks. You can make your own designs or try to follow actual designs (look up online or in a book). We tried to do both. You need a steady and slow hand if you want to get intricate details and we found that using a toothpick dipped in the glue was best for such matters. Of course we didn’t do too many this way- we are short tempered pirates after all . . . . .
Let the glue dry. You will know this because it will be translucent and will not stick to your finger when you touch it. Should you touch it before this time . . . . and smear it- think of it as added detail to your coins.
After the glue is dry on one side- do the other side.
After both sides are done- its time to paint. Even a Cabin Boy can do this job. Simply paint your doubloons with gold paint. Both sides (but not at once mind you!).
After the gold paint is dry you will paint the doubloon with black paint and then immediately wipe it off. This adds dimension/texture and authenticity to your doubloon. Paint black and wipe both sides- you don’t really have to wait for drying time for this one.
And you are done.
Our doubloons are “spendable” at the Inn on Tourtouga aka snacks in the kitchen.
Autumn Activities
Posted on Oct. 13, 2008 at 04:19 PM by HSB Front Porch - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house.
So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air."
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
Oh, how I can relate to those words! I love Autumn and the blessed relief it brings from Summer's often scorching heat. I find myself slipping out of doors the moment the sun begins to lighten up the sky in the mornings, and having to force myself to go back indoors to attend to the daily duties that need my attention inside: breakfast, homeschool, the inevitable laundry, dishes, and so forth. As soon as the "must-do's" are done, I pop right back outside to find some other enjoyable tasks outdoors.
Here are a few things that I enjoy doing during the lovely days of Autumn:
Planting and tending crops for the Fall & Winter gardening season. We have a nice garden growing right now, a blessed improvement over our sad Spring/Summer garden.
Planting herbs that enjoy the cooler Autumn & Winter weather here in Texas, such as Parsley, Cilantro, Dill and Calendula.
Planting flower bulbs for Springtime blossoms. I like to plant Crocus, Daffodils, Grape Hyacinth, & Tulips.
Planting Violas (my favorite), Pansies, Ornamental Kale & Cabbage for Winter color in the garden and on the porch.
Repotting my Rose Geraniums before bringing them inside for the winter.
Dividing perennial herbs and flowers and sharing the divisions with a friend.
Harvesting the leaves of Lemon Verbena, and drying them for a wonderful Winter tea.
Collecting seed from the annual herbs, flowers, and veggies to dry for next year's plantings and to share with others.
Making a scarecrow to decorate the garden. I doubt it is very effective at scaring crows, but he (or she) always makes me smile.
Putting out seeds and other goodies for the birds and other little creatures that visit our yard.
Decorating the front porch with a pumpkin, Fall flowers, and perhaps a basket of gourds, corn and other pretty Autumn decorations.
Last but definitely not least, sitting on the porch with a cup of tea, a notebook, a few seed catalogs, and planning and plotting my gardens for the Spring!
Please share your favorite Autumn Gardening activities with us!
Now, I'm off to wander about the yard and see what I can find to do this evening.
Blessings,
Catherine
The Best Pirates I've Ever Seen
Avast ye scabberous dogs!
Ahoy, Mateys! We are so enjoying our Pirate Day!
An elaboration on breakfast and lunch:
Captains Eggs was the fancy name given to what is otherwise known as Momma Eggs (scrambled eggs with cheese & crumbled bacon).
Shipwreck Stew- Mr. Conductor- today known as The Peewee Pirate, made lunch- Spaghetti O’s with cut hotdog chunks. He even helped with the can opener- what a great Cabin Boy!
The breakdown for supper- Bubble & Squeak is ham & scalloped potatoes and represents British explorers & Pirates, Spanish Rice if of course, for the Spanish, peas- they packed barrels full of dried peas (ours will be steamed from frozen- per the First Mate’s Request). Hardtack won’t actually be hard or full of weevils as I have no desire to be so totally authentic instead it’ll be just a regular biscuit recipe. Our dessert of apple tarts also represents the British. Since we had a full day of school and were making so many other dishes- we’re fudging a bit on this one too- graham cracker crusts filled with apple filling and a dollop of whip cream. These Pirates like their sweets! First Mate says we are pretending we just raided a ship that had recently restocked and had fancy diners on board. I’m good with that!
Here’s the ship assignments:
Commodore- Mr. Steady
Captain- Momma
First Mate- Maiden
Second Mate- Sassafras
Peewee Pirate/Cabin Boy- Mr. Conductor
It seems we’ve put together a good crew. Galley duties were taken on by the Captain and Second Mate for breakfast, Peewee Pirate Cabin Boy at lunch and the Captain is helping the First Mate put together a first rate dinner this evening. The Commodore is planning on being in charge of the games.
The First Mate has put together invitations and menu list and is currently working on the place cards. We dyed the papers with coffee instead of tea as that was what was sitting in the pot after breakfast (always frugal us Pirates!).
We also finished our doubloons and will be showing those off in the next post.
So far no one has had to walk the plank.
Menu Plan Monday
Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 03:36 by Old-Fashioned Homemaker - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link
For more menu ideas visit www.orgjunkie.com
Sunday- Buffalo cheeseburgers, sweet potato fries, green beans
Monday- Meatloaf, fried apples, fried okra
Tuesday- Curry chicken, couscous, carrots
Wednesday- Salmon and quinoa salad, sauerkraut
Thursday- Oven fried chicken tenderloin salad or bean soup depending on weather
Friday- Pizza
Saturday- Sweet 'n sour chicken and vegetable fried rice
Desserts: Apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake
Breakfasts: bagels, sausage, turkey bacon, oatmeal, grits
Caramel Apple Butter
Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 11:28 by SimpleFolk - 3 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Caramel Apple Butter
3 lbs apples
1/2 cup water or apple juice (I use unsweetened apple juice)
2 cups white sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
21 caramels
Peel, core and chop apples. Add apples and water/apple juice into a large pot. (I used my crock pot.) Over medium high heat cook apples until just tender. Remove apples with a slotted spoon and puree using a food mill, food processor or whatever you have on hand. Discard leftover juice in pot. Return puree to pot. Add the sugar stirring well. Return to medium high heat and cook until mixture bubbles.
*Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently until butter is thick and has a spreadable consistency. Add the ginger, cloves and cinnamon, stirring well. Add the caramels. Turn the heat up to medium low, stirring constantly until caramels are melted. Ladle butter into clean hot jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. Seal. Process in a boiling water bath canner 10 minutes for pints, 5 minutes for half pints.
*Using a frozen saucer place a spoonful of butter in center. If no rim of liquid forms, your butter is done.
I got this recipe from Grandma Rosie last year and it was wonderful! Do try it. :-)
The Simple Woman's Daybook
Posted on Monday, October 13, 2008 at 11:28 by C - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
FOR TODAY,
Monday, October 13th, 2008
Outside My Window...a very chilly and clear morning
I am thinking...I need to get my taxes done, things are piling up and I am getting anxious!
I am thankful for...God providing work for my husband.
From the kitchen...Breakfast: cinnamon raisin bread, Lunch: sack-lunch to take with us on a field trip, Dinner: BBQ Chicken Casserole and rolls
I am wearing...black capris and a black t-shirt, barefoot
I am creating...a healthy food environment in my kitchen so I'm not tempted
I am going...to meet with friends and then to the community college's farm for a field trip and get veggies
I am reading...Lord of the Rings and The History of the World in Six Glasses
I am hoping...to get all my paperwork done
I am hearing...the kids eating breakfast
Around the house...still deep-cleaning and de-cluttering, getting the chicken coop rebuilt for winter
One of my favorite things...a warm house on a freezing day
A Few Plans For This Week: Work-outs, school, son testing for his next rank in jujitsu,starting a weightloss contest with friends, getting my hair done
Here is a picture thought I am sharing...
My current computer background
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